splicer

18 March 20145 February 2022Opinionated Junk

Is calling Buddhism «stupid» unconstitutional?

An early version of this story referred to Sabine Parish as Sabish Parish. Monochromatic Outlook regrets the error.

There has been a little controversy over the case of Lane v Sabine Parish and the question of whether a teacher telling a kid that his family’s religion is «stupid» is unconstitutional. One side says the Constitution provides «separation of church and state» (words which do not appear in the Constitution) and the other side says that the idea of such separation has … Read the rest

15 March 20142 February 2022Blahg

Most traders ignore this vital truth about altcurrencies

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I’ve been wanting RonPaulCoin(RPC) for some time. I’m not bullish on the currency, in fact, I think it’s a bad idea. Naming a currency after a personality, especially a living one (Teslacoin could be kind of cool) is a terrible idea. But especially because Ron Paul is such an anti-fiat-currency goldbug, I thought it would be funny to have one RonPaulCoin.

Back when RonPaulCoin was trading around $18 it was too much, even for the novelty. I … Read the rest

25 February 201426 February 2014Blahg

Das Keyboard: feel the noise

by splicer5 Comments

It seems a little strange to refer to Das Keyboard as «the Das Keyboard» because of course «das» means «the». It’s something like asking for the «hot salsa picante sauce», except that «keyboard» is not German for «keyboard», placing Das Keyboard firmly in the realm of branding. Das Keyboard isn’t even made by a German company — the keyboards are manufactured in Taiwan and they are designed and sold by a company in Austin Texas.¹

This is perhaps a … Read the rest

21 January 20145 February 2022Opinionated Junk

Economists value life more than you do

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Bryan Caplan’s 20 January post at EconLog presents an interesting question of the sort that is often overheard at parties and coffeehouses as an example of a question that ought not be asked. How do you put a value on a human life?

The question comes up after some judge or jury awards damages in a wrongful death suit, or some news item in nature both lurid and legalistic. Usually the discussion never gets past the notion that life is priceless. … Read the rest

14 January 20145 February 2022Opinionated Junk

If you like getting the runaround, you can keep getting the runaround

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Most Americans ought to be familiar with the recurring gag in the comic strip Peanuts in which every year Lucy offers to hold the football so that Charlie Brown can kick it. Each year, Charlie Brown complains that Lucy never acts in good faith and that she always pulls the ball away at the last minute, leaving poor Charlie Brown flat on his back after a flubbed kick attempt. Lucy invariably comes up with a compelling argument why Charlie Brown … Read the rest

13 January 20144 February 2022Blahg

Now and then, step outside social media’s walls

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I don’t usually make New Year’s Resolutions for a variety of reasons. For more on the subject, see Resolution Evolution by Jason McClain. However, this year I have a somewhat different tack. I’m committing myself not to a set of specific pass/fail tasks (make it to the gym every day) but to a more general goal: reduce my use of social media sites as my conduit to blogs.

There is a problem with the Web that has yet to be … Read the rest

3 January 20143 January 2014Blahg

Non-gun control now!

by splicer3 Comments

I couldn’t make this up: unarmed man is charged for shooting spree.

It seems clear that we can no longer stand by as a nation while our friends and neighbors are slaughtered by the menace of unarmed people. I call on Congress to immediately draft legislation requiring:

Background checks for unarmed people
10-day waiting periods before someone can be unarmed
Restrict the magazine capacity of people without guns
Registration of any lack of firearms
Safety mechanisms to be issued

… Read the rest

1 January 20141 January 2014Blahg

Two thousand fourteen

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I’m not sad to say goodbye to 2013. There were some accomplishments, but also many difficulties that I would rather not have to revisit. Though many of the difficulties won’t magically disappear with the turning of a calendar’s page, the arrival of the new year nevertheless does seem to come with a sense that there could be a fresh start, that perhaps some of the previous year’s failures and disasters can be left behind.

Of course, not all of … Read the rest

13 December 201313 December 2013Blahg

Reasonable people

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There are no topics about which reasonable people cannot find disagreement. In the end one may be right and the other wrong, but this does not make either unreasonable.

Of course, not all disagreements are reasonable. However, if you find yourself thinking someone else is unreasonable because they don’t agree with you, the other person might not be the unreasonable one in the conversation.… Read the rest

10 December 201310 February 2022Blahg

Chart: minimum wage in cost-of-living-adjusted dollars

by splicer3 Comments

[wprevive_async zoneid=“1”]

Updated 2021. Originally posted 2013

There has been a lot of talk lately about the minimum wage and how it ought to be raised. It has been claimed that minimum wage workers are making less now than ever and that the nation is in a critical race to the bottom where workers on the low end of the spectrum are getting squeezed harder and harder.

This raises the question of the historical minimum wage in … Read the rest