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Category: Miscellaneous

Thursday miscellany

“Six certainties about the coming years. “Hope in a cold season.” Although this gives waaaaaaaaaay too much benefit of the doubt to Obama, it’s a pretty good history of how indefinite military “detention” got legalized. When times get tough the tough get a backbone. There’s nothing more dangerous than a woman with a child. (ADDED: Although this has gotten coverage in every media outlet and blog this side of Alpha Centauri, I like Joel’s take on it the best.) Dontcha sometimes feel like this? Well, not about baths, specifically. But about what lies in our future:

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More thank yous, catching up, and Tuesday news

Happy New Year — even if it is already old news. Whew. What a couple of months its been. I’ve been deadlining solidly since at least early November, and though it’s interesting work (art, mostly), I’m tired. This week is the biggest push of all, so in a minute here I’m going to turn the blog over to MJR (who found and sent a host of interesting newsbits) and get back to work on my assignments. —– But first … some more thank yous. Thanks to JS and SC at Paladin Press, I got a photocopy of that Playboy article…

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Wednesday miscellany

Been collecting again … Your awwwwww story for the day: An unlikely mother. But this is pretty awww-some, too. Especially if you consider what would have happened had the government gotten to the money before an honest man did. The 10 jobs with the happiest workers. (And I’m in two of those jobs; I should be delirious with joy.) The dogs of Cat Island. This is in some ways a horrible story. Yet so weird it’s funny. BTW, this is from the Paladin Press blog, and if you poke around a bit you’ll find a few entries by somebody you…

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Merry Christmas

(ADDED: Just got this first one this morning and had to include it.) Source. My dog Ava: Friends took this photo of their dog on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. It was the image on their Christmas card this year, with a caption that read … … “May your dreams come true this Christmas.” My sentiments exactly.

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… and thank you!

“All mine?” asks Ava. “Nope,” sez I. A heaping plenty of it is mine. 🙂 The only problem with all these delights (and more to come, according to my Amazon wish list!) is that I’m not certain whom to thank, since several gifts came with no “from” at all. So thank you MSJ, MJR, BL, ST, KK, A, and furrydoc. And you, too, mystery Santas. Care to come through in the comments and let me know who you are? More thanks to the Duffys and the rest of the BHM crew and Rich Lucibella, Denny Hansen, and the friendly folks…

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Let it snow

🙂 Go over to Google and type in the words “let it snow.” Watch what happens. Wait a few more minutes, then use your cursor to write on the window. If you then really want to use Google (instead of, say StartingPage) you may have to “defrost” your screen.

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Monday miscellany

Trust him or not? That’s a good question. Me, I think Stephen Glass has more than earned a “trust, but verify” status. But not honest enough to be a lawyer???. Please tell me you’re joking. Well That was predictable. A black market in Cheetos. I nearly tossed my Christmas cookies yesterday when, at the local general store, I ran across tree ornaments that said, “Police officers: Angels on earth.” Among other things, I had no idea angels were prone to this kind of blatant cronyism. (Of course, I’m sure those little tags, just like these, will be used only for…

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Christopher Hitchens is dead

Through the years, people who knew him told me he was a babbling drunk. Others hated him for his intransigent atheism. After 9-11, he defended some pretty awful political ideas. Yet to the end of his days he remained one of the most readable, gutsy, iconoclastic and strong-minded writers. His repeated debunkings of Mother Teresa were a breath of fresh air — not because the old nun was a bad woman (good or bad, I really don’t know; no doubt a mixed bag like all of us), but because she was the subject of absurdly unhealthy adulation and mythologizing. He…

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Friday miscellany

J.D. Tuccille’s High Desert Barbecue gets a sterling review from Britain’s Sean Gabb. Well, here’s a cheery thought about the current economic mess. Probably true, too. Encouraging sites to offer PayPal alternatives. Good idea. Be sure to follow the links to the PayPal (or PayPal/fedgov) horror stories. Who knew that SF writer George R.R. Martin is a terrorist? Jim Bovard exposes the post office. News from Dave’s blog: Backwoods Home is now on Kindle. The headline on this one was (of course), “It’s not what it looks like! I can explain!”

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