Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:
- Ann Coulter has some amusing soccer observations. I’m with her on the comparison to the metric system.
- When I was in college it was a thing for women to take self-defense classes in order to learn to fend off rapists. I guess it’s not anymore?
- How long before similar tactics are being used to identify potential criminals? Or is that already happening?
- Funny that he needs to emphasize that killers might end up in jail. As if there’s no problem with assaulting someone unless 1) that person dies, and 2) the perp ends up incarcerated. Luckily, knockout game is just an urban legend. I still say that if you live in an area where this is common (or even just happens once in a while), you should invest in a cheap aluminum baseball bat and carry it around with you at all times. No one tries to knock out Baseball Bat Guy.
- The Times has invested millions to develop a more effective way of screening web comments. The Cathedral pushback against anonymous commenting has been interesting to watch.
- Will George Lucas’ just-announced museum be the first major museum devoted to populist art? The official site displays some lovely works.
- Why is Greenpeace telling us to curb airline use if one of their executives takes a plane to work?
- Tiger selfies are a thing?
- The UN may provide relief to Detroit. Like it’s Zimbabwe or something . . .
- Funny that it took Grand Central Station to convince Le Corbusier that the Italian Renaissance was worth paying attention to.
- The basic idea expressed in this article is that designing anything that doesn’t fully meet the needs of Group X is oppressive. But what about the people who have valid gripes about Group X? Why do they have to put up with skateboarders, bums, etc.? If all spaces must meet the needs of all people, with no limit on the sorts of activities those people are permitted to engage in, what is the point of having defined spaces? Just make everything a big free-for-all zone, like Iraq or the ball pit at Chuck E. Cheese.
- Judgy Bitch wonders about our attitudes regarding female-on-male violence.
- Who’s right about “The Goldfinch”? And does it matter if the highbrows don’t like it?
- It’s yore story all right.
- Empowerment: You can find it anywhere!
- The French are trying to be nicer so that you’ll buy more tiny Eiffel Towers.
- The UN vs. Superman.
Blowhard, Esq.
Callowman
Sherbrooke
Eddie Pensier
Enzo Nakamura
Epaminondas
Fabrizio del Wrongo
Fenster
Brundle Guy
Glynn Marshes
Paleo Retiree
Atypical Neurotic
Question Lady
Sax von Stroheim
Sir Barken Hyena
The Mistaken
Uncouth Reflections 
The Times engages in the sort of unconscious irony for which it is famous by not allowing comments on its article on commenting. This is my favorite line: “The New York Times, for example, screens every reader comment for tone and language before publishing.”
Heh, yes, for “tone and language.” They forgot to add “and thought crimes.” They will publish countervailing opinions, it’s true, but don’t break the sacred race/gender rules because you’ll never see the light of day.
On “The Goldfinch,” I did notice the mega-slam reviews in the New Yorker and New York Review. I was surprised since log-rolling is the primary purpose of book reviews these days and you almost never see outright dynamiting of a book. I would consider reading it, just to be hep to the jive, were it not as long as it is.
Coulter made some really funny points about teh futballs. Hey, I get into the World Cup as much as the next status whoring white metrosexual, but really it’s a pretty boring game. There was never a game more designed to be watched via a highlight reel.
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People are losing their shit over the Coulter piece on Facebook, especially the part about the metric system. I took it as a fairly amusing comedy piece. Can’t say I’m a fan of Coulter’s but I do sometimes find her funny. Not sure why people feel so protective of the metric system. Personally, the YOU SHOULD REALLY LIKE THE METRIC SYSTEM campaign and the YOU SHOULD REALLY LIKE SOCCER campaign have always seemed pretty similar.
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I like Coulter, not that I read her often. I mean, she’s no deep thinker, but she’s not trying to be. I admire how she treads a very fine line. As a mainstream commentator, she has to be very careful not to cross the line too far on race and gender issues, but she is always managing to push the line just a bit while not losing her invitations on Fox News and the million other shows she appears on. This takes no small degree of skill.
In her heart I’m guessing she’s basically Steve Sailer — she’s no dummy by any means — but she knows how her bread is buttered. Even so, she manages to implant CrimeThink ideas in people’s heads on a regular basis, and nobody but nobody is better at pointing out Liberal hypocrisy (ok, that’s shooting fish in a barrel, but at least she takes the time to do it).
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>>People are losing their shit over the Coulter piece on Facebook, especially the part about the metric system. I took it as a fairly amusing comedy piece.
Heh, I came here to say this and see you beat me to it. Shock of shocks, the people who seem to be most upset in my feed are earnest, pro-soccer liberals. Even those who understand that her piece is meant as comedy seem offended.
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The rape debate shows just how profoundly isolated people want to be these days. On one side are the shrill feminazis saying that women shouldn’t have to learn self-defense to protect against rape — rapists should be taught not to rape. Lotsa luck with that. In reality, that mindset translates into cocooning away from the entire world of men, who are irredeemable crypto-rapists.
On the other side is the you-go-girl, strong independent woman crowd that wants women to better prepare themselves for mano-a-mano combat. Of course, a chick being a black belt ain’t gonna stop a knife or a gun in the hands of a testosterone-addled man. Try and find out. That’s something you don’t spar against in karate class.
Although seemingly arguing with each other, they are agreed on one basic thing — you ought to remain utterly alone. For the feminazis, this means cowering at home alone where the rape culture cannot reach them. For the strong independent women, this means going it alone in potentially dangerous public places, rather than relying on the company of others — meaning, men — for protection. If shit goes down, don’t worry everybody else, she’s got it covered by herself — she knows karate!
In reality, having at least one man around you, and even more so if there’s more, is the best deterrent. A psycho doesn’t want to fuck around with a strong group but a weak individual. And that’s also the best solution in the odd event that someone does try to fuck with you — having more bodies who can swarm the enemy on your behalf.
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I guess it’s cool that some people uphold standards and all, but James Wood stroking his chin about who is and isn’t a “serious storyteller” is a riot. Someone should make armpit farts whenever he speaks.
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