Money – Page 38 – Living Freedom

Weekend miscellany

Published May 21, 2016 12:28 pm by Claire

Just past the halfway mark of my six months without home Internet. Not too painful so far, right?

Its original purpose of lowering monthly payments to clear last year’s home-improvement debts kind of went kablooey when Dave quit paying for the blog. At that point, I emptied savings to clear nearly all that debt, figuring any unnecessary monthly payments would not be a good idea right now.

Kept a small emergency fund, of course. Always keep a small emergency fund unless you’re living in your car and eating out of Dumpsters.

My latest foundling

Meet my latest forest foundling …

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Friday links

Published May 20, 2016 11:02 am by Claire

The barefoot one didn’t manage to freeze Mama. Reading this article, I’m not sure whether Colton Harris-Moore is a naive young kid or a crass hustler who’s going to head right straight for trouble again when they release him from prison this summer. “This Bud’s for you, America.” Another one to read mainly because it’s by George Will, who writes like a barbed angel. The whole business with Budweiser’s temporary name change is as pathetic as it is cynical. Why are house prices soaring across this Great Land of Budweiser? One guess. When headlines lie: “American Airlines is fed up…

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Friday links

Published May 13, 2016 12:09 pm by Claire

Be patient, citizens! That is an order! Your government is hard at work protecting you. (I do rather wonder what those TSA lines snaking up and down escalators look like. Or worse, feel like to stand in, especially if you’re stuck at the top or bottom where the stairs disappear. But not enough to want to go to an airport to see for myself.) Speaking of gummint “protection,” be glad you didn’t run into this employee of the Federal Protective Service. Whoo. gutsy woman! Militias going mainstream? So sez The Guardian with a surprising minimum of tsking about it. But…

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Plans, plans, plans (blog and house)

Published May 10, 2016 2:41 am by Claire

:So the big question is: what do I do about the blog now that BHM is no longer paying me to do it? You had some good thoughts on that. Actually, the big questions are both that and how do I plan for/budget for the final enormous project(s) on Ye Olde Wreck, which I hope to tackle next spring and summer? These big questions dovetail. Bear with me a moment. The back half of Ye Olde Wreck needs a new foundation: replacement of three beams 24 to 38 feet long, all new posts, jacking the floor up four inches, and…

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Tuesday links

Published May 3, 2016 12:26 pm by Claire

Pretty amazing way for a 16-year-old to live. (H/T JB) OTOH, some people may just have too much time on their hands. And hatchets and beer in them. (H/T ML) Speaking of too much time and hands … did you know there’s a (not joking) world of rock-paper-scissors competition? (Tip o’ hat to jed) Looking for some good hard science fiction? (H/T MJR) Get businesses freaked out enough about “discriminating against the disabled” and they’ll fall for anything. 12 lessons to learn and hang onto forever. (Especially for business, but plenty have applications in the rest of the world, too.)…

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Bad blog news

Published May 2, 2016 11:16 am by Claire

As of now, BHM is no longer paying me to write this blog. Just got word on Saturday. They’re not closing the blog down. I can continue to write it on my own, if I wish. And Dave Duffy has offered me “behind the scenes” types of work and possibly print work to make up for the loss. (BHM is like a good family that way.) Jackie Clay has also been offered similar terms. Only Mas Ayoob’s blog is unaffected, far as I know. Of course, because the Duffys have always allowed me those wonderful Amazon links and occasional use…

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David Codrea visits Mike Vanderboegh

Published April 25, 2016 7:55 pm by Claire

A 24-hour round-trip drive. But a wonderful thing for friends whose next meeting can only take place “on the other side.” If you haven’t yet sent Mike a gratitude offering for all he’s done for gun rights and freedom — for all the inspiration, ideas, leadership, and strength he’s shown even as his body betrayed him — this would be a good time. Even if you can afford only $5 or $10, it would be a great opportunity to say thanks to Mike.

Solve the medical mess: share this book

Published April 19, 2016 10:27 am by Claire

The High Price of Socialized Medicine:
A History of Government Meddling in American Health Care,
And How a Free Market Would Solve Our Problems
By Dr. James W. Brook
302 pages

I owe Dr. Jim an apology. It must be two months now since he sent me a copy of his book for review. I meant to get on it right away. But you know, I just could not bring myself to pick up and read that book.

It’s not that there was anything wrong with it. On the contrary, at a glance it was obviously a solid, professional piece of work. I already knew Dr. Jim, an occasional Commentariat participant, writes clearly with an amazingly light touch given the subject matter. The book is lucid, well laid-out, and easy on the eye.

I just could not force myself to endure a rehash of the hash that politicians are making of what was once (and in some ways still is) the best medical system on the planet.

Once I belatedly opened the cover, I realized I had nothing to dread.

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Friday links

Published April 8, 2016 12:15 pm by Claire

Talk about swords into plowshares! California city government v*tes to turn a former prison into a cannabis oil factory. Super high-tech tiny house. Pretty cool. (Helps to be a boatbuilder and cabinetmaker.) But c’mon. How much did it cost? (H/T MJR) 🙂 How not to take a gun selfie. And speaking of selfies, I assume this study (which concludes — wow, whodathunkit? — that narcissists are more likely to post and crave feedback on selfies) must have been funded by government. Not ours, fortunately. And speaking of governments: who’s named in the Panama Papers? Named so far, we should add.…

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The Panama Papers. Duck! Here comes another moral crusade.

Published April 6, 2016 1:20 pm by Claire

I’ll be doing a little extra blogging this week because I’ve been doing physical labor (drywalling) and need a break from it. Also because … Panama Papers. I hadn’t heard of the scandal until Monday when jc2k linked to it in comments. By then it was already 24 hours old (ancient in Internet Time) and had been thoroughly clucked over by all the usual suspects. The collective bottom line seems not only to be, “OMG, gov-o-crats are hiding ill-gotten gains offshore!” (this is a shock to anybody?) but, “Offshore privacy should be done away with!” Um … yeah. Hasn’t offshore…

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Category: Money