SORTA LIKE NONE OF THE BEATLES’ SOLO PROJECTS WERE AS GOOD AS THE BEATLES: James May’s Post–Top Gear Video Is Just Not the Same.
Archive for 2015
June 10, 2015
TRUE! College is not a commodity. Stop treating it like one. “A college education, then, if it is a commodity, is no car. The courses the student decides to take (and not take), the amount of work the student does, the intellectual curiosity the student exhibits, her participation in class, his focus and determination — all contribute far more to her educational ‘outcome’ than the college’s overall curriculum, much less its amenities and social life. Yet most public discussion of higher ed today pretends that students simply receive their education from colleges the way a person walks out of Best Buy with a television.” And this is why a “college for everyone” approach is doomed to fail.
WELL, THIS IS INTERESTING: Joe Eck finds superconducting transition at 141C which is above soldering temperature.
HMM: Staph Bacteria Toxin Causes Type 2 Diabetes In Rabbits. “The research team led by Patrick Schlievert, PhD, professor and DEO of microbiology at the UI Carver College of Medicine, found that prolonged exposure to a toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria causes rabbits to develop the hallmark symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, including insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and systemic inflammation.”
THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT’S ASSAULT ON REASON: “The government is on extremely weak ground here, for these comments do not come close to constituting ‘true threats’ that are unprotected by the First Amendment.”
SO MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE TENNESSEE LAW REVIEW’S THIRD AMENDMENT SYMPOSIUM IS NOW ONLINE (As always, your downloads are highly appreciated!) In it I discuss whether the Third Amendment might limit government intrusiveness into domestic affairs in areas as diverse as computer spyware, “affirmative consent” laws, and childrearing. The piece is here. (Bumped, for the last time).
EARLY ADOPTION: Robo-Trucks Come to Canada’s Oil Sands. “Mining hits the three d’s of roboeconomics: It’s dull, dirty and dangerous. And it adds a fourth one that’s unique to it. The trucks are distant from pedestrians and cars. That way, there’s little chance of crushing innocents underfoot, Truckasaurus-style.”
MEGAN MCARDLE: ‘Primates of Park Avenue,’ Stranger Than Nonfiction. “It turns out that I am not the only one to have wondered about some of her stories. Vanity Fair talked to verified Upper East Side rich wives, and found them skeptical, too. Then some New York Post reporters checked into the timeline of her book and discovered that parts of it didn’t make any sense: according to them, she recounts an East Side co-op board interviewing her while she’s pregnant, even though she was not, in fact, pregnant when she moved to the East Side; she reports losing the pregnancy weight from her second son at a gym that didn’t yet exist when she was an Upper East Sider; she reports seeing macarons from a store that didn’t arrive until years later; and she drops Uber into a conversation that is supposed to have happened years before the service started operating. . . . Martin’s publicity has leaned heavily on the fact that she is a PhD who has studied anthropology, even though her PhD is in comparative literature and cultural studies. What she is doing in “Primates of Park Avenue” is the opposite of good anthropological field work; it claims far too much, and collects far too little actual evidence.”
So, kind of like Alice Goffman, then.
TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Saugus mom faces new sex assault charges from twin. “A Saugus mom’s plan to plead guilty Friday to raping her daughter’s 15-year-old ‘off-and-on’ boyfriend has been derailed by the emergence of a second, alleged victim: the boy’s identical twin brother, her lawyer said. The change in plans came late yesterday when new charges of aggravated rape of a child, indecent assault and battery and child enticement were brought against Heather Salines, 39, by an Essex grand jury. The new charges come just 10 days after the alleged new victim came forward.”
IN THE MAIL: From Bing West, One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War.
Plus, today only at Amazon: Up to 55% Off Select Charbroil Grills.
And, also today only: $49.99–$54.99 Akribos XXIV Men’s Mesh Watches for Dad.
TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 762.
SLUSH FUNDS: How Deval Patrick secretly diverted millions to off-budget accounts. “Former Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration secretly diverted nearly $27 million in public money to off-budget accounts that paid for a $1.35 million trade junket tab, bloated advertising contracts, and a deal with a federally subsidized tourism venture backed by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, a Herald investigation has found. . . . State lawmakers never approved the funding plan, and it’s not clear who even knew about it, but it is clear who orchestrated the end-around the budget and got state agencies to contribute.”
Deval was the template for Obama, in imagery, in bypassing the legislature, and in massive crony socialism. Not surprisingly, his administration ended badly.
ASIA: BURMA IN PLAY:
Some say it is more of a “Winter Thaw” than a “Burma Spring”, but what used to be a pariah nation—the darkened house in the neighborhood—is changing. Just down the road from where Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was held prisoner in her home for more than 15 years, a luxury development with penthouses, a swimming pool, restaurants, and indoor golf is now opening. Rangoon street kids who used to tap on car windows to sell strands of flower necklaces can now be seen hawking real estate listings. Though most people in the country are still scraping by on barely $2 a day, Burma now boasts gastro bars with wi-fi and satellite television. You can rent a cellphone at the airport and drink an iced latte at a copycat Starbucks. . . .
The Southeast Asia Games in Burma in 2013 were a coming-out party of sorts to celebrate the partially relaxed military rule. The opening ceremony was a lavish extravaganza with Olympic-level fireworks, largely paid for and stage-managed by China. The Chinese not only subsidized the opening and closing ceremonies; they also trained 200 Burmese athletes in China and provided 700 coaches to help make the local team look good. The $33 million in support was a tangible example of Beijing’s new efforts to enhance its soft power in Burma, where Chinese megaprojects have stirred increased resentment.
China is still a major player in this rapidly emerging country, despite steps the new, nominally civilian government has taken to show independence from the colossus to the north. Billions of dollars are at stake, but an even weightier question is which model will have the most influence in Burma’s evolution: China’s authoritarian state capitalism or a Western-style marriage of democracy and open markets?
Well, I’m sure the United States has Smart DiplomacyTM on the job here, so no worries.
THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: Secret Service officers at White House lacked security clearances, officials say.
ON CAPITOL HILL, a push to get the birth control pill over the counter.
AT AMAZON, fresh deals on bestselling products, updated every hour.
Also, coupons galore in Grocery & Gourmet Food.
Plus, Kindle Daily Deals.
And, Today’s Featured Digital Deal. The deals are brand new every day, so browse and save!
JUDICIAL WATCH: Benghazi: A Bi-Partisan Scandal. Hey, if there’s a Republican to blame somewhere, the press might actually take interest.
ALISON HAYWARD ON THE IRS: From today’s Tea Party to the pacifists, socialists & anti-tobacco groups of America before World War II, the tax man has a long history of trying to shut people up. Yet another reason to get rid of the income tax. Or to abolish official immunity for government employees.
LINDSEY GRAHAM, INTERVIEWED BY ROGER SIMON: ‘We Have Too Much Debt and Too Many Terrorists!’
SMART DIPLOMACY: Did Angela Merkel ‘ma’amsplain’ to a ‘manspreading’ Obama?
There’s a photo going around social media of German Chancellor Angela Merkel talking to President Obama. Merkel, arms outstretched, appears to be angry, or at the very least annoyed, about something. Obama, meanwhile, is sitting on a bench, his arms stretched out to his sides along the back of the seat. From what can be seen in the picture, it appears he is “manspreading” — the seating stance of men where they spread their legs.
Manspreading for me, but not for thee.
HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Let down by Obama, some black voters ask: Is it even worth backing Clinton? Nope. Stay home folks. You’re just being used.