IN THE MAIL: From Shawn T. Smith, The Woman’s Guide to How Men Think: Love, Commitment, and the Male Mind. There is a book blurb from the Insta-Wife at the link.
Archive for 2014
February 21, 2014
BYRON YORK: New Obama initiative tramples First Amendment protections. “The initiative, known around the agency as ‘the CIN Study’ (pronounced ‘sin’), is a bit of a mystery even to insiders. ‘This has never been put to an FCC vote, it was just announced.'”
TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 288.
FROM FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, a piece on my new book. Read it, and then buy a copy!
A SYSTEM WHERE WHAT’S RATIONAL FOR THE INDIVIDUAL IS BAD FOR SOCIETY IS A DYSFUNCTIONAL SYSTEM:
The other day, after one of my talks, a 10th-grade girl came up and shyly asked if I had a minute. I always have a minute to talk to shy high school sophomores, having been one myself.
And this is what she asked me:
“I understand what you’re saying about trying new things, and hard things, but I’m in an International Baccalaureate program and only about five percent of us will get 4.0, so how can I try a subject where I might not get an A?”
I was floored. All I could think as I talked to this poor girl is “America, you’re doing it wrong.”
I was 15 in 10th grade. If you can’t try something new in 10th grade, when can you? If you can’t afford to risk anything less than perfection at the age of 15, then for heaven’s sake, when is going to be the right time? When you’re ready to splash out on an edgy assisted-living facility?
Now is when this kid should be learning to dream big dreams and dare greatly. Now is when she should be making mistakes and figuring out how to recover from them. Instead, we’re telling one of our best and brightest to focus all her talent on coloring within the lines. This is not the first time I’ve heard this from kids and teachers and parents. But I’ve never heard it phrased quite so starkly.
Our educational system, like our political system, is structured to reward behavior that is bad for society at large. You get more of what you reward. Incentives, even perverse incentives, matter.
WONDER WHY MEN ARE ABANDONING COLLEGE? Cathy Young notes how sex rules that were mocked in the 1990s have now gone national.
VENEZUELA: SHOOTING IN THE STREETS.
ED DRISCOLL: Kirsten Powers Meets Krauthammer’s Law.
UPDATE: Okay, all these posts that say Helen Smith are really by me, not her. I didn’t realize she was logged in to her PJ account. I’ve scheduled a bunch more, too, and they’re too hard to change. Stupid single-sign-on.
MORE: The post signatures have been corrected, including this one.
PEGGY NOONAN: OUR DECADENT ELITES:
Watching Season 2 of “House of Cards.” Not to be a scold or humorless, but do Washington politicians understand how they make themselves look when they embrace the show and become part of its promotion by spouting its famous lines? Congressmen only work three days a week. Each shot must have taken two hours or so—the setup, the crew, the rehearsal, the learning the line. How do they have time for that? Why do they think it’s good for them?
“House of Cards” very famously does nothing to enhance Washington’s reputation. It reinforces the idea that the capital has no room for clean people. The earnest, the diligent, the idealistic, they have no place there. Why would powerful members of Congress align themselves with this message? Why do they become part of it? I guess they think they’re showing they’re in on the joke and hip to the culture. I guess they think they’re impressing people with their surprising groovelocity.
Or maybe they’re just stupid.
But it’s all vaguely decadent, no? Or maybe not vaguely. America sees Washington as the capital of vacant, empty souls, chattering among the pillars. Suggesting this perception is valid is helpful in what way?
I don’t understand why members of Congress, the White House and the media become cooperators in videos that sort of show that deep down they all see themselves as . . . actors. And good ones! In a phony drama. Meant I suppose to fool the rubes.
Or something.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Conservatives Dislike Wendy Davis.
BECAUSE NINETIES NOSTALGIA IS IN, AND THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE REMEMBER FROM THE NINETIES: Why does Miley Cyrus, in her current show, “stuff a thong in her mouth and simulate oral sex on a Bill Clinton impersonator”?
HIGHER EDUCATION: Abusing The Language Of Dignity.
FOR LAW STUDENTS, A HOPEFUL NOTE FROM DAVID LAT: Are Summer Associate And Entry-Level Hiring Picking Up?
February 20, 2014
NO. NEXT QUESTION? Does Marriage Mean A Lifetime Of Bad Sex?
UPDATE: Despite the often-negative tone in the comments, I’ve noted how many of my long-married friends have commented on how the sex has gotten better over time. I think that’s not so uncommon in people who are reasonably happily married, and I think it’s too bad society sends negative signals.
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Are Two Actual People Still Required for a Relationship?
The next logical step, of course, is robot romance. Scientists have already created robots that can wash your hair, serve you tea, vacuum your house, mow your lawn, and even interact with you socially. With each successive generation these robots become more and more human in appearance and behavior. And they’re already pretty darn real. In fact, studies have shown that troubled children often respond more readily to therapeutic contact with a robot than a human caregiver. These well-programmed therapy robots are able improve almost any child’s mood, and they can nearly always get antisocial children to interact more willingly with other children and also with adults. Plus, these robots don’t get annoyed, impatient, or disappointed when children are challenging, unresponsive, or just plain difficult, so what’s not to love? And if children can have healthy emotional responses to non-organic beings, why can’t adults?
How much longer will it be before Rosie, the walking, talking, emoting robot maid from The Jetsons is real? And what will happen when Rosie’s manufacturer decides she’ll sell better if she looks like a supermodel and has realistic sex-toy genitalia? Will we suddenly prefer sexual activity with robots to real people? And if these ultra-sexy robots can be programmed to behave as if they adore their owner, as Samantha does in “Her,” it’s pretty easy to visualize humans bonding with these “beings” every bit as fully and intimately as they might with a real person.
Nobody tell notorious robophobe Matthew Yglesias.
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Why I Wasn’t Ready for a Modern Marriage.
REVIEW: Audi S7 Quattro. I like it, but I’d like to drive the RS7.
AT AMAZON, Deals on Videogames.
WISCONSIN SCANDALS THE PRESS NEVER CARED ABOUT:
By the way, 3 years ago today, in the Wisconsin protests, which included teachers who were calling in sick to absent themselves from the classroom, doctors stood on a street corner under a sign that read “I’m a doctor/Need a note?” They were real doctors, putting their names on notes that the protesters could use to excuse their absence from work.
When lefty politicians or groups break the law, the press’s attitude is “politics ain’t beanbag.” But that forbearance doesn’t extend to Republicans. The reason for this is that the press is largely made up of Democratic operatives with bylines. Plus, from the comments:
Ho-hum another anti-GOP hack job from the WAPO. How ordinary.
Meanwhile, no curiosity about the IRS and Obamas ongoing violations of the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments of the Constitution, as well as usurping the legislature.
It’s interesting to watch the press try to do oppo-research and battlespace-prep on every GOP figure who gets mentioned. These are the same people who told us that looking into Obama’s background — or lack of actual accomplishments — was racist, and that looking into Hillary’s background — or lack of actual accomplishments — is sexist.
OUCH: Video: “I thought the Affordable Care Act would save $2500 per family?” “Senator Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Tim Walz came back to Mankato, MN yesterday to meet and greet constituents at South Central College, along with Rep. Collin Peterson. The three Democrats addressed an agricultural symposium, where Peterson talked at length about the farm bill. But KEYC’s Ryan Gustafson captured a priceless moment when one attendee wanted to know why Democrats promised that ObamaCare would save families $2500 a year in premiums.”
Related: Video: ObamaCare enrollee can’t get doctor to see her.
DON’T BE A TANK DRIVER, just look like one. Well, possibly.
GOOD: DHS Suffers Moment Of Clarity, Shuts Down Plans To Build A Nationwide License Plate Database. “This may have been put on the back burner by the agency but it’s not simply going to go away. It will return, either via a super-secret bidding system that turns the job over to favored government contractors, or further down the road, when the heat surrounding surveillance of US citizens dies down.”