Teh Wimminz Shud Rool

So says WA saintly Senator Patty Murray:

If women ruled the country, the government wouldn't be on the brink of shutting down or defaulting on its debt, according to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

Murray spoke to a largely female audience on Wednesday, at an event that was part of The Atlantic's Women of Washington series.

Things like college attendance and completion make it plausible that the US is headed for gender equality at the very least. Why then the relentless feminist pounding on the victim drum?

Because some feminists aren't interested in gender parity and equal opportunity...because they're using victimology to establish a hard-to-dismantle legal framework for future female dominance? Consider how men are depicted, here for example, in the Lean In Collection. The traditional role of the sexes has been reveresed, not equalized; the males look like adjuncts, not partners. I doubt that's accidental.

I question whether an American gynarchy is sustainable. Maybe it will be sustainable for a time among US whites, whose cultural confidence is being browbeaten out of them. That said, I'm open to the notion that women could run a static, bureaucratic society better than men could. However, I question whether the US can transition to such a society without major quantitative external and internal setbacks. (Of course, especially in a prosperous democracy, the general welfare is often (usually?) a peripheral concern to those who have their eyes set on power.)

" Senate Democrats struggle to define a message that can save their majority"

The above headline is copied from the Washington Post (HT: Instapundit). According to WaPo, the Democrat strategy is to focus on their base rather than on swing voters.

Will it work? Well, I remember a right-of-center blog or two mocking the Life of Julia ads in 2012...until the election returns came in. The mockers completely overlooked that the ads were not directed at them.

The GOP has done well in recent spot elections. Maybe they've learned from losing the 2012 election they should have won, but they're called the Stupid Party for a reason(s).

Jen Psaki, You Go Grrl!!

She responded to Russian aggression in Ukraine with...a tweeted selfie. Who, you ask, is Jen Psaki?---

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was mocked Thursday after posting a photo of herself on Twitter holding a sign that read #United­For­Ukraine @State­Dept­Spox.”

Psaki, who has worked closely with President Obama since his 2008 campaign and is the chief communications adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, is smiling and giving a thumbs-up in the photo.

"Vladimir Putin must be quaking in his boots."

I don't know what's worse, the risible message or th smug look on her face.

2014 = 1914 + 100.

High Tech Rigs Recruitng to Hold Down Salaries

Here. CEO salaries, stock options, and perks, not so much. There was a piece on this some time ago by a Silicon Valley reporter, but not the documentation which has now come out. HT: Instapundit, who writes:

You can see why they want a lot of temporary visas for cheap foreign workers.

A golden age of STEM has been just around the corner for 30+ years. Talk of critical shortages is a cynical lie.

(Again via Instapundit, here's a bit about St. Steve.)

Embarrassing

There's the montage of Putin vs. Obama. That was assembled to make Barry look bad.

It's hard to make that excuse for Michelle vs. Peng Liyuan when they're standing next to each other.

We are governed by people whose primary talent is lying to line their pockets.

Top Web Comics

The site, which ranks indie webcomics via online polls, is here. It surprised me that the great majority of protagonists are female.

(I read science fiction regularly in youth and remain an off-again-on-again reader. I used to thinks nothing of heroines like Telzey Amberdon or Susan Calvin. Now that there is a push to highlight Strong Empowered Women and/or People of Color, I scrutinize potential reads with such protagonists more closely. Great job, diversicrats!)

All-Encompassing Regulation, Selective Enforcement

That's the governing philosophy I associate with today's PC Left and with many on the Right. David French:

For much of my life as a lawyer, a writer, and an advocate for Christian and conservative causes I’ve made a terrible mistake. I can remember exactly when I started down the wrong path. It was the year 2000, and Tufts University had just kicked a Christian student group off campus because the group (*gasp*) required its leaders to agree with the organization’s statement of belief. I represented the group, and when trying to explain why the group’s alleged act of “discrimination” was in fact an act of total common sense, I would say things like, “Would a gay student group want Christian fundamentalist leaders? Would a Muslim student group want Jewish leadership?”
...
I went on to present hypotheticals like this again and again, convinced I was making headway largely because everyone who already agreed with me found them convincing. I now understand that this messaging failed. Utterly and completely. Dozens of universities followed Tufts’ example, and religious free association is precarious, at best, on campus after campus.

...there is no chance that a Muslim student group would be forced to admit a hostile student because that would constitute discrimination against the Muslim student group. (In fact, when I once tried to persuade a Muslim leader to join with Christian groups in protecting religious liberty, he looked at me and said, “The college will never touch us. That would be discrimination.”)

They're interested in power. Justice and good governance are pretexts.

Sex Work: Live and Let Live?

Live and let live has been my attitude, but I've been reading about feminist Duke student Belle Knox/Miriam Weeks's porn gigs. The university's support contrasts with its attitude during the phony rape allegations against the lacrosse team.

Some on the Left use justice as a pretext to grind down traditional values. A caveat from a gay marriage supporter:

When weak, the left preaches tolerance. When strong, conformity.

How did live and let live work out wrt the homosexual community? Sometimes with accusations of bigotry.

If you're going to be innocent as a dove, be wise as a serpent too.

Bravo, Mr. President!

With the kerfluffles in Ukraine, Iran and Venezuela adroitly attended to & with better, more economical healthcare in place, Barry can return his attention to America's real problems: rape culture, homophobia, and white privilege. And climate change and islamophobia, of course.

Why Is Downton Abbey Popular with the PBS Viewership?

Because it's a pretext for watching an all-white show?

I'm such a cynic (who hasn't watched the series).

'No Compulsion in Religion''

Should a binding oath to this effect be a precondition for residency or citizenship?

(With the risk of losing citizenship if the violation is serious enough. While I am skeptical about making distinctions between naturalized and native-born citizens, IMHO there's room for discussion of the above concept.)

Obama Tops Carter's Giving Away the Panama Canal

He's giving away the Internet. (After all the hanky-panky by US spy agencies, he may not have much choice. See this and this.)

Meanwhile, Putin is seizing Ukraine. Weak horse, strong horse...

The elite fools who govern us think there are no consequences to their arrogant stupidity. Of course, their response is to demand more power when the chickens come clucking home.

UN-type transnational kleptocrats would love to tax the Internet, and I bet some American politicians would go along for a cut of the loot. Human progress be damned.

Preaching to the Choir, Not Making Converts

That's the trouble with conservative & libertarian media, IMHO. Suggestion:

...it might be useful to have awards recognizing people who spread the conservative message to skeptics and people who haven’t heard it. Best Conservative Evangelist, with categories like Blogging, Press, Radio, Television, Policy Analysis, etc. Ditto for libertarians.

But nooo...

_____ _____ & Rand Paul & Ted Cruz

Paul and Cruz are running for President. (Paul won the CPAC straw poll for the second year in a row.)

First-term senators with politically extremist parentage and no executive experience...sounds good to me. What could go wrong?

Added 20140311: Which leaves, I suppose, Scott Walker and Rick Perry.

Perry is qualified, but...somehow meh. His apparent strong alliance to the Religious Right puts me off, and, as somebody wrote, No New Texans. Walker me in mind of a sales manager at a used-car dealership, or of Reggie in old Archie comic books. The concocted Bridgegate "scandal" does not change my reserve toward Christie, who always struck me as a lout: more to the point, as a lout who has reached his maximum level of competence. (Instapundit's online straw poll did not even include Jeb "Two Losers But Third Time's the Charm" Bush.)

Don't Give Them Ideas, Rep. Polis

After Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) called for a federal ban on bitcoins, Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) proposed that the government ban paper currency. He warned:

I write today to express my concerns about United States dollar bills. The exchange of dollar bills, including high denomination bills, is currently unregulated and has allowed users to participate in illicit activity, while also being highly subject to forgery, theft, and loss. For the reasons outlined below, I urge regulators to take immediate and appropriate action to limit the use of dollar bills.

By way of background, a physical dollar bill is a printed version of a dollar note issued by the Federal Reserve and backed by the ephemeral “full faith and credit” of the United States. Dollar bills have gained notoriety in relation to illegal transactions...
...
Printed pieces of paper can fit in a person’s pocket and can be given to another person without any government oversight. Dollar bills are not only a store of value but also a method for transferring that value. This also means that dollar bills allow for anonymous and irreversible transactions.

The very features of dollar bills, such as anonymous transactions, have created ubiquitous uses from drug purchases, to hit men, to prostitutes, as dollar bills are attractive to criminals who are able to disguise their actions from law enforcement. Due to the dollar bills’ anonymity, the dollar bill market has been extremely susceptible to forgers, tax fraud, criminal cartels, and armed robbers stealing millions of dollars from their legitimate owners. Anonymity, combined with a dollar bills’ ability to finalize transactions quickly, makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to reverse fraudulent transactions.
...
The clear use of dollar bills for transacting in illegal goods, anonymous transactions, tax fraud, and services or speculative gambling make me wary of their use. Before the United States gets too far behind the curve on this important topic, I urge the regulators to work together, act quickly, and prohibit this dangerous currency from harming hard-working Americans.

Congressman, your heart is in the right place, but be careful what you ask for. The regulatory state would love to record every single financial transaction. We might be shocked to learn how much information they already collect on credit cards, banking, etc.

(Whether the bitcoin implosion will turn out to be partial or complete, one should not forget that technology often/usually advances via trial and error.)

Ukraine Is a Trifle

Yours truly, at Dinocrat:

2. This crisis is nothing compared to what looms ahead. Russia’s GDP is about 12% of that of the USA or EU; China’s, more than 50%.

Wait till the Chinese leadership assesses their economy to be robust enough to underwrite a military of global reach. There are already a few indications, but we ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

Where next? The South China Sea is an obvious candidate, but there are others.

Unusual K-12 Malpractice

The narrative is not unusual: elementary school traumatizes disabled child, punishes him, gets parents in trouble with authorities for suspected child abuse, lies, experiences no consequences. (HT: Instapundit.)

What struck my eye is where this happened: Princeton, NJ. The father is a Princeton psychology professor, composer, and successful writer of children's and literary fiction; the mother is a PhD/MD and also a Princeton professor.

I had assumed that people this successful and accomplished have enough status and clout to be immune from this kind of hassle. Apparently not. (If Princeton, NJ does not offer first-class public schools, who does?)

Trolls Are Not the Worst People Online

Recent reports indicate that trolls can be sadistic, narcissistic psychopaths (Google: "internet trolls are psychopaths").

Even worse are people who foment online witch hunts and lynchings, who knowingly appeal to a community's worst instincts.

Then there are the professionals (HT: Instapundit).

Ukraine and Venezuela

Unless common decency is overriden by something like fear of a despot, a country's military and police may refuse to fire on their own people:

The heads of four Ukrainian security bodies, including the police's Berkut anti-riot units, appeared in parliament on Saturday and declared they would not take part in any conflict with the people.

They represented the paratroop unit of the military, the Berkut anti-riot police, Alfa special operations unit and military intelligence. The Interior Ministry had already signaled its allegiance to anti-government protests under a new minister from the ranks of the opposition.

Which explains why the Venezuelan regime allegedly is importing Cuban troops. (Though I'd like to know who supports the Venezuelan regime and why, given its incredible failure.)

Why Was Microaggression "Discovered"?

Because the multiculti Left is no longer content to monitor speech. They want to monitor facial expressions and body language too.

Heartachingly Poignant

For some time it's been understood that some women submit to sex when all they want is intimacy.

Now a few men are paying online sex workers---paying a premium---for virtual dinners via webcam (HT: Instapundit). They don't want a whore; they want a girl friend, a companion, and they'll pay extra for that.

All the lonely people...

Opposites Attract

That's the title of a WSJ piece stating that couples with traditional male-female roles have better sex lives (HT: Instapundit). Taranto's piece also links to some of the crazier things that have come out lately, like "gender-minimized" dating.

From the Taranto column:

"The less gender differentiation, the less sexual desire." So sex differences are sexy:

What about interracial marriages, then?

Is Amazon Stock A Table-Pounding Short?

Down over 10% from the high...price/earnings of 600 (internet bubble territory...owner distracted by a space company, the Washingtn Post, and who knows what else...

Bargains are a lot harder to find than they were a couple of years ago...free shipping harder to get than it once was (higher minimum and the "Add-On Items")...looks like they're trying to reduce unit size and increase per/unit price in groceries...prices have drifted up so my supermarket is often competitive again...

If I were speculating in the market nowadays, I'd definitely take a flyer on a short or a put.

Added 20140214: The foregoing is not, of course, a personal opinion; it is not investment advice.

Added 20140314: Now, lawsuits:

Amazon claims that a $79 annual membership for Amazon Prime provides free two-day shipping on "millions" of items, but for some products, the company is accused of encouraging sellers to inflate shipping prices, according to two recent lawsuits.

If my Prime membership expired today, I wouldn't renew. It remains to be seen whether Amazon will can do something to change my mind.

Framing 'Inequality'

Framing the discussion in terms of economic inequality obscures the growth of government size and power that has accompanied the growth of economic inequality.

Growing concentration of power is the problem. A serious discussion must not ignore that, if left unchecked, the biggest crocodile (the government) will eventually devour the others. In that sense, today's situation is worse than what Reagan faced in 1980.

Comments January 2014

• On Geithner and the S&P prosecution (gs Jan 23, 2014 @ 13:49:27):

Moody’s, which like S&P was up to its nose in the mortgage disaster, is not getting sued by the government. Maybe it’s coincidental that Moody’s has not downgraded the USA’s AAA credit rating. Maybe it’s a coincidence that Obama ally Warren Buffett is a major Moody’s shareholder.

Looking for crony capitalism? Move along, nothing to see here…

To be fair, Moody's just downgraded health insurers' outlook, citing Obamacare.

• On Wendy Davis:

...
2. Afaic Davis’s character should disqualify her from responsible office. Nevertheless, turning the campaign into a messaging contest about character may benefit her. It distracts from the fact that Republican policies have succeeded in TX whereas Democrat policies have failed in other big states.

Democrats don’t like to compare records with Republicans. Their strategy is to make Republicans run against utopia.

3. Ever since Betty Warren claimed she’s not running for POTUS, the people who bankrolled her are looking for someone to run against Hillary from the left. IMO Wendy Davis is running for governor with the intention of running for President in 2016.

• On climate:

... 2. The polar vortex, taken in isolation, seems plausible enough. However, I don’t recall seeing the shiver-inducing Polar Vortex of Dread being predicted before the current outbreak of cold. (Speaking of currents, there indeed have been warnings that the Gulf Stream might get impaired. However, the Gulf Stream is water. The Polar Vortex is air.)

My prejudice remains that the plethora of parameters and processes in the big climate models is so complex that almost anything can be rendered plausible by cherry picking. That’s not a reason for What me worry?; it’s a reason for more research by smarter, better, more objective researchers.

3. Professor Curry writes:

Is global warming causing the polar vortex?
Posted on January 7, 2014 | 311 Comments

by Judith Curry

In a word, no.

And now for the 2nd question: Does the massive cold air outbreak blanketing much of the U.S. disprove global warming?

Same word: no.

The media are mostly in stupid mode over this one.

I think I’m in love, but the lass is out of my league…

Afterthought here.

• On cheating, in college and later:

In one way it’s worse today, since the powers that be are so deeply dishonest.

I doubt that the cheating problems at our power elite’s prestigious almae matres began with the current generation of students. I doubt that the members of our power elite who cheated in college abandoned that mindset once they graduated.

• On online mobbing:

From one of our host’s links:

Slick and omnipresent television ads from the group’s early years, produced by the same agency that made the Geico Auto Insurance gecko famous, have been replaced by smaller web-based programs. One ongoing effort, “Reality Drop,” helps activists post boilerplate comments to blog entries written by climate change skeptics.
…
Outside the trainings, the Gore group focuses on the digital world, trying to tell the story of climate change and shame skeptics online. The “Reality Drop” program, still in beta phase, allows users to post prewritten comments on articles the group says distort the facts about climate change.

Worth keeping in mind, IMHO.

• On the creative impulse (gs January 9, 2014 at 8:33 am):

1. I suspect that the Muse is largely indifferent to me as an individual. She views me as an instrument for her purposes. Heaven and earth are not humane, Lao Tzu cautioned.

2. Is the Muse sometimes a Siren? We don’t hear much from people whose alluring creative vision turned out to be a life-blighting illusion, but I suspect they’re out there. While some of them were defeated by Resistance, I’m pretty sure that some of them should have taken the road more traveled by. (Yes, in part I am expressing my own self-doubt, and, yes, I remember that Steven has written that self-doubt is a good sign.)

• On Rich Lowry (okay, this one was posted December 31st):

In 2012 Rich Lowry canned John Derbyshire for writing PC-unpalatable things about race relations. Afaic this decision severely damages Lowry’s standing as a cultural dissenter.

Standing athwart history, pleading Not so fast.

Worthwhile writers remain at National Review, but afaic Lowry has done a terrible job overall.

The Fallen Mighty: Little Green Footballs

In 2004 the blog influenced the course of the Presidential election by helping to debunk the forgery of debunk Bush's National Guard evaluations. Subsequently Charles Johnson changed his political orientation, which is his prerogative, whereupon he banned many (most?) of his commenters in a way that led to long-term rancor.

Where did this get him? He is now posting exposés of...Minnesota state senators.

SCOTUS and ACA

Imagine that Roberts had voted to find Obamacare unconstitutional. To this day, the media would be saturated with fury and anguish about Utopia Denied. Roberts may have done the GOP a medium-term favor.

Another situation in which good politics is the opposite of good policy.

Bello's Bellows

Actress-"activist" Maria Bello recently announced she is lesbian "whatever". Her ex and 12-year-old son, "with a wisdom beyond his years", approve. Hurray!

Afaic many changes are continuing to ensue from technology and prosperity, and my overall attitude is wait-and-see. However, I'm surprised that Bello's parents, according toher anyway, didn't at least speak up for traditional mores.

Above all, I'm seriously uneasy about the Nemesis-summoning smugness that spews of Bello's piece and its spinoffs.

Sports Team Names Deemed Racist

The race card crossed my mind when the Florida State Seminoles won the national championship in football, and sure enough... (HT: LI)

Honor a defeated enemy and he'll do all he can to validate your respect. Case in point: the military service of Southern whites. Do the opposite and you'll get the opposite. Case in point: all the prattle about diversity and tolerance.

But progressives purport that American Indians are victims and America is the oppressor. When the mainstream culture honors them, it undermines the Narrative, and must be quashed remorselessly.

Sustainability of Apartheid and "Apartheid"

Iirc apartheid South Africa claimed a right to their territory because whites supposedly arrived on the land just before southward-migrating blacks did. Sounds dubious, but whatever.

Could they have maintained apartheid if they'd created a more or less fully whites-only society, with whites doing the grunt work instead of becoming an ultimately unsustainable privileged caste? Probably not, given the international boycott.

What about Israel and other advanced societies? Does the emergence of robotics change the equation? As for boycotts, an advanced society has more to offer than boycotted South Africa did. For example, while the decadent West turns against Israel to varying degrees, Israel and a rising China are cooing at each other.

Added 20140221: This example of Israeli pride does not overlook the implications.

Caveat: Hubris is not a Hebrew word, but maybe it should be.

The Ban on Incandescent Light Bulbs

It's self-evident that Big Business and the regulatory state have created a predatory arrangement against the consumer. Even so, it's expressed well here and here. (HT: Instapundit.)

Internal Developments in China

25 years ago Deng Hsiao-ping ended struggle sessions. Chinese citizens are allowed to travel abroad as tourists. "Reeducation" labor camps are being eliminated. The Chinese president serves a fixed term.

Maybe China's elite recognizes that an advanced technological society requires a degree of openness. Time will tell.

Afterthought 20140206. Otoh, I've seen reports that China denies entry to foreign journalists who report critically. And there are periodic crackdowns on dissidence and dissent. Per the original post, time will tell.

Applause for Mugabe?!

At the Mandela memorial service.

He wrecked his country, but, hey, he stood up to the West by wrecking his country. Huzzah!!

Addendum 20140103: A milder variant of this kind of behavior is shaping up in the US: with the same kind of heedlessness they picked Obama with, a country which acknowledges the failure of his Presidency may well elect Hillary Clinton as his successor.

Belated Thought About the Obama Selfie Incident

At the Mandela memorial service, Obama took a selfie with the attractive Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. It's disputed whether Michelle was angry (but note that the previous link does not mention her changing places with Obama who thereby was no longer sitting next to the PM).

I am no fan of Michelle Obama:

Michelle Obama’s scowl is so ingrained that, figuratively and maybe literally, it is her expression in repose.

That said, one wonders if perhaps she has reason to scowl. At first blush it seems unthinkable that Barry would fool around like FDR, Ike, JFK, LBJ and WJC did. Why? (Another possibility is that Barry has reason to fool around.)

The WW1 Christmas Truce & US Partisanship

Worthwhile read about the truce here (HT: Ace). Two reactions:

1. Note that the truce only happened early in the war. Subsequently high commands clamped down and the misery of war took its down on latent goodwill.

2. The extracts of wartime propaganda reminded me of (much but not all) commenting in the political blogosphere. For example, the derangement at Little Green Footballs continues apace. Not a promising indicator for the future of American democracy. Ben Franklin warned that at some point a citizenry brings despotic government upon itself.

"Inequality: Government Is a Perp, Not a Bystander"

That's the title of Dean Baker's piece posted by a leftist think tank (HT: Instapundit). Public choice theory is not mentioned; unsurprisingly, people with political axes to grind are not enthusiastic about clear-eyed exploration of their motivations.

Also unmentioned is my notion about taxes and inequality:

From time to time I point out that, given a graduated income tax, income inequality maximizes the government’s revenue, all else being equal. In that sense, notwithstanding protestations to the contrary, income inequality is in the government’s interest—and the politicians know it.

(Otoh, that comment's concern about a VAT proved unfounded. So far.)

IMHO Baker is correct to write that:

Inequality did not just happen, it was deliberately engineered through a whole range of policies intended to redistribute income upward.

But he doesn't go far enough.

(When billionaires ostentatiously call for their taxes to be raised---but don't make donations to the Treasury---, I don't think they expect to lose money in risk-adjusted terms. IMO they are proposing a quid pro quo whereby the government protects their wealth from the vagaries of a market economy.)

Addendum 20140103: Roger Simon chimes in with some good lines, but IMO he doesn't go far enough. Per this post, Simon's "Soros Socialists" get a net benefit from the policies they espouse.

Is this a step toward full socialism? Maybe, maybe not; not immediately, anyway. Even if the statist crocodile eats the sorosians last, for the time being it protects them from attack via the free markets---and fattens them up.

Appalling, If True

A cancer patient who complained about his health insurance coverage being dropped, and an activist who tried to help him, have both been hassled by the IRS. (HT: Neo-Neocon and Ace).

Also astonishing is the claim that existing federal law does not allow cancellation of health insurance to people with life threatening conditions. The question, I suppose, is whether the Obamacare legislation preempts the previous law.

Orbital Tourism for ~$150K?

Eventually, according to Elon Musk.

Wow.

And he'd like to get to Mars for $500K.

Though I wonder if the biological challenges, e.g. breeding and growing up in nonterrestrial gravity, may be more difficult than the astronautical ones.

Norman Rockwell's Refugee Thanksgiving

Here.

God bless America.

Self-Recording Police?

No-brainer! Yes!, I say. Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin (HT: Instapundit) agrees: she required that stop-and-frisk encounters be recorded in parts of NYC with high incidences of such encounters.

1. The Reason article notes that such recordings are a win-win which deters both police abuse and false accusations by unscrupulous citizens. It has plausible suggestions for fine-tuning the policy.

2. It's too bad that this had to be imposed by a federal magistrate, rather than by the mayor or city council. I'm guessing that the elected officials are deterred by the clout of police unions.

Obama's Insurance Turnabout

I'm seeing claims that insurance companies can't adjust their business plans fast enough to correct the situation, even though they're being allowed to.

It's not what goes wrong that concerns politicians, it's who gets blamed. It's entirely possible that the Democrats are already gaming how to blame Republicans and insurance companies for next October's rate hikes, thereby using the debacle to gain votes. It's less likely that the Republicans are on to the possiblity.

Addendum 20131115. I had a little more to say here:

Howard Dean, yes, Howard Dean, was saying he isn’t sure the President has legal authority to allow the cancellations to be revoked.

Iirc, in his swing vote upholding Obamacare, John Roberts said it was not the job of SCOTUS to rectify bad legislation, only to rule on constitutionality. That statement should be put to the test.

Obama’s action should be litigated.

Litigated with a fast track to SCOTUS urged because this might be the most urgent situtation since Bush vs. Gore. And, importantly, litigated while remedial legislation is being pursued and publicized to the extent possible

Addendum 20131116.. This post was in good contemporaneous company: see Via Meadia and compare Politico.

Unfortunately True

This (boldface in the last sentence is mine):

Words that think for us

An accusation of “denial” is serious, suggesting either deliberate dishonesty or self-deception. The thing being denied is, by implication, so obviously true that the denier must be driven by perversity, malice or wilful blindness. Few issues warrant such confidence. The Holocaust is perhaps one, though even here there is room for debate over the manner of its execution and the number of its victims. A charge of denial short-circuits this debate by stigmatising as dishonest any deviation from a preordained conclusion. It is a form of the argument ad hominem: the aim is not so much to refute your opponent as to discredit his motives. The extension of the “denier” tag to group after group is a development that should alarm all liberal-minded people. One of the great achievements of the Enlightenment—the liberation of historical and scientific enquiry from dogma—is quietly being reversed.

HT: Judy Curry.

Cuccinelli Lost. Good!

Today's news: the sun rose in the east, and the Stupid Party stupidly lost another election they should have won.

Upon learning about his meddling with Michael Mann, I had no use for him. The notion of an ideologically motivated prosecutor using State power to assess unwelcome research is horrifying. My low regard for Michael Mann does not enter into the picture.

As I noted here and here, apparently Cuccinelli got the GOP nomination process reconfigured to his advantage. His people changed the process from an open primary not to a closed primary, but to a convention which his people packed.

Like George MacacAllen, Cuccinelli got what he deserved.

PJ Media Gets An Early Jump

Normally the Right waits until after they blow a winnable election to complain that Democrats cheat, but PJ Media's Bryan Preston makes the claim even before Virginia's polls close.

A naive commenter foolishly suggests that maybe Cuccinelli's situation has something to do with his being a terrible candidate. Predictably, a couple of people jump down his throat: Cuccinelli's problem, it seems, is that he is too doggone nice.

I've been tempted to reactivate my PJM registration. Note to self: stay resolute.

For Mayor-Elect de Blasio's Urgent Attention

I gather that deB will end or rein in the program because of racial profiling...and yet, African-Americans are, um, overrepresented in violent-crime statistics. What to do, what to do?

Simple once you think of it: race norming!

Hire a bunch of police to stop & frisk all racial groups in equal proportion. That will be a whole lot of police, but no price is too high to pay to avoid racial profiling. You'll also want to replicate the experience of being frisked by an officer of different race, so most of the new hires will be minorities.

Hurray for diversity!

Unfortunately This Great Idea Has Not Yet Been Implemented Properly

Marxism? Well, that too, but I meant Obamacare.

Maybe this post should have been titled Nobody Ever Lost Money By Underestimating the Intelligence of the American Public.

Another poll, by Rasmussen, is here; NBC poll, here.

The mixed signals from the polls imply that the issue is spinnable. No doubt the political pros, especially the Democrats, are taking heed. Note to the Stupid Party: it's spinnable by competent operatives, which includes you out.

Narratives

The old: The buck stops here.

The new: What difference, at this point, does it make where the buck stops?

The newest: Whatever.

Addendum 20131103: "I won’t be surprised to see the Clintons claim, with a straight face, that everything was fine until Hillary left the State Department."

Civilizational Suicide: The Latest Fashion

Disdain and shaming of couples with more than two children. Instapundit calls it fecundophobia (here too).

Before the financial crisis, Wall Streeters were having lots of kids. So the signals are mixed.

(But of course we can't criticize never-married welfare mothers with multiple children and multiple fathers. That would be racist.)

I Didn't Know This

From a reader review of Harvey Silverglate's Three Felonies a Day:

... between 2001 and 2007 the Department of Justice (DoJ) opened investigations into seven times more Democratic public officials than Republicans.

Curious, isn't it, that this goes unmentioned by the people beating the tom-tom's about the Obama administration's abuse of the IRS?

That corruption is bipartisan does not make it more excusable. On the contrary, the fact that it is systemic makes it more serious.

Denmark Is a Happy Place

In fact, supposedly the happiest country in the world, according to HuffPo.

Why? Gender equality and support for families, among other things.

Sooo...what's the birth rate among these happy Danes? Not at replacement level. Odd that HuffPo doesn't mention that.

NB: I'm not dismissing what the Danes are doing. Maybe they're on to something. I wish them well. They're worth watching. However, it's not yet clear whether they have a sustainable society or whether,drawing down the social capital accumulated by previous generations, they're gracefully extincting themselves. Until their native population becomes self-sustaining (or not), the jury is still out. Their current birth rate makes their solution incomplete, and Incomplete is the grade I give.

They Named It the WHAT?!

Nowadays my life is a solitary one. I neither get out much nor keep up with trends.

Nevertheless, passing by a McDonald's, I was stupefied to learn that the company recently introduced a product they call the McWrap. The director of US marketing explains:

She added that the Premium McWrap platform itself was an example of a menu idea from other areas of the world that McDonald’s imported to the United States.

I'm guessing that they don't speak colloquial English in those areas of the world, nor, apparently, do they do so at McDonald's headquarters.

However, if the few reviews I've seen are any indication, the name is well chosen.

(The only comparison that comes to mind was told me by a plausible source back in the 1980s: some advertising genius pitched to An Wang, the founder and CEO of Wang Laboratories, the slogan Wang: The Chink In IBM's Armor.)

America's Future: California Shows the Way

Poverty. California's is highest in the nation. (HT: Instapundit.)

The GOP's corporatism is little better, if what I read about North Carolina is true.

The problem is the size and reach of government, not which party is in charge. They're both corrupt.

Obamacare and Obama GOTV

Legal Insurrection notes the discrepancy. I couldn't say it as well as David Gerstman did.

In fact I didn't say it as well, but I said it a week earlier.

A Religious Kook, I Suspect

A stenographer disrupted the House. Instapundit says she sounds like an Obama supporter. From the biblical flavor of her rantings, I'm guessing a religious nut. (Could be a congregant of a preacher like Jeremiah Wright, and thereby both.) We'll know soon enough.

Added before posting: Yup, she shouted "Praise be to GOD".

Here'a a Crazy Thought

The USA wouldn't be tied up in knots about the debt crisis if the government didn't have any debt.

Completely nuts, I admit. If anyone should happen to read this, please don't have the mental health authorities track me down.

I mean, who could have possibly foreseen today's precarious mess back when our wise, compassionate and prudent elites were making all those "investments"?

Planning for the Shutdown

Dinocrat notes that detailed planning was required to set up the annoying, visible, and unnecessary shutdowns. Who did it? Who gave the orders?

Yours truly chimes in that this seems a promising plot (pun intended) for digging with the FOIA.

The Queen of Self-Reliance Didn't Tell Me This

States most affected by the federal shutdown include:

—D.C., Maryland, Alaska, Hawaii and Virginia have the most federal workers per capita and are disproportionately affected by the shutdown's immediate impact.

—D.C., Virginia, Alaska,New Mexico and Maryland receive the most federal contract money per capita, which means people in those areas stand to lose even if they don't technically work for the federal government.

—Small-business owners from the Dakotas, Colorado, Alaska and Michigan who are seeking funding are hurt most by an inability to garner Small Business Administration loans, as those states have displayed the highest small-business borrowing rates in recent years.

(Cf. Forbes...and consider the amazing resemblance between the CNBC piece and the prior Forbes one.)

Dukakis and Palin: the kind of "reformer" whose real complaint about the machine is that they're not in charge.

On Commenting in the Blogosphere

Thoughts here:

Yes, some people behave as though being too toxic to interact with means they “win”.

A thought or few have lodged in my brain to keep me sane online (to the extent that I am):

1. I am not obliged to have the last word. Getting (or foregoing) the last word does not mean I’m right and it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.

2. For certain discussions: If an onlooker buys into my interlocutor’s “argument”, anything I say will not change their mind.

3. Some things are not worth the time to talk about.

4. I like to talk with people who have something to offer me, whether or not we agree, whether or not I persuade, am persuaded, or neither. If they have nothing to offer me, why am I talking with them?

And if my counterparty doesn’t view me similarly—it’s highly unlikely that they are Richard Feynman, posting anonymously from Beyond—, why are they talking with me?

5. Unfortunately, my belief in suasion by reason has declined since I went online. Some people in effect demand to be manipulated. (Nor am I necessarily always immune.)

I quit smoking a long time ago. Before taking the last and hopefully final plunge, I knew I'd have to quit eventually but wasn't ready. I'm developing a similar attitude toward comenting online.

That attitude is probably suboptimal. What I should do is develop a thick(er) skin about ignoring people with whom engagement doesn't advance my understanding.

A Simple Reason Why Republicans Lose

Here:

... swing voters distrust both parties wrt hidden agendas. That being so, they understandably vote for the party that offers them free stuff.

Abusive behavior directed at me in that thread was tolerated by the blog owner, whose position it supported. A few months ago I decided between subscribing to Hoyt's site and joining Ricochet. Apparently I chose wrongly and, unless something changes, will correct the mistake unless something changes by renewal time. Yet another reason why libertarians and conservatives lose: they either have forgotten or are unwilling to emulate what Reagan demonstrated about disagreeing without being disagreeable.

WWII Memorial Wired Shut

Disgusting.

Sometimes a little thing is more revealing than a big thing.

Miriam Carey

1. Carey was the individual shot by DC law enforcement. An investigation should be conducted to determine whether unnecessary force was used. Was there a prospect of her gaining entry to high-value government facilities? Was there a plausible risk that she would do harm to high-value government personnel?

2. I'm thinking that some people are disappointed by how this turned out. Case in point (boldface mine):

Dr. Matt
10/04/2013 7:04:16 am PDT

Clint Van Zandt was reporting today that she was paranoid about the government and thought President Obama was spying on her. Wonder how this paranoia was fueled…….,.

The Tea Party made her do it!

3. What was involved in the "lockdown" of the Capitol? Were members free to leave if they wished? It would be a very bad sign if they weren't.

Added: Instapundit quotes Da Tech Guy along the lines of my #1. Not surprisingly, some of his commenters are frothing-mouth crazy.

Addendum 20131008: Instapundit and PJM's Jack Dunphy defend the police, but some commenters at each link aren't buying it.

The Bush-Rove-Delay-Lott Crowd's True Colors, Again

My post at LI:

Trent Lott trashed Ted Cruz…to a Mother Jones reporter.

The prominence of people like Lott and Rove in the previous administration is one reason why my contempt for Bush has not diminished despite the passage of time and his catastrophic successor.

Obama's disaster does not mitigate Bush's failure. "Miss me yet?" No.

Oh Yeah, the Snowden Affair

I haven't joined the Republican screeching about Snowden's accusations because I recall that Bush started, or accelerated, this stuff.

Lately there haven't been too many stories about evil Chinese hackers compromising our security so giving more power to our wise and good government was the only recourse. (Yes, Chinese hackers probably are compromising our security...and some people see that as an opportunity to further erode our liberty.)

Conventional Wisdom

Geniuses and fools disregard conventional wisdom.

Bush and Obama

Both had failed Presidencies, and there are no grades such as F+ and F-. Nevertheless, a distinction can be made:

During a placid interval in USA history---either Bush, for that matter---Bush would have been an unexceptional mediocre President whereas Obama would have been a disaster anytime.

Pigs Attack Chicken

Chicken, Alaska, population 17, was swarmed by an armed government "task force" in body armor. (HT: Instapundit and Fox News.)

Hegel, Insight, and Hindsight

Thread here at ATH. Is criticism of Hegel overdone because Marx adapted him? Dunno. In any event, the line

The owl of Minerva takes flight only at the onset of dusk.

is a fine one.

Marissa Mayer, Microsoft CEO?

It sounds improbable, but aspects of her personality seem Gatesian: the intelligence, the arrogance, the relentlessness, the insane workaholism, the insensitivity...

Never Forget

Very Belated Thoughts on the NBA Finals

1. I don't begrudge high salaries to people who excel. Too many professional athletes don't excel, and collect anyway. Too many are thugs.

Apparently LeBron James is shaping up as an exception. It's good to watch him (hopefully) mature and grow out of his juvenile arrogance.

2. It was a very good series played by well-managed franchises which expressed mutual respect. The saying that It's too bad somebody had to lose applied. A heart wrench for Tim Duncan.

3. The decisive seventh game almost went to overtime. That would have been something else.

4. The whole thing about championships has gotten grossly overdone in American sports. It's reasonable in the pros (though how statistically significant is a narrow win in a seventh game?), but at the college level it's become completely crazy.

Coptic Self-Determination? Arm the Copts?

Makes sense to me, but not to the doofi or worse who are ignoring the Iranian Green Movement.

Bad as their situation is, the Copts may be better off without American support: cf. the fate of Iraq's Marsh Arabs.

The US is not doing enough on behalf of religious communities (Christian, Hindu, Buddhists, etc.) which externally funded Islamists attack. NB: I am hesitant to interfere in internal conflicts, which is why I specified 'externally funded'.

Addendum 20130823. Megan McArdle suggests we offer asylum to the Copts. I had the same thought, but in contrast to McArdle (and Instapundit), I looked up how many there are: over 7 million.

I gradually have been getting disenchanted with McArdle. My guess is that a lot of knives have been sharpened for the release of her book.

The Religious Right: A Glimmer of Sanity?

Maybe. Rising Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore acknowledges that the Religious Right has lost the culture wars. (HT: Rick Moran/PJ Media.)

Moore:

On protecting the unborn, Mr. Moore says he is a "long-term optimist" but "a short-term pessimist." He doesn't get excited every time a poll shows that more Americans are pro-life than pro-choice...

But he also believes that this battle will not be won in Washington: "You have to take it to a personal level." He touts the many faith-based pregnancy crisis centers that not only try to talk women out of having abortions, but also help with child-care, job training and housing—"all of the things that have brought them there in the first place."

Yours trulyy, after the 2012 election:

Social conservatives should stop trying to impose their religious views via the federal government. They should work to devolve social issues to the states: abortion, drugs, gay marriage, assisted suicide, etc.

Or maybe not: it's not clear whether the Religious Right understands why they lost the culture wars in center-right country that Reagan left them. Still, Moore's views are a hopeful development---hopefully not too late---and bear watching. Too bad that socons didn't think this way all along.

Speed Traps Are Sooo 20th Century

Why issue a ticket when you can seize the car and everything in it? In Tenaha, TX for example. The ACLU Apparently has stepped in. (The fever swamps have spilled into reality: I found the previous links here, at a conspiracy forum. Maybe one should say that the expansion of the authoritarian state has carried it into the fever swamps.)


The justification is the Drug War, yet this kind of action is only taken against the vulnerable. As the New Yorker piece notes, Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid was not seized although his sons used it as an "emporium of drugs".

Stillman's New Yorker article makes me wonder about linkage between the Drug Warriors and the Religious Right.

Intelligence and Ideology

Unfortunately, the point is not whether liberals are smarter than conservatives/libertarians (or vice versa). The point is under what kind of system the ruling class is more prosperous.

IMHO a nation with market-based economy requires greater intelligence to govern than a state-directed economy---but the ruling class fares better in the latter. The American Founding may have been an exception.

The NSA Allegations

1. Diane Feinstein says everthing's fine. Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, also Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, say it isn't.

2. Somewhere, Brezhnev is laughing.

Obama and Egypt

After the violence involving the Muslim Brotherhood, Barry is cancelling military exercises with Egypt.

Is he trying to reestablish Russian influence in Egypt, and to establish Chinese?

No, but with the like of John Kerry, Samantha Power, and Susan Rice steering foreign policy, he might as well be.

This is a tough, take-no-prisoners bunch. If you know what's good for you, don't disagree with them---if you're an ally or an American citizen.

Addendum 20130817. Amid their solicitude for the Muslim Brotherhood, has the Administration forgotten that Egypt's military leaders are also Muslims? Just askin'.

Addendum 20130821: While this post was being written, there were already reports of contact between Russia and Egypt.

America's Arrested Development

Radley Balko reports that in 2011 there was one arrest per 25 Americans (HT: Instapundit). The great majority of these were not for violent crimes.

Is this country still a free and democratic society? Seems doubtful, though I'd like to see the historical numbers and comparison to other countries.

Stop Ogling Kate Upton, You Slavering Animals!

The poor lamb was distressed after her first Sport Illustrated swimsuit issue cover:

"After my first Sports Illustrated cover, I felt terrible about myself for a solid month," Upton tells Elle in its September issue. "Every single guy I met was either married or about to be married, and I felt like I was their bachelor present or something. I'm not a toy, I'm a human. I'm not here to be used. I am a grown woman, and you need to figure your s**t out."

So distressed, in fact, that she posed for the cover a second time.

Sad to say, Upton seems to be Republican. Is she positioning herself to run for office once the modelling/acting money dries up?

They Got Me Again!

A week or two ago, cross my heart, I had the idea of proposing that arrests for various crimes be race-normed for "fairness".

But I've been dawdling because the idea seemed abrasive and ridiculous, even for today's craziness.

Well, here it is, for real. They're already doing it in Maryland. I haven't seen anything that so flagrantly reveals that Obama is deliberately dividing the country rather than uniting it.

Richard Fernandez:

...It is not too late. Not yet. But the craziness has to stop now.

If there’s any hope within this editorial it is that the first glimmer of fear is now openly appearing within the liberal establishment. They’re beginning to suspect it’s not going to work; that survival is not guaranteed; Detroit can go broke, the pensions can be forfeit, their writ may no longer run in Cairo and American dominance — indeed their own jobs and lives — are not a given. It has finally occurred to them that the US can lose in the Middle East and beyond; that America can be defeated after all, if they behave stupidly enough.

But one must let them come to this realization themselves, just as if they were the first persons to think of it. Their vanity must be given its due. Because it is all they have. It impelled them to make history’s most stupid luxury purchase: the elevation of Barack Obama to President of the United States. That memory is embarassment enough for anyone. Let them eat crow in peace.

In principle, it is not too late. As a practical matter...

Pigs Kill Fawn

Story here. (HT: Instapundit)

Chinese Genetic Research

Wired on Chinese wunderkind Zhao Bowen, who is researching the genetic basis of intelligence (HT: Instapundit):

He and his collaborators, a transnational group of intelligence researchers, fully expect they will succeed in identifying a genetic basis for IQ. They also expect that within a decade their research will be used to screen embryos during in vitro fertilization, boosting the IQ of unborn children by up to 20 points.

The claim must be taken with salt, given the level of BS in cognitive science. However, IMHO it's likely the timetable, not the outcome, which may be wrong. And there is the potential for catastrophe: see Philip K. Dick's Our Friends from Frolix 8.

American religious kooks will not like this at all. They also won't like the opening of the Wired piece:

Zhao Bowen is late for a Satanic heavy metal concert.

(Satanic heavy metal...in Beijing? Really? This ain't your ancestors' Confucian austerity.)

The nation that invented go is putting down chips where they expect the future action to be. Success is not assured, but one wonders whether or if corresponding efforts are proceeding in the West---and whether there would be political pressure to the contrary (the Precautionary Principle in Europe and America, also the religious kooks in the US...talk about strange bedfellows).

Addendum 20130801. When Westerners sailed into Asia centuries ago, they found the locals entangled in religious and political systems that rendered them unable to resist the incursion. How the worm has turned.

Zimmerman Verdict

Rapper Lupe Fiasco suggests the black community take a hard look at the many cases of black-on-black violence. His tweet got more support than I expected. The forces of chaos are winning, but the forces of good are still around.

Make Valerie Magic Even More Magical!

Background here, here and here, for example.

A couple of suggestions, posted here as a public service.:

1. President Obama, direct America's Poet Laureate to compose an Ode to Valerie Jarrett to be read on prime time TV while video of Jarrett's slum properties is shown.

2. Have the words, or separately commissioned lyrics, set to music and sung, in prime time of course, by a diverse™ choir. Someone whose link I didn't save suggested that the tune be 'To Know Him Is To Love Him'. I suggest opening with that, then breaking into a gospel beat.

"Administrative Searches"...Using SWAT Teams

Radley Balko reports. The raids are misrepresented as administrative exercises so the police don't have to satisfy the criteria for a warrant.

Balko has a book out, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces. It's not within my current budget but I hope it does well. I'd like to hope that people will pay attention.

However, I have a quibble about the title. Warriors fight people who can fight back. Warriors persevere under danger and adverse odds. Heavily armed people in battle armor who break into neighborhood poker games are not warriors. A mot juste escapes me; every phrase I can think of is, to put it very mildly indeed, highly indecorous. Addendum 20130711. Maybe it's not a mot juste, but goon is a word that comes to mind.

America's governance is no longer legitimate.

But we have to give law enforcement the tools it needs, right GOP? Democrats, what have you criminalized today?

Welcome to Another Episode of...Celebrity Urination!

Or defecation.

What else is left to do?

How brave. How transgressive. How challenging of preconceptions.

When they're flouncing around in bondage outfits---but don't call them sluts---(and Fifty Shades of Grey is a bestseller), what else is left to do? Get the American flag involved, I suppose.

NB: I acknowledge the right of consenting adults to do as they please in private. However, a society which tolerates this kind of behavior in public (or has to use the force of the State to forbid it) is in trouble. Decadence.

Addendum 20130710. Reading this, I acknowledge that celebrity masturbation might precede the above. Already sexual fondling can be seen in public.

Happy Birthday & Get Well Soon

My July 4th greeting for the country.

Addendum 20130708: From the Diplomad:

I always have loved the 4th of July. It is pure Americana. No other nation on earth traditionally has shown such joy in celebrating its creation. I have been to lots and lots of national day celebrations around the world. Most are at best joyless affairs, e.g., lift a glass to the monarch, and many involve a lot of whining, e.g., everything bad is the fault of the colonialists. Ours, however, was always an optimistic, happy event...

For the first time, I am having a hard time, very hard time, recapturing that air of optimism. Everywhere one looks, one sees the ravages of the semi-totalitarian ideology that has seized our ever-growing government...

Sexual Assaults in Egypt

From Mubarak's ouster until now, I have viewed Egyptian political turmoil with reserve.

While the Islamists were ascendant, there were at least three Western journalists sexually assaulted in Tahrir Square (I stopped reading the Google output at three): here (Lara Logan), here (Natasha Smith), and here (Sonia Dridi).


Another one during the recent anti-Morsi protests. According to Human Rights Watch (via Drudge) and others, sexual assaults continue to be widespread. They are reasonably well organized wrt how the victim is isolated and her would-be rescuers fended off.

Who is responsible? Is it just Islamists or does a substantial minority of Egyptian males feel free to act this way?

Algeria...and Egypt?...and maybe Turkey?...Iran??

A few years ago, iirc, it was reported as inevitable that Islamists would take over Algeria via a combination of electoral success and insurrection. Yet the military prevailed.

The Algerian example had slipped my mind while I watched the goings-on in Egypt. I wish (sane, decent members of) the Egyptian people well.

I bet Erdogan is watching.

Some dominos are resisting the efforts to topple them.

As events unfold in Turkey and Egypt, what side is Obama on? What side was he on in Iran?

Afterthought: Include Hillary in those questions about Obama.

The Supreme Court and Gay Marriage

I can take homosexual marriage or leave it. Discarding millennia of tradition in a burst of enthusiasm is something I have reservations about. (Millennnia of tradition were discarded when slavery was abolished. Yeah, yeah.)

My fundamental concern is not about the decision's merits or lack thereof, but about what it says about American culture. Seventeen years ago, the Defense of Marriage Act was passed overwhelmingly (Senate totals are here and House, here). Now we are dropping a bedrock assumption of our culture because of the efforts of a small but highly influential pressure group (not because of the merits of legitimate pro & con arguments or the fundamental importance of the issue...spare me).

The DOMA decision suggests the same cultural frailty which the redefinition of 'gay' did.

It also suggests that the country as a whole does not buy the stupidity, corruption, hypocrisy, incompetence, and lunacy of the GOP's religious kooks social conservatives. (Maybe Ted Cruz has the savvy to whip those clowns back into a winning coalition. Though wishing him well, I'm not sure anyone can do it at this point.)

Somewhat OT: Back in '09 I described Meghan McArdle's discussions of gay marriage as classic. Those links no longer work, but the material is archived here and here. Maybe McArdle got tired of paying server costs for her defunct site, or maybe her views have evolved.

Also somewhat OT: I'm for civil unions. When the country is divided on an issue, except in very exceptional circumstances I favor keeping the feds out as much as possible and leaving the matter to the states, or to the people. However, this post is about the cultural implications of the SCOTUS decision, not about the issue itself.

Triskaidekaphobia Done Right

As dicussed here, it is superstitious twaddle to fear the appearance of the sequence (1,3). However, avoiding all numbers which are evenly divisible by...a certain integer...is just sturdy mathematical common sense.

Illegal Bulletproof Vest?!

For what possible reason would body armor be illegal? It's harder for the cops to shoot you?

If the government could, it would remove citizens' right to self-defense. It's doing its best.

When Crazies Make Sense...

...you know things have really gone to hell.

Ann Coulter comes to mind. IF THE GOP IS THIS STUPID, IT DESERVES TO DIE:

Maybe the greedy businessmen now running the Republican Party should talk with their Hispanic maids sometime. Ask Juanita if she'd like to have seven new immigrants competing with her for the opportunity to clean other people's houses, so that her wages can be dropped from $20 an hour to $10 an hour.

A wise Latina, A.J. Delgado, recently explained on Mediaite.com why amnesty won't win Republicans the Hispanic vote -- even if they get credit for it. Her very first argument was: "Latinos will resent the added competition for jobs."

But rich businessmen don't care. Big Republican donors -- and their campaign consultants -- just want to make money. They don't care about Hispanics, and they certainly don't care what happens to the country. If the country is hurt, I don't care, as long as I am doing better! This is the very definition of treason.

Boldface mine.

AVOID THE NEED FOR SPYING USING ONE NOT-SO-WEIRD TRICK, i.e. don't accept as immigrants the populations from which domestic terrorists are recruited.

We have created two huge problems where none existed before -- domestic terrorism and government spying -- all to help the Democrats win elections by changing the electorate.

IMO the ruling class is not not in the least squeamish about spying on its citizens. They've always wanted a pretext and now they've found one. They're not happy about domestic terrorists of course, but they may feel, even if they don't admit it to themselves, that the benefits---to them---outweigh the drawbacks. How do the police justify a police state without threats?

Rubio and the American Worker

Rubio aide:

“There are American workers who, for lack of a better term, can’t cut it,” the Rubio aide told Lizza. “There shouldn’t be a presumption that every American worker is a star performer. There are people who just can’t get it, can’t do it, don’t want to do it. And so you can’t obviously discuss that publicly."

The image at the link captures Rubio's inner sleazebag well.

Ah, don't worry, Marco. Make a speech bashing abortion and all will be forgiven.

What's next? Will the ruling class hire foreign mercenaries to protect them from their own citizens?

Does 'Peer Reviewed' Mean Only Peers Get Reviewed?

After being recently published in prestigious psychology journals, papers from prestigious institutions were resubmitted to those same journals under the names of fictitious authors with fictitious, non-prestigious bylines. 25% of the papers were caught at submission by a small minority of editors and reviewers. The great majority of the remainder, which passed through the regular refereeing process, were rejected for publication. (HT: Instapundit. See also yours truly at ATH.)

(Senior author Stephen A. Ceci studies, among other things, sex differences in cognitive performance.)

...continues surfing for info & links...

Oh, good grief! Speaking of shoddy review practices, Reynolds neglected to note, and possibly to notice, that the Ceci-Peters article was published over thirty years ago. Given contemporary beliefs like Global Warming, No Global Warming, Creationism, Diversity, Blastocysts Are People, etc etc etc, the overall situation might have deteriorated since then (notwithstanding cyber-resources which have become available to check for plagiarism).

Here is a (relatively) recent examination.

Kenneth G. Wilson 1936-2013

My reaction is here:

During roughly the same time frame in which Wilson was doing his scaling-based work, Mandelbrot was formulating (and popularizing) fractals.

In my amateur opinion each was uninfluenced by, and possibly unaware of, the other’s progress. but in a sense they approached the same monolith from very different directions.

Maybe, in part, I did not make a post about Mandelbrot's passing because I prefer a researcher who sticks to his last to one who trumpets in self-promotion.

Even though Mandelbrot's flogging of fractals was arguably necessary to get the concept on the map, his (distinctive and undeniably important) work always struck me as a bit tainted by flakiness and not as deep as he pretended. Wilson, otoh, worked on very hard problems and a cheering section was needed to bring his work to wider attention which remained mostly restricted to the scientific community. Mandelbrot was his own cheering section.

Like commenter King Ray wrote at Woit's blog: Lightspeed, Kenneth Wilson.

Morally Rudderless

1. When the Western democracies are lectured on foreigh-policy morality by a Russian despot, things are very awry.

...After his meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, in opposition to arming the rebels, Putin declared: "You will not deny that one does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines in front of the public and cameras. Are these the people you want to support? Is it them who you want to supply with weapons? Then this probably has little relation to humanitarian values that have been preached in Europe for hundreds of years."

(HT: Instapundit.) Humanitarian values preached in Europe for hundreds of years? That choice of words would leave a mark if the Europeans had any shame left.

2. There was a kerfluffle recently about Putin supposedly stealing the Superbowl ring of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft; for example, see here, here, and here. Obviously there is room for doubt, but in this post I'll take the accusation at face value. Three comments:

a. The pressure put on Kraft to keep silent is yet another indicator of the Bush administration's fecklessness.

b. Discrediting election opponents by getting confidential records is how Obama won elections in Illinois. Speaking of fecklessness, is he trying to operate that way against Putin?

c. Some acrimony existed back when Patriots coach Bill Parcells---not widely viewed as a knight in shining armor---left the team. Iirc columnist Will McDonough wrote a pro-Parcells piece claiming that Kraft's behavior was less than exemplary during the affair. Kraft is an Obama donor. Just sayin'.

Addendum 20130729. Re #1: But David Cameron is for gay marriage, so no biggie about the cannibalism thing. Priorities, you know.

Socons Identify Winning Issue...Abortion?!

Here:

The message at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference: Don’t stop talking about abortion and marriage. “The Republican social issues we believe in are more popular than our economic agenda,” said one speaker.

He may havea point, but not the one he thinks he has.

There are worrisome trends in American culture for which a serious social and political price may be exacted from the nation. However, just because something is a bad idea does not mean it should be made illegal. Just because something is immoral does not mean it should be made illegal.

Moral derpitude is not the answer to moral turpitude.

Computer-Generated Proofs

Despite the all to evident, and dangerous, flaws in our society and human civilization, there are areas where progress continues.

A few years ago, Microsoft researcher Georges Gonthier and INRIA (France) collaborator Benjamin Werner recast the computer-combinatorial proof of the Four-Color Theorem into a logically transparent format Last year, Gonthier and collaborators completed a computer-logical proof of something called the Feit-Thompson Theorm, which has an important role in modern mathematics.

Why might Microsoft be funding this kind of thing?

But the research could also have an impact beyond mathematics. Microsoft hopes to develop a similar system for checking the logic used in computer programs, which could pre-empt some unforeseen bugs that cause programs to crash.

(Also, Bill Gates took Harvard's hardest undergraduate math course before he dropped out.)

Abstruse Goose: All math is applied math...eventually.

Strangling the Space Industry?

The Economist reports (HT: Instapundit):

The first obstacles facing any astropreneur, in the West at least, are America’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations, known as ITAR. Like guns and tanks, almost all rocket systems and space components require a licence for export. This includes shipping them abroad, but a licence is also needed if components are worked on, or merely shown to, a non-American. Tight ITAR controls on commercial satellite technology are reckoned to have almost halved American satellite manufacturers’ global market share since 1999. Space-tourism firms may even need export licences to carry foreign passengers on sub-orbital spaceplanes. Virgin Galactic, one such firm which hopes to start operations in New Mexico later this year, received an exemption from ITAR by designing its procedures so that passengers do not see what happens behind the scenes. But ITAR seems likely to complicate the company’s long-term plan to launch from a spaceport in Abu Dhabi.

Having believed that low-cost foreign entrants had taken away business, I hadn't realized that ITAR had been that devastating.

The article also mentions insurance.

And regulation:

SpaceX, a company that has already made two successful cargo deliveries to the ISS, is modifying its Dragon spacecraft so that it can carry up to seven astronauts. This means working alongside and ultimately being certified by NASA officials, who are writing regulations literally on the job. SpaceX hopes to launch its first manned mission by 2015. If it does not get airborne before the FAA’s certification exemption expires, whether in 2015 or later, the company may face two sets of regulations. “When the FAA does step in, if they have safety requirements that are completely different from the ones NASA has put forward, then we have a big problem,” says Garrett Reisman, a former astronaut who works for SpaceX.

It's likely that FAA and NASA will start a turf war, so expect a big problem.

Finally, of course, the UN.

Commercialization of space is one of the few things that Obama supposedly was good on. But, to quote Instapundit, consistency is not his strong suit. But, to be fair, no one has ever really demanded it of him.

A Retro-Upgrade to the Spoils System?

Instapundit:

Honestly, we might be better off abolishing the civil service and going back to the spoils system. At least then there’s no pretense of fairness, and you know who to blame.

Civil Service professionals overwhelmingly donate to the Democrats (HT Instapundit). When the system has been captured by a single party, the rationale for a nonpartisan, permanent Civil Service has disappeared. In fact, we might be better off with election-induced turnover.

Term limits for senior civil servants? If they're so competent, they will have ample opportunities in the private sector.

There's no good solution because high-level expertise truly is necessary. However, when the system gets partisan enough, the question arises of how much expertise there actually is.