Elsewhere (256)
Heather Mac Donald on a certain newspaper of record:
The day after the New York Times informed its readers about the “professional” world of astrology, it ran a front-page story about ICE agents’ alleged reign of terror in Atlanta, Ga., under the Trump administration. This reign of terror consists in targeted enforcement raids against individuals like an illegal Mexican who has been deported twice, served time in prison, convicted of two domestic-violence incidents, and charged with rape which he plea-bargained down to a lesser crime. The number of illegal alien law-breakers in Atlanta is so high that one is booked into a county jail every few hours, reports the Times. The Times notes with dismay that illegal aliens are being arrested for driving without insurance and without a licence. Apparently Times reporters would not mind if their car were totalled by an uninsured driver. A reporter for the Spanish-language newspaper Mundo Hispanico sends out Facebook alerts of sightings of ICE agents so that illegal aliens can evade the law. Yet we are supposed to believe that it is the Trump administration that poses a threat to the rule of law.
Apparently, readers of the New York Times are expected to concern themselves with the violation of their borders by illegal aliens only insofar as illegal alien status is to be construed as excusing other criminal activity.
Peter Wood on perverse art and its admirers:
Take the elevator to the sixth-floor offices of the college president, however, and… you will find… a celebratory exhibit of art created by the friends and allies of the 9-11 terrorists… The paintings and the models in the show are unremarkable as art. They display no special skill or aesthetic sensibility. That has not stopped Erin Thompson and her two fellow curators from attempting to squeeze whatever portentous meaning they can from the paintings. For example, in reference to a painting of a glass vase, a bottle, and two cups, by Ahmed Rabbani (a member of Al Qaida who trained as a terrorist in Afghanistan), the curators observe in the exhibition notes, that the “empty vessels also serve as an oblique reference both to Rabbani’s absent family and to his acts of self-denial and resistance.” What you won’t find in these paintings is any trace of repentance. These artworks are by terrorists and their accomplices who seem untouched by the monstrousness of their actions. They can wax sentimental about their own families and can draft images of hearts and flowers, but pity for the victims of their jihad is beyond their imagination — at least their visual imagination.
Curiously, or perhaps not curiously at all, the reasons for detention are downplayed or entirely absent. Nor is there any mention of released detainees’ recidivism rates. And despite the claims of artistic and sociological heft, there is, as Peter Wood notes, a baser motive in play – the wearying, juvenile need to be seen as transgressing bourgeois proprieties: “What better way to rile people than to celebrate terrorist art at a college that educates students for careers in law enforcement?” In New York City, no less.
Somewhat related, this video here, in which students share their views of the exhibit, and of course this somewhat revealing faculty profile.
As usual, feel free to share your own links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments.
Note that while our fearless sociology lecturer won’t debate Ben Shapiro, he does like the idea of dislocating his arms.
I love how this clown talks about “my degree, my REAL degree, not like a law degree, which you get for memorizing a set of facts…” Shapiro graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004, at age 20, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, and then cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2007. The reason this clown won’t debate Shapiro is because if he did, Shapiro would wipe the floor with his ignorant ass…
It was inevitable, simply reporting on the idiocy of the Clown Quarter is “violence”.
Yeah, “critical work” authoring articles in a circle jerk journal red by tens, and the likes of their valiant stand against imaginary censors hasn’t been seen since Bastogne. If only their intellects were as large as their delusions of adequacy…
Irish villagers claim Pfizer-owned Viagra factory pollution is driving population explosion.
Original article.
Oh, I live for the links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments!
Monty James, this is your lucky day! Among the Links and Snippets, behold…
https://www.mamamia.com.au/arm-vagina-jennifer-lawrence/
…the ARM VAGINA!
I’m not as worldly as I thought I was. Thank you, Pogonip. You’re the one who initiated me into arm vaginas. It’s like I’m fifteen years old all over again.
This feeling I have is soooo wroooong.
His “real degree”? He’s got degrees in sociology. Gimme a break. And check out the comments on RateMyProfessor:
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=2236864
Seems he’s a harassment lawsuit waiting to happen.
It’s a good thing I dug out the old chastising ottoman.
Make yer own Empire.
I love how this clown talks about “my degree, my REAL degree, not like a law degree, which you get for memorizing a set of facts…”
Alas, our lecturer in sociology seems not to realise that his rather desperate and juvenile self-flattery, all that ‘I’m-So-Ace’ chest-puffing in front of teenage students, reveals him to be pretty much the opposite of what he pretends. As with fellow sociology lecturer Robert Weide, who also responds to the prospect of debate with threats, slander and childish public meltdowns, you have to wonder how these emotionally immature mediocrities found employment in the first place.
Tim Newman ponders that famous feminist charisma.
Utterly and entirely unrelated.
Hi Monty,
This seems to be the week to realize, with a start, that “Good Lord, I HAVEN’T seen it all!” 😲
Utterly and entirely unrelated.
I often wonder if these females do their grocery shopping at Planned Parenthood. PP can’t sell *all* that morally-irrelevant protein to scientists after all. Waste not, want not! Reduce, reuse, recycle!
I’m sure he would prefer a surgeon who had “merely memorised” where all the bits go to one with a “real” degree.
In Shane Warne’s day it was said that there was at least one bleached arsehole in the Australian team.
Regarding Tim Newman’s post, he asks, “Is their [Feminists–ed.] obnoxious personality a result of their failing to find a decent partner, or is their failing to find a decent partner a result of their obnoxious personality?”
I’m inclined to the latter explanation, inasmuch as I’ve met too many people over years who seem incapable of being content with anything. I’m not sure how such a personality develops, but it exists. I once asked a close relative who displayed such traits and was a general drag on any family gathering, what personal benefit s/he derived from his/her constant anger, bitterness and dark spirit? Of course, there was no answer, and I’m not sure many of these sorts of people actually realize the effect they have on those around them.
A week or so ago, we were treated to the annual ritual of Leftist articles about how the Thanksgiving Holiday sucks, because life sucks and everything is horrible and how dare you be so prosaic as to try to count your blessings. Such an attitude is inevitable when your world view consists not of blessings for which you should be grateful, but of “privilege” for which you must feel guilt.
So too, the misanthrope–feminist, leftist or otherwise–whose animation comes from the negative of life.
I’m not sure many of these sorts of people actually realize the effect they have on those around them.
Feminist charisma seems a contradiction in terms, and, as I said over at Tim’s, the mix of whining, captiousness and outright malice that typifies so much feminist signalling doesn’t strike me as a good mate-finding strategy, or a road to contentment and emotional stability, especially as time passes and options narrow. Resentment and bitterness seem likely destinations.
And as I’m sure I’ve said before, feminist ideology, as currently configured, may attract so many obnoxious personalities because it offers countless excuses and opportunities for obnoxious behaviour, and offers flattering explanations for many of the usual consequences of such behaviour – whether that’s a series of romantic failures or a general tendency to repel people who aren’t similarly obnoxious. All of which can instantly be framed as the result of The Patriarchy, “toxic masculinity,” or whatever, with no risk of introspection.
[ Added: ]
As Everyday Feminism’s Melissa Fabello put it, rather obliviously, “It was never my fault or about me individually.”
How DARE you enjoy anything when Trump is president?
…offers flattering explanations for many of the usual consequences of such behaviour…with no risk of introspection.
Exactly, though it’s not limited to feminists or even those on the left side of the political spectrum. I’ve truly puzzled over the question why so many people seem so perpetually unhappy and insist on inflicting that unhappiness on the rest of us. Possible explanations in no particular order:
1. Those of us in the First World–and make no mistake, these are First World problems by and large–have no experience with hardship such that we magnify the slightest inconvenience or hiccup into a Sophoclean tragedy or crime against humanity.
2. The insistence upon viewing all human interaction as zero-sum. Tim’s anecdote about male unpaid labor is a case in point. Where all relationships are reduced to ledgers of debits and credits with values subjectively assigned by those keeping the ledgers, every good work is resented because it puts the opposing party on the defensive to keep up or alternatively every misstep is grounds for a Tumblr opus of righteous, vitriolic indignation.
3. The modern (millenial) man has never been taught to accept the good and bad in life. They exist in a reality where a) everything is perfectible and b) imperfection is therefore a moral failure on the part of someone else. Stated differently, there are things outside our control. We have to make the best of them. Resenting those things and being angry about them is a waste of emotional energy better spent enjoying the transience of a sunset.
YMMV as they say.
YMMV as they say.
My mileage is pretty similar. There’s also the fact that, as Ben Sixsmith’s tweet here reminded me, stoicism tends to be more attractive than prickliness, self-pity or belligerent hyperventilation. And so far as I can make out, stoicism and emotional self-possession are antithetical to feminism and “social justice” more generally.
How DARE you enjoy anything when Trump is president?
Isn’t it more like, “How DARE you enjoy anything when (Trump is president/capitalism still exists/racism or any other naughty -ism is everywhere/white men still have high-status positions/I’m LITERALLY shaking)?
Since our gracious host mentioned the oh-so-lovely, green-haired, not-at-all-emotionally-damaged Melissa Fabello, just note I have a link I’ve been holding in reserve for tomorrow’s Ephemera regarding her. >:-)
Doctor Geezer’s one-word unified theory of all that stuff discussed in this thread: deep-seated Envy.
::::snort::::
deep-seated Envy.
Freud spelled “deep-seated” differently…
Tim Newman ponders that famous feminist charisma.
One of the most interesting things about the comments here is that they often wander off onto a barely-related tangent, one sometimes more interesting than the original topic. Over at Tim’s blog, it appears that also happens: i.e. “Krautery”.
The Unkraut? Oh my! I’ve learned (learnt?) a new word!
Yeah, “critical work” authoring articles in a circle jerk journal red by tens, and the likes of their valiant stand against imaginary censors hasn’t been seen since Bastogne.
“A little mouse of thought appears in the room…”
And so far as I can make out, stoicism and emotional self-possession are antithetical to feminism and “social justice” more generally.
Stoicism and emotional self-possession are also exceedingly difficult to convey through social media, and so you never see them celebrated in digital culture. How many Twitter feuds and video clips of unhinged hysteria do you need to wade through before you run across a single instance like the “THIS IS LIBRARY!” guy?
My one consolation is that my younger kin seem very well adjusted, happy, productive, and successful. We never link to their antics because they aren’t the kind of screwed-up narcissists who feel compelled to share their neuroses with the world. I don’t envy them the battle they face against a relentless dysfunctional culture and media, but I wish them strength to persevere in their pursuit of traditional values and lifestyles, and I hope they can enjoy the rewards.
Beautiful high def video of lightening strikes…
https://petapixel.com/2017/12/04/epic-4k-film-captures-beauty-lightning-1000fps/
Lightning, not lightening…dooh
Lightning, not lightening
Depends on whether or not it hits you in the arsehole.
Those of us in the First World–and make no mistake, these are First World problems by and large–have no experience with hardship such that we magnify the slightest inconvenience or hiccup into a Sophoclean tragedy or crime against humanity.
As I said earlier, there are useful bits in r/K theory – or more accurately, that part of it that talks about how human beings need a certain amount of stress to condition their amygdala. Elsewise they become so hypersensitive to the slightest stressors that they wildly overreact.
Thus, microaggressions. Makes sense. They flip out over something a normal person wouldn’t even notice. Princess-and-the-pea syndrome.
“Power washing the sidewalks is too reminiscent of civil rights activists being hosed down, he said.”
Sooooo, he’s basically admitting hosing down little brown things on the sidewalk is the same as hosing down big brown things in a demonstration?
“It’s up there with ‘Why would anyone fuss about a bit of harmless burglary?’ As seen in the Guardian.
Or, ‘Why make a fuss about masked thugs rioting, smashing windows and setting other people’s property on fire?’ As seen, for instance, here.”
I’m assuming from the above that the Guardian would be okay with some harmless vigilantism then.
I saw this on theothermccain.com
http://archive.is/YsWD9
What interested me were the comments. The pendulum’s not swinging back yet, but I saw it twitch.
Within 5 years I predict you’ll see articles in magazines aimed at rich bitches like: “Your child has a much better chance of getting into Harvard if he spends his early years with you instead of in day care,” with a subtext of “Day care’s fine for hoi polloi like your maid and those awful Trump fans, but YOUR child deserves better.”
I saw this on theothermccain.com
Good, another regressive feminist site about to go under (along with EveryDayFeminism)
I saw this on theothermccain.com
Good, another regressive feminist site about to go under (along with EveryDayFeminism)
Everyday Feminism is still around. Just because they tell you they’re going under doesn’t mean they really are.
what personal benefit s/he derived from his/her constant anger, bitterness and dark spirit?
In some cases depression is at work. Or a personality disorder, which is the result of prolonged abuse.
When my blood glucose drops I become an SJW: consciousness is so unbearably painful I can’t help but lash out and say dark things.
And then I eat something, my mood stabilizes, and I can’t imagine saying the dark things anymore.
I have to wonder how many of the shrillest feminists were sexually abused, and they’re lashing out in pain. Their shrillness is also encouraged by those who would use others’ pain to loft them into power.
It’s no fun to take pity on such unpleasant, absurd people. But it does provide an answer to the question about the “personal benefit” of being openly bitter.
When my blood glucose drops I become an SJW: consciousness is so unbearably painful I can’t help but lash out and say dark things.
On a related note, I _really_ need to get one of these t-shirts for my wife.