A public record of some of my thoughts. Feel free to comment, but don't expect me to respond.
Somehow I ended up getting a daily email with a “word of the day.” It’s somewhat interesting, but often the word is too show-offy for me.
For example, today’s word was Idée fix, which means “An idea or desire that dominates the mind; an obsession.”
My attitude is that you should know such words, but not use them. Use “obsession” instead. So my “word of the day” email would explain a difficult word and then give five ways to say the same thing with simpler language.
It’s crucial to have a balance between the three branches of government, and between the states and the federal government. Each branch of government should have some power to serve as a check on the others.
The federal judiciary consists of the district courts, which are the trial courts, the courts of appeals (circuit courts), and the Supreme Court.
It strikes me as odd that a district court judge should be able to stay or overturn a presidential policy or a state law. That seems to contradict the idea of a “balance” of powers. It would be analous, perhaps, to a county (at the state level) or an administrative agency (at the federal level) having some power over the Supreme Court.
It’s even worse when you consider that sometimes such a ruling comes from a single judge — not even a panel of judges.
It seems that when you mix men and women, you get sexual tension.
Some people seem to think that we’re supposed to be sexless individuals who treat other people as “people” only and not as women and men with desires and interests. And then when people act like real people — who actually are men and women, with desires and interests — there’s this amazement, like “Gosh, who could have predicted that?”
This is not to excuse rude behavior, but simply to point out that if you walk through a bad neighborhood with $100 bills attached to your clothing, you will probably get robbed, and when you mix men and women, the men will probably try to pick up the women. That’s just the way it is, and it’s pretty stupid to think otherwise.
Unwanted romantic and sexual advances on LinkedIn discourage women from using the site
In the past there were separate spaces for men and women. There were downsides to that, but there was also at least some sense to it. It lessens some of these kinds of problems.
We’ve decided that it’s best to let men and women mix more freely. (Have we really? Who actually decided that?) Okay, but it’s going to take some time to figure out exactly how that will work (if it will work at all). It’s absurd to think there won’t be consequences and difficulties figuring out exactly what the rules should be.
For example, if we truly want everybody to be equal, and to lessen sexual tension, maybe we should eliminate profile pictures.
“Get out of the way, parents. Let the people who really know and love your children take care of things.”
Thanks to William for the heads up on the article.
If you haven’t heard it yet, check out Rich Men North of Richmond, which has rocketed to the top of the charts recently.
The appeal seems to be its anti-elite message. I’ve heard that Mr. Anthony is against both political parties because he thinks they both have the same agenda — to perpetuate the power of the elite against and over the working class.
The song itself is fairly interesting. It’s a bit “yelly” for me, and it could do with some more instrumentation, but I generally like it.