Reader just waiting put me on the Memory Lane Express. A link to Sean Gabb’s retrospective on the late, great Loompanics led him to take his copy of Loomps’ 2005 catalog off the shelf, where he discovered an old article of mine: “Dark Satanic Cubicles.” I didn’t remember it. Only vaguely recalled the title. But it sounded brilliant. 🙂 Took quite a bit of hunting to find. Had to go through some interesting byways. But here it is: imperfectly archived on the old Loompanics site. just waiting also sent me .jpg copies (thank you), from which come the stark Nick…
Category: Mind and Spirit
Spirituality, moods, feelings, and thinking free to live free.
Technological crime-solving marvel! Police cameras save us from the dreaded threat of … erm … cannabis residue on some guy’s teeth. (H/T JG) Seven myths about the police. (Civil-liberties left perspective, some f-bomb, good article.) “Did the great financial crisis start with the end of the gold standard?” Uh, yeah. Maybe it’s not what some of us would call simplifying. But for those still in the little rat-wheel it’s a fine start. (Tip o’ hat to Jim Bovard) Ah, it was nice, being an official part of “the lunatic fringe of the libertarian movement.” (One correction, though. Loompanics didn’t go…
Mindset. So important. So nebulous. So full of surprises. I’m working on illustrations today that use a portion of a dollar bill as a frame (e.g. where George’s stuffy head usually is, someone else’s will be). Easiest way to begin was to take a big .jpg of a George, erase parts and alter parts. Later I’ll add my own drawings on top. The whole time I was messing with the file, my reactive monkey-brain was shouting, “No! No! You can’t deface currency!” Or alternatively: “You can’t depict a dollar bill! They’ll think you’re counterfeiting!” Total nonsense, of course. But a…
There are so many dogs being shot by cops that they now have a Facebook page. (H/T MLS) But this about takes the cake for puppycides. Gun-rights advocates outbid cops in a gun buyback. Joel already covered this better than I, but you’ll be glad shocked furious to know the ATF has been granted one more power to abuse. They can now steal your stuff in drug crimes. The ATF? Drug crimes? But you see, it’s okay, because as usual in these cases, there don’t actually have to be any drugs or any crimes. So it’s not like they’re exceeding…
I’ve been saving this for a weekend because it’s long. But if you want to know the mindset of a government enforcer or occupier, it’s important: “The Checkpoint.” This piece happens to explore the thinking of Israeli Defense Forces manning a checkpoint to control Palestinians. But … well, it goes way beyond that as you’ll see. These are people we increasingly meet in Police State America. (H/T JG)
Don’t worry; I haven’t forgotten … well, all the things you might be thinking I’ve forgotten. I will write a post to kick off a women-and-carry-guns discussion (per yesterday’s comment thread). I will get the second draft of the snitch book done and off to you volunteer reviewers (next week with some luck). And I will get that long-promised raffle rifle decorated — although at this point I admit that promise still falls in the category of vaporware. And perhaps even verges on “political promise” territory. I can’t believe how busy this year has been. But it looks as if…
Soooo … less than a week after I think I’ve cleverly gotten rid of Mr. Freeloader … knock, knock. It’s Mr. Freeloader’s oldest son (about 10). “Can I borrow $5?” Last time, Dad definitely sent the kids over to “borrow” money. This time, it’s not at all clear whether Dad did the sending or the kid has just learned Dad’s lessons and decided on his own that neighbors might be bottomless pits of favors. All I know is it’s damned hard to look an adorable urchin in the face and say, “No, you can never borrow anything from me again…
Fedgov issues “healthy meal standards” for schools that are so bureaucratic they threaten an actual healthy meal program (that even teaches kids about growing their own food). Don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that shows so profoundly how tangled and deep the relationships of snitches can be with both handlers and targets. Wish Mr. Aoki had agreed to talk more before he died. Not that anything he said would have been believable. The Tesla Museum: closer to becoming a reality thanks to a cartoonist’s crowdsourcery. Two cases in which dogs died in hot cars, apparently because air conditioning systems failed…
This year has been the busiest I’ve had since back in my 20s when, for a brief, delusional few years I worked like a Silicon Valley maniac. I don’t approve of work. I discourage all my friends from doing too much of it (and “too much” can have a pretty liberal definition). So how did I get into this state? I ask myself that all the time as I bang nails and computer keys (mercifully not at the same time, but as tired as I’ve gotten a few days this week there’s some chance I might mix up the two,…
The world is so full of bad, dangerous, ugly things. Or just demanding things. There’s so much that we’re told we need to care about, that we’re supposed to think about, that we’re supposed to worry about. But sometimes … you just can’t. Or you’ve reached a state of life where you just don’t. Maybe someone needs to worry about them, but not you. Herewith I present a random selection of things that I might have worried about once but that just don’t get to me any more. Feel free to add your own “don’t worry, be happy” in the…