Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

My mother and stepfather were married on this date in 1970, which means they are celebrating 45 years of wedded bliss. Happy anniversary, Mom and Jerry! May sapphire become gold in five years.

To the editor:

Jonah Goldberg berates gun-control advocates for not empathizing with gun-freedom advocates—as if we should waste time trying to understand why so many people cling to firearms despite the tens of thousands of U.S. deaths they cause annually. How about empathizing with the survivors of the fallen? ("Smoking guns, and tobacco," Opinion, Dec. 15)

If Goldberg could prevent this unnecessary slaughter of real, living people by interfering with the enjoyment of people who like to shoot deer or paper targets, wouldn't he choose human life?

I was a Marine and I know the allure of firearms. Guns are marvelous machines. Sometimes, in the proper hands at the proper time, they must be aimed at human beings. The Constitution protects their use in a militia context as part of its plan to “insure domestic tranquillity.”

Let's find a way to combat the heartlessness of the gun lobby so we the people can live in peace.

Bart Mills, Manhattan Beach

Note from KBJ: Why is it heartless to want people to be able to protect themselves and their families? What's heartless is depriving people of the right of self-defense.

Pat Metheny Group (1978).

There is little talk in scientific circles of an ethics of belief. Most of the issues of science offer small temptation to our feelings to believe in one way rather than another. Of course when a man is offering a new theory to which he has tied his professional hopes, he is only too likely to overrate the evidence in hand and ignore what makes against his theory. It is said that Newton, as be approached the end of his calculations about gravitation and saw the great law coming nearer, could not trust himself in his excitement and turned over the final calculations to another hand. But here was a theory with tremendous implications, in which he as its discoverer had a personal stake. Most scientific problems might be settled in any one of many ways so far as most of us are concerned; we should find it difficult to work up any sort of passion for or against the binomial theorem or Ohm's law.

(Brand Blanshard, "The Ethics of Belief," Philosophic Exchange 2 [1971]: 81-93, at 90)

Note from KBJ: Blanshard died too soon. Science today is an unholy alliance between big business and big government. Individual scientists are caught up in a system in which, to survive, much less flourish, they must toe the progressive line. Hence "global warming," the biggest hoax in the history of science. Don't hold your breath waiting for science to become depoliticized. It's tainted, probably forever. The best we can hope for is to defund any scientific research programs that are politicized. Why should hard-working, tax-paying citizens be coerced into funding research that is designed to control them?

Here.

Here.

To the Editor:

Re “How iPhones Ruin Your Posture and Your Mood,” by Amy Cuddy (Sunday Review, Dec. 13):

Not only does drooping your head over an iPhone ruin your posture and your mood, as Ms. Cuddy points out, but it also has a detrimental effect on your co-workers, who are forced to watch a fellow worker at play, browsing the Internet, reading email or playing games. Hard-working employees who follow the rules no doubt will become demoralized.

When a supervisor notices a cellphone abuser, unless that employee is on break time, he should be called out on his offense.

DAVID TULANIAN

Los Angeles

Here.

Here.

I got my acoustic guitar a year ago today. (Thank you, Dear Katherine.) Since then, I have learned how to play (and sing) the following songs:

• "The House of the Rising Sun," by the Animals (1966)
• "Wild Thing," by the Troggs (1966)
• "Over the Hills and Far Away" (parts), by Led Zeppelin (1973)
• "Melissa," by the Allman Brothers Band (1972)
• "The Star-Spangled Banner"
• "Oh, Pretty Woman," by Roy Orbison (1964)
• "A Horse with No Name," by America (1972)
• "No Reply," by the Beatles (1964)
• "Don't Walk Away," by Zebra (1983)
• "Venus," by Shocking Blue (1969)
• "Nowhere's Too Far (For My Baby)," by Peter Frampton (1975)
• "Timothy," by the Buoys (1971)
• "Hello It's Me," by Todd Rundgren (1972)
• "Heart of Gold," by Neil Young (Featuring Stray Gators) (1972)
• "Old Man," by Neil Young (Featuring Stray Gators) (1972)
• "You're My Best Friend," by Queen (1975)
• "Radar Love," by Golden Earring (1973)
• "Beautiful Loser," by Bob Seger (1975)
• "Space Oddity," by David Bowie (1969)
• "Wish You Were Here," by Pink Floyd (1975)
• "Show Me the Way," by Peter Frampton (1976)
• "Home on the Range," by Michael Martin Murphey (1990)
• "For What It's Worth," by Buffalo Springfield (1967)
• "Who'll Stop the Rain," by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1970)
• "I'm Not in Love," by 10cc (1975)

Philosophy cultivates my mind. Cycling exercises my body. Music engages my spirit.

Addendum: If you want my transcription of any of these songs, send me an e-mail message.