THE LAST REBELS: 25 THINGS WE DID AS KIDS THAT WOULD GET SOMEONE ARRESTED TODAY: “Come on, be honest. Tell us what crazy stuff you did as a child.”
Archive for 2015
June 22, 2015
TOURISM IN CUBA. Graham Flanagan went to Cuba as a tourist and produced a short video for Business Insider about the four problems Americans will face when they go down there. There’s no Internet, the tap water isn’t safe to drink, few people speak English, and credit cards aren’t accepted anywhere, not even at banks.
He still had a great time, but I found the place soul-crushing. Unlike him, I went to Cuba as a journalist and was duty-bound to leave the tourist bubble and see what Castro’s socialist paradise is really like.
If you want to go down there and have fun like he did, knock yourself out. If you want an educational experience, however, you’ll need to wander out of that bubble. Just be prepared. It isn’t pretty.
THE CREEPY CONSEQUENCES OF OPPRESSION CHIC: “Why was America so shocked by homegirl hoaxer Rachel Dolezal?,” Michelle Malkin asks, when “College campuses have been grooming a cadre of professional minority fakers and fraudsters for decades.”
HOW FAINTING COUCH FEMINISM THREATENS FREEDOM: New video from Christina Hoff Sommers of the American Enterprise Institute, who notes, “I recently encountered fainting couchers at Oberlin College and Georgetown University. I visited both campuses to give talks on the need to reform feminism and correct exaggerated victim statistics. In the past, activist students who disagreed with me came to my lectures to spar and debate. Today, they issue trigger warnings and accuse me of giving them PTSD. At both Oberlin and Georgetown, activists organized safe spaces were where students could flee if they were panicked by my arguments. While I spoke at Oberlin, 35 students and a therapy dog sought refuge in a safe room. (I feel badly that I triggered a dog.)”
Heh. ™
RELATED: Seven Liberal Pieties That Only the Right Still Believes, from Robert Tracinski at the Federalist.
“IT WAS ALL DARK AND EMPTY IN THERE. AND THERE WERE LITTLE MICE IN THE CORNERS AND SPIDERS HAD SPUN THIS WEB…” That’s what Chevy Chase as Mr. Spock reported back after he attempted a Vulcan mindmeld with an NBC executive in Michael O’Donoghue’s classic “Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise” parody from the first season of Saturday Night Live. Similarly, Michael Oren goes “Inside Obama’s Head,” which does not make the left happy, Jonathan S. Tobin writes at Commentary:
What did Oren say? He had the chutzpah to speculate as to what had driven the clear animus against Israel that Oren observed in an up close and personal fashion during his four years as his government’s envoy in Washington. As he did in his book, Oren said he devoted a great deal of thought to trying to figure out what was at the roots of the president’s insatiable and generally unrequited (with the exception of Iran’s regime in the nuclear talks) desire for outreach to the Muslim world that was exemplified in his 2009 Cairo address and his clear belief that America should distance itself from Israel. His primary answer was that Obama was the product of the elite academic institutions where he studied, such as Columbia University where radical Palestinian intellectual Edward Said shaped attitudes toward Islam and Israel. He also noted that the president’s personal experiences had made him more predisposed to view Islam as fundamentally unthreatening and to be uncomfortable with confronting the religious roots of Islamist terrorism even to the point of refusing to label the attacks in Paris this past January as being anti-Semitic.
In addition to its academic and international affairs origins, Obama’s attitudes toward Islam clearly stem from his personal interactions with Muslims. These were described in depth in his candid memoir, Dreams from My Father, published 13 years before his election as president. Obama wrote passionately of the Kenyan villages where, after many years of dislocation, he felt most at home and of his childhood experiences in Indonesia. I could imagine how a child raised by a Christian mother might see himself as a natural bridge between her two Muslim husbands. I could also speculate how that child’s abandonment by those men could lead him, many years later, to seek acceptance by their co-religionists.
Merely referencing Obama’s family and his connections to Muslims (or even his middle name Hussein) is considered evidence of prejudice by many of the president’s supporters. But it was particularly egregious of Foxman to claim these words showed Oren was engaging in “conspiracy theories.” But Oren wasn’t claiming the president was a Muslim rather than a Christian or an agent of Islam, as some rabid Obama-haters claim. As a historian, he was merely exploring the president’s own autobiography to see what in his background helped formed a mindset that led him to see an Islamist regime like Iran as a worthy focus of American engagement.
As Tobin writes, “for the sin of pointing out the president’s clear decision to distance the U.S. from Israel and to unsuccessfully embrace the Muslim world and trying to find a reason for this decision, Oren’s must be not merely be criticized by the left, the historian-turned-diplomat-turned-Knesset member must be destroyed.”
STUDYING THE BEST OF 1950s INDUSTRIAL DESIGN OR SIMPLY HAVING FUN? YES! James Lileks visits a Minneapolis custom car show and brings back video, while I have still photos at the PJ Lifestyle blog of numerous rare Les Pauls at last month’s 38th Annual Dallas International Guitar Show, including a rare 1958 Les Paul “‘Burst” that I briefly played.
If you listen carefully, you can still hear the sustain…
OUR ONLY REAL FRIENDS OVER THERE: Syria’s Kurds are advancing deeper into ISIS-held territory.
MD. GOV. HOGAN ANNOUNCES HE HAS ‘ADVANCED’ CANCER:
The 59-year-old Republican, who was sworn into office in January after winning an upset victory over then-Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D), described the diagnosis as a hurdle he was determined to surmount.
“I’m going to face this challenge with the same energy and determination that I’ve relied on to climb every hill and to overcome every obstacle that I’ve faced in my life,” he said, with his wife, Yumi, standing by his side.
The survival rate for non-Hodgkins lymphoma is relatively high. Physician Kevin Cullen, director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, said about 70 percent of patients with the disease are still alive after five years.
Prayers and support for Hogan “pour in” on Twitter, Twitchy adds.
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST: “The Democrats may be left without a center-left candidate who can win the general. So here’s a prediction. At some point, Joe Biden is going to get into this race and, despite all his well-known fumbling, will be the most formidable candidate they have.”
RELATED: “Bipolar NYT: Paper breaks stories on Hillary scandals but editorial board still supports her.” C’mon Joe, give Pinch & Co. another option!
YES, REALLY. Iranian-backed Shia militias are sharing a base with American soldiers in Iraq.
NBC’S DATELINE INADVERTENTLY MAKES THE CASE THAT THE POLICE ARE THE BEST METHOD TO ADJUDICATE A SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE, Ashe Schow writes at the Washington Examiner. Note which politician NBC chose to appear in the segment:
“Dateline” turned to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to drive home the point about campus sexual assault as an alleged epidemic.
“Schools are obligated to get this right,” Gillibrand said. “We’re talking about rape. We’re talking about a felony offense, a dangerous crime – and dangerous criminals on these campuses.”
But if rape is a felony offense, why are colleges being required to adjudicate it when the worst punishment they could impose is expulsion? Gillibrand said last week at an event in Washington, D.C., that the reason schools can use lower standards to prove sexual assault is because kids aren’t being thrown in jail.
Gillibrand can’t have it both ways. She can’t say on one hand that sexual assault is a serious offense and on the other hand imply that expulsion isn’t that bad of a punishment.
In each of the above examples, Emerson College handled the sexual assault accusations to the best of their abilities given the limited resources they have for investigating crimes. They can’t subpoena evidence and they can’t investigate information they’re not provided.
If anything, the “Dateline” episode should be an educational opportunity for students making accusations to learn how to provide evidence and witnesses for their hearings. Beyond that, the episode clearly shows us that colleges and universities should not be playing investigator, judge, jury and executioner in the first place.
Read the whole thing.
BEN, I JUST WANT TO SAY ONE WORD TO YOU. JUST ONE WORD: Parbunkells.
NO MORE MIRACLES, LOAVES AND FISHES, BEEN SO BUSY WITH THE WASHING OF THE DISHES: “Latest victim of global warming: loaves of bread will be smaller in future, warn scientists.”
Global warming: is there nothing it can’t do! But isn’t this potentially a good thing, since some scientists recommend reducing our wheat portions for better health, as Dr. Helen noted on Friday?
TV NETWORKS IGNORE REVELATION OF JONATHAN GRUBER’S CLOSE TIES TO WHITE HOUSE:
All three network morning shows on Monday ignored the revelation that Jonathan Gruber, an ObamaCare architect who called Americans “stupid,” had closer ties than the administration previously let on. According to the Wall Street Journal, there were 20,000 pages of e-mails. Writer Stephanie Armour explained, “The emails show frequent consultations between Mr. Gruber and top Obama administration staffers and advisers in the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services on the Affordable Care Act.”
Too bad – ignoring the issue causes some of us to remember how loudly virtually all of old media were cheerleaders for Obamacare in 2009.
RELATED: And of course, “WH continues to deny Jonathan Gruber was very involved in O-care.”
CALIFORNIA: RUNNING ON EMPTY, writes Victor Davis Hanson:
Domestic and agricultural wells are going dry all over Central California, especially in the corridors south of Fresno to the Grapevine, along the Sierra Nevada foothills, and out west of the 99 Freeway — anywhere there is not a deep aquifer. I have never seen anything quite like this water madness in 60 years, as families scrimp and borrow to drill, or simply move to town to take advantage of municipal wells. I have developed a habit as I drive to work to Stanford of counting the abandoned homes I see west of Highway 41 (sort of like counting those who sit in Wal-Mart not to shop, but to enjoy the air conditioning they cannot afford). The number increases each week. Retired couples — or families in general — apparently do not have tens of thousands of dollars to drill a deeper well, especially given the uncertainty of how fast the dropping water table will soon make their investment superfluous. Without water, there is nothing.
Read the whole thing. As I was prepping VDH’s article to run last night at PJM and looking for suitable accompanying illustrations, I came across this photo and caption on the AP wire:
Sacramento: going into its fifth decade of putting fish over humans.
NONJUDGMENTALISM IN ACTION: “Miley Cyrus Claims She’s ‘Least Judgmental Person Ever,’ Calls Christians ‘Insane Motherf–kers.’”
“Oh, Miley. Thanks for giving us the best example of what ‘tolerance’ looks like in Hollywood: it looks a lot like contempt,” Bristol Palin responds at Patheos.
Ayn Rand was pointing out the hypocrisy of those who profess to be “nonjudgmental” as far back as the chapters written in 1962 for her book The Virtue of Selfishness, and the cult of “nonjudgmentalism” has only been accelerating in the years since. Today, how much do you want to bet that the majority of the “Fire the CEO!”, “Has Justine Landed?” and “Destroy the Pizza Parlor!!!” leftwing crowd will casually claim that nonjudgmentalism is their personal credo, even as they remain increasingly on hair-trigger alert for new ways to be offended, followed by new targets to destroy?
ICYMI: Another Student Stopped From Handing Out Constitutions (VIDEO):
Anthony Vizzone just wanted to hand out copies of the Constitution and recruit students for his student organization—the University of Hawaii at Hilo Young Americans for Liberty (YAL). But when he crossed the “imaginary boundaries” of his university’s free speech zone, administrators were there to stop him.
You can see the whole video at FIRE’s website.
JOHN FUND: IS DONALD TRUMP A DOUBLE AGENT FOR THE LEFT?
NIKKI HALEY IS ABOUT TO CALL FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG from the South Carolina capitol grounds, sources say. Watch the live feed here.
UPDATE: The speech has concluded. Haley gave recognition to the different “viewpoints” of the meaning of the flag, but, she said, “It’s time to move the flag from the capitol grounds.” That brought huge applause. She said — this is my transcription, done live — “Some people will see this as a sad moment… but this flag, while an integral part of our past, does not belong in our future…. By removing a symbol that divides us, we can move forward in harmony,” honoring the “9 souls… who are in Heaven.” Haley stressed that this was a decision for South Carolina to make and that many people outside of the state have been distorting the meaning of the flag. It doesn’t mean hate, she assures us, but it has caused “pain to so many,” and that is the reason for banishing it from the state house grounds.
This is not a “ban” of the flag, as I’ve heard some people say. Individuals remain free to to display the flag themselves, a freedom Haley mentioned in her speech. This is the speech of the government’s, for the people as a whole, as it decides what to display on the grounds, and government gets to choose how it will speak. Governor Haley is taking the best position, I think, and I know I’m saying that as an outsider to South Carolina.
MARK RIPPETOE: Are Focus and Discipline the Healthiest Side-Effects of Strength Training?
And just a reminder, you can train personally with Mark in December at the Bullets & Bourbon event in Texas, where he’ll be appearing along with Glenn Reynolds, Dana Loesch, Ed Morrissey, Roger L. Simon, Stephen Green, Kevin D. Williamson and others:
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MORE ON THE BIG 8-1 WIN FOR PROPERTY RIGHTS AT THE SUPREME COURT TODAY:
The Court ruled in favor of the property owners by an 8-1 margin on the most significant issue at stake: whether the government’s appropriation of the raisins is a taking. Only Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
This is an extremely important result, because it rejects the government’s dangerous argument that the Takings Clause offers less protection for personal property than for real property (the legal term for property in land), which had been embraced by the Ninth Circuit lower court decision.
Ilya Somin says more here about the ruling and why it is so important. And kudos to Stanford law professor Michael McConnell, who argued this case.
WHAT’S THE POINT OF GUEST BLOGGING if you can’t indulge in gratuitous personal posts? Happy 29th anniversary to my wonderful husband (and devoted Instapundit reader) Steven Postrel. You’re the best.
LEARN LIBERTY IN DC THIS SUMMER: I will be speaking at Cato University this summer in DC from July 26th-31st. My topics are:
- Why the Declaration of Independence Was Right
- The Modesty of Libertarianism
- Our Republican Constitution
Other speakers include:
- Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) will be delivering the dinner address on Wednesday, July 29 on Capitol Hill.
- John Tierney, The New York Times
- Amity Shlaes, Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation
- Jeffrey Miron, Harvard University
- Robert McDonald, United States Military Academy
- Tom G. Palmer, Cato Institute
AVOID THE TUITION HIKE! This is your last chance to register for Cato University for only $995. This price covers all meals, receptions, lectures, materials, books, and evening events. This price will increase on June 26, so register today!