Hydrogeologist. Statistician. Writer. Cat lover. But mostly, Retired.
Since I watched my first science-fiction movie in the 1950s, I knew I was going to grow up to be a scientist. I loved biology in high school but knew I didn’t have the mindset of a biologist. A few years later, in fact, I became a vegetarian. I started in college as a chemistry major and might still be there (trying to pass physical chemistry, that is) had I not on a dare took Geology 101. (I was working for the college at the time so tuition was free.) One semester of Rocks for Jocks and I was hooked…
Conspiracy theories can be classified in several ways.
Conspiracies are everywhere. Prosecutors prove them all the time in court. And the Internet … well, ‘nuff said. Conspiracy theories are like animals. Even within a single species, they come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. You need a taxonomy to keep them separated in your mind.
A conspiracy is a plot by two or more people to do something unsavory. A conspiracy theory is an attempt to explain something unusual. Some conspiracy theories are false, some are unproven, some are unprovable, and some have turned out to be true.
The only way to understand personal differences is to talk about them.
Everybody condemns censorship. The Founding Fathers prohibited the government from doing it. But, censorship of social media is a different story. It’s not covered by the First Amendment. The Constitution applies only to government.
Comprehensive Generic Censorship
Censoring social media is an issue for private companies. They’re caught in a dilemma — if they censor an inflammatory post, that’s intrusive; if they don’t censor such a post; they’re condoning the content. Companies are just there for the profit. They didn’t sign up for being socially responsible.
Private companies can do whatever they want (so long as it is legal), they just have to…
An authentic, lover of God, guns, individuality, and freedom, who will restore their culture.
With all the crazy news surrounding Marjorie Taylor Greene, I was wondering why the people of Georgia’s 14th District would vote for her. The story turned out to be … interesting.
Georgia’s 14th Congressional District
Georgia’s 14th congressional district was created in 2012 following the 2010 Census, when Georgia gained a 14th seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district is in northwest Georgia, northwest of Atlanta, and includes 12 counties: Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Polk, Walker, Whitfield, and a portion of Pickens. The District could be considered poorer, whiter, and less educated than the rest of the U.S.
Forget the politicians, how do Americans want to change in the Constitution.
From 1789 to 2019, approximately 11,770 measures have been proposed to amend the Constitution. Congress sent 33 of the proposed Amendments to the States for ratification. Of those, 27 have been ratified: 11 in the 1700s, 4 in the 1800s, and 12 in the 1900s. The six Amendments that were never ratified are:
- Congressional Apportionment Amendment, 1789
- Titles of Nobility Amendment, 1810
- Corwin (pro-slavery) Amendment, 1861
- Child Labor Amendment, 1924
- Equal Rights Amendment, 1972
- District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, 1978.
I had just turned 18 in 1971 when the 26th Amendment was ratified giving me the right to vote…
What if a crazy conspiracy theory turned out to be true?
In this decade of ceaseless improbabilities, what else can happen to add a little more chaos to society? What if a well-known conspiracy theory were proven to be true? Conspiracy theories are usually ridiculed because they are not supported by sufficient evidence. Sometimes, though, they turn out to be true (e.g., tobacco causes cancer, asbestos in baby powder, pedophilia in the Boy Scouts, Iran-Contra, Gulf of Tonkin, and Watergate). …
America’s Gun Future
Firearms Retrospective
If James Madison were alive today and rewriting the Constitution, he wouldn’t have included the Second or Third Amendments. Both the Federal military and the State National Guards are well armed and provisioned. There is no need for militiamen to bring their own weapons and provisions to a fight.
If he were back in 1787 but with a knowledge of modern English, he might write a more verbose the Second Amendment as:
Because the country does not have a large, well-funded standing army to protect it from internal rebellion and foreign oppression, it must depend on State militias. The States…
America’s Gun War
It’s bad enough that we have to figure out what the Founding Fathers were thinking two hundred years ago, we have to do it while partisans are shoveling questionable information everywhere. Even they don’t know what the truth is, they just cherry-pick what they want to believe. Here’s what we’re dealing with.
Advocacy Groups
There must be a lot of money in firearms because there’s so much shouting and lying between gun-rights and gun-control advocates who, in turn, shout and lie to the public. And both sides spend a lot of money on lawmakers, both as lobbying efforts and direct payments to…
America’s Gun Debate
The Second Amendment was supposed to enable States to raise and equip their militias without interference from the Federal government. Britain tried to disarm the Colonies before the Revolutionary War but failed. Madison wrote the Constitution to be sure that the United States government couldn’t try the same thing.
People always want to second-guess even the most revered of experts, even the Founding Fathers. So, it was inevitable that, within a century, Courts would be asked to interpret the Second Amendment.
… the lower federal courts have overwhelmingly endorsed the collective rights view; numerous cases reject the conclusion that the…
America’s Guns
The U.S. Constitution allows the Federal government to raise armies and navies, and to call on State militias for help, but does not address gun ownership by individuals. That was assumed; everybody had a gun. They were necessary tools on the frontier.
Guns in the 1780s
Society and Culture
Guns were tools every farmer had to hunt and protect his family and property. Most guns used in the Colonies in the 1700s were imported from Britain. Some came from France or were produced locally by gunsmiths. Gun manufacturing in the U.S. didn’t flourish until the 1800s during the first Industrial Revolution.
Charlie Kufs
I’ve analyzed data for over 40 years, written a book and over 150 blogs, been a trainer/public speaker, and was a PG and SSGB. Now retired, I worship cats.
