Friday, August 18, 2017

On the Second Amendment

As for the Second Amendment, its meaning is grammatically clear; it starts by stating that its subject is a well regulated militia.
The writers of the Constitution were quite literate; if the meant 'the rights of individuals to possess and own firearms' they would have said so. At a minimum, they would have said 'persons', not 'the people'. When the Preamble begins "We, the people of the United States...." it is an aggregate noun.
When they are referring to individuals, they use the term 'person', as in "No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years...", or "the whole number of free persons....".

Thursday, October 4, 2012

A contrarian view

Most of the analysis I've heard so far is based on who scored the most debating points, and who looked most assertive.
However, Obama's biggest asset in this race has been that people like and trust him much more than they do Romney. While Romney's bullying may have at first glance come across as assertive, it may in the long run reinforce the prevalent view that Romney is neither empathetic or trustworthy, which will have more effect on how people vote.
Also -- see FactCheck.org. Romney probably provided more ammunition for future Democratic SuperPac ads featuring his easily contradicted quotes.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Work in progress

Long, long ago
in a galaxy far, far away
there ws a gaseous star named GOP
around which circled (in a somewhat eccentric orbit)
the planet Romney
and its moon Ryan.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Gallagher and Shean

Gallagher and Shean were probably the best known of the classic vaudeville acts.
I first heard of them when I was about five years old when my Grandfather taught me parts of their routines.
They were the basis for Neal Simon's The Sunshine Boys, although the title itself may have been derived from another vaudeville team: The Happiness Boys.
And Groucho Marx was Al Shean's nephew.
And finally, I've been reading Joseph Heller's Closing Time, the sequel to Catch 22.  He spends a couple of pages having a few characters doing a takeoff on Gallgher and Shean's classic lines:
   "Absolutely, Mister Gallagher?"
   "Positively, Mister Shean!"

Saturday, July 28, 2012

On the Marriage Amendment

There’s a simple answer to the gay marriage question:
Take the State out of the marriage business entirely.
Let any group (spiritual or otherwise) award the status of marriage according to any standard it chooses, but separate this status from any civil considerations.  The moral aspects of marriage should be a private concern.
Civil issues such as inheritance and benefits would be covered by some sort of certification of civil union, which would not involve any sort of moral judgement.
On this basis, the amendment should fail, not because gay marriage is or isn’t desirable, but because marriage should not be a government concern.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Flink

Why aren't words there when you need them?
There ought to be a word 'flink', defined as something between a flash and a blink:
"The fireflies are flinking around the back yard".
And yes I know it's in the OED, but the meaning is all wrong; who needs a flink of cows?