A friend’s dog died yesterday in a fluke accident. Two of her dogs were playing. One caught its jaw in the other’s collar. Both panicked and fought, bloodying the house in their struggle. The one with the caught collar strangled. My friend furrydoc rushed to the scene but was too late to help. The dogs belonged to the woman who took these photos. She gives her heart, soul, and considerable talent to animals. Worse, the dog that died was the special buddy of her sweet, forlorn adolescent son and had been the boy’s mainstay during dark days. Worse and worse,…
14 CommentsLiving Freedom Posts
Mark Steyn on America as a banana republic. Political views mess up your ability to do math. Probably other things, too. Fascinating study but not surprising. Another example of confirmation bias in action. Do you get junk emails from your acquaintances urging you to connect with them on LinkedIn? I used to get a fair number of those and thought, “Wow, for people who supposedly know me, these guys are sure idiots.” Like I’m ever going to join LinkedIn. Like I think it’s just wonderful for acquaintances to give my address to all and sundry. Then I got a fervently…
10 CommentsA room floored with pennies. Never heard of such a thing until yesterday, but now I want one. There are various ways to do a penny floor. They all seem to produce gorgeous results and, if you discount the DIY labor of installation, are fairly cheap as floorings go (about $2.88 per square foot in pennies plus some adhesives and coatings). Most of the objections raised here are easily answered. Except the one about … oops, metal being conductive. So, you science-minded types: would a penny floor, well covered with an epoxy coating, threaten life & limb? The phrase “to…
16 CommentsToo true, but too funny, “news” report on the latest shooting. Via Of Arms & the Law.
5 CommentsOn the darker side It’s just theory and the technology of it is very much over my pretty little head. But Bruce Schneier notes that it’s possible to insert surveillance almost undetectably at the microchip level. More evidence that while the NSA may know what you’re doing, it has no idea what its own people are doing. The ACLU doesn’t come right out and call the FBI America’s secret police. But pretty close. Alas, they still imagine the agency might investigate and reform itself. (Via Sipsey Street) But of course, it’s all just okey-dokey-hunky-dory-nifty-zorch because none of it’s unconstitutional! On…
14 CommentsYou’ve heard of the non-aggression principle, otherwise known as the ZAP or the NAP. A lot of freedomistas regard it as the golden rule for a free society. Well, Michael W. Dean and Neema Vedadi have now coined a phrase to define its opposite: The aggression principle. That’s the rule behind all government, of every type, everywhere. We all know what it is. We’ve been talking about it for a long time. Why hasn’t anybody ever named it? (Michael and Neema call this podcast “one for the ages.”)
7 CommentsI don’t mean what do you expect from government. I can make a pretty good guess at that. I’m thinking of the ordinary Joe or Josie who’s shocked and indignant over and over again upon finding that government isn’t a caring parent or diligent servant. Was talking with a local real estate agent today. He’s had a sale pending for two months. Deal is solid. Buyer’s credit is golden. House has appraised for more than the selling price. No problems whatsoever. Except it’s a VA loan and there’s one piece of paper missing (a DD-214, for ye of military experience).…
28 CommentsGood news. There’s a typeface designed to be hard for NSA computers to read. Bad news. It’s pretty hard for humans to read, too. More of an art/protest project at this point (though created by a former NSA contractor). But just a taste of how smart people will ultimately defeat the Stasi. Kent McManigal on avoiding being sucked into people’s negative vortexes. You know those strange names parents are giving their kids, these days? Names like Naiphthan, Elyivya, and Nevaeh, and J’oshau? Well, we can all be glad nobody’s getting stuck with these names any more. And speaking of names…
22 Comments“The FBI was the obvious suspect.” What a perfect choice of words. (H/T JB) Rescued fighting dogs now “being trained to love.” Don’t really think they need training to love; mainly to trust after the hells they’ve been through. Happier dogs — and cats — at The Fluffington Post. Are pants-pissing cowards attracted to police work? Or does the job bring it out in them? At least this time when the cops were forced to investigate themselves for shooting dead an unarmed man they didn’t find that “procedures were followed.” Summers is out. And here’s a nice little act of…
10 CommentsThings are bad in the Stasi state. Things get worse in the Stasi state. Worse yet, each revelation of governmental lawlessness, Big Brotherism, and contempt for We the People is met with a giant yawn. It’s so easy to despair. Then along comes a reminder that not everybody is yawning. What you laugh at says a lot. The story arc for the above started with the September 6 panel. H/T to JB for making my day.
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