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The Self-Contradictory Second Amendment

          The Self-Contradictory Second Amendment   The Second Amendment contradicts itself. On the one hand, well-regulated militia; on the other hand, uninfringed bearing of arms. But to regulate is by definition to infringe. One can make a lawyerly distinction between infringement and regulation; but the difference is relative to the observer.           Shall guns be controlled? For instance shall they be kept out of the hands of children, criminals, traitors and the insane? If not then the militia is not well-regulated; if yes then arms-bearing may be infringed. Suppose that Mr. Discord, who constantly earns his name, wants a large stockpile of powerful weapons; may he buy it or not? If yes, then the militia is self-evidently ill-regulated; if no, then bearing arms is a privilege not a right; and if it’s a judgement call, then the Second Amendment has no legal force and in effect d...
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My Quadrennial Condolence Letter, Written in 2012

                 My Quadrennial Condolence Letter Written in 2012   Here is the text of my quadrennial letter to the Presidential candidates. In a rational reversal of convention, I send my congratulations to the losers, and my condolences to the winner.     **************   To: Barak Obama Mitt Romney           Gary Johnson           Jill Stein   Re: Congratulations and condolences               Dear Former Candidates:             Now that the election results are in, and we know which one of you won the election, and which ones lost, I send you my quadrennial letter of congratulations and condolences. Unlike the usual practice, I send my congratulations to the losers and my condol...
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On Political Security

            On Political Security                 Teller used to say that failure to have internal circulation of information is always worse than the damage from leaks, since the enemy is going to spend as much effort as needed to find ways to get the information he want: then he knows it and vital parts of your establishment do not.                Julian Assange agrees with Teller, and has said so:                http://iq.org/conspiracies.pdf                The difference is that Assange wants to maximize, not minimize, self-defeating bureaucratic self-censorship. His theory is that Wikileaks poses a Prisoner’s Dilemma to any conspiratorial institution; either open up internal communications and become vulnerable to a whistleblower, or censor away both leaks and effi...
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The Federal Receipt

The Federal Receipt a Modest Proposal   I propose that there be a Federal Receipt. This Receipt is to be mailed to each taxpayer soon after April 15; detailing, for each taxpayer, both taxes received, and how much of those funds went to which federal program. It would look something like this:   *** Dear Joe Blow: We got from you: Income tax:                   $ X Social Secuity:              $ X other taxes:                   $ X total:                             $ X   We will spend that on: Interest payments:        $ X Social Security:        ...
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Abolish Daylight Savings Time

          Abolish Daylight Savings Time   Here I ride a favorite hobbyhorse of mine; the absurdity and unhealthiness of Daylight Savings Time.             Twice a year the State officiously interferes with the clock, and with people’s sleep cycles. Twice a year, the entire country suffers from an hour’s worth of jet-lag. Twice a year there is a spike in illness and accidents. This, plus lost productivity, would certainly not be zero, and possibly more than any putative savings on evening lighting. Has anyone done the statistics?          And as if that weren’t enough, Congress keeps extending DST to absurdly late in the year. Why not complete the nonsense and make it all year round? “Fall back” is bad enough, but “Spring forward” means we all lose an hour of sleeping-in time. Each Spring I must start each day in pitch black.         ...
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On Hoplodementia

       On Hoplodementia           Written in the 1990’s   The suffix “hoplo-” means “weapon”. This suggests words; “hoplophobia”, meaning fear of weapons; “hoplophilia”, meaning love of weapons; and “hoplodementia”, meaning mindlessness about weapons.           Our plague of armed murderous beta-males is a clear instance of such mindlessness, but I think the mindlessness is far more widespread that that. Consider for instance Ben Carson’s lame-o brag that we all should rush the next shooter, for that is what he would do. Except that when he was stuck-up at a Popeyes, he said, “I believe you want that man behind the counter”. Many have mocked his cravenness at that moment, but I don’t mind; it was a rational cowardice; what I object to was his idiotic braggadocio.           The thing is, not only is hoplophobia rational;...
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