Randy | January 30, 2013
Speak the word “education” and the most common image conjured is that of a set of knowledge and skills conveyed under the auspices, and bearing the stamp of approval, of some official grantor of credentials. People seek to learn by enrolling in classes so they can emerge bearing a certificate or diploma they can display […]
Randy | January 28, 2013
The title of this item is an English translation of an Arab proverb that has always been one of my favourites. It packs a lot of realism into a very small package. It was called to mind by reading a thread on a bushcraft forum I visit periodically in which the original poster asked how […]
Randy | January 26, 2013
This is the second in my Short, Easily Digested Firearms Education Lecture series – the first being my article on the clip and the magazine. If you’ve read the first two installments in my What in the Name of Hell IS an Assault Rifle Anyway? series (part 1 here, and part 2 here), you will know […]
Randy | January 25, 2013
T’is said that a man in a kilt is a man and a half, but whatever faith ye subscribe to, today is Robert Burns’ Day, whether ye like it or not. If you’ve ever belted out your drunkest rendition of Auld Lang Syne as the clock struck midnight at the climax of a New Year’s […]
Randy | January 23, 2013
Misleading Vividness is a fallacy in which a very small number of particularly dramatic events are taken to outweigh a significant amount of statistical evidence. This sort of “reasoning” has the following form: Dramatic or vivid event X occurs (and is not in accord with the majority of the statistical evidence) . Therefore events of […]
Randy | January 22, 2013
Yesterday we looked at how lessons learned in the course of World War 2, the ingenuity of German military weapon designers, and the whims of Adolf Hitler gave birth to the first “assault rifle”. In bestowing the name, Hitler was referring to the concept of “assault” in the military meaning. As in assaulting an enemy […]
Randy | January 21, 2013
In our ongoing quest to disinfect the world of misused, and sometimes even meaningless, firearms terminology, today I’m going to focus on one that’s particularly topical at the moment if the combined brain trust of news media and facebook are any indication. That most dreaded thing in existence today (besides “Pit Bull type” Dogs) – […]
Randy | January 20, 2013
On compromising principles and the justification of cheating: “If there really is a principle involved, things are either black or white. There are no grey areas. You can’t be “a little bit” dead or “sort of” pregnant. A ship is not seaworthy merely because the total area of its hull exceeds the total area of […]
Randy | January 19, 2013
Hard on the heels of my previous article, Mrs. LFM has turned up a press release issued yesterday by the Connecticut State Police under the signature of Lt. J. Paul Vance. Its contents are quoted below in their entirety in case of later amendments, edits, or complete removal of, the original document: ** UPDATE ** […]
Randy | January 19, 2013
Mrs. LFM and I have recently been moved to write about firearms, the laws that pertain to their possession and use, and public perceptions of both, entirely thanks to official reports on, and observed reaction to, the Newtown murders. In addition to reports coming out of the mainstream media, this event has given birth to […]