Ian Underwood

Ian Underwood is the author of the Bare Minimum Books series (BareMinimumBooks.com).  He has been a planetary scientist and artificial intelligence researcher for NASA, the director of the renowned Ask Dr. Math service, co-founder of Bardo Farm and Shaolin Rifleworks, and a popular speaker at liberty-related events. He lives in Croydon, New Hampshire.
Joe Biden Donald Trump

Eleven Weeks is Nine Too Many

by Ian Underwood

Currently, there is a delay of about 11 weeks between the time a Presidential election is concluded, and the time a new President is inaugurated. If recent events have taught us anything, it’s that this interval is at least nine weeks too long.  Eleven weeks, apparently, is enough time for a lame duck President (or … Read more

Should Pam Bondi Get A Pass?

by Ian Underwood

So, Pam Bondi is Trump’s new nominee for Attorney General of the United States. Advocates for RKBA point out that she defended Red Flag laws while she was Attorney General of Florida. Others defend her by saying that, as Attorney General, it was her job to defend the laws of the state, regardless of her … Read more

Trump’s Virtual Cabinet

by Ian Underwood

Okay, if this is the way things are going to go, here’s what I think Trump should do.  He should tell the Senate:  “You just pick whoever you want for whatever positions require your consent.  I don’t even care who they are.  You can just pick names out of the phone book. “Because here’s what’s … Read more

NH State Senator Ruth Ward

Ruth Ward et Rick Ladd Removenda Est

by Ian Underwood

[Updated 11/25/2025, to reflect new information that has been brought to my attention. Although Sen. Ruth Ward sponsored the bill, the requirement that schools actually teach all kids to read and do math was deleted in an amendment offered by Rep. Rick Ladd. I can find no indication that Sen. Ward voted against, or objected … Read more

democrat+mgn

Dem Leaders Are The Main Obstacles To Their Own Stated Goals

by Ian Underwood

As we slouch towards the end of the world as we know it, it’s worth remembering that Democrats could have pretty much everything they want if they would only handle it themselves and leave everyone else out of it. There are more Democrats in America than there are people in many European countries.  If every … Read more

elon musk toking on a joint

Buying Votes?

by Ian Underwood

So, Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania is concerned that Elon Musk may be violating federal law by offering people a chance at $1 million if they sign a petition supporting the 1st and 2nd Amendments, and limiting the offer to registered voters in certain states. This kind of thing — Shapiro’s concern about legality, not Musk’s … Read more

The Co-Presidents Amendment

by Ian Underwood

Originally, the Constitution specified that the candidate for President who got the most electoral votes would be President, and the runner up would be Vice President. This was changed by the 12th Amendment, after which the states voted for the two offices together.  Like the 17th Amendment, this removed one of the crucial checks and … Read more

empty chairs classroom

How School Funding Works (Part 4)

by Ian Underwood

As mentioned in [Part 1], the most straightforward (and least Marxist) way to fund schools would be to use a uniform (per capita) tax.  You take the budget, divide it by the number of taxpayers, and that’s the tax each one pays. But even that ends up implementing a sort of reverse Marxism, taking money … Read more

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How School Funding Works (Part 3, EFAs, Tuitioning, Special Needs)

by Ian Underwood

After looking at [Part 1] and [Part 2], we can consider a third case, where the kid who takes the EFA comes from a district that would be tuitioning him to a school outside the district, because the district doesn’t offer the grade that he’s in. For example, suppose each district pays $15,000 to tuition … Read more

How school funding works (Part 2, EFAs)

by Ian Underwood

Okay, so given what we saw in Part 1, let’s consider what happens when a student leaves each of the two districts to open an Education Freedom Account (EFA). In District 1, what changes?  Things that change are highlighted below:   Before After Taxpayers 1000 1000 Students 100 99 Budget $2M $2M Adequacy $400,000 $396,000 … Read more

How School Funding Works (Part 1)

by Ian Underwood

One of the things that allows so much nonsense to be bandied about when discussing school funding is that almost no one — including legislators, judges, and DoE officials — seems to understand how SWEPT (Statewide education property taxes) and adequacy grants are related. In what follows, I’ll use nice round numbers that approximate but … Read more

Olympic Women’s Boxing:  Never let a good crisis go to waste

by Ian Underwood

There is a perfect opportunity presenting itself at the Paris Olympics right now.  Men are beating up women in the boxing events.  At least some of the women are bowing out of their fights, correctly fearing for their lives. Why don’t the women organize an alternate boxing tournament (Herlympic Boxing?), featuring the women who qualified … Read more

biden shotgun joe

Biden agrees:  Government must be disarmed

by Ian Underwood

In his address from the Oval Office regarding the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Joe Biden agreed with the points I made in my previous post about America’s gun problem. He probably didn’t realize that.  Or more precisely, the people who wrote the address for him to read didn’t realize that.  But let’s look … Read more

gun rifle firearm

America has a gun problem

by Ian Underwood

The recent attempt on the life of Donald Trump shows that America has a gun problem, and we can’t avoid dealing with it any longer. The problem is that the government has guns, which it is willing to use to allow whatever temporary majority holds power to exert nearly total control over everyone else. Why … Read more

Police car lights

Laws We Need: Increasing Officer Safety …

by Ian Underwood

Years ago, someone working for Ron Paul’s campaign was searched by TSA before getting on a plane,.  Because he had a box containing close to $5000 in cash campaign contributions that he was transporting to campaign headquarters, TSA agents detained him, questioned him, and ultimately arrested him.

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Reading education sunset Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

When Johnny Can’t Read

by Ian Underwood

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but still, I am surprised at all the hyperbolic reactions that are being published in response to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity for official acts.

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US Supreme Court

Has SCOTUS finally Gone Too Far?

by Ian Underwood

Apparently, Louisiana has a new law that requires a copy of the Ten Commandments to be prominently displayed in each public school classroom in the state.

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Money cash donaiton pexels-lukas-928184

Make Welfare … Welfare again

by Ian Underwood

There is a story going around about how Kay, a single mom in Manchester, isn’t eligible for an Education Freebie Account (EFA) because she’s $90 over the income cutoff.

The conclusion reached by the author of the story is that we should have universal eligibility for EFAs.  But that’s backward.

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Hunter biden screen grab Fox News on YouTube

Hunter Biden: Someone Has to Say It

by Ian Underwood

As much fun as it is for Republicans to watch Hunter Biden being dragged through the mud in order to ‘prove’ that he lied on a federal form — as if that’s something that should take five days rather than five minutes — the simple fact is that as part of ‘the people’, his right to own a gun is protected by the 2nd and 14th Amendments to the federal constitution.  Period.

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Fossil Fuel Companies, the Ball Is in Your Court

by Ian Underwood

Apparently, Vermont is the first state to start forcing companies that sell fossil fuels to contribute to a climate clean-up fund.

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