You’ve probably heard about “paying it forward” and of course, we all know about paying it back. But what about paying it down? Debt, I mean. Sit in traffic and look around. Probably no more than 20 or 30 percent of the cars around you are paid-for. People routinely buy more car than they...
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The Boy Scout motto – Be Prepared – is probably considered evidence of terrorist (or at least extremist) inclinations in the USSA Today. I won’t even get into the parts about hiking in the woods, carrying knives and practicing “survival” strategies. In my day, we even had a merit badge for marksmanship with a...
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I think it’s a false argument that opposition to authoritarianism in all its forms equals advocacy of anarchy. To understand why, it is necessary to make a distinction between aggressive violence (almost always morally wrong) and defensive violence. Most of what the government does today falls into the category of aggressive violence; e.g., taxing...
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Before a sensible conversation is possible, everyone has to agree on definitions. The fact that millions of Americans don’t agree on definitions is arguably the main reason why political conversation in this country is so often incoherent – and we therefore get nowhere. For example, we have the ongoing “debate” (so-called) between Republicans and...
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Dealing effectively with Clovers – inept, inconsiderate motorists (I won’t call them drivers) – requires identifying potential Clovers so as to take steps to avoid and evade them as quickly as possible. So what are the Signs? * Certain cars seem to be inherently Cloverish - Beware of PT Cruisers (especially PT Cruisers with...
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The Nazis had the Herrenvolk – the master race. It didn’t work out for them so well. But if they’d been a bit slicker in their thinking, they would have done what we’ve done and touted the master culture – aka, the doctrine of American Exceptionalism. This is the notion not merely that We’re...
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Mandatory buckle-up laws set the precedent: Even your own body in your own car is no longer your own personal space. Here’s how it works: The government decides that whatever it is you’re doing is “unsafe” – not specifically in your case, just generally - maybe, might be, could be – then asserts the...
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I just got invited by Mazda to attend a press event for the 2013 CX-5 in CA. I used to attend such events regularly, and I’d love to attend this one- but am pretty much decided against because of the prospect of being handled by some TSA cretin (because I won’t be scanned). I...
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Heather Peters (no relation to this writer) just won her lawsuit against Honda over what she argued were misleading claims about the gas mileage she’d get out of her then-new 2006 Civic hybrid. She was awarded $9,867 in compensation, the maximum amount she could have been awarded in small claims court. Now comes the...
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In the news today, an example of the two-tiered system of “justice” that exists in America – one for us and one for them: Colorado State Rep. Laura Bradford was pulled over by a cop on Jan. 25 after he says he observed her driving erratically. The cop stated he smelled alcohol – and...
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