Open thread 9/9/21
A nice place to visit, but would you want to live there?
Continue reading →neo
The feminization of college
This isn’t really a surprise: Men are abandoning higher education in such numbers that they now trail female college students by record levels. At the close of the 2020-21 academic year, women made up 59.5% of college students, an all-time … Continue reading →
Biden sinking in polls – so what?
In a recent The Economist/YouGov poll, Biden’s overall approval rating is at 39%. My first reaction is: why so high? It should be something like 2%, if that. My second reaction is: it’s about time. My third reaction is: so … Continue reading →
Some days…
…I get so involved in discussions in the comments that I don’t start working on my posts till later than planned. Today is one of those times. I think that in the last few weeks, distraction has become even more … Continue reading →
Open thread 9/8/21
This is something I’d never heard about before:
Continue reading →I’m tempted to give up discussing what Blinken says on Afghanistan or anything else
What’s the point, when nothing the man says can be trusted? Of course, I shouldn’t single out Blinken. It’s that way for the entire administration. And yet I feel duty-bound to mention this story. Note the way Blinken phrases his … Continue reading →
Documents implicate Fauci further in gain-of-function research
Is anyone surprised at this? The Intercept has obtained more than 900 pages of documents detailing the work of EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S.-based health organization that used federal money to fund bat coronavirus research at the Chinese laboratory. The trove … Continue reading →
Jean Paul Belmondo dies at 88
The French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo has died at 88. Quite a few of the tributes to Belmondo call him “handsome.” That surprises me, because I never thought him handsome. He was something else – unique and compelling and magnetic. I … Continue reading →
Open thread 9/7/21
From “we’re getting everyone out” to “everyone who wants to get out” to “there’s nothing we can do about the hostages”
Here’s the latest: The State Department says there is little it can do to help Americans and at-risk Afghans whose planes are reportedly grounded at an airport as the Taliban prevents them from leaving the country. At least six chartered … Continue reading →
Losing children? It’s only news when the right does it
Oopsies: Last week, Axios reported that the Department of Health and Human Services has lost contact with more than 4,500 children who’d crossed the border illegally after it had released them into the country. That’s a third of the migrant … Continue reading →
The Jewish New Year begins tonight
Jewish holidays start at sundown, so tonight is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the two-day celebration of the beginning of the new year: …[It] is the traditional anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman … Continue reading →