Wow. I received a bedazzlement of comments on the porno-scanners post. That shows the power of LewRockwell.com, the site that gave me the idea and then linked to the piece. Several other blogistas also wrote good rants on the subject and sent readers this way (thank you). Within the next few days, I plan to write a follow-up based on the comments (and the many links commenters provided). Right now, two article deadlines are staring me in the face, so expect a day or two of quiet. But as someone more formidable once said, I’ll be back. Some collected links…
Category: Miscellaneous
Forty-three percent of likely voters say neither party represents them. That’s progress. Now, if they’ll only realize that no third-party will ever represent them, either … Hoplophobia. It’s curable. We knew that. Former supermodel Paulina Porizkova has some lovely and candid things to say about aging. I get the feeling you could have a great conversation with this woman. Glass of wine, get a little giddy, let hair down. Lots to say. Via a link dropped by Brian into a recent comments section: Hope Bourne. Amazing woman. Sad ending, but definitely an amazing woman. Funny and sad how our strengths…
More good news/bad news on books. The good news is that I signed, packed, and shipped 52 orders today! Whew. All remaining orders that I received as of yesterday early evening will be shipped tomorrow. (Two exceptions — and those two kind people I’ll contact by email.) The bad news — though in a way it’s very good news for me! — is that I’ve already run out of copies of The Bad Attitude Guide to Good Citizenship. Ack. Just when I think orders are going to slow down, they put on a burst of speed. So if I received…
Collected stuff: I want to see this when it hits YouTube. (NY Times free subscription link.) Juan Williams was — was — one of the best on NPR. Via LewRockwell.com (see, I credit you guys, even if you don’t credit me), the clearest explanation you’re ever likely to get about how the foreclosure mess developed. And — surprise, surprise! — government’s in it every step of the way. I’m glad to see that the actions of this principled and gutsy pilot have left the ghetto of political blogs and are hitting the mainstream. May he start a movement. Via Rational…
I call BS. I also predict that knockoffs will be selling like hotcakes for $12.95 by this time next year.
I’ve yielded to all the commenters who said I should go ahead and paint my old 1950s kitchen cabinets rather than labor to strip them to bare veneer and varnish them. (See, now if I don’t like the result, it’s your fault.) As I contemplate what colors might go interestingly with pink sparkly formica countertops and faux copper, it occurs to me that the 1950s simply weren’t about good taste. In fact, the whole era was all the more tasteless because it envisioned itself as being so very, very tasteful. Young householders who’d trudged their way through the drear of…
Random musings … You might remember (and possibly even care!) that I’ve been sanding cabinets in hopes of returning my kitchen to its 1950s splendor. You guys have been more than helpful with advice. It was so good I even took most of it! Today’s been dry and sunny, so I spent the afternoon outside with cabinet doors, paint stripper, and an orbital sander. Pleasant work in pleasant conditions. But I got depressingly little done, and when I look at the acres of cabinets left to do, I quail (and perhaps even mallard and condor). So I had a bloody…
The Chilean miners’ story will no doubt become more amazing as details emerge of how they survived and organized themselves underground, particularly in those first weeks when they had scant hope of rescue. But here’s a freedomista angle the mainstream media doesn’t seem eager to cover. (Discoveries of multiple mistresses battling startled wives are much more titillating.) You know how I sometimes like to link to “footnote people”? Well, how about a footnote building? And photos of it (pdf). It seems that some scammed investors didn’t notice (or thought it was an innocent error) that the oil-boom skyscraper was to…
Groan. Time magazine is going hysterical on its cover — again. And it’s about militias. Again. Jesse Walker shreds ’em. Dropped into the comments section by Philalethes, but far too funny to be buried there: The Mortgage Bankers Association, which rails against strategic defaults … strategically defailts. (Video.) “I can afford higher taxes. But they’ll make me work less.” Hm. Ya don’t say. (Actually, there’s some pretty good analysis here that makes the impact of taxes on high-income people look even more painful than we already know.) “Abolish drunk driving laws!” Sez Radley Balko. Per Pat, the indestructable Happy Meal.…
They debunk it. And they debunk it. But no matter what they say, the story of the pink mystery goop remains as unappetizing as ever. Wanna pay $50,000 for a place in an underground community? (What’s up with this business of preparing to survive the end of the world, though? I mean, if it’s the end. Of the world. Well … uh, it’s THE END. Might as well spend your money on a big party instead of a dark hole in the ground.) “13 Steps That Would Guarantee the Next Economic Collapse.” And guess who’s busy doing all 13? Per…