Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 by Claire | 11 Comments »
The Lt. Gov. of Texas asked the Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System to weigh in on campus carry of firearms. Pretty good response (pdf) for a bureaucrat. He nails the central issue: trust. (H/T LarryA)
How one domino the size of a Tic Tac could topple a whole building. I’d like to think this makes a great metaphor for freedom, but even if it doesn’t, it’s a great fun physics fact.
Sunday, February 15th, 2015 by Claire | 17 Comments »
Dear Internet,
I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I saw your potential when you were just a raw young thing, before you even knew yourself.
I was wowed by your intellectual promise as early as 1987, when you helped me upload an article to a magazine editor (oh, that 300 baud brainpower!). You seduced me with your charm when a single funny FidoNet remark about “being in Claire’s shoes” led to a long romance. I remember my first glimpse of the real, mature you, when a client said, “Hey, you’ve got to see this. It’s this thing called Netscape that gets you on to something called the Worldwide Web.”
Oh, those were the days!
You and I were destined for each other. It was clear.
You were so gallant at first. Without you, my first book would have disappeared into underground press obscurity. You kept that from happening. You introduced me to entire new communities of friends. And what friends they were! Bright, committed, liberty-loving people who would never have found each other — if not for you. You were the great personality who drew us all together. You were the charismatic leader, the spark that lit the bonfire, the grand beating heart of something new and awesome. You made it possible for us all to experience and explore things we’d never dreamed.
You were the center of the world. You still are. But something’s changed.
Friday, February 13th, 2015 by Claire | 5 Comments »
Young woman takes to YouTube to bemoan her total lack of government ID and ask for aid from the public. She says her parents will not help her get the government docs that will enable her to work, fly, bank, file taxes, etc..
The family seems amazingly messed up, which means a sideshow becomes the main attraction.
The real question, of course, is why anyone requires such lifelong “official” recognition from government merely to function in everyday life. That’s the gigantic, trumpeting woolly mammoth in the room that everyone’s managing to ignore.
Good luck to Alecia Faith and her family. Good luck to us all.
Wednesday, February 11th, 2015 by Claire | 17 Comments »
They were having a three-nights-for-two special at the little coastal studio I found last year, so off I went. Even without the special, I can’t believe I can rent this place for less than the price of a Motel 6 room. And I’ve never known a Motel 6 room to have a private balcony, a fireplace with Prest-o-Log, a stained-glass window, a private garden, and complimentary coffee beans and mugs. Did I mention the peek-a-boo ocean view? And this year the room came equipped with two kites. (One of these days they’re going to figure out what a tiny treasure this place is and start charging more seriously & that’ll be the end of that.)
Big flaw: not dog friendly. I was going to board the canine kids, but it got to bugging me that it would actually cost more for their accommodations than mine. Fortunately a neighbor couple stepped in to pup-sit.
So a very nice time is being had by all. But this year a bag of coffee beans wasn’t the first surprise at the little studio.
Tuesday, February 10th, 2015 by Claire | 23 Comments »
Oh yeah, let’s “fix” I-594 by making exceptions for only ones. ‘Cause you know, only us peasants (e.g. we who don’t work for the state or its cronies) ever commit crimes.
The day long feared has arrived. Samsung warns customers to be careful what they say in the vicinity of their “smart” TVs. And we’re just supposed to lie back and enjoy it now that the loss of privacy is “inevitable.”
The SunSaluter. Interestingly simple concept from one of Peter Thiel’s young Fellows. A solar tracker/water filter. Looks like it would be most effective only in the tropics where the sun always arcs high in the sky. Any comment from you physics guys?
Speaking of physics guys … you may recall my impressively failed experiments with flower pot candle heaters. Engineers predicted the failures ’cause (to put it in kindergarden terms) you can’t get more energy out of a candle than is in the candle in the first place. What you can get out of it, though, is a bunch of money. Provided you give your version of it an “eco” name. (Via S., who notes, “Unless paraffin tea candles have energy density approaching that of highly enriched uranium, it is flat-out impossible to do any meaningful heating with an ounce or three of wax.”)
I suspect that the first thing that’ll happen when you register with NoFlyZone.org to declare your home a no-go for drones … is that various governments will wonder what you have to hide and will target you for drone flights bearing various cams and eventually weapons.
Saturday, February 7th, 2015 by Claire | 5 Comments »
In Washington state and in Colorado, banks (caught between state opportunity and federal terror tactics) struggle to deal with new cannabis businesses.
Well, now those who won’t comply with the outrages of I-594 are not just “extremists” (per Gottlieb) but “a clique of gadflies” (per a Gottlieb henchman). Remember people: if you want a seat at the table so you can help Our Masters arrange the terms of our extermination, always comply-comply-comply with the law. Any law. We don’t care what law. It’s the LAW!
Friday, February 6th, 2015 by Claire | 4 Comments »
The following is by MamaLiberty. She sent it to me a few weeks ago to pass along to the local animal rescue group. Then she reminded me that I could use it here, also. So here you go; something nice to relieve the stress of real life and unreal nooz.
Laddie’s Tale
By Susan Callaway
Laddie gets a homemade treat each morning when he cleans up his breakfast. He takes it to his bed and savors each bite, then vacuums the pad and rug around it to capture each molecule. This morning, as usual, he got done with that and came to rest his muzzle on my knee. He’s very obviously giving thanks.
This morning I scratched his head as usual and said, “good dog.”
And he replied:
You rescued me from those who hit me and starved me. You were patient and kind while I learned to trust and love again.
You give me food, warmth, play time and security. I remember when I got out once and was so lost and frightened – and then you found me and saved me again!
You humans must worry about everything in the world. All I have to offer is love.
I love you, and I’m so glad to be your dog.
****
And I wept for joy. What could be more precious than that love?
Laddie’s story
Laddie is a 3- 1/2 year old Welsh Corgi male. He was originally rescued from an abusive place by the breeder who gladly took him back when she discovered his situation. She gave him to me, and I’m so glad to have found him. He’s been with me two years now.
He was painfully shy and timid, willing only to be touched on the face – and that with fear. He had obviously been hit with sticks and other things because in the early months he would not approach, or tolerate approach if I had anything in my hands. Learning to come when called has been the most difficult thing, but we have made marvelous progress. He would originally not tolerate being patted, no matter how gently, on his back or hindquarters. He now seems to enjoy any kind of gentle scratching and rubbing, but is still a little shy of actual pats. He used to nip, but now just looks around warily sometimes.
Laddie did not bark or make much sound of any kind for the first three or four months. I was worried about this, since one of the reasons I wanted a dog was to bark at strangers. I actually had to encourage him to bark at first, and he still does very little of it. Since Corgis are notorious for being noisy, this is actually a good thing. But though he is very aware of people who come to the house, he has only recently begun to bark sometimes, usually only rushing to the door to greet them.
Anything passing on the road is well noted, however, and certain trucks, all horses, birds, dogs and people require at least a few “woofs.” And some of them require being chased from one side of the yard to another along the road. I have no idea how he figures which is which. A bunny got into the yard once, and Laddie nearly turned himself inside out trying to catch it. Good thing for the bunny that it was smaller thanthe holes in the chain link fence!
In the beginning, he would stay in his bed in the basement and come out only reluctantly. Now he mirrors my every move much of the time, challenging me to race when I go up or down the stairs. I’m sure he is mighty amused that he beats me every time! The sight of the leash and “go to town” collar makes him giddy with delight, but once the leash is on he is quiet and impressively obedient.
What a very good dog. And a lucky one. I hate to think of all the dogs with so much darker a beginning, and so many who have never found any rescue or love at all.
—–
Happy weekend. Got any shaggy (or non-shaggy) dog stories to tell? Put ‘em in comments to brighten the days.
Thursday, February 5th, 2015 by Claire | 8 Comments »
This Saturday, February 7, open carry activists will meet at the Washington state Capitol and some of them plan to risk arrest. This is in response to fiat decrees from both the state House and Senate forbidding OC in their galleries.
They invite others along for moral support, to film events, or simply to listen to speakers (of which there is an impressive roster, including Mike Vanderboegh and Rep. Matt Shea, who has introduced a bill to repeal the ghastly Bloombergian I-594).
I’ve got complicated thoughts about this event and will not be there. But David Codrea asks us fence-sitters (and even many nay-sayers) to pony up something for the defense fund. Will do, David. And salutes to those bold enough to take the risk, even if I doubt that OC in the state house is the worthiest issue.
Thursday, February 5th, 2015 by Claire | 7 Comments »
A bit over two years ago, I blogged about the wonderful project made possible by two readers of Living Freedom: Mark’s (Greylocke’s) files of survival info installed onto a bootable Knoppix thumb drive by Scott (The Fat Man).
The device gives portable access to a wealth of preparedness info. It can be carried in a bug-out bag and the files accessed from whatever USB port is handy. (It will be bootable only on devices capable of booting from a USB drive, but that’s pretty common these days.)
Mark describes the contents:
The Knoppix Thumb Drive Project … contains a full reference library with the Third World Technology Files know as CD3WD and some extra files of many US Military Manuals on things ranging from Survival, Medical, Water purification and Sanitation to Construction.
Unfortunately, Scott was being treated for cancer at that time, and though he was expected to make it … he didn’t. Mark told me this week about Scott’s death; we both learned belatedly, to our shock and sorrow.
The ready-to-go drives haven’t been available for a while.
Now, for a limited time, you can send Mark an unopened 32 GB thumb drive and a self-addressed stamped return envelope (see details here) and he’ll send you back your own KTD with the survival files.
This service is FREE. Given that each drive takes a couple of hours to process, it would be nice it you sent Mark a few bucks, but that’s not required. He’s not doing this to make money; only to get the information out there. Just follow the “details” like above to find out more.
This could be an essential resource in a time and place where you have no Internet. I highly recommend it.
Mark’s also hoping someone else would like to take over the project and says he’ll help get things started.
