Sunday, June 30. 2013
If, coulda, woulda, shoulda about history may not change it but does change our understanding of what happened and why. The two gravest mistakes the US made in Vietnam were to participate in, even bless, the overthrow of President Diem and then to not use our overwhelming force to bring North Vietnam to its knees.
The overthrow of Diem in 1963 upended the South Vietnamese pacification efforts and disrupted the organization of the professional army, requiring the large-scale US involvement. The failure to then use our massive force, especially in the air on North Vietnamese strategic targets instead of sending multi-million dollar planes against cheap trucks, allowed the North to extend its reach and prolong the war.
Mark Moyars wrote the book "Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965." It details how Diem's efforts were succeeding and were destroyed by the coup. In the June 29 Wall Street Journal (behind the paywall) Moyar reviews three other recent books that come to the same conclusion. Wise guys in Washington should not be in such a hurry to think they can superimpose their ideal of Western democracy where the foundations have not been laid and in the midst of war requiring unified stern measures.
Of historical note is, not only in 1964-5 the failure to bring to bear the Joint Chiefs' recommendations for strategic targeting of the North, but how in 1970 there was a similar failure of will in Washington. As President Nixon showed in 1972 by launching such a ferocious air attack on Hanoi and Haiphong, the war could have been shortened and many thousands of lives saved. Rear Admiral Joe Vasey was right hand man to Admiral John McCain Jr, Commander-In-Chief Pacific Command during 1968-1972. In an exclusive to this blog, for historical record, Joe Vasey has agreed to publish the below "after inaction" report on what could have been in 1970. (My apologies for the spacing below, due to copying-pasting from an email.)
Continue reading "What could have beens in Vietnam"
Readers know that I consider the trend in Psychiatry to obsess about diagnoses and nosology to be a silly pursuit. From Gary Greenberg's latest:
(Dr. Alan) Frances has become the loudest and most influential public voice questioning the DSM’s latest revamp. “The fact that we had a descriptive system only revealed our limitations,” he says. “If you believe that labels are only labels, you don’t want to keep changing the language arbitrarily. It just confuses everybody.”
Frances has been warning everyone who will listen that the newest DSM revision will turn even more of human suffering into mental illness and thus into grist for the pharmaceutical mill. I once asked him whether he thought a good definition of a mental disorder would establish a bright boundary line that would definitively sort the sick from the unusual and keep psychiatry in its proper place.
“Here’s the problem,” Frances said. “There is no definition of a mental disorder...”
Cui bono?
 A friend drove a Tesla msp85 around 100 miles last weekend. The guy knows cars. Said it was the best car he had ever driven, by a long shot.
He said the power, comfort, and design were stunning. Goes about 400 miles before a 6-8-hour recharge with the super charging device. Consumer Reports says it's the best car they have ever tested.
I don't want one, even without the $125,000 price tag of that model. I'd be happy to try one out, though.
Each Tesla is made to order. When you think about it, they basically run on coal but the coal-burning is remote.
In British Columbia. h/t Adrenalist
As I noted in yesterday's morning links, we've recently seen a reprehensible display of cheap sensationalism from muckrakers claiming that the 1996 crash of Flight 800 has all been a massive conspiracy.
Speaking of hoaxes and conspiracies, you might have heard that some glory-seeking and/or mentally-deficient morons are claiming the explosion aboard Flight 800 back in '96 was — and I hope you're sitting down — a government cover-up! That's right, it was a missile, either accidentally fired from a U.S. warship during exercises or a deliberate act of terrorism; your choice. And the government is keeping it all a secret because of, er, um, because it would be really-really embarrassing for everybody on the international stage. That part — along with who fired the deadly missile — remains a little hazy on the details.
Regardless, this delightful little theory has the same problem the 9/11 'Truthers' had. By the time you figure in all of the people involved in the investigation over three years, plus all of the outside people like those operating nearby airport radar units that tracked the crash, you are counting upon hundreds of people to keep silent for the rest of time eternal. In an age when everyone's 15 minutes of fame is just a YouTube video away, isn't it interesting that not one person has ever come forward, protected by shadowy face and encrypted voice, and said "I was working for the NSA/FBI/CIA when Flight 800 was shot down, and here's what really happened that fateful day." Not one.
The problem is that conspiracy nuts are exactly like global warming alarmists. You can show them graphs and videos all day long but it won't do the slightest bit of good. But, like AGW, it's still fun to try.
To wit:
— Not brought down by enemy fire, check!
— Not brought down by friendly fire, check!
— Not an external explosion at all, check!
— Gas tank blew up from an electrical short circuit allowing high voltage to enter a low-voltage line, check!
— Flaming fuselage, still under power, streaked upwards after the nose cone broke off as witnessed by hundreds on the ground, check!
— Sensationalistic muckrakers opening old wounds for nothing but greed dragged out to the street and publicly flogged, unchecked!
The full episode is here.
One thing to note is that while it mentions that a handful of gas tanks have blown up over the years (lightning, sabotage, engine falling off), electrical short wasn't on the list. The implication is that this was a pretty rare event and that the equally-sensationalistic documentary continually screaming about how this could happen at any moment to any airplane in the sky (!!!) was quite a bit overblown.
And the same might be said of Boeing's reaction. While it's certainly caring of them to put in an 'inerting' system, all that'll do is add another quarter-ton of weight to the plane; weight that'll have to be compensated for somewhere else, possibly impairing the integrity of the aircraft. Merely replacing the wiring would have accomplished the same end. When they talk about the 'chain of events' that lead up to an airline disaster, about nineteen factors had to line up perfectly in order for the high-voltage line to arc into the low-voltage gas tank line in the first place, plus the perfect abrasion on the gas tank sending unit allowing the spark to occur at all.
On the other hand, this raises a key point. While the FAA has been criticized over the years for only taking action after a horrific accident has occurred, this is obviously a highly unjust complaint because it's simply impossible to predict everything that could go wrong on such a complex craft and the tremendous pressures it faces at altitude.
But when something does go wrong, the FAA is to be credited with making damn sure it won't happen again. Glancing over the Mayday airline disaster documentaries indicates that, with one glaring exception, not one accident whose mechanical cause was even suspected ever repeated itself. In many cases it was equivalent to the now-mandatory inerting system; that is, probably a serious overreaction, but the bottom — and only — line is that the tragedy hasn't happened again.
The one exception was the rear door popping off a DC-10, way back in '72. The FAA took the manufacturer's word for it that it'd be fixed, but two years later it happened again, this time with the explosive decompression taking out the plane's hydraulics and a loss of 346 lives.
That's when the FAA learned a valuable little lesson in 'trust' and started officially covering the bases, with the resultant sterling record of no repeats. There will always be the occasional piece of fuselage ripping off because of some metal rot that no one spotted; the occasional bird strike as well as the hopefully-rare control tower mix-up resulting in either an in-air or on-ground collision, but the crafts, themselves, seem as solid as they'll ever be.
The last stat I read:
You have a greater chance of being stung to death by bees than you do of dying in an airplane. So, just stay from any bee hives and, statistically, you should be good to go!
Psalm 16
16:1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
16:2 I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
16:3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
16:4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.
16:5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
16:6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.
16:7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
16:8 I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.
16:10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.
16:11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Saturday, June 29. 2013
We linked Megan McArdle's piece on the Oregon study a while ago: It's possible that medical insurance doesn't make us healthier.
Why would it? Does fire insurance prevent fires? The main purpose of medical insurance is as bankruptcy insurance.
She begins:
Even though I'm a product of public schools and my mother just retired after 40 years as a public school teacher, I do not send my children to public schools. Instead, we are huge supporters of classical education, sort of the opposite of the progressive model employed in public schools across the land...
Bird Dog's a little busy this weekend so I'll be doing today's morning links. I believe he and the missus took off for the annual Two-Seed-In-The-Spirit Predestinarian Baptist All-Gospel Revival & Review that's currently playing in downtown Connecticut. Those New Englanders really know how to shake a tambourine, don't they?
By the way, did I ever mention I own one of these?
It's a Guild F-212, a somewhat rare animal. I bought mine in 1968. What makes it special is that it's a 12-string but it doesn't have that usual monstrous 12-string body. It also has a standard 6-string neck, so while it's twice as hard to learn how to play, once one does, one can just fly because the fingers don't have to move twice as far as on a regular wide 12-string neck. It's a real honey.
But enough about me! Let's get to the links!
Interesting News
Men With Guitars Deemed More Attractive
Hey, what a funny coincidence!
U.S. Discovers 'Miracle Drug' — Film at 11
So, along with curing athlete's foot, gout, lumbago, cancer, dandruff and other assorted ills, we can add to the list...
Marijuana: The Next Diabetes Drug?
And, in what I'm sure many will consider the height of irony...
Study: Cannabis May Prevent Brain Damage
Get the low-down on the evil killer weed here.
The Evolution of Computer Virii
Computer Virus v1.0 (Windows):
Malware Infects 30 Percent of Computers in U.S.
Computer Virus v2.0 (Apple/Mac):
Apple Releases Major Security Update for OS X
Apple to Support Staff: Don't Discuss Mac Malware
Researchers Find Signs of Zombie Macs
Android, Apple Face Growing Cyberattacks
Apple is the New Hacker Bulls-Eye
Computer Hacking Group Targets Apple in Latest Attack
Apple Macs Hit by Scareware Attacks
Malware Attack Specifically Targets Mac Users
Apple Macintoshes Targeted by Porn-Based Computer Virus
Hidden Security Worms May Loom in Apple's Future
New Trojan Swipes Mac Passwords
Kaspersky Labs: Apple's Security 10 Years Behind Microsoft
Apple Triggers 'Religious' Reaction in Fans' Brains, Report Says
Is Apple Fandom a Religion?
Are Apple Product Launches Like Religious Revivals?
Managers Can't be Afraid to Toss Out Bad Apples
And now, Computer Virus v3.0:
Smartphone Hacking Comes of Age, Hitting US Victims
But even as smartphone users in Asia are beginning to suffer exploding bills and emptied bank accounts at the hands of hackers, U.S. users largely remain safe and blissfully unaware of the gathering threat.
Not for long.
As famed author Thomas Wolfe once said, you're either on the bus or you're off the bus. Staying a step ahead of the smartphone hackers sounds like a good bus to be on.
The Fawning MSM (part MMMDLXVII)
It's just disgusting the way the press protects the White House when a Dem is the current occupant. Remember all that talk about WMD and the Iraq War back in the Bush days?
Well, fifty thousand lives were recently lost due to a horrific WMD attack, but do you see any mention of it in the press? Of course not. Apparently, if it doesn't happen in Obama's own back yard, it's just not worth bothering with. But tell that to the fifty thousand innocents who were gassed to death!
Memorial Scheduled for Sunday at Wilsonville
Related: another horrific WMD attack on innocents reported here.
Asking The Toughies
Question: How do you embarrass famed blogger John Hinderaker of Power Line blog?
Answer: Link to his latest article on global warming:
Global Warming Alarmism In Twilight
The one teensy, eensy little flaw in this otherwise idyllic scenario is that it escaped the attention of almost everybody else on the friggin' planet.
From Live Science just a few days ago:
Without Action, Warming to Decimate Species Diversity
Roughly one third of common and widespread animal species and over half of plant species will disappear from a large percentage of their current ranges if society does not take action on climate change, the research team predicted.
It's a good thing they're not stooping to wild hyperbole, isn't it? The point is, this was approximately the twentieth article I've read with the term 'climate change' in it since John's post came out three weeks ago. All you have to do is click on every link that has anything to do with the natural world and there's an 80% chance it'll be there. I was warning about such complacency three years ago. The juggernaut continues its remorseless pace and these twilight articles do more damage than good.
As far as the decimation of species goes, I'm with the Darwinists on this one:
The amusing side of the "Global warming will cause mass extinctions" claim is that we have absolutely no idea how many species there are to begin with. So, if you don't have a starting number, how do you know when there are "less"? Estimates range anywhere from 100 million species to 300 million, depending upon how far down the microscopic scale you go. When it comes to actual critters, by far the majority of species are insects, traditionally the hardiest of all creatures.
And, of course, why a temperature rise of a few degrees would reduce the number of species is never quite explained. Even if we assumed they couldn't adapt (and any believer in Darwinism would agree that's a pretty big if), for every species that finds it just a wee bit too warm and dies off, another heretofore lesser species will find the warmer temp a blessing and thrive.
Nature's real big on that 'balance' stuff.
Indeed.
Never A Dull Moment Dept
Speaking of hoaxes and conspiracies, you might have heard that some glory-seeking and/or mentally-deficient morons are claiming the explosion aboard Flight 800 back in '96 was — and I hope you're sitting down — a government cover-up! That's right, it was a missile, either accidentally fired from a U.S. warship during exercises or a deliberate act of terrorism; your choice. And the government is keeping it all a secret because of, er, um, because it would be really-really embarrassing for everybody on the international stage. That part — along with who fired the deadly missile — remains a little hazy on the details.
Regardless, this delightful little theory has the same problem the 9/11 'Truthers' had. By the time you figure in all of the people involved in the investigation over three years, plus all of the outside people like those operating nearby airport radar units that tracked the crash, you are counting upon hundreds of people to keep silent for the rest of time eternal. In an age when everyone's 15 minutes of fame is just a YouTube video away, isn't it interesting that not one person has ever come forward, protected by shadowy face and encrypted voice, and said "I was working for the NSA/FBI/CIA when Flight 800 was shot down, and here's what really happened that fateful day." Not one.
3 Reasons to Doubt the TWA Flight 800 Conspiracy Theory
Flight 800 Conspiracy? Where's Proof?
Disaster Buff Corner
Speaking of mysterious airline disasters, for those of you who enjoyed my article on Flight 447, the most recent 'greatest airline disaster mystery', there's a seriously in-depth article here on the loss of the USS Scorpion in 1968, the 'greatest sea disaster mystery' of its time.
On a semi-related note, right after Benghazi I read some comment about how it reminded the guy of the USS Pueblo, the first U.S. Navy ship to surrender in 150 years and a story quickly swept under the rug by an ever-obliging MSM with Democrat Lyndon Johnson as prez, and I thought the guy made a good point. I eventually blundered across an article on the parallel here.
Political News
Remember that guy landing a Cessna in Red Square a number of years ago? Well, some activist named Harry Atwood landed a biplane (of all things) on the White House lawn in order to prove how poor our security was, and he certainly succeeded. There's no question that if he'd been a terrorist carrying a small nuclear device, our government would have been paralyzed for years, so it's only right that serious steps be taken.
"I've already implemented a federal mandate entrusted to me by the powers of the Patriot Act whereupon DNA sampling and implanted GPS tracking for all citizens will immediately be implemented," said President Obama to a nation stunned by the near tragedy. "We need to do this for the children."
ACLU president David Shear admitted that he had to side with the president on this issue. "Not only did the Patriot Act grant the power of presidential fiat during such perilous times as this, but the American people are strong and resilient and they're aware small sacrifices must be made in order to have a more secure nation. I'm getting my own implant this afternoon."
The pilot, identified as Harry Atwood of Dayton, OH, was unavailable for comment.
Daring Aviator Lands on White House South Lawn
Daring exit question: Might Harry have been an NSA plant??
 As I Walked out one Morning
As I walked out one evening,
Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
Were fields of harvest wheat.
And down by the brimming river
I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
"Love has no ending.
"I'll love you, dear, I'll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,
"I'll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.
"The years shall run like rabbits,
For in my arms I hold
The Flower of the Ages,
And the first love of the world."
But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
"O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.
"In the burrows of the Nightmare
Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
And coughs when you would kiss.
"In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.
"Into many a green valley
Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
And the diver's brilliant bow.
"O plunge your hands in water,
Plunge them in up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
And wonder what you've missed.
"The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
A lane to the land of the dead.
"Where the beggars raffle the banknotes
And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,
And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,
And Jill goes down on her back.
"O look, look in the mirror?
O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.
"O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbour
With your crooked heart."
It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
"The voice of his generation." Wikipedia has a good summary of Auden's life. A versatile wordsmith and a very smart guy.
Friday, June 28. 2013
Instapundit found this: The Tyranny of Choice.
Fortunately, in America one is free to make the choice not to patronize a therapist who thinks like her. I think she imagines that her problem with freedom is everybody else's problem too.
I'd bet $5 that she is "Pro-Choice." Short version: I think she is as absurd as Cass Sunstein, a "soft totalitarian" whose choice is for me to follow their choices.
Being reasonably sane, I don't need anybody to share my choices in life. This video critique is pretty good, but takes her too seriously.
Madness Made Them Great - Thomas Jefferson, Steve Jobs, Estée Lauder, and Charles Lindbergh suffered from the same mental illness.
I do not think any professional would term obsessionalism to be a "mental illness." It's a character trait which exists on a spectrum, more common in men than in women. A good dose of it can be highly adaptive in life. Too much can be paralyzing.
 The Life Of Julia, Amnesty Applicant
DOJ Defunds Patriotic ‘Young Marines’ Group For Crime of Loving God
Mayor Bloomberg Insists on Statewide Ban on Sparklers
Next, he'll require us to wear rubbers when it rains
Most minority students are better off without racial profiling and double academic standards for college admission
Anybody in America can go to college. Whether it's worthwhile is another question.
Who's afraid of the Big Bad MOOC?
The author of that piece is.
What's Really 'Immoral' About Student Loans - It's not so much the interest rates charged. It is, rather, the principal of the thing.
Agreed.
This guy thinks the very concept of gay marriage is sicko:
If indulgence in vice makes you special and gives you status and privileges, why are only sodomites being so favored?
Powerline on immigration:
...the Bill authorizes somewhere between 30 million and 60 million new legal immigrants over the next ten years, 90% of them low-skill and low-wage. The Democrats hope this will create a mammoth and permanent underclass that will be forever dependent on government for security, and will reliably vote Democrat for generations. Certain business interests hope the bill will deal a crippling blow to America’s working class, driving down wages and providing an inexhaustible supply of cheap labor.
Mexico Slams Border Plan, But Protects Its Borders
Mexico wants these people to leave
Sultan's Bike Lanes to Nowhere:
The streets of Manhattan are full of smiling white yuppies riding their Citibank bikes, blue lights flashing as they sail through midtown traffic. But the great rack of bike share bikes planted next to a housing project is filled with its cargo of blue vehicles. No one is checking them out here. Instead black kids sit on the locked bikes, occasionally fitfully pedaling them, going nowhere.
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad MOOC? (Me.
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad MOOC? (Me.)
 I am opposed to prison time for much non-violent crime. In fact, I don't even want Bernie Madoff in prison, living on my nickel at around $70,000/year. I'd rather see him shamed, shunned, fined unto poverty, and working as a greeter at an Orlando WalMart after spending a few weeks in the stocks on Wall St. or downtown Miami.
He would have made an excellent WalMart greeter.
I am also opposed to prison time for drug possession and, in fact, I am opposed to drug prohibition generally. Drug prohibition causes violence and craziness, makes drugs expensive, and feeds gangs and gang warfare.
This is not an endorsement of meth or heroin or even pot use, just pointing out that prohibition doesn't work and costs society more in the long run. If people mess up their lives and make themselves stupid with abuse and addiction, it should not be my problem. The prohibition is what makes it my problem.
Here's an article: Responsible Prison Reform.
"Legal" does not mean that you have to approve of it.
How will I die: The high cost of death
However, death is still slightly cheaper than divorce.
 Why Warp Drives Aren't Just Science Fiction
Is the digital camera dead?
The Child Prodigies Who Became 20th-Century Celebrities
Insty found this: Just Do It: How One Couple Turned Off the TV and Turned On Their Sex Lives for 101 Days (No Excuses!)
That's middle age for ya
GM to Invest $691 Million in Mexico
That's our $
The NSA presents a grave threat to liberty, but the pundits just talk about the Snowden sideshow.
The End of Fannie and Freddie?
Why are mortgages the government's business?
A right to gay marriage?
Why is marriage the government's business?
Farewell, Ataturk - An Islamist vision of the future
Hollywood braces for the Obamacare that Hollywood wanted
Corzine Officially Charged By CFTC For Filing False Reports, Commingling Funds And Other Violations
Major essay by Pethoukoukis: Taming the Megabanks
Illegal immigration: "My suspicion is that the Senate Dems actually don’t care if the House
stops the bill. In that event, all they have to do is scream that the
Republicans are racist immigration enemies."
China resettles two million Tibetans, says Human Rights Watch
France's Socialist Government Told To Slash Spending
Hannan: Banging On About Europe is a Winner
Climate Change Deception Easy Because Most Don’t Understand
STUDY: Networks Air over 90 Global Warming Stories, Ignore Lull in Temperature Trends
James O’Keefe’s Rules for Radicals - The right-leaning provocateur has a new book out
When Helen Keller Confronted the Nazis
Thursday, June 27. 2013
When people ask whether there is a constitutional right to gay marriage, I can't understand where they are coming from. The people do not have enumerated rights. It's the federal government which has enumerated powers. It's about freedom from the federal state.
I am not aware that the power to regulate marriage is among the federal powers. The case for polygamy:
As a man, I can only imagine how much more efficient it would be to have one wife in the workforce and another wife at home with the kids. This would be much better for the children than shipping them off to some nursery school. And having three parents is a lot better than having just one … or none.
How about two wives working on Wall St., one wife home with the kids, and the dude fishing and hunting all day? Well, I guess that would not be very manly in today's world and might not attract committed women.
We recently posted the report that Google is not particularly interested in interviewing American grads with college degrees.
The fact is that the meaning of Higher Ed has changed in the past 100 years in the US. In 1900, around 2% of Americans had BA degrees. That was a meaningful socio-cultural marker, but as the numbers now exceed 35%, and as even the most elite schools do not seem to know what their mission is, it no longer means very much more than a piece of paper required to manage a McDonald's store.
For a couple of decades, as BAs became commonplace, graduate degrees seemed to become more meaningful and popular as markers. Now, however, we are overrun with unemployed and marginally-employed MAs, PhDs, JDs, D. Divs, and MBAs with huge loans and no way to pay them off. And, assuming that MOOCs begin to take off thanks to the internet, there will be far less need for Profs.
Voegli has written a very important essay on the topic: The Higher Education Hustle
One quote:
How do all the other tenured, morally self-congratulatory educators live with the knowledge that many of their students, after having had their narrow certainties and provincial visions broken down, face years of indentured servitude? We can begin to understand by thinking of the 2,774 U.S. institutions that (as of 2010) grant bachelor's degrees as being in the credentials business rather than the education business. The Daily Beast's Megan McArdle, summarizing an interview with economist Bryan Caplan, points out that it's "actually fairly easy to get a Princeton education for free, as long as you don't want the degree: just walk in off the street and sit in on the classes. It's unlikely that a professor will kick you out, or even notice." No one does this, of course, since no matter how much you might have learned auditing courses, your degree-less self will fare no better in the job market than will the next autodidact.
Many students do the opposite, however: earning, or in any case receiving, college degrees after learning as little as possible. After all, writes McArdle, college students "cheer when class is cancelled. This makes no sense if the goal is accumulation of human capital. In no other business are customers excited to get less than they were promised."
Large public universities, where millions of Americans enroll, are especially conducive to the avoidance of intellectual exertion and achievement. As John Merrow, a journalist specializing in education, discovered in 2005 after investigating academic life at the University of Arizona, "learning seems to be optional." Many undergraduates, in the words of one administrator he interviewed, are "‘maze smart'—they have figured out what they have to do to get through: buy the book, find out what's going to be on the exam and stay invisible." Another spoke of the "mutual nonaggression pact," in which the professor gives the students high grades for mediocre work, and the students give the professor generous evaluations for indifferent teaching. As Arizona's dean of students acknowledged, "We have a lot of students whose motivation for coming here is to get a good job. They think, ‘How do I get the grades?' instead of trying to learn."
Like most of us Maggie's Farmers, I get my education now via a pre-MOOC. If you like to learn, that's what you do. It used to be called The Teaching Company, but now it's called Great Courses. Once you're hooked, you will never waste time on TV or movies again.
Books are good, too. Some students give it up after a paper credential, but some use it as a launching pad for a lifetime of curiosity and intellectual pursuits. In my view, the latter are the only ones deserving of a liberal arts education.
 NYC's 12 best sushi places.
Some of these places are tiny (eg 9-20 seats) so you need reservations. A friend likes Kuruma the best. Bring plenty of cash.
Omakase means "I'll trust the chef" but for me, hold the Sea Urchin. Hold the sake too. I prefer beer.
 It's estimated that Bob Dylan has given more than 2,500 performances in the past quarter century
Learn Why Rubbing Your Dog's Ears Is A Natural Sedative
How the Civil War Changed Your Life - 8 things to think about as we mark the conflict's 150th anniversary
8 Ways That Young People Are Getting The Shaft... And What To Do About It
Another IRS Official Refuses to Testify Before Congress
A book: An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies
Crossfire Returns
Repairing America's Unhealthy Relationship with Student Debt
Why governments and politicians really don’t have the ability to design an intelligent national health-care system
Where Was the Tea Party in the last election?
Why vote for Hillary? Because Hillary wants you to vote for her.
The Abolition of Racial and Ethnic Preferences
Obama’s Climate Obsession
It has nothing to do with climate.
Sen. Manchin: It's war on America
Do Democrats Really Want a War on Coal?
Giuliani: Obama Can't Stand Up to Putin
Obama's only enemies are his fellow Americans
U.S. Spends More, Gets Less in Education
Affirmative Action: Who Does it Help, Who Does it Hurt?
It hurts kids of Asian background
Congratulations to Gay Americans Who Are Now Eligible for the Tax Code’s Marriage Penalt
Are Racial Preferences Now Entrenched for Decades?
Are Racial Preferences Now Entrenched for Decades?
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