I’ve been away from blogging for the past week or so because my dad had a stroke last Tuesday. I was on my way to the Sutherland Institute for their environmental forum when I got a call that an ambulance had left my parent’s house.
My dad is doing much better this week and will likely be going home soon. There isn’t anyone I know who is as cool and as stong as my Dad. I’m glad he is going to be able to pull through. It sure stinks to see something like this happen to someone you love.
If anything good can come from this event I’m hopeful that it is a greater education on the part of anyone who sees this post on what the symptoms of a stroke are and a how important it is to get medical help as quickly as possible if you or someone you know gets any of those symptoms.
It isn’t often that I can say Bob Lonsberry is exactly correct about something. This article is one of those few cases.
UPDATE 04/18/2008 11:03AM: Guy Murray at Messenger and Advocate has an even better rundown on the weakness of Texas’ case after the first day of hearings.
H/T Alienated Wannabe
Unless you already know what the Monty Hall Problem is or are just a freaky genius who never falls victim to logical errors you should read this article and then be a little more humble about your assumptions from now on. I know I will.
The Monty Hall Problem is excellently explained in the game linked in the article.
H/T LDS Science Review
Glen Warchol has a description of our heroic immigration system in action.
We need real immigration reform and I’m not talking about a bigger fence at the borders. We need a system that allows non-criminals into our country to work or recreate as they wish. If they want to be citizens make the process strict but streamlined. If they just want to work here we should make sure they meet a limited number of qualifications and then tax their earnings appropriately. Legalize immigration and the vast majority of its ills will disappear.
Or we could adopt the typical conservative immigration plan which is to demand that our government keep doing things the moronic way we do now…only more.
Scott Adams on our current batch of presidential candidates:
According to Time, ethanol is very bad economics and disastrous for the environment.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725975,00.html?
The major candidates for President of the United States all support ethanol. If Time has correctly reported the consensus of expert opinions on ethanol, it seems to me that any candidate who supports it would be proved incompetent for leadership.
Is Time’s cover story wrong, or will the next leader of the United States be certifiably incompetent on day one, no matter what time the phone rings?
Any presidential candidate who claims they know right now how to solve America’s energy and environmental woes is likely to screw things up even more and isn’t worthy of our vote. Daniel has a great post about how policy makers should proceed sensibly when it comes to making energy policy.
Lisa and I are complete noobs when it comes to shooting and purchasing handguns. We’ll be taking a class this week that includes some range time and use of several different handguns. Hopefully that should get us off to a good start. If any readers have good advice on purchasing firearms it would be much appreciated.
Here are the handguns I’m most interested in right now. They’re all 9mm. My wife and I will both be practicing with this gun and I want to buy something she’ll be completely comfortable shooting.
H&K P2000 I haven’t fired this yet but respect H&K’s reputation. We want a reliable weapon so this is currently my first choice.
Walther PPS This is a brand new model. That concerns me. My bro-in-law has one we’ll likely be trying out at the range before we make a final decision.
Sig P239 A small gripped gun with a single stack magazine. I’m assuming that will be easier for a woman with small hands to use and easy to conceal if necessary. Am I wrong? I’m tempted to go with the model that shoots .357 sig ammo (also available on the p2000) but that could get expensive.
If anyone has ideas on how I can help make shooting enjoyable for Lisa I’d appreciate hearing them. She’s been very ambivalent about guns as long as I’ve known her. She does want to get one now though so I want to ensure we do things correctly.
I liked this post by Mick Stockinger at Uncorrelated today. His politics are pretty loony (but often articulated well). His social commentary is nearly always right on and very fun to read.
I enjoyed the post but at the same time remembered how very glad I am not to have to play the dating game anymore. It was fun but also terribly stressful.
