Okay, here’s one for the lighter side. The only thing I miss about not having TV is great commercials. But with YouTube, no problem. This is my absolute, all-time favorite SuperBowl spot (other than the incomparable “1984”, of course). From 2007, I believe. On the other hand, I never saw this one until this afternoon. But it could really be my second favorite. From SuperBowl 1999 …
3 CommentsLiving Freedom Posts
The Constitution as an 18th-century Patriot Act. Hm. I’ve always thought of that applying more to the Alien and Sedition Acts. But it’s an interesting point. Anyhow, I’m definitely of the school that says, “The Constitution isn’t perfect, but it’s better than what we have now.” (Any idea who originated that quote?) Last week while looking for a link to the Whiskey Rebellion, I stumbled across this cool site dealing with booze, with some emphasis on the bootleg variety. I’m not a drinker myself. I fall asleep after one glass of wine. I think beer tastes like dish detergent and…
6 CommentsI’m going to be traveling soon (more about that in the coming weeks) and will be spending time in places where you Don’t Drink the Water. Or else. I already know about some common pitfalls and mistakes. I know, for instance, that you also Don’t Use the Ice Cubes. And Don’t Eat Fruit unless you’ve peeled it yourself. Ditto on not eating raw veggies, which may have been washed in the Dreaded Water. (Which pretty much blows my whole nutritional plan. Ah well.) I’ll brush my teeth only with bottled stuff. But I can’t figure this: Can you wash dishes…
26 CommentsToday is the birthday of James Otis, Jr., according to my copy of The Liberty Calendar. Few people have heard of him. He’s the man who said, “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” (Never mind that he should have just shortened that to, “Taxation is tyranny”; he made a good start.) He argued brilliantly against the writs of assistance that were so contentious in the years before the American Revolution. (We could use him again these days.) Otis unfortunately went crazy. And he died young — struck by lightning, exactly as he had hoped he would be — while others went…
2 Comments1. The Ultimate Answer to Kings. A few years back, on a forum that was in those days known as The Claire Files, I kept running into this guy. I’d be reading along in some thread. I’d think of a scintillatingly witty reposte … and before I could click to post it … this guy, Joel, would say exactly what I was thinking, only say it better and shorter. The nerve of that man, huh? He’s blogging these days, and his blog is The Ultimate Answer to Kings. When you go there, you can never be quite sure what you’ll…
4 CommentsShazam. $2.5 million bucks for a 30-second SuperBowl spot to advertise the census. $138 million (or more) for the entire Cooperate with Your Masters campaign. In 28 languages, yet. Are these folks Soviet-style arrogant, spending money on their Big-Bro agenda as if the poor taxpayers actually had any? Or are they flat-out desperate because more and more people are realizing that census resistance is a safe, no-nonsense, and ever-increasing way for people to send a go-to-hell message to Washington? Or both? A couple of months ago, on a visit to the Big City, my friend and I had to scoot…
9 Comments“In a warm little burrow, deep in the ground, a family of mice had a baby. His name was Indy-Pindy.” By the end of the first page of Kent McManigal’s new children’s book, young Indy-Pindy, The Liberty Mouse, has left his comfy burrow and set off, in the grand style of old-fashioned adventures, to make his way in the world. The first creature he meets is a snake who soothingly assures Indy that he doesn’t need that thorn he picked up as a weapon. “I’m here to help you,” smiles sneaky-snaky Gub. And that gives you a pretty good introduction…
2 CommentsWendy McElroy asks, “What is happiness?” Good question. Decent beginning of an answer.
5 Comments“… whoever should refuse to receive in payment Continental bills, should be declared and treated as an enemy of his country and be excluded from inter-course with its inhabitants.”
Leave a CommentHere’s a small collection of stuff I’ve picked up or thoughts I’ve thunk during the last week. This might become a regular feature. Or not. 🙂 An astute observer dropped this into the comments on a census post this morning: “Don’t Trust the Census.” Maybe you knew that so-called “confidential” census data was used to round up Japanese-Americans during World War II. Did you know that General Sherman — he of the unpunished “civil” war crimes — used census data in his genocidal march to the sea? The virtues of adversity. I mentioned the heroic Sister Kenny in my recent…
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