… that our forebears were such an unruly, ungovernable bunch. Kevin D. Williamson is good. His last line is great.
Category: Resistance
Sometimes you need to say “no” to Big Brother
News avoidance lurches right along. Mix of nooz and think pieces today. New software (so far W*nd*ws only) aims to help activists detect and foil government surveillance. Get it here. Can’t say how effective it’s going to be, but it’s endorsed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Amnesty International, and other big-timers in the field. (H/T MJR) Along the same lines, Let’s Encrypt aims to bring SSL/TSL to the masses by taking the difficulties and mysteries out of those pesky web site certificates. (Remember: Encryption is subversive! Or so our masters claim. Which is, of course, all the more reason to…
Heartbroken artist with an empty house and a bull terrier gets creative. (JavaScript needed to view slideshow.) —– Some cool, fractal-like photography. (H/T SC) —– Local cranberry growers who lost their contract with Ocean Spray landed 20 pounds of their harvest on furrydoc the other day. What do you do with 20 pounds of cranberries? Furrydoc shared the bounty and instructions for drying. I took a couple of pounds and they’re in the drier now, some unsweetened and some drizzled with honey. I’m not so big on cranberries, but I do like the dried ones in salads and trail mixes.…
I was looking for a quote that I remembered as being either from Satchel Paige or Charles Fort. No dice.
When I finally narrowed the search down far enough it turned out that the quote was actually from me. But only because my brain badly mangled and probably misinterpreted something actually said by Mark Twain.
Ah, the human mind. Such a wondrous instrument.
Nevertheless, the non-quote led me to something I blogged here back in 2011. It’s the fourth of a series on “the responsibilities of a resident of a police state” and it’s worth a re-visit.
That in turn led me to a Fred Reed column of the same vintage, which is even more worth a revisit.
I’ll wait while you do that.
How one man’s decision and the right moment brought down the Berlin Wall. Something to think about next time things look hopeless.
… 8,000 glowing balloons will outline the wall’s course. This is a visualization. More images here.
From MJR comes today’s biggest grin: An elderly woman got the last word after locking a police officer in her basement, and later suing the police. Venus Green, who was 87 when she was handcuffed, roughed up and injured by police, will receive $95,000 as part of a settlement with Baltimore City. The city chose to settle the case instead of taking a chance in front of a jury. “We thought we would have a difficult time in front of a city jury, or any jury,” Baltimore City solicitor George Nilson said. Green was so put out by what police…
Going underground and keeping silent for 43 years after committing an illegal act of principle. This is a story of the “left.” But also the story of a bold & fascinating person and a creative life.
Thoreau famously went to Walden Pond to “live deliberately.” We know what that meant to him. What would living deliberately mean to you?
He do have him some big brass ones. Not to mention a knack for turning the other guy’s “ghost gun” meme on its head.