Archive for 2020
January 12, 2020
RIP: Roger Scruton: 1944-2020. “Coming close to death you begin to know what life means, and what it means is gratitude.”
WOMEN ARE LIVING AND WORKING LIKE MEN, AND THEY’RE ALSO DYING LIKE MEN: Alcohol-related deaths have increased dramatically among women, according to a new study. “Over the last two decades, the rate of binge drinking and the frequency of drinking among men did not change, but the same cannot be said for women.” It’s more stressful to live and work like men.
JUST THINK OF THE MEDIA AS DEMOCRATIC PARTY OPERATIVES WITH BYLINES, AND IT ALL MAKES SENSE: Iran’s Messaging About The Downed Airliner Echoes Democrats and Liberal Media.
NEW SOCIALIST “IT GIRL” CONTINUES TO PAY DIVIDENDS: PuppyGate: PETA Comes For AOC… And Her Little Dog, Too.
ANALYZING THE FIRST FILMS OF HITCHCOCK, BERGMAN, AND KUBRICK.
AT AMAZON, Top Books in Military History.
THIS HAS HAPPENED A LOT LATELY: This Year’s Flu Shot Doesn’t Match What’s Circulating. At least this year we’ve seen less sanctimonious lecturing to the effect that you’re basically a murderer if you don’t get a flu shot that’s effective less than half the time.
ROGER KIMBALL: Of Aristotle, Causation and Emojis.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to Train the Fearless Mind. He was known to fans as “Fearless Felix” for his daredevil jumps off the tallest buildings in the world, but Felix Baumgartner lost his Right Stuff while sitting safely on the ground. As he was training for a supersonic jump from a balloon in the stratosphere, he developed a crippling fear of putting on his spacesuit and helmet. The NASA veterans training him figured he’d never overcome it, but he did, as detailed in this excerpt in Medium from The Power of Bad.
FRANKLY, BIKE THIEVES DESERVE THIS. THEY’RE THE INITIAL BROKEN-WINDOWS WINDOW BREAKERS. Visalia Couple Left Bikes in Yard to Lure Thieves, Beat Them With Bats and Post Videos to YouTube: Police.
When I was a kid — like 7-8 — we lived in the married student apartments at Holden Green, right on the Somerville line. Somerville was a pretty tough neighborhood then, and kids would come over and steal our bikes. I organized the neighborhood kids so that whenever one of them showed his face in our area, all the kids would scream “teenagers! teenagers!” (that’s what we called them, though they were probably more like 11 or 12) and throw rocks at them. We weren’t really big enough to hurt them, but we sure were annoying, and made it a lot harder to nonchalantly steal someone’s bike. Bike thefts declined sharply.
WOW: Iranian protesters refuse to walk on US, Israeli flags – watch.
Have any of the Democrats’ 2020 presidential candidates said anything yet?
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOMS: Thousands flee as volcano erupts in the Philippines, Manila airport closed.
I’LL TAKE SENTENCES NO ONE HAS UTTERED FOR $500, ALEX:
LABELS, FIRST AND FOREMOST: “Remember, students. You are not an individual, but a mascot of a notional group…”
…Except when you’re not.
OLD AND BUSTED: Believe All Women.
The New Hotness? Oprah Winfrey Steps Away From Russell Simmons Accuser Doc, Pulls From Apple+.
“I have decided that I will no longer be executive producer on The Untitled Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering documentary and it will not air on Apple TV+,” Winfrey said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “First and foremost, I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women. Their stories deserve to be told and heard. In my opinion, there is more work to be done on the film to illuminate the full scope of what the victims endured, and it has become clear that the filmmakers and I are not aligned in that creative vision. Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering are talented filmmakers. I have great respect for their mission but given the filmmakers’ desire to premiere the film at the Sundance Film Festival before I believe it is complete, I feel it’s best to step aside. I will be working with Time’s Up to support the victims and those impacted by abuse and sexual harassment.”
Apple’s initial characterization of the project left the primary subject’s name out of logline, which simply read: “A brilliant former music executive who grapples with whether to go public with her story of assault and abuse by a notable figure in the music industry. The film is a profound examination of race, gender, class and intersectionality, and the toll assaults take on their victims and society at large.” The official Sundance description confirmed the subject is, as was widely reported, Drew Dixon, who alleged instances of misconduct initially by Simmons in a 2017 interview with the New York Times. The Def Jam Recordings co-founder had served as Dixon’s boss during her time as an executive at the music label. The alleged rape is said to have occurred in his apartment in 1995; Dixon quit the company shortly after.
Flashback: “Actress: Weinstein used Oprah and Naomi [Campbell] to seduce me.”
WILL HE BE EULOGIZED BY THE DNC-MSM? High-level pro-Iran militia commander is assassinated in Iraq by unknown gunmen.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, NAZI BARBIE EDITION: Public university’s sexual harassment policy could ban famous Farrah Fawcett poster.
Dry up, you sorry little prudes.
THE 21st CENTURY IS NOT TURNING OUT AS I HAD HOPED: British mom says theaters shouldn’t allow certain hairstyles after tall woman with a bun blocked her view.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: UMich prof: ‘We have a mad bomber in the White House.’
Meanwhile, President Droney McPeacePrize bragged that he was really good at killing people, and none of the usual “antiwar” people made a stink.
YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BLOG: John Kerry Claims Obama ‘Never Had a Whiff of Scandal’ So Let’s Remind Him Of Some.