I’ve lost count. How many “anti-violence” activists and “anti-violence” groups have been busted now for weapons violations, assaults, or homicides? A big number. The fedgov can’t manage to charge a single mega-banker for wrecking the U.S. economy through fraud and malfeasance. But the state of New York (via the ever-present, ever-righteous Cyrus Vance, Jr.) can manage 184 counts against a tiny, family-owned bank that was apparently just trying to police itself. Uh oh. No surprise. Sandra Bland, that young woman who “committed suicide” in police custody last week was reportedly a vocal activist against police brutality. Well, guess they showed…
Category: Practical Freedom
A broad category of things we can do, or things others are doing, to increase personal freedom
So I linked to (yet another) article about small houses. Which led Joel to link back to me and also to a very funny blog about people who actually live in the things. Which reminded me of tidy-up celebrity Marie Kondo (because you have to be mega-tidy to survive small-house living).
Which reminds me that, now that I’m living in normal-sized houses again, it’s time for another perspective in tiny-house living.
Okay, these small houses may not be “tiny” in Tumbleweed terms. But boy, I’d take any of ’em in a heartbeat. What a diaper-wetting crybaby. Using the government to ease his hurt feelings, of course. Upon his 85th birthday, Thomas Sowell looks back on the uneducated people who helped raise him above his roots. People who radically change their spending habits via radical rethinking. They’re inspiring. Entertaining. Great examples. But how come they always seem to be young urban dwellers without, you know, gigantic house remodel projects going on? Or six kids to feed? Don’t get me wrong; giving up…
I’m way behind the curve on this! But there are a couple of fundraisers underway to help Nicki rescue her house from child-molesting squatters who (with the help of a judge) have taken it over. Fundraiser one: Dennis at Dragon Leatherworks is auctioning two holsters (one righty, one lefty). Fundraiser two: Another Friend of Nicki has raised $5,500 toward a goal of $10,000 to help Nicki fight for her house and her rights in court on July 9. The story is outrageous. It’s the story not only of lying, child-diddling squatters in her rental house, but of a “justice” system…
It’s a fascinating and amazing thing that the last two elections have given the U.S. (among other less desirable things) a strip of cannabis legalization that runs from southern Oregon alllllll the way out to the tip of the Aleutian islands, within spitting distance of Russia.
I can’t imagine there are going to be too many “Mr. Doobees” stores out there on the islands. But in a vast stretch where once ruled the hysteria of Harry J. Anslinger, a new legal business is taking shape. Now all we need is for British Columbia to join us and the north coast weed freedomization will be complete. (And yes, yes, yes, I know that state-controlled legalization isn’t Libertopia; can we just stipulate that and not quibble?)
I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that legal pot is affecting rural areas even more than urban ones. Makes sense, of course. Ag product. Cheap land. Small towns hungry for development. But still.
Even my little area is poised to benefit, and with that in mind our local Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council pulled together a terrific panel discussion earlier this week to answer questions from us locals.
Thoreau famously went to Walden Pond to “live deliberately.” We know what that meant to him. What would living deliberately mean to you?
Security Theater of the Absurd: petitioners want to have CopBlock declared a terrorist group. Why “everybody” is moving to Texas. The reasons given are as facile as the assumption in the title, so apply grains of salt. But other state governments could learn some lessons from Texas — not that they would. So, John Tamny, how do you propose to make that last paragraph of yours a reality? In falling empires, and overripe civilizations everything becomes political. Who (or what) killed adulthood? This article is mostly by and for young women, but the phenomenon it describes is too real for…
I’m less competent when men are around. It’s kind of annoying, and it’s definitely one reason I prefer living solo. But there it is.
This usually shows around cars (where I’m genuinely befuddled) and construction work (where I have some practical knowledge). It’s not a matter of playing dumb. Not my style, that. Nor is it a matter of actually being dumb. It’s more as if an old “I’m no good” switch flips and I become fumble-fingered at things I can do perfectly well when I’m on my own.