Comments for The Unbroken Window

Comment on Are Those Things Safe? by J Storrs Hall

J Storrs Hall — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:48:48 +0000

There are two forms of the nudie scanners, millimeter-wave radar and back-scatter X-ray. The former is not ionizing radiation at all, the second is but not very — think of it as very far ultraviolet light. It is used at a level such that you get a much lower dose from it than you get from being at a high altitude in the airplane. So there are really no significant radiation worries — and yes, they have done extensive testing.

What they don’t tell you is how good the picture is. The actuality is that you can tell if a man is circumcised or not …

Comment on To Use Precaution or Not to Use Precaution, That is the Question … Or is It? by The Unbroken Window » Blog Archive » Are Those Things Safe?

The Unbroken Window » Blog Archive » Are Those Things Safe? — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:58:44 +0000

[...] Seriously, pumping ionized radiation into my body? Into childrens’ bodies? Where are all of those folks who believe in the Precautionary Principle? We are having another one of those “Uh Oh” inconsistency moments again, aren’t we? If terrorism poses a potentially grave threat we should take all precautions against it, of course those precautions are posing grave threats to our health too? Which one wins? And what does this tell us about the usefulness of the Precautionary Principle? [...]

Comment on United States Raises Cost of Home-Grown Solar Panels by 35%* by Lonny Eachus

Lonny Eachus — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:09:54 +0000

Not to be contrary, but I also have to take issue with your solar-panels-for-wine analogy. If (again, only a premise, not proven) the Chinese are “dumping” solar panels at below cost, and we take your analogy seriously, then the practice is distorting the free-market price signals of not only solar panels (making them cheaper than actual production costs would justify), but also apples, grapes, and wine (making them appear MORE valuable than production costs would justify, because fewer of them are required to buy what would normally be a higher-priced product).

Granted, these are only marginal differences, but marginal differences are important. Much of economics is based on those very margins.

Comment on We Have a Moral Obligation to Ban Them by Harry

Harry — Thu, 24 May 2012 02:50:16 +0000

Rereading wintercow polemic, he is the Lake Ontario and Erie Canal Swift.

When I was fifteen, I watched a swimmer near a lock in the Erie Canal go underwater and spit out a mouthful. In the lock, my friend and I sunk our hands into inches of slime to protect the boat.. This was not Al Gore’s love canal.

Comment on We Have a Moral Obligation to Ban Them by Harry

Harry — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:14:19 +0000

Steve, I wondered the same thing. But I think Wintercow has had it with dog poop sticking to his sneakers. (Let it be known that I do not have a dog in this fight. I live near a busy road, and knew the last dog that was killed by a car. We have cats, all of who showed up at our door. One lives inside, another lives in the garage during the winter, and two males live in the barn. We got the garage cat spayed, after we lured her into a Havaheart trap; so far, she and all of the other cats are smart enough not to go into the trap, which has trapped four raccoons, four skunks, and a thousand (I exaggerate) ground hogs. Just two days ago, I got two ground hogs in one trap, a record.

Friends shoot the skunks and raccoons, and they get buried in assorted places and sometimes get dug up and eaten by another hungry animal, or animals who relish rotten skunk. Only once did I think I glimpsed a coyote (as opposed to the esteemed Coyote) jump over the fence toward the woods, but we have plenty of buzzards and crows to clean up after a larger animal, maybe a raccoon takes a few savory mouthfuls of dead skunk or aged raccoon.

However, we live in a free country (so far) and I do not want the township, state, or federal police to look over my shoulder to monitor what I do with my cow’s manure in the winter.

This does not mean that the Puritans cannot regulate what happens in the common, nor the Wesleyans do with the animals in the dormitories.

I’m not getting a dog, and I sympathize with WC’s sentiments. It is not as difficult or big as raising a child, but it is a big responsibility.

Comment on We Have a Moral Obligation to Ban Them by Trey

Trey — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:10:01 +0000

Steve, not sure… if wintercow had suggested EATING our dogs, then yes, Swiftian.

http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html