The National Front in France is allegedly gaining support among gays.
David Harsanyi wants you to know that you’re not actually a hero.
Matthew Walther is not a big fan of Paul Ryan’s anti-smoking sentiment, brought to light on account of his need to detoxify the Speaker’s office. I am somewhat sympathetic to Ryan’s plight – especially since he doesn’t have a DC residence, though it does actually kind of make me glad he didn’t run for president…
… because Obama’s seemingly reasonable regulatory regime for ecigarettes is looking worse and worse with each passing month. It’s far enough in the future that the next president will have a lot of influence over what’s going to happen. The decision looks more like a punt.
Is institutional racism (against minorities, to be clear) responsible for substance abuse deaths among whites?
The biology of morning sickness. (This is not a hint that Clancy is pregnant. Elizabeth Stroker Bruenig is, though!)
I’m not laughing at all about The Jeb Scenario. He’s still #3 on my poll position, and I think I might be too bearish. {More}
Also, the whole bit about Jeb helping a National Review reporter with tips on how to clean her room is kinda cool.
Some black voters may disagree, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar believes that Ben Carson is perpetuating black stereotypes by denying science. Not sure about that, but he does carry some black comic book character stereotypes (wherein black characters tend to fall into one of three categories, one of which is being incredibly successful and smart).
Orac looks Ben Carson and why intelligent people aren’t always skeptics. Somewhat related, from 2013, Tea Partiers know science.
Though I think there was a window of opportunity for him to run, Romney would not be wise to enter the fray now. He could possibly do his party a lot of good by endorsing Rubio, however.
Say what one will about the Tea Party, but no faction of the GOP has done more to recruit minority candidates.
I recently linkied about the extreme measures taken against students deemed troubled. On the other side of the ledger, take them out of regular classes may be good for everyone else, especially the smart kids.
Boom. Students who go to liberal arts colleges earn less.
Doran Larson makes the case for open prisons.
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Re: Heros/Bravery/Courage – YES!
Real heroes drive hybrids….
Only one person looks bad in Matthew Walther’s piece and that’s Matthew Walther. Who cares that “taxpayer money” was used to get the smell out of Boehner’s office? It isn’t Ryan’s fault that Boehner smoked.
Besides, Boehner has the excuse of being 66. Ryan is only 45 and knows better. Anyone under 40 who smokes is a loser, anyway.
Screw you, too, buddy! 🙂
I thought Walther’s piece was overwrought. Or would have been overwrought if it weren’t WFB fodder.
I’ve always been kind of curious as to how people from our generation got started smoking. I’d had the anti-smoking propaganda hitting me full blast even before I started kindergarten. Did you just not believe it, or believe it but for some reason not care, or what? Or were they not really doing that where were from?
I… didn’t think I would get hooked. Which, given that my Mom was hooked, was even more stupid than is typical.
Aside from that, it was a vehicle to socialization. It was a window in time when you were forced into an area with other smokers, and there were other smokers around.
1) I never heard of WFB before, so I didn’t know that the tone was par for the course over there.
2) How can anyone hate Rage Against the Machine?
You should be more thorough in reading Linkluster links!
3) I had forgotten that just because you provide a link doesn’t necessarily agree with the link.
Some of Harsanyi’s examples about misuse of “heroism” strike me as off, or at least partisan (even though he does criticize righties as well as lefties):
I think neither Breyer nor Alito are being particularly “brave.” (Of course, he said Alito is “braver” compared to Breyer, not that the justice met some absolute standard for bravery/heroism.”
(As an aside, “fearlessness” doesn’t equal “bravery” or “heroism.” To my mind, if someone is afraid to do something, but does it anyway, they’re braver than someone who does it fearlessly.)
All said, though, I agree with Harsanyi’s basic sentiment about the overuse of “heroic,” “courageous,” and “brave.”
These are good points.
good for everyone else
ICYMI, I made a comment in a similar vein two linklusters ago
Yup. That comment inspired me to move that link up the queue.
I dislike the practice of calling cops and firefighters heros. Doing the work you’re hired to do does not constitute heroism.
I agree in general, but occasionally they do actually do something pretty heroic, then they earn the label.
Note that my definition of heroic is usually much more discerning than that of police leaderships, since they tend to give out citations for bravery, etc. for things like courageously shooting the Corgi during the SWAT raid, or not turning tail & fleeing at the first sign of trouble.
Re the troubled vs gifted students thing… I seem to recall reading that the easiest way for a school to increase its average on standardized tests is to focus on helping the gifted students improve.
Yesterday’s loss might be personally embarrassing, but you aren’t any worse off than you were before.
Yeah, but injuries. We may not win another game this year, sadly.
You should be more confident 😉
We’re never going to lose another game!!