Fascinating scientific detective work reconstructing the DNA of the black plague. Fascinating, too, how even something as horrible as plague can ultimately change the world for the better. See? We told you never to talk to cops. Oooh. This is gonna be good. “A tale of suspense, pyromania and sexual tension, coming to an Amazon near you!” J.D. Tuccille can write like nobody’s business. He’s even entertaining when he’s just blogging about being a dad. I’m gettin’ my hands on a review copy ASAP! Bill St. Clair on respecting intellectual property without government. Is it a good sign or a…
Author: Claire
Okay. Back to the lighter side for a moment. Dog people. Cat people. Share some of the “charming” sights you may have come home to over the years. And enjoy this charming act of congressional bipartisanship, courtesy of The Onion. (I sent this to my vet this morning. She said she hoped it was a joke. But with Congress, you never can tell …) —– ADDED: This has absolutely nothing to do with dogs (unless there’s something they’re not telling us). But here’s some news of the weird for ya, since we’re in that mood. This one isn’t from The…
From Just Waiting in a recent comment section: You made your money writing books about freedom and revolution, now you’re proud to declare you’re hiding in your cave once it begins? For someone who promotes freedom, you’re more condescending and dismissive than the Fox News puppets about the Occupy movement. Theatrics and a yeah, good luck with that? People are living in the streets to protest for your, mine our freedom. And you’re in a cave. Good luck with that too. I’m not an anarchist or utopian dreamer, I’m a realist and a staunch supporter of my and others’ self-sovereignty.…
Two from The Onion (language in both NSFW): Steve Jobs obituary and “Nervous American Voters Worried About Botching Another Election.” One from Ragnar in a recent comment section. Sort of a redneck punk rap song, “My Country, My Ass.” (“Teacher used to say we had a Bill of Rights. I think they took our rights and sent us the bill.”) Regulators vs an enterprising ship salvager. What to do if you can’t afford a vet. DRM encourages piracy. No surprise, really. Neither is this. (Not that the fedgov should be subsidizing anything, of course.) Funniest pet Halloween costumes. Think it’s…
You remember the globe-traveling Klaf family, mentioned here (and here) a while back? Well, from Gabi Klaf comes “10 Families, 7 Continents: How They Afford It.” Maybe you don’t have the slightest interest in roaming the world with a passel of kids. I sure don’t. Me, I’m a nester. But every one of these families is doing something that common wisdom says is “impossible” or “too difficult” or “impractical” or “foolish.” And in doing it, they’re giving themselves and their youngsters vital experiences and vital creativity. We all have an “impossible” something we’d like to do. These folks are a…
Everybody, but everybody, wants to get in on the Occupy Wall Street act. Since the leaderless, focusless band of creative protestors began getting media coverage, all manner of commentators have commentated. Multitudes claim to know what OWS really is or really ought to be. Political people who may have something or nothing in common with the vague aims of OWS or the vague band of jugglers, gypsies, drummers, retro-hippies, sincere-if-ignorant fogheads, and genuinely angry activists are cautiously trying to bend OWS to their own purposes. The third-biggest bonehead ever to win a Nobel Prize, Paul Krugman, demonstrates what an old…
Jake MacGregor has been suffering health problems lately that have prevented him from releasing new chapters of his thriller novel. But he’s gradually coming back. And he has posted chapter 36 and 37 for your weekend enjoyment. If you’re new to the perilous world of Jake, Deb, little Moira, their awesome mastiff Tonka, and the villainous b*****ds of FINCen, it all begins here.
So much for “democracy.” Farewell transparency (we hardly knew ye). Welcome murder.gov. (The Al-Awlaki assassination was even worse than we thought.) If Bank of America wants to charge new fees, that’s their business. If customers don’t want to put up with it, that’s their business. (Of course, the fees are yet another predictable unintended consequence of gummint, but that’s another story.) But look what BofA does to sell the idea. Does it go to the customers? To the markets? Nooooooooo. Another Sign of Our Times. The DoJ and the WH are furiously scared of the Fast & Furious truth coming…
You’ve probably heard by now: Steve Jobs is dead. Farewell to an amazing innovator. He’s been part of our cultural wallpaper for such a long time it’s hard to believe he was only 56. Don’t know that I’d want to beta test a bank, but if you’re fed up with the Big Boys, here’s an interesting new alternative. Speaking of banks, the always-interesting Barry Ritholtz has a good take on their self-inflicted mark-to-make-believe wounds and other unintended consequences of Brilliant Government Ideas. Believe it or not Tim Burton did not create this wedding photo. (I was going to post the…