Politicians aren’t ethereal creatures of pure principle, operating on a higher moral plane than the rest of us. They’re people with jobs and with bosses, just LIKE the rest of us. And that’s more than sufficient reason to not give them much power OVER the rest of us.
Category: Blogs
The official Everything-Voluntary.com blog.
The Not-So-Just World Hypothesis
One of the main forms of (alleged) evidence in favor of the Just World Hypothesis is that people derogate and blame the victims of crimes. But I’ve simply never noticed this in real life. All I’ve seen, rather, is that people claim that other people derogate and blame the victims of crimes.
The Evil of Two Lessers
Here we are, more than 13 months from the next POTUS election, and the oligarchs have already limited our choices to zero. The incumbent is an incompetent, crazed liar, and the challenger field has reduced itself to three incompetent, crazed liars.
Banning 3D-Printed Guns
this lamp part, this repair piece for your coffee pot, this game piece, etc., put them all together in this way, and you’ve got a gun. No gun or gun part was printed. Yet a gun was printed after all. By someone who didn’t have to be a hacker or build their own 3D printer, but who just wanted a gun enough to print one. Kind of like the way it happens now.
Right to Know: A Historical Guide to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Information has taken on a whole new meaning in the digital age, a time when sensitive data is either too easily accessible or not accessible enough. This issue of access to information encompasses fundamental human rights – specifically the freedom of speech as well as the right to privacy. Because it’s a primary means of maintaining transparency and accountability within government policies and decision-making in both the United States and around the globe, information is more valuable than ever to both government agencies and our individual lives. This guide takes an in-depth look at FOIA history and the importance of exercising your right to know.
Anatomy of a Frivolous Argument
While I’ve spoken about this many times, it keeps coming up so I figured I would do a formal analysis. I’m well-aware this will have no impact on those who use this tactic to avoid discussion, such as lawyers and bureaucrats; this is for those who may be victims of this pernicious method of shouting down a valid argument. Ironically, as will be shown, it’s those screeching “frivolous” that are usually raising a truly frivolous argument. Yelling frivolous is a distraction technique, don’t be fooled by it.
Bad Choices and Shifting the Blame
I don’t blame manufacturers or retailers for the misuse of their (non-faulty) products. Not even with products known to be really dangerous if used according to their purpose. When someone buys something dangerous and makes the choice to misuse it, that’s where the blame lies.
Mismeasurement
Science is fine, but logic is better. Ayn Rand often challenged, “check your premises!” (And if one automatically tunes out whenever the name, Ayn Rand, is mentioned, one needs to check one’s premises.) A bad premise should, logically, go into the round file, because you cannot do science on the absurd. Garbage in, garbage out.
Co-Working Meets Co-Learning
Workspace helps to cultivate personal and professional opportunities for parents, while supporting their children.
Hidden Agenda
This is a book report on “The Fifth Risk” by Michael Lewis. A very good friend, but a liberal intervener, recommended the book to me, and I’m sure that she recommended it because its main theme is that the current White House is grossly negligent. But I got a far different message from the book.