Category: History

In the dry corners of legal academia, few topics cause such storms of passion as the debate over originalism. What did the Founders mean when they wrote this passage or that in the Constitution or Bill of Rights? Does their original take matter? If so, for how long? Originalists argue for a careful hewing to their preferred interpretation of specific passages based on the Founders’ “original meaning,” which anti-originalists correctly criticize as conveniently supporting originalist arguments for smaller government. Anti-originalists have cleverly responded by giving originalists a taste of their… Read More

I grew up hearing tales of Beirut from my parents, who worked there in the '70s; it became an imperative that I visit the city as well. I had no memories for comparison, but I could tell that it was an incredible example of the way cultures can come together in one small area. What follows are photographs I took of Beirut, mostly at night as I walked around the city. I will also include some brief comments. Overall, it was a study in contrast. One thing not shown in… Read More

Here are some photos I took while in the Middle East recently. They were taken with a Canon S95, Nikon V1, Pentax K-01 and iPhone 4S.

The following is an excerpt from the book A Rifleman Went to War, by Captain Herbert W. McBride, of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the United States Army. He fought in World War I, mostly in France, and went from junior enlisted to officer during that time. Most of this book is a discussion of rifles, machine guns, or the war in general; all of it is fascinating to a history buff like me, and I found this section on pistols quite interesting. This was written in 1935. As I… Read More

Aberdeen Proving Grounds 1960 AR-15 Test Linked above is a PDF report from February, 1960, about some early AR-15 testing. I've had it for a while but don't believe that I've discussed or posted it in the past. There's a large amount of technical data, to include precise gas port diameter and location, distance the bolt travels before unlocking, precise travel of the front sight post per notch moved, and so on. It also includes multiple 10 shot group accuracy testing, 6000 round endurance testing, extreme heat and cold testing,… Read More