Zen and the Art of /.*/

Those familiar with Libertarian thought are surely also familiar with the notion that secession–from any form of association–is a fundamental right that applies to any subset of a society all the way down to the individual.

Many see state secession from the union as the ultimate solution to the problems of the United States government. But, as soon as one starts to consider this course of action, one shudders to think of the wrath that would likely be rained down upon the poor souls brave enough to try it.

The Creature from Jekyll Island - A Second Look at the Federal Reserve by G Edward Griffin (1:11:11)

A speech given by G. Edward Griffin in 1994 (!) on the contents of his book of the same name. Required listening. No excuses.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Bill-Grants-President-Unprecedented-Cyber-Security-Powers-504520/

Every person in this country with half a brain should be charging the capital and throwing batteries at these scum.

“…the president would have broad authority to designate various private networks as a “critical infrastructure system or network” and, with no other review, “may declare a cyber-security emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic to and from” the designated the private-sector system or network.”

A character in Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, when told the theory of Pythagoras that the earth is round and revolves around the sun, replies:

“What an utter fool! Couldn’t he use his eyes?”

Flat-earth geocentrism is the quintessential modern epithet applied to an opponent who either can’t or refuses to see past the immediately evident phenomena and grasp the larger truth.

Despite its tired, clichéd status, it is still a great metaphor.

Well, I certainly did not expect to be completely incapacitated for four days, but such is the price one pays for having thin corneas, apparently.

On Wednesday afternoon, I underwent photorefractive keratectomy. It was a fascinating experience on many levels. First, and most obviously, having your eyes partially numbed, drawn upon, propped open, scraped, and then burned is a slightly terrifying experience. It was in some ways better and in some ways worse than I expected.

Let’s ease into this whole blog thing with something decidedly uncontroversial…

I type this wearing years-old glasses that do not, in fact, focus images very well on my retinas. I have been wearing them for the past few days in order to allow my eyeballs to return to their natural shape, free from the deforming influences of contact lenses.

This is being done in anticipation of a surgery I will be undergoing tomorrow (well, technically, later today). About 12 hours from now an optical surgeon will be performing photorefractive keratectomy, whereby he will use a microkeratome blade to remove the epithelium (outer layer of the cornea) of both of my eyes and then use a laser to reshape my eyes’ corneal tissue to correct myopia, all within the span of a few minutes.