OPEN THREAD: Contemplate the whichness of what.
Archive for 2018
November 20, 2018
TIM BLAIR: SCARY CAPITAL LETTERS MELT SNOWFLAKES.
See that headline above? It’d be banned at Leeds Trinity’s school of journalism, where students are apparently alarmed by anything not written in a combination of lower case and emojis:
University lecturers have been told not to use words in capital letters when setting assignments because it might frighten students into failure.
Staff at Leeds Trinity’s school of journalism have also been told to “write in a helpful, warm tone, avoiding officious language and negative instructions” …
Old and busted: England’s brave young men unafraid of the Hun, win two World Wars. The new hotness: capital letters are emotional triggers!
(I hope the students at Leeds can handle the constant barrage of Instapundit’s all-caps headlines, a no-nonsense style from a more civilized era.)
Since the World Scrabble Championship began in 1991, all winners have been male. The North American Scrabble Championship has had one female winner (in 1987) since its founding in 1978. All eight finalists in this year’s French World Scrabble Championships were men. Competitive Scrabble constitutes a natural experiment for testing the feminist worldview. According to feminist dogma, males and females are identical in their aptitudes and interests. If men dominate certain data-based, abstract fields like engineering, physics and math, that imbalance must, by definition, be the result of sexism—whether a patriarchal culture that discourages girls from math or implicit bias in the hiring process.
What are the numbers when it comes to Uposcrabblenyk?
BRINGING NEW MEANING TO “WORKING THE REFS:” Lawsuit Accuses Chicago-Area Parent Of Dressing As Ref, Blames ‘Blatant Cheating’ For Opposing High School Football Team’s Loss.
YOU TRY FOR DECADES TO GET THE FEDERAL COURTS TO PAY ATTENTION TO ENUMERATED POWERS, AND THEY IGNORE YOU. THEN WHEN THEY FINALLY LISTEN, IT’S THIS CASE: Federal judge finds female genital mutilation law unconstitutional.
In a major blow to the government, a federal judge in Detroit has declared the nation’s female genital mutilation law unconstitutional, thereby dismissing nearly all of the charges against two Michigan doctors and seven others accused of subjecting at least nine minor girls to genital cutting in the nation’s first FGM case.
The historic case involves minor girls from Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, including some who cried, screamed and bled during the procedure and one who was given Valium ground in liquid Tylenol to keep her calm, court records show.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman concluded that Congress did not have the authority to pass the 22-year-old federal law that criminalizes female genital mutilation in America. FGM is banned worldwide and has been outlawed in more than 50 countries, though the U.S. statute had never been tested before this case.
Friedman’s ruling stems from a request by Dr. Jumana Nagarwala and her co-defendants to dismiss the genital mutilation charges, claiming the law they are being prosecuted under is unconstitutional.
More specifically, the defendants have argued that “Congress lacked authority to enact” the genital mutilation statute, “thus the female genital mutilation charges must be dismissed.”
I think that’s probably right. But if this stands, a lot of other criminal laws will have to go, and I have some doubts that the federal judiciary will hold to that principle. Eugene Volokh has more.
REVIEW: 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt.
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BURN LEVEL: THERMONUCLEAR.
BAD NEWS: The Fight Against Malaria Has Reached a Standstill.
Progress against malaria has stalled, and the disease remains a significant threat to billions of people despite the expensive, decades-long efforts to contain it, the World Health Organization reported on Monday.
According to the W.H.O.’s latest annual assessment, there were an estimated 220 million cases of malaria last year, and about 435,000 deaths from the disease. Of the dead, 262,000 were children under age 5.
The disease is caused by parasites transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. The world’s malaria rate — which began dropping sharply in the early 2000s as insecticide-impregnated nets, new drugs and much more money were poured into the fight — has been roughly the same since 2013, the report said.
We almost had it eradicated, until the ban on DDT.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Top 5 ‘Budget-Priced’ .50 BMG Rifles.
MIS-MEASURING RACISM: A How-To Guide.
D. C. MCALLISTER: Actress Ellen Pompeo Shows Lack of Empathy in Call for ‘Inclusivity.’
FIRST SEXBOTS, NOW THIS: Robots Finally Learning to Clean the Bathroom.
ANALYSIS: TRUE. Everything You Need To Know About Winning A Thanksgiving Argument. “Don’t start one. That’s how you win.”
Pass the gravy, and pass on the Gleichschaltung.
IT’S COME TO THIS: Puberty For The Middle Aged.
CDR SALAMANDER: A Hospital Ship’s Soft Powers Sharp Elbow.
AT AMAZON, shop Black Friday Deals all week. As always, buying through InstaPundit Amazon links helps support this blog at no cost to you. It’s much appreciated!
WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING? Chickenpox outbreak at North Carolina school with high anti-vaccination rate leaves dozens sick.
CREEPY ABUSIVE PORN LAWYER UPDATE: Aspiring actress seeks restraining order against Michael Avenatti.