On yesterday’s mystery goop,, here (and you’re not gonna like it) is the solution. Thank you guys who knew and either refrained from answering or merely dropped sly hints. FWIW, my guesses would have been of the taffy/soft-serve strawberry ice cream sort, along with a lot of you. Or perhaps I’d have guessed it was a joke — something designed to look as if it came out of Barney the purple dinosaur’s rear end — which, come to think of it, isn’t that far from the reality of the stuff. Eeeeew.
Author: Claire
Okay, let’s have some guesses. What do you think it is? And if you’ve seen this photo before and know what it is, please refrain from revealing the truth. Be more entertaining to hear first what folks think it might be.
I don’t usually go around wondering, “What would Ayn Rand think …?” But that notion stayed with me the whole time I was reading this odd property-rights story. Wonder what Ayn Rand would’ve thought of this guy — “the buzzard of the backcountry”? Paul Rosenberg continues his series on basic computer privacy with “What is PGP and why you need to know.” It’s too bad so many people find email encryption so daunting. With the feds seeking backdoors for all encryption that’s done by third-party providers, having our own encryption could become even more crucial in the not-too-distant future. Don’t…
I have some good book news and some bad book news. Bad news first: After all the months of waiting, Backwoods Home received two advance copies of Hardyville Tales this week. Uh oh. Something went wrong in the layout that makes the books difficult to read. The Duffys are considering various options. The book will find its way into all our hands. But there could be further delay. 🙁 But … the good news: Carl Bussjaeger, a long-time, hard-working friend of liberty who wrote the SF novel Net Assets has put the sequel online. You can satisfy your good-book jones…
Good CounterPunch op-ed on why the “peace” president, the “openness” president, and the “dissent is patriotic” president is sending the FBI to terrorize anti-war organizers, calling the peace activists terrorist supporters. Hm. Barry Ritholtz is just discovering that the left-right political divide is bogus. He now sez it’s us vs corporations. Getting closer to the truth there, Barry. But still missing the point. Question (and A Clue) for ya: What’s the biggest corporate body in the whole, entire world? How come, in all the many articles about the CIA’s drone war in Afghanistan, nobody ever, ever, ever, ever, ever asks…
Okay, I realize I’m posting more blogstuff today than in the average week lately (four so far). But when you click on the link you’ll see why this news simply can’t wait a day longer! As soon as I receive my author’s copies, I’ll be paying off a few book debts I incurred last spring.
According to the New York Times (boldface and sarcastic remarks mine): Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone. … Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The…
Wow. The census snoops are still snooping around? I thought that was over for now. But no, Ted Dunlap just had to draw his line in the sand. Good going, Ted. Hope you’ll keep us posted about what happens — and I hope nothing does. For the record, I never saw a census taker this year. While I was still living in the desert fifth-wheel, one showed up early in the spring, weeks before city folks got their forms in the mail, and left a form in a bag on the door. Made a nice litter bag, while the form…
Having gotten the living room of my new (old) house to the point where I can sit in it without itching to paint something, I’m now tearing into the kitchen — a much bigger, more serious job. And a job on which I could use some advice from you more experienced wood-workers. Although the house is more than 100 years old, it had its last remodel somewhere in the late 1950s. Since then, all anybody has done is paint over the 50s stuff. I’ve decided to keep the 50s look, partly because it makes me laugh and partly because it’s…
Interesting idea. The Sabbath Manifesto is ten simple steps to fulfill one simple, ancient idea: on the seventh day, rest. The specific steps are behind the above link. And here’s more on the whys and whos behind the movement. The Sabbath Manifesto is by and for Jews, but there’s nothing in it that would preclude us non-Jews from adopting or adapting it. I think it’s a great idea. A year or two ago, I even set about to “do” a broader concept of Sabbath — rest and renew every seventh day, every seventh week, and every seventh month. I knew…