THE 101 FUNNIEST SCREENPLAYS OF ALL TIME: Michael Walsh asks, “Is Dr. Strangelove (No. 7) really ‘funny’?”

Well, I find it hysterically funny; it’s also one of the tightest screenplays ever written, and the brilliant performances all around help as well. It’s not a coincidence that Strangelove, Airplane! and Robert Altman and Ring Lardner Jr.’s M*A*S*H all have grimly serious subtexts underpinning their comedy.

WATCH ANTHONY BOURDAIN EXPERIENCE WAFFLE HOUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME: “This is better than The French Laundry.”

YOU NEVER GO FULL MAOIST: Amherst student group demands ‘zero-tolerance policy for racial insensitivity and hate speech.’

THINKING CHROMOSOMES INDICATE BIOLOGICAL SEX DECLARED ‘INACCURATE’ AND ‘CISSEXIST.’

So that’s how the kids are spelling Lysenkoism these days.

STEPHEN GREEN: Is It Really Time For The GOP To Panic?

THIS IS COOL, THOUGH THE SURVEILLANCE IMPLICATIONS ARE TROUBLING: Track Your Heart with Your Phone, Even If Your Phone’s in Your Bag. “A smartphone may be able to measure your heart and breathing rates, even if you’re not directly touching it, researchers say.”

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PAYS PROFESSOR a six-figure settlement for free-speech violation. His opinions, in my opinion, are execrable, but you don’t fire people for that. This case was a little different because they didn’t exactly fire him, but rescinded an outstanding job offer. That turned out not to make a difference. And this is KC Johnson’s take, to which I linked earlier, which seems about right.

UPDATE: Much more from Jonathan Adler.

IT’S PRETTY: This Sleek Startup Airplane Is the Cobalt Co50 Valkyrie.

FLASHBACK: On campus political correctness, Obama gets it right. Quoth Obama: “It’s not just sometimes folks who are mad that colleges are too liberal that have a problem. Sometimes there are folks on college campuses who are liberal, and maybe even agree with me on a bunch of issues, who sometimes aren’t listening to the other side, and that’s a problem too. I’ve heard some college campuses where they don’t want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative or they don’t want to read a book if it has language that is offensive to African-Americans or somehow sends a demeaning signal towards women. I gotta tell you, I don’t agree with that either. I don’t agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. I think you should be able to — anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should have an argument with ‘em. But you shouldn’t silence them by saying, ‘You can’t come because I’m too sensitive to hear what you have to say.’ That’s not the way we learn either.”

UPDATE: Related:

HMM: Black students interrupt Univ. of Kansas Town Hall in wake of Missouri protest.

WAIT, ISN’T THAT WHAT WE HAVE NOW? Imagine trial by Facebook comment, and you get an idea of how direct democracy might work.

A STUDENT NEWSPAPER, THE CLAREMONT INDEPENDENT, STANDS UP: We Dissent:

The student protests that have swept through Claremont McKenna College (CMC) over the past few days—and the ensuing fallout—have made us disappointed in many of those involved.

First, former Dean Mary Spellman. We are sorry that your career had to end this way, as the email in contention was a clear case of good intentions being overlooked because of poor phrasing. However, we are disappointed in you as well. We are disappointed that you allowed a group of angry students to bully you into resignation. We are disappointed that you taught Claremont students that reacting with emotion and anger will force the administration to act. We are disappointed that when two students chose to go on a hunger strike until you resigned, you didn’t simply say, “so what?” If they want to starve themselves, that’s fine—you don’t owe them your job. We are disappointed that you and President Chodosh put up with students yelling and swearing at you for an hour. You could have made this a productive dialogue, but instead you humored the students and allowed them to get caught up in the furor.

Above all, we are disappointed that you and President Chodosh weren’t brave enough to come to the defense of a student who was told she was “derailing” because her opinions regarding racism didn’t align with those of the mob around her. Nor were you brave enough to point out that these protesters were perfectly happy to use this student to further their own agenda, but turned on her as soon as they realized she wasn’t supporting their narrative. These protesters were asking you to protect your students, but you didn’t even defend the one who needed to be protected right in front of you.

Second, President Chodosh. We were disappointed to see you idly stand by and watch students berate, curse at, and attack Dean Spellman for being a “racist.” For someone who preaches about “leadership” and “personal and social responsibility,” your actions are particularly disappointing. You let your colleague, someone who has been helping your administration for the past three years and the college for six years, be publicly mocked and humiliated. Why? Because you were afraid. . . .

We are adults, and we need to be mature enough to take ownership of and responsibility for our feelings, rather than demanding that those around us cater to our individual needs. The hypocrisy of advocating for “safe spaces” while creating an incredibly unsafe space for President Chodosh, former Dean Spellman, the student who was “derailing,” and the news media representatives who were verbally abused unfortunately seemed to soar over many of your heads.

Lastly, we are disappointed in students like ourselves, who were scared into silence. We are not racist for having different opinions. We are not immoral because we don’t buy the flawed rhetoric of a spiteful movement. We are not evil because we don’t want this movement to tear across our campuses completely unchecked.

We are no longer afraid to be voices of dissent.

Good. And read the whole thing, which is just terrific.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 918.

A CAMPUS CLIMATE OF FEAR: Univ. of Missouri student: ‘Several of us are afraid to disagree with other students.’

An innocent man lost his job. Racial tensions are at an all time high. Faculty members refuse to acknowledge students’ First Amendment rights. Campus authorities are policing speech.

This is my reality as a student at the University of Missouri.

I believe in liberty for all people, but the current climate on campus runs counter to that. Some friends tell me they are afraid to voice their opinions lest they come under fire from the administration or peers – or the police.

The University of Missouri police department sent an email urging students to report offensive or hurtful speech – not because it is illegal – but so the Office of Student Conduct could take disciplinary action against these students.

Several of us are afraid to disagree with other students, who in turn may report us to the authorities so we can be “dealt with.” Many students have told me they are also afraid to speak out against the protest narrative, afraid they will be called “racist” and become campus pariahs.

What’s lost is honest dialogue.

Well, believe me, that’s the last thing the protesters are looking for. They want submission.

THAT’S FUNNY, I THOUGHT THEY WERE A TAX-EXEMPT NONPARTISAN ORGANIZATION: Dartmouth Plays Favorites In The Presidential Race.

PUNCHING BACK TWICE AS HARD: Student journalist to seek assault charges against Missouri professor. This is exactly right.

FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED: Obama Legacy in State Offices: A Shrinking Democratic Share. “While Mr. Obama’s 2008 election helped usher in a political resurgence for Democrats, the president today presides over a shrinking party whose control of elected offices at the state and local levels has declined precipitously. In January, Republicans will occupy 32 of the nation’s governorships, 10 more than they did in 2009. Democratic losses in state legislatures under Mr. Obama rank among the worst in the last 115 years, with 816 Democratic lawmakers losing their jobs and Republican control of legislatures doubling since the president took office — more seats lost than under any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.”

If the GOP is thinking of passing constitutional amendments, things are looking propitious. Plus: “The average age of the three top Democratic leaders in the House is 75, while the three most senior Republican leaders — with the new speaker of the House, Paul D. Ryan — average 48 years old. . . .In the Democratic presidential race, Hillary Rodham Clinton is 68; Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, is 74; and the biggest intrigue had been whether Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who turns 73 next week, would join them.” Martin O’Malley is 52, but he barely counts.

Related: DeBlasio’s Progressive Advocacy Group Gets Tepid Response. “Addressing members from around the country, Mr. de Blasio spoke of preparing for a sustained war on inequality — the very topic of the Dec. 6 forum, which organizers believed would be a harbinger of the group’s intent to play on the national stage. Those plans collapsed this week. The de Blasio-backed group canceled its event, explaining in a statement that it would redirect its energies into other methods of tackling inequality. On Wednesday, Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, acknowledged a more humbling reality: Not a single presidential candidate had agreed to attend.”

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WHY BUSINESSES LEAVE CALIFORNIA: “‘Beyond the gilded strip of land between San Francisco and San Jose is another California, an inhospitable place plagued by over-regulation, mindless bureaucracy, high taxes and endless lawsuits,’ in addition to the nation’s highest income-tax rate and highest minimum wage.”

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD. Sister Souljah Says Hillary Clinton Reminds Her of “the Slave Plantation White Wife.”

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA REJECTS 9/11 REMEMBRANCE BECAUSE IT MIGHT INCITE RACISM. Plus perhaps the haunting fear that the kids might find parallels between al-Qaeda’s successor and the university administrators, or so I’m told by the intellectual titans at Ms. Magazine.

Related: Neo-Neocon wonders why the Mizzou poop swastika (now there’s three words I never thought I’d be typing in a row) is blamed for targeting black students. “Wouldn’t the natural target be Jews? I’m assuming there are some Jews at Mizzou who might be ripe for some persecuting:”

Thalia Sass, president of the Jewish Student Organization, was more emotional about the entire incident:

“I still think that when something like this happens, Jewish students feel threatened,” Sass said. “I was actually really mad about this because I heard about it from a Maneater* [student newspaper] reporter. It happened on the 24th, and we’re only talking about it now? Why wasn’t JSO contacted earlier by Residential Life?”

The group plans on speaking to the residents of Gateway Hall during a mandatory residential meeting on Monday evening. They said they plan on talking about the history of the swastika and how it relates to Jewish people and the Holocaust.

Let us pause here and say: college students don’t already know this history? I realize that’s a rhetorical question, because at this point it’s actually very possible that many college students don’t know this history.

Oh, it’s definitely possible:

ASHE SCHOW: No, feminists, college campuses are not like ISIS.

Ms. Magazine, a feminist media outlet, posted an article (archived here so you don’t have to give them traffic) by Global Rights for Women attorney Amy Lauricella on Tuesday titled “Institutionalized Rape; It’s Not just an ISIS Problem.” The article claimed that, just as the Islamic State endorses rape, “college administrations similarly facilitate and perpetuate the rape of women on campuses.” . . .

What activists have wanted is the “listen and believe” strategy, where accusations are all that matter; facts and context are irrelevant. And the federal government gave in to their demands.

The most troubling aspect of this, and indeed of Lauricella’s article, is the obvious disconnect between what is happening in the U.S. and overseas with the Islamic State.

Would Lauricella ever suggest that her daughter or her female friends go to an Islamic State-controlled region? Most certainly not, but it is absurd to believe she would tell other women not to go to college in America.

Indeed. Plus: “Comparing things to the Islamic State seems to have replaced Hitler comparisons from the Left. And it is exactly this kind of ridiculous rhetoric that keeps people from taking the alleged problem seriously (well, that and the false accusations).”

THE SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Bill Kristol begins his look at the American university system’s unraveling this week with a pair of quotes:

“To give oneself the law is the highest freedom. The much-lauded ‘academic freedom’ will be expelled from the German university; for this freedom was not genuine because it was only negative. It primarily meant lack of concern, arbitrariness of intentions and inclinations, lack of restraint in what was done and left undone. The concept of the freedom of the German student is now brought back to its truth. Henceforth, the bond and service of German students will unfold from this truth.”

Martin Heidegger 
“The Self-Assertion of the German University,” May 27, 1933

“If I am right in believing that Heidegger’s teachings are the most powerful intellectual force in our times, then the crisis of the German university, which everyone saw, is the crisis of the university everywhere.” *

Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind

As Kristol writes, “Let’s be clear about what is happening at Yale and Missouri, and at colleges and universities all across the nation: Freedom is under assault.” Read the whole thing.

* Curious isn’t it, that even as it defeated National Socialism, post-war America became an intellectual outpost of its predecessor, the Weimar Republic?