News flash: Presidential candidate Barack Obama says I’m not going to take your guns away in front of a hand-picked crowd of Democratic supporters in Duryea, Pennsylvania — and they don’t believe him. No, that was not a hook for an anti-Obama rant. Obama’s unbelievability on this issue is only partly his own individual fault.… Continue reading Oh, those bitter clingers!
Author: esr
McCain makes a bold move
Picking Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential nominee was a clever and gutsy thing for John McCain to do. I think he has just wrong-footed the Democrats on several levels. First, this choice looks bold and change-making in exactly the way Obama’s choice of Biden did not. Instead of a tired old pol with a history… Continue reading McCain makes a bold move
Why I hate identity politics
I was born with a congenital defect. That’s a value-free statement that nobody can conceivably insult me by repeating. It is a fact that I have cerebral palsy, probably caused by neonatal oxygen deprivation. It is a fact that my central nervous system (specifically the motor-control areas of my right temporal lobe) does not function… Continue reading Why I hate identity politics
A welcome outbreak of sanity
Instapundit links to this interesting news story: Texas school district lets teachers, staff pack pistols. While this is a step in the right direction, I think it does not go far enough. I think all teachers, day-care staff, and other adults in loco parentis for groups of children should be required to carry firearms on… Continue reading A welcome outbreak of sanity
Deducing From What Isn’t Reported
There are a couple of things we can deduce from what the national press is not reporting about the killing of Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney: The killer has no particular ties to the Republican Party or any other right-wing political organization. How do we know this? Because that is without question what the… Continue reading Deducing From What Isn’t Reported
The Great Skank Question
Monica Lewinsky. Rielle Hunter. I’d haul out the tired old Marx quote about history repeating itself as farce, but l’affaire Lewinsky was pretty farcical to begin with. As I looked at images of Hunter and Lewinsky, though, I was struck by a question: If power is, as is so often claimed, the ultimate aphrodisiac, why… Continue reading The Great Skank Question
George Lakoff Framed Himself
I’ve been a fan of George Lakoff’s writings on cognitive linguistics since reading Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things around 1990. Later, I observed his foray into political advocacy with increasing concern for him as the trajectory from expected savior to derided scapegoat became increasingly obvious. Now, the Chronicle of Higher Education gives us a retrospective,… Continue reading George Lakoff Framed Himself
On Enjoying a Fight – a Genetic Speculation
Sword Camp 2008 reminded me how much I enjoy fighting. I’m not speaking abstractly, here; by “fighting” I mean physical hand-to-hand combat. Now, on one level, this revelation shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who knows what I do for fun. I’ve trained to black belt level in tae kwon do, studied… Continue reading On Enjoying a Fight – a Genetic Speculation
Sword Camp 2008: Graduation Day, Day Seven
The final day of Sword Camp. We spent our morning learning advanced field medical techniques, up to and including learning how to suture a wound by stitching together a slash through the skin of a banana with actual surgical sutures. We also learned how to use a trach tube for clearing an airway in cases… Continue reading Sword Camp 2008: Graduation Day, Day Seven
Sword Camp 2008: Live Steel Day, Day Six
Live Steel Day arrived, and we spent the first half of the morning attacking a couch. This is a much less trivial exercise than it sounds. Couches are tough, full of padding and wood and springs and more difficult to cut than flesh. We had a tablefull of weapons — machetes, a parang, a couple… Continue reading Sword Camp 2008: Live Steel Day, Day Six
Sword Camp 2008: Zompocalypse, Day Five
The first word of the Zombie Apocalypse reached us at approximately 10:30 this morning. Sal calls those of us who had driven to the site that morning into his office and informs us that the radio news is carrying reports of heavy rioting in Flint, spreading to northern Detroit. US123 and I75 are closed, I69… Continue reading Sword Camp 2008: Zompocalypse, Day Five
Sword Camp 2008: Tactics Day, Day Four
Tuesday was Tactics Day. It opened with a class on ground analysis; how to match your tactics to the ground you have to fight on. We analyzed a particular area of the site for access and escape routes, cover, concealment, impediments to movement, and the way all these affect possibilities for attack and defense.
Sword Camp 2008: Firearms Day, Day Three
Monday was the day things went bang. Firearms, basic and advanced. We began with safety instruction and refresher by the lovely Lynda, emphasizing three basic rules: (1) Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, (2) Finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot, and (3) keep ammunition separated from weapons until… Continue reading Sword Camp 2008: Firearms Day, Day Three
Sword Camp 2008: MacGyver Day, Day Two
Tuesday was designated MacGyver Day — all about cleverness, improvisation, and thinking outside the box. This sounded like fun, right enough, but what I was really looking forward to was…holmgang.
Sword Camp 2008: Skills, Day One
Saturday was designated Skills Day. The plan had been for the Basics — the beginner-level class — to be taken in hand and run through a compressed version of the first six months of training while the rest of us — Intermediate and Advanced students — got to choose from a casual smorgasbord of specials… Continue reading Sword Camp 2008: Skills, Day One
Sword Camp 2008: And So, It Begins…
OK, so imagine you could go on vacation with a bunch of your best friends, all of whom are either (a) science fiction fans, (b) software geeks, (c) advanced martial artists, or (d) usually, some combination of the above. Now imagine that you get to spend a solid week with these people learning stuff like… Continue reading Sword Camp 2008: And So, It Begins…
On the road in Michigan
Blogging (and my responses to comments) will be light for the next two weeks. I’m on the road in Michigan, attending a week-long swordfighting intensive that starts tomorrow, then I’ll be at the World Boardgaming Championships for a week after that.
Generative models and programming talent
What, if anything, is the essential and unique talent of good programmers?
What D&D character am I?
Most what-kind-of-X-are-you quizzes are superficial jokes. I just found one that seems better constructed than the average, and as an old-time D&D fan I couldn’t resist it. Here’s the paste from my results, with a link: I Am A: Neutral Good Human Wizard (7th Level) Ability Scores: Strength-14 Dexterity-10 Constitution-16 Intelligence-15 Wisdom-14 Charisma-15 Alignment:Neutral Good… Continue reading What D&D character am I?
A Brief History of Firearms Policy Fraud
The Heller vs. D.C. ruling affirming that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms was a major civil-rights victory building on 15 years of constitutional scholarship. Accordingly, we owe a great deal of thanks to principled and dedicated legal academics including Don Kates, Dave Kopel, and the blogosphere’s own InstaPundit (aka Glenn… Continue reading A Brief History of Firearms Policy Fraud