Why do people never get it? If store shelves look like this after a single snowy weekend, how are they going to look when something really serious hits? (H/T JB)
Sheesh. I think we need an adorable dog picture here for a little sanity break. (This one is also H/T JB — but not the same JB :-) )
Surely some of us have lefty friends who are nevertheless pro-gun. (Yes, they still exist.) Here’s a bumper sticker you might want to encourage them to adopt.
How do you have meaningful due process when everything is a crime? Glenn Reynolds answers in “Ham Sandwich Nation.” (Per J.)
Everybody knows about the infamous “no-fly” list. But did you have any idea there’s also a “no-credit” list you can end up on if you happen to share the name of a suspected drug dealer, money launderer, etc.? And of course … it’s secret and you can’t appeal. Ah, the wonderful Land of the Free!
You think what New York politicians just did to gun owners was bad? T’aint nothin’ compared with what they wanted to do — and keep secret. (Tip o’ hat to MJR.)
The great Glenn Greenwald on Wall Street and Obama. The minions of O will destroy Aaron Swartz and lock medical marijuana providers in prison. But steal billions, ruin the economy, and you get dinner at the White House. “The real mystery from all of this is that it has not led to greater social unrest.” Yet.
Finally, your heartwarming story of the day: Cat born without leg bones to get an operation thanks to the Internet. (H/T C-B)
I intended to write a long (and no-doubt Deeply Profound) meditation on the above. And on how, even if we were all flying around in those personal gyrocopters the futurists of the 1950s were all so certain we’d own now, life would still be pretty much life, humans would still be oh-so-very-human, and time would still be pretty much wasted.
But my brain has been feeling soggy and loggy the last few days, as if somebody left it in tepid bathwater and it got all pruney.
That may be a good sign. Sometimes I get like this when Ye Olde Braine is cogitating on something Vitally Important that it just hasn’t informed me about yet. But for now …
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All that fancy pocket-tech isn’t only for looking at pictures of cats.
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I also thought I’d write something reflecting on this rather interesting essay on how modern brains are being programmed to destroy logic. (Very long but thoughtful; the bit toward the end about new-minted gun-banner and former Vatican attorney Alexis Haller is an eye-opener.)
But go. Do your own reflecting. You’re better at it than I at the moment. (H/T to WL for the link.)
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And here’s a charming monkeywrench for you folks who plan to bury guns — or not bury them. (Thanks JB!)
It may be stuff like this that’s got my brain feeling as lively as a bowl of cold oatmeal this week. Obama worship. Not sure. But you’ve got to admit that when a large part of the nation thinks in these Obama-as-Jesus terms even after seeing him in action for four years, we are surrounded by some scary, scary people for whom logic and facts are definitely not factors.
I agree with Joel; Monday’s coronation ceremony (or re-re-coronation ceremony, as Bear pointed out) was weirdly inescapable even for those of us who usually manage to avoid all such rot.
Even the little bits of it I heard or heard about on the radio made it seem as though something far worse than usual has crawled into the heart of the land. I couldn’t decide whether the Second (or is it third?) Coronation of King Obama was more like a Roman spectacle or more like Germany in the 1930s. All it needed was Leni Riefenstahl.
The people of Colorado (and elsewhere) are beginning to wake up to the fact that police have become wanton killers of their four-legged family members.
I knew the name Tim Racer through dog rescue. He and his wife founded BadRap, one of the first pit bull rescues. They were important in the unprecedented rehabilitation of the Michael Vick dogs. But man oh man, look what else he does! Turns out he’s an accomplished restorer of carousel animals and has branched out into creating (with the collaboration of painter Pam Hessey) these beautiful custom carousel dogs.
Hey, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals says it’s okay to flip off a cop. Not necessarily smart, but okay. You can tell the nice officer that between taser zaps. (H/T to JW for the good news.)
And speaking of police: Rapid DNA: a new tool coming soon to a thug near you. (H/T to J for the bad news.)
Oh, c’mon. Did somebody in Congress really tell off Freedom Feens? Nawwwww. Really? It’s true Congressional staffers have committed some pro-government vandalizing at Wikipedia, so who knows?
Late on this one, too. (Sigh; last week was busy.) But a big thank you to Jim Bovard for giving such a big plug to Rats!, the anti-snitch book — despite his writerly horror about giving work away for free. He was waiting for me to get the book on Amazon — something I haven’t done yet.
And now here’s a real cat burglar:
Thanks to H for the laugh. And if — once again — WordPress strips out the video embed code at the moment this blog entry goes live, here’s where you can see what WP stole: http://biggeekdad.com/2011/05/cat-burglar/.
WordPress has apparently for a long time had a “feature” (not a bug) that removes videos when you use their WISIWYG blog editing function. I never use that. Their latest upgrade (sic) has expanded that lovely feature to the editing function I do use — which regularly ruins posts that I schedule for later appearance, like this one, which is going live in the middle of the night.
Thank you SO much, Dear People of WordPress, for deciding that I really don’t need to post cute cat videos after all.
The rest of you, don’t worry. I’ve learned to save the video codes. Once a blog has gone live, WordPress does kindly allow me to put it back in. So you won’t suffer a shortage of adorable kitties and cute puppies for long. (I know that’s why you really come here, after all.)
Thanks for continuing to put up with the “lite” posting. Posting will probably be on-and-off all this week but should be back to normal by next Monday.
If you have a knowledge or skill you want to share but don’t have the ability to edit your own video, he’ll even do that for you from your raw footage.
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I received my own KTD the other day via Scott’s ready-made drive business. Scott takes the tedious and technical work out of getting those 600+ preparedness documents into usable form. He’s currently selling KTDs for $35, which includes the price of the drive and shipping.
It’s a treasure trove of info. The only equivalent I can think of is Backwoods Home’s“Whole Sheebang” — which is probably better organized and more fun to read but also costs a bunch more.
The drive can be used as a bootable, complete with very simple Knoppix (Linux) operating system. Or the files can be accessed from whatever operating system you’re already using. The useful files are in two folders (KTD_extra_files and the original CD3WD_40). While some are academic papers or commercial advisories and a few aren’t wildly useful, there’s a ton of info on everything from water purification to raising rabbits.
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Though I pledged nothing but good (or at least productive) news for two weeks, I’m having trouble shaking the black mood engendered by the vultures over Newtown. I can’t even crack a smile observing the irony that the same people who long to do this to us, have no problem whatsoever with this.
I don’t want to live in a country that approves of (let alone does, or submits to) either. Some days I think the only thing keeping me in this Land of Dying Freedom is my passel of animals.
I’ll consider this to be at least productive, if not exactly good news. Something to think about: my ex-pat friends are happy.
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At least it’s good that more of the media is finally recognizing the perverse incentives of the snitching-for-profit racket.
Here’s Bruce Schneier on the subject. (Several people sent me that one.)
And here’s a handy interactive from USA Today, of all places. (With H/T to the Infamous Oregon Law Hobbit.)
And although this is rather melancholy, it’s also a gentle meditation on Truth and Beauty. And on thinking rather than screaming meaningless political slogans at one another. “Chiaroscuro Musings and Rantings” by novelist S.J. Griffo.
To close on a more cheery subject: puppies. Puppies and hunky guys. Together for a good cause.
Sorry, heterosexual guy readers. I don’t have any equivalent for you today. Surely there must still be tool companies producing calendars for you, even now that it’s become politically incorrect.
