Reading

Created
Wed, 16/10/2024 - 01:35
Det går ett monster fram över det svenska utbildningssystemet — utvärderings- och evidensbaseringsmonstret. Med ökad betoning av resultatstyrning följer en strid ström av krav på att redovisa kvalitet och resultat. För att mätta uppdragsgivarnas hunger efter utvärderingsinformation tvingas skolan avsätta mer och mer resurser och tid för denna verksamhet. I stället för att lita på […]
Created
Wed, 16/10/2024 - 01:30
Dear Misleader is running out of time JIMMY KIMMEL: “Just a former presidency suggesting he’ll use the military against his fellow citizens for exercising their freedom of speech. Nothing to worry about, folks. Seriously, when is he going to grow that little mustache already? Because there’s only three weeks left, you gotta get started.
Created
Wed, 16/10/2024 - 00:32

While the world looks on with trepidation at regional wars in Israel and Ukraine, a far more dangerous global crisis is quietly building at the other end of Eurasia, along an island chain that has served as the front line for America’s national defense for endless decades. Just as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has revitalized the NATO alliance, so China’s increasingly aggressive behavior and a sustained U.S. military build-up in the region have strengthened Washington’s position on the Pacific littoral, bringing several wavering allies back into the Western fold. Yet such seeming strength contains both a heightened risk of great power conflict and possible political pressures that could fracture America’s Asia-Pacific alliance relatively soon. Recent events illustrate the rising tensions... Read more

Created
Wed, 16/10/2024 - 00:00
Just what is Kamala’s position on seabed mining? Rachel Maddow last night put the lie to oligarch nonsense about their support for Trump being a business decision. Um, no. Think Elon Musk’s decision to buy Twitter was a sound business decsision? “In the history of modern economics America’s three-decade outperformance is remarkable,” declares The Economist. Why would “business” types hand it over to a felon whose entire economic plan is 19th-century tariffs? Remember those “Nine out of ten doctors prefer” ads for personal care products back when color TV was young? Well, The Wall Street Journal finds that “65% of economists see Trump’s proposed policies putting more upward pressure on the federal deficit” and “68% said prices would rise faster under Trump than under Harris.” No. Oligarchs want to be oligarchs. Their support of Trump is not based on economics, per se. The ruling class wants to rule. As a fringe benefit, writes Brian Klass about billionaires in politics, “Politics is the most straightforward way to get rich in autocracies.
Created
Tue, 15/10/2024 - 22:20

“Musk’s Super PAC Offers $47 to Those Who Help It Find Trump Voters”
New York Times, 10/7/24

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Please help. My brain is like the Cybertruck nav system. I know something’s wrong there, but no one can figure it out.

I’ve read all the psychology books, but none of them address desperately needing the validation of someone named “Catturd.”

Any therapists out there? What’s the name of the syndrome that causes you to turn into the MyPillow guy?

When I watch the movie Tremors, why do I identify with the worms?

Why is there a void in my soul bigger than the debris field of one of my rockets?

Why can’t I ever just shut up? Better to stay quiet and be thought a fool than to retweet #EndWokeness and remove all doubt.

Created
Tue, 15/10/2024 - 21:25
I really liked and admired Agnes Callard’s essay, “Beyond Neutrality: The university’s responsibility to lead” in The Point (September 29, 2024) [HT Dailynous]. My post is, despite some quibbles, primarily about amplifying a point Callard (Chicago) makes. I do so not just because there is considerable overlap between our positions (recall here and here), but also because she advances the discussion on the […]
Created
Tue, 15/10/2024 - 19:14
This Tuesday report will provide some insights into life for a westerner (me) who is working for an extended period at Kyoto University in Japan. Life is settling down here again – it always takes a week or so to put my Japanese shoes on so to speak and get used to the different sounds…
Created
Tue, 15/10/2024 - 15:12
Fundamentals Series: On Problems, Principles & Solutions

When we want to change the world we’re usually reacting to a problem. Even positive visions usually come out of negatives. We want liberty because we have tyranny. We want health because we have sickness. We want prosperity because we have poverty. We want equality because some people have way more than they need and others less than need.

When we solve a problem it’s generally mediated by a principle. Very often the principle is just the problem stated slightly differently.

Problem: Some people have more than they need, others have less than they need.

Principle: Make sure no one has more than they need while anybody has less than they need.

A principle tells you, generally speaking, what you should be doing about a problem. It doesn’t tell you how to do it.

So, for the example above, post-war Welfare states generally came upon the solution:

Created
Tue, 15/10/2024 - 11:51
The world is reeling in horror of the people burned alive sheltering inside tents in Al-Aqsa martyrs hospital. First hand accounts and devastation flood our feed. ABC’s media watch chastises Australian media on lack of coverage of journalist’s death. In Britain, Anti-Zionism is now a protected belief. Bob Carr on the power of the Israel Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 15/10/2024 - 10:00
Weirdo billionaire Trumper Bill Ackman responded to Stevens by daring him to respond to his full post, point by point —- and Stevens did it. I think it’s worth sharing with all of you here: Bill, saying you support the candidate who has promised to cut taxes for billionaires vs. the candidate who will raise taxes on billionaires, but you don’t really support the tax cuts is a bit like the old “I read Playboy for the articles.” But fine, let’s assume you are convinced that all the benefits of a Trump presidency compensate for the burden of having your taxes cut. Let’s look at your 33 reasons. But first, let’s dispense with the misty-eyed absurdity that you can vote for an openly racist Trump, but you’d like it known that you don’t support racism. The ballot box isn’t a cafeteria where you can go down the line and pick and choose what you like. If you vote for Trump, you are voting for a criminal out on bail who describes non-white immigrants with the same language as National Socialism described Jews. Don’t pretend that by voting for Trump you get some pass because you insist that’s not who you are.