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Living Freedom Posts

Midweek links

  • Is there a “second Snowden” at the NSA? James Bamford, who knows as much as anybody else outside the fedgov’s blackbox of spies, believes there is.
  • In any case, we’re all in the NSA’s big, happy social network, whether we want to be or not. Not to mention the increasing number of people being forced onto Microsoft’s anti-social social network.
  • In Louisiana, nimble, willing private help for flood victims went far beyond the Cajun Navy. (Interesting use of technology, too. Could make me rethink the evils of F*c*b**k. And this is a case where phone-based geolocation may have saved lives.) 8 Comments
  • There is hope

    Silver here.  Claire has been very kind to lend me her soapbox.  It is a pleasure and privilege to address her audience of freedomistas and freedom outlaws. I’ll contribute to this blog from time to time, but most of my efforts will be in the new forum.  I’ll cover money, free-market economics, business, taxation, commerce, a few other areas where I have some expertise. There was some good, fun news recently, and a number of free-market/freedomista (they are related!) web sites picked it up. The Federal reserve created a Facebook page,***** (dire warning below) and the comments are overwhelmingly negative.…

    17 Comments

    So, you might be wondering, what’s new with the still-developing parts of this new operation?

    I just had to laugh. The fundraising thermometer (on the right sidebar, or scroll down for you on mobile) has been sitting at $6,988 for the last week, and while that’s a glorious sum when my great hope was to raise $5,500, it apparently gave one existing (and very generous) donor an itch between her shoulder blades. So she kicked in another $12, made it an even $7,000 — and order is restored to the universe. Which reminded me, it’s time for an … Update on the new site build While it’s all still happening behind the scenes, a lot’s…

    22 Comments

    Garage sale tech coup

    I love it when I find a garage-sale find. Here’s the latest. A fancy-schmancy, new-in-box, dual-band Linksys WRT AC1200 “smart router.” Price on Amazon $133.99 (depending on the day of the week, your browser, the casting of the I-Ching, your astrological chart, and Jeff Bezos’ mood; you might find it for as little at $99.99, thanks to Amazon’s recent habit of mucking around with prices). Receipt in the shiny new box said the seller paid over $160 for it at Best Buy or somesuch place a few months back. Dunno why he never used it. It was marked $45, which…

    11 Comments

    The usual cheery links for beginning your week

  • Just in case anybody imagined problems in the housing market got solved after 2008.
  • And in the Department of Uncommon Common Sense Department, Jim Bovard says, farmers ought to farm (but of course politicians have a lot to say about that).
  • In Chicago, a tool cops said was supposed to help people is just ending up hassling the hapless. (H/T LA) 11 Comments
  • The center cannot hold

    I recall, from the hallucinatory mists of childhood, much public advice to “worship every week at the church or synagogue of your choice.” Memory says there were televised PSAs. It was certainly common political and social “wisdom,” often spoken. Even then, even as a kid, I didn’t get it. I could not grasp this notion that everybody should simply believe in something — no matter what — and trot off obediently every week to confirm that belief — no matter what. This is nothing against religion. Nothing against churchgoing, for those so inclined. This is nothing against sincere belief in…

    45 Comments

    What the Second Amendment actually protects

    At first this may seem like a standard (though well-done) lib-conserv historical analysis of the 2A. But the conclusion about what the Second actually protects? Now that’s a bit more intriguing. (Via Jerry the Geek) The Adaptive Curmudgeon has some related thoughts. Not directly about the 2A. But about the state of mind of a seemingly complacent populace.

    12 Comments

    Help me out with a little blog “housekeeping”

    We could use some relief after yesterday’s heavy (and eventually contentious to the point of closing comments) discussion. So I thought maybe you could help with a little blog “housekeeping.” Everybody seems to like the new blog (thank you). But I’m still tinkering with fine points of design. On two of those, I’d like to know your preferences. Organizing comments When Living Freedom was at BHM, comments were displayed strictly in chronological order. Here, we’ve got nesting comments. When you reply to another Commentariat member, your comment goes beneath theirs, slightly offset, instead of in the order it was posted.…

    66 Comments