March 15, 2003

Iraq vs. the NRA Timothy Noah of Slate.com invites gun ownership advocates and Iraqi experts to explain to him why Iraq has both a high rate of gun ownership (it’s said that most households have a gun) and is a dictatorship while many gun ownership advocates claim that the widespread ownership of guns stops just such a dictatorship. My view on the answer is that having a gun stops the government from sending a handful of troops or secret police to assert you, it does not stop the government from using cannons to level your town or using poison gas on your village. Basically the Iraqi people cannot defend themselves from the government and baring private ownership of tanks and airplanes, will not be able to. The solution of course is to have a government and an army whose goal is to protect the people, not oppress it. 12:37:52 AM

Tom Gross writes in the National Review Online on the New York Times biases against Israel. 12:35:29 AM

Car and Driver looks at New Rome, Ohio, a tiny village running a real life Duke of Hazard type speed and ticket trap on its 1000-foot stretch of a state highway. So far the clan running the village is still in control (via Metafilter). I wonder if auto clubs such as the CAA or AAA have this village listed as spot to avoid at all costs. 12:35:11 AM