buckdata – news and views for an unquiet age

Serve and protect are noble words, suggesting nurturance and safety. They make me think of a good Mommy, or perhaps an excellent babysitter. However, as a motto, these two verbs exist in a kind of linguistic vacuum: They are profoundly ambiguous. Are they infinitives or commands? Ideals or marching orders? Further, both verbs are transitive. [...]

[Read more →]

I don’t know much about Alaska, but–riot police activities in St. Paul during the GOP convention notwithstanding– I have heard that Minnesota is a progressive, child-friendly state. And the federal government is sort of progressive, too, when it comes to protecting children. For example, it is against the Mann Act to bring a minor across [...]

[Read more →]

It’s all over the news. The Vatican has been busy naming some new sins to bring that old bunch of seven big ones up to date. This is a wonderful idea, but why should the Vatican have a monopoly on the concept? I decided to help out the Pope by proposing a few more sins [...]

[Read more →]