Archive for 2018
April 1, 2018
WHAT MAKES THIS GROUP DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER GROUPS? The Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby on Passover and the Secret of Jewish Longevity.
I RECOMMEND NOMINATING EUGENE VOLOKH: Judge’s death gives Trump the opportunity to overhaul the liberal 9th Circuit. “Of the 22 active judges on the bench — the court is authorized to have 29 judgeships — 16 were nominated by Democratic presidents, and six were nominated by Republicans. But with Reinhardt’s death, Trump will have the opportunity to fill seven vacancies to the San Francisco-based appeals court.” Don’t dawdle, the midterms are coming.
WHY MILLENNIAL WOMEN WANT TO DATE OLDER MEN.
The article is well worth your time, but if time is short, I can sum up 992 words in a single image:
THAT’S COMMITMENT. AS I CAN ATTEST, CRUCIFIXION IS QUITE UNCOMFORTABLE EVEN WITHOUT THE NAILS: Philippine Christian Nailed to a Cross for the 32nd Time.
And yes, I can attest. In high school, I played an Apostle (Bartholomew to be exact) in the Smoky Mountain Passion Play, and understudied for Thief On The Left, which means I got crucified a couple of times.
TO BE FAIR, THEY’RE A SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT ON TIDE PODS: Peeps Are The Most Disgusting Candy Ever And Need To Burn In Hades.
FASTER, PLEASE: Lockheed Martin Now Has a Patent For Its Potentially World Changing Fusion Reactor. Bring on the working prototype. If they stay on schedule, “the company could debut a prototype system that size of shipping container, but capable of powering a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier or 80,000 homes, sometime in the next year or so.” Well, I certainly hope it works.
ANALYSIS TRUE: Yes, They Are Coming for Your Guns.
QED: DNC vice chair calls for repeal of the Second Amendment in tweet.
As Charles C. Cooke wrote in 2015, “here’s the million-dollar question: What the hell are they waiting for? Go on, chaps. Bloody well do it. Seriously, try it. Start the process.”
In the meantime, “Every D candidate should be asked about this,” Glenn tweets today.
GOOD: Army mulls tougher basic training for out-of-shape, undisciplined recruits.
Citing a disturbing trend of new soldiers lacking both proper discipline and physical fitness, senior U.S. Army leaders are calling for a tougher and longer basic training program to prepare troops for combat over the next decade.
“We have every reason to get this right, and far fewer reasons not to,” Secretary of the Army Mark Esper said at the Association of the United States Army’s Global Force Symposium in Alabama on Monday. “That’s why we are considering several initiatives — from a new physical fitness regime to reforming and extending basic training — in order to ensure our young men and women are prepared for the rigors of high-intensity combat.”
While Esper didn’t divulge any details of what an extended Basic Combat Training (BCT) might look like, the Army has already floated the idea of adding two weeks to its 10-week program. A redesigned BCT is expected to be implemented by early summer.
Seems reasonable. But on graduation, each soldier should receive one of these to wear with pride.
SNOWFALLS ARE NOW JUST A THING OF THE PAST:
An American warship stuck in Montreal since Christmas Eve has finally resumed its trip to its home port in Florida, the U.S. Navy confirmed on Saturday.
The USS Little Rock was commissioned in Buffalo, N.Y., on Dec. 16 but was trapped by ice at the Port of Montreal less than two weeks into its maiden voyage.
A spokeswoman for the Navy said officials decided to wait until weather conditions improved before allowing the ship to continue its journey to Mayport, Fla., out of concern for the safety of the ship and crew.
I blame Leonard Nimoy.
(Classical reference in headline.)
FLASHBACK: Who Has The Right To Mine An Asteroid?
This story — the migrant mass moving north — is the political equivalent of a tropical depression spotted far out into the Atlantic, one that is not much now, but once it hits warm water, could become a dangerous hurricane. Don’t believe me? Check out Tom Edsall’s must-read piece on how new statistical analysis shows that 2016 exit polling was wrong, and the white working class is actually more important to the Democrats than previously thought.
* * * * * * * *
That migrant mass headed north through Mexico could well be a perfect political storm for the Democrats, who can’t afford to lose the Roseanne vote this fall.
Read the whole thing.
HAPPY EASTER FROM OUR COASTAL ELITES: It’s 2018 and NPR Doesn’t Know What Christians Commemorate on Easter.
Meanwhile, Google, which seems to be creating splash screens every other day for some of the most obscure figures in history (and mediocre modern artists such as Walter Gropius) can’t be bothered to do anything today. On the plus side, at least they didn’t honor Caesar Chavez’s birthday this Easter weekend.
SMASH ALL THE THINGS! AIRBRUSH ALL THE HISTORY! First it was Confederate monuments. Now statues offensive to Native Americans are poised to topple across the U.S.
“Is there a difference between honoring McKinley and Robert E. Lee?” the mayor [of Arcata, CA], Sofia Pereira, who was part the majority, said in a recent interview. “They both represent historical pain.”
When do the FDR and JFK statues get toppled?
IN THE MAIL: From Thomas Sowell, Black Rednecks and White Liberals.
TITLE IX IS OFF THE RAILS: Shep Melnick’s The Transformation of Title IX: Regulating Gender Equality in Education is now available on Amazon. I was particularly intrigued by one of the back cover notes:
For those of us who still pin our hopes on the American civil rights tradition, this book is a disturbing call to account. Melnick unravels the convoluted process by which Title IX became a barrage of mandates detached from any constitutional or statutory roots and oblivious to the law’s goal of increasing educational opportunity for women and girls. His smart and compelling critique suggests a way forward: follow the Administrative Procedure Act and keep your eyes on the prize.–Deborah Stone, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Brandeis University.
Nobody should have needed Melnick’s book to tell them that Title IX has gone off the rails. But his book is invaluable for explaining how and why.
A DRAMATIC TWOFER: The USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) test fires a Trident II D5 ballistic missile off the California coast and a USAF F-15 Eagle deploys flares over Iraq.
THE PRESS IS TRYING TO INDUCE PREFERENCE FALSIFICATION: News Outlets Ignore Millennials’ Skepticism of Gun Control; Youth opinion on firearms is far from monolithic.
Mainstream and left-leaning media outlets have been happy to present the post-Parkland clamor for more gun restrictions as a “youth-led” uprising against their pro-gun elders. “Pit a youth movement for firearms regulation against an aging gun lobby—the kids will ultimately win,” declares a headline in today’s Los Angeles Times. “Adults marvel at youth-led gun control movement,” says The Boston Globe. “Boston teens say it’s about time.”
CNN ran an article detailing how student activists “led” the Washington, D.C., March for Our Lives rally on Saturday, downplaying the heavy organizational support they received from adult gun control advocates. Recent survey data show that only 10 percent of rally attendees were under 18 and the average age of the adults present was 49. And while most of the press coverage has implied that young people are overwhelmingly in favor of more gun control, comments from actual young people suggest their views are not quite so monolithic. . . .
A 2015 Pew poll* found that only 49 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds favored an “assault weapons” ban, compared to 55 percent of those aged 30 to 49 and 63 percent of those 65 or older. A March 6 Quinnipiac poll, taken several weeks after the Parkland shooting, found that only 46 percent of 18-to-34 year olds support an assault weapons ban, rising to 51 percent for those aged 35 to 49, 68 percent for those aged 50-to-64, and 80 percent for those over 65.
As always, the press is pushing a political narrative, and is unconcerned with whether that narrative is correct, so long as it is politically useful.
SADIQ KHAN’S DOING A BANGUP JOB: London murder rate beats New York as stabbings surge.
Related: London stabbings: Deadly knife attack every three days in capital as violence soars. What could have changed to bring this on? But don’t worry, there’s an “anti-knife crime charity” on the job.
STANDING UP FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: Rockledge High School students walk out of class to support Second Amendment.