Hate Crimes

Capital offenses are capital offenses and should be treated as such in all cases without attempting to read your mind as to your intent when you performed such crimes. All (black,white,gay,straight,male,female,etc.) people who assault another person should be treated the same. If you don't feel the current punishments are adequate, see to it that the punishments are changed, and handed out evenly. Don't begin to think you can read someone's mind.

"We hold these truths to be SELF-EVIDENT, that ALL men are created equal..." (emphasis mine).

Only when we as a collective actually hold true to treating all people equally will the outliers see their actions as aberrant and abhorrent. No special treatment for any group, and no restrictions either. Do away with any laws that restrict or assist others based on anything but their factual legal nature, and not on relative moralisms.

From Where You Are

"Every year, nearly 6,000 teenagers go for a drive and never come back," -Dennis Haysbert, Allstate spokesman

From Where You Are

Caution: Newly Licensed

Burden of Proof

Often in discussions, one side doesn't want to have to put forth any effort to defend their position. They use terms like "burden of proof" or start invoking formal fallacies in order to step back and put all the work on their opponent's shoulders. The fact is, the burden-of-proof meta-argument is just an excuse people use to pretend that they can make their case without having to defend it. Invoking formal fallacies is usually a substitute for thinking. It makes no sense to make rules about who only has the burden of proof in an argument. You want to know who has the burden of proof? The claimant. Except that both sides are the claimant, since they each claim a specific, if opposing, view. One claims something, the other claims the opposite. Being a 'skeptic,' or not believing something to be true is also a claim.

You can be skeptical that the Earth is round, so it's really not about who's the skeptic, per se. Also, whether a fact is phrased in a positive frame (is, does) or a negative frame (is not, does not) is incidental and often interchangeable. And yes, the people who are claiming the Earth is round are also claimants. Imagine that, two sides both having the burden of proof. The burden of proof really isn't even about who's making the claim; it's about who feels the necessity to convince the other of their position. Think about it.

Bleach And Ammonia

I researched this to help my daughter with a project she was working on, and want to save the information somewhere so I can reference it wherever I may be. Mixing bleach and ammonia is dangerous, don't try this at home.

Bleach and Ammonia
There are several ways household ammonia and bleach can react. All of them are dangerous. Bleach is about 5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), and household ammonia is a solution of 5-10% ammonia (NH3) in water (H2O).

Reaction 1
If you have more ammonia than bleach, the ammonia reacts directly with the bleach to form hydrazine (N2H4), a component in rocket fuel, which, in addition to being extremely poisonous, can burn even in the absence of air. It explodes on contact with rust.

2NH3 + NaOCl -> N2H4 + NaCl + H2O

Reaction 2
If you have more bleach than ammonia, the bleach hydrolyzes (breaks down by reaction with water) into sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which in turn decomposes into chlorine gas (Cl2) and nascent oxygen (both poisonous). The chlorine gas in turn reacts with the ammonia to form chloramines, also very poisonous.

NaOCl + H2O -> NaOH + HOCl
HOCl -> HCl + O (monatomic oxygen)
NaOCl + 2HCl -> Cl2 + NaCl + H2O
2NH3 + Cl2 -> 2NH2Cl (chloramine)
4NH3 + 2Cl2 -> 2NHCl2 (dichloramine)
6NH3 + 3Cl2 -> 2NCl3 (trichloramine or nitrogen trichloride)

Keeping a Marriage Together

Soulful Vibes today reported that Will Smith has found the perfect way to keep his marriage together: Rule out divorce as an option.

While this is a great step, it is not the only, nor the best, method. Things I would rate along with, or higher, than ruling out divorce:

1. Don't get married until you are sure you are ready to be with one person and only one person for the rest of your life. If you aren't sure you are ready, you will always be wondering "what if" and that wondering may lead you to wandering.
2. Ensure what you feel is love, not lust, for the person you intend on marrying. Lust is immediate, while love lasts. Lust requires immediate satisfaction, but can't last without constant refresh, which is why many relationships based on physical interactions fail when the physical interactions reduce in frequency.
3. Keep it fresh by doing new things with your spouse. Getting into a rut, doing the same old things all the time, will cause you to take each other for granted because you know exactly how each other will act and react. Instead, try something different, to see a new side of each other; experiment and experience different things together.