A Curious Little Blog

I went to a flea market today.  A lot of people are under the misconception that a flea market is a place to buy fleas.  This is not the case, although sometimes there are fleas for sale there.  Rather, a flea market is a place to buy flea accessories.  I got a new leash and a smart bonnet for mine. Getting quality flea accessories at a reasonable price can be a challenge.  The skill required to make anything small enough to fit a flea naturally puts a premium on them.  Not only that, but many flea accessories come in only one size.  As anyone who has raised fleas can tell you, getting a flea collar that is too large is like having none at all.  Before you know it, your flea will slip out of his collar and hop on the next dog or cat he sees, and then you have a hopeless time trying to find it among the fur.  I recommend you not buy cheap Chinese knockoffs because they are rarely true to size and do not stand up to the kind of workout a norm...

I have been reflecting a lot recently on the question:  who am I?  I think of the answer primarily in terms of, "I am the kind of person who..."  For example, I am the kind of person who listens to a live album and thinks:  why would I want to listen to this when there is a much better version recorded in a studio? I get it, people value the spontaneity of live music.  I guess I don't, for the most part.  I have The Who's "Live at Leeds" album, which is generally regarded as one of the best live albums ever.  I kind of appreciate it, the random interjections, the weird transitions and musical medleys.  But I've had that album for 30 years now, so I've gotten used to it.  I just listened to a different live album, and I can't help thinking:  yuck.  This is just like the studio release, only sloppier.

If you haven't seen the body cam video of the police shooting of Daniel Shaver, I encourage you not to -- it's really disturbing.  There are so many things wrong with it, but I guess since race is not a potential issue (the victim was white) it hasn't received as much attention as some other shootings. There are things to be said on both sides, and my opinion varies depending on the case.  I thought the shooting of Philando Castile earlier this year was inexcusable; in other cases, police officers have had at least some reason for pulling the trigger quickly. It is very tricky to judge a shooting on its merits, even when captured on video.  We (and juries) have to do it, of course, and we are right to make decisions for and against policemen for their actions, but it doesn't seem to me like we are going to make fundamental changes by jailing this or that cop for unjustified homicide.  (That said, after the Castile and Shaver "not guilty" verdicts, I have...

I watched a little of a debate tonight that included Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz, and it included a segment on the individual mandate.  Even though this was not the focus of the debate, there was enough discussion on it that I heard Sanders several times complain that we are the only nation that doesn't guarantee health care for its citizens.  (Sometimes he specified the only "advanced" country or some such.)  I was hoping Ted Cruz would come back with an argument like the following: "Your strongest argument for guaranteed health care seems to be that every other nation has it.  While this circumstance certainly means the concept merits consideration, I don't think we should jump to the conclusion that we should do it because other nations are doing it.  Let's consider the circumstances of those other nations; how many of them are as large and diverse as the United States?  Do any of them have a federal structure like we do that limits national power?...

I have not written much about the removal of Confederate statues, even though my hometown, Charlottesville, is at the center of the controversy.  Honestly, I have a hopeless feeling about it and the subject makes me depressed.  I do feel that the issue is not being approached from the correct point of view by either side, so I wanted to give my perspective. Statues of Confederate commanders are not about slavery.  I have literally never heard anyone honour these men because they supported slavery, and only marginalized groups outside of the public discourse consider them as standing for anything racial.  The number of demonstrations recently, almost all including members of the KKK, neo-Nazis, and white supremacist groups, gives a misleading impression of how these statues are viewed by most people.  I have no evidence that these protests were organized by members of the left, but I do believe that, if the left wanted to make a case for removing the statues, t...

Going back to my youth, I have been concerned that the main sides in the political debate do not talk to each other.  They produce articles and books arguing in favour of their own position, and sometimes arguing against their opponents, but almost never approaching their opponents' arguments with the seriousness that they would want for their own.  It is generally enough to find one person making a bad version of an argument, and refute that; no one feels obligated to refute the best arguments that their opponents have to offer.  The result of this is obvious for all to see, but I find it was nicely anticipated some 600 years ago by Christine de Pisane, who wrote, Those who plead their cause in the absence of an opponent can invent to their heart's content, can pontificate without taking into account the opposite point of view and keep the best arguments for themselves, for aggressors are always quick to attack those who have no means of defence. (from The Letter o...

It was a treat finally to read Lucretius's masterpiece, "On the Nature of Things" ("De Rerum Natura").  I knew it was an exposition of atomism, but I didn't know what to expect in the way of reasoning behind or developement of the idea.  It is actually a poem, and, thanks to the excellent translation, the writing style makes it easier to understand rather than more difficult.  (I can't imagine trying to tackle it in Latin, however.)  It was written explicitly to argue against religion; right at the beginning, Lucretius makes clear that he thinks religion is nonsense and he is going to prove it by explaining physical phenomena without reference to the gods. The central argument of his explanation is that the world is composed of atoms, and he can use atoms to explain everything from a purely physical point of view.  It is truly extraordinary to see how far reason can work out things about the physical world even when observations are made at such a gros...