tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post5804023869218813528..comments2024-03-29T06:22:47.638-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Fatal flaws of our enlightenment?David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13564405205925638592018-03-15T20:53:44.871-07:002018-03-15T20:53:44.871-07:00I’m taking the time to comment for the first time ...I’m taking the time to comment for the first time in ages because so many here seem to be surprised by the “gun ownership is the same as militia membership” solution that has been my favorite for years, almost since my first HS paper on the 2nd amendment. That this solution is novel to the the folks here surprises me. It was how we formed the army for the first nearly hundred years, and repeatedly dealt with conflict in the frontier areas for that whole time. The only major downside I see is the role which white militias had in perpetrating slavery and terrorizing our fellow citizens once they were emancipated, and I don’t doubt that there are those who would attempt that garbage, <br /><br />Given that I want to suggest my solution to the police brutality problems we have as a nation in a requirement that officers carry private, individual malpractice insurance. Let the inevitable insurance discount for having a good record make chest cameras ubiquitous.That One Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06330768262968014233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61515271852792267872018-02-27T11:14:23.908-08:002018-02-27T11:14:23.908-08:00Thanks Winter7. What old cliches... but fun...
o...Thanks Winter7. What old cliches... but fun...<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onward<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36820457610015158422018-02-27T11:07:53.463-08:002018-02-27T11:07:53.463-08:00¡Hey! ¡this is new! ¡A scientist says that our pla...¡Hey! ¡this is new! ¡A scientist says that our planet can be the victim of extraterrestrial hackers!<br />For certainly, if the first to capture extraterrestrial signals follow the instructions of the aliens, then, they could be duped by the aliens, and create without being aware of it, something that would destroy us all.<br />This is the link:<br /><br />https://phys.org/news/2018-02-scientists-space-aliens-hack-planet.html <br /><br />Winter7<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44381352410725484732018-02-27T10:33:23.705-08:002018-02-27T10:33:23.705-08:00Republicans refuse to believe that the shooting pr...Republicans refuse to believe that the shooting problem is real, simply because they are not directly affected by the shootings.<br />I think the only way to get some sense on the part of the Republicans, would be legally forcing the Republican leaders (and all Republicans) to go to the morgues to see the bodies of the children killed in the shootings.<br />At the end of the Second World War, the Germans refused to believe that the holocaust was real. They stubbornly refused to believe that their own government had caused the extermination of all those who were different. But the American army forced the German citizens to visit the extermination camps and then the Germans realized the truth.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Possible detection of traces of life on Saturn's moon:<br />https://phys.org/news/2018-02-alien-life-solar-hints-saturn.html <br /><br />Winter7<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74310058536281947642018-02-27T08:29:34.558-08:002018-02-27T08:29:34.558-08:00Darrell E,
There's no other barrel. The probl...Darrell E,<br /><br />There's no other barrel. The problem with making tongue-in-cheek statements is that they are not detectable in text. The problem with that particular one is that many people actually believe it.<br /><br />Much better to make every part of your statements irrefutable. It make it less likely to have your entire argument refuted on the basis of a single part being incorrect.<br /><br />Just as I apparently missed your intent, you also missed mine. But I took care to only attack your statement.<br /><br />As for the meat, more bullets does not equal less casualties. And good guy with gun vs. bad guy with gun, in the absence of a script, won't always turn out the way you want.<br /><br />Twominds,<br /><br />You get Don McLean. I get Deborah Harry screaming in my ear.raitonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11500666418682490802018-02-27T07:58:31.244-08:002018-02-27T07:58:31.244-08:00I hear a lot about the second amendment being used...I hear a lot about the second amendment being used in the civil war scenario (I call it that because that is what an armed insurrection against the government would be), but I haven't heard anything about the other end of the spectrum.<br /><br />Can someone point to case law where someone successfully used their 2A rights as their legal defense when they shot at tyrannical government employee?<br /><br />I see a lot of people angry at the government from native Americans who don't want pipelines through their land, to anti-abortion activists who want to stop the death of millions of fertilized eggs, to libertarians angry about taxes as government theft, ranchers who want to graze on public land and not pay for it, to men who have lost child custody cases.<br /><br />Where is the line where it is legally OK for any of these people (or should that be all of these people?) to shoot at the government?David Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50517254768955672442018-02-27T07:41:14.185-08:002018-02-27T07:41:14.185-08:0020 States sue that Obamacare is no longer constitu...<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/twenty-us-states-sue-federal-government-seeking-end-to-obamacare/ar-BBJDkGy" rel="nofollow">20 States sue that Obamacare is no longer constitutional.</a> It kind of makes sense, because the earlier ruling was based on Obamacare being a tax, and the constitution gives the federal government the right to tax. As the Republicans repealed the Tax part of the Affordable Care Act, they may have a point. <br /> <br />Add in that my own state is in flagrant defiance of Obamacare and so far has faced no legal opposition, it looks like Obamacare is done for. If you'd asked me just before Trump took office, I'd have guessed that so many people were benefiting from it that the ACA would be around for a long time, with maybe some needed tweaks. Nope! sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48946843207246137962018-02-27T07:32:35.446-08:002018-02-27T07:32:35.446-08:00David - you're entirely right about Athenian d...David - you're entirely right about Athenian democracy. So far, our own is holding - just. Definitely better than implode-and-rebound. The absence of an underlying consensus and near-universal commitment to our institutions (the earlier GOP possessed both) is very troubling, though. That won't just come back if Trump disappears in a cloud of smoke.<br /><br />Bob PfeifferRoberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05763643308644698795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73353897403718852662018-02-27T07:22:55.499-08:002018-02-27T07:22:55.499-08:00Jerry A,
However, the National Guard officers oath...Jerry A,<br />However, the National Guard officers oath does include the "....and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States...." part.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64456008211579796312018-02-27T07:17:49.003-08:002018-02-27T07:17:49.003-08:00Apparently the Chinese censors have been so overwh...Apparently the Chinese censors have been so overwhelmed trying to keep a lid on the online discussion over the constitutional changes, they've taken to banning random letters. Such as "N".<br /><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/underbreath/status/967771313413668866" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/underbreath/status/967771313413668866</a>Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70815975125681584142018-02-27T06:58:32.647-08:002018-02-27T06:58:32.647-08:00Paul451: The enlisted oath includes obedience to o...Paul451: The enlisted oath includes obedience to orders of the President and officers. Neither the military officers oath nor civilian government oath require obedience to orders, but rather to uphold the laws & the Constitution of the US. There is no personal loyalty oath to the President in those oaths, and in fact _any_ personal loyalty oath would be a violation of it. Arguably, even an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) is a violation of the civilian oath.Jerry A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01835584492326180042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56770888339410442742018-02-27T06:55:42.268-08:002018-02-27T06:55:42.268-08:00Occam,
Re: Space warfare
"and to recognize th...Occam,<br />Re: Space warfare<br /><i>"and to recognize the U.S. Air Force as the service branch best suited for the job."</i><br /><br />{laughs} For decades, the "fighter mafia" that runs the USAF has treated their rocket/space command personnel as second-class citizens; serving there is career death.<br /><br />I've suggested for years that it should be handed over to the Army.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86246699189870930652018-02-27T06:49:51.514-08:002018-02-27T06:49:51.514-08:00David,
Re: Work-for-the-dole/disability.
As I'...David,<br />Re: Work-for-the-dole/disability.<br /><br />As I've said before, the problem with such schemes is they are always adversarial systems. Always intended as a punishment for daring to be poor/disabled. And hence the recipient is constantly living with their last lifeline being held over their heads by whichever interpretation of the rules the random underresourced supervisor feels they have to apply or risk their own jobs. Paul SB has talked about what continuous threat does to people's brains.<br /><br />If the point is to maximise potential participants in society, then such schemes are a terrible choice. They reduce the capacity of recipients <i>and</i> those scheme-supervisors. (With the follow on generational harm to their children.)<br /><br />Ironically, in Heinlein's version, "only" the citizenship/vote was at stake. Not your ability to function. You had a choice not to participate. (Of course, in the real world, ST's system would not be stable. There's no way it wouldn't trend towards oligarchy/dictatorship.)<br /><br />--<br /><br />Jon S.<br /><i>"US military personnel take an oath not to the President, or any other leadership, but to the Constitution of the United States."</i><br /><br />"....and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States...."<br /><br />--<br /><br />Anon,<br />Re: Armed "officer" at Parkland.<br /><i>"Why isn't this being rubbed in the NRA's face?"</i><br /><br />Because he's already being set out as the villain. Almost as much as the shooter. (Leading to Trump's latest idiotic brag/fantasy.)Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43283932998896964322018-02-27T06:49:03.133-08:002018-02-27T06:49:03.133-08:00Darrell E,
"The idea that armed private indi...Darrell E, <br /><i>"The idea that armed private individuals would make everyone safer, and especially that arming teachers in public schools would be a good idea, is nuts. Trained law enforcement professionals that train regularly average 18% - 20% hit rates in real life scenarios and hitting bystanders is not rare."</i><br /><br />Throw in that in most mass shootings, the shooter is known to the victims. And that in mass-shootings, there is often chaos over the identity and location of the shooter. So if you hear gun-fire from somewhere in the building, and pull out your handgun/shotgun to "run in", everyone who sees you running in is going to assume that <i>you</i> are the shooter (or one of them). That means that anyone <i>else</i> with a gun is likely to target <i>you</i>, and, much worse, that you are likely to push fleeing escapees back towards the actual shooter. (We know this from witness reports from actual shootings.)<br /><br />Even uniformed military fall prey to "friendly fire". Why would random civilians be immune?<br /><br />Oh, and when the police arrive, who are <i>they</i> going to target?<br /><br />--<br /><br />Raito,<br /><i>"Your statement keeps getting repeats, and is wrong every time. The average is the sum of the data divided by the number of individual items in the data."</i><br /><br />This was a bizarre post. Immediately after this, you demonstrated that you knew that the mean-average was not the only kind of "average", <i>and</i> that you knew that Darrell meant the median, not the mean, and hence you knew your "objection" was nonsensical.<br /><br />So why make it?<br /><br />[If you want to make a stats snipe, how about that vaguely labelled, unitless graph in the phys.org article. And speaking of...]<br /><br />--<br /><br />Winter7,<br />Re: Prox.Cent flaring.<br /><br />It was known to be a variable. Many (most/all?) red dwarfs are. Prox b. is already assumed to be tidally locked.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-21870088581411627872018-02-27T06:45:31.076-08:002018-02-27T06:45:31.076-08:00Look at who is excited about lower launch cost and...Look at who is excited about lower launch cost and reusable rockets.<br />Remember that orbital superiority is global superiority.<br /> <br />US Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein <br /><br /><br />“[It’s] time for us as a service, regardless of specialty badge, to embrace space superiority with the same passion and sense of ownership as we apply to air superiority today,” he said. <br /><br />These are some of the strongest words yet from the Air Force chief of staff to get the Pentagon thinking about space—and to recognize the U.S. Air Force as the service branch best suited for the job. “I believe we’re going to be fighting from space in a matter of years,” he said. “And we are the service that must lead joint war fighting in this new contested domain. This is what the nation demands.”<br />“[It’s] time for us as a service, regardless of specialty badge, to embrace space superiority with the same passion and sense of ownership as we apply to air superiority today,” he said.occam's comicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13000014673382031062018-02-27T04:57:00.656-08:002018-02-27T04:57:00.656-08:00Larry,
It has been decades since I read the book,...Larry,<br /><br />It has been decades since I read the book, and of course every individual will interpret things their own way. I read it as examining the social correlates of endless war. He wrote it, after all, at the height of the McCarthy Era. He had been a Navy officer in the war, so I wouldn't expect him to have a particularly pacifistic attitude toward the military, to be sure, but living in a perpetuate state of warfare isn't exactly healthy for either individuals or the societies in which they live. The words people say, the justifications they concoct, their very ambitions and desires are moulded and channeled by the paranoid state of constant fear - a state that serves the purposes of a state that wants to control its people pretty rigidly. Communists aren't bugs, but the propaganda tried to convince people that they were, making people feel revulsion and forget empathy for their fellow human beings and conflate the actions of a corrupt government for the human worth of the people under its thumb. Maybe I was in a particularly morbid phase when I read it back then.Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9245461848269634232018-02-27T04:46:53.408-08:002018-02-27T04:46:53.408-08:00Twominds,
That is exactly what I was suggesting. ...Twominds,<br /><br />That is exactly what I was suggesting. It was a European - the Englishman Herbert Spencer - who made the idea of "scientific racism" popular in the 19th C., but maybe after the horrors of WW II such ludicrous notions are generally frowned upon there. But then, Holland has an exceptional reputation for tolerance and basic human decency. I have no idea what I would have grown to be if I hadn't been raised by a Dutch mother, given that my home town largely comprised the kind of right-wing fascists who think diversity is a dirty word, and that wealth is objective, empirical proof of their superior intelligence and morality. Maybe I'm autistic enough that if I had been raised by my Alabama-bred father I still might not have absorbed that mindless hate and arrogance that fills so many people here. But there are small-minded, petty shits everywhere on Earth, in any tribe you care to name. The "born lazy" line is so common here that people don't even need to say it anymore, it's just assumed. Look at recent efforts in right-wing states to force disabled people to work for their health care. The assumption they are making is that disabled people aren't really disabled, they are lazy people who have faked their disabilities so they can sit on their butts all their lives and die of boredom and social isolation.Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59767162822616014042018-02-27T03:20:35.461-08:002018-02-27T03:20:35.461-08:00@ Paul SB
What you said about the nature/nurture ...@ Paul SB<br /><br /><i>What you said about the nature/nurture debate not being discussed where you are (does that count for Europe generally?) is pretty revealing.</i><br /><br />What does it reveal to you? <br /><br />I think here it was never seen as a dichotomy, an either/or. <br />When I was looking for an existing Dutch phrase, I found little, and few recent mentionings or debates. Most people would react to the question whether it's nature, nurture or both, with a 'duh, both of course'.<br />Which does not mean that no-one is using the concept for racist purposes. I know at least one person who says that Africans are so poor because they're too lazy to work. Implying that's a central, unchangeable part of them. <br /><br />I don't know if the debate is more alive in other parts of Europe, I just looked at the Dutch situation. And maybe I didn't search well enough, and I missed important places. Twomindsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24275956862715665592018-02-26T21:22:21.259-08:002018-02-26T21:22:21.259-08:00I don't go as far as RobH. The siege of Saraje...I don't go as far as RobH. The siege of Sarajevo showed that several hundred dads with bolt action rifles on rooftops could stymie an aggressor army that doesn't carpet bomb. And make it hard for one that does. <br /><br />And the whole question is whether US soldiers would even obey orders to savagely repress a rising in some US city. For all these reasons, I am willing to concede that the possibility of citizens rising against an oppressive government is not impossible. Yes, it's almost absurdly unlikely. The resistance will resort to other tools, especially if all the smart techies are among the oppressed. (They sure are, now.) Still, I won't make that my bone of contention with gun nut romantics. <br /><br />The crux is the slippery slope to confiscation. My Militia Rifle compromise... under which all OTHER weapons are licensed, trained insuranced, like cars,,, is a good faith effort, accompanied by A BETTER AMENDMENT than the pathetically weak 2nd. It is their refusal to recognize its weakness that betrays how stupid and loony many of them are.<br /><br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52373963429912761912018-02-26T19:40:43.856-08:002018-02-26T19:40:43.856-08:00Paul SB:
One thing you have to think about is, di...Paul SB:<br /><i><br />One thing you have to think about is, did Heinlein intend the society he portrayed in "Starship Troopers" as an ideal we should reach for, or a warning of what could happen if we continue following old patterns?<br /></i><br /><br />I just read that book within the year, mainly because it kept being mentioned here. I didn't find the earth society to be dystopian or horrific at all (the bugs, sure, but the existence of such aliens has nothing to do with choices we make as a society). I saw the book more as an explanation of how someone could find a home in the military.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75534534101613676452018-02-26T18:51:42.106-08:002018-02-26T18:51:42.106-08:00Okay, how to put it...
Yes, people will expect te...Okay, how to put it...<br /><br />Yes, people will expect teachers to pick up guns and out-gun armed gunmen storming their schools while having to pay for their own guns, their own ammunition, their own insurance, and their own training. They will have to do this on top of having to buy school supplies out of pocket without being able to deduct it for tax reasons like they used to be able to do until Trump decided billionaires need money more than teachers. And if a teacher accidentally shoots the wrong child that teacher will be vilified and people will demand teacher wages be cut drastically, their unions destroyed, and schools privatized. Any who do not demand this will be called a communist traitor and reviled by the "base" American conservative.<br /><br />And gun nuts have this fetish about being able to stand up to the government with their AR-15s. When I pointed out to one diehard Libertarian about how idiotic his views are, he pitied me and how "crushed" my spirit is. He insists that my view that the government would use armored vehicles and drones to kill "patriots" from outside the range of their weapons was wrong and idiotic. When I pointed out about the Trail of Tears and the internment of Japanese-Americans as proof people still get put in camps despite guns, he said they should have fought back. He then never responded to my statement that Native Americans did this, they had guns, and... they... lost. <br /><br />You have to understand. As long as they have their guns these people believe they can win back their freedom should they choose to do so. They do not realize that the National Guard will crush them using military hardware even if they have AR-15s and other powerful weapons. And Republicans realize this. This is why they allow the guns. They tell their base "Democrats will take your guns and your freedom!" and let them keep their guns while they take their freedom. <br /><br />In short... the gun nuts are insane. They truly believe they could prevail against the U.S. government if they actually "need" to rise up. But they won't rise up so long as they retain their guns. Because then "they're still free."<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24681543239880557122018-02-26T18:48:40.345-08:002018-02-26T18:48:40.345-08:00As I understand Heinlein's own commentary on t...As I understand Heinlein's own commentary on the story later, <i>Starship Troopers</i> was intended as a sort of meditation on duty and honor, and Heinlein just used that society because it seemed like it might be fun to write about. (One of the History & Moral Philosophy instructors - I think the one at OCS, but could be mistaken - said that the reason they kept their society wasn't because it was especially good, or highly ethical, but because it was working for them.)Jon S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13585842845661267920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36600016361174881652018-02-26T18:32:51.911-08:002018-02-26T18:32:51.911-08:00A confederate traitor would not know a solemn oath...A confederate traitor would not know a solemn oath if it bit him on the nose. All the blather is just words. <br /> <br />Robert, Athenian democracy self-destructed several times but came roaring back. See Thrasabulus.<br /><br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29498960371100329642018-02-26T18:32:45.112-08:002018-02-26T18:32:45.112-08:00Deuxglass (or Doug, if you prefer, though I am not...Deuxglass (or Doug, if you prefer, though I am not referring to Doug the Dog, obviously),<br /><br />Heinlein's model was most likely Sparta, where everyone who voted served, even the blind. They famously sent blind soldiers to run messages. As I remember, two were sent out from the Battle of Thermopylae. One managed to get back in time to die in battle, the other was shamed for the rest of his life because he didn't. One thing you have to think about is, did Heinlein intend the society he portrayed in "Starship Troopers" as an ideal we should reach for, or a warning of what could happen if we continue following old patterns? Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24662885523928681292018-02-26T18:26:27.484-08:002018-02-26T18:26:27.484-08:00Twominds,
What you said about the nature/nurture ...Twominds,<br /><br />What you said about the nature/nurture debate not being discussed where you are (does that count for Europe generally?) is pretty revealing. I don't know if you have ever read Stephen Jay Gould's "The Mismeasure of Man." It's a book that shot down the so-called scientific racism of Hernnstein and Murray twelve years before they even wrote "The Bell Curve." Gould was able to do that because, as he pointe out in the introduction to the edition that was issued after that "The Bell Curve" stared to get attention, that American scholars who have a racist agenda have been using exactly the same playbook since Binet's I.Q. test was used here in 1904. They work from the assumption that it is all nature, and misrepresent the statistics on the assumption that not a lot of people understand the statistics well enough to argue with them - a sort of mathematical "shock and awe" approach. I could be wrong, but I get the impression that Americans may be the only people simple minded enough to truly believe that IQ tests actually measure some unchanging genetic trait (that somehow correlate to completely unrelated traits like base melanin levels), and that the answer to the question "is it nature or nurture?" is always "nature." If the issue is not often discussed, does that mean that most Europeans understand that the answer to that question is "yes?"Paul SBnoreply@blogger.com