Good news (thanks to P.T.): the first 11 markets where Atlas Shrugged will be released. And a tiny hint of hopeful news (courtesy of Jim. B). Remember Nathan Fillion’s recent comment about wanting to revive Firefly? Well … The secret of long life isn’t what we’ve been told. But it may — no surprise — involve a depressing amount of exercise (NYTimes free subscription link). Whatever it involves, it doesn’t hinge on any “medical establishment” — as this depressing graph makes clear. For more impressive charts, check out Dave’s Friday blog. Silver. Shazam. The FDA pulls 500 prescription cold and…
8 CommentsLiving Freedom Posts
Faux tiling my sun porch. When I bought the place, the sun porch floor was covered with loose and broken 1950s-vintage linoleum squares. I wanted to lay porcelain tile, in which case I’d have covered the old stuff with filler and backer board. (Always the best thing to do with tiles of that vintage, because they may contain asbestos and are best left undisturbed.) But right now a fancy tile job is just not in the card$$$. So I pried up the old tiles, taking reasonable precautions. I dissolved the remaining mastic, then started painting. What you see in the…
13 CommentsIn the (awesome) comments that followed “What ifs and might-have-beens” a question came up: Do troubled individuals gravitate toward strong partners, or do those partners become strong in the fire of hard relationships? Well, a bit of both, I’m sure. But the question got me thinking about strength and what it means — way beyond the boundaries of relationships. I think strength is something like courage: you don’t know you have it until it’s called upon. And when you’re exercising it, you don’t necessarily feel like a tower of strength. On the contrary, you may feel terrified, filled with self-doubt,…
24 CommentsIn a move that was a long time coming, Wyoming just became the fourth state to infringe less on people’s right to carry concealed weapons. Congrats to all who worked so long for this. And — no surprise — a big BOO to Brady bunch spokesthing Paul Helmke, who managed to take the non-sequitur, straw-man, and post hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacies to new lows: Helmke noted Arizona was the most recent state to allow concealed carry without a permit. And he noted that a man has been charged in the Jan. 8 shooting that killed six people at…
3 CommentsGads. Joel. If there’s such a thing as reincarnation (and I hope not), I’ll return in the next life as Joel’s brain if I’m really good. I have nothing to say today. I’m overwhelmed by work, by life, by soul-baring blogitude and even more touchingly soul-baring comments. Just go read Joel. He’s freaking brilliant and funny as all get out. Me, I’m declaring a Mental Health Day. Off to play hooky. Driving to the Wonderous Place of Cheap Doors and Windows (and plumbing fixtures and floorings). Tempting myself with the Wonders of Wal-Mart. Reviving my spirits at the Discount Vitamin…
8 CommentsCass Sunstein, Obama admin regulatory czar and longtime Obama advisor, is one of the scariest men alive — and not least because he has the Orwellian gall to claim that his brand of uber-statism is actually … gak! … libertarian. Jim Bovard kicks Sunstein’s backside. The Sunsteinian doctrine in a nutshell: All rights come from government, and your right to free speech or self-defense is no more fundamental than some other guy’s “right” to a cushy job, a comfy house, guaranteed medical care, etc. On the contrary …
1 CommentI like wandering through old cemeteries. In the same spirit, every couple of years I visit the Social Security Death Index online. The entries there aren’t as poignant or informative as old tombstones (though they do contain something tombstones don’t — defunct SS numbers). But every once in a while I’ll think of people from a long time ago and enter their names. A depressing number of my old acquaintances turn out to be dead. Not because I’ve reached that age where it happens (knock wood), but because of war and drugs and other bad habits long ago. My best…
27 CommentsNow it can be conclusively revealed: Muammar Qaddafi is actually Charlie Sheen.
3 Comments… and the VIPs who got invited to a special screening of Atlas Shrugged, Part I in Los Angeles liked what they saw. A lot. One reviewer, Hans Schantz, shared the very same fears — no, the very same certainty — I had as the movie went into production: When I heard my favorite novel was being made into a movie, all the available omens boded ill: a “low-budget” production, with “no-name” stars, made independently – without the adult supervision of a real Hollywood studio, and rushed into production at the last minute to avoid loss of rights. It sounded…
4 CommentsPlague death in Chicago: A scientific detective story. Don’t tell your cat-lady friends, but they’re being manipulated. Oh. I expect they already know that. A happier detective story: Finding the lost library of Thomas Jefferson. (NYTimes free subscription link.) How Obamacare is already damaging the U.S. medical system in ways that will be hard to undo even if the Rs are sincere about repealing or defunding it. How to be the luckiest guy on the planet in four easy steps. By James Altucher. You could nitpick the specifics. (I think his third goal sets him up for a fall, in…
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