Need to retreat from this place again. No matter how I wish to stay in touch with people I cannot and must not do it here.
03.03.2026 06:40
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Need to retreat from this place again. No matter how I wish to stay in touch with people I cannot and must not do it here.
You're the one who said the names I mentioned weren't superb in any way. Apparently that was more hyperbole?
Sure you can, by contextualization, as I did earlier. Safire was a superb conservative op-ed columnist. Watson was a superb chemist. Shockley was a superb engineer.
We're not passing judgment on them as human beings to acknowledge that in a specific context they were at the top of their field.
When Trump ordered the assassination of Qassem Soleimani I condemned it — but I also pointed out Soleimani was a major supporter of terrorism and maybe some good could come out of Trump's terrible decision. Friedman also took this position.
Why is nuance so anathema?
Bragman seems to be offended Friedman says he hopes this conflict results in regime change.
Well — I hope it does, too! I have literally had friends murdered by that regime. That doesn't mean I'm in favor of this conflict (I'm emphatically not!), but it's better the regime falls than it stands.
"What Does NASA Know About Aliens?" (in which the position is very strongly "no, we are not being visited by aliens")
"First the Moon, then Mars"
"Don't Look Now, But The Green Transition is Still Happening"
… And that's within the last week.
Ethan, I love and respect you, but your idea is wrong.
Right now, at their op-ed page:
"The Idea That Trump Was Antiwar Was Always Delusional".
"Music, At Least, Doesn't Lie".
"War And Peace Cannot Be Left To One Man — Especially Not This Man."
"There's A Way to Nearly Eliminate Homelessness".
"I Grew Up Unvaccinated. Now I'm An Immunologist."
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Not superb in any way?
Read the speech Nixon was to give if Apollo 11 failed. Safire wrote that. He picked up a Pulitzer in '78.
I understand not liking the racist nonsense of Shockley or Watson, but we can't deny their Nobels ('56 and '62). We can't deny Safire, either, for the same reason.
You can blame the NYT for believing the NYT's readers should be exposed to political thinking held by 35% of the country if you want.
I won't.
I prefer to live outside an echo chamber. And I have no trouble reading Bolton and telling people I think he's full of crap.
(Fin)
Now you're complaining that *John Bolton's* views on Iran are somehow beyond the pale? Sure, I get not agreeing with him — I don't either — but saying Bolton is beyond the pale ignores the fact that by the standards of the hardcore MAGA crowd he's considered *too liberal*.
4/
For many years the NYT despite being a liberal paper had a stable of superb conservative op-ed columnists. David Brooks, Tyler Cowen, Bill Kristol, John Tierney, Bill Safire... because the NYT also wants to expose their readers to a diversity of views.
3/
My father, an archconservative federal judge appointed by Reagan, whenever I would ask him a question about law would preferentially cite opinions by liberal SCOTUS judges — he wanted to ensure I was exposed to a diversity of thought.
2/
Hard disagree. My high school German teacher controversially had me read Mein Kampf, and went through it with me page by page — not because he supported it but because he absolutely wanted me to understand it, so that as an adult I would be less susceptible to demagogues.
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You can also discharge a powerful Taser through their chair for only $9.99.
$9.99 per press, no maximum, thank you, I make all my money on referrals to bankruptcy attorneys, did you see my new Maserati outside?
I'm grabbing the go-bags: you raid the pantry for road food. We roll in seven mike and straight on to the Promised Land!
"There was, in fact, a massive voting conspiracy in 2024. The Illuminati conspired to ensure that for the first time since the Civil War, the people's choice would actually win. We believe the Illuminati have since learned the inherent idiocy of this plan. What dumbasses."
"How odd
of God
to choose
the Jews."
Not odd,
you sod:
the Jews
chose God.
(First seen in a P.J. O'Rourke column condemning anti-Semitism.)
For US History use _The Autobiography of Ulysses S. Grant_ to cover the Civil War. Include the speeches of Frederick Douglass. Spend a year teaching English Comp by reading Mark Twain and Lord Dunsany and Tolkien.
You could teach a fantastic geometry course with the _Elements_ and Abbott's _Flatland._ You could and probably should teach calculus with Thompson's _Calculus Made Easy._ CompSci with _Goedel, Escher, Bach_ and _The Little Schemer._
For virtually every subject at the primary and secondary school levels we already have great textbooks given to us by brilliant teachers in the past. But every ten years we get a new fad about how to teach — esp. in math — and we drop huge $$$ on new texts.
In the early 2000s I tutored a HS student in geometry. His textbook ran 1150 pages (!!). I told him not to open it again. We did all his homework with Euclid's _Elements_. Good text + good tutoring = D turning into a B+.
If they want to stake out positions like this, that's their right and I don't begrudge them for it.
It's our right to make sure people know this is their position, and the consequences are on them.
It seems to me an enterprising activist would get a list of all members of this chapter and follow their social media. As soon as one gets admitted to law school, send this screencap to their school and suggest it merits an inquiry into the student's fitness and character.
"Up to" five years, not a mandatory five, but otherwise accurate.
18 USC § 592, if people need a cite:
www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...
Two years ago, Juan and I saw the potential for mass civil unrest on the horizon. He took notes I wrote on surviving riots and turned it into a proper video. The content is aimed at escaping large-scale civil uprising: it is NOT about how to engage in urban combat.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usrd...
A screenshot of my recommendations with respect to the Pretti and Good homicide videos.
Landon, 1929. St Anselm's, 1942. Bullis, 1930. St Stephens and St Agnes, 1924. Barrie, 1932… I could go on (DC has a lot of private schools), but around here pre-Brown institutions outnumber post-Brown ones by about 3:1. It's just not true private schools are a racist response to Brown.
No, they didn't. I live in DC, so let me pick out DC private schools: Gonzaga, 1821. Sidwell Friends, 1883. Madeira, 1906. Georgetown Day School, 1945. Rochambeau, 1955 (Brown was 1954; Rochambeau was being built before Brown was decided). Holton-Arms, 1901. Maret, 1911. St Alban's, 1909…
You adore that song. With good reason, I add.
But you need to remember "Iowa farmers I hold in contempt because they voted for Trump" are no less self-destructive, *and no less deserving of compassion*.
And I think you know this.
One of your favorite songs has, as a lyric, "Jesus loves the drunkards and the whores and the queers." I adore that line. The people in that song are involved in self-destructive behaviors like alcohol abuse, using meth to get through a shift, and more.