Do people find this plausible? Because I’ve never known anything about car seat laws in my locality, and didn’t think anyone else did. I also didn’t think anyone put kids in car seats after 5 or so. But I grew up in the 1990s, and know many things have gotten stupider since.
I buy the idea that people have fewer kids now because they’re neurotic loons, but still don’t buy that differences across specific localities matter much. Even though I’d want to believe this study as anti-safetyism propaganda.
Just now reading No Good Men Among the Living by Anand Gopal. You know about American incompetence in Afghanistan, but Gopal is unique in showing how the occupation looked on the ground, and destroys the narrative of a well-meaning America just being too ambitious. Thread.
In one Afghan district, there was a dispute over which side was the legitimate government. Both sides were accused of being Taliban by their enemies. What did the US do? It went and killed both sides, tortured the survivors, and then awarded medals to the troops involved.
A warlord built a business empire off the occupation, selling the US land he stole from locals, getting the US to take out his rivals by accusing them of being Taliban. The US military dropped fliers that said Afghans who cooperated could “Get Wealth and Power Beyond Your Dreams"
"In the next few years, two women will earn a college degree for every man, if the trend continues,
And almost all the most successful self-made entrepreneurs will still be men, and we'll still hear about how it's due to sexism and the old boy network. wsj.com/articles/colle…
Earning $500 a week and investing it in cryptocurrency seems better than going to college, if you’d spent the last few years doing that instead of going to school you’d be doing pretty well.
“Young women appear eager to take leadership roles, making up 59% of student body presidents in the 2019-20 academic year and 74% of student body vice presidents.” Almost as if modern universities encourage female ambition and discourage it for men.
Must read on the Afghanistan war. A village was terrorized by a warlord and militias. The Taliban brought peace, and the US brought them back. When there was no more Taliban in the area, the US paid the militia to round up random people. newyorker.com/magazine/2021/…
The 93rd division, US allies, would accuse people in the Karzai government of being Taliban. The US would then send them to Gitmo, along with a random gov official who showed up without a translator. Dado, the warlord, killed US soldiers and then blamed "Taliban."
Afghan gov tried to disband the 93rd division, and replace them with police. The division in response became a subsidiary of a Texas defense contractor, and went and killed 15 Afghan police to get their contract back. Members of the militia who had a conscience joined the Taliban
I'm quoted in The Washington Post, talking about the ways in which the media overlies on generals and the government officials to explain what has been happening in Afghanistan, and the deference they're given. washingtonpost.com/media/2021/09/…
TV appearances recently
McMaster-7
McCaffrey-13
Petraeus-6
Keane-16
Lute-5
Bolton-at least 2
With almost no questioning of their records. Each of these people has been spectacularly wrong at one point or another, and in some cases have conflicts of interest too.
More great reporting from The Post. "The eight generals who commanded American forces in Afghanistan between 2008 and 2018 have gone on to serve on more than 20 corporate boards, according to a review of company disclosures and other releases." washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…
I don't think the problem with elites is that they moved away from poor whites, that's inevitable in a free society. It's that they built an ideology in which they are the Great Satan. Elites don't think they did that, but they were unconcerned with even the optics of the thing.
If you used "black male" as an insult, or even showed yourself to be ok with people who do, black people would hate you, no matter what else you say or do.
Why do liberals think they can do it with "white males" and not have a bitter culture war?
Fair enough, birtherism was stupid and ugly, the people themselves aren’t blameless and Republican elites have certainly failed terribly. You don’t get a culture this broken without a lot going wrong.
A “reckoning” at Alibaba over sexism? What’s annoying about the discourse is it combines rape with lewd jokes as if they’re the same thing. We’ll see how strong Chinese defences are against America’s most destructive weapon. nytimes.com/2021/09/01/tec…
Is every single thing here good? No, but there has to be some freedom for individuals and institutions to navigate and develop their own work and social lives without a government-media complex watching them. Adults feeling "uncomfortable" is a lesser evil than the tyranny of HR.
"Alibaba has tried to cultivate a work environment of genial familiarity. Employees refer to one another using company nicknames. Managers show concern for workers’ personal and family lives." Can't have that! You're a global company now, you're run according to American HR.