DIY MUSIC UPDATE: Going to 11 in the Virtual World: How to Make the Most of Guitar Amplifier Simulators.
My new post over at the PJ Lifestyle blog.
Archive for 2018
April 6, 2018
WHEN DOES NON-COOPERATION BECOME REBELLION? ‘Sanctuary laws’ roil California in fight with Justice Department.
IF YOU DON’T LIKE THOSE PRINCIPLES, WE HAVE OTHERS: Here’s the hilarious part: the law firm who defended Backpage’s right to assist in sex trafficking of underage women is also the law firm for The New York Times, HBO, The Daily Beast, Forbes and many other media entities. And very close contributors to Hillary “I’m With Her” Clinton.
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I KNOW IT SOUNDS NUTSO: But I rather like this sentiment she expressed:
“She added that gun issues need to be addressed, but the “real thing that needs to be addressed are issues of the heart.”
Talk about burying the lede.
SCHOLARSHIP YOU CAN USE: Jersey Shore: An Oral History. “What put Pauly D at the instant top of the list was that he owned his own tanning booth at his own house. A tanning booth is like $10,000. Who’s saving up coins and then buying a tanning booth?”
Hey, laugh if you want, but Snooki’s getting paid more than Hillary now.
Plus, a reminiscence that should make Mark Zuckerberg’s blood run cold: “Back then, Facebook was everything.”
HONORABLE MENTION: The National Association of Scholars will honor Amy Wax.
A 10% SALARY CUT WILL DO THAT: Pace Law Dean David Yassky Steps Down Amid Faculty Discontent.
WHERE COULD THAT HAVE COME FROM? Scarlet Fever Outbreak Is Worst In Nearly 40 Years.
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BRINGING NEW MEANING TO THE PHRASE “THE WEAPONIZED IRS:”
An Internal Revenue Service agent got a 21-year-old intern drunk last July and then allegedly handcuffed her in his government-issued car in Boston before shoving “his service weapon deep into her mouth” and raping her, a Suffolk prosecutor said Thursday.
The allegations were made during the arraignment of James R. Clarke, 44, in Suffolk Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and indecent assault and battery.
Clarke — who was assigned to the IRS criminal investigations office in Boston at the time of the incident — was released on personal recognizance after a magistrate rejected a prosecution request that bail be set at $10,000 cash.
* * * * * * * *
The IRS declined to discuss his employment status after his indictment last month and said Thursday that the agency can’t discuss individual personnel matters.
“The IRS cannot comment on specifics involving these serious and disturbing allegations,” the agency said in a statement. “The IRS holds our employees to high standards, and we do not tolerate inappropriate behavior.”
Regarding that last quote, Lois Lerner and John Koskinen could not be reached for comment.
MATTHEW CONTINETTI OBSERVES “THE BATTLE OF WOKE ISLAND” AND ITS ORIGINS:
The hiring of a conservative writer for the opinion pages of a liberal publication now occasions a ferocious debate over whether the cause of social justice is being served by implicitly legitimizing an “offensive” voice. Such a debate, of course, assumes that the object of a publication is not to inform or entertain readers, nor to provide them a range of views, but to advance a party line. That is the logic of the campus. And that logic prevailed in the case of Kevin Williamson—a pungent libertarian writer hired by The Atlantic only to be terminated a week later over his views on abortion. (Needless to say, those views are pro-life.) Indeed, even the language of the announcement of Williamson’s firing, which accused him of “violent” speech, echoed the denunciations of student activists.
What I cannot predict are the ultimate consequences of the transformation of media, tech, and entertainment conglomerates into satellite campuses of Middlebury and Berkeley. It may well be the case that multiculturalism and intersectionality are good for Internet traffic and digital subscriptions, that to get woke is glorious for the bottom line. But these short-term profits come at the long-term cost of definitive, comprehensive, quality journalism. Nor should we forget the damage done to the livelihoods and futures of the people who run up against the intersectional vanguard. Violate the unwritten laws of micro-aggression in Silicon Valley, for instance, and you could be de-platformed from both the technological public squares of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and, in the case of James Damore, from within the companies themselves.
At the Federalist, Ben Domenech writes that “Firing Kevin Williamson Is Just the Beginning,” and also spots the academic origins of his being de-platformed:
Williamson’s mistake, as an adopted son born to an unwed teenage mother, was being too honest about his belief that what he sees as the daily murder of infants should, in a more just society, have severe legal consequences. Well, that’s not what we want around here.
This brings to mind Herbert Marcuse’s “Repressive Tolerance”, published in 1965. This essay does a good job of summing it up.
Marcuse argued that, because of the radical repressiveness of Western society, a tolerance for all viewpoints actually contributed to social oppression. A pervasive network of assumptions and biases implicitly privileges the viewpoint of the powerful, so that seemingly “equal” presentations of opposite opinions actually end up benefiting the viewpoint of the powerful… Because of social programming, the inhabitants of a given society automatically favor certain values. The ideological playing field’s lack of levelness means that seemingly equal presentations of ideas are not really equal.
In the light of this situation, Marcuse made a rather cunning inversion (one that has been aped countless times since by cultural organs across the United States): The fact that society is so radically unequal means that we should be intolerant and repressive in the name of tolerance and liberty. He rejected what he termed “indiscriminate tolerance” — a tolerance that accepts all viewpoints — in favor of “liberating tolerance” or “discriminating tolerance.” Unlike many of his disciples, Marcuse was frank about what this intolerance would mean: “Liberating tolerance, then, would mean intolerance against movements from the Right and toleration of movements from the Left.
That is what is required to make ones living primarily from these institutions: you must bend the knee.
To which Rod Dreher adds, “The Atlantic Cashiers Kevin Williamson, Its Reputation:”
Eventually the wokesters will be the establishment at The New York Times, and everywhere else. See, readers, this is why all the campus craziness I keep talking about here is not just Dreherbait. These norms shape the way those rising in the ranks at institutions see the world, and, in turn, shape the world.
Again: Kevin Williamson’s fate is a bellwether. This is not going to end well, if it ends at all.
Why, it’s like the culture war is a leading indicator for the “Cold Civil War” as a whole or something.
BANANAS VS. SPORTS DRINKS? Bananas Win In Study.
Of course, then there’s the case for the post-workout beer.
YOUR DAILY TREACHER: When Omar Mateen Said He Killed 49 People for ISIS, He Meant It.
HE WAS MORE FLEXIBLE AFTER HIS REELECTION: New Russia Sanctions Are ‘What Obama Should Have Done in 2014.’
NO MORE CONSERVATIVE DOCTORS (AT LEAST NOT HONEST ONES): The MCAT has been politicized.
I ALWAYS THOUGHT CAR INTERIORS DESERVED MORE ATTENTION, SINCE, YOU KNOW, THAT’S WHERE YOU RIDE: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR BLACK LABEL INTERIOR REVIEW.
WELCOME TO JAIL, MR. ROSENSTEIN AND MR. WRAY: Here are five things Congress can do to stop the Department of Justice/FBI coverup on the Trump-Russia investigation. Bet you didn’t know Congress has the authority to jail people who thumb their noses at congressional subpoenas.
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NEWS FROM EAST TENNESSEE: ICE raids Grainger County meat packing plant.
WHY DID THE CLINTON FOUNDATION SEND $37M TO A BALTIMORE P.O. BOX? That’s an especially relevant question when the $37 million was intended as a grant to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF) to help victims of the 2010 earthquake. But CBHF had only one address, in Washington, D.C., so, Charles Ortel asks in LifeZette, why send the money to a Baltimore address, and a P.O. Box to boot? And while we’re on the subject, who picked it up in Baltimore and what did they do with it?
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Drink wine and 12 more tips for a sharper brain.