A quote from Depleted Cranium, quoting the economist, quoting someone else answering a question about a graph someone posted ( Read more... )

http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/greenview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14488619&fsrc=nwlRead more... )

A friend and I were wondering how a gatling gun doesn't overheat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarianism#Criticism

What is the obsession of modern man with a universal legal code? Is this some plague started by Napolean that has yet to die? What is wrong with judging different people under different rules ( Read more... )

(Libertarians: note that at present, your risk of having your human rights violated by a private actor is much greater than your risk of having your human rights violated by a state actor. Which hurts more? A cop hitting you over the head with a club, or a mugger hitting you over the head with a club? In my mind, they hurt about the same. Thus, as ( Read more... )

So, I had an exciting weekend. After officially converting to Judaism, I proposed to my girlfriend. So, I'm now an engaged Jew...and I keep thinking that I'm dreaming and waiting for someone to pinch me to wake me up.

I'm having a busy month. I'm going to Penn next year for a five year Ph.D. program in Assyriology. I also got the final go ahead in my conversion to Judaism, which is nice, and the process should be finished on Friday. Interesting times look like they are on the horizon....

http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1130&Itemid=264

I wish I had known about this in high school, and then I wouldn't have wasted my time writing my own far less well informed response

Inspite of myself, and knowing that I'm being completely irrational, I can't help but feeling pouty right now, and am also in that stage, where the answer to "What's wrong?" is "Well, if you don't know, that a large part of the problem...etc." I don't even know why I'm feeling this way, but I expect that its just a classic case of blowing things ( Read more... )