The media publicity following the recent Connecticut Massacre may be pithily summarized as “how many more murders before guns are more restricted?”. Because of the way cumulative arithmetic works, the total number of people killed will only ever increase (unless we master reincarnation technology). Every new attack that occurs can only increase the volume of the shriek.

The phrasing appeals to emotion, but it is a deviously misleading framing of the situation. It conceals the fact that people with guns also do a lot of good.

The exact number are hard to come by, but something like a hundred thousand events per year may occur in the USA where guns were used defensively. (That does not mean someone had to shoot – brandishing can be enough.) Some huge number of times, people felt in enough danger to threaten lethal force. In some fraction of those, a robbery, a murder, a rape was prevented. And because of the laws of cumulative arithmetic, the total number of people saved will also only ever increase.

Which “body count” is greater? Beats me. But to pretend that the positive side doesn’t exist grotesquely distorts the topic. (If your news reporting has only covered one set of the numbers, consider going around your information gatekeepers.)

Back during the communist days, the Soviet Union’s official newspaper “Pravda” was an ironic joke. The name translates to “truth”, but of course it was 100% state propaganda. Twenty years later, a newspaper with that name survives, and occasionally lives up to its name better than some western media.

Here’s a recent article about disarmament of the russian population as a cautionary tale for americans pondering the same.

Due to their always spectacular performances, Stratford (Ontario) will be invaded by our clan again this summer. Because the brats are too young, I’ll take in Waiting for Godot on June 14. But sitting by myself in a depressing play is not all it could be — why not share Beckett’s misery?

To that end, I’d like to invite localish friends to come with me. I can provide transportation and help with the ticket costs, for up to 4ish folks. If interested, email me. Hurry – Godot may wait forever, this offer can’t.

Some weeks ago, I honed my handyman skills by a simple repair of our dishwasher. A few days later, retelling the story aroused uncontrollable laughter.

The problem? The machine was not draining its tub of rinse water at the end of the cycle. With the service manual and web information, I popped open the sump / drain-pump area, and it looked and sounded okay. That suggested a possible clog of the drain hose. In our house, this hose is perhaps 12ft long, going under the tiled floor, between the kitchen wall and an island. If something were to go wrong with that part, replacing it would be a tricky and expensive affair. If the dishwasher pump was kaput, it could be a time-taking parts-order. So the next was to check on the integrity of the pipe from its ends, hoping that the problem was temporary.

I disconnected the kitchen drain pipe end of the hose. I wanted to see whether it could support flow powered by something other than the dishwasher pump. I figured a good quick test would be to take out the one-way valve in the dishwasher side, and blow from the other side. If I hear bubbles, the hose should be OK. The hose is old stinky rubber, about 1.5in diameter. I was too lazy to get an air compressor to blow, so I wrapped the end of the hose in cellophane and blew with my mouth. I expected some pressure would be required to get through the water in the various loops of the hose, but so I blew hard. Sure enough, some bubbles could be heard at the other end. But it took too much force, so I inferred that some sort of obstruction was likely present.

OK, how to check further – how to dislodge whatever goo might be present in the pipe? I sure as heck wasn’t going to suck in a mouthful, so it was time to get a tool. Out came our trusty, noisy, old wet/dry shop-vacuum. It sucks (in a good way) and doesn’t mind getting dirty. Only problem is that its input hose is about twice the diameter of the dishwasher’s, so when the little pipe was inserted into the big hose end, there was a huge gap, making suction a bit of wishful thinking. The solution was to construct a seal – lips as it were – from duct tape. About a yard of the stuff, rolled on in overlapping loops, fixed the little pipe in place within the big one.

The moment of truth arrived. Noisy vacuum on – suction began. Dishwasher on – pressure began. Listening intently, one could hear a little spurt of goo coming through, then another. Couldn’t stop now. The dishwasher waste cycle was triggered again and again, each time with more of the water & clog being pushed through the pipe. We topped up the dishwasher tub to keep the machines working to flush the pipe again and again, more and more, till it flowed free & easy.

We were done. The little pipe was removed from the vacuum hose, everything reconnected, cleaned up.

For some strange reason, the dishwasher lit a cigarette, and just sat there with a goofy grin.

A couple of months ago, the family was driving around Brant County, looking at a nearby tobacco farm about to harvest. Then-five-year-old Stuart asked what those plants were for; we reminded him of cigarettes. From his readings, he recalled that those are unhealthy, and asked us why the government doesn’t just ban tobacco growing.

I told him it’s not that simple, for at least two reasons. First, people must be free to do things that are dangerous only to themselves, to develop their judgement, enjoy their lives, and be independent citizens. We talked about a few examples. Second, the government’s judgement is not exactly perfect — that they make mistakes all the time, yet have the power of force. I was not going to go into too many details on this, but it turned out we didn’t have to.

By this time, you see, we just merged onto Highway 403, accelerating around the speed limit. Just then in the passing lane, there came a convoy of three big black SUVs, at least 20 km/h above our speed, and therefore well above the legal limit. I got out of their way. As they passed us, we saw that they were OPP – police vehicles, not on an emergency call (no sirens or lights), just casually breaking the law.

I rested my case.

Quote: Feinstein: NRA is ‘venal’. They come after you, they put together large amounts of money to defeat you […] They did this in ’93, and they intend to continue it.

Implication: The NRA may corrupt people somehow (?).

Actual definition: “venal: (adj) capable of being corrupted; “corruptible judges”; “dishonest politicians”; “a purchasable senator”; “a venal police officer” [syn: {corruptible}, {bribable}, {dishonest}, {purchasable}, {venal}]

Conclusion: Feinstein and/or her colleagues are venal.

Further to this article, time to share another tickle-the-funnybone item from back in the days when the internet wasn't even yet the "information superhighway", the early 1990s to be specific.

I was but a humble (?) university student, but already fond of the peculiar electronic communication starting to be built out. These are the days of Usenet and email. Like now, people tried to be funny. Like now, crowdsourcing resulted in pretty-good quality stuff. Put humour and crowdsourcing together, and you get ... The Usenet Oracle, now in its 24th year of service. Participants email or submit questions to the oracle system, the computer selects a random participant, he/she tries to produce a response (along with a statement of an expected payment - the funnier the better), finally the computer anonymizes, relays the answer and publishes it in a digest. Giggles frequently ensue.

You might take a few minutes scrolling through their "best of" collection (as voted upon by readers). But I will share with you my personal favorite. I have a vivid memory, "I have that memory which is seared -- seared -- in me", of seeing this one go out live:

Date: Fri, 5 Oct 90 09:34:38 -0500
[...]
202-06    (00035 dist, 4.6 mean)
Selected-By: Steve Kinzler 

The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was:

> Hey Oracle! You gave me a shitty answer! Take This!
>                                 _
>                                / \
>                               |\_/|
>                               |---|
>                               |   |
>                               |   |
>                             _ |=-=| _
>                         _  / \|   |/ \
>                        / \|   |   |   ||\
>                       |   |   |   |   | \>
>                       |   |   |   |   |   \
>                       | -   -   -   - |)   )
>                       |                   /
>                        \                 /
>                         \               /
>                          \             /
>                           \           /
>                            |         |
>                            |         |
>                            |         |
And in response, thus spake the Oracle:

} Thank you for your prompt payment.
}                              _       _
}                          _  / \     / \
}                         / \|   |   |   ||\
}                        |   |   |   |   | \>
}                        |   |   |___|   |   \
}                        | -   -   -   - |)   )
}                        |                   /
}                         \                 /
}                          \               /
}                           \             /
}                            \           /
}                             |         |
}                             |         |
}                             |         |