If you made stuff like this up for a movie, it would be too ridiculous to believe. The NSA intercepted shipments to insert backdoors into electronics. (H/T JB in comments) Thirty-eight hauntingly abandoned places. Wendy McElroy: “The Redistribution of Dreams.” So well said, so sadly thought. New Years resolutions and free will. And to close with an awwwwww: dog escapes his new home and returns the shelter … for love. (H/T BW)
Category: Dogs and (grudgingly) cats
No description needed. Dogs are life. Cats are also necessary on the Internet.
This judge wins the Ultra-Statist of the Week prize for excusing the NSA while kicking Snowden. I’ve been asking myself this question, too. When will insurance companies say, “Enough’s enough!”? We need more judges like Donald Beatty. (H/T Hobbit) Going “offshore” … in South Dakota. A sign of the times? And another sign of the times. Great one! College shooting ranges are on the rise. (Tip o’ hat to L.A.) The president of Uruguay. No matter what else you may think of him (or not think of him, since I’m guessing you spend a very, very small portion of your…
Thank you all for being here and making this blog a great place to hang out! So here are some singing dogs (and friends). (H/T Brian Wilson) And here’s the lovely story of a young woman who reached out from beyond her death to send Christmas wishes to her husband and his new wife. (Have a hankie ready.)
Senator Joe Manchin may be a conniving anti-gun suck. But he has just become the biggest Democrat truth-teller on Obamacare. “Meltdown … falls of its own weight … becomes more than we can absorb.” Devastating stuff! Ever hear of Ocorrafoo Cobange, a scientist at the Wassee Institute of Medicine in Asmara? Neither has anybody else. But 157 professional journals were happy to accept the extremely fake-sounding scientist’s extremely fake article. “What This Poet Says About Our Culture Is So Brilliant It Could Break Something in Your Brain.” Well, maybe not that brilliant. But definitely very astute. And very funny, besides.…
Soooo, what are the chances the Obama administration (or any other) will enact all these proposed restrictions on the NSA? Not likely, ya think? And could this be the reason why? Obamacare (again). It’s as if they figured out everything that would make insurance and health care better, then did the exact opposite. Localizing coverage even further instead of enabling insurance companies to sell across state lines was one of those things. That’s gotten some mention, thanks to the cancer patients it’s going to kill. But in all the other hand-wringing, I don’t think most pundits have yet figured out…
This Christmas display is clearly the work of a dedicated nerd. With money to burn. And speaking of nerds (and homeschoolers and the merely educated and curious): Free ebooks! No, not the usual free-for-the-day Kindle special. But astronomy books, math books, physics books, and general science books for many levels of expertise. (H/T H.) Were Tolkein’s hobbits inspired by Kentucky hillbillies? Hm. Not persuaded (particularly since all those hobbity surnames came originally from Tolkein’s own country), but it’s a charming story nevertheless. (Tip o’ hat to A, who probably won’t mind in this case.) The freedomista hydra. Damn, I love…
Oz Media has met and exceeded its Kickstarter campaign goal. They’re 110% funded for a half-hour production. The Puppycide documentary will be made. (Assuming the Oz folks are as good as their word and a meteor doesn’t smack the earth. Or whatever.) AND there’s lots of cool swag for project backers. Just 10 hours to go on the campaign in case you’re interested.
“Acing the background check.” Bazillions for “security,” entourages, cavalcades, vast theaters of protective deception … and they stick Obama 18 inches away from a crazy accused murderer. (If you’re thinking what I think some of you may be thinking, please don’t say it out loud. It wouldn’t have helped a bit.) Tax people for working. Subsidize them for not working. And anybody less “brilliant” than Obama (or any typical congressthing) understands that you turn working poor into non-working poor. Forgive me for not remembering who deserves the hat tip for this, but it’s one of those stories a dog lover…
Just what we need: a drone that hijacks other drones. (H/T MJR) “I love my guns.” MamaLiberty explains. This creepy-wierd logo was all over the Internet last week. I ignored it, figuring it was just some joker’s parody of government spies. But nooooooo. It’s what actual government spies think of themselves … and us. The German’s don’t have a word for it. Yet. But when they do, it’ll be Schottenfreude. 🙂 Long but good. Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker finally addresses the Big Question: Why the fedgov won’t rein in their spy agencies. And of course … dogs to…
“You shall not pass!” Video of dogs that are terrified of walking past cats. In some cases, rightly so. (Via MLS.) And remember the “Puppycide” Kickstarter relaunch? This time (yay!) they’ve made their more modest goal of $40,000 (which will fund a half-hour documentary, not the feature film they originally proposed). Now, with six more days remaining, they’ve named a “stretch goal.” Sixty thousand dollars will enable Oz Media to make a 45-minute film. Which is just right for a one-hour TV slot. If they get that much, they’ll be marketing the work to networks and TV stations.