THIS IS JUST A NOTE to reassure you that I haven't disappeared from the face of the internet.

I am well, and only facing a minor technical problem.

My DSL has been down for a week, and will probably be down for at least another.

It's a hardware problem with the phone company, and requires them to send out a technician, which they are in no big hurry to do.

This doesn't keep me from posting—I can always make a trip between clients to the Starbucks near my office for that.

I am amazed, however, at how much I have come to rely on the internet to do the research for my posts.

I have discovered, over a very frustrating week, that most of my research and writing takes place in odd moments between client visits, on my computer, which is normally connected to the world out there.

Since I pride myself on accuracy—even making sure that the daily quote was actually written by the person it's attributed to, then citing, and linking to, the correct book—it turns out that my posts are research intensive.

The internet makes all this an amazingly productive use of those moments between clients, when it works.

So I only managed one post last week, and won't make any promises about how many I'll manage before this is fixed.

As always, I can offer you the option of signing up for the free newsletter, in the sidebar at the right, which will alert you to any posts I do make in the next couple of weeks.

Or you can continue your normal visits to the site to browse the four years of posts that are already here.

Pick one you know you like, scroll to the bottom, and check out the list of related posts and quotes. One thing will lead to another.

Anyway, that's the story, just so you know.

I hope to have this fixed and be back up and running at my normal pace soon.

Thanks,

Ken

THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT Billy is that he's fictional—a sort of composite of a group of our kids who are in prison at this very minute.

Billy is much like most adolescent boys.

Like half the kids he represents, he was never in trouble with the law prior to the incident that sent him to prison.

Like more than half of the adult males you know, he was capable of doing stupid things as a teenager.

If you don't remember one thing you did as a kid which could have got you into big trouble if you had been caught, just ask your friends what they did.

Kids don't have the judgment or experience that adults have, and consequently they make mistakes.

They're also easily influenced.

In Billy's case, as in way over half of the cases of this kind, the influence was an adult.

The adult was Thomas—his favorite uncle, whom he had worshiped his whole life. [read more]

ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I was reluctant to take on this whole blogging thing, when Ken first started nagging me about it, was that I've done this kind of thing before.

Not a blog, exactly—and not in this universe—but I do have enough experience along parallel lines to know that eventually it gets me drawn into local politics.

I generally try to stay above all that.

But sometimes my tolerance for sheer stupidity and for fundamental dishonesty just runs thin.

So I'm going to step in, and point a few things out: [read more]

THIS IS THE FINAL INSTALLMENT IN MY REPLY TO Chris, which begins here.

I would have the same reaction, if the real world were like the fantasy land invented by right-wing media.

I want to end with a defense, of sorts—not of the conservative pundits like Glenn Beck, who are financed by the super-wealthy to mislead voters—but of the normal, everyday, conservative, who is being misled.

Last time, Chris, I pointed out that although conservatives are just as caring, and just as bright, as liberals, they live in a world of misinformation.

This is because people who provide that information (the Fox pundits, talk radio hosts, runners of websites, campaign managers, and writers of propaganda emails) only care about winning an argument or an election, and care nothing for the facts.

So, if someone believes that: [read more]

THIS IS THE EIGHTH INSTALLMENT OF MY REPLY TO Chris, which begins here .

I ended yesterday's post, Chris, by suggesting that when it comes to basic values:

1. Neither conservatives or liberals want anyone to suffer,
2. Both conservatives and liberals want people to get the sense of independence and satisfaction that comes from standing on your own two feet and working hard,
3. We both want the United States to prosper, and that
4. Conservatives and liberals are equally intelligent.

I hope you won't disagree with any of that.

In fact, the only difference between a liberal and a conservative is the information they base their different conclusions on—the world of ideas they live in.

Liberals live in (no offense, but there's no way of saying it without saying it) the real world, where [read more]

THIS IS THE SEVENTH INSTALLMENT OF MY RESPONSE TO Chris which begins here .

Yesterday, Chris, I responded to your suggestion that we perform an experiment, to assess the relative practicality of liberal and conservative approaches to government.

You suggested that we...

...just try it with a two states first and see what happens. We get Texas and you can have California. I believe that will not put either at a disadvantage. We both have ports, natural resources and some of the same problems in which to deal.

I suggested that we could do just that in a moderate way by comparing the two states now.

You and I would both agree that California is significantly more liberal than Texas, which is significantly more conservative.

So they seem a fair test of how the two approaches work.

Here's how Texas and California compare at the moment: [read more]

THIS IS THE SIXTH INSTALLMENT OF MY RESPONSE TO Chris, which begins here .

In describing your proposed experiment, Chris, you say:

...we will use plain old hard work and private property rights to prosper and provide.

Again—I have two responses:

1. First, the implication seems to be that liberals like me are against "plain old hard work and private property rights." [read more]

THIS IS THE FIFTH INSTALLMENT IN MY REPLY TO Chris, which begins here.

Toward the end of your comment, Chris, you suggest an experiment:

So, why do you not just give it a go on your own and see how you do. If you survive and create a “Utopia” where everyone works just as hard as everyone else and everyone gets just what they need and nothing more, so be it.

I have two responses to that: [read more]