HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: A very dangerous place, is college. “Let that sink in for a second: Some of your kids, in fact many of your kids are not ready for college—and if you think college administrators can or will protect them, you are dead wrong. They’ll act like they have it under control and tout their counseling services, student health, etc., but they don’t. When things go bad, they’ll point the finger at fraternities, or a toxic sports culture, or bullying, or whatever in order to shift the blame rather than admitting that they accept too many students that are simply too immature to be there. If you don’t believe me, think about what college campuses would look like if you could only attend once you turned 20 or 21. Give me one year of age over a hundred extra points on the SAT any day.”
Archive for 2019
September 7, 2019
SETH BARRETT TILLMAN: The Prime Minister’s Next Ace.
OPEN THREAD: Make it your own.
BIDEN’S GONNA BIDEN: Obama Adviser David Axelrod: Biden ‘Serially’ Distorting His Own Record.
REGULATION: We Could Have Had Cell Phones 40 Years Earlier.
OUR MORAL SUPERIORS AT WORK: How An Élite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. “The M.I.T. Media Lab, which has been embroiled in a scandal over accepting donations from the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, had a deeper fund-raising relationship with Epstein than it has previously acknowledged, and it attempted to conceal the extent of its contacts with him. Dozens of pages of e-mails and other documents obtained by The New Yorker reveal that, although Epstein was listed as “disqualified” in M.I.T.’s official donor database, the Media Lab continued to accept gifts from him, consulted him about the use of the funds, and, by marking his contributions as anonymous, avoided disclosing their full extent, both publicly and within the university. Perhaps most notably, Epstein appeared to serve as an intermediary between the lab and other wealthy donors, soliciting millions of dollars in donations from individuals and organizations, including the technologist and philanthropist Bill Gates and the investor Leon Black.”
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DEATH BY METAPHOR? Arizona GOP Criticized for Wanting to Stop Dem Mark Kelly ‘Dead in His Tracks.’
Though to be fair, the Democratic Party operatives with bylines criticizing Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward is NBC, which promoted the idea that Sarah Palin’s clip art played a role in a madman shooting Kelly’s wife, Gabrielle Giffords in 2011, and the following year, argued that the words “golf” and “Chicago” were racist.
As Rick Moran writes, “There’s a simple way to stop it: stop responding as if the argument is legitimate. Instead of complaining about the attack, ignore it. Better yet, make fun of it. Call the perpetrators out for being monumentally stupid. It will take a while. But there are a lot of fair-minded people in America who recognize the idiocy for what it is: rabid, extreme ideology run amok.”
ANALYSIS: TRUE.
GREAT MOMENTS IN CHUTZPAH: Mick Jagger blasts Trump for bad manners, lies, environment.
Related: “When the Rolling Stones go on tour, they’re not flying coach class with the rest of us. Instead, the band jets off in a personalized plane that is surprisingly sophisticated. Even though the rock ‘n’ rollers still play as hard as ever after more than 45 years of touring, their custom Boeing 737-400 isn’t furnished with zebra-print anything. Instead, it’s outfitted with comfy, brown leather seats, according to Journal Now.”
THAT WAS FAST: Patriots To Sign WR Antonio Brown. “Brown was released by the Raiders after requesting it on Instagram. Before that, he’d posted a video to YouTube using a recorded conversation with Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, asking him to essentially drop the shenanigans and play football.”
As Jim Geraghty tweets, “It all comes down to whether the past few weeks were something of an elaborate ruse by AB to get out of Oakland, or whether he really is as erratic, combative and unstable as he seemed. If it’s the latter, Belichick won’t put up with it for long,” adding, “Somewhere in Washington, Dan Snyder is looking at the Raiders and saying, ‘man, that franchise has problems.'”
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Coffee With the Man Who Used to Be My Wife.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Bernie Sanders’ Latest Terrible Idea: Let Illegals Create Immigration Plan.
TWO BUTTIGIEGS IN ONE!
● Shot: Pete Buttigieg: Americans Eating Burgers and Drinking from Straws Are ‘Part of the Problem.’
—Breitbart.com, Thursday.
● Chaser: Defiant Pete Buttigieg Insists Presidential Campaign Is Worth Killing the Planet – “Buttigieg has spent more money on private air travel—at least $300,000—than any other candidate in the Democratic primary.”
—The Washington Free Beacon, Thursday.
A PARANOID-SCHIZOPHRENIC IS A GUY WHO JUST FOUND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON: In defense of conspiracy theories — Why the Jeffrey Epstein case has something for everyone.
(Classical reference in headline.)
IMPORTANT NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Stop Eating ‘Sexy Pavement Lichen,’ Scientists Warn.
Also from scientists: Don’t Put Wasp Nests In Your Vagina.
MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: U.S. Conservatives Host ‘Pop-Up CPAC’ with Hong Kong Protesters.
And on the flip-side: Is China Trying to Elect a Democrat?
Yes. Next question?
BAN ALL THE THINGS! Joe Biden: ‘I guarantee you. We’re going to end fossil fuel.’
As Kate of Small Dead Animals wrote after the CNN “climate change town hall” horror show, “Don’t make the mistake of thinking they don’t mean it.”
Related: Biden Spent $250,000 on Private Jet Travel in Second Quarter. “Biden has earned millions since departing the White House and has demanded private jets as part of his speaking gig arrangements.”
ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Author Walter Mosley Quits Star Trek: Discovery After Using N-Word in Writers Room.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that season three showrunners Alex Kurtzman — who sources say personally recruited Mosley to the Discovery room — and Michelle Paradise were informed of the complaint via human resources but were not present for the incident in which Mosley allegedly used the N-word multiple times. Sources note that HR called Mosley to inform the acclaimed writer and novelist that typical use of that word was a fireable offense but there was to be no course of action taken against him. Instead, HR informed Mosley that a writer in the room was uncomfortable with it and effectively wanted to ensure he was aware of the studio’s policy.
“Earlier this year, I had just finished with the Snowfall writers’ room for the season when I took a similar job on a different show at a different network. I’d been in the new room for a few weeks when I got the call from human resources. A pleasant-sounding young man said, ‘Mr. Mosley, it has been reported that you used the n-word in the writers’ room,'” Mosley wrote in the Times. “I replied, ‘I am the N-word in the writers’ room.'”
Mosley went on to explain that the individual in HR said that while he was free to use that word in a script, he “could not say it.” Mosley then clarified, “I hadn’t called anyone it. I just told a story about a cop who explained to me, on the streets of Los Angeles, that he stopped all n—ers in paddy neighborhoods and all paddies in n—er neighborhoods, because they were usually up to no good. I was telling a true story as I remembered it.”
Mosley wrote that he is unaware who complained about his use of the word. “There I was, a black man in America who shares with millions of others the history of racism. And more often than not, treated as subhuman,” he continued. “If addressed at all that history had to be rendered in words my employers regarded as acceptable.”
“There I was being chastised for criticizing the word that oppressed me and mine for centuries. As far as I know the word is in the dictionary,” said Mosley. “As far as I know the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence assure me of both the freedom of speech and the pursuit of happiness.”
Mosley, who has a blinding resume as a novelist, appeared as an actor in Denzel Washington’s George W. Bush-era remake of The Manchurian Candidate. And just discovered the hard way that Mao’s struggle session is alive and well in 2019.
ANOTHER SEXIST STEREOTYPE EXPLODED BY SCIENCE: No evidence that testosterone reduces cognitive empathy.
Totally unrelated: Global position statement calls for testosterone formulations for women.
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TOP GEAR COMES TO THE MOTORTREND APP:
For more than a decade, we’ve followed them around the world. Vietnam. The Makgadikgadi and the Kalahari. Bolivia’s “Death Road.” The North Pole and the Transfăgărășan Highway. Starting August 30, Top Gear is coming to MotorTrend—with 24 seasons of classic Top Gear UK (yes, including all the Clarkson-Hammond-May years) in the U.S. and Canada.
Available exclusively on the MotorTrend App, the Ultimate Top Gear Collection launches with 170 episodes of Top Gear UK spanning season 2 through 25, the Top Gear UK India Special, and three seasons of Top Gear: Extra Gear. Plus, you’ll also enjoy episodes 1-5 of the Best of Top Gear compilation, a MotorTrend exclusive.
It’s not perfect — as with the episodes that Amazon streamed up until late last year, some classic bits were removed. Season 10 from 2007 seems particularly hard it. When the show’s storage facility was burned due to arson between seasons, the show’s hosts sat in ratty old furniture and an used an old CRT TV as their monitor for their news segments — and Jeremy Clarkson blamed the fire on rival British car show Fifth Gear (with their approval as a PR stunt):
A gag involving Porsche-designed pipes was clipped out:
And a season nine gag involving Clarkson taking a chainsaw to “the Cool Wall” of car photos when Richard Hammond had the temerity to place a motorcycle on the wall was also snipped:
I’m not sure if these cuts were due to the BBC’s notorious political correctness, or if they were edited out when the shows aired on American TV to make room for commercials, but they’re a reminder that while the MotorTrend’s collection of Top Gear episodes isn’t perfect, there’s a lot here to stream, if you’re a car fan, and fell in love with the show in its Amazon Grand Tour format, and are looking to see the progression from an — almost — sensible car show to its current over-the-top MTV-meets-early David Letterman crazy cartoon format.