Blogger’s fatigue?

29  last month. Just 14 posts in 24 March days. Really?
And for much of last year I used to average 50 posts a month…

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I am a militia member

Or at least I could be, if this report by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (a government agency that researches terrorism) is to be taken seriously.
If you’re an anti-abortion activist, or if you display political paraphernalia supporting a third-party candidate or a certain [...]

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A ski helmet rant from ten years ago

T

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Ski helmet poll

This poll depresses me. The state by state breakdown is revealing though. New Hampshire, Colorado, Montana and Oregon are red as I expected, though I am a bit surprised to see California that blue.
Anyway, motorcycle riders have resisted mandatory helmet laws in more than twenty American states despite overwhelming public support for such laws. So [...]

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Quebec may make helmets mandatory for skiers

I have written enough in the past about Canada’s (usually successful) attempts to muzzle free speech and monitor thought crimes and enforce some kind of bizarre right to not get your feelings hurt.
But this latest proposed law takes policing your head to an entirely different level. I understand that the proposal has been spurred by Natasha Richardson’s [...]

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Funny true story

I’ve heard several good stories at the math workshop I am attending currently but this one takes the cake.
Famous old mathematician asks a certain female international grad student in his depaterment how she likes it there.
FIGS: Oh it’s great. Except for the cocks.
FOM: Cocks?
FIGS: Yes cocks! There are too many cocks in my bedroom.
FOM is [...]

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I can bike in Switzerland without feeling outraged!

In London (my British friend informs me) it is illegal to ride a bicycle without wearing a helmet. I find that amusing because Londoners can jaywalk legally; so it is the precise opposite of California, where helmets are not mandatory for adult cyclists but jaywalking is illegal. Actually I think that both jaywalking  and riding [...]

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Go, suck an egg

From a West Virginia legislator comes this bizarre proposal of banning Barbie dolls because they send the wrong message to young girls etc.
I think the Kardashian sisters’ response is the best. From the Fox story:

“He can suck an egg, seriously. He’s probably butt-ugly and always wanted a girlfriend that looked like Barbie but could never [...]

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Intertwined

Conversations, news and movies inform me that it is pretty common for a person to say bad things about his or her ex. I have always found that practice mystifyingly alien. It is not that I necessarily have any moral objection to saying such things; just that I cannot ever imagine myself doing it.
A part [...]

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Very cute short film

The film reminded me of a Bangalore classroom years ago. Me and this-girl-who-was-not-yet-my-girlfriend were communicating via notes scribbled on paper. It was supposed to be a study session of course but when have such details dampened the excitement that comes with the early stages of a romance?
Come to think of it, [...]

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That’s one of the best quotes I have read lately

“Obama is causing a lot of Rand fans to completely flip their lids in part because Obama and his devotees are Bizarro World Randian romantics in the grip of an adolescent faith in the generative powers of the state.”
– Will Wilkinson.

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Violence, State and Consent: A more lengthy discussion

(Followup to Domestic violence and consent)
In this post, I intend to discuss and clarify some issues related to violence and consent. For the most part, I will take for granted the libertarian philosophy of non-interference in any consensual act and explore some of the ramifications of this position with regard to acts of domestic violence. [...]

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DEA to end medical marijuana raids?

So says Eric Holder.
As I wrote in this post, ending the raids was one of Obama’s campaign promises, so one would reasonably expect him to reverse Bush policy on this issue.  Politicians though, have lied on such matters before and political appointees even more so; thus I will wait to see actual change on the [...]

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Domestic violence and consent

Celebrity couple Rihanna and Chris Brown are back together again, three weeks after Brown hit her during an altercation that left her with visible injuries. However, the case against Brown may not be dropped, despite Rihanna’s decision to forgive her man. In a criminal case like this, the police has the power to press charges [...]

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