Source (Via Never Yet Melted)
Author: Claire
Cody Wilson — of Defense Distributed and 3D-printed gun fame — has won his multi-year battle with the federal government. The fundamental question is whether making 3D models of gun components available online is covered by the free speech rights granted by the First Amendment. This is a timely but complex conflict because it touches on two themes that happen to be, for many, ethically contradictory. Arguments for tighter restrictions on firearms are, in this case, directly opposed to arguments for the unfettered exchange of information on the internet. It’s hard to advocate for both here: restricting firearms and restricting…
Trump today issued a full pardon to Dwight and Steven Hammond. The Hammonds, father and son, are Oregon ranchers whose original “crime” was that a small part of a controlled burn ran onto adjoining federal land. They served time in prison for that (bad enough). Then after they were released, federal prosecutors appealed and managed to get them thrown back into prison. Because terrorism. Yeah, makes sense. Only if you’re a vengeful fed with a hate-on for western ranchers. Is there any more malicious and ruthless occupational group today than fed prosecutors? The Hammonds’ re-imprisonment led to the ill-considered, ill-planned,…
The fun part of the summer house projects is over. Next it’s getting up on the gable ends of Ye Olde Wreck to clean, paint, de-rot, and add soffits and fascia boards. For that, The Wandering Monk and I conferred and I ordered this extra-wide scaffolding. The Monk doesn’t want to do weeks of elevated work on one of those 27-inch wide jobbies. Or on one of his own perilously improvised contraptions. On June 8, Home Depot made the mistake of entrusting the shipment to an outfit named Non-Stop Delivery.* I will not say that N**-S*** D******* is so incompetent…
Furrydoc and I spent several hours at a big farmers’ market today. Amid the goat cheeses, fresh fruits, native plants, cannabis therapy creams, craftworks, and artisanal breads, there was also this: The Tsunami Pod, also known as the RescuePod. This puppy comes with two “racing seats,” a personal locator beacon, MREs and water for three days, waste bags, a hose for bailing out any seawater that might get in, and metal loops to enable a helicopter or ship to hoist it out of the ocean or whatever pile of debris it ends up in. Additional upgrades are available for pets,…
First, a thank you and an apology I’ve been having trouble keeping life and the universe together lately, putting me behind in some crucial communications. I’m a week overdue to say thank you to SK and D3 (who know why). So thank you, D3 and SK, and I apologize for my belatedness. I also owe quite a few emails, which I may still be a while getting to. Into the woods for berries While working on a prospective writing project today I got a last-minute invitation from Furrydoc to gather early-season ground-creeper blackberries. I usually wait until August for the…
Today is the second anniversary of Robbie‘s death. Next month will be 13 years since Jasmine died. Heartdogs. They never leave you. Those two will never leave me physically because I have their ashes and hope to have them mixed with mine someday. More important are the ways heartdogs embed themselves in the soul. My relationship with Ava is more complicated. Sometimes she’s all heartdog; other times she’s more a pain-in-the-ass dog. But someday she’ll join Jasmine and Robbie on the Shelf of Most Special Four-Leggeds.
This morning a codger whose house I frequently pass stopped what he was doing, thrust his chin out, and gave me the Seriously Big Stinkeye. Not for the first time, either. I knew my crime: I was driving five miles an hour under the speed limit. Yes, under. A couple months back he flagged me down and lectured me for going the speed limit (25 mph). He wants the limit reduced to 15 mph. Anybody exceeding that earns his wrath for endangering pets and wildlife (never mind that most of us are pet owners ourselves and the neighborhood tends to…