Odds ‘n Sods:

C.Z. sent this YouTube clip: Thailand supermarket empty during floods

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Several readers sent me this: ‘Rogue Web sites’ Bill Creates Chinese-Style Ban List. JWR’s Comment: Even though piracy of my books by the the umpteen “torrent” web sites cost me thousands of dollars a year in lost book sale royalties, I oppose this legislation. It provides a mechanism that could easily be abused by a would-be tyrant. It is reminiscent of the Great Firewall of China “Golden Shield” or J?ndùn G?ngchéng.) What is being proposed is a domain name re-direct feature rather than true blocking. They want ISPs and web search engines to re-direct blacklisted domain names to to the IP address of an FBI warning page. Presumably, a site’s dotted quad IP address would still work. This is one more reason why you need to write down or bookmark the IP addresses of your favorite blogs and web sites.

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Something vaguely reminiscent of the opening scene in the movie Cool Hand Luke, courtesy of F.G.: Don’t argue with a man with power tools.

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Over at Mac Slavo’s blog: Clinging to Their Guns: Firearm Ownership Soars to Multi-Decade Highs. (But note that this great piece begins with a quote incorrectly attributed to Yamamoto. That quote sounds great and encapsulates a truth, but its attribution has been refuted.)

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A useful instructional video: Rendering Deer Tallow