Category Archives: Technology and Society

History, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society

Repealing The Second Amendment

63 Comments

Good luck with that.

Thoughts from Glenn Reynolds.

[Update a few minutes later]

Yes. There is no chance that two thirds of both houses of Congress would pass such an amendment, and even less that three quarters of the states would ratify it.

[Update a few minutes later]

Related: The ignorant Parkland kids don’t speak for their dead classmates. David Hogg is the new Cindy Sheehan, and her fate will be his when the media tires of him.

[Thursday-morning update]

You can attempt to repeal the Second Amendment, but you can’t repeal history.

As Stephen Green notes, people like Stevens are relying on the ignorance of the American people, deliberately fomented by our public-school system and universities for the past several decades.

[Bumped]

Update a few minutes later]

This seems related somehow: Trump and the great unmasking of the Left:

I think that long before he even dreamed of entering politics, Donald Trump realized that by outraging his opponents, he could provoke them into saying and doing things that would prove harmful to their goals by exposing their motives, assumptions, and real intentions.

Yes, even though they pretend they haven’t been doing it:

In the age of social media, reaching irrelevant conclusions is a competitive sport. Nevertheless, tossing red herrings about like chaff from an aircraft under fire does little to dispute the fact that conservatives have been subjected to an absurd gas-lighting campaign over the last few weeks.

It’s enough to drive you crazy. That is, it would be if you were to take any of this performance art seriously.

I haven’t taken the Left’s performance art seriously for decades.

[Friday-morning update]

Bad link fixed, sorry.

[Sunday-afternoon update]

Yes, they are coming for your guns.

[Bumped]

[Monday-morning update]

New Democrat senator: “A gun ban is not feasible right now. Or ever, in America.

[Update a few minutes later]

Gun control leaves the most vulnerable defenseless. The Australia buy-back myth is particularly pernicious.

[Update a few more minutes later]

Why the Stevens gun manifesto is so irresponsible.

Business, Culinary, Health, Media Criticism, Science And Society, Technology and Society

Junk Nutrition

7 Comments

A mix of good and bad dietary advice.

Administrative, Technology and Society

It’s Always Something

6 Comments

I ran out of hot water yesterday. Checked the heater, and the pilot was out. Relit it (piezoelectric igniter), and it wouldn’t stay lit. So I went to Home Depot and got a new thermocouple. After I replaced it, now it won’t light. So, either igniter, or not getting gas (neither of which should be the result of changing a thermocouple).

Sigh…

[Update a couple minutes later]

OK, I’m seeing a spark when I hit the button. Hoping that maybe I just have to clear some air out of the pilot line from when I removed the assembly to replace the thermocouple.

[Update a few more minutes later]

Disconnected the pilot line, definitely gas coming out of the valve. All I can think is that I clogged it somehow when I changed out the thermocouple. I’ll try inspecting and cleaning it.

[Update a couple minutes later]

I can blow through the line, but there’s a lot of resistance. Don’t know if that’s normal, or if it’s too much for the gas pressure to overcome.

[Update a few minutes later]

When I hook the line back up, and open the pilot valve, I can faintly smell gas at the tip, but I don’t hear a flow. It’s more like seeping, and probably not enough to sustain a flame. Not sure where the problem is, though. Might see if I can just replace it.

[Update a while later]

Took it apart, put it back together, tested it outside the unit, and saw a pilot flame. Put it back in and didn’t see much, but there was a dim light in there. I turned the heater on, and apparently there was sufficient pilot to make it work. It was probably working before, and I just hadn’t realized it…