URLs du Jour

2017-06-07

■ Good advice today from Proverbs 25:17, once again demonstrating that certain truths are timeless:

17 Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house—
    too much of you, and they will hate you.

I can't help but think that the Proverbialist found himself in this situation, not as the Unwanted Guest, but as the Straining-To-Be-Polite Host.

Today's Getty image is … appropriate.

■ Articles from the latest dead-tree Reason are showing up on the website, and this one is pretty good: Ron Bailey asking the musical question Are Robots Going to Steal Our Jobs? The history of such fears goes back quite a ways:

In 1589, Queen Elizabeth I refused to grant a patent to William Lee for his invention of the stocking frame knitting machine, which sped up the production of wool hosiery. "Thou aimest high, Master Lee," she declared. "Consider thou what the invention could do to my poor subjects. It would assuredly bring to them ruin by depriving them of employment, thus making them beggars."

For those having the knee-jerk reaction "this time is different", Bailey notes that they've been saying that for decades, if not centuries, too.

Imagine a time-traveling economist from our day meeting with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and John D. Rockefeller at the turn of the 20th century. She informs these titans that in 2017, only 14 percent of American workers will be employed in agriculture, mining, construction, and manufacturing, down from around 70 percent in 1900. Then the economist asks the trio, "What do you think the other 56 percent of workers are going to do?"

They wouldn't know the answer. And as we look ahead now to the end of the 21st century, we can't predict what jobs workers will be doing then either. But that's no reason to assume those jobs won't exist.

Good article.

■ The WSJ editorialists note yet another big problem with Trump: The Buck Stops Everywhere Else.

Some people with a propensity for self-destructive behavior can’t seem to help themselves, President Trump apparently among them. Over the weekend and into Monday he indulged in another cycle of Twitter outbursts and pointless personal feuding that may damage his agenda and the powers of the Presidency.

You may have heard about that. Particularly egregious was Trump's petulant bashing of London Mayor Sadiq Khan; even worse was his backstabbing of his own Justice Department.

If this pattern continues, Mr. Trump may find himself running an Administration with no one but his family and the Breitbart staff.

Yes.

I don't know if the WSJ's paywall is breachable, sorry if it isn't.

■ An ill-tempered but amusing and insightful essay from a blogger calling himself "Dystopic": Marxism: A Cross Between Mean Girls & Lord of the Flies.

Marxists live and breathe power politics. This is the whole of their existence, their singular purpose: to seize the property of others and redistribute it, setting themselves up as the fulcrum by which society is measured and weighed. I know better, says the Marxist, you must obey me.

I don't know if the "Marxist" label is accurate or useful. I usually go for "progressive", which has its own problems.

■ Some good news here: Betsy DeVos appoints campus free speech advocate. Liberals are flipping out. The nominee is Adam Kissel, the post is "Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs".

Kissel’s career highlights include working at institutions dedicated to protecting free speech at universities like the director of the Individual Rights Defense Program and vice president of programs at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. A key issue for Kissel is the low standard of evidence needed to convict a college student of sexual assault and harassment, reported Inside Higher Ed..

Among the flipper-outers is Senator Patty Murray, who pronounced herself "deeply troubled". Which is good. Senator Murray has been one of the leaders advocating degraded due-process rights for students accused of crimes.

■ Lest there be any doubt: Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman.

Israeli actress Gal Gadot was five months pregnant with her second child when she did reshoot scenes for the movie that included a climactic battle scene.

She was the best thing about Batman vs. Superman. Specifically, her smile, about seven seconds into this 19-second clip:

■ Finally, Mr. Ramirez on pollution sources:

[Liberal Hysteria]


Last Modified 2024-02-02 4:51 AM EDT