Category Archives: Political commentary

Picking cherries

Cherry picking data is a logical fallacy where only information that support’s one’s conclusion is shared; contrary information is either ignored or suppressed. It’s also called “the fallacy of incomplete evidence,” which probably makes it more clear what is going … Continue reading

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Science denial today

In my last post I talked about how, during the 1500s, the church leaders persecuted the astronomers Galileo and Bruno for their observations that the earth was not the center of the universe. Galileo recanted and was confined to house … Continue reading

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The right to bear arms (part 2)

Based on how often I hear about a person’s Second Amendment right to own a gun, I had always assumed that the issue of interpretation was settled way back when. Turns out that the truth is otherwise. I finished a … Continue reading

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The right to bear arms

Over these past several posts I’ve looked at most of the arguments that are raised by people opposed to gun regulation and ownership. I think that a critical examination of the facts leads to the conclusion that none of the … Continue reading

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“More laws won’t help”

One of the arguments used in defense of doing nothing is “More laws won’t help; we have plenty of laws on the books right now that aren’t being enforced.” There is actually truth to this statement, in my opinion (at … Continue reading

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More guns, less crime

Some time ago a friend of mine sent me a book, the title of which is also the heading of this blog post. I would describe my friend as a very smart Libertarian, who I’m guessing was a nerd growing … Continue reading

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Do guns make you safer?

Continuing this discussion of the prevalence of guns in our society:  there’s a meme that states that guns make you safer. The difference between the safety of an individual and the safety of society in general aside, a little noodling … Continue reading

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“It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

This is the punchline of a pithy truism usually accredited to Mark Twain that started with “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble…” and then ended with this post’s title. I think this phrase (although probably … Continue reading

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Why so many guns?

First, full disclosure: I do not own any guns. I think it originated with my grandfather (my father’s father). He actively hated guns. For a long time I thought it was because he loved birds; all things living for that … Continue reading

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And yet another mass shooting

It seems like almost every week there’s another mass shooting. Most recently a guy shot and killed 9 people in an Oregon community college and wounded another 10 before being killed himself in a gun battle with police. The reason … Continue reading

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