For You Racists Who Think All Dwarves Look Alike

In anticipation of the deluge of dwarves in the new “The Hobbit” movie, The Lord of the Rings Project has released a handy flowchart to identify each of the main dwarven characters.  And yes, you do want to check out the rest of their site.

I’ll definitely be seeing “The Hobbit” this weekend.  I’ve heard nothing but great things about it from various Tolkein fetishist friends.  I will say that the way some of the dwarves look almost human and how others look so cartoonish was a little off-putting in the trailers.  I hope it doesn’t distract in the actual movie.

Things You Never Think Of

What do trains do in the winter in places where snow can be piled as high as the cab?  Why, attach a snow blower to the front, of course!  Bonus Dune reference by PZ Myers included.

No, The Government Shouldn’t Legislate Morality

A gay student at Princeton University recently asked Justice Antonin Scalia to defend his comments  in the brief for Lawrence v. Texas which made sodomy laws illegal.  In his dissent in the case, Scalia compared laws against sodomy to laws against bestiality.

Scalia’s point, he claims, is that governments have an obligation to legislate morality, otherwise they also don’t have a right to have laws against murder.  This is absolute preposterous thinking.  Sure, it’s easy enough to think of murder as morally wrong, but we’re not legislating the morality of the action.  We legislate the act of taking away someone else’s right to live.  Any law that is worth a damn isn’t about defining an act as moral or immoral.  It is about preventing one individual from infringing on the rights of another individual.

If two or more people freely choose to perform acts on each other, we have no business enacting laws restricting those acts whatever they may be.  If you think that act is immoral, you’re free to think so.  You can even pass judgement on them if you so choose.  What you should never be able to do is create a law that prevents those people from performing said acts unless those acts can be substantially proven to infringe on the rights of someone who is unwilling.

And please note that being able to “freely choose” is a pretty high bar to set.  Bestiality laws exist because animals can not freely choose to participate.  (Side note, animals can’t freely choose to be killed either so it really should be legal to outlaw killing animals.)  Rape laws exist because one person did not consent to the act.  Murder laws exist because the person that was killed did not choose to die.  On the other hand, assisted suicide should be legal, but with high bars in place to prove that the individual is freely choosing to die.  And attempted suicides aren’t prosecuted as attempted murders because of that free choice.

So, Justice Scalia and all you other law makers who want to push your brand of “morality” on everyone through laws, back off.  You choose to live your life in a way that doesn’t infringe on my rights and I’ll continue to live my life in a way that doesn’t infringe on yours.

Illinois Stands Alone…For Now

A federal court ruled today that Illinois’ concealed weapon ban is unconstitutional.  I’m not sure what part of “well regulated” people don’t seem to understand about the second amendment, but whatever.

Talking to a friend, he mentioned that Illinois was the only state left that absolutely prohibited concealed carry weapons.  I was incredulous.  It turns out he is right.  There has been a slow, steady push for right-to-carry laws in all states since about 1989.  Check out this Wikipedia map.  What surprised me the most is that Texas didn’t have a right-to-carry law until 1995.  Texas!

This is one of those cases that is almost guaranteed to go all the way up to the Supreme Court, so it’s going to be a while before it actually gets overturned.  But with the makeup of the Supreme Court the way it is, it’s almost certain that Illinois will join its brethren in arms.

Tis The Season For Breaking Unions Fa La La La La La La La La

“Right to work” means that employees can’t be forced to join unions even if there is an organized union.  This has the effect of making unions pretty useless.  Right-to-work laws are basically union busting laws in the disguise of “individual freedom”.  It’s no surprise, then, that there is a very high correlation between strongly Republican states and right-to-work states.

This past year, though, there have been a spate of right-to-work laws passed in non-traditional Republican states.  Well, add the strongest union state in the country to the mix.  Michigan just passed their own right-to-work law.  If this keeps up, unions may cease to exist in the next decade.  Anti-union sentiment is strong even with Democrats; just look at Chicago mayor Rahm Emauel.

The sad thing is, everyone understands the anti-union sentiment.  Unions are often horrible.  They take needed money from hard working individuals and that money often seems to be spent filling the coffers of union officials who are all to often corrupt and don’t give much in return back to the workers.  In fact, the only thing that I can think of that is worse than unions is the companies that make unions necessary in the first place.

And that’s the big problem with anti-union sentiment; it’s so short sighted.  Yes, unions are often horrible, but they do serve a purpose that, at the microeconomic level, seems bad for employees, but at the macroeconomic level, provides huge benefits to all employees.  People are very poor long term planners so they tend to see only the microeconomic implication of decisions.  So, down with unions!

Say you are applying for a job at a company in a right-to-work state that currently has a union.  Here is how that job interview would go:

HR person: Do you plan to join the union?

Applicant: Yes.

HR person: Thank you for your time.

Now say you are a current non-union employee at a company in a right-to-work state that decided to join the union.  Here is how that conversation would go:

Employee:  I’d like to join the union.

HR person: You’re fired.

But keep reaching for the sky, America, soon you’ll be the freedomest of all freedomers.  And by “reaching for the sky”, I mean “digging that ditch”.

Don’t Let It Snow, Don’t Let It Snow, Don’t Let It Snow

Chicago has already broken a record for the number of days in a row without a measurable snowfall.  We are currently at 281 days and counting.  March 4th, 2012 was the last snowfall.

Not only that, but Dallas has now had a snowfall earlier than Chicago.  This is only the second time that has happened.

Now, we will likely break another record: The latest snowfall of the years.  All we have to do is make it to December 16th.  There is a chance of rain/snow that weekend, so it all depends on how warm it is when the precipitation falls.  It seems a shame to come this far and not break the record.  Kind of like having to turn back when the peak of Everest is in your sights only without the effort or sense of accomplishment.  Or fun…

Chicago has also been much drier than usual this year.  We are currently 10″ below average.  That’s a little over 30% less rain than we usually get.  And when we do get rain, it tends to come in higher accumulation deluges.  The city has noticed this and is starting pilot programs to do something about it.

Department Of Very Bad Optics

Say you’re a business that is against abortion.  You want to advertise such to the world.  Pretty bad marketing idea if you want to keep customers, but more power to you.  What do you do, though, if you’re a dry cleaner who is against abortion?  Put your anti-abortion message on a coat hanger of course!

Wowey-wow-wow-wow.  Cluelessness, thy name is Springdale Dry Cleaners.

This reminds me of Something Positive’s debut comic.

More Things That Are Pissing Me Off Now

You all know of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), yes?  It basically prohibits discrimination against Americans with disabilities.  That’s the reason why businesses are required to have wheelchair ramps or elevators or marked parking spaces.  It made the country a much easier place for people with disabilities to live in.  Fairly simple, fairly effective, fairly bipartisan.

Sounds like a great model for the rest of the world to follow, yes?  Wouldn’t it be great if all places had wheelchair accessible entrances?  Well, the United Nations thinks so too.  That’s why they passed the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.  It’s a treaty that mirrors the ADA and asks all UN members to abide by it.  It’s not binding.  All it really does is ask very nicely as far as I can tell.  It’s basically saying, “Hey, world, let’s try to live by the Unite State’s example!”

I bet you can already guess where this is heading.  Well, former Republican Senator Bob Dole came out of the hospital in a wheelchair to urge the Senate to pass it.  What did Republican Senators do?  They voted against it.  Why?  Very good question.  As far as I can tell, it’s because they believe that everything the UN does is evil or we already have a law so why should we sign or they’re coming for our children or it’s part of the insidious UN takeover of our country or look it’s the Goodyear blimp!

And that’s more of what’s pissing me off now.

Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?

Say you were able to choose your neighbors.  Who would be the people that you meet when you’re walking down the street each day be?  Mine would include:

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Neal Stephenson

Bill Nye

John Irving

Phil Plait

the whole Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe crew (in one house)

Pat Conroy

Barack Obama

Warren Buffett

Ira Glass

Paul Krugman

Elizabeth Warren

Roger Ebert – RIP

Tim Minchin

Just to name a few.  That’s right, friends and family, none of you make the cut.  You all need to become more interesting.  At least win a Nobel Prize.  Sheesh.  Slackers.

Yes, You Do Know Who Dave Brubeck Is

When I commented that Dave Brubeck died last week, my brother commented, “I don’t know who Dave Brubeck is.”

Dave Brubeck is one of those musicians that even if you don’t know his name, you know him.  When people say they like jazz, they usually mean that they like Dave Brubeck.  He is the man that brought jazz to the masses.  Look on his works, ye mighty, and despair!