Category Archives: Newsroom
Matt Shapiro’s piece on twitter journalism is worth a read. In the age of social media, you can find someone that will confirm just about any cardboard cut-out.
While Dan Scotto and I (and CK Macleod) resist it, Nate Silver reports that Trump’s arguments on the (un)fairness of the GOP primary is winning.
I’m increasingly thinking that a lot of the Title IX rape-handling policies instituted by universities aren’t going to survive court challenges.
Some people were up-in-arms about the guy who got into a lot of trouble for having the Trump flag/sign. But while I typically don’t like such ordinances, isn’t this a pretty clear-cut violation of a fair (if wrong-headed) ordinance?
Not that I am presently in the market, but this is kind of encouraging.
Emmett Rensin’s article on the smug style of liberalism was received by all quarters about as you would expect it to be. BSDI, but not in equal measure.
In one sense, it’s not clear that this is any different than “roughing it” by going camping. Wait… I’m not big on camping either. So really, it’s just kind of weird.
Harriet Tubman, American badass.
Oh, thank goodness. For a second there, I’d thought that the Republican primary had spiraled out of control.
RIP, Friends of Abe.
Let us join in the unity of our disdain for Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
The average Millennial is not exactly what you would expect from reading the New York Times (or, for that matter, The Atlantic).
On the one hand, having tiers of citizenship may well make allowing more immigrants in easier. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like an enduring solution and is rife with problems. For whatever reason, I respond to this the same way some people respond to “regional visas” even though the arguments are kind of similar.
There is more encapsulated in this article about megacities than I think even the author may realize. It is, in essence, a latent confirmation of a vague paranoia about globalism, transnationalism, and those left behind.
As we all know, this is pretty much true. On the other hand, if we’re being honest, never is a Republican suburb more emphatic in its support of the environment as when it has an environmental impact report on the precarious state of Argentinian Garden Snake where that Section 8 housing is slated to go.
Robert Tracinski argues that Donald Trump is an Ayn Rand villain.
Chuck Wendig is not so impressed with Tiny House Hunters. Where there’s a lack of land availability and a lack of money I can understand it, as well as for idealistic environmentalists, but mobile homes are relatively cheap! {via Saul}
Trumwill being Trumwill, I’m kind of jazzed at the prospect of floating houses. {via Jhanley}
Robert Colvile talks of the schools that Katrina Built. Though the most recent data on vouchers in Louisiana isn’t good, the charter school system has produced some pretty solid results.
Yahoo had better hope that Verizon buys it up, because the alternative is just too embarrassing.
This kind of bums me out, because Alaskan Socialism is Socialism I can believe in! {via Jhanley}
The good news is that there are some teaching jobs in paradise that pay $50,000 a year. The bad news is that Hawaii is expensive.
The intersection between church and daycare regulation is… tricky.
Frank Marcopolos says that audiobooks and “earbud content” are only getting started.
Uber found an interesting ally in the Travis County Sheriff’s office, on account of what they believe it does for the prevention of drunk driving.
Even setting aside the Brutalism (yay Brutalism!), these pictures of Hong Kong are surreal.
Joe Carter explains how churches can help the poor by combatting predatory lending.
“Do what you love” is still terrible advice.
There was a train line in Japan that continues to run to deliver one high school student to and from school. Then he graduated and it stopped.
A new study finds that hand-dryers give white blood cells a good work out and make them muscular and strong, while paper towels will let their muscles atrophy as they get lethargic. So I strongly recommend that public restrooms please use hand-dryers.
Virginia Postrel argues that conservatives can make it in the academy, but only if they stop living in the closet.
Attention Michael Cain! Californians are moving to Texas! More seriously, I find the statistic about them moving to states with better business environments uninteresting because isn’t that like 47 of the other states?
Though I was critical of the Minnesota gun firm that made guns that transformed into looking like a cell phone, I find this pretty cool. I can’t tell if I’m being inconsistent.
Erin Einhorn looks at the hardships of Detroit kids that go to charter schools. I suppose it would just be better if we relieved them of that option?
Buyer’s Remorse? More than a third of millennials say they wouldn’t have attended college if they’d known the costs in advance. Is there an argument for a five-year price lock-in?
Leonid Bershidsky looks at Swedish and German approaches to prostitution. I’m somewhat partial to the Swedish model. That the German model created trafficking problems (and other degeneracy) doesn’t compel me to reconsider.
Maybe soda bans and taxes aren’t going to make everybody lose weight.
A new study shows that being a smoker is a cause, rather than merely an effect, of shafty treatment from potential employers. I was pretty meticulous about not showing any signs of being a smoker on any job interview.
Who’s not buying what Bernie Sanders is selling? Soviet refugees, that’s who. Many are, unfortunately, buying what Trump is selling.
I don’t think the problem is that we’re too reliant on GPS, but rather that they are not sufficiently accurate that we cannot be completely reliant on them.
Everybody’s raiding Kansas! Also while we don’t know where the unmatched socks end up, lost phones end up in Atlanta.
Wow! Infertile mice have been made fertile with 3D-printed ovaries.
Back home, there is a term for this: Alcohol Abuse.
Yep, the real story of Denny Hastert sexually abusing kids is the hypocrisy. What else would it be?
Over There, I wrote my piece advocating screwing Trump out of the nomination declining to let Trump become a plurality winner:
Sometimes, though, you can’t just get along. It is my own extreme view that even if Trump gets to 1237 delegates, the party should look for ways to stop him. I don’t expect that they will, for a variety of reasons. I believe doing so would be wrong, in the sense that changing the rules midstream typically is, but wrong in a way that two wrongs can make a right. It wouldn’t be for their own benefit (they would be spat upon), or their party’s benefit (the party would be destroyed), or their party faction’s benefit (no party to have a faction of). It would be for the country’s. I would not be comfortable with the means, but the ends would justify them.
But we’re not even talking about that. I am not comfortable with the means above because, while yes there are rules about changing rules, there is nonetheless every reason for a candidate to believe that if they can round up a majority of the delegates that they are the nominee. Depriving them of that would be cheating and would be “stealing” the nomination. However, the 1237 threshold exists very explicitly for a reason. No major rule change is required to deny Trump the nomination if he fails to reach that threshold. When they were revising the rules to solve Yesterday’s Problem, they easily have said “A majority of voting delegates whose votes count” (ie not those voting for people ineligible under Rule 40b), but they didn’t. They said a majority. As badly as the party tried to rig the rules for a plurality candidate, that was a bridge they didn’t cross. And for good reason.
Nowhere has it been written that a plurality winner automatically becomes the winner or that a convention is a formality for the delegate leader. The West Wing had an episode devoted to it, where the candidate who came into the convention with the most delegates lost to the protagonist. Not only has it not been written, it has not historically even been assumed. Every year journalists daydream of a brokered convention or a contested convention. . That these concepts even exist in our vocabulary indicates that, even pre-Trump, it was known that the plurality winner did not have the nomination democratically conferred on them. The only other time in modern history where nobody came into the convention with a prohibitive delegate count, the convention was contested.
I haven’t terribly much to add here. There seems to be a persistent underestimation to how bad a Trump nomination would be for conservatives and Republicans. That it would amount to a score on a scorecard. Even further, there seems to be an odd dynamic that because nominating Trump fits a certain narrative, that the party is obligated to validate the narrative. A couple narratives, actually, first “The guy who gets the most votes should win” which at least has some logic to it, but also “This is what the Republican Party has become.” So become that, dammit.
This page about sums up where we are on ecigarettes. It’s a news article about a cancer institute that’s somewhat optimistic about ecigarettes that plans to study them… with various “Related” stories embedded with figurative ominous music about their menace.
Statewide minimum wage pre-emption bills are a bad idea for the same reason that setting too high a statewide minimum wage is a bad idea. Different places have different needs, and I think we can handle some patchwork.
Megan McArdle says that the Panama Papers actually reflect pretty well on capitalism, and mostly reflects well on weak institutions and corruption.
Hearing that there was talk of Mayim Bialik being underpaid relative to Kelly Cuoco on Big Bang Theory had me prepared to say “Cry me a river” to Bialik because she is secondary cast, but she’s actually pretty gracious and that’s actually a really hard pay gap to justify. Hopefully she negotiates something better.
Proposed labor reforms in France are not going over well. Even worse, economic unrest is causing alcohol abuse.
Marine Major Mark Thompson (no relation) believes – credibly – that his military trial for rape was badly flawed. He’s fighting it hard. There’s only one problem…
If you’re a smart dude, women in STEM careers may not be the optimal place to look for a partner.
Sweden has a national phone number, which you can call to talk to a random Swede. I don’t know why I consider this such a neat idea since I can’t imagine I would ever do this and I don’t know who would. Maybe a journalist who needs a “word on the street” on some upcoming election?
I don’t think this is how population distribution works. (Or, for that matter, anti-discrimination law?)
In response to a previously linkied piece by Eli Lake on the French police state, Todd Seavey argues that domestic and foreign force cannot be so easily separated.
Unlike some scoffers, I actually think union exemptions to minimum wage have a decent rationale, but I can understand the resentment here.
My daughter is, unfortunately, at the age where I have to watch what I’m watching around her.
An interview with Johnathon Schaech, who you may recognize as the asshole lead singer on That Thing You Do, but is also known for being Ellen Degeneres’s fake boyfriend prior to her coming out.
Outside of Austin, they’re building a village for the homeless with some kind of nice and neat houses.
Since I periodically link to articles on the overaggressiveness of child protective agencies, it’s only fair to link to one where they did absolutely nothing except maybe help cover things up.
I hadn’t heard of the Vyapam Scam in India before. Oy.
Counterfactuals are hard. My view of the Applewhite situation was that he benefited greatly not only because of the org chart but because he was something of a hero who had stored up a lot of goodwill while that’s not the case with Kearney. I don’t honestly think that sexual orientation played a roll with Kearney, though, because coaches having sex with players is something that you just don’t do and get to keep your job. Or do they?
We finally have something closer to an apple-to-apple comparison on at least part of the equation. Louisiana Tech coach women’s basketball head coach Tyler Summitt has resigned upon the revelation that he had a relationship with one of his players:
“It is with great regret that I resign from my position as head coach of the women’s basketball program at Louisiana Tech University,” he said in a statement released by the university Thursday. “I am profoundly disappointed in myself for engaging in a relationship that has negatively affected the people I love, respect and care about the most.
“My hope, plans and prayers are to repair those relationships. I am appreciative of the opportunity I was given to coach at Louisiana Tech. I am heartbroken that my time has ended in Ruston, [Louisiana], but because of my respect for the institution, it is best that I resign. I am hopeful the media and the public will respect the privacy of my family and me as we deal with this difficult situation I have caused.”
This is a resignation rather than a firing, but it was the obvious result. Unlike Applewhite, Summitt was not a hero at Louisiana Tech, but the Summitt is a big name in college basketball to the point that the storied Louisiana Tech women’s basketball program* was willing to hire him at the crisp young age of 25. There also may be a pregnancy involved.
So yeah, if you’re a coach at the collegiate level, straight or gay and black or white, don’t have a sexual relationship with your players.
* – I’m not being sarcastic. There are only three women’s programs that have won over 1,000 games, and Louisiana Tech is one of them. Another is Tennessee, where Tyler Summitt’s mother alone racked up over 1,000 wins.
This doesn’t make sense. I’ve been informed repeatedly that the left-wing lurch of young people has nothing to do with youthful exuberance untethered by sufficient life experience.
In Canada, one cost of nationalized health care is that they become more selective about who they let into the country.
The progress of unisex bathrooms took a hit at the University of Toronto.
Supporters of raising the minimum wage argue that low minimum wages are a drain on the public coffers. True, though so can high minimum wages.
Excellent: Scott Walker signed a bill allowing for alternative certification for vocational educators.
Resolved, boring and dependable guys are the best.
Massachusetts is going after ITT Tech! The venerable institution decided that, among anything, janitorial work counts as IT because there were computers at the facility.
Though there was a lot to like about Obama’s plan for making colleges accountable, this was the sort of thing I was concerned about. (Now, if we could just incentivizing not allowing weaker students, rather than just poorer ones, that could work.) (But, of course, that runs contrary to certain aspirations.)
I guess I’m glad to know it’s not just American parents who are crazy.
Well this seems about right. As when Rincewind falling off the side of the Discworld, what else is there to do?
I think they certainly have their limitations and liabilities of small-rooms-large-commons housing, but I don’t quite think this level of animosity is justified. And really, to the extent that we can get people to buy in, I think this sort of thing should be encouraged.
Hey, look, every feminist right-wing thought I have ever had about the sexual dynamics of young poeple has just been confirmed. {Somewhat related}
Cool kid problems: According to The Guardian, Portland is experiencing an affordability crisis that could prove to be an existential one.
This month, it was really odd to watch a rhetorical contagious appear out from the void and suddenly start appearing anywhere:
@libbycwatson I don't know but my one year old son watching Trump just now said "They all promise to move the embassy, but they never do it!
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 21, 2016
Counterpoint: no she didn't. https://t.co/R6Fhl2RUYV
— Freddie deBoer (@freddiedeboer) March 21, 2016
It was really kind of weird. To answer Watson’s question as to when this became a thing, it was during the Republican debate before the New Hampshire primary. At least, that was when I first saw it. Everyone claimed that their x-year old child entered the room and noticed that Rubio was repeating himself. Coincidentally, Rubio repeating himself is exactly what everyone on Twitter was talking about.
So why did this particular thing take hold? The most obvious answer is that it was a quick way to convey that it’s not just political geeks on Twitter noticing Rubio’s repetition. It’s a tihng! If my ten year old kid is noticing, then this must be really bad for Rubio! It was, of course, bad for Rubio. It’s less clear, though, that it was the debate performance itself than the news coverage afterwards. But if eight year old kids around the Twitterverse are to be believed, it was noticeable by just about anyone who happened to be entering the room.
It’s still an interesting tack nonetheless. Especially given that it, as demonstrated above, continued afterwards. That people will use others as a device is not surprising. That’s the way people are. But why filter complex political issues through children who are least likely to understand them. Partially, I would guess, a desire for simplicity. It’s so simple that Rubio is a robot or whatever. That Trump is a “scary man.” And it feeds into this notion that children are especially enlightened in a way, able to see through all of the bullspit we erect.
Politics seems increasingly geared towards simplistic narratives. I mean, it’s always been the case that we like our stories simple, but with realignment last decade occurring primarily along culture war lines rather than strong adherence to ideology (to whatever extent that was ever the case) and economics. This is not just a US phenomenon. Over fifteen years ago, George W Bush achieved the presidency largely through cultural affectation. This year, in Canada, Justin Trudeau has done the same. There are the saved and the damned. White hats and black hats.
Nobody understands that better than kids do.
Branson’s Virgin America airlines might be gobbled up by Alaska Air. Virgin loyalists will likely be disappointed, but Alaska Air is the best airline around.
Academic tracking is branded as racist by some, but it’s good for minority honor students.
I support localized minimum wages in part because a lot of the jobs affected are not those that can easily be relocated. When you’re talking about a statewide $15/hr minimum wage, though, you’re talking about over 1/3 of the manufacturing jobs in California.
Even if Trump is thwarted, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive the Trumpkins for driving me to vote for Ted Cruz. To be honest, I am still not sure whether he is a phony careerist or a genuine maniac.
If you care about smoking, drinking, and vaping, here’s a helpful index on where in Europe you should live.
Accusations are flying that through “acting workshops,” actors are being forced to pay for auditions. {via Saul}
how-to-hack-an-election/”>hacking elections in Latin America for a while. If the Trump era passes, maybe the GOP should give him a call.
We really, really hate each other. Relatedly, Alan Jacobs riffs off Scott Alexander’s seminal piece on hating the outgroup.
I’ll confess, I was hoping this article would be about Saddam-like body doubles for Ted Cruz.
Melvin Rogers argues that civility matters.
The UK is moving closer to mini-nuclear.
Bren Smith says that seas will save us! Well, more specifically, ocean farming.
Join the Wizard’s Chill Quest. If he’s a wizard, though, why does he need a Kickstarter?
I sort of want to go to this impersonating a Monsanto executive to give Rearden’s speech from Atlas Shrugged.
Vigilantism! With drones! Not sure it’s actual vigilantism, but it’s certainly interesting. Other sex-worker “vigilantism,” though, may be backfiring.
This fog harvesting contraption made me think of Dune. Which, for whatever it’s worth, I did not really enjoy.
Some folks are surprised that Bernie Sanders did so well in Alaska. They shouldn’t be! Without sarcasm, I will say this: Mineral wealth socialism is the best socialism.
The NCAA may have a “women problem” but women’s basketball is not a good example of that. The NCAA and networks put forth a heroic effort into making women’s basketball a major sport, and it just didn’t take.
Though I haven’t seen the new one, I agree with Jack Butler about how great the animated Superman/Batman movie was. Which may be something of a pattern. Also, Jonathan Last’s run-down on the Batman/Superman history is worth reading.
Cavity-free candy? That’s neat.
Stephen Silver looks at Trump in the context of hate speech and anti-PC.
Frederick Hess writes of the isolation of the conservative academic, and Josh McCabe relays what was said in a symposium on the subject.
How gamergate appropriated anime on Twitter and toxified anime avatars.
Ebb. Flow. Suburbs in, suburbs out, suburbs back in. The domestic migration map is pretty cool, though.
Well, yeah. That’s a part of it, certainly.
Dara Lind is outraged by Ted Cruz’s unAmerican plan to secure Muslim neighborhoods, but Eli Lake says he’s basically describing France. Hopefully, these folks will be able to help.
John Burnett and NPR look at Irish illegal immigrants.
Jesse Singal explores the idea that prosecutions should be literally race-blind.
Wait, the Ego Depletion theory isn’t true? I’ve supported nanny-ish regulation on the basis that people have finite will power. Hmmm.
Is disagreement becoming personal prejudice? I don’t know. What I do know is that if you are ever – ever tempted to tag something as the “last acceptable prejudice”… just don’t.