Everyday Gun Appreciation

Out of Control

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 ~ Appreciate this:

As thousands of pro-gun activists held rallies across the United States on Saturday, accidental shootings at three different guns shows illustrated the obvious: Being around lots of people carrying firearms can be a tad dangerous...

In Raleigh, a shotgun went off when the owner was taking it out of its case at a security checkpoint, injuring three people. In Indianapolis, a 54-year-old man appears to have accidentally shot himself in the hand as he was leaving a gun show. And in Ohio, a dealer was checking out a purchase when he pulled the trigger by accident and injured his friend. Although he had removed the magazine from the weapon, a round remained in the chamber.

Where else in our civilization do so many strenuously argue that things should be out of control?

Climate Change Flooding

Jakarta is Under Water

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 ~ "Analysts worry the flooding could affect economic investment."

Ya think?

The Infrastructure Fairy

Where Does Infrastructure Come From?

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 ~ Is economic infrastructure necessary?

Of course it is, but like air to breathe, many only realize its indispensability by its unexpected and unwelcome absence.

Imagine any of the many things you or most other Americans do every day—take a hot shower in the morning. Hop in the car and go to the store. Turn on the TV to watch a show. Take your dog to the park.

In any of these activities, and countless others, we rely on infrastructure—roads, bridges, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, telecommunications—to make them possible. Water from your tap, heat, powering electronics, paved streets, safe bridges, public security, readily available food and many other things don't happen without the infrastructure that enables it. Private enterprise may grow and deliver food to a market, investor-owned utilities may generate electricity, and companies may produce the cars we drive and the media we consume, but they don't build and maintain the infrastructure that enables their accessibility to us all.

US Gun Laws

An Interactive Guide

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 ~ The Guardian has created an excellent state-by-state summary of US gun laws.

The regional differences are stark, but as the accompanying notes point out, the patchwork nature of gun laws and regulations descends down to a very local level. If you want to get around restrictions, and are willing to shop for a venue, you can find one to suit.

Where's It Wednesday—CXVI

Where in Seattle is this?

Answer next week.

Details on the weekly Where's It Wednesday puzzle here.
Other weeks' puzzles here.
Answer to last week's puzzle, after the jump.

Guns and Arms

Unanswered Questions

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 ~ Could we as a nation, at long last, really be taking a hard look at our gun laws? It's long overdue.

Perhaps at some later point I'll write at greater length on the subject, but for now I have just three questions.

First, here is the text of the Second Amendment, as ratified by the states:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Questions, only partly rhetorical:

1. Why do gun advocates frequently only mention the part after the comma, and ignore the first part of the sentence?
2. The amendment itself states that regulating well is necessary, so why is there such an hysterical response to the common-sense notion of regulating guns?
3. Anti-aircraft missiles, tanks and nuclear weapons are all "arms" yet no one squawks about restrictions on their ownership. Why then the apoplexy about regulating assault weapons or such things as high-capacity magazines?

Welfare Incentives—III

Dependency

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 ~ No question there are those who rely on handouts for their very survival. That said, there is equally no doubt that some at street corners and freeway off-ramps sporting "God bless" signs aren't begging, but are earning a living, or even supplementing one.

Legions of corporate persons engage in a similar exercise, infesting the off-ramps (and on-ramps) of Capitol Hill, making lofty (if vague and unprovable) claims about jobs as they buttonhole lawmakers in search of hand-outs. God bless!

Debt Favors

The Method of Impoverishment

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 ~ We will soon suffer the endless Kabuki of sham fiscal cliff politics. It will be frustrating and feckless in appearance to most of us, but the wealthy and powerful will be well-served. We are in the midst of an economic struggle for survival which Warren Buffet famously characterized so:

There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.

And how are they doing that?

Load economies (governments, companies and families) with debt, siphon off their income as debt service and then foreclose when debtors lack the means to pay. Indebting government gives creditors a lever to pry away land, public infrastructure and other property in the public domain... The aim of financial warfare is not merely to acquire land, natural resources and key infrastructure rents as in military warfare; it is to centralize creditor control over society.

Nuke Waste, Guns & Plastic Bags

Digital Mosaics

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 ~ There's more here than initially meets the eye.

Click on the image to go to artist Chris Jordan's site to find that the image is composed of 67,000 photos of mushroom clouds.

Pterofin

Renewable Energy Using Biomimicry

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 ~ My friend Wally Kempkey has been working very hard on this for many years.



Not only is it incredibly cool and creative, the concept is very well-suited to slow currents. Faster currents can be harnessed by conventional turbines like those made by Hydrovolts and others, but such currents are comparatively rare. Slower currents can be found all over the world in watercourses both natural and man-made. While the power generated can be small, the Pterofin device would provide huge value in off-grid developing world locations for water pumping or trickle-charging batteries.

Want a scale model for your desk? Give some love on Kickstarter.

Crisis

Bipartisan Cooperation

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 ~ Is there a will to solve problems, or only endlessly to defer them?

It's hard to raise campaign cash from lobbyists when there are no big policy matters at stake.

Where's It Wednesday—CXV

Where in Seattle is this?

Answer next week.

Details on the weekly Where's It Wednesday puzzle here.
Other weeks' puzzles here.
Answer to last week's puzzle, after the jump.

Things I Learned from my Mum—V

Celebrate the Day

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 ~ I've lived in Washington for 30 years. My Mum lived in Toronto, with summers in PEI. Although she only traveled out west a few times, she kept in close touch the whole time. She called and she wrote. A lot. She sent cards to her grandkids for Easter, for Halloween, for no reason at all. She wrote letters at least every couple of months, and always on birthdays, and for Christmas. (I've saved every one.)

She never forgot a birthday, although she was eager to let hers pass without fanfare. Nonetheless, we celebrated her birthdays whether near or far, and despite her protests about being "too old for birthdays" she always enjoyed herself.

My Mum with 2 of her kids and their partners on her 60th birthday

So what did I learn? Stay in touch, and hoist a glass together whenever you can.

Thank you Mum.

Mary Ellen Leyerle
1/8/29 - 6/8/09
RIP

How to Get Stuff Done

Making It As Simple As ABC

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 ~ I've multi-tasked for many years, even though I've heard it argued that true multi-tasking is impossible. We can really only do one thing at a time, and trying to do several things at once simply results in doing several things not very well, and perhaps completing none of them. It leads to all quantity and no quality.

The argument is both true and irrelevant.

It's true inasmuch as we can't really focus on more than one thing at a time. It's irrelevant because it's not only unnecessary, but detrimental, and it's not really what people mean by multi-taasking.

How Green is Your Bailout?

I'm All Right, Jack

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 ~ Who will get the bailouts in the next crisis? Or in the sausage that comes out of the Congressional factory in the next ledge down the fiscal cliff?

Road Subsidies

Who Pays to Maintain Our Roads?

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 ~ Washington, like many other states, imposes a fee on owners of automobiles when they relicense their cars. The amount of the fee varies. It can be a flat fee, or it can depend on such things as the weight of the vehicle, its value, or its age. As a usage fee, however, none of these well correspond to the actual cost of suffering that vehicle's wear and tear on roads, the purpose to which those fees are generally put. The fee for operating the car does not correspond to the actual expense to repair and maintain that infrastructure.

Tracking Consequences

Let's Get Empirical

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 ~ The inaptly named fiscal cliff has been (temporarily) averted in a deal that, in part, raises taxes on the so-called job creators.

We've been hearing for years—decades even—that higher taxes on the rich would cause them to stop hiring and investment.

Now that their taxes have gone up, let's all pay attention to see whether they actually throw that petulant fit they've been threatening for so long. I'm guessing not.

Ice Follies—II

The Joy of Skating

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 ~ Last week, when my daughter and I went ice-skating, I meant to include in the post a picture of this piece of her art:

It is a self-portrait of course.

This picture, along with several others, have been made into greeting/Christmas cards. As the text ("About the artist") on the back reads in part:

[She] is a young adult with autism whose

drawings have been described as primitive, imaginative, and whimsical

with an amazing eye to proportion and detail.

The cards are available at finer stores. However, we have altogether too many big box monstrosities and not nearly enough finer stores, so contact me if you want to get some.

Where's It Wednesday—CXIV

Where in Seattle is this?

Answer next week.

Details on the weekly Where's It Wednesday puzzle here.
Other weeks' puzzles here.
Answer to last week's puzzle, after the jump.

Carbon Footprints

The Footfall of Countries Compared

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 ~ I love this infographic.

The most surprising one to me is Brazil. All that BRIC attention, all that deforestation of the Amazon, and still their footprint is smaller than Canada, South Africa, Mexico or Iran?

Central America as a region has the smallest footprint; smaller than the Caribbean even.

Once again, one has to admire Bhutan—happy with a small footprint.

Which ones do you find remarkable?