Bookworm Room

Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.

  • Easy Ways To Teach Kids
  • Bookworm’s Book
  • Books!
  • Contact Bookworm

Bookworm Beat 10/4/17 — the Second Amendment edition

October 4, 2017 by Bookworm 14 Comments

While not all of the links in this post discuss the Second Amendment, most do. There’s other stuff too, about health care, the economy, etc. It’s all good.

Second Amendment GunsA great book about the Second Amendment. This post focuses heavily on the Second Amendment because, once again, Progressives are using an evil act to justify depriving Americans of a singularly important Constitutional right. I’m therefore opening by shilling my own little book on the subject: Our Second Amendment Rights In Ten Essays. The ten essays are

  1. A Typical Discussion With Gun Grabbers; Or, What Second Amendment Supporters Are Up Against
  2. Guns Are Most Dangerous When The Government Is The Only One That Has Them
  3. America’s Founding Fathers Ratified The Second Amendment Because They Knew That Government Is Dangerous
  4. A Self-Defended Society Is A Safe Society
  5. Gun Grabbers Ignore That Guns Not Only Take Lives, They Save Lives
  6. Beware Of Arguments Comparing American Gun Crime To That In Other Nations; These Arguments Are Always Dishonest
  7. The Only Way Gun-Control Activists Can Support Their Position Is To Lie
  8. Disarming Americans Is A Racist Thing To Do; Therefore, Second Amendment Supporters Are Anti-Racists
  9. Jews, Of All People, Should Always Support The Second Amendment
  10. If We Really Want To Protect Our Children, We Shouldn’t Ban Guns, We Should Ban School Buses

Those who took the time to review the book were good enough to say nice things:

“An exceptional set of essays addressing with the common progressive attacks on our Second Amendment right, as well as the historical origins of the right and its tremendous importance to our “free state.” In light of the stated intent of certain of our politicians to overturn the Heller decision and make a nullity of the Second Amendment, I would recommend that you read these essays closely.”

“A quick read, but packed with commonsense tracing the history & variously failed implementations of gun control in contravention of our Constitution.”

“Read it, live it, breathe it … for freedom. History shows time and time again that only despots want to disarm citizens. The result? Learn from history.”

“An excellent and incisive book written by one who has a firm grasp of both the subject and the issues at stake.”

“Well written, understandable, and timely. Excellent information.”

“Read this. Your freedom is a risk.”

“Well written and quite thoughtful.”

At the risk of sounding immodest, as the Progressives’ increase their strident demands that we turn all of our weapons over to Donald Trump (yes, that’s effectively what they’re demanding), this book has some useful ways of thinking about guns and a civil society that may help you rebut the insanity.

Nothing like a little data to reveal the stupidity behind gun control. If you haven’t already heard about and read Leah Libresco’s anti-gun control opinion piece at the WaPo, you must. It’s an honest acknowledgement that everything that the gun control crowd argues is wrong — and it comes from one who once supported those arguments until her data studies revealed they had no basis in reality:

Before I started researching gun deaths, gun-control policy used to frustrate me. I wished the National Rifle Association would stop blocking common-sense gun-control reforms such as banning assault weapons, restricting silencers, shrinking magazine sizes and all the other measures that could make guns less deadly.

Then, my colleagues and I at FiveThirtyEight spent three months analyzing all 33,000 lives ended by guns each year in the United States, and I wound up frustrated in a whole new way. We looked at what interventions might have saved those people, and the case for the policies I’d lobbied for crumbled when I examined the evidence. The best ideas left standing were narrowly tailored interventions to protect subtypes of potential victims, not broad attempts to limit the lethality of guns. (Emphasis mine.)

Read the whole thing — and then politely, ingenuously wave it under the noses of your anti-gun friends and colleagues. [Read more…]

Filed Under: African-Americans, Economics, Judges, Judicial activism, Race, Second Amendment Tagged With: Donald Trump, Electric Cars, Electric Vehicles, Free Market, Guns, Israel, Jimmy Kimmel, Moral Hazard, ObamaCare, Price Gouging, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Second Amendment, State Department, Stephen Paddock

[VIDEO] The boondoggle behind dirty electric cars

February 8, 2016 by Bookworm 8 Comments

ford-focus-electric-2As the “proud” owner of one fully electric car and one hybrid electric, I’ve written before about the fact that they are an economic scam. The government throws money at potential purchasers, but even with the huge financial incentives, only the upper middle class and beyond can afford them. In other words, the taxpaying working class funds rich people’s electric cars. It’s disgusting — but the system is what it is, so when Mr. Bookworm, who is very supportive of green causes, wanted to get us some subsidized new cars, I wasn’t about to say no.

Also, the electric cars are fun. The Ford Focus Electric may only have a 60 mile range, but it’s a darling little car to drive and goes from zero to sixty with surprising elan. As for the Ford Fusion Hybrid-Electric, while it only has a 20 mile electric range before switching to hybrid mode, that little battery was enough to qualify for discounts and carpool lanes. It lacks zip, but it’s still a lovely car to drive (and would be just as lovely if it were only a hybrid, without the electric part). If you’re going to get the benefit of a corrupt government boondoggle (and I don’t blame Ford for a minute, since I think the corruption emanates from Democrats), the Fords are a lovely way to go.

Aside from the financial scam, though, electric cars are also a green scam. This is something else I’ve known for some time, but Bjorn Lomborg puts it all together in an easy to understand video:

Filed Under: Climate change Tagged With: Bjorn Lomborg, Electric Car Subsidies, Electric Cars, Electric Vehicles, Ford Focus Electric Hybrid, Ford Fusion Electric

Electric cars, government incentives, and pollution (and an Open Thread, if you want one)

August 30, 2014 by Bookworm 24 Comments

Nissan LeafAside from domestic responsibilities and computer problems, the main reason for my slowed blogging has to do with cars.  Electric cars, to be specific.

Years ago, when I was living my life as a round of carpools, we bought a lovely Honda minivan. I really do mean lovely. It’s the most comfortable car I’ve ever owned. I’m petite, but it provides me with a perfectly elevated seat; it handles like a dream; I like the doo-dads and thingamabobs it offers; and I’m just generally happy with it. The only downside is that it gets around 18 or 19 miles per gallon, which is not a plus with Obama gas prices.

Actually, there’s now another downside, too. With my kids in high school, I’m no longer driving that endless round of carpools. Instead, it’s mostly just me in a car that can seat passengers, not including the driver. Sometimes I add a passenger or two, and I often have groceries, but it really is a shame to burn up so much expensive gasoline to transport a few people and some shopping bags.

We started looking into alternatives and decided that the all-electric Nissan Leaf would be good. It’s a surprisingly spacious car, it handles well, it’s range easily encompasses my daily Marin roamings, and  then there’s the real kicker:  Between federal and state incentives for electric vehicles, we get almost $12,000 towards a three-year lease.

That last factor makes the car eminently affordable. We’ll be paying only slightly more per month on the lease than I was already paying for gas. We’ll keep the old car for short trips or heavy loads (or for times when all three drivers in the family are heading in completely opposite directions), but we’ll use only the Leaf for the local trips.  Our electric bill will increase negligibly, our gasoline bill will decrease dramatically, and our monthly cash flow will be affected minimally.

Nice as they are, I’m actually somewhat embarrassed by those incentives. Yes, it’s true that I pay substantially more in taxes than someone who doesn’t live a nice upper middle class life in Marin. But precisely because I am able to live this nice upper middle class Marin lifestyle, I don’t really need the incentive.

The incentives certainly encourage me to buy or lease an electric vehicle, so they fulfill the government goal of getting more people into EVs, but I think it’s wrong that lower-income taxpayers are compelled to support me in any way. They, after all, are still paying taxes but, even with the taxpayer-funded incentive, they still can’t afford a lease.

A Democrat in the California legislature finally figured out just how unfair this is and has a bill pending to add means-testing to the rebate:

Since 2009, California gave a $2,500 tax rebate on zero-emissions vehicles like the Tesla Model S and Prius plug-in hybrid. And here’s something that should surprise no one: The majority of those rebates went to households earning $100,000 or more. Now that could change.

A bill sponsored by California Senator Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) attempts to address the fact that nearly 80 percent of those rebates went to households bringing in more than $100k and that almost half of Tesla Model S owners receiving a rebate are making at least $300,000.

“A $2,500 rebate to purchase an electric vehicle is not likely to matter to someone earning over $300,000 a year, but it does make a big difference to someone earning $60k a year,” said de León. “Every community deserves clean air, regardless of wealth.”

(Read more here.)

Although I think that bill is the right thing to do, I’m not going to stand on principle here and turn my back on any money the government wants to give me — or, more accurately, give back to me.  After all, thanks to the highest income tax in the nation, a lot of our family’s hard-earned money routinely goes to fund all sorts of ridiculousness, such as California’s infamous “train to nowhere.”  Getting some of my money back towards an affordable, practical car is a good thing.

I’m also ambivalent about the vehicle because I find the whole “zero emissions” thing stupid.  Yes, it’s true that there are no emissions coming out the back of my vehicle, but you can’t escape the fact that it nevertheless generates a lot of pollution elsewhere.  It has a honking big battery, which currently pollutes China even more than China is already polluted.

Additionally, the car relies upon electricity that’s produced by generating a fair amount of dirt.  As I understand it, most American electricity comes from burning coal or gas, or from a nuclear plan (clean, but always unpopular in Progressive circles).   Water’s great, but it’s a distant third, with all the clean energies coming in far behind.  And of course, those clean energies aren’t so great either, given that their unreliable, and that they either slice and dice birds or fricassees them.

It still seems to me that the best way to power our world is to continue to rely on fossil fuel — that most reliable energy source — but to continue to work on ways to decrease the pollutants flowing from its use.  All these other things are pie-in-the-sky stuff.  Indeed, the fact that government needs to coerce and bribe people to use electric vehicles perfectly demonstrates just how ridiculous they are.  If they really were an affordable form of clean energy transportation, private business would be cleaning up on them without any help from the government.

And while I’m on the subject of government’s role in all this, I’d like to put in my application to immigrate to the Republic of Bill:

Filed Under: Energy, Government, Taxes Tagged With: Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Nissan Leaf, Rebates

Top Posts & Pages

  • Welcome to Arkansas!
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveils the "Green Leap Forward."
  • Still traveling open thread
  • How Las Vegas's corrupt police department murdered Erik Scott

Recent Comments

  • IQ: For Our Sake | Stately McDaniel Manor on Western IQ scores are falling. Is it computers or something else?
  • Mugged By Reality | Stately McDaniel Manor on Catching a Progressive being good — and (maybe) helping him rethink guns
  • Thoughts about They Shall Not Grow Old – Wayward Mittens on Movie Review: “They Shall Not Grow Old”
  • News of the Week (January 6th, 2019) | The Political Hat on The Brits Slander A Hero of the Revolution, Francis Marion

Bookworm’s Tweets

Tweets by Bookwormroom

Writing this blog is a labor of love. However, if you’d like to donate money for my efforts, please feel free to do so:

Archives

Categories

  • 9/11
  • Abortion
  • Activism
  • Afghanistan
  • Africa
  • African-Americans
  • America
  • Animal rights
  • Anti-Americanism
  • Anti-Semitism
  • Anti-war
  • Arabs
  • Argentina
  • Art
  • Australia
  • Barack Obama
  • BBC
  • Bill Clinton
  • Bits and Pieces
  • Blogfriends
  • Blogs and Blogging
  • Books
  • Britain
  • Bureaucracy
  • California
  • Canada
  • Capitalism
  • Carly Fiorina
  • Children
  • China
  • Chris Christie
  • Christians
  • Civil War
  • Climate change
  • College Course Catalogs
  • Communism
  • Congress
  • Conservative ideology
  • Constitution
  • Corruption
  • Crime and punishment
  • Cuba
  • Cuba
  • Culture
  • Death penalty
  • Democrats
  • Denmark
  • Donald Trump
  • Ebola
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Egypt
  • Elections
  • Energy
  • England
  • Environmentalism
  • Europe
  • Euthanasia
  • Feminism
  • France
  • Free speech
  • Freedom
  • Gay marriage
  • GBLT
  • Gender
  • George Soros
  • Germany
  • Germany
  • Government
  • Greece
  • Hamas
  • Health
  • Hezbollah
  • Hillary Clinton
  • Holland
  • Hollywood
  • Holocaust
  • Homosexuality
  • Identity politics
  • Illustrated editions
  • Immigration
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • ISIS
  • Islam
  • Islamic State/ISIS
  • Israel
  • Japan
  • Jews
  • Jihad
  • Jimmy Carter
  • John McCain
  • Jordan
  • Judges
  • Judicial activism
  • Just Because Music
  • Law
  • Lefties on Parade
  • Leftist morality
  • Liberal Fascism
  • Libertarianism
  • Libya
  • Marin County
  • Marriage
  • Media matters
  • Men
  • Mexico
  • Mike Huckabee
  • Military
  • Morality
  • Multiculturalism
  • Muslim violence
  • National Security
  • Nazis
  • Newt Gingrich
  • North Korea
  • Norway
  • Open Threads
  • Pakistan
  • Palestinians
  • Parenting
  • personal responsibility
  • Police
  • Political correctness
  • Politics
  • Presidential elections
  • Race
  • Rand Paul
  • Religion
  • Republicans
  • Revolutionary War
  • Rick Perry
  • Russia
  • San Francisco
  • Sarah Palin
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Science
  • Second Amendment
  • Self-reliance
  • Semantics
  • Sex
  • Silly Stuff
  • Socialism
  • South Africa
  • Strict constructionism
  • Sweden
  • Syria
  • Taxes
  • Tea Parties
  • Ted Cruz
  • Tipping Points
  • Truth
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Unions
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United Nations
  • Uplifting stories
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • War crimes
  • Watcher of Weasels
  • Welfare
  • White House
  • Women
  • World News
  • World War I
  • World War II

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2019 · Bookworm Pro News Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in