Everyone is shouting right now. All my friends are telling me what I have to do, what I ought to do, what I should have done, regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion. In my experience, shouting doesn’t help. No one listens when you are shouting, and shouting never lasts very long. The question is…
Let’s use a mathematical proof to understand the irrational, irrelevant, and distracting ways that people argue these days. Proof that the square root of two is irrational If you are math-phobic, be assured that the argument below is relatively painless. You might even enjoy it. The square root of 2, which we write as √2,…
I voted in a new polling place yesterday, in my new community of Portland, Maine. The polls were in a church. And the church wanted me to embrace Jesus. Many polling places are in churches. In this case, the building was actually a gym attached to the church. What surprised me, though, was that in…
The American form of democracy sucks. Voting rules are different by state. In one place, you get a mail ballot and can just send it in; in another, you may have to walk a mile and wait in a long line to vote in person. Makes no sense. We do everything else online and with…
After receiving a solicitation from the Republican Party to join Donald Trump’s “Truth Social” social network, I decided to try it out. Although the solicitation says it is “Live,” the sign-in page asks you to join a waiting list. Since you have to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, I wanted to…
Dr. Oz, the cardiothoracic surgeon and TV personality, is running for an open US Senate seat in Pennsylvania. He’d be one of the worst possible choices, because his “medical recommendations” are generally bullshit. Members of Congress need to discern the truth, not make it up. What’s wrong with Dr. Oz? Dr. Oz is a famous…
This is a continuation of my analysis of 186 responses to my survey on self-defense. Let’s take a look at the rest of the scenarios, which apply to battered spouses, crime on the street, and shootings in riots. When is it okay to shoot your spouse? I presented people with three battered spouse scenarios. Can…
We all think we know what “self-defense” means as a justification for killing someone. But based on my survey of 186 people, our perspectives are nowhere near consistent. Here’s a recap of the data you’re about to read about. Using my blog, my Twitter account, and my Facebook page, I encouraged people to take a…
Please take the fast survey about the meaning of self-defense. I have 50 responses so far. I can’t publish the results until I get to 100. Readers are finding it fascinating so far. And I’d love to hear from you.