The Curious Task

Amanpour Appeals to Authority - WSJ

2016-07-02T20:52:00.001-07:00

Amanpour Appeals to Authority - WSJ: "In claiming “real objectivity” while rejecting neutrality, Amanpour recasts the journalist’s role as that of publicist for expert opinion. She quotes Justice Minister Michael Gove, who during the Brexit campaign told Sky News, “People in this country have had enough of experts.” She answers with a sneer: “Say what again?”

To be sure, expertise has its value. By definition an expert has superior knowledge in his particular field. But an expert opinion is still an opinion, and experts are no less prone than laymen to prejudice, motivated reasoning, groupthink and other forms of cognitive bias."

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Team Hillary’s absurd hysteria over Bernie’s ‘Excuse me’ line | New York Post

2016-03-09T13:27:00.001-08:00

Team Hillary’s absurd hysteria over Bernie’s ‘Excuse me’ line | New York Post: "The debate flap demonstrates how feminism is caught between its dual insistence that women are indistinguishable from men and at the same time due special consideration because they’re uniquely vulnerable to slights, intended or unintended."

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Michael Moore Can't Make Good Propaganda Anymore - The Daily Beast

2016-02-16T13:40:00.001-08:00

Michael Moore Can't Make Good Propaganda Anymore - The Daily Beast: "Moore’s veneration of Italy—which forms the bulk of the film’s case for European economic practices over American ones—is telling. Along with other spendthrift Mediterranean states, Italy has essentially been a laboratory for the exact same statist structural economic policies Moore (along with a certain septuagenarian presidential candidate widely supported by people too young to know any better) has advocated across his three-decade long career. Inflexible labor markets, intransigent and powerful unions, titanic social spending, confiscatory taxes: these policies engender economic stagnation wherever they’re implemented. Carried out by successive governments over many years, socialist clientelism is largely responsible for the swelling, long-term unemployed European underclass, which is voicing its frustration by supporting the very right-wing populists Moore claims to oppose."

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Hill Fire and Damnation - WSJ

2016-02-08T14:27:00.001-08:00

Hill Fire and Damnation - WSJ: "Lessin is paraphrasing; Mrs. Clinton has not, as far as we know, used the word “uterus” on the campaign trail. But her appeals to female solidarity have left little else to the imagination. In last week’s debate, she interrupted her opponent to say: “Honestly, Sen. Sanders is the only person who I think would characterize me, a woman running to be the first woman president, as exemplifying the establishment.”

We thought that was ridiculous. Later we wondered why she didn’t go all in and describe her Goldman Sachs speaking fees as “675,000 cracks in the glass ceiling.” But then, we would scoff—we’re male, and men constitute less than half the voting-age population. If Mrs. Clinton can lock down the female vote, she can’t possibly lose.

Yet Mrs. Clinton’s I-am-woman message is getting a poor reception from women, at least from young ones. An MSNBC report from New Hampshire, noted by the Washington Free Beacon, features a couple of 20-something female Democrats who took offense at the debate declaration."

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Trump: “When I’m president, I’m a different person” « Hot Air

2016-01-25T22:47:00.001-08:00

Trump: “When I’m president, I’m a different person” « Hot Air: "Glenn Beck, a Cruz supporter, called that sentiment “dangerous” this weekend. Trump obviously meant it as a joke, an exaggerated statement of how loyal his fans are. But it’s striking even as a joke because it proves that not only is he aware of the cult of personality around him, he’s counting on it to increase his freedom of political movement — and that is a little dangerous. Try to imagine the reaction among Cruz fans if he went out onstage today in Iowa and promised he’d be a “different person” as president with forays into political correctness as circumstances require. They’d be mortified. If you like Cruz, you like him because of what he stands for and the fact that he’s not afraid to piss off the right people in doing so. The instant he ceases to fill that role, he’s disposable. What Trump’s telling you in these two quotes is that those rules don’t apply to him. Barring some truly core betrayal, like signing a new amnesty into law, he thinks he can count on his fans to follow him anywhere. And if he decides that he needs to dispense with the tone, or the policies, that he’s been pushing on the trail and become the most politically correct person you’ve ever seen as president, then he, in his wisdom, must have his reasons. (Relatedly, Obama cultists started off as anti-war and anti-drone and anti-“unitary executive” in 2008 and have been shrugging at Obama’s deviations from that line ever since.) The amazing thing about the “Fifth Avenue” quote is that it’s a joke at his own followers’ expense. A friend called it his “Lonesome Rhodes moment,” in which a populist hero ends up laughing at the devotion of his own fan base. "

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Great news: nearly half of all aliens left the US last year after their visas expired « Hot Air

2016-01-20T14:30:00.001-08:00

Great news: nearly half of all aliens left the US last year after their visas expired « Hot Air: "Are you serious? Nearly half a million people came here “legally” with a visa last year and just stayed. (Illegally.) And that’s in a single year. A 2015 study concluded that 1.5 million to 1.7 million illegal immigrants arrived in the United States from 2009 through 2013. Even taking the outside number, that average will tell you, as the study concluded, that people using visas as a throwaway, safe method of getting inside the country is probably as great of a border control failure as those climbing fences, if not even more so.

Sure, everyone had a good laugh when Chris Christie suggested some sort of bio-metric monitoring scheme similar to FedEx package tracking for those arriving here on a visa, but we’ve obviously passed the point where some new options have to be considered. Yes, I realize that tagging people to track their movements sounds like something out of a dystopian future sci-fi film. And, of course, any suggesting of tracking people at all is automatically considered racist or xenophobic or what have you, but the alternative is essentially doing nothing."

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Sarah Palin Just Threw Away Years of Goodwill as a Principled Conservative

2016-01-20T11:25:00.001-08:00

Sarah Palin Just Threw Away Years of Goodwill as a Principled Conservative: "Sarah Palin spent years being a strong voice for conservative principles. She jumped into Republican primaries to endorse candidates who she believed would carry the torch for the same limited government, pro-life, pro-family, and strong national security values.

Today, Palin is standing in Ames, Iowa to put her support behind someone who cannot be trusted to protect the unborn, who has twice traded in his wives for younger models (literally), who claims to be for the “little guy” but who has been all-too-willing to use government as a hired thug to line his own pocket, and who spent years making significant donations to Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.

I miss the Sarah Palin I thought I knew. I miss the tough-talking governor who energized the 2008 ticket. I miss the tea party champion. I miss the brave woman who didn’t just talk the talk, but walked the walk on the pro-life issue, no matter how nasty the attacks on her and her family. I don’t know where this Sarah Palin went, but she wasn’t in Iowa today."

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Trump: Let’s face it, Ted Cruz trying to hide his Goldman Sachs loan is worse than Hillary « Hot Air

2016-01-20T11:10:00.001-08:00

Trump: Let’s face it, Ted Cruz trying to hide his Goldman Sachs loan is worse than Hillary « Hot Air: "The Goldman Sachs loan was noted by the media no later than June 2013, in a story by Roll Call. Trump wants you to believe that Cruz deliberately tried to withhold information about it from the public, but if that were true then obviously he would have omitted it from the Senate filing as well. It’s a smear. And the cherry on top, as you’re about to see, is Trump going out of his way to suggest that Cruz played dumb about the FEC filing the same way he supposedly played dumb about his Canadian dual citizenship. The first time I watched this, in fact, I thought Trump was suggesting that Cruz screwed up the filing because he’s a Canadian and doesn’t know American law. He couldn’t have meant that. Could he?

He’s saying this, by the way, at a moment when Clintonworld is under FBI investigation for possibly having traded government favors for donations to the Clinton Foundation. The Democratic frontrunner is being scrutinized by federal law enforcement for public corruption and Trump wants you to believe that Cruz is arguably the shadier operator of the two. Here’s a question to ask yourself the next time Trump accuses one of his opponents of being “owned” by special interests: Who would own Trump the politician if he hadn’t inherited many millions of dollars from his father to build a business that made him financially independent today? Between the two of them, Trump and Cruz, who’s the self-made man? Independence from donors is no trick when you started your career with a pile of money and then eagerly handed cash to crony politicians in both parties to make it grow. When Trump fans say he has balls, they’re right. It takes brass balls for this guy to accuse anyone else of cronyism."

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Community of the Wrongly Accused: Brian Banks Lawsuit Seeks $219,000.00 Against State of California

2016-01-19T20:55:00.001-08:00

Community of the Wrongly Accused: Brian Banks Lawsuit Seeks $219,000.00 Against State of California: "With regards to Wanetta Gibson's false statement in which she was paid $1.5 million?

Los Angeles prosecutors have said it is unlikely Gibson will be charged with making false accusations, saying it would be a tough case to prove.

Let that sink in. The DA had no problem charging Brian Banks where there was no physical evidence in a he said/she said case where some of the things she was saying did not make sense. For instance, no DNA was found in her rape kit because she said Banks "wiped the semen off with a towel." Any DNA expert would say that makes no sense. Sounds like a pretty difficult case, right? But, when it comes to prosecuting a woman who admitted on tape that no rape or kidnapping occurred, the DA believes that is a "tough case to prove." Therefore, they cannot bring charges against her."

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Amy Schumer's Twitter Post Knocks a Teenage Film Critic

2016-01-19T20:38:00.001-08:00

Amy Schumer's Twitter Post Knocks a Teenage Film Critic: "When did social justice come to mean that those with the most power in our society exact public vengeance on those with little influence and power? Doesn’t such an abuse of power contradict the message of the campus and public protest movements that the progressive media continuously laud?

This is not justice and equality. This is bullying."

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NYPD forced to purge documents about terrorists in the United States « Hot Air

2016-01-18T16:11:00.001-08:00

NYPD forced to purge documents about terrorists in the United States « Hot Air: "Our society continues it’s long, slow march toward self-imposed extinction. If you’re looking for people breaking insider trading laws, you set up surveillance on Wall Street, not at the feed and grain store. If you’re looking for a cheese thief you stake out the cheese shop. And if you’re looking for radicalized Islamic terrorists you start in the Muslim communities. But that would make too much sense while being simultaneously politically incorrect, so you’d best apologize to everyone and send your terror task force out to keep tabs on Amish. I’m sure they’ll turn up something."

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Retiring Marine commander worried that women in combat roles will dilute standards « Hot Air

2016-01-18T14:35:00.001-08:00

Retiring Marine commander worried that women in combat roles will dilute standards « Hot Air: "The training program she failed involved climbing in full gear while carrying heavy equipment, rescuing victims in zero visibility, breaking down doors, and doing it all while breathing oxygen from a tank on a limited timer. Sounds like just the sort of thing that a firefighter might have to do in an emergency situation, no? But once the politicians got involved and noticed that not enough women were able to complete the course, they started making exceptions. Is that really the sort of precedent you want to set for our riflemen on the front line going up against the Taliban?

General Kelly has legitimate grounds to be concerned because he’s spent enough time dealing with politicians to know that they can’t always be trusted in military matters. It would be nice if the Secretary of the Navy could slow his roll a bit and perhaps listen to somebody with the experience to know what he’s talking about."

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Portland Community College launches “Whiteness History Month” « Hot Air

2016-01-18T14:30:00.001-08:00

Portland Community College launches “Whiteness History Month” « Hot Air: "You know, maybe my reading comprehension isn’t quite as great as I’d once thought, but that doesn’t really sound like much of a celebration to me.

And of course, it’s not. The college’s website goes to great pains to explain that it’s not a celebration, but rather, “an effort to change our campus climate” by “[challenging] the master narrative of race and racism through an exploration of the social construction of whiteness.” If you made it all the way through that jumble of SJW word salad you’re better at this than me. Small wonder that Campus Reform chose to refer to it as an entire month of ‘whiteness’-shaming."

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NY Post: Marc Rich pardon still paying off for Clintons « Hot Air

2016-01-18T13:50:00.001-08:00

NY Post: Marc Rich pardon still paying off for Clintons « Hot Air: "Now this is a Bill Clinton theme worth pursuing in 2016. In the final days of his presidency, while the First Couple began to strip the White House of its furnishings (and the Ws off of the computer keyboards), the soon-to-be-former president issued the last of his clemency actions. The most significant of these was a pardon for Marc Rich, a billionaire who had flouted international sanctions and then fled the country before his case could be tried. The pardon for a Democratic donor who had become a fugitive shocked even Democrats at the time, especially since the Rich family turned out to be handsome donors to the Clinton library."

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Flint’s Blue Model Crisis - The American Interest

2016-01-18T11:33:00.001-08:00

Flint’s Blue Model Crisis - The American Interest: "The Democratic presidential candidates earned applause last night for denouncing Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s handling of the Flint situation. But have any of them offered a plan for addressing the underlying cost problems plaguing Flint and other Democratic-controlled urban areas? As we’ve written before, the federal government will likely need to get involved, at some point, with the deepening budgetary disasters plaguing these cities. But this involvement must be guided by the concept of relief-for-reform, in which the bankrupt cities get limited assistance in exchange for real changes to the policies that led to this mess. Those policies include, but aren’t limited to, high wages and pension promises (usually underfunded) for unionized public employees, zoning restrictions, enterprise-killing regulations, unrealistically high levels of tax combined with “exemptions” and carve-outs for crony capitalist special interests, and an overstuffed bureaucracy to give jobs to the politically well-connected.The Democrats are comfortable talking about more money for American cities, but not so much about that whole reform idea—at least, not yet."

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Here we go: Cruz planning new attacks on Trump to expose his liberal record « Hot Air

2016-01-15T16:53:00.001-08:00

Here we go: Cruz planning new attacks on Trump to expose his liberal record « Hot Air: "They’re framing this, cleverly, in Trumpian terms. Trump likes to say that he never attacks, he only counterpunches. A man who attacks without provocation is a bully; a man who counterpunches is simply defending himself. We’re the ones counterpunching now, though, says Team Cruz. It was Trump who hit us below the belt by attacking Cruz’s eligibility. The bully wanted a fight and now he’s got one.

Buckle up."

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White House: The only people upset that Iran freed our sailors quickly are Republicans for some reason « Hot Air

2016-01-15T15:56:00.001-08:00

White House: The only people upset that Iran freed our sailors quickly are Republicans for some reason « Hot Air: "Whether or not it’s technically illegal under international law, can we agree that airing the apology of an American sailor is an attempt to embarrass the United States? No, of course we can’t agree, per the Free Beacon clip posted below. Agreeing on that would mean acknowledging hostility from Iran, and the White House will do anything — really, anything — to avoid that so that its years-long outreach isn’t exposed as folly. Exit question: According to CNN, the sailors were reportedly told to “act happy,” evidence that they were under duress. Why are we celebrating this as a diplomatic victory if “diplomacy” involves threatening American servicemen somehow?"

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Family Feud - WSJ

2016-01-15T15:41:00.001-08:00

Family Feud - WSJ: "If you arrive at the conclusion that other people are to blame for your problems, chances are you’ve been searching something other than your soul."

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State of Disunion - WSJ

2016-01-13T14:34:00.001-08:00

State of Disunion - WSJ: "Toward the end, he observed: “A better politics doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything.” But as the above, far-from-conclusive list demonstrates, he demands agreement on a hell of a lot."

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Another Clinton of no substance or accomplishments hits the campaign trail « Hot Air

2016-01-13T11:03:00.001-08:00

Another Clinton of no substance or accomplishments hits the campaign trail « Hot Air: "Now, however, the worm has turned. If she’s going to go out, put on the gloves and start taking shots then she has placed herself on the playing field in our American Game of Thrones. And like any other surrogate out there making the case for a candidate or policy, she is open to the same scrutiny as every other Democrat spokesperson on the trail. What do they bring to the table? What is their background which lends credence to their advocacy? In the case of Chelsea Clinton it’s an easy question to answer: nothing. A big, fat zero. Chelsea Clinton is a young woman of privilege with little or no accomplishments to her credit and no real substance to champion any cause. After high school she gained admission to a prestigious university (Stanford) which may well not have even given her a second look had her surname been anything else. She’s gotten a series of very well paying “jobs” in the media and with her parents’ foundation, none of which would have been possible without the strong arm of her mother and father. She had the world handed to her on a silver platter and really hasn’t had to work for a thing in her entire life. And now she wants to lecture all of the “hard working people” of America."

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Wage Gap Myth Exposed -- By Feminists | Christina Hoff Sommers

2016-01-06T19:28:00.001-08:00

Wage Gap Myth Exposed -- By Feminists | Christina Hoff Sommers: "Women's groups will counter that even if most of the wage gap can be explained by women's choices, those choices are not truly free. Women who major in sociology rather than economics, or who choose family-friendly jobs over those that pay better but offer less flexibility, may be compelled by cultural stereotypes. According to the National Organization for Women (NOW), powerful sexist stereotypes "steer" women and men "toward different education, training, and career paths" and family roles. But are American women really as much in thrall to stereotypes as their feminist protectors claim? Aren't women capable of understanding their real preferences and making decisions for themselves? NOW needs to show, not dogmatically assert, that women's choices are not free. And it needs to explain why, by contrast, the life choices it promotes are the authentic ones -- what women truly want, and what will make them happier and more fulfilled."

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Barack Obama & Black Identity

2015-12-22T19:52:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama & Black Identity: "The really maddening thing, though, is that President Obama thinks the reason he isn’t perceived as being especially good at his job is that we yokels aren’t smart enough to understand how spectacularly spectacular he is. Barack Obama is a man almost entirely incapable of self-criticism, and in the NPR interview, he repeated one of his favorite claims: He has had trouble with public opinion because he didn’t explain his awesome ideas well enough. That’s a very politic way of saying: “These rubes don’t get it.”"

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When it comes to Ben Carson, ‘race baiters gonna bait’ « Hot Air

2015-12-16T12:37:00.001-08:00

When it comes to Ben Carson, ‘race baiters gonna bait’ « Hot Air: "Capehart’s column is the worst sort of race baiting in the American political arena, and sadly it is far, far too common among liberals in general and the Social Justice Warriors in particular. It’s dishonest, mean spirited, and chock full of internal contradictions, while lacking any sort of objective evidence to support the premise. The only purpose for publishing such a blatantly dishonest racial screed is to continue to stoke the flames of racial animus which are the Democrats’ stock in trade and the fuel which gets their base out to the polls. I’d really prefer not to even acknowledge it, but if I didn’t slug my way through writing and publishing this response today I probably would have taken to drinking drain cleaner just to wash the memory out of my remaining brain cells. Very disappointing, Mr. Capehart. You are much better than this when you choose to be."

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The science is (nearly) settled: a higher minimum wage costs jobs « Hot Air

2015-12-16T12:13:00.001-08:00

The science is (nearly) settled: a higher minimum wage costs jobs « Hot Air: "A friend of mine who operates a small chain of franchised eateries once told me that saying a higher minimum wage creates more jobs is akin to throwing an anchor to a drowning man because it would really incentivize him to dog paddle faster. While that seems to be common sense whether you’re an employer or an economist, no amount of rational explanation seems to dissuade the Democrats when they get up on their populist horse and begin promising the masses of lower income workers some extra cash. To be fair, it’s not a bad tactic if you’re trying to drum up votes because people love “free” stuff and unfortunately there are far too many voters who don’t want to see the big picture and how it could negatively impact them."

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People who are really good at swearing have an important advantage | UK | News | The Independent

2015-12-15T19:55:00.001-08:00

People who are really good at swearing have an important advantage | UK | News | The Independent: "Those who are liberal in their use of swear words are not the lazy and uneducated individuals they are often made out to be, a new study claims.

In fact, a well-stocked vocabulary of swear words is actually a healthy indicator of other verbal abilities.

Writing in the Language Sciences journal, US-based psychologists Kristin Jay and Timothy Jay, dismiss the long-held belief that swearing is a sign of inarticulateness."

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