Thoughts from Russia
Some thoughts from my trip to Moscow:
1) Russians love to play American music. Unfortunately, they also believe that the American music scene stopped in 1987, and they LOVE to play American music. I should have known when I got off of my Aeroflot flight when they were playing an instrumental version of “Porgy and Bess” that something was not quite right. There was a lot of Abba and mid 80′s Madonna.
2) You cannot swing a dead cat in a Russian business hotel without hitting one, if not several, young ladies offering “professional companionship.” Sunday evening there were several ladies of the evening in the hotel but by mid-week the guest::hooker ratio was rapidly approaching dangerous proportions. As near as I was able to discern, the going rate is $100-$200 US$ per hour, and pre-payment is encouraged. There is no pay-at-the-pump option as far as I can tell.
3) Contracts. In Russia contracts are more like guidelines, really. Kind of like a fantasy baseball: a fun enough diversion, but not having any relation to the real world. True story: one of our speakers showed us a building that they were building that had received the necessary approvals. The mayor of Moscow happened to be driving by the site, and decided it was “too tall.” They were forced to shorten the tower. Total cost to builder: $4.5 million $US.
4) Related story: When they told us the above story, it was being relayed through a translator. Being a finance guy, I asked “How much contingency is generally budgeted for in Russian building projects?” I got a blank stare. “Contingency? You know, like for unexpected things that might come up?” “Oh, you mean bribes!” “Err….no.”
I’m had a good time, and learned a whole lot. Moscow, architecturally, reminds me of the South Bronx. The architecture is about of the same period, and like the Bronx it looks like it was built and then never maintained. The Russian economy is very dependent on oil…the price of oil drives everything, and building projects shut down when it gets too low. The food was, surprisingly, very good. The food at the hotel was essentially inedible, but I was able to go to several restaurants that were excellent. Including, incidentally, Макдоналдс. A cheeseburger is 25 rubles…about 85 cents at the current exchange rate. I got 2 burgers and”Coca-Cola Light” for 90 rubles. It was a little slice of heaven.
Arguing gun rights…a primer for antis
I’ve been seeing a pattern recently:
- Someone on the internet spouts off about how we need more gun control.
- Folks from the gun rights community show up in comments and point out that the argument is ill conceived.
- A bunch of statistics, generally provided by the Brady Bunch, are quoted in defense of gun control.
- The gun rights community refutes the assertions, points out how the statistics are doctored.
- The original poster tries to argue from authority to shut down the comments, as in “I’m a lawyer, so I know better than you.” Alternatively, they may appeal to emotion and try to
- The original poster descends into name calling.
- The original poster goes sad panda, reasoned discourse breaks out, and the poster turns off comments, usually with a parting shot.
Roberta X, Rustmeister, and Joe Huffman have all had to go through this pattern. In an effort to help the anti rights folks form better arguments, I offer the following tips.
First, understand that we have already looked at the data you are planning to cite. No, not the press release from the Bradys, or the Google search…we’ve read the studies. We’ve examined the methodologies used. We’ve studied the CDC data, and the FBI data. We know it pretty well. When you pull out a stat, we probably know what study it came from. If you are planning to cite statistics, it would be a wise thing to read not just the Brady press release, but to look at the underlying data.
Second (and this is the uncomfortable part) is that the data simply doesn’t support any of your assertions. Gun owners are law abiding, and guns are used safely and responsibly. As Tam points out, children are generally not at terrible risk from gun accidents. As I point out, more children die from rare diseases than from gun accidents. You would save many more lives by banning swimming pools and automobiles than firearms. We aren’t going to let you carry on under false assumptions. We will try to educate you.
Third, understand that we are passionate about keeping our civil rights. We are no more ready to give up our right to own firearms than you are ready to give up your right to vote. A lie left unchallenged becomes the truth…so expect a lot of challenges.
Fourth, I don’t care if you are a lawyer. You should have learned about logical fallacies in law school. Attacking the people arguing against you personally rather than refuting their arguments makes you look like an ass. Defending yourself by saying “Well, that’s my opinion” makes you look like an ignorant ass.
Finally, taking your ball and going home is just sad. You are arguing that you know better than I do… and that you want to take away my civil rights. That’s a pretty serious thing. If you can’t stand the criticism from the people you want to disarm, than perhaps you should’t threaten them in the first place.
Thanks, Sen. Nelson!
I’m trying to get out the door from my hotel room. I put on Fox News. Megyn Kelly is interviewing Sen. Ben Nelson from Nebraska about the “stimulus” package. Megyn asks (paraphrasing): “Senator…your vote here is critical. The Democrats can’t pass the bill without you. $900 billion is a big number…what are you going to do?”
“Well, I think we need to get it closer to $800 billion….”
You beast, you! Wow! $800 billion. What a brave, brave reformer you are.
Updated: I knew it was billions…it was just early in the morning.
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Do your part!
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