Pun Salad

The Makers of CeraVe® Skincare have declared today National Winter Skin Relief Day. So get out there and moisturize.

• Today's pet peeve: labelling your stupid policy proposals as "common sense" or "smart". Today's example:

  President Obama advocated for more gun control measures in an editorial he wrote for the Harvard Law Review on Thursday.

  In a lengthy essay titled “The President’s Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform,” Obama urged the country to “take commonsense steps to reduce gun violence” while celebrating the executive orders he has enacted.

  The about-to-be-ex President's essay contains multiple occurrences of "commonsense". (I don't know why he spells it like that.)

  • "… adopting commonsense measures to keep firearms out of the hands of those who are a threat to others or themselves …"

  • "Here are commonsense steps that I am hopeful could be accomplished in the next few years,…"

  • "I believe we can take commonsense steps to reduce gun violence that are consistent with the Second Amendment.…"

  • "Congress should pass the kinds of commonsense reforms supported by most of the American people …"

  Even more common is "smart":

  • "… the Department of Justice has made important changes to federal charging policies, starting first and foremost with the “Smart on Crime” initiative …"

  • "… equal justice depends on individualized justice, and smart law enforcement demands it."

  • "One promising proposal in my second term was the Smarter Sentencing Act,…"

  • "… smarter ways to integrate new technologies, like social media, to enhance public trust and public safety …"

  • "A few years ago, the Department of Justice also launched the Smart on Juvenile Justice Initiative …"

  • "… I have pushed for reforms that make the criminal justice system smarter, fairer, and more effective …"

  Now, let it be said: it's not just Obama. Or even those on the left. Everybody wants to be on the side of "common sense". Everybody wants to be "smart".

  But slapping "smart" or "common sense" into an argument is pointless, dishonest, and lazy:

  Pointless because it never adds anything useful to the discussion;

  Dishonest because it's almost never true, it's just there to sound good and sway the easily gulled;

  Lazy because it's not an argument; it's meant to substitute for an argument that the writer is unwilling, or unable, to make.

  Bottom line: don't tell me you're smart, and that your proposals embody "common sense", show me. I bet you can't.

• At Reason, Baylen Linnekin notes Congressional efforts to protect us all from the dangers of…

  Last month more than 30 Members of Congress wrote a letter to the FDA asking the agency to require makers of non-dairy milks—including almond, rice, and soy—to stop using the term "milk" to describe their milk. The congressional letter is ridiculous, and reeks of a mix of unconstitutional protectionism and unconstitutional restrictions on free speech.

  Leading the effort is Rep. Peter Welch (D-Ben&Jerry's). A little searching finds the referenced letter; NH CongressCritter Ann McLane Kuster signed on to the ridiculosity. (My own CongressCritter/Toothache, Carol Shea-Porter, has only been in the job a few days, give her time.)

  I like Linnekin's alternate modest proposal: the dairy industry should be required to label their own product more honestly: not "Milk", but "Cow Milk". I would go further. In the interest of providing consumers useful information, the cartons should replace "milk" with "cow lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum". Which is actually shorter than the full legal definition. But I don't want to be unreasonable.

• Back in the campaign, Trump issued a list of his possible Supreme Court picks. On the list was Texas state Supreme Court Justice Don Willett. That wasn't enough to make me vote Trump.

  Yesterday's print WSJ had a funny article: "A Week in the Life of Justice Don Willett".

  ICYMI—
  
  "A Week in the Life of Justice Don Willett"—in today's print edition of the @WSJ.
  
  cc: @PulitzerPrize https://t.co/t0UksKWwbd

  — Justice Don Willett (@JusticeWillett) January 7, 2017

  From the article:

  I’m probably the tweetingest judge in America, which, admittedly, is like being the tallest Munchkin in Oz. Americans can debate whether the judiciary remains government’s “least dangerous branch” (Hamilton’s description). But “the branch with the costumes” (my daughter’s description) is certainly the least understood.

  Fingers crossed that Trump will keep this promise, in this specific way.

• A team of geniuses has figured out how to get two Google Home devices to literally converse with each other. The result is pretty amusing.