Talking ‘bout Monroe and walking on snow white

The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates. – Tacitus

Just for throwaway, for myself, and I keep these things, this is m on violin and m on violin and c-a singing. I know it sounds like it was recorded in a front room on the built-in mic on a Mac, but hey, it was. It doesn’t do the timbre of the violin justice, as it has a lovely tone. And m is doing well, after a year and a half of lessons.

The Ten Commandments contain 297 words. The Bill of Rights is stated in 463 words. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contains 266 words. A recent federal directive to regulate the price of cabbage contains 26,911 words

While my brass-preferring second child was lounging in the spa bath, myself and the two violinist offspring took it upon ourselves to get into a ruckus at Gog Magog down.

It goes like this: Over the south down there is a small wood, where you must have dogs on leashes, as there are sheep grazing. But this time, the sheep were in the bottom field, and the gates weren’t locked nor was there any livestock in the top two. m asked to climb the gate and run about therein, so I let him. c-a followed, with much mirth and charging like loons. Then, the got to the bottom of the field, and the gate-climb into the next. m scrambled over, c-a got half-way up when some oul biddie started to say something to her. As I was still a bit away, I presumed she was saying to her big brother to give her a hand. But no, it wasn’t. She had taken it upon herself to remonstrate with my children over being in the field. Therefore the conversation goes like this:

oul biddie: yakyakyak get outta that field
me: They aren’t doing any harm, leave them alone
ob: yakyakyak trespassing and all
me: There are no signs saying private land, the sheep are two fields away, the gates are unlocked, they are doing no harm, leave. them. alone.
ob: I will ring the land owner, I know him.
me: Do you want me to be impressed? Act as if I care? They are doing no harm, leave them alone.
ob: I will! I will ring David!
me: Oh, using a name now. Very good. Would you like to borrow my phone to ring him?
ob: There is plenty of space outside the fields to run around.
me: *sigh* They are doing no harm. Away.
ob: I will ring! I will!
me: Go ahead.

It was at this point, as she huffed her away through the gate, deliberately slamming it behind her to make sure we noticed, that m pointed out that her dog wasn’t on a lead, in a place where it explicitly says they should. I should have made her ring David, and waited with her, to see what was worse. My children running in an empty field, or her dog unleashed and nearer the sheep. Grrr.

A society that puts equality … ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. – the late, great Milton Friedman

Coming back, we discover there is music playing. Whatchacallher, Katie Mel-ohh-hah-ah. So I start to think, sheesh, that is mid-30s chick music. And then it strikes me.

People. Print out and post this letter to your GP. And avoid those interferring statists trying to get your ID by the backdoor. Cassandra wonders why I am so paranoid, but I reckon she doesn’t know how deeply seated by anti-this-administration is. And reading, and thoroughly enjoying, Persian Fire doesn’t help, either. We are losing all we have gained.

We’re told cars are wasteful. Wasteful of what? Oil did a lot of good sitting in the ground for millions of years. We’re told cars should be replaced with mass transportation. But it’s hard to reach the drive through window at McDonald’s from a speeding train. And we’re told cars cause pollution. A hundred years ago city streets were ankle deep in horse excrement. What kind of pollution do you want? Would you rather die of cancer at eighty or typhoid fever at nine? – P.J. O’Rourke

Alas, this post is getting too long. The ranting has been removed to another draft post, as it was getting more and more vitriolic as it went on. I despise statists and their ilk. But as I say, more of that later. Finding feet is enough for now.