The Bad Attitude Guide to Good Citizenship just got the kind of review authors dream about. Thank you, Frank DuBois! And thank JF and the good people at Paladin for pointing that out while I was keeping my mouth shut last week. I must also note that this is probably the first time I’ve ever been mentioned (favorably, at least) by a former Secretary of Anything. He’s got a good blog, too. Very prolific and worth checking out, especially for Westerners and people interested in the kind of land/water/leave-me-alone issues so prominent in the West. Also: The Bad Attitude Guide…
Author: Claire
Patrice Lewis of the Rural Revolution blog sent me a copy of her new book more than a month ago. I’ve been enjoying it since then, but hesitating because I wasn’t sure how best to review it. I’m still not sure. But since it’s in danger of becoming an old book before I wrap my brain around it, here I am with a few thoughts. Her book is The Simplicity Primer: 365 ideas for making life more livable. You can get it for $10.85 at Amazon using that link, which gives a portion of the purchase price to me. CHANGE:…
Some stuff I’ve been collecting while being quiet: Jake MacGregor is back again. Chapter 34 and 35. Ron Paul: speaking truth to knuckleheads (it’s harder than speaking truth to power). Another example of how government helps lower medical costs and make life easier for people. Jacob Hornberger: Blaming America. For fans of the DullHawk flag (aka “Time’s Up”). One of those good news stories. About a gutsy woman and her big, gutsy horse. A rare act of justice One reason I’ve quit focusing on stuff like this is that no matter how creepy it gets, you know next week it’ll…
“Where is Spartacus?” So asks David A. McElroy, while making himself crazy with political frustration and setting himself up for more. But Spartacus is … right there in your own mirror. If you can only recognize the reflection. McElroy’s frustration makes me want to propose the five stages of freedom, to match the famous Kubler-Ross five stages of grief. Hers are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. For freedomistas I propose: 1. Oblivion: I love my country — which is exactly the same as saying I love my government. Sure, it needs a few tweaks. Yeah, maybe it’s slipped a bit…
I woke up yesterday morning at 3:00 bathed in sweat, a headache playing in minor key at the back of my neck. But worse than the headache or the drenched nightshirt was the sense of obligation that crushed me from the moment I got conscious. The sweat dried. The headache quickly faded. But the feeling of unmeetable obligations oppressed me for hours and left me tired all day. I get this way once in a while, even though I realize that by the usual measures my life contains fewer obligations than most — no heavy-duty job, no kids, no doddering…
With Jake MacGregor on hiatus, what’s to read, what’s to read? Well, until Jake’s adventures re-commence (and even afterward), there’s Sandy Sandfort’s The Resurrections of Robert Heinlein. This is a Smashwords book, available in every conceivable electronic format. You can buy. But you can read the first 75 percent for free in most formats. Definitely a good read for Heinlein fans. —– For watching, here’s Jim Bovard doing his dissing of federal job-training programs on MSNBC. Jeez, Jim looks more like a surly eccentric hermit than I do. (I am neither balding nor bearded, thank the fates.) But he talks…
“Chained CPI.” Whotta concept. You may have heard of this. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has apparently been tallying it for nine years, right along with CPI-U, CPI-W and all the other variations of the Consumer Price Index, including that perennial favorite, “core CPI,” which considers food, fuel, and shelter to be outside of the core costs of our lives. Anyhow, “chained CPI” isn’t a new concept. But it’s new to me. I’ve just heard of it because there’s talk of shifting to it to determine cost of living increases for social security, federal pensions, veterans programs and such. Now,…
… to this guy. What a fantastic life he earned for himself. No wonder why these folks are slavering over him.
Sorry for the non-posting. I’ve been taking advantage of unseasonably good weather and a break in deadlines to do a burst of late-summer projects. During breaks in yardwork and painting, I’ve watched mindlessly entertaining videos like The Human Slinky and the Bed-Sheet Cat. Occasionally even mind-activating videos like the ad for the new drug Complyacin. 🙂 Or getting my Bovard fix. He has a good take on the “effectiveness” of federal job-training programs. (I can’t believe I have friends who write for the Wall Street Journal. So respectable! And speaking of respectable, I just learned today that an old acquaintance…
For a dose of strange beauty on this strange, ugly day: the most amazing photo of Saturn. The eccentric geek who gave the world the wonderful Project Gutenberg. Airport “security” from a Muslim woman’s perspective. It takes guts to say this these days: “Addiction is not a disease of the brain.” “Socioeconomic collapse and preparedness timing.” From a guy who’s been living it. Fourteen thousand rounds missing? I wonder why they even bother to report this? From what I’ve heard over the years from National Guardsmen, Army reservists, and other part-time military folk, this is just par for the course.…