We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Other than to stay out of trouble, that is. From Quillette. It begins:
Today we are witnessing an irrepressible and admirable pushback against the specters of ‘cultural relativism’ and moral ‘nihilism.’ On the Right, thinkers such as Patrick Deneen and Jordan Peterson have responded to an increasingly cynical postmodern culture by arguing for a return to traditionalist and/or local values. More centrist thinkers such as Steven Pinker and Sam Harris have argued for a return to the Enlightenment’s emphasis on using reason and its handmaiden, empirical science, to develop an ever more objective set of ethical norms. And even on the far-Left, radical thinkers such as Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek have levelled scathing attacks against postmodern relativism and ‘totalitarian’ identity politics, calling for a return to ethics properly understood...
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old... They literally know nothing... We created an echo chamber... They were saying things that validated whatever we had given them to say."
Obama White House aide Ben Rhodes, describing how the Obama admin clowned willing journalists for 8 years.
These complex astronomical machines were all the rage in Medieval Europe after they had been brought by the Spanish Muslims from the east. Chaucer wrote about them with enthusiasm. Early versions seem to have been separately invented in China and in Greece.
Astrolabes were rendered obsolete by sextants, telescopes, and timepieces but are still used for instructional purposes.
Well-meaning white progressives... treat black Americans more like the family pet than the family friend, condescending to praise us when we align with their views, and ferally attacking when we don’t. The conversation about race in America has been framed by progressive media and co-opted by the Democratic party to supplement the coalition that supported Obama during his presidency—presumably in the hope that blacks would gratefully support Hillary in her run for office. But Democrats have come to take the black voting bloc for granted—even though 44 percent of black voters consider themselves moderate and another 27 percent consider themselves conservative, black Americans still overwhelmingly vote Democrat (90 percent).
The idea behind giving professors lifetime tenure is that this will enable them to speak out freely. But it would be hard to name any other occupation with a more cowardly record than academics, who have been giving in to politically correct campus bullies ever since the 1960s.
Yes. It's been a trend since the early 20th century. I think it's been fashionable for a long time to be condescending elites. This black immigrant professor sees the BS in it all.
Arthur Laffer wrote the Republican tax policy on a cloth napkin in D.C. restaurant on September 13, 1974. It read, "If you tax a product less results/ If you subsidize a product more results./ We've been taxing work, output and income and subsidizing non-work, leisure and unemployment./ The consequences are obvious!" with an image of the Laffer Curve in the middle."
Mark Perry, an economics professor at the University of Michigan at Flint and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, recently calculated that his university has nearly 100 diversity administrators, more than 25 of them earning over $100,000 a year. Collectively, they cost the University of Michigan, with fringe benefits, about $11 million annually. Adding in other costs such as travel and office space expenses, the total cost rises to perhaps $14 million, or $300 for every enrolled student at the U of M in the fall semester 2017...
Lefty Harvard Math Prof Eric Weinstein is Brett's brother. Like Brett, a rational calm lefty. I find Shapiro smart as a whip but annoying, and the 3 ads are annoying too but it's good to hear people have a serious talk.
Eric Weinstein joins Ben from the shadows of the intellectual dark web to discuss the lack of free thinking on the Left, the costs and benefits of low skilled vs. high skilled focused immigration, and how the Facebook monopoly negatively affects online publishers.
Why would they think politics has anything to do with it? The authors seem overly worried about science skepticism. I think skepticism about the latest "science says" reports is the only rational approach. Indeed, besides curiosity and intelligence, skepticism is a hallmark of a serious scientist.
Science is not a list of eternal truths. It's a tool, a respected method for testing hypotheses for the purpose of theory-building. It's not a faith. Due to countless factors, the results of this testing tool are frequently in error.
Since I am American, I tend to consider people as individuals rather than as a part of any kind of statistical group but at the same time I know that cultures and subcultures can heavily influence individual life choices and goals.
What is of interest to me with any person are basic questions: "What are your goals in life, and how do you plan to pursue them?" It should not be surprising than many people have non-economic goals.
You have your house in Kensington, a flat in Manhattan, get-aways in the Cotswolds, Scotland and Ibiza. Your kids all have trust funds, your first wife is set up very nicely, you have your collection of clubs and art. You have hot- and cold-running help and a cute, sexy personal assistant. You have your favorite charities for world peace and world health. You have a million friends. You do not have a yacht because you get seasick.
Still, your spare cash is burning a hole in your pocket. In a post-austerity UK you need advice from The Financial Times on How To Spend It.
No deep psycho-social comment needed from me. All I can say is that this is not the Yankee Way, not the Yankee Code. I am a live-and-let-live, to-each-his-own guy, but a $35,000 Audemars Piguet gives me a momentary spiritual depression.
nb: I want everybody to be as rich in money, or in life, or in love, or in self-respect, or in fun and diversion, or in relation to God, as they desire. I really don't care too much what others do. Life is brief, so true to myself is second highest on my list. True to my realest instinctual self would be ugly indeed.
I was reminded about how much the American press loved Trump until he was nominated, and thought about how much the American press and intelligentsia loved Russia until Trump. The Dems, Obama and Clinton, wanted to cozy up. Then I thought about how much the American left hated the FBI and the DOJ until Trump.
You get the feeling that Trump is living rent-free in a lot of heads, and controlling their brains. Mind games.
Put yourself in Trump's shoes: a highly successful businessman, in the latter years of his life, taking on the Herculean task of running for and winning the U.S. presidency. In victory he finds nothing but abuse, scorn, and betrayal, by friend and foe alike. He is surrounded by landmines, his intelligence community plotting a path to make sure he steps on one landmine after another. This is a journey few mortals would undertake or survive.
Is it any wonder he is pushing back against those trying to destroy him and his presidency, including the FBI, DOJ, and CIA, all in the thick of seditious activity against the duly elected president? He has few friends in Washington, D.C.; many who should have his back are eager to bury a knife in it instead.
The simplest explanations are often the best. Walk a mile in Trump's shoes, and his actions make all the sense in the world. A guy chosen by ordinary people, trying to make America great again despite so much of America trying to stop and destroy him. How would any rational person behave when standing in Trump's shoes?
“One of the consequences of such notions as ‘entitlements’ is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.”
“No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems – of which getting elected and re-elected are number one and number two. Whatever is number three is far behind.”
Story is that the tuxedo was indeed invented (and named after) the exclusive and still exclusive private neighborhood of Tuxedo Park, NY.
It was especially taken up by the youth at the turn of the century, who hated the fuddy-duddy formal wear, and dinner wear, of the time copied from aristocratic Brits. In 1889, the tux was accepted as appropriate wear in the Dress Circle at the Met Opera. Officially, a tux is considered "semi-formal;" but the meanings of formal, semi-formal, etc have devolved rapidly in the informal direction for two generations.
Nowadays, "black tie" evening weddings, for example, means tux, not tails. Nobody owns tails outside the royals and, for the past two generations in the US, events with tails are considered pretentious and in poor taste. Rented costumes. No royals in the USA.
Most women will say that all men look best in a tux, and absurd in tails. As time goes on, my need for my nice Brooks tux (had it for at least 30 years and wore some holes in the pockets) decreases each year. Last year, I only needed it twice. Suits seem fine for weddings and fancy holiday parties these days.
These complex astronomical machines were all the rage in Medieval Europe after they had been brought by the Spanish Muslims from the east. Chaucer wrote about them with enthusiasm. Early versions seem to have been separately invented in China and in Greece.
Story is that the tuxedo was indeed invented (and named after) the exclusive and still exclusive private neighborhood of