SOCIAL JUSTICE NETWORKING: Twitter’s sales team is taking a hit in big upcoming layoffs.

It’s possible to feel sorry for those losing their jobs while at the same time having no pity at all for a CEO who seems determined to run his company into the ground.

YES, PLEASE: Increasing CPR Training To Save Lives.

In August, Jeffrey Feig, a 50-year-old financial executive in Manhattan and father of three young sons, became one of the more than 350,000 Americans who each year suffer a sudden cardiac arrest. His heart went into an erratic and ineffective rhythm and he stopped breathing.

But unlike 90 percent of people similarly afflicted, Mr. Feig not only lived to tell the tale but survived his near-death experience without any damage to his heart muscle or his brain, an outcome rarely seen following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Mr. Feig owes his life and bright future to the forward thinking, planning and participation of fellow residents at Pine Lake Park, a bungalow colony in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., where he and his family spend the summer. The moment he collapsed, fellow vacationers who had been trained at the colony in CPR and the use of an automated external defibrillator, or A.E.D., sprung into action.

One person called for an ambulance, another began chest compressions, a third provided mouth-to-mouth ventilation while a fourth ran into the social hall to get the defibrillator, which was used to shock his heart back to a normal, lifesaving rhythm. Just two weeks before this incident, the colony had conducted a training and refresher course in these lifesaving measures.

If not for his lay rescuers, Mr. Feig would most likely not have survived. It took the ambulance 10 minutes to arrive; without oxygen, the brain is permanently damaged after about four minutes and death follows a few minutes later. But moments after receiving the shock from the A.E.D., which enabled his heart to again pump oxygen-rich blood to his brain and body, Mr. Feig regained consciousness.

My cyborg wife has a defibrillator built-in, but for the rest of us, this is a very good thing.

I WAS SO MUCH OLDER THEN; I’M YOUNGER THAN THAT NOW: The Left Turns on Bob Dylan for His Pro-Israel Views, Refusal to Acknowledge Nobel Prize.

(Classical reference in headline.)

YOU MAY NOT BE INTERESTED IN THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG, BUT THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG IS INTERESTED IN YOUR CHILDREN: Sesame Street Preaches Trans Politics to Parents.

It’s been all downhill since Cookie Monster started reminding kids that cookies are a sometimes food.

EXPLORING THE MINDS OF DOGS.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Kerry’s Daughter Traveled On Taxpayers’ Dime To Get Government Contracts.

The Peace Corps authorized an estimated $46,000 for 20 international and domestic trips for Dr. Vanessa Kerry and her staff, agency documents obtained by TheDCNF show. The purpose of the travel was to form the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) – a Peace Corps-run and State Department-funded program Kerry proposed.

The Peace Corps ultimately gave Kerry’s nonprofit – Seed Global Health – $9 million in contracts for the program, which were bankrolled by the State Department and awarded without competition between 2012 and 2015, The DCNF previously revealed.

I’d like to see their books.

MODERN JOURNALISM IS ALL ABOUT DECIDING WHICH FACTS THE PUBLIC SHOULDN’T KNOW BECAUSE THEY MIGHT REFLECT BADLY ON DEMOCRATS: Nets Silent on Perjury Sentencing of Democrat Attorney General.

(Classical reference in headline.)

RISE OF THE MACHINES: You Can’t Stop Robots With Furniture Barricades Anymore.

HMM: Justice Dept. Shakes Up Inquiry Into Eric Garner Chokehold Case.

RIP STEVEN DEN BESTE: Glenn and Sarah Hoyt expressed their condolences yesterday, and I’d like to as well. The rise of the Blogosphere during the immediate aftermath of 9/11 was something to behold – the best analogy that I can think of is to compare it to the golden age of television in the 1950s: a new medium was born, and for those willing to seek it out, programming of a surprisingly high quality was available to be consumed on it.

But unlike television, which then as now requires an army of craftsmen and technicians to create, the early Blogosphere was almost exclusively a series of solo acts, and living in California, from about 9:00 PM to midnight Pacific Time each weeknight, I would eagerly consume the best of the new programming as it went online, usually (forgive me If my memory of the timing is a bit off) Den Beste around 7:00 or 8:00 PM, Lileks around 9:00 or ten o’clock, and then pre-Weimar era Andrew Sullivan around 11 or midnight. And of course, Glenn firing off new posts throughout the night.

Den Beste also demonstrated how infinitely flexible blogging could be. Glenn, Mickey Kaus, Sullivan and Virginia Postrel specialized in short posts offering news aggregation and commentary, but Den Beste seemed to effortlessly generate 1,500 to 3,000 word essays on the GWOT and other breaking news events every night. Of course, they only looked effortless to those of us reading them. I imagine the work that went into them eventually contributed to Den Beste’s health issues, and the merciless brickbats he received from the tolerance and diversity-obsessed left eventually led him to focus his blogging primarily on anime and other lighter fare.

As with the Golden Age of TV, which by the early ‘60s had collapsed into Newton Minnow’s infamous “vast wasteland…of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials,” the Golden Era of the Blogosphere was doomed to be a fleeting epoch as well. Today, blogging is universal, but also far too corporatist, an increasingly exclusive medium for Democrat operatives with bylines to pay homage to the state. But for a time, there were a plethora of individual voices to be read, and Den Beste’s was one of the most idiosyncratic and enjoyable.

“A software engineer by trade, exhibiting a precise logic in his thinking, Den Beste was acerbic, sharp and often charmingly irascible,” Jim Geraghty writes today in encomium. “I missed his playful cantankerousness when he had merely stopped blogging. He’s missed even more now.” RIP.

UPDATE: In his tribute to Den Beste, Ace of Spades compares the heyday of the USS Clueless as belonging to “a pre-professional blogging age (such as it may well be), a novice/hobbyist phase, when writers would just write about whatever interested them at that moment, whether it ‘fit the format’ or whatever. Rather like I’ve heard FM radio was when it first came out, as opposed to heavily-programmed/demographically-targeted AM.” Given the free-form, inventing techniques and terminology on the fly nature of the early Blogosphere, that’s an apt comparison as well.

ALL LIVES MATTER: Respect for police near all-time high.

NEW CIVILITY WATCH: Jay Z will headline a concert for Hillary; Here are some of the vile things he’s rapped about women.

CANDLEPOWER EQUALS AUTHORITY: A Mini-Flashlight So Bright It Can Start A Fire.

WELL, YES: Putin’s Strategic Aim is to Fracture the West.

The apparent disconnect between Russia’s strategic gains and economic costs in theaters such as Ukraine and Syria leaves more questions than answers about “what Putin wants,” and how he perceives Russia’s interests. Alarmed by this uncertainty, a growing chorus of influential voices has warned that unless NATO shores up its land and maritime capabilities in Europe, it risks inadvertently inviting Russia to make a land-grab of NATO’s eastern territory. While NATO must prepare for such a scenario and reassure nervous eastern allies, Putin is probably not looking to rebuild Russia’s imperial frontiers or start a war with the United States, nor is he interested in or capable of reestablishing Russia as a global power like the Soviet Union was. Most analyses about “what Putin wants” miss the mark. Putin realizes that in an era when Russia’s internal challenges dramatically limit its ability to project power, Russia’s security depends not on rolling tanks across the borders of the NATO alliance, but instead on fracturing the West and paralyzing decision-making among Western leaders. Russia’s apparent success in exploiting these fissures within the Alliance is thus the greatest threat the United States and its NATO allies face from Moscow.

Read the whole thing.

Putin’s also had the good luck of an American President who has spent much of the last eight years trying unsuccessfully to cuddle up to America’s enemies, and trying more successfully to worry America’s allies.

NEW CIVILITY WATCH. 2016: Terry Tate, Reebok’s Office Linebacker, knocks over an actor playing Donald Trump:

2008: Terry Tate, Reebok’s Office Linebacker, knocks over an actress playing Sarah Palin:

Who says things aren’t getting better? At least Reebok’s spokesbully isn’t knocking Republican women over during this election cycle.

OUR SEMI-RETIRED PRESIDENT: Obama mixes talk of ‘mean tweets,’ politics on Jimmy Kimmel.

AFGHANISTAN RETROSPECTIVE: This detailed, three-part study of diplomatic and security operations in Afghanistan appeared on realcleardefense. The series focuses on the Kajaki Dam but the larger issue is rebuilding and modernizing Afghanistan. Part 1: Context. Part 2: Counter-Insurgency. And Part 3: Consequence. Jeff Goodson, a retired State Dept foreign service officer, wrote the articles. I went to high school with Jeff. This past summer I spoke with him for the first time in 47 years. He mentioned he was writing about his experience in Afghanistan.

RICHARD EPSTEIN: Yale, Beyond The Pale.

It is equally instructive to realize that one does not have to introduce formal procedures in order to pose a grave threat to free speech on campus. Salovey takes great pride in noting “the Yale administration did not criticize, discipline, or dismiss a single member of its faculty, staff, or student body for expressing an opinion.” That sentence may be technically true, but it does not explain why Salovey did not mention the unfortunate fate of Nicholas and Erika Christakis, both of whom resigned from Yale under massive pressure after student protestors demanded that Nicholas be removed from his position as master of Silliman College. Why? Because Erika had written an email that took issue with a letter from Yale’s Intercultural Affairs Committee that warned students against various insensitive forms of behaviors, like wearing offensive Halloween costumes. The letter noted, like Salovey’s op-ed, that Yale values “free expression as well as inclusivity.” But the massive level of abuse directed at Nicholas and Erika Christakis reveals how strongly Yale weighs one imperative over the other.

The errors here are not just unfortunate glitches, but systematic blunders.

Plus, note this letter to the editor in the WSJ, responding to Salovey:

I agree with Mr. Salovey that free speech and inclusion aren’t mutually exclusive, but I think he misrepresents some of the events that unfolded last year. In particular, he claims that the “Yale Daily News, the oldest daily student newspaper in the country, filled its pages and opinion columns with voices that diverged in every conceivable way.”

What Mr. Salovey doesn’t realize is how difficult it was to find such voices. Many students privately expressed their dismay at the protests, yet very few of these students were willing to express these views in the pages of the YDN when I reached out to them. They told me they were worried about being ostracized by their peers, and they were perplexed that the administration had refused to take any disciplinary action against the protesters who cursed out Nicholas Christakis in the Silliman College courtyard. In other words, many students were worried that there wasn’t a respectful climate of reasoned debate on campus, not that Yale was making any kind of institutional effort to suppress free speech. Mr. Salovey’s argument, well-intentioned though it may be, ignores this crucial distinction.

Aaron Sibarium

Chevy Chase, Md.

Mr. Sibarium was the opinion editor of the Yale Daily News for the past academic year.

A mob that represented, almost certainly, a fraction of the student body was allowed — even encouraged — by the Yale administration to intimidate and bully those who disagreed, and faced no consequences (except rewards) for doing so. Is Salovey the worst university president in America? Well, there’s stiff competition for that slot, but he’s got to be in the top 3. But the fact that he’s weaseling on this now suggests that the tide may be turning.

TWO GRAY LADIES IN ONE:

Shot:

For many people reading this, air travel is their most serious environmental sin. One round-trip flight from New York to Europe or to San Francisco creates a warming effect equivalent to 2 or 3 tons of carbon dioxide per person. The average American generates about 19 tons of carbon dioxide a year; the average European, 10.

So if you take five long flights a year, they may well account for three-quarters of the emissions you create. “For many people in New York City, who don’t drive much and live in apartments, this is probably going to be by far the largest part of their carbon footprint,” says Anja Kollmuss, a Zurich-based environmental consultant.

It is for me. And for people like Al Gore or Richard Branson who crisscross the world, often by private jet, proclaiming their devotion to the environment.

Though air travel emissions now account for only about 5 percent of warming, that fraction is projected to rise significantly, since the volume of air travel is increasing much faster than gains in flight fuel efficiency. (Also, emissions from most other sectors are falling.)

—Your Biggest Carbon Sin May Be Air Travel, the New York Times, January 26, 2013.

Chaser:

The New York Times, a newspaper that is nominally and editorially aggrieved about income inequality in America and human-rights violations abroad, is offering its elite, ultra-wealthy readers a chance to see some of the world’s most despotic destinations in a private jet for just $135,000 per person.

“Circle the globe on an inspiring and informative journey by private jet, created by The New York Times in collaboration with luxury travel pioneers Abercrombie & Kent,” reads the promotional material for this exclusive voyage of a lifetime. “This 26-day itinerary takes you beneath the surface of some of the world’s most compelling destinations, illuminating them through the expertise of veteran Times journalists.”

Sound like fun? The private Boeing 757, which can hold up to 50 passengers in “first-class, fully lie-flat seats,” is departing in February 2018, so be sure to reserve your seats now. Travelers can fork over $135,000 for the full trip, or a stunningly cheap $13,500 to partake in a single segment of the trip.

— New York Times Offering Luxury Jet Tours for the 1% – Iran, Cuba, Morocco and More!, Heat Street, yesterday.

As Glenn would say, I’d be more inclined to believe global warming is a crisis if and when the people who tell me it’s a crisis start to act like it’s a crisis themselves. In the meantime, I don’t want to hear another goddamn word about my carbon footprint.

SMOKING GUN:

Holy crap. #PodestaEmails18 pic.twitter.com/MkV15n1zX6

— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) October 25, 2016

“Clean this up,” eh? Sounds Nixon-ish to me.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 1265.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Podesta Kept Up With Former Investment Firm Employer While at White House.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman met and corresponded on multiple occasions in his capacity as a top White House adviser with a previous employer seeking energy policies that it described as a potential “gold rush,” hacked emails and public records show.

John Podesta was a top White House energy policy official before joining the Clinton campaign last year. He previously served on the board of renewable energy investment firm Equilibrium Capital. He owned stock in the firm and drew $4,000 in annual “board fees.”

White House ethics rules bar employees from working on issues affecting former clients or employers for two years after taking their jobs. However, internal emails show that Podesta was in contact with Equilibrium within months of joining the White House as the company pursued a new energy efficiency financing model that would steer it significant revenue.

Glenn’s revolving-door surtax is a marvelous idea, and in addition to that we ought to look into requiring that for the duration of their office, elected officials, cabinet officers, and Presidential appointees place their investments into a blind trust.

HOTSEAT: Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey Still Won’t Answer Trump Question.

“I don’t think my constituents care that much how one person is going to vote,” Toomey said in response to the third ask by the moderator at Monday night’s Pennsylvania Senate debate.

“They’re gonna make their own decision, all across the commonwealth, about who they’re going to support and who they’re not going to support,” Toomey added. “I think they care much more about whether I’ve got policies that are gonna help grow this economy, whether I’ve got policies that are gonna help keep us safe, and that’s the contrast on which they’ll make their decision.”

His refusal to clarify his stance on the GOP nominee extends a long line of delicately-worded statements in which Toomey has sought to avoid alienating Republican voters and moderates by keeping Trump at arms’ length.

Toomey is walking a delicate line in a state that hasn’t gone Republican in almost 30 years.

OVERREACH: Is Black Lives Matter Backfiring?

If Colin Kaepernick’s protest strategy is working, it hasn’t showed up yet in public opinion polling. Respect for local law enforcement soared over the last year to its highest level since 1968, according to a new survey from Gallup. . . .

Interestingly, changing opinions among Democrats and independents drove most of the increase. Republican respect for police, already overwhelming, ticked up only slightly, from 82 to 86 percent. Meanwhile, Democratic support surged from 54 to 68 percent; among independents, from 60 to 75. The uptick was more pronounced among nonwhites than whites.

The high levels of support for police registered in the survey aren’t necessarily incompatible with the message of the Black Lives Matter movement, and there have been indications that public opinion is swinging in the movement’s direction on some issues related to criminal justice reform. At the same time, if the movement had been successfully selling the public on the argument that law enforcement inflicts gratuitous violence against minorities on a large scale, we probably wouldn’t expect such a marked pro-police turn in the polls.

2015 Gallup polling in the wake of high-profile police shootings seemed to show public support for law enforcement slipping. But public attitudes have swung in the opposite direction over the past year, perhaps because of concern about rising urban crime rates as well as civil unrest in places like Charlotte and Dallas (where seven police officers were slain).

Maybe, next to what happened in Charlotte and Dallas, police don’t look so bad. Riots and assassination haven’t historically been the path to the moral high ground in America.