Archive for the ‘Little Yellow Sticky’ Category

“Topsy Turvey World”

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Mike at Cold Fury details how just how far off track we’ve gotten:

Okay, let me see if I have all this straight. Bill Clinton, a white Southerner, was the first black president. Obama, an apparently straight guy, is the first gay president. George Zimmerman, a Hispanic, is a white guy. Elizabeth Warren, the whitest white woman anybody ever saw, is an Injun.

Andrew Sullivan, a liberal, considers himself the last “true conservative.” The Democrat Socialists, left-wingers to a fault, consider themselves “centrist” or “moderate,” and Mitt Romney, who is a liberal, is a “right-wing extremist.”

The overwhelming majority of people who call themselves “journalists” actually function as advocates, while laughably declaiming their unbiased impartiality to anyone gullible enough to buy it. Violent OWS revolutionaries are “mostly peaceful.”

Hollywood rich people worth bajillions perfectly comprehend the travails of workaday Americans and portray them with unfailing accuracy in movies and on TV, but Romney, who actually has done useful work and created lots of jobs in his life, is “out of touch.”

The people who rule us with an iron fist, governing against the clearly-expressed will of the people as often as not, are “public servants.” Fossil fuels, of which America has more than any other nation in the world, are “unsustainable,” while unworkable and expensive alternatives like solar and electric cars are what we should be relying on instead.

There’s no one more illiberal than a liberal; “shut up, he explained” is the operational philosophy of the very people who claim to be more tolerant and open-minded than the folks whose dissent (which is patriotic, except when it’s expressing disagreement with proposals that run counter to the ideas of the Founders) they’re trying their level best to stifle.

Every word is the plain simple truth. Go read all of them. It was really hard to pick the ones I copied here.

For The Record: Vocabulary Size

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

I know close to forty thousand words.

It never fails to astonish me how many words I do not know, stuff I can’t even guess at the roots for.

You can test yourself here.

Junking Religion

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

I’m linking to this so I don’t lose it. Frankly, the idea espoused here frightens me.

Not that I think religion always, or even usually, tells us the best way to live — but because the idea here is that under the rubric of “science”, those who think they know best can tell us what is right and wrong, and not have to listen to any arguments.

Sam Harris says that science can show us the best ways for human beings to thrive – and we can then junk religion forever

Most people say that science can tell us facts about the world but not about moral values. Do you disagree?

Questions of right and wrong, good and evil, are questions about human and animal well-being. The moment we admit this we see that science can, in principle, answer such questions – because the experience of conscious creatures depends on the way the universe is. In our case, the difference between the worst possible suffering and the greatest flourishing depends on everything that can influence states of the human brain, ranging from changes in our genome to changes in the global economy. The relevant details of genetics, neurobiology, psychology, sociology, economics and so on are fantastically complicated, but there is no question that these are domains in which there are truths to be discovered and they fall squarely within the purview of science.

QotD: Humility and Hubris

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Just something I needed to make a note of:

Two things, however, are clear about any religion that might derive from cybernetics and systems theory, ecology and natural history. First, that in the asking of questions, there will be no limit to our hubris; and second, that there shall always be humility in our acceptance of answers. In these two characteristics we shall be in sharp contrast with most of the religions of the world. They show little humility in their espousal of answers but great fear about the questions they will ask.

Gregory Bateson, Angels Fear

Section 311 of US Code Title 10, “Militia: composition and classes”

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

Randy Barnett explores the role of the unorganized militia in fighting terrorism.

According to press reports, a passenger helped subdue the terrorist who was attempting to bring down Northwest #253. This again highlights the importance of the unorganized militia in asymetric warfare. In Saved by the Militia, I offered this analysis in the wake of the success of the general militia on United Airlines #93 in defending Washington from terrorist attack on 9/11:

The characterization of these heroes as members of the militia is not just the opinion of one law professor. It is clearly stated in Federal statutes. Perhaps you will not believe me unless I quote Section 311 of US Code Title 10, entitled, “Militia: composition and classes” in its entirety (with emphases added):

“(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are —

(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and

(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.”

I’m occasionally guilty of saying that the National Guard is not part of the militia, because it’s part of the Army. Now I know better.

Read the rest of Barnett’s article for a partial explanation of why the unorganized militia is also crucial to the security of a free state.

McDonald v. Chicago Briefs

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

I doubt this case will collect anything like the number of briefs that Heller did, but it’s going to be an interesting fight nevertheless, and the issue involved — whether or not the Fourteenth amendment means anything — actually has much broader application than the 2nd amendment fight in Heller.

Anyway, the ABA is collecting briefs here.

Via Arms and the Law.