Couldn't be bothered to twist these into links.
- Stockholm Syndrome isn't just for hostages. Sometimes it's for government staffers, which I observed lo those many years ago (and escaped). Sometimes it's for journalists, who begin to identify with their powerful interview subjects… especially if they've been (actually or just subjectively) unjustly denied advancement. And most especially when those powerful interview subjects aren't just anyone, but descendants of "Professor" Henry Higgins (right down to the invented credentials), as Ms Bartiromo has specialized in for the last decade and a half…
- The surest sign that this year has been a complete disaster is that uneducated athletes make more sense than "old boy" politicians who have supposedly studied an issue for years. And speak more clearly and eloquently on the issue — so much so that they force the politicians to back down. Twice.
<SARCASM> Hey, I know. Maybe some young black athlete from an underprivileged background can champion musicians next. </SARCASM> What this really says, though, is that contrary to the bloviation of the right-wing nutjobs true "liberalism" is not part of the general conversation, primarily because "the era of big government is over" (meaning, in effect, that financial might makes right).
- Once upon a time, "science" and "technology" were (purportedly) the primary ways that America would become greater. For that matter, they were the primary tools that America would deploy against the Red Menace (this one, not the one that really deserves it). But Americans have lost whatever trust in "science" they once allegedly had (or at least were willing to spend money on for tangible results). Perhaps one factor is that "science" and "technology" are so often misused — and by upstanding capitalists, not godless commies. One of the hidden aspects of these factors is that, sort of like the old Wendy's commercials, "data is data": Nobody is paying enough attention to biased inputs. The world's greatest, most subtle, most useful black-box algorithm is still subject to GIGO, because every algorithm depends upon its inputs being sound and valid. And that says more about the validity and predictive value of "credit scores" than the finance industry (and especially the collections industry) wants anyone to understand…
- Or you could just sit by the Rhein and watch it float by, occasionally luring a sailor to his death while being prescient about the flaws in the character of your nation's body politic. While, naturally, being outside of that body politic because you have the wrong ancestry.
Any relationship to the electoral results last month is purely coincidental. Yeah, right.