Good morning.

1. Media bias … 1k people gather that’s news (if it’s a liberal cause) 500k gather … not news because it’s not a liberal cause.
2. Or maybe it’s not bias.
3. Not Carbon … whoops.
4. Police tech.
5. Deceit and election tactics.
6. What do you have to lose?
7. Government motors … not doing so well strategically speaking.
8. On safety netting.
9. Some notes on the much abused anthropic principle.
10. Newsflash, museums have been doing that for 40 years.
11. An accusation of liberal racism.
12. Apparently I’m ornery. Certainly there are day’s on which my girls would concur.
13. Pretzels in Congressional testimony.

Good morning.

1. Some history.
2. Assault weapons for which the left wants no state controls.
3. Heh.  Oh, and heh.
4. Not noticing that Texas gun violence is lower than Chicago’s, which has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country.
5. Slipping off the White House talking points.
6. The oldest (working) computer.
7. Better than gun control, gun advice.
8. Obama’s shower bully and race.
9. ’cause Mr Biden thinks a double-ought 10 gauge pump action would have done lots lots less damage in Sandy Hook.
10. Apparently all you have to do is change the name of your gun to be legal if you’re a manufacturer.
11. And … an assault weapon ban and Sandy Hook? No effect at all. No such weapon was used. Oops.
12. “He can see the other side” … does anyone have smidge of evidence to back that up? Or is just like the “he’s really smart” … with no evidence claim?
13. Graft is profitable. Always has been.
14. More State stupidity.
15. On a statement made at the inaugural address.
16. Inclusion.

Good morning.

1. Confused about the nature of religion, worship is public and communal.
   
2. Speaking of confused, one school is quite so.
3. Mandates.
4. (not) acting alone.
5. Cultural movement, regress or progress (or even sustainable)?
6. A boy to note.
7. Drunk drivings vs suicides.
8. Noting silliness on the gun control front.
9. Lies of 2012, some of the more notable noted.
10. At this point … does it matter (if we were shown to be inexperienced stupid boobs), well maybe maybe not, but shouting doesn’t prove anything?
11. For those who reject, … uhm, genetics.
12. Der Speigel and climate change.
13. The “assault weapon ban” and Sandy Hook.

Good morning

1. On abortion and ethics.
2. Optimism?
3. A day remembered.
4. Regulatory silliness down under.
5. So, explain why a gun like this needs tighter regulations.
6. And a hammerless single action.
7. I’m not seeing the coming revolution notion.
8. Snerk.
9. Blind spots.
10. Signing up and is the question of “who” is the Executive relevant?
11. Ethics and God.
12. As the US moves to “more corruption” … another state struggles with fighting its own.
13. Is there a crisis?

Lots of silliness has ensued in the weeks following the shooting in Newton, CT. Gun advocates suggest putting TSA-like agents in every school (as if schools aren’t expensive enough), gun control advocates suggest restricting “assault weapons” (a fictional category for semi-automatic rifles) and “high capacity magazines” (as if the 1-2 seconds to swap magazines would really make a difference) and basically making it far harder to obtain guns (against for example, peer reviewed academic studies showing that the elasticity to gun availability is .1 to .3 out of the 50-60 gun related deaths per 10k people per year.  As much posturing as we have on this matter, if the time the President and his Renfieldian co-conspirator Biden have wasted giving speeches on gun control more children have died in auto accidents than did in the incident they pretend is motivating their interest in gun control. But do they go after drivers and car safety? Nope. Read the rest of this entry

Woo Hoo! I’m back.

1. Cool … because they are rare, perhaps in a post-WW-II northern Europe?
2. Now the left will get to disavow Mr Silver.
3. Silliness north of the border.
4. Treaties can do that? And … hierarchy and the Constitution.
5. Occasionally we need to actually overcome that temptation, that’s the rub.
6. I wonder if there is a reasoned argument against chivalry and good manners.
7. Mr Morsi forgets evolution puts him in the same bucket.
8. How liberal or moderate?
9. Rhetoric examined. And what the President doesn’t want you to do, he wants it the other way round.
10. Dan Simmons (in his Illium/Olympus books) argued that androids were in Homer’s Iliad. Hephaestus constructed them to assist him.
11. Ethics meets economics … or does it?
12. Perhaps a better start for a discussion about dignity and human life than abortion.
13. Predictions.
14. Drugs in the modern world.

Good, well, whatever … day/night what have you.

1. Dignity and value of human life ontological not a constituent property, e.g., you are “human” if you posses particular virtues and not if you don’t.  This is the central basis for anti-abortion ethics. If you resist that notion, read Ms Delsol’s book on those forgotten 20th century lessons.
2. My daughter, now a senior, very much was saddened that “woods 3” was dropped because of lack of interest at her school.
3. Political squabbles.
4. A book.
5. Except that it’s not true. Watch “The Island”, asceticism is a virtue and don’t you forget it.
6. Thick and thin thinking.
7. The criminal set thanks you for identifying the vulnerable for future rapes, home invasions, and other mayhem.
8. The real reason for not-disarmament. And another reason.
9. Ms Biel was quite funny.
10. And I’ll leave y’all in the mud.

Well, one day back after two weeks off … prior to heading out for a big big job tomorrow left little time for much of anything.

1. First, what isn’t a surprise, here and here.
2. Disarmament … consequences to follow.
3. Not disarmament, for the gun control debate.
4. Post Newton, remember the noise and nonsense over AR-15s and the Bushmaster rifle? Woops.
5. What gun control buys you. That and a dollar will buy you … well what little a dollar will buy you.
6. Patience and charity.
7. Time porn.
8. Linking two variables.
9. The geniuses at the TSA.
10. Rape.
11. Is this rape? Perhaps not legally … but morally I think it may be.
12. Maths and theology.
13. Well, for myself, that objection is just plain stupid. Those $3-6 day “sweatshops” are often the best jobs in town.
14. Following the money.

And, over the break I saw a complaint about Mr Obama spending very little time this family on vacation. No, I’m not normally one to defend Mr Obama, but … he has two teenage daughters. Two teenage daughters. ’nuff said.

Well, tomorrow we head back to the Midwest by Amtrak and Amtrak (and finally Metra and a car). For those interested that’s mostly the NorthEast Corridor from Trenton to Washington DC, and then the Capitol Limited to Chicago. Our roundtrip was a little over $700 for 4 adults. Not bad.

1. The other parent trap.
2. Pretty woman … gets fired.
3. Insurance and gun ownership.
4. More on guns, bottom line: gun ownership is sharply up over the last few decades and gun violence is trending consistently down. So … why the dialog on guns?
5. Names or not. What does it mean?
6. To read?
7. Unintended does not mean not anticipated.
8. Three new blogs to watch via kbj.
9. Moving on from Afghanistan.
10. Benedict on Epiphany.
11. A blog entry to read to the tune of “all I want for Christmas is …”

Good morning.

1. NY Time op-ed favors ignoring equal protection (“parts of the Constitution he doesn’t like”) … kinda like ignoring “felony crimes for high capacity magazines” if you’re a wealthy member of the press but not if you’re a regular schmo, eh?
2. Advice for living the Christian life.
3. Voting and “powerful indicators”.
4. Media bias once more … or if you’re thinking the media isn’t as biased … produce a similar list with counter-examples (or just one).
5. Contra the classical liberal and libertarian, a speech.
6. This is not unrelated.
7. An example of a politically motivated definition … the assault rifle.
8. The big charity problem.
9. A cure for addiction?
10. A book noted.
11. Well, yes of course. Our “ruling class are swine”, but that forgets that basically we are all swine.
12. Obama wants to halt the murder of school-age children, so he’s stopping the drone campaign? Or not.
13. The deficit, just click the link linked.
14. Snow sculptures.
15. Violence in America … meet’s Mark Twain and his “lies, damned lies and statistics” quote.

Good day. Well, I didn’t get an essay out last night. I over-estimated the time I’d have to write with so much family visiting to do. Anyhow … we played the game Munchkins a few times, much fun was had by all.

1. Super-hero Barsbek.
2. Discomfort and disorder.
3. Comparisons again made between late antiquity and late modernity.
4. No PTSD?
5. The complete Democrat party plurality avoided … but only the GOP regrets it.
6. Not defined by sex.
7. How to make a really poor argument.
8. Still gunning for Obamacare.
9. Ya wanna bet they’ll just kick the can down the road again?
10. So, does that shirt literally or figuratively amuse you?
11. Chinese labor.
12. I’d never heard of sugru, have you?
13. A show, I think we’re going tomorrow.

Well, I hope everyone (who wanted to) had a good Christmas celebration.

1. Papua.
2. Stall speed of 45 mph.
3. What do you predict Mr blog-pundit? I predict lots of confounded predictions.
4. To the Happy Holidays (Holidays = Holy Days btw) vs Merry Christmas debate, Orthodox tradition has this as its Nativity declamation (which is done in a declamation/response form … Pascha/Easter the declamation/response is Christ is Risen/He is Risen Indeed). So, if you want to push the Merry Christmas humbugger’s buttons declaim “Christ is born!” instead … if you don’t get the response (Glorify him!) after a pause supply it yourself.
5. Why saftey nets should have lots of suck.
6. Needed, more cheeky mavericks.
7. At the same time you complain they couldn’t make this show any more … it is still being broadcast (and likely watched).
8. Let’s see, a few days ago there was a “strong indicator” that wasn’t. Here is another indicator … perhaps strong.

Gun control

1. So, do you think it new regulations will pass (or even be voted on by) Congress?
2. Those “big” effects that gun controllers … all that new regulation and laws they want for .1 to .3 per 10,000?
3. And … what prohibition would get you.
4. And a congress-critter doesn’t actually realize that women own/buy guns too? He apparently believes the CT shooter’s mom was “testosterone fueled”.
5. Apparently to the irrational liberal “left in the car” means “used”.

Good morning.

1. An acquittal you didn’t notice.
2. Clean and the germ population.
3. Zee crimez and ze criminalz.
4. The argument for (?) assault weapons bans is slippery slope as a good thing?
5. Trends.
6. Grey Lady racism.
7. 1000 words on race politics.
8. Climate … so at that first link the trend is so so clear, eh?
9. For the die hard LOTR fan.
10. A cool game for kids.
11. Thanks fer that.
12. The anti-feminist in your midst.
13. It didn’t work over there, so gosh let’s try it ourselves.
14. A letter of resignation.

Oh. Happy birthday to me. I’m 51 today. We’ll see if we can keep ’em (birthday’s that is) coming.

1. So do public service teachers union come into this story or not?
2. More on schools here.
3. Plan and market.
4. Powerful predictor not so powerful after all.
5. Taking the gun rhetoric seriously for a moment.  And gussy up a false dichotomy with pretty graphics and its still a false dichotomy. Seriously. Hint … to the non-religious liberal who thinks evil doesn’t exist and all crime is just illness … read Midgely’s book Wickedness. Mary Midgely is a renknowned British moral philospher. It’s not a hard read.
6. Or not at all. Let’s see what was Congress’ first suggestion ban “assault” rifles … you know they are used in less than 2% of crimes like the one in the news and not in the current case.
7. And the idiot who shouted “ban all Glock’s” calls others ignorant. Let’s see, Glock makes semi-automatic pistols which are inexpensive, accurate, and reliable. The are one of a dozen manufacturers who make similar products. But let’s ban just the one. Why? Dunno. Let’s ban “high capacity” magazines, ’cause it takes a second and a half to change magazines. That’s clearly the limiting step.
8. Slurp.
9. So what triggered the shooter? Perhaps, the threat of involuntary incarceration in a mental health institution. Which in turns suggests he needed it.
10. Race and shootings.
11. Wheee!
12. Not forgetting the economic crises.

Good morning.

1. Well, Ms Althouse has the best response to gun nuttery in the wake of the CT shootings (and for the rhetorically challenged, a little explanation of what is being said).
2. And so, here are some of the Presidents options on controlling gay community/activity in the wake of the U-Penn/Sandusky affair.
3. Mental health? Actually … there was a WSJ article this morning (likely behind pay-walls) that pointed out only 47% of the similar shootings in the last 30 years have been linked to mental illness. So … even if we “fixed” our mental health it isn’t going to be the fix we might hope (that is 90% or better). The Norway shooter for example was not clinically insane (how about just plain evil?).
4. Speaking of evil.
5. And a homily in response to Friday’s events.
6. Timelines, Timelords, and liturgy.
7. What will “he” do.
8. Warming and solar variation. “perhaps because … ” … ya think?
9. More weather, err, climate stuff.
10. Scholastic majors.
11. New world maladies.
12. Flee.
13. Connecting abortion and child support.