People who smell alike make friends more easily.

I saw this reasonable sounding idea somewhere on the Internet.  Sounded good, but their laboratory technique was flaky.  I cannot smell myself until I have gone without bathing for several days.  Back when I was gainfully employed I would take a shower every morning, just to avoid offending co workers with unmentionable body odor.  This suggests that people mostly smell of soap and water at work. 

   Then the authors used an “electric nose” to see whose scents matched up.  They never explained how this device worked, or how they calibrated it, and what they did to make sure it gave the same readings on the same people every day. 

  So it’s an interesting idea but the authors didn’t convince me that they had proved their idea worked.  

Elected legislatures are supposed to write the laws

Courts and judges are supposed to interpret existing law and show how existing law fits the case before the court.  Elected legislatures are subject to pressure from voters to vote this way or that.  Which is as it should be, legislatures are supposed to represent their districts.  We give judges tenure, often for life, to insulate them from popular pressure so that they can rule in accordance with the written law.     Unfortunately political pressure groups, back in the ‘60s and ‘70s found it easier to influence 5 out of 9 unelected lawyers than to gain the votes needed to pass a law in Congress.   Hence Roe vs. Wade in the early 1970s.  This led to responsible presidents nominating “strict constructionists” to the Supreme Court, judges who would rule in accordance with existing law and not make new law from the bench

The need for guns in America.

Guns in the hands of ordinary citizens have stopped a lot of crime over the years.  They stopped a crazy who was about to shoot up a church down south a while ago.  Every month American Rifleman carries nearly a dozen stories of ordinary homeowners taking care of home invaders, shop keepers or counter clerks fending off robbers, motorists fending off carjackers, and more.  Most of the time that armed citizen manages to hold the perps at gunpoint until the cops arrive.  Some of the time (not all that often) the armed citizen kills the perp right then and there.

   America would have fewer school shootings and other crime if we had more citizens who carried a gun.

   Men are taller, heavier, and stronger than women.  Women, especially young and pretty women, ought to consider carrying concealed firearms, just in case.

   The anti gun people make America more dangerous for ordinary citizens.   

  

Red Flag laws. Gun Confiscation?

Our Congress is talking about passing a gun control bill, still nameless in today’s Wall St Journal.  This bill would “encourage” states to pass “red flag laws”.  The journal did not say what “encouragement” means, a juicy federal payment for just passing a “red flag” law?  Or a bounty of cash for each person who has his firearms seized? Or???.   Far as discussion in the Journal or on Fox goes, all it takes is a judge’s say-so to confiscate a victim’s firearms.  Judges are nice people and all, but they know little or nothing about mental health, psychosis, or depression. No requirement for a board of experienced people, clergy, psychiatrists, law enforcement and others to evaluate the victim.  Victim does not get a chance to defend himself. 

   If the victim is so bent out of shape that we need to confiscate his firearms, is he not so bent out of shape as to require a stay in a mental hospital?  Find out what his problem[s] is/are and treat them.  Today we have a lot of very powerful drugs for mental problems. 

   Seizing the victim’s firearms is cheap, one visit by law enforcement and it is done.  Providing a bed in a mental hospital takes real money.  Confiscating the victim’s firearms makes the anti-gun people happy and does not cost much, which probably accounts for the popularity of the idea. 

 

Presidents and bikes

 I don't remember any US President on a bike, up until just now.  I can remember back thru Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bush Sr, Bush Jr, Obama, and who else.  I don't remember every seeing photos of them on bikes, or reading about them going biking.  Until we get to Biden who falls off his bike in front of a lot of cameras. 

Run for the Hills.

 Fox News had a guy on Sunday (yesterday).  He claimed the stock market was going to tank, everybody should get out of stocks, keep the money in cash.  I hope he is wrong.  At least after selling all your stocks you could buy US bonds.  They pay 2-3% interest which is far more than banks are paying on deposits. Me, I am staying in the stock market. 

Fate of Taiwan?

We are hearing more tough talk from the Chinese about how Taiwan is (or ought to be) part of China, and how the Chinese might take military action to make it so.  Taiwan is 120 miles off shore and the Strait of Taiwan that separates the island of Taiwan from the Chinese mainland is blue water, deep enough to float aircraft carriers.  The Chinese army is very big, bigger than ours, probably bigger than the Russians.  Should the Chinese get that army ashore on Taiwan (and keep it supplied) it’s all over for Taiwan.  No way can Taiwan produce an army big enough to compete with the Peoples Liberation Army. 

    So the secret of keeping Taiwan independent is keeping the Chinese from crossing the Strait.  This has two angles, navy and air force.  If Taiwan can put up enough aircraft to sink the Chinese ships carrying the Peoples Liberation Army to their shores, they win.  This can be hard to do.  The newest Chinese war planes are nearly as good as ours, or maybe just as good as ours.  The Chinese just have to put up fighters to take out Taiwan’s bombers.  Taiwan has to put up bombers to sink Chinese ships, and fighters to fend off the Chinese fighters.  The bombers might be US made A-10’s; they don’t have to be 8 engine strategic bombers.

   Or the Navy angle.  Best is a bunch of submarines, they can stay submerged and just torpedo any Chinese vessel that needs it.  As long as they stay underwater they are pretty much immune to enemy aircraft. The US Navy and the Chinese Navy have about the same number of ships.  The effectiveness of ships is largely the effectiveness of the ship’s missiles.  When surface ships meet in combat they fire missiles at each other.  The ships with the best missiles win.  Best missiles have best range, best anti jamming features, best and strongest warheads, best guidance systems.  We don’t really know how good Chinese missiles are.  Afghanistan and Ukraine have showed American Stinger anti aircraft missiles to be excellent.  Ukraine has shown the American Javelin antitank missile as highly effective.  We can believe American naval missiles are just as good.    When it comes to aircraft carriers, the combat effectiveness lies with the carrier’s air group.  All the carrier vessel needs to do is launch ‘em and land ‘em.  It’s up to the aircraft to survive enemy fighters and get hits on targets.

   Used to be America gave Taiwan private assurances that the US navy would keep the Chinese from invading them.  Now, with WRBA and Biden, nobody knows what to think.  The Chinese may think we will let them invade Taiwan.  Who knows?