Last week you no doubt heard news about the highly successful scam: The Obama administration will pay your utility bills! Just give us your social security number … First thought is what kind of moron would fall for that? Second thought is: a whole nation of morons. Isn’t that exactly how the welfare state works, anyhow? —– Speaking of dumb stuff to fall for, Microsoft is revamping its Office suite. One of the big changes is that it will now store all documents and settings in the cloud by default. (H/T PT for the link.) Nothing against the cloud. I…
27 CommentsLiving Freedom Posts
I guess there’s always hope. Man recovers sports car that was stolen from him 42 years ago. “The notion of leaving money in private pockets is never considered — perhaps because it would be an unnatural act.” The return of SOPA. Just starve the beast. Bravo, Judy Morris! Now mind you, if you intend (for heaven knows what reason) to link to any page belonging the London 2012 Olympics organization, you’re only allowed to do it if you’re not being mean to them. So, since I know what nice folk you all are, here the link to their terms-of-use page.…
2 CommentsLast night I watched Woman in Black, mostly to see Daniel Radcliffe playing a grownup (which he did well). The movie was powerfully atmospheric and so genuinely scary that a couple of times a chill ran down my spine — which I always thought was only a metaphor. Nevertheless, at bottom it was, like all ghost stories, pretty silly. That, and the much-less-good ghost movie The Innkeepers, got me thinking. Ghost stories are always all about atmosphere — ivy-choked Victorian mansions, Olde New England inns, mossy graveyards, mists and fogs and shadows — all the usual stuff. Which usually serves…
29 CommentsAh, now here’s a nice little (dirty bomb) monkeywrench of the surveillance state. Nothing (narcos) new in the concept (ahem, I wrote about doing this with email waaaaaaay back in one of those early books and even then I probably stole the (yellowcake*) idea from others who had it first). But elegant (jihad) execution. And a good article. (H/T MLS) Speaking of the surveillance state, here’s an update on the progress of the upcoming “untappable” ISP. Are “they” going to let Nicholas Merrill do it? And look! The NSA chief’s lips are moving! You know what that means. Amazon and…
11 CommentsThis is a real book. You can buy it on Amazon. (And I’m figuring since at least two of you bought Obama Chia Planters last Christmas, this book is a natural for readers of Living Freedom.) It is apparently not a parody. Or at least not an intentional one. And the writer, according to his Amazon blurbette, is a pastor on … wait for it, wait for it … Wall Street. You see, this is another example of why I simply can’t write satire any more. The world is already so perfectly self-satirizing.
6 CommentsWhat John Venlet says. Joel over at The Ultimate Answer to Kings (now at its own domain name, joelsgulch.com) is in dire need of a new prosthetic leg — which the good old U.S. health-care system has priced way, way out of his reach. I know Joel. I know how long he’s suffered with his old leg, despite benefactors having bought a much better foot for him a few years back. I’ve seen the sores on his stump with my own eyes. I know how the manual labor that brings in his small living is hurting the hell out of…
12 CommentsChortle! Pro-gunners use gun buyback program to fund a shooting camp. (Tip o’ hat to PT.) Best explanation yet of the LIBOR scandal and its implications. Or are we suffering too much scandal fatigue to care? Here’s James Howard Kunstler’s take: “All this points to a dangerous new period of political history, a deadly Hobbesian scramble to evade the falling timber in a burning house as the rudiments of a worldwide social contract go up in flames.” Agree or not, the man writes like a demon. Yet another reason to avoid airports. I am not delusional enough. Talk about local…
8 CommentsThe Dollar Vigilante has a new feature — a monthly advice column called “Dear Slavey.” It started off with a bang on July 2, when “Slavey” advised some poor credit-card serf to “Just. Don’t. Pay.” No surprise, this drew feedback and some heated back-and-forthing about the morality of keeping one’s pledges. Slavey’s position is that banks are corrupt from top to bottom and unilaterally change their “agreements” with us at will, so eff ’em all. Besides, businesses walk away from billions of dollars in debt without an eyeblink. He does warn, however, that in some states you can now be…
33 CommentsOur politicians should be so partisan! (H/T MJR) Another reason to have a dog. Or at least let the kidlets play in the dirt. Sweet dog-and-his-boy story via MamaLiberty. Oy. Now the security state is worried about drone hijackings. Me, I figure some of my friends could make better uses of drones than the gummint ever will. Bacon or bagel for breakfast? Well, if you don’t count the nitrates … Wendy McElroy has a new book out. Sounds like a must-read. Small-scale farming. Not just cool and trendy — but creating a new profit model? Considering relocating offshore? Panama just…
10 CommentsSummer comes suddenly in these parts, often turning up (as it did this year) after a relentlessly cold, wet spring. I once heard an explanation about it — something to do with a high-pressure ridge offshore that has to build up a certain amount of … oh, something or another. But once it does … whatever it has to do … man, it’s glorious. It might only be glorious for a week, but it’s a brilliant week. That’s this week. So along with everyone else in the neighborhood, I’ve been outside hammering and painting. When I’m not out “working” on…
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