Yes! We must ban guns. So that gangs of robbers will have to use alternatives. (H/T MJR) Obama cynically decries cynicism. ISIS judge says kill all the “defective” children. I guess Middle Eastern mommies and daddies should be glad it’s being done by “humane” methods rather than public beheadings or burning the infants alive in cages. Patrick Buchanan asks whether elites will blow up the GOP. He then proceeds to chronicle how the GOP has already been blown up. Interesting glimpse at history and (these days non) smoke-filled rooms, though. It’s always hard to tell a real crisis from one…
Category: Dogs and (grudgingly) cats
No description needed. Dogs are life. Cats are also necessary on the Internet.
How to escape the culture of mass deception (via RLW in comments). Written from a conservative, not libertarian, perspective. But the basic point is good. Thailand investigates the U.S. ambassador for lèse-majesté — because he criticized lèse-majesté arrests. Never, but never, ever, did I think anybody would say this about marijuana. Never. Ugh. Big data to be the next trillion-dollar business? Oh, please … Socks. Containing urine. Circulated by walking. Generating electricity. Just because you’re inept and unprepared, buddy, doesn’t mean the rest of us are. (Still, the certification process sounds horribly inadequate if it was anything like he describes.)…
It’s long. It’s thorough. It’s a just-published Cato policy analysis by Dave Kopel on the costs and consequences of “gun control.” And in shorter, rougher language, El Neil excoriates those who would even ban useable information about firearms. (Found via Rational Review News) Canadian judge fines man $1 for growing pot. Oh, the times they are a changin’. (H/T MJR) OMG. This article about the addictive Internet is fascinating — until the author gets down to proposing “solutions.” Then it’s just creepy, and not because of what the developers are doing. Speaking of creepy, Chucky is far from the only…
Americans aren’t as politically polarized as pols and the MSM would have us imagine. Among other things we’re united in distrusting the government. (H/T PT) Turn in your standard-capacity magazines orders L.A. gov. Then … crickets … Not one. Not a single one. The president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University says he’s not running a day care. And George Will asks: American higher education — higher than what, exactly? The push to ban cash grows louder as currencies race for the bottom. One difference in this article: it lists various ways people might (and will) dodge the coming cash bans. Not…
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I’m off to cook the Big Dinner with all the fixins and plenty of leftovers. It’s a tough job, but I’m sure Ava and Robbie will help. I’m grateful beyond words to all of you for for your presence, your comments, your support, your ideas, your smarts, and your commitment to freedom. I’m going to take a couple of days off now, so see you sometime over the weekend. Meantime, I hope you’ll leave comments saying what you’re grateful for in your own life, this very interesting and challenging year. (Clipart courtesy of Webweaver.)
It’s here: the 3D-printed revolver. The hoplophobic panic will surely not be far behind. (H/T S) It’s also here: the first private space race. I doubt the Bezos vs Musk is quite as theatrically adversarial as the media would have us think. What a good thing, though, eh? May the best man win. Better yet, may both men win. Over at The Zelman Partisans Nicki turns to DC police chief Lanier and asks, “Take ’em out with what?” and I ask if the Jewish leaders of Europe have no sense of history or just no sense. Carl-Bear Bussjaeger also has…
For some reason, the NRA sat on its review of the notorious Armatrix iP1 “smart” gun and just recently released it. They probably didn’t mean it to be hilarious, but it is. Ten ways to lessen your chances of being killed in a terrorist attack. #BlackLivesMatter may get all the press, but Tommitrise Collins, college student and new mother, is a lot more impressive. Wendy McElroy found this one first, but it should be spread far and wide: thanks to asset forfeiture, U.S. cops now steal more property than all the nation’s burglars combined. What The Hunger Games movies say…
A bird in the brush
Yesterday was the first moment after … ohhhh, 40 days and 40 nights … that it wasn’t either raining or threatening to rain. Between that and the end of the year’s big hunting seasons, the dogs and I were finally able to return to long, leash-free walks in the woods instead of annoying, leashed walks around town (annoying because Ava likes to gallop and Robbie barely moseys these days; I end up walking sideways with my arms extended in two directions).
It was glorious. Chilly, but blue and still.
On our afternoon walk, though, we came across a lone crow feasting on an elk ribcage. Ava — she of the killer prey drive — alerted and paused. Figuring the crow would fly off, I gave her permission to run at it.
It didn’t fly off. It hobbled into the weeds, limping and vainly flapping its wings.
Saturday evening just as it was turning dark, a young man came to my gate. He was as clean cut as a Mormon missionary (about the only other people prone to show up hereabouts at such an hour) and traveling on foot as they do. But he was solo. I had the vague feeling I’d seen him somewhere before. “I was here with Mike the other day,” he said by way of introduction. He gave no name. Mike — meaning Handyman Mike — has gone through a steady stream of minions or minion wannabes, all pretty much interchangable to me.…
In case you’ve wondered how a jury could watch a video of a cop executing a man in cold blood and still vote to acquit, it’s because authoritarian mind-warping is so very effective. Lisa Mearkle. Remember the name. Lisa Mearkle. Idaho deputies ask rancher to put down an injured bull. Before he can, they put down the rancher. The family tell their story. I wonder what the “official” story will be. In all the news about local cops getting away with murder, Jim Bovard reminds us that their federal brothers and sisters are still doing their share — and still…