A life in words

  • The Constitution Is Cool

    The Constitution Is Cool

    Like a neglectful car owner who postpones the next oil change, we don’t talk about the U.S. Constitution enough, don’t listen to its hum and sputters enough, and aren’t doing enough to set in order the problems impairing the long-term functioning of a free government. One of the few institutions where people are talking seriously…

  • Recommended listen: Can President Trump Invoke the Insurrection Act Over the Objections of State Governors?

    People call the president a “conservative”, but this is only true in the culture war sense; the rest is about blindly trampling the status quo, both dysfunctional things like neglected immigration enforcement, and vital principles like a limited executive and free speech. This is a good listen on the history of the Insurrection Act, and…

  • Mount Si hike 9 Aug 2025

    Mount Si hike 9 Aug 2025

    Finally got up on Mount Si for the season today. 3:22 for the round trip including break at the top—pretty good! Next time, without breaking a sweat? We shall see!

The Master said, ‘Yu, shall I tell you what it is to know[?] To say you know when you know, and to say you do not when you do not, that is knowledge.’Confucius, The Analects, II.17, trans. D. C. Lau, Penguin 1979