To Prevent Their Kids From Being Socially Awkward And Weird, More Parents Opting To Homeschool

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To Prevent Their Kids From Being Socially Awkward And Weird, More Parents Opting To Homeschool

Don't You Know Who I Am?

Reese Witherspoon
Gorgeous, but arrogant.

Reese Witherspoon and her husband were arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct and DUI last week. She asked the arresting officer, "Do you know my name?" The officer said he didn't need it. "Well you're about to find out", she said. Art Garfunkel asked a similar question when police apprehended him for possession of marijuana several years ago.

They're not the only ones. What is the matter with these people? If they ask me, "Don't you know who I am?" I'll say, "Who do you think you are?"

Here's the deal: When it comes to the law, I don't give a crap who you are. I expect the poorest schlub to get the same treatment from my government as Elvis or The Beatles. Or Charlie Sheen.

Hey Reese! Go soak your head!

Where's The Helmet?

I was out riding my bike today, and a driver yelled out, "Where's the helmet?" I only had time to scream back, "I don't use one!" before he was out of earshot.

I resent the inference that I must comply with the collective "wisdom" that all bicycle riders need helmets. They're expensive (compared to what I'm using now), they're uncomfortable (if your head itches or gets sweaty - especially if you're a chrome-dome like me), and they only provide limited protection in any event.

I am capable of performing the risk-benefit analysis, and my analysis lands on the side of no helmet. I'm willing to accept the risk that I might leave my wife and kids penniless wards of the state*, because I think that risk is minimal, given my riding style.

I would wear a motorcycle helmet (actually, I would not ride a motorcycle. I think they're too dangerous. If I crashed, a motorcycle helmet would be pathetically inadequate.)

If I die riding my bicycle, it will much more likely be due to a stroke or a heart attack. However, I would wear a helmet if I were shredding downhill on a mountain bike. But again, if I hit a tree trunk, I doubt the helmet would make more than a marginal reduction in my risk of a broken neck, concussion or aneurysm.

Seriously, bicycle helmets work on the placebo principle. The risk reduction for impact injuries is marginal at best. They're slightly better at preventing abrasions, but I don't ride fast enough to grind off a skull's thickness of bone. Sorry.

Update: nanny statism WTH?

*Actually, my family have too much self-respect to ever become wards of the state.

DST -- Living the Dream

Actually, my dream was cut short this morning. I used to think morning and evening shifted position together in the same direction with the seasons, more or less, making Daylight Saving Time defensible. But I printed out a local solar noon calendar, and it ranges from 12:24:32 on Feb. 11 to 11:53:51 on Nov. 3. That’s approximately a 30 minute difference around an average noon of about 12:10.

According to the red and orange lines on this graph, sunrise and sunset move in opposite directions with the seasons. The glitch you see in the curve is the rather insignificant effect of DST compared to the physical daylight available each day (the blue line). What a waste of time and effort. Year round standard time would be just fine.

Research is very conflicted as to whether DST saves any energy, or even wastes more. I’m sure the cost of DST switching twice a year wastes far more energy and capital than any imagined savings. It's just more unscientific government meddling. It certainly saves no daylight. It’s like making a blanket longer by cutting a foot off one end, and sewing it onto the other.

Ben Franklin is credited/blamed for DST. He proposed it as a joke! He had his shortcomings, but I think he was smarter than most people today. It is disturbing how often ridiculous ideas have a way of becoming public policy generations later. 

Giddyap!

It's environmentally friendly too, except for the horse! Horses are less sustainable than automobiles.

Kakistocracy Report

Hello fellow anti-kakistocrats, this post is to announce that I am changing the name of this blog from "Rage Against the Kakistocracy" to "Kakistocracy Report". I mean, who needs all that rage, anyway? The Islamists are all enraged, and look where that's getting them. Occupy Wall Street are all enraged, and look where that's getting them. I don't need all that rage. My blood pressure is high enough already. I think "Kakistocracy Report" is pithier and easier to remember. It's not as grumpy.

I had originally modeled the name after the musical group, "Rage Against the Machine". I replaced "Machine" with "Kakistocracy", which I imagined to be equivalent, even though the original band members were raging against capitalism and the American work ethic. It was my way of getting even. There was a parody act who called himself, "Lounge Against the Machine". Maybe "Lounge Against the Kakistocracy" would work too. Some other names I considered include, "Kakistocracy Retort" and "Kakistocracy Update" (K.U., get it? My initials). Too clever by half, I decided. "Kakistocracy Report" it is. Same bat time, same bat channel (http://antikakistocrat.blogspot.com).

Can 33 Kilo Volts Deter Crime?

A lot of social engineering is devoted to the deterrence of crime. I have to wonder if it's worth it, after reading this: 

A would-be copper thief was gravely injured early Saturday morning when he attempted to steal copper wiring from a live Edison vault, according to authorities. 

The story continues:

Officials say the suspect is “extremely grave” and that it’s likely he was burned by 33,000 volts of electricity.

(Read the entire story...)

Think about it: You have a man who wants to steal copper. Copper is much less valuable than gold. Copper thieves sell it by the pound to scrap dealers. But this Poindexter is not deterred by thirty-three thousand volts of electricity? That is 275 times higher than the voltage of ordinary  house current, which is already quite lethal. If 33KV  doesn't deter someone, then I really don't know what will. It isn't as if he wasn't warned: If you have ever spent any time around high tension equipment, you know that it hums and buzzes; corona discharges snap and spark. And it's loud, too -- it's all very intimidating.

That smoldering bozo is lucky an arm or a leg didn't simply explode -- being turned instantly to steam when he contacted the hot wiring -- assuming the electrical disruption didn't reset his brain, or send his heart into instant fibrillation. What a maroon.

Happy New Year, Anti-Kakistocrats

It's 2012, election year. You know what to do...

That's What Christmas Is All About, Charlie Brown

This never fails to choke me up...

This scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas didn't mean all that much to me when I watched it when it first aired in 1965. It does now.

Test Your News IQ -- Pew Research

Here's an interesting quiz. I got 11 out of 13. How about you?