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.

Good morning.

1. Approaching the Nativity and the seasonal liturgical practices of the East.
2. An upcoming discussion.
3. Does that exhaust the choices?
4. So … it has to end? What? Now, do you figure we’ll see the liberal/progressive press and thinkers all figuring out how to revamp mental healthcare in America? Or will they stupidly and mindlessly go after things that won’t make a difference? Or how to organize fast (armed?) responses to violence in public places? Or will they use this as an opportunity to steal more liberties from the people?
5. Foot votes.
6. Very pretty.
7. Negative to vastly outweigh the positive. Which describes most of what Washington does these days. Which is why gridlock is the voters choice.
8. Metrics.
9. What the modern progressives seek … uniformity trumps all else?
10. One progressive argues for legalizing automatic guns and good body armor for civilians.
11. Small government conservatism begins here.
12. Minding Midgley … is it detecting mental health problems … or just locating actual evil in our midst?
13. Why?

Well, better late than never, eh?

1. How is the US like an autocracy?
2. Medical eRecords.
3. Hypocrisy.
4. Grass is not a “priority” … heh. Today its’ not … 30 years ago it was and now the priority is (perhaps) keeping the kids away from it.
5. Maya.
6. I guess while I was working and net-less … another shooting occurred. A question that will come up answered.
7. A reaction to that.
8. The fiscal cliff thang.
9. No true Scotsman comes to ESPN.
10. Bang tech.
11. What too much safety net looks like.

Gotta be quick … oh, hi! Good morning.

1. Six bullet points on Iraq/Afghanistan that the President’s supporters likely either wish would go away but should defend (and likely won’t/don’t).
2. Mr Mom’s beginner mistake is a classic.
3. History lessons … answering 3 questions.
4. I think the argument that the level of fine is not excessive is the harder, err … frankly impossible, one to make.
5. And more government overreach.
6. Speaking of government malfeasance and overreach … Democrat shenanigans that likely won’t make the (biased) mainstream news.
7. Opposite day.
8. Materials sciences.
9. Meta-ontology.
10. Two separate arguments that right-to-work is not a libertarian notion, here and here.
11. Drones and the law.

Belated … (because alas, I overslept a bit but then my controller failed so I’m dead in the water on this startup … so … I’m working today in a hotel)

1. How about dueling? And accountability and honor?
2. Wink to Wynk.
3. Single (and not whining).
4. Freedom of speech.
5. I see it’s “fees” on the middle class … that’s not raising taxes, no no no. What it really is lying by semantics.
6. Where a little research might have gone a long way.
7. Yet another legal challenge for Obamacare.
8. So, in asking whether parody is necessarily parasitical (that is can it stand on its own) … how about Sewer, Electric and Gas … does one have to have familiarity with Mr Rand to appreciate the parody?
9. How you can tell when you’re a government monopoly.
10. A predicted effect fails to show … but remember the science is unquestion(able?). I recall asking a commentor who accepts Anthro-origins of climate change … for successful predictions by climatologists made in the past … and got no response. That seems a crucial lapse.
11. Looking at the Philippines.

Good morning

1. Internal trauma and new tech.
2. Asia arms.
3. Internet faith/non-faith arguments and some issues seen from one side.
4. Realpolitikand the President.
5. Climate and re-distribution for whatever reason.
6. More ghastly nonsense from the UN.
7. I’d be guessing your average feminist is allergic to this kind of discussion.
8. Conversion.
9. Consistency.
10. New government intrusions into healthcare.
11. Well, to be honest … they are both acts of war and assassinations.
12. Freedom of speech in Europe.
13. Gosh … I guess that’s the same reason that no profession at all is reliably transmitted by film and TV or that the great majority of the founding/important men/women of any field are ignored, e.g., Emmy Noether. So, the question isn’t why Mr Douglass is ignored, but why should historical figures be an exception?

Gotta run. Have a good one.

Good morning.

1. Don’t call it “asking” please. That implies there is choice where there isn’t.
2. This is not unrelated.
3. Forgetting Martin Luther (apparently).
4. Feeling blue on Monday.
5. Nerd scorn.
6. Evil and its fruits.
7. Gun buyback store.
8. Progressives still seeking to install the right to kill for convenience.
9. Malthus and the slave.
10. A book noted.
11. Naturalism, religion, and straw men.

Good morning. Running late.

1. GM.
2. VW.
3. Same topic little gain then, big gain now.
4. Rube Goldberg.
5. Apparently someone never drank moderately in good company.
6. Social justice (isn’t).
7. Someone doesn’t realize that private employers can (and should be able to) ask those questions.
8. Beltway physical anthropology.
9. Birth and death.
10. Axes and axis.
11. Oh, wonderful …

Goood morning.

1. For the carbon fans.
2. Bang! Art.
3. Let’s see, the Democrat plan is to “go over the cliff” and blame the GOP. Hard to do, honestly, in the face of this though.
4. Origin of terms as explanation.
5. The flawed argument against torture is that it doesn’t work. Here’s another failure of consequentialism. The reason it’s a bad idea is not because it doesn’t work.
6. Liking gridlock (stopping athwart progress saying stop) is a conservative thing I suspect.
7. Potato famine as laisseze faire … is just plain bad history.
8. Hmm, I’d say the description fits just about everybody of any party affiliation in the beltway.
9. On the other hand, here’s a strong bid by the  Democrats for both at the same time.
10. Libertarians, it seems, can’t muster strong arguments against bestiality.
11. The sad state of soft academia.
12. Glub glub.
13. Big red gets stupid too.
14. So … connected to the President’s departure or not?
15. My feeling is that there was no intention of keeping the promises, i.e., they were lies and deception. Do you agree or disagree?

Well, yesterday was a travel, on-site, travel day … sorry about not giving warning.

Anyhow, links? I’m running late, hence the brevity.

1. Noses.
2. Economics of genocide.
3. Human dignity lapsed.
4. A book to read.
5. Nonchalant taken to an extreme.
6. Of metrics and meaning.
7. Time and relationships.
8. Isolationism by another name.
9. Afghanistan.
10. BBQ and a reprise.
11. Threat or expression of same.
12. Hobby Lobby. Someone explain why H/L doesn’t get the exemption but Tyndale does in a consistent fashion.
13. Anthropology and Conan.
14. Mr Biden.
15. I think we value freedom because we think it fosters happiness, and some don’t think it does (foster) the same way others do.
16. If useless, why bother?
17. Guns and footballers.
18. Yikes.

Hokay, what’s out there for us today?

1. New light tech for one.
2. Canonizing a leper.
3. The left, it seems, can put their smug “we look at data, unlike you all, because we’re oh, oh, oh, so rational and you aren’t” and stuff it.
4. Trickle down tech comes to the long gun.
5. So … people who make arguments for campaign finance reform … are they all over this?
6. Is this the real fiscal cliff?
7. Some humor for your Monday morning.
8. That’s just wrong.
9. No, it would not “have been better to discuss the connections” because there aren’t any plausible connections to be made.
10. A lovely quote on love.
11. So, seriously (unlike TIME), who would you propose for person of the year?
12. The Mandarins are doing well.
13. And some advice for joining the Mandarin class.

Some post election thoughts, albeit a bit late.

They ran out of undies on Staten Island (despite the promises from a “Presidential” looking Obama)
From Fox,

Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro says the people of his community are in desperate need of fresh underwear.

“It’s like a third-world nation,” Molinaro said in a phone interview on Tuesday’s Good Day New York.

If you reference my March 2011 post on being prepared for a disaster level emergency, you’ll note that I recommend you set aside extra underwear and socks in the “Shelter” section.

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Is it the end of conservatism in America?
From a commenter at The Belmont Club,

I still have hope, but it is in the states and local communities. The governors and state legislatures must step up and stop acting like subsidiaries of Washington. Those that do will thrive; those that don’t will slouch toward their demise.

So let me be perfectly clear: we must restore self-governance. That was true before this election, and it remains true.

I want to encourage everyone to keep trying to preserve the republic. We have been blessed to be a part of this great American experiment, and we owe it to those who have paid in blood and treasure to not give up. It is a duty we should not fear, but relish. And if you don’t think you can do that where you live, come on down to Texas. We may be the last, best hope of the last, best hope on earth.

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No! Your argument ignores reality.
For clarification, try a simple term substitution – as shown by the strikeout and italics below. From the “Dear Republicans” post, (FYI, the post degrades into juvenile level vulgarity),

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, mention abortion the intentional killing of innocent unborn children again. It will never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, be illegal in this country.

Whether or not the truth claim of the second assertion is valid does not mandate the abdication from morality as indicated by the first assertion.

Further reference, The SLED Test.

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Even Obama, Presidential-looking though he may be, cannot cut through red tape.
SUCKERS.

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The Gods of the Copybook Headings, by Kipling

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”

…

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

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