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Archive for 2013
December 17, 2013
MY USA TODAY COLUMN: Will China Claim The Moon? Or at least, part of it?
TAM: This Country Is Nuts: “You couldn’t make up irony like this: The same week they planted Nelson Mandela, you can go to your very own Apartheid Santa in Los Angeles!”
AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION BOYCOTTS ISRAEL, issues talking points to members. The response should be withdrawal of funding to attend ASA events. Let legislators and Trustees know.
JAMES TARANTO: Are Boys Irrational? Not if you distinguish biology from economics.
In contemporary America, then, girls and young women act in ways that meet with the approval of Hymowitz and her economists, because doing so accords with both economic self-interest and biological instinct. That was once true of boys and young men. It no longer is, because of the same social changes–feminism and sexual liberationism–that transformed the incentives for women.
Hymowitz laments that young males are insufficiently interested in “becoming reliable husbands and fathers.” Imagine somebody opening a piece with the converse lament that young females are insufficiently interested in “becoming reliable wives and mothers.” The author would be attacked as a misogynist and a dinosaur. Why, critics would demand, should women set their sights so low?
Well, why should men? Except perhaps in very conservative communities, men with sufficient social skills can find sex and companionship without need of a matrimonial commitment (and for those who lack social skills, a willingness to marry is unlikely to provide much compensation). The culture’s unrelenting message–repeated in Hymowitz’s article–is that women are doing fine on their own. If a woman doesn’t need a man, there’s little reason for him to devote his life to her service. Further, in the age of no-fault divorce, “reliable husbands and fathers” not infrequently find themselves impoverished by child support and restricted by court order from spending time with their children.
As for education, the story of Joshua Strange ought to be enough to give any sensible young man second thoughts about enrolling in college.
You know, someone should write a book about this phenomenon!
NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY: Why Women Think The Workplace Is Unfair. “No matter how well women are doing relative to men, it doesn’t matter. They’re still the victims of discrimination — or so they think.”
CAMILLE PAGLIA: The modern economy is a male epic, in which women have found a productive role—but women were not its author. “Is it any wonder that so many high-achieving young women, despite all the happy talk about their academic success, find themselves in the early stages of their careers in chronic uncertainty or anxiety about their prospects for an emotionally fulfilled private life? When an educated culture routinely denigrates masculinity and manhood, then women will be perpetually stuck with boys, who have no incentive to mature or to honor their commitments. And without strong men as models to either embrace or (for dissident lesbians) to resist, women will never attain a centered and profound sense of themselves as women. . . . What is troubling in too many books and articles by feminist journalists in the U.S. is, despite their putative leftism, an implicit privileging of bourgeois values and culture. The particular focused, clerical and managerial skills of the upper-middle-class elite are presented as the highest desideratum, the ultimate evolutionary point of humanity. Yes, there has been a gradual transition from an industrial to a service-sector economy in which women, who generally prefer a safe, clean, quiet work environment thrive.”
SEE, I DON’T THINK IT’S SO BAD WHEN CONGRESS IS “THE LEAST PRODUCTIVE.” I mean, given what they’ve been producing lately, less is definitely more.
WASHINGTON POST: Obama The Biggest Pinocchio Of The Year.
Fact checker Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post has named President Obama the biggest Pinocchio of the year, thanks to his repeated falsehood about keeping your health care plan if you like it.
Obama also got a mention for claiming that congressional janitors faced a pay cut thanks to sequestration, and for his claim that he called the Benghazi attacks an “act of terrorism” the day after they occurred.
Didn’t Pinocchio become a donkey? So that’s kind of fitting.
THE HILL: Tech Execs To Confront Obama Over Spying.
The meeting will include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.
Several Silicon Valley giants including Google, Facebook and Yahoo are lobbying Congress to restrict the NSA’s powers and make the agency more transparent. They warn that the surveillance is undermining trust in their services and hurting both their bottom lines and the U.S. economy.
A White House official said that in addition to discussing “the economic impacts of unauthorized intelligence disclosures,” the president will also discuss progress in HealthCare.gov, the troubled ObamaCare website. He will talk with the tech CEOs about how government can improve its technology services, the official said.
To coin a phrase, they’re the only people standing between him and the people with pitchforks. Maybe people should send some to the White House.
ANDREW MALCOLM: Finally, the media revolt against another empty Obama vow. “What makes the current festering feud between the press corps and Jay Carney of news interest is the now-familiar disparity between Obama’s over-blown promises and his chronically underwhelming delivery on those vows. Sentient Americans will remember Obama’s vow that his would be the most transparent presidential administration in history.”
Yeah, not so much. Expiration date hit.
THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR MITT ROMNEY, ACADEMIC FREEDOM WOULD COME TO AN END. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! Tenured Professor At CU Boulder Says She Is Being Forced Out Over Lecture On Prostitution. “Adler said that she was told by Steven Leigh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, that a former teaching assistant had raised a concern that some participants might be uncomfortable, but that none had in fact complained.”
Yes, God forbid that someone might feel “uncomfortable.”
HE’S TRYING TO FIND COMMON GROUND WITH THE CLINTONS: Biden shows us how NOT TO hold a female reporter while posing for a Christmas photo.
December 16, 2013
I HOPE NOT. WARMING IS BETTER THAN COOLING. Climate: Is A Big Chill On The Way?
AT AMAZON, up to 70% off on Running Clothing from Asics.
Also, up to 70% off on New Balance Athletic Clothing.
Plus, markdowns on select Kershaw knives.
And, 40% or more off on select SD and MicroSD Memory Cards. Make sure your camera’s ready.
SCHOOL SHOOTERS: Sons Of Divorce?
HAVE YOU NO DECENCY? NO DECENCY AT ALL? Democratic Group Apologizes After Sending Tracker To Funeral.
MY USA TODAY COLUMN: China And The Moon: Is A Territorial Claim Coming?
HMM: In response to reports that they’re talking about amnesty for Snowden, reader George Wilson emails: “I wonder if Snowden’s secret weapon is proof that the politicized NSA spied on the Romney campaign.” Well, that would be news.
SORRY, BUT WE SPENT THE COST OF A MAJOR PLANETARY MISSION ON A WEBSITE THAT STILL DOESN’T WORK: Bill Nye To Obama: Don’t Slash Space Science Funding. “In the end, the lion’s share of cuts to planetary exploration have come from the White House.” Hey, Bill, you didn’t actually believe that stuff about Obama being pro-science did you?
AT AMAZON, up to 35% off Leatherman Hand Tools. Great stocking stuffers. And just handy to have around.
Also, deals on Men’s Running Shoes. Also Women’s Running Shoes.
Plus, deals on Digital Cameras under $1000.
And, external hard drives under $100. You can never have too much backup.
“WHY IS POPE FRANCIS PROMOTING SIN?” “By dwelling on inequality, the pope is promoting envy. The Catholic Church, I had always understood, disapproves of envy, deeming it one of the seven deadly sins. . . . Jesus, when asked to remedy inequality, turned the focus back on envy and greed.”
Charity is good for the soul. Exercise is good for the body. Forced redistribution is not charity, and will do no more for your soul than making someone else lift weights at gunpoint will do for your biceps.
IT’S COME TO THIS: Buzzfeed: Meet The Hottest Vatican Priests.
TRASH TALK: Nikki Sixx blasts Kanye West: ‘What a f*cking loser.’
In a slightly-related note, here’s a clip of the Insta-Wife talking about Nikki Sixx’s childhood.