Fat, drunk and stupid

In two related articles in the New York Times Ross Douthat rails against the party culture at US universities and Kevin Carey points out that US universities are, in general, not that great in comparison with the rest of the world.

It's a shame they didn't connect the dots. One major reason US human capital lags behind other OECD countries is the sick culture at many US universities. Universities should be a places to learn and work hard. Instead they have become places to have 'fun'. School administrators have knowingly made the decision to undermine the academic mission of their universities in the belief that students who have 'fun' at college will be more likely to pump up the endowment when they leave. Between the party hard attitude that they promote and the semi-pro sports teams that they run these fools have made a complete mockery of their fundamental role in society.

Parents who pay through the nose to send their kids to 'party universities' and the governments that subsidize these debacles are also at fault. Federal and state governments should cap and tax  endowments and we will see how much administrators care about 'fun' then and parents should just say no. A properly run university can provide a life altering experience opening students up to new pathways and providing a lifetime's worth of intellectual skills. Alternatively, they can become breeding grounds for fat, stupid drunks. It is time for a far-sighted rethinking of the priorities of US universities that goes beyond who has the largest endowment.

Rand Paul - The Great White Hope

A while back Ross Douthat published a column claiming that the Democrats didn't have anyone but Hillary for president. It was an odd column given that most Democrat voters seemed to prefer anyone other than Hillary last time they were given a choice. He might have been better served to focus on his own team, which really does have only one viable choice. As Rand Paul's recent article in the Wall Street Journal makes clear, he is the only Republican presidential candidate with any chance of winning in 2016. He has resolutely repudiated the Bush legacy in Iraq and in doing so has hacked out a way forward for his party. Any Republican candidate unwilling to do this will never win a presidential election because the failure of the Bush policies in Iraq was so complete and so toxic. Paul is the only candidate to put adequate distance between himself and the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld debacle. While this isn't a sufficient condition for presidential electoral success it is a necessary one.

A head to head match up between Rand Paul and Hillary would be much closer than Democrats understand at present and may not end up in their favor. He can be demonized is certain ways, primarily thanks to his father's long record of intemperate outbursts, but he cannot be dismissed as Bush III.

Bowe Bergdahl - American POW

In the future, when wingers complain that liberals see the military as just another jobs program, they should remember Bowe Bergdahl. The core philosophy that sets the Army apart from other Federal Departments is the concept of no man left behind. A one for all and all for one philosophy that is a critical element in the maintenance of an esprit de corps during what can be extremely harsh circumstances. In their response to Bergdahl's release, as part of a POW swap with the Afghan Taliban, this core belief was trampled into the ground in the unseemly rush to score cheap partisan advantage. It is hard to imagine a less inspiring spectacle or one more damaging to the image of the military. It was undisciplined, mean-spirited and largely incorrect.

Now, the Bergdahl family, a rural conservative Christian family of gun owners and hunters, is subject to death threats and has had to take security precautions to protect themselves from the more unhinged members of this lunatic fringe.

No liberal could ever undermine the image of the military more effectively than the wingers have done during this episode. Small minded, petty gossips spreading lies and innuendo across the internet and in the media. It was the complete disgrace. While political figures like Clinton and Obama are free targets, to attack a private POW and his family like this will a leave a bitter aftertaste that will not wash out for a very long time.

Fabulist Evolution

Hypocrisy Watch — Gun-nuts for thee but not for me

The Georgia legislature has decreed that concealed weapons will be allowed pretty much everywhere —including bars — except in the Capitol and other government offices where lawmakers might congregate. Surely, since more guns obviously make us safer, the lawmakers should demand that all gun carrying citizens be allowed free passage into the Capitol. It is clear that we could make the world a much safer place if there were more guns in the Georgia Capitol, a lot more guns.

Down Syndrome and Abortion Hypocrisy

Down Syndrome is where the rubber hits the road for opponents of abortion. Approximately 90% of Down Syndrome pregnancies are terminated with an abortion. This behavior is entirely rational, given the enormous difficulties of caring for a Down Syndrome individual from adulthood into old age.  These numbers are, however, strikingly discordant with polls showing that a majority of people oppose abortion. While the numbers for Down Syndrome abortions remain so high, abortion poll numbers represent the meaningless expressions of personal preferences for an ideal world rather than core beliefs that survive the reality of an imperfect biological world.

The "Inner City" Irish

Brilliantly sly take-down of Paul Ryan by Timothy Egan, showing how Ryan's comments regarding the ethical qualities of the inner city poor echo upper class English views of the Irish poor, to whom Ryan claims ethnic affinity.

Crony Capitalism Watch

The Tesla Model S was recently voted car of the year, but you can't buy one in New Jersey because of the power of the car dealership lobby. Chris Christie, who made his name by standing up to the little guy, apparently doesn't have the balls to stand up to middle-sized guys in the form of car dealers and so the beat of crony capitalism marches on in the great state of New Jersey.

Only the good die young

I do not think I have ever read a fairer assessment of Bob Dylan's musical talent than this: Dylan fans are the battered wives of the music industry.

Maloof low back chair

Modern art seems to be driven almost entirely by the investment strategies of the very rich and retains little interest for us commoners. I still have an interest in crafts, particularly woodwork. This is a beautiful chair by the recently departed Sam Maloof. I have seen this particular chair in the flesh at the Smithsonian Institute and the picture does not do it full justice. It is a minor miracle of sculptural furniture.