June 2004 Archives

James R. Rummel passes on a fascinating account of harassment of the Pink Pistols contingent by goons at the Stonewall Union gay pride march. The offending security guard - and her goons - seem to have bought hook, line & sinker the dogma that people with guns are predators, while in fact (in this case) they are usually protectors. If you read into the comments, you'll see where a legally savvy person notes the legal basis for taking the guard and her 20 goons to court, in some detail. Interesting indeed.

Are you from Alton, Illinois? Leave a message...

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

Friedrich Nietzsche

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Winston Churchill

Anders Monsen informs us of the publication by Brad Linaweaver and J. Kent Hastings of "ANARQUÍA: An Alternate History of the Spanish Civil War," which sounds like a great deal of fun in the vein of L. Neil Smith's "The Probability Broach." I'm a fan of Linaweaver's work, such as his excellent "Moon of Ice," which comes to market far too rarely.

An unintentionally hilarious headline in a local rag: "City hires attorney for ethics advice."

If a politician isn't comfortable with any individual being able to walk into a hardware store, pay cash for any firearm without producing identification or signing a single scrap of paper (and that individual being able to carry that protection concealed or open), then that politician does not support freedom.

Gun-control laws only disarm potential victims, thus creating a safe work environment for criminals - kind of like an OSHA for felons. And criminals won't be deterred from getting a weapon because of a law. Criminals don't follow laws. Any attempt to rid the world of a tool that would give my 130-pound wife a fighting chance against a 230-pound man would be immoral.

Ernest Hancock

Brian Micklethwait does a little cat-blogging.

I suffer whenever I see that common sight of a parent or senior imposing his opinion and way of thinking and being on a young soul to which he is totally unfit. Cannot we let people be themselves and enjoy life in their own way? You are trying to make another you. One's enough.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who so would be a man must be a nonconformist.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bob Tipton has written a brilliant little piece I recommend.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Steve Pegram passed along a detailed and fascinating online version of a military report generated last summer, "SOLDIER WEAPONS ASSESSMENT TEAM REPORT 6-03". Much of the report is rather dry, given the nature of such a document, but scattered throughout are a great many little observational gems such as this:

...soldiers rank reliability and durability as key weapon characteristics and are not willing to trade them for anything – to include weight. Similarly, soldiers do not consider the weapon as part of their load, but rather as an enabler. They are willing to carry the weight if the weapon or device increases his lethality. This is best illustrated by soldiers purchasing their own magnified optics and the strong desire to carry an additional sidearm or shotgun for defensive and offensive purposes. Lethality is more important to the soldier than any other consideration or factor.

Here's empirical verification of the usefulness of white lights in combat, a point which I've had driven home by anecdotes from trainers at every school I've attended:

Several soldiers were observed with flashlights taped to their weapons and some using the Weapon Flashlight Mount. But all soldiers described using the tactical light for temporary target incapacitation.

The New Scientist reported yesterday that experimental progress in growing replacement teeth in situ has been made... yet another reason to pressure the federal government into repealing all its vile, stupid laws against stem cell research.

This is nasty and upsetting news from Steve Pegram: "Rocket Hobbyists Dropping Hobby" due to hamfisted, jackbooted regulation by the goons of the BATF. Just when we're seeing the spirit of innovation in rocketry and space travel rekindled, the government is working to snuff that spirit. This crap needs to be fought... which seems to be happening by default, since many rocket hobbyists have chosen to ignore F-Troop anyway.

Bear in mind this was written in the 1930's, a time when the role of medicine was far more profoundly focussed on service to the individual, rather than as a tool of social engineering (a path we've been headed down for a few decades):

Hygiene is the corruption of medicine by morality. It is impossible to find a hygienist who does not debase his theory of the healthful with a theory of the virtuous. The whole hygienic art, indeed, resolves itself into an ethical exhortation. This brings it, in the end, into diametrical conflict with medicine proper. The true aim of medicine is not to make men virtuous, it is to safeguard and rescue them from the consequences of their vices. The physician does not preach repentance; he offers absolution.

H. L. Mencken

Many have heard the now-famous quote by H.L. Mencken, "Puritanism: the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." Well, here's another instance of it in action, reported by The Guardian: "Britons caught on camera as shots of cruise ship orgy shock Cyprus."

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik has a blog.

My friend Franklin sent along this ironic bit of news from Saudi Arabia: "Saudi: Foreigners can carry guns."

Kristopher K. Barrett has turned me on to investigating a kitplane that he himself has been in the process of building: the STOL CH 801 kit aircraft.

There's this great passage in "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie when he mentions telling some people about how he'd made the day of some person working a menial job by smiling at them and giving them a compliment about their work. "What did you want to get out of him", someone in the audience asks. Carnegie got upset at this. "What's wrong with just wanting to make another human being happy?"

When I mention things like getting to know the people you're dealing with, it isn't so you can exploit them. It is because you and they will be more genuinely happy with an environment where you understand each other better. When I say it is a mistake not to listen to your neighbors, it isn't just so that they'll feel "included" -- you aren't perfect and might actually learn something you didn't know. Besides, it is rude to assume that everyone around you is an idiot, and you wouldn't want to be treated that way, so why treat others that way?

Even if you don't agree with a person, you have valuable things to learn from hearing what they have to say. Maybe their proposed solution to a social problem isn't what you would propose, but perhaps you weren't aware of the problem. Maybe it is valuable just to know that some people are concerned about the issue. Who knows. In any case, it is always better to listen, and listen well.

Perry Metzger

If money becomes more important than making good art for you, you will become a hack. But money attaches you on the audience or the reader. It forces deadlines out of you. It makes you focus. It forces you to edit, to rewrite, to start over. And above all, to make choices. When there's no money, then there's the deadly freedom that kills all artists. You should fear it, because it will make you indulgent and self-obsessed, and above all, boring. It will drive you to write that 1,200-page novel entirely from the point of view of an ant just about to get eaten. It will make you a performance artist. Who wants that?

Paul Bibeau

The famous Koko the lowland gorilla lives a few miles north of where I'm sitting. Apparently her keepers are looking for an excuse to move from Woodside, California to Maui.

Helen Pearson has written an interesting little piece in Nature summarizing recent changes in thinking about what many of us were indoctinated to believe were 'junk' DNA (non-structural and non-regulatory) sequences.

Brian Smith informs us that Bushmaster now markets an AR-10 semiclone that accepts FN-FAL magazines (both inch and metric). This is fairly interesting to me, since I've been mulling over picking up a carbine in .308 caliber since I encountered the Springfield Armory SOCOM 16 in a gun store a few weeks ago.

This is getting even more interesting: Eric Pavao sends along yet another piece (Popular Science) on the SpaceShipOne flight, this one intimating that Burt Rutan has a lot more up his sleeve:

After winning the X-Prize, Rutan will quickly move on to other challenges. During press conferences leading up to Monday's flights, he dropped hints about "going to orbit sooner than you think," an apparent allusion to the Tier 3 orbital space-vehicle program that he is reportedly involved in. The SpaceShipOne program is known as Tier 1, and Tier 2 would probably be a tour-bus-like version of the same concept, a vehicle capable of carrying up to 10 passengers on suborbital space flights. Under his contract with Allen, Rutan is required to deliver data on how much such a vehicle would cost to build and fly. Mojave Aerospace--a new company jointly owned by Allen and Rutan and disclosed this week--will own the rights to SpaceShipOne technology and would oversee future franchising and commercialization efforts for the system. Details will remain secret, said the cagey Rutan, "until we're ready to push something out of the door."

I'm sure this is old news now, but I just found out that the ultralightweight carbon-fiber Carbon 15 rifle is now a Bushmaster offering. I've had the opportunity to handle one of these 4-pound carbines in training, and found it rather pleasant. I'd be interested in knowing how rugged they actually are.

A few days ago I picked up a pristine copy of the book "Letters of Ayn Rand" which is a fascinating comilation of Rand's personal and business correspondance over a span of decades. The book seems to be selling everywhere at remainder prices, about US $6.

Bill St. Clair passes along this SpaceShipOne flight coverage with video (you'll need to enable pop-ups in your browser).

Melissa Seaman passes along this interesting bit of local TV news coverage of the strength of the Libertarian Party in Austin, Texas, home of national candidate Michael Badnarik.

Eric Pavao reports that Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik of Austin, Texas will be interviewed by Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly tonight.

The success of SpaceShipOne feels like a reward for my faith. I can’t say I’m terribly surprised – relief is more the word. If I were anywhere near the Mojave desert instead of freezing through a London summer, I would have travelled myself to witness it.

It’s a shining example of what like-minded people would say is the ultimate freedom – the freedom to create, to produce, to take risk, to try and also to fail. The freedom that can only fully be realized where our money (our very lives) isn’t taxed away for a variety of hare-brained political schemes and our lives aren’t regulated to the point of absurdity.

Most Americans reading this would have paid for NASA through their taxes – where’s your return on investment? I’m willing to bet that the VCs who stumped up for SpaceShipOne are looking forward to some long term return on their money.

I hope that those who advocate the big-government nanny state for various reasons sit up and take notice this week. This is what we humans are capable of – without the interference, guidance or regulation of beaurocracy.

Monica White

Bill of Rights Nullification by the US Supreme Court:

They have nullified the first: you have to be a politician to criticise a politician on TV or radio before an election.

They have nullified the second, repeatedly, since 1934.

They have nullified the third: we are now serfs, via taxation. We don't directly quarter the troops... they wouldn't lower themselves to live in our hovels.

They have nullified the fourth: there is no such thing as an illegal search anymore.

They have nullified the fifth: remaining silent is now unlawful.

They have nullified the sixth: you only get a speedy trial if the Supreme Court decides you deserve one, jurors are subordinated to the judges, and you can be tried secretly or get no trial at all if you are declared a "terrorist."

They have nullified the seventh: unless your civil case involves the exchange of 21 antique silver dollars, you have no right to a jury trial.

They have nullified the eighth: if you are declared a terrorist, it's torture and Gitmo time for you.

They have nullified the ninth: apparently the commerce clause and vague language about the common good cannot be contradicted by a later AMENDMENT.

They have nullified the tenth: no Supreme Court judge since the 1803 Marbury decision has obeyed that one.

The United States Supreme Court has finally nullified every one of the Bill of Rights amendments through judicial fiat. The destruction of rule of law in the U.S. is now complete.

Kristopher Barrett

This is the in-flight face of the first non-government, privately-financed test pilot to earn American astronaut's wings:

...religious morality is like a stopped clock; right twice a day, but always better off ignored. This is because religion bases its morality on what God wants (whether through scripture or tradition or religious authority or divine revelation) rather than what is empirically demonstrated to be good for people and the world we live in. In brief, religious morality, while good for god, only occasionally meets the needs of real people in the real world.

...why do you refrain from stealing what you want and murdering your rivals? Is it really because God threatens you in some mysterious afterlife? or is it because you know you must get along in a world of others and acting in this way would surely turn them all against you? Most people are nice because they've been raised to be so and because it helps them get along in a community of others. God needn't have anything to do with it.

In fact, I would be generally frightened of anyone who said that they would steal, rape and murder if it weren't for the threat of hell. Yet that's exactly what many religious moralists would have us believe; that we would all be reduced to snarling animals without the threat of hell hanging over us. It's nonsense when you think about it. Would you behave this way if God were proven to be imaginary?

Scott Feldstein, on Orkut

The world's first privately funded manned spaceflight will occur in less than 7 hours from now, with the takeoff of the carrier ship and spaceship from Mojave Airport at 0630 California time.

Organic chemistry is the chemistry of carbon compounds. Biochemistry is the study of carbon compounds that crawl.

Mike Adams

When the war finally came to an end, I was at a loss as to what to do... I took stock of my qualifications. A not-very-good degree, redeemed somewhat by my achievements at the Admiralty. A knowledge of certain restricted parts of magnetism and hydrodynamics, neither of them subjects for which I felt the least bit of enthusiasm. No published papers at all... Only gradually did I realize that this lack of qualification could be an advantage. By the time most scientists have reached age thirty they are trapped by their own expertise. They have invested so much effort in one particular field that it is often extremely difficult, at that time in their careers, to make a radical change. I, on the other hand, knew nothing, except for a basic training in somewhat old-fashioned physics and mathematics and an ability to turn my hand to new things... Since I essentially knew nothing, I had an almost completely free choice...

Francis Crick
What Mad Pursuit, Basic Books, New York, 1988, pp 15-16.

Anton Sherwood just changed his portrait on his blog.

In chemistry lecture, and studying outside class, I often use a molecular modelling kit made by Darling Models to help me visualize the stereochemistry of various molecules. I like my kit, but it's rather bulky, so I don't always have it immediately at hand. A few days ago, one of my classmates showed me the kit she carried, which is very much more compact and does most of what we need to know (in respect of linear and branched hydrocarbons and some of their halogenated derivatives): a Student Organic Chemistry C-set from Hinomoto Plastics. The Hinomoto kit fits in a small pocket pouch, and is very solidly constructed. Some of the components look amusingly like dice from the game Dungeons & Dragons, by the way.

The success of a party can be determined by the number of gatecrashers. And we do have friends who've been knocking away on the virtual doors of the cartel. MadMan is devising a logical test of libertarianism. Get ready to jump through the hoop and clear the hurdles!

Any more wanting to join us in the battle against the evil forces of socialism, illogic, and unfreedom? Drop me a line.

Yazad Jal

Steve Pegram passes this on:

Note the name of the castle first build specifically to protect against firearms.

The first castle in Britain to be designed specifically for defense by guns was Ravenscraig Castle located in Scotland. Built in 1460.

Hello, my name is none of your business. I am suffering from seven rare and deadly diseases, poor scores on final exams, fear of being mauled by squirrels, and the guilt for not forwarding out 50 billion chain letters sent to me by people who actually believe that if you send them on, then that poor 6 year old girl in Arkansas with a potato growing out of her forehead will be able to raise enough money to have it removed before her redneck parents sell her off to the travelling freak show. Do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to pay you and everyone you send "his" email to $1000? How stupid are you? Ooh, looky here! If I scroll down this page and make a wish, I'll meet the girl (or guy) of my dreams tomorrow! What a bunch of junk! So basically, this message is directed to all the people out there who have nothing better to do than to send me stupid chain mail forwards. Maybe the evil letter leprechauns will come into my house and write "I'm a moron" on my forehead in permanent marker in my sleep for not continuing the chain which was started by a knight of the round table and was brought to this country by midget pilgrim on the Mayflower and if it makes it to the year 2000, it'll be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest continuous streak of blatant stupidity. If you're going to forward something, at least send me something mildly amusing. I've seen all the "send this to 50 of your closest friends, and this poor, wretched excuse for a human being will somehow recieve a nickel from some omniscient being" forwarded about 90 times. It's getting old. Show a little intelligence and think about what you're actually contributing by sending your forwards.

Tiina Urm, from Estonia, complaining about Orkut "friend of a friend" spam

Via Eric Pavao: Japanese company takes delivery of first new Zeppelin airship, a 247-foot updated helium version of the original ships.

I have come to the conclusion that the reason people don't just "throw the bums out" and vote for freedom, is that they genuinely are afraid of their neighbors. They fear freedom for other people, thinking that regulation is the only thing that stands between themselves and violent death.

Handguns are an excellent example. Someone who wouldn't think twice about balancing their own checkbook, and "looking both ways" before crossing the street, dreads a handgun because it represents no longer relying on those regulations for personal safety.

They cannot admit that regulations do not provide "safety", so anything that reflects badly on those regulations is itself anathema. They fear what firearms in private hands truly represents.

This adds yet another layer to hoplophobia. It makes it still harder for someone with the condition to admit they are irrational, because they might honestly say they do not "fear" guns.

They fear their neighbors. What an awful fear that must be.

Curt Howland

Abolishing the FCC does not mean airwave anarchy. What it means is returning to bottom-up law rather than the top-down process that has characterized telecommunications for the last 80 years...

...If the FCC had been in charge of overseeing the Internet, we'd likely be waiting for the Mosaic Web browser to receive preliminary approval from the Wireline Competition Bureau.

Declan McCullagh (cited by Anton)

If we assume that the individual has an indisputable right to life, we must concede that he has a similar right to the enjoyment of the products of his labor. This we call a property right. The absolute right to property follows from the original right to life because one without the other is meaningless; the means to life must be identified with life itself. If the State has a prior right to the products of one's labor, his right to existence is qualified. Aside from the fact that no such prior right can be established, except by declaring the State the author of all rights, our inclination (as shown in the effort to avoid paying taxes) is to reject this concept of priority. Our instinct is against it. We object to the taking of our property by organized society just as we do when a single unit of society commits the act. In the latter case we unhesitatingly call the act robbery, a malum in se. It is not the law which in the first instance defines robbery, it is an ethical principle, and this the law may violate but not supersede. If by the necessity of living we acquiesce to the force of law, if by long custom we lose sight of the immorality, has the principle been obliterated? Robbery is robbery, and no amount of words can make it anything else.

Frank Chodorov
Out of Step: The Autobiography of an Individualist (1962)

"Mysticism" often just starts out as temporal lobe epilepsy. It enriches your life no more than the bright lights you see if you hit your head with a hammer. It may well be that the brain damaged have had more effect on human civilization than any other single group of people in history. It sure would explain a lot.

Steve Van Sickle

In case anyone's wondering, I've been extremely busy this week. Early tomorrow morning, I have a difficult organic chemistry exam. After that, I have some breathing room... email and blog posts to follow.

Don't become a novelist; be a statistician, much more scope for the imagination.

via Samizdata

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Ronald Reagan

"Feelings" of a supreme being prove nothing since feelings are biochemical states. Feelings no more prove god's existence than seeing pink elephants when withdrawing from alcohol prove theirs. Science demands external evidence that is reproducible. This is how the West has risen from the swamp of mysticism and ignorance to antibiotics, computers, space travel, the internal combustion engine, etc.

Mysticism starts out as an apparently harmless, individual subjective experience. It ends up with a whip in its hand and an explosives belt around its waist, tyrannizing everyone who doesn't share that private experience.

Jim Mark