Israel is unique in the history of socialism. It is the only nation where socialism was considered successful for a while. The original settlers of Israel came largely from Eastern Europe. They sought to create an economy in which market forces were controlled for the benefit of the whole society.
Ian Underwood
Like a Crucifix to a Vampire
The other day, we were shopping for a gift in one of the state-run liquor stores, when one of the employees wandered over to ask ‘if we knew about the state mask mandate’. My wife, who was wearing her GraniteGrok Medical Exemption Badge inside a jacket, pulled it out and said, ‘In fact, I do!’ … Read more
Duck Duck Google
A friend called me this morning to direct me to an article at a particular web site. By the time I was ready to look at the article, I couldn’t remember the name of the site, so I did a Google search for some keywords that should have brought me to the article in question. … Read more
VC Signaling
By now, a lot of people have come to see wearing a mask as a form of virtue signaling. (Even Dr. Fauci is on record as saying that it’s largely symbolic, a way to show ‘respect for another person and have that other person respect you’.)
Push-Button Politics
When I used to write software for a living, it occurred to me that there was something about code that didn’t reflect the world I’d grown up in. In that world, there were usually physical linkages that you could use to see how one thing caused another.
Defensive Breathing
When I learned to drive, I was taught something called ‘defensive driving.’ The basic idea was that I should always assume that there people out there driving around who are crazy, impaired, stupid, or just careless; and therefore it was my responsibility to watch out for them, and to keep myself safe because all the laws in the world couldn’t keep them off the road.
You want me to wear a mask? Sure, just sign this…
While you’re waiting for your Granite Grok Medical Exemption Tag to arrive in the mail, here’s something else you can do. Just print out some copies the following, and require any operator of a public accommodation (such as the manager of a store, or the driver of a bus) to sign it before you put … Read more
Free Book: The RINO Virus
With the New Hampshire House, Senate, Executive Council, and Monarchy in the hands of nominal Republicans, it’s time to start putting pressure on our representatives to avoid blowing this opportunity, the way they blew a similar opportunity in 2016. Toward that end, I invite you to read a little book that I’ve put together. (By … Read more
Mask Mandate: What Is It Called When the Hole Is Bigger Than the Loop?
Yeah, we have a mask mandate. Sort of. Here are the essential provisions of His Excellency’s latest order. First, you don’t have to wear a mask if you have a medical condition: 5. This Order shall not apply to the following: … b) Any person with a medical condition or disability that prevents wearing a … Read more
What a Difference One Word Can Make
When discussing what government ought, or ought not, to be doing, it’s common to hear people say something like ‘the job of government is to protect us’, or ‘to protect our lives’. But that’s not what the Declaration of Independence says.
Let’s keep the Electoral College, and eliminate the popular vote for President
There’s a simple way to get around the increasingly difficult problem of ensuring that votes for President are not cast fraudulently, or that legitimate votes are not miscounted. We just need to go back to what the Constitution says in Article 2, Section 1: Each state shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof … Read more
When Should the Biden Impeachment Hearings Begin?
With one of the most divisive and chaotic elections in American history not yet concluded, Joe Biden is calling for ‘unity.’ As one commentator on Fox News asked: Where were Democratic calls for unity when Trump was elected? It’s a fair question.
Mandate? I Do Not Think That Word Means What He Thinks It Means.
The election isn’t even over, and when it is over, it will go down in history as one of the most divisive contests ever. And yet, as I predicted, Joe Biden is already claiming a ‘mandate for action’.
Is the GOP really the party of small government? We’re about to find out.
So now that the GOP — the party of small government — has control of both houses, the executive council, and the governor’s office, we should be seeing government get smaller during the next two years, right? There’s nothing standing in the way of repealing laws that fail to meet the four-pronged test that has been at the heart of the GOP platform for more than a century:
Voting: No choice of No is no choice
As we watch the 2020 electoral farce continue to unfold, this seems like a good time to point out one of the major flaws with plurality voting in a system dominated by two parties. Namely, it doesn’t allow people to express what they actually want, and more importantly, what they don’t want. For example, suppose … Read more
Approved for Achievement?
A school district that doesn’t offer instruction in a particular grade can tuition a student in that grade to a public school outside the district, or to a private school. In order for that to happen, the school has to be ‘approved’ by the Department of Education.
The Welfare Isn’t Education Act
I recently participated in a class on the yearly budget process that my town will be going through in the near future. And I was astonished to learn that in New Hampshire, individual towns are responsible for providing welfare to residents who need it… and that there are apparently no budgetary limits to the amount that may need to be provided. That last part sounded disturbingly familiar.
Covidlages
Recently, I proposed the Let Children Be Children Act, a legal framework that would let people who want other people to take responsibility for them to voluntarily regain the legal status of children in order to become wards of the state.
The Let Children Be Children Act
The other day, a friend and I were discussing one of his neighbors. We probably all know someone like this — if it weren’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all. But his bad luck seems to be caused almost completely by his own inability to carry out some of the basic functions of adulthood.
Burning Masks
During the 1960s, burning things was a popular form of protest. Men burned their draft cards. Women burned their bras. Men and women who opposed the Vietnam War burned their flags.