AN ARMY OF SNOWFLAKES: The British Army wants to recruit snowflakes to its ranks. What is it thinking?

Its new PR campaign features posters and TV ads calling on ‘snowflakes’, ‘selfie addicts’, ‘class clowns’, ‘phone zombies’ and ‘me me me millennials’ to sign up. One poster says: ‘Snowflakes – your army needs YOU and your compassion.’

Other posters likewise reframe forms of behaviour that are usually seen as self-indulgent, anti-social or attention-seeking in a positive light. The posters suggest that videogame and selfie addicts possess admirable levels of drive and confidence. The campaign also praises the ‘focus’ displayed by ‘phone zombies’ – that is, people who stare at their phones for long periods of time. Possibly the most grotesque message is the one saying it is okay to be self-obsessed and narcissistic. One poster, directed at ‘me me me millennials’, says: ‘Your army needs YOU and your self-belief.’

This really reveals the intellectual and emotional illiteracy of the people behind this recruitment campaign. They are confusing the insecure sensibility of the ‘me me me’ outlook with self-belief. Similarly, praising ‘snowflakes’ for their compassion is wrong – compassion is a byproduct of an altruistic sense of service, not moral flakiness and being easily offended.

The army’s snowflake campaign actually patronises the young. Most young people understand that self-obsession is not a positive thing. Indeed, there are many young people who are idealistic and who are prepared to serve their communities. Yet instead of trying to harness the positive attributes of the young, this campaign infantilises would-be recruits.

Is the 21st century British army at least still teaching self-defense against fresh fruit in basic training?

SPACE: To the moon and beyond: Why China is aiming for the stars.

THE L.A. TIMES IS PRETTY COOL WITH ANTI-SEMITISM, APPARENTLY: Can you admire Louis Farrakhan and still advance the cause of women? Maybe so. Life is full of contradictions.

As Drew McCoy tweets, “Replace ‘anti-Semite’ with ‘anti-Muslim’ and see if this piece gets published.”

Yet another reminder that the alt-right and the mainstream left are the mirror images of each other.

21ST CENTURY HEADLINES: The US and China are in a quantum arms race that will transform warfare.

FORD’S BETTER IDEA: On this day in 1914, Henry Ford announced that the Ford Motor Company would essentially double wages to $5 a day.

Worker turnover had been high at Ford; in 1913 it had hired 52,000 men for 14,000 jobs. The $5 wage was intended to sharply reduce turnover and the delays, training costs, and employee errors that stemmed from high turnover.  The plan worked (at least at first). Once an employee got a $5 job at Ford, he was unlikely to want to let it go.

But the raise came with a number of strings. Workers had to abstain from alcohol, not physically abuse their families, keep their homes clean, and save part of their paychecks. Ford believed that problems at home, including money problems, led to problems on the job and to absenteeism.

It is frequently said that Ford raised his workers’ pay in order to induce them to buy Ford automobiles and hence raise profits for the company. But Ford wasn’t that math-challenged. There is no way in heaven that 100% of that money would make it back to the company. That said, he probably did sell more cars to his workforce than he otherwise would have. And I am sure he wasn’t against that.

JULIE KELLY: Shadow Speaker: “To get a sense of how powerful freshman Congressmember (her preferred title) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is, just look at her effect on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”

WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS: Keychain LED Flashlights.

OPEN THREAD: Party on.

JOE PAPPALARDO: Why 2019 Signals a New Era of Human Spaceflight.

WELL, THIS EXPLAINS MUCH ABOUT CALIFORNIA: Jerry Brown tells Chuck Todd, “We’ve got to get off this idea, ‘it’s the economy, stupid.’ No, it’s the environment.”

Related: Of The 5 Big States, Texas #1 For Growth, California #1 For Poverty.

RIP: BRIAN GARFIELD, AUTHOR OF DEATH WISH, DIES AT 79.

In his Death Wish novel, a New York accountant named Paul Benjamin is sent reeling when muggers kill his wife and leave his daughter fighting for her life. That spurs him to take justice into his own hands.

The rugged Bronson then played Paul Kersey, now an architect, in five Death Wish films that were released in 1974, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1994.

“I hated the four sequels,” Garfield said in a 2008 interview. “They were nothing more than vanity showcases for the very limited talents of Charles Bronson. The screenplay for the original Death Wish movie was quite good, I thought. It was written by Wendell Mayes — look him up; he was a great guy and a splendid screenwriter; but his Death Wish script was designed to be directed by Sidney Lumet, with Jack Lemmon to star as Paul.

“The last-minute changes in director [Michael Winner] and star were imposed by a new producer to whom the project was sold, rather under protest, by the original producers Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts. The point of the novel Death Wish is that vigilantism is an attractive fantasy, but it only makes things worse in reality. By the end of the novel, the character is gunning down unarmed teenagers because he doesn’t like their looks. The story is about an ordinary guy who descends into madness.”

Winner’s first Death Wish movie sums up New York in the 1970s remarkably well, and its cool Herbie Hancock score adds incredible atmosphere. The role of Paul Kersey defined Bronson and finally made him, after decades of acting, into a superstar. But it would have been a much more surprising film watching Lemmon’s transformation from milquetoast bleeding heart liberal architect to vigilante.

APPEALS COURT SIDES WITH TRUMP ON TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN.

(Via Newsalert.)

SCIENCE, UNSETTLED: Climate warming experiment finds unexpected results.

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Plus, deals in Sports and Fitness.

TUCKER CARLSON: Mitt Romney supports the status quo. But for everyone else, it’s infuriating. “Romney’s piece is fascinating on its own terms. It’s well-worth reading. It’s a window into how the people in charge, in both parties, see our country. . . . We are ruled by mercenaries who feel no long-term obligation to the people they rule. They’re day traders. Substitute teachers. They’re just passing through. They have no skin in this game, and it shows. They can’t solve our problems. They don’t even bother to understand our problems.”

UPDATE: From Harvard Lawprof Adrian Vermeule, ouch:

But wait, there’s more:

ANOTHER UPDATE: Thoughts at Ace’s: “So failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney took to the op-ed pages of the WaPo to lambaste President Trump’s character, by which he means banging porn starlets and publishing mean tweets. Presumably, Romney doesn’t do these awful things, which makes him, in his mind, morally superior to Donald Trump. But there’s more to ‘character’ than this. For example, there’s courage. There’s commitment. There’s leadership. There’s not backing down, caving in to criticism, and sticking to a course of action when things get tough. To my knowledge, none of these characteristics have ever been attributed to Mitt Romney.”

21st CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Brave new world: Gay man impregnates transgender partner who identifies as male.

THEY CHOSE…POORLY: Vice Looks Like a Very Bad Bet for Indie Studio.

NOW #1 ON SSRN: My (written with Peter W. Morgan) Crime Follies: Overcriminalization, Independent Prosecutors, and the Rule of Law.

UPDATE: Doing some revisions and had a file mixup. Should be right now. Sorry!

PAUL KRUGMAN “EVOLVES” ON YET ANOTHER ISSUE TO ALIGN HIS ECONOMIC VIEWS WITH PROGRESSIVE POLITICS: Krugman: The Economics of Soaking the Rich.

Krugman argues in favor of marginal tax rates in the 80% range for the “rich.” Economist Bill Anderson comments on my Facebook page (reprinted with permission): “At the 2004 Southern Economic Association meetings in New Orleans, I asked Krugman in a room full of economists if he believed we should go back to the 1980 top rates [of 70%]. His answer: ‘Oh, no! Those rates were insane!’ His exact words. So, it is official; Krugman now endorses insanity. How appropriate.”

DANGERS OF TRAVEL: Woman’s rabies death linked to dog bite during India yoga retreat.

REALITY, WHAT A CONCEPT: Pelosi tells DHS Secretary Kirsten Nielsen, ‘I Reject Your Facts.’

JOHN HINDERAKER: LET’S SEE YOUR TAX RETURNS, NANCY! “Nancy Pelosi says that ‘the Constitution’ considers her to be the equal of President Trump. Given that her statement comes from a hagiographic piece in the New York Times, it isn’t surprising that there is no explanation of what she meant. If she meant that the Speaker of the House is equal, constitutionally, to the president, her claim is absurd. Congress as a whole is equal to the executive under the Constitution, but not a single officer thereof. Still, her claim gets one thinking…”

BLUE-DOG DEMS GET ANTSY AS HOUSE PROGRESSIVES PUSH THE GREEN NEW DEAL.

Except that 2009 proved there are no blue dog Democrats – they’re all Nancy Pelosi’s crash test dummies.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? Patient in vegetative state gives birth, sex abuse investigation underway: report.

FASTER, PLEASE: Trump Considering ‘National Emergency’ Declaration to Build Wall with Military Coffers.