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Category: Miscellaneous

Monday miscellany

Qaddafi: Our Mortal Enemy. Yeah, I guess he must have been, given the company he kept. Ooooh. What would you do? How come with them it’s always “a training issue”? That is, when it’s not a non-disclosable “personnel matter”? Or, (via Joel and Carl) the result of stress? I dunno about you, but I know lots of people with PTSD who don’t routinely threaten to assassinate their fellow humans. (Carl also asks an excellent question about cops and military service here.) The freelance revolution. This is either an attempt to put lipstick on the unemployment pig or it’s the MSM…

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I’m ba-a-a-ck

Returned from a lightning trip to Montana last night bearing warm memories and a freezer full of Highland beef (which my friend L. and I will divvy this morning, with some going to my vet in part payment for excellent dog care). I also returned with the generously donated raffle rifle. It’s not the Mini-14 we talked about but a rebel rifle that offers even more potential for Customized Claire Camo. I should be posting photos later today. Also plan to be catching up with both email and deadlines. I had less Internet access on the trip than I anticipated…

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Random photo nonsense post

I’m deadlining madly for the next two weeks. And when not making my way through a pile of assignments, I’ll be making my way to Montana and back. It’s a whirlwind trip; just a few days. But the cause is excellent. A rancher — and blog reader — and his wife (who he says is a much nicer person than he is) are giving me a side of organically raised grass-fed Highland beef and are paying part of the cost of the freezer to house it. All I have to do is cover the butcher’s fees. My friend L., whose…

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Monday miscellany

“Five Financial Lessons You’ll Learn from the Zombie Apocalypse.” Uh … yeah. Bovard on raising hell in subsidized housing. Typical government solution to a government problem. I’ve been wondering how long it would be before commentators started predicting the killer-rabbit moment. “Pope Tells Pilgrims to Stay True to Faith.” Why is this “news”? Why on freaking earth is this news? It’s right up there with the headline the MSM prints every six months or so: “Pope Prays for World Peace.” I mean, nothing against Catholicism. As religions go, it was one of the best I ever tried out. The pope…

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From the animal-rescue mailbox

Or Next time you think I’m showing too much sunshiny faith in humanity, remind me of this so I’ll get real again. You may recall that I handle email for a local animal-rescue group. Well, here’s the latest to cross our mailbox. Names changed to protect innocent and guilty alike: Hi my name is [Moronia] and I adopted two kittens from you about two months ago their names were [Oliver Twist] n [Poor Pitiful Pearl]. I hate to have to ask if I can return them but seems like that is my last option. We started seeing signs of fleas…

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Monday miscellany

First, to assist with your Monday morning work avoidance: Jake MacGregor posted three new chapters last week, beginning with Chapter 25 in which Our Intrepid Hero … dons a dress and discovers why it really isn’t his style. “The Five Stages of Awakening.” Dog helps rape victims in court and provokes controversy. This is most absolutely definitely not safe for work. And Felonious Munk’s grasp of economics might not rise to Misean levels. Still. a pretty good rant. States rights isn’t only a “right-wing” position. More in the common-ground department. Blueberry season! It feels as if summer has barely begun.…

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Thursday miscellany

Many hat tips today. To S, C^2 and Matt, another. Have you noticed that companies you deal with online increasingly force you to place symbols, capitals, and numbers in your passwords — under the illusion that their nannying guarantees a password stronger than any you could possibly invent for yourself? In its own inimitable style XKCD notes the folly of that. Another bank closes. But not for the usual post-crash reason. Nope. Just the usual governmental reason. “A right to be forgotten”? There’s an interesting concept. Could it really interfere with the right to free speech? More village self-defense. But…

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Monday miscellany

“Three deputies equals one SWAT team.” A memory from reader ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ (a former LEO) of a moment at the dawn of the “bad new days” of total militarization. Russian villagers defend their town. (Tip o’ hat to Matt, another.) A thorough history of “The Nixon Shock: How Nixon stopped backing the dollar with gold and changed global finance, a 40-year-old decision that still echoes in Greece, Ireland, and the U.S.” And a perfect example of how sloppily the most momentous decisions get made by Our Masters. AntiSec. Revenge of the nerds. Raising a fist to death in the Warsaw Ghetto.…

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Monday miscellany

Pitbull vs kitten. Oooooh, you can only imagine the carnage! These people are so cheery and upbeat I want to smack ’em. But what they’re doing is wonderful. Now there’s the power of creative risk taking! (Sad irony, though, that they felt a need to include a question in their FAQ about whether their children are getting a proper education. How could anybody assume that sitting in a classroom could be a better education than they’re getting in this adventure?) “I Was Out to See America.” Riding the rails in the Great Depression. (Via Old Printer who points out that…

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Friday miscellany

Three new chapters this week in Jake MacGregor’s novel The Advisor. Chapter 19 and 20 on Tuesday. Chapter 21 last night. Good news from the lemonade wars. Well, if anything can be considered good news in this business of cops and code authoritah shutting down kids’ front-yard ventures. Can you imagine the kind of person who would — with “official” blessing — go out of his way to yell at little girls for selling lemonade? The mind boggles. But then, I suppose we’re supposed to be grateful that the criminal little lemonade pushers weren’t beaten and tasered to death. (NOTE:…

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