Author: dennis
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Adventures with Mr. Wizard
I first met Mr. Wizard down at the pool hall. Seemed like a pretty normal guy. Too normal actually. So normal it was kind of weird. Anyways, we’re talking a bit after playing a match, when he said, “I know a lot about pool.” What a weird thing to say. Seriously, think about your favorite activity, let’s say motorcycles, or...
Mr. Wizard Part 8: Final Victory
So I’m down at the pool hall, when Mr. Wizard walks in. Hadn’t seen him in awhile, so was hopeful that he’d already left the country, but no such luck. Anyways, he walks up to me with a big grin and says, “Do you ever listen to Alex Jones?” Well that’s a weird way to start a conversation. And it...
Mr. Wizard Part 7: Versus Libertarians
When asked to explain my views in one word, I say that I am a libertarian. That’s what I told Mr. Wizard. And though it’s not precisely accurate, I couldn’t very well say I was a neo-reactionary-anarcho-traditionalist could I? Hell, most people don’t even know what a libertarian is. The basic idea – according to the founder of libertarianism Murray...
Mr. Wizard Part 6: Mr. Wizard Rules
One-Pocket is usually played by serious players in serious places for serious money. But we’d managed to cultivate a small group of enthusiasts who weren’t too serious, and decided to hold a tournament just for fun. I was asked to set up the rules and run the thing. I agreed. When consulting the official rules at one-pocket.org, I found that...
Mr. Wizard Part 5: The Life Coach
I don’t want to brag but, things are going pretty well for me. My problems are small and my blessings are many. When I am old and grey (well, older and greyer) and look back on the ‘good old days,’ that time will probably be now. But of course, neither I nor my life are perfect. Mistakes have been made...
Mr. Wizard Part 4: Back to School
I share a fair number of videos from Prager U, which of course is not a “real” university. But then again, since “real” universities now offer courses in tree climbing, television watching, and lesbian midget basket weaving, I’m not sure that’s much of a criticism. Anyways, the Prager U videos are short little summaries on various topics told from a...
Mr. Wizard Part 3: Fact Checking
I guess Mr. Wizard held a grudge against me from our previous discussion, because he started stalking me on Facebook. Every day, hell every post, he had something to say. Hell bent on correcting the errors of my ways. Whether his motivation was to save my poor misguided soul, to save the world from my evil plan, or to simply...
Mr. Wizard Part 2: Political Poker
The next time I saw Mr. Wizard we did not talk about pool. Thank God. But we didn’t play poker either. Too bad. Instead we moved on to something less confrontational: politics. Oh joy. Mr. Wizard started with, “Can you believe all the idiots that voted for Trump?” Once again, Mr. Wizard was presuming knowledge that he did not have....
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Delusion
After I retired I needed something to do. I thought it would be cool to travel around photographing all the amazing places on our planet. So I started making a list. The list grew quickly. It is still growing. Of course it includes standards like the Grand Canyon or Great Pyramids, but then a place occurred to me that had...
A Bipartisan Merry Christmas (or Whatever)
Is Merry Christmas and Happy New Year just not good enough for some people. Don’t worry, I’ll fix it…
Hockey’s Diversity “Problem”
The NHL has players from Finland, Sweden, Russia, Czechia, USA, Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Norway, France, even 1 from Australia, and of course a shit-ton from Canada. But… that’s not enough “diversity” according to one Washington DC, think tank. Nope. Why not? I mean, that’s 15 different countries, languages, cultures, and ethnicities. So what’s the problem? Oh you...
Impeachment for Dummies
Some thoughts on the House vote to impeach Trump. Please click to watch on YouTube and subscribe to my channel. I need 1000 subscribers before YouTube will take me seriously, thanks.
The Square and the Tower
I have a love/hate relationship with author Niall Ferguson, who is basically the official historian for the powers that be and the way that things are. That doesn’t make him wrong, and he is an excellent writer, but you could drive a truck through his blind-spots. Still, I did learn a few things from this book that I’d never heard...
The Madness of Crowds
“We are going through a great crowd derangement. In public and in private, both online and off, people are behaving in ways that are increasingly irrational, feverish, herd-like and simply unpleasant. The daily news cycle is filled with the consequences. Yet while we see the symptoms everywhere, we do not see the causes.” Murray points out the absurdities and internal...
Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Is it possible for a book to be TOO logical? Prior to reading this I would have said “no,” but now I’m not so sure. A lot of long boring X = Y + Z sort of statements, mixed in with deep thought about political philosophy and morality. Nozick makes a strong case for a minimal state being the most...
Human Smoke
I probably never would have read this book had it not been so highly recommended by various people I respect. This is NOT your usual history book. The writer makes very few comments. It is a collection, albeit a very select collection, of news stories with short time line narratives. It is very well done, in fact. It is all...
The Fourth Turning
Apparently this book was a big influence on former Breitbart editor and Trump advisor Steve Bannon, so I thought I’d give it a try. In a nutshell, the book advances the view that history roughly repeats itself every 80 years. Further, every 80 year period is characterized by four “turnings.” A High, an Awakening, an Unraveling, and a Crisis. In...