Closet Libertarian

DC v Heller

2008-06-27T20:38:00.002-04:00

The decision of the most important gun case in the history of the US is finally in. Go read about it here: http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/

Buy the website www.dcvheller.com on ebay here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270250501156

We are screwed 08

2008-04-18T09:05:00.002-04:00

We are screwed which ever of the three top candidates get elected. Now I can finally get that message on a t-shirt:

www.werescrewed08.com We Are Screwed '08

web sites for sale

2008-02-01T09:19:00.000-05:00

I bought these web sites for projects that I haven't had time to do. Please help me and buy one:

Web sites for sale:

DCvHeller.com (DC v Heller, the most important gun case ever)

VoteForIssues.com

www.communebonum.com (common good)

www.corripecervisiam.com (sieze the beer)

www.sedefendendo.com (in self defense)

www.MyBestCandidate.com

www.uthumiliteropinor.com (in my humble opinion)

www.EditedConstitution.com

www.CheapHomeBrew.com

go to https://www.tdnam.com to buy

Made the big survival blog

2008-01-30T14:27:00.000-05:00

My entry in the non-fiction writing contest made the daily post at www.survivalblog.com .

Check it out here : http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/01/prepare_or_die_by_j_britely.html

Prepare or Die

The most important gun case ever

2008-01-24T15:46:00.000-05:00

DC v Heller is an appeal of Parker v. DC which overturned DC's restrictive gun laws. Believe it or not the NRA tried to derail this case because they are afraid of the answer that the Supreme court will give but we need to know if Clair Wolf's proclamation that it is too soon to shot the bastards still stands. DC v Heller.

Daily quote of the quarter

2007-11-14T11:41:00.000-05:00

"Government is a disease masquerading as its own cure."

Robert LeFevre

Graphical Analysis of Beer Styles

2007-10-19T13:47:00.000-04:00

A picture is worth a thousand words[1]

I love all beer. But I do love some beer better than others. A good bitter or IPA for summer, a amber or Oktoberfest for fall and a stout for winter.

I don’t claim to be a master brewer but my beer is usually pretty good (way better than the average grocery store beer--admitidly a low standard). I have only entered 1 competition and came away with two certificates for four entries – my best Stout losing because it was somehow entered in the IPA category. Anyway, in entering, I had to categorize my beer. There were more categories than I could have imagined and it was hard to really tell the differences in a list or table format, so I created the following chart that I think is better than any style guide I have seen published. It captures four dimensions: sweetness, bitterness, alcohol content and color. The first two are plotted on the axes with precision. The size of each dot is proportional to alcohol content. The color is badly approximated by me in excel as best as I could do. I hope to upgrade that later.

Sweetness is measured in Real Terminal Extract (calculated from the FG and OG published by the Beer Judge Certification Program (http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/04/). Bitterness is measured in IBUs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bitterness_Units_scale ). A good beer has balance between sweetness and bitterness. For balance and RTE see http://beercolor.netfirms.com/balance.html.

Copyright 2005
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_picture_is_worth_a_thousand_words

Semi Annual Quote of the Day

2007-03-27T15:16:00.000-04:00

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive. - Thomas Jefferson

Straight forward medical advice for hiking or shtf

2007-01-23T11:36:00.000-05:00

This series of posts on what to carry with you hiking or in everyday life is great:

Medical Preparedness Tips

Quote of the day

2006-11-29T10:54:00.000-05:00

"[A]n act of the Legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void."

Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 177 (1803).

Prepare yourself

2006-08-31T14:23:00.000-04:00

Prepare or Die

Are you prepared for the next disaster? Your car breaking down in the middle of nowhere? A home invasion?

I try to be prepared for such eventualities but always seems to think of more I can do. I do the easy cheap things first so that at least I won't feel too stupid.

Please let me know about any big omissions.

The-When-I-find-a-good-one quote of the day

2006-08-01T16:01:00.000-04:00

Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.

Winston Churchill

First daily quote of the day

2006-07-07T10:13:00.000-04:00

Ok, I don't find a quote I like enough to post daily but here is one that is good enough to last until I find another:

"What is a moderate interpretation of (the Constitution)? Halfway between what it says and halfway between what you want it to say?"

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, quoted by Associated Press, March 15, 2006.

Libertarian sayings

2006-05-31T09:57:00.000-04:00

Clayton Cramer has a link to some long libertarian "bumbper stickers".

I had been trying to come up with some Libertarian Sayings on my own. While Clayton likes the longer more nuanced ones, I have always prefered the short ones, but my standards are high. It has to be pithy and accurate. I have always liked the "There is no government like no government" but that seems more anarchist than libertarian. Someone has to enforce property rights so there is some role for government.

I saw this one on a t-shirt: "Vote Libertarian, Win a Freee Country". Short and to the point. I like it.

And this is the best one I could come up with: "A little government goes a long way" Similar to the no government one, but more in line with my idea of libertarianism.

Any other good ones?

I didn't know the national anthem

2006-05-12T12:26:00.000-04:00

Hannidy had a man on the street interview yesterday where he asked people to sing the national anthem. I was embarrased that I could do no better than his participants. I guess I haven't been to enough games lately. I am really going to try and learn the words and then work on my singing voice.

The Star-Spangled Banner

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Someone already wrote that

2006-05-10T14:32:00.000-04:00

I am really slow at writing things and submitting them. Someday I will learn.

I wanted to write an article on "bear"ing arms meaning that we have a constitutionally protected right to carry firearms but someone already did. On top of that it is pretty good and similar to the style I was comtemplating. Look at it here:

William J. Michael , Questioning the Necessity of Concealed Carry Laws, 38 AKRON L. REV. 53, at 67 (2005).

This one is also good but more of a phrase by phrase parcing of the Second Amendment:

Kevin D. Saczepanski, Searching for the Plain Meaning of the Second Amendment, 44 BUFFALO L. REV. 197, 221 (1996).

I also found these two bibliographies that were quite comprehensive:

Published academic scholarship on the Second Amendment

David B. Kopel, Comprehensive Bibliography Of The Second Amendment In Law Reviews

Closet Libertarian

Government Spending as a Percent of GDP

2006-05-04T13:52:00.000-04:00

Is Bush a big spender? The Volohk Conspiracy got me thinking about this again.
He has certaintly disappointed me in many ways, but I'm not sure he gets a fair rap as a big spender.

First, some of the criticisms look at discretionary spending. This is kind of a arbitrary cut (who said government handouts were mandatory?). Also, this might actually be the least objectionable governement spending. Even Locke and Mill saw some role for defense, police and education.

Second, you really need to look at the long term promises for more spending. For example, the government made many promises for future spending under Carter that came due under Reagan. The cash accounting system of the government does not take this into account. See this Heritage article for more.

Third, the Bush increases are small compared to the new deal as show in the charts below. Notice that the receipts chart is more in line with what would be expected from the parties than the outlays.

Spending

Receipts

Calling all gun nuts or anti-gun nuts on "Bearing Arms"

2006-03-17T14:21:00.000-05:00

First, I believe that the second amendment provides for an indivudual right to keep arms.

Second, the second amendment should receive equal protection to other constitutional rights such as free speech.

Third, this protection should apply to state and private action as well as federal action.

I have read plenty on both sides of this debate (I don't think my position will change through further research). I believe these things both as desirable policy and as what was intended at adoption.

What I would like to discuss and get feedbak on is the "bear"ing of arms. To me, the plain meaning of this phrase is a right to carry arms on my person open or concealed. Right? "Bear" should not be read as being redundant to "keep". Can anyone point me to discussions or cases on point?