I had today pretty well mapped out when I went to bed last night. Then two things interfered. First, I stayed up reading a new book I bought yesterday (should I update the booktag posting for that? I think not), and then got a phone call this morning telling me I need to drive up to mom’s to hand over the keys I’ve been holding for the past three months, waiting for someone to ask for them. I’m glad to get that done, but today isn’t the ideal day to take a couple hours of out my day. But getting clear of that obligation is important enough that I’ll find a way to do it, mostly by short-changing you. telling me I don’t have to do any of that, after all.
Yesterday? Beautiful. Sunshiney. The kind of day we put up with Minnesota summer and winter just so we can enjoy a handful of days like yesterday.
- Dan got the first responder award for Book Tag. I haven’t checked to see if anyone else has done so yet, but I’m not in any particular hurry. [flutterby]
- Orson Scott Card penned The Riots of the Faithful a couple weeks ago, talking about the people who rioted when Newsweek published a false story about flushing Qurans down the toilet. He also tears into Newsweek, and the inhabitants of “Smartland”. It’s a good rant. [fark!]
- Here’s a nice little essay and collection of quotes that show why some people think Janice Rogers Brown must be Stopped!!. After all, she thinks government might not be the solution to all our problems. Horrors! [endwar]
- A nice essay on Why Corporations Are Not People, And The Unsavory Consequences of Pretending That They Are. This is one of the places where I diverge with many libertarians. I think corporations are a form of government interference, many having been given monopolies by governments. I don’t know what to do about it, but it’s one of the problems I see in trying to “undo” government. You have to get rid of the long-term effects of meddling like the creation of corporations if you’re ever going to allow people to be truly free. For now, though, a corporation is one of the better tools an individual can use to gain back a little power. [endwar]
- Getting tired of people spending all day on the weekends, buying nothing and taking up a two- or four-person table with a laptop, a Seattle Coffeeshop Turns off Wi-Fi on Weekends and experiences a boost in business and happier customers. There’s more from one of the baristas, explaining how they got to this decision. The whole thing is just another sign of the “me-first” attitude I see more all the time. At Saints games, if you were headed home to Minneapolis, which requires a right-turn out of the parking lot, it used to be possible to circle around the outside of the lot, hugging the right side, and get all the way to the street pretty quickly. Now, that right lane is clogged with people who get to the street and want to turn left, clogging the entire process. It’s the reason I suspect that anarchism and libertarianism are doomed. There are just too many assholes out there. [boing boing]