Category: Uncategorized

Why I Learned to Type.

Instapundit writes The Death of Cursive, linking to an article in the Washington Post that reports:

The computer keyboard helped kill shorthand, and now it’s threatening to finish off longhand.

When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2006, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. The rest? They printed. Block letters.

I’m 44, but I haven’t written in cursive in decades. I quite literally no longer can.

Put bluntly, my handwriting sucks. My mother says I should have been a doctor. The computer keyboard didn’t kill my longhand. I learned to type because I knew that, in order to communicate via the written word, it was a far better option for me.

Many educators shrug. Stacked up against teaching technology, foreign languages and the material on standardized tests, penmanship instruction seems a relic, teachers across the region say. But academics who specialize in writing acquisition argue that it’s important cognitively, pointing to research that shows children without proficient handwriting skills produce simpler, shorter compositions, from the earliest grades.

Simpler, shorter compositions? Obviously they haven’t been reading this blog.

Scholars who study original documents say the demise of handwriting will diminish the power and accuracy of future historical research. And others simply lament the loss of handwritten communication for its beauty, individualism and intimacy.

“Future historical research” of the kind typified by Michael Bellesiles’ Arming America? And, really, what does handwriting have to do with “beauty, individualism and intimacy”? Does no one on the WaPo read Lileks? Mark Steyn? Victor Davis Hanson? Would their work read any better if it was printed in longhand rather than Times New Roman?

Cursive script was invented because of the quill pen. Picking up and setting down the point of the quill produces blotches, so to make the paper as clean as possible it was best if one wrote with one continuous motion, nib always in contact with the paper. When steel nibs and then fountain pens were created, that problem still existed. (Back when I still wrote cursive, I loved writing with fountain pens. My penmanship still sucked, but I liked the look of it.) But in the era of the Bic ballpoint, it’s not a problem anymore. And in the electronic age where text appears in pixels, cursive has – rightly – gone the way of the dodo bird. I do not lament its loss.

Instead, we have a myriad of fonts to choose from (though not so much on Blogger), and those fonts can add much to the content and feeling of the written piece. Like this James Lileks review of Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith:

Wouldn’t be the same in cursive, would it?

Trebuchet!.

An interesting time-waster, GlobalSpec’s Trebuchet Challenge. Judging from some of the scores, there are some serious medieval-weapons nerds among the engineering community.

Another Case of Child Abuse.

Defending himself, mother, boy kills intruder

14-year-old fires once, hits man in head

By Beth Wilson and Mary Ann Cavazos Caller-Times
October 10, 2006

Police said a 14-year-old boy was defending himself and his mother when he shot and killed an intruder Monday afternoon at their home on Ocean Drive.

Capt. John Houston said the 14-year-old boy, whose name was not released, was home from school after becoming ill, and his 46-year-old mother, Rose Ann Kozlowski, had just returned from the grocery store when she was confronted by a man with a knife.

Yes, laws that prevent people from getting guns will certainly prevent violent crime, won’t they?

Cmdr. Jesse Garcia confirmed during a news conference that police received a call from one of the residents of 4221 Ocean Drive at 12:55 p.m. and responded to a report of a man tying them up and holding them at knifepoint.

The man, only identified as a black man in his 30s or 40s, led the mother and son to the upstairs master bedroom, where he bound their hands with men’s ties and ransacked the house for valuables.

“He packed up her SUV in the garage with those items. He threatened to kill them repeatedly,” Houston said.

After the robber caught the woman trying to untie herself once, she was able to free herself and her son and find her husband’s pistol in a security box under the bed. She tried to shut double doors to the bedroom as the man tried to push them open and her son held the gun.

“She was using all her strength to push them,” Houston said, adding that the boy aimed at the man through a space in the door and fired one shot.

“He shot once and hit him in the head, killing him instantly,” Houston said. “He took a life-saving measure to save his mother and himself.”

Good shooting, kid.

Soon after the incident, police cars lined Ocean Drive near the house, which is between Ocean View Place and Aberdeen Avenue, and neighbors stood nearby watching officers investigate.

Houston said police also are investigating the possibility the man had an accomplice because neighbors reported seeing two black men in a green 1970s four-door sedan, possibly a Lincoln Continental, driving slowly around the neighborhood a couple hours before the incident.

The best part about this story? This poll results at the sidebar:

I’d like to see a few more responses, though.

UPDATE: Thursday, 10/12

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why the gun-grabbers fail at the polls and have had to resort to attempting legislation from the bench.

End of update.

This is another case like the 11 year-old boy who shot a knife-weilding intruder in South Bend, Indiana in 2002, or the 12 year-old boy who frightened off five home-invaders earlier this year.

But children shouldn’t be exposed to guns, we’re told. It’s dangerous. Yes, each year some children die from accidental gunshot wound. Author Jean Hanff Korelitz believes that number to be over 4,000 annually, and said so in a Salon.com piece, but the Centers for Disease Control reports that in 2003, 56 children 14 years and younger were such victims. In 2002 there were 60. In 2001 there were 72. Each and every year, despite an ever-increasing number of firearms in private hands, the number of accidental deaths by gunshot – even among children – has been declining. But guns are bad. Guns are evil. Children shouldn’t be exposed to firearms because they’ll only harm themselves or their playmates with them.

Tell that to Jessica Carpenter.

Getting Ready for the Rendezvous.

The ammo is loaded and ready to go. One .30 cal can about half-full of .45ACP, a .50 cal can with 400 rounds of .223 in boxes, and a full .50 cal can with 376 rounds of .30-06 on Garand clips in bandoleers. In the range bag are several loaded 8-round 1911 magazines, some loaded AR mags, and 250 rounds of .45LC. I’m bringing my Garand, my AR with both uppers, my Kimber 1911, and my M25 Mountain Gun. I’ll pack my clothes tonight, load up the truck in the morning, and hit the road for Vegas about 8:00 AM which should put me into Phoenix just after rush hour, and into Vegas in the late afternoon. I’ll leave Vegas nice and early Thursday, and get into Reno about check-in time.

Hope to see lots of you there.

And yes, I’ll let you shoot my guns. That’s why I’m bringing all the ammo.

I Might as Well Give This Gig Up.

Other people do it better than I.

Go read Tam, if she’s not already on your blogroll. She says precisely what I wanted to say.

Vacation!.

Last year about this time we were gearing up for the Remodel™. I took time off from work, but it was hardly a vacation. This year I’m taking two (2) weeks off (during a period in which I have never been busier) and in the middle of that two weeks I’m driving up to Reno for Mr. Completely’s Gunblogger Rendezvous. Of course, there’s a lot of honeydo’s I need to take care of during this period, but hopefully I’ll have time to do a lot of reading, a little writing, and some reloading and shooting (besides next Saturday in Reno.)

I’ll also be doing some maintenance on this blog – specifically, updating the blogroll.

If I don’t blow everything off completely.

Do It Again, Only HARDER!.

I note tonight that, once again, someone has gone to a “disarmed victim zone” (otherwise known as a school) with a firearm and committed mayhem. (I also note that this is major news in Australia, the UK, Israel, China, Bulgaria, South Africa and jeebus knows how many other foreign places. Yes, guns are terrible things here in the U.S. of A. More “victims of the Second Amendment,” I’m sure they’ll say.)

Those “gun-free zones” really do the job, don’t they? They make sure that anyone willing and capable of defending against someone intent on evil has no chance to intervene before things go completely to hell.

But this is SOP for people who blame not the perpetrators, but the weapons for these evil deeds. Once again, let me quote Steven den Beste on the topic of “cognitive dissonance”:

When someone tries to use a strategy which is dictated by their ideology, and that strategy doesn’t seem to work, then they are caught in something of a cognitive bind. If they acknowledge the failure of the strategy, then they would be forced to question their ideology. If questioning the ideology is unthinkable, then the only possible conclusion is that the strategy failed because it wasn’t executed sufficiently well. They respond by turning up the power, rather than by considering alternatives. (This is sometimes referred to as “escalation of failure”.)

Or, as I express it, “Do it again, only HARDER!“

Here’s another shining example.

California governator Arnold Schwarzenegger….

Well, you read it:

Legislation to protect domestic violence victims from gun violence signed into law

September 27, 2006

Need for legislation underscored after Evan Nash, a San Diego youth, was slain by his armed father.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday signed legislation by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) that will provide additional protection for people seeking court protective orders under the Family Code.

“This law is dedicated to the memory of Evan Nash, the San Diego teen who tragically lost his life while under the protection of a family court protective order. His mother, Lucy Nash, fought to change the law to further protect victims of domestic violence,” said Senator Kehoe.

In 2003, Evan Nash’s estranged father shot and killed his son less than 24 hours after being served with a protective order. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Lucy Nash stated that she thought Evan’s father’s firearms would be confiscated at the time his protective order was served, and that had she known they would not be confiscated, she would have moved her son to safety.

Specifically, Senate Bill 585:

1. Adds additional provisions to the Family Code to allow law enforcement to consider seeking the immediate surrender of a firearm from a person served with a protective order.

2. Reduces from 72 hours to 48 hours the time frame by which a person served with a protective order must show proof to a court that they either sold or surrendered their firearms.

3. Requires that application forms for protective orders ask what types of firearms are in the possession of the respondent.

“Unfortunately, in some cases the issuance of a protective order is followed by an assault or even murder,” said Senator Kehoe.

You don’t say!

“In certain circumstances, it is important to remove the guns as quickly as possible after a protective order has been served to help increase public safety.”

But which cases? And how do you tell?

Last year, Evan’s mother, Lucy Nash, traveled from San Diego to Sacramento to testify in support of the measure. SB 585 will take effect January 1, 2007.

I’ve had to stop banging my head against hard surfaces. I’ve beaten too many of them into crumbling dust.

How many absurdities can you count in that one story?

1. While California has handgun registration, I don’t believe they have long gun registration, so how are they supposed to know that someone turned everything in?

2. This law trusts that the target of such an order will actually comply, especially if he’s planning violence. You know, in those few cases that actually lead to murder? It’s worked so well in the past, hasn’t it?

3. If they can’t keep guns out of the hands of prohibited persons (i.e. known felons), how do they expect to keep them out of the hands of people with restraining orders if they really, really want one?

4. If someone with a restraining order really wants to kill someone, there are other methods besides guns, but this law is concerned not with violence, only gun violence.

5. The law supposedly disarms the perpetrator of domestic violence in 48 hours, rather than the completely unreasonable 72 hours – yet the bill is passed giving credit to a case in which the perpetrator killed within the new timeframe!

How many more can you come up with?

But if the previous law didn’t work, do it again, only harder!

The next iteration will drop the time period to 24 hours, I suppose? And when the next violent offender hands his firearms in ammunition first?

If Ms. Nash had understood that the government is not responsible for her (or her son’s) protection, then she might have done what was necessary to protect herself and her son. Instead, she depended on the State to protect her. She depended a piece of paper. But now other women will still think that a restraining order will provide more protection than the paper it’s printed on.

And that’s a damned lie.

But the ideology cannot be wrong. The only possible conclusion is that the strategy failed because it wasn’t executed sufficiently well, so DO IT AGAIN, ONLY HARDER!

What will they do about “Gun-Free School Zones” now? Increase the radius of the exclusionary zone?

“I Can’t Believe You’re Doing This!”.

I can.

After my “Pushback?” post from yesterday, commenter 1894C put up a link to this YouTube video. Watch the whole thing. I doubt that the videographer, “texteditor,” will get much satisfaction from the courts, but it’s an interesting thing to watch.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVACCaVxYEk&w=425&h=350]

Nice to know the patrol officers understand the law they swear to uphold.

UPDATE: While perusing some of the incoming links, I found an essay written by Peter Schramm in 1999 that I think everyone ought to read. Go, go… I’ll still be here when you’re finished…

Done? Good. Did this quote get your attention?

“…where there is bureaucracy, there is no freedom.”

I thought it might.