Category Archives: Social Commentary

Business, Economics, History, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Brexit, And The UK’s Future

5 Comments

An explainer:

More Conservatives voted Leave than Labourites, but Labour represents the most passionately pro-Remain constituencies in the country and the most passionately pro-Leave ones. This means both parties have taken to destroying themselves internally rather than dealing with the vote’s implications.

The Tories are more culpable because they formed government during this period. They stuck with Theresa May, a leader who lacks every leadership quality apart from perseverance and who managed to lose a 20 per cent poll lead against an antediluvian Marxist after calling a completely unnecessary general election. This election produced a hung parliament and forced May’s Tories into a confidence and supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a Northern Irish outfit that is, to put it mildly, full of strange characters.

…In days gone by, superannuated elites refusing to accept defeat on existential questions of this type finished up with their heads on pikes. Democracy put a stop to that by doing what democracy does best: facilitating the peaceful and orderly transfer of power. But democracy means you elect a new parliament, not a new people. That, in truth, is the only deal that matters.

Link via Iain Murray, with whom I had lunch last week in DC, and who personally knows Boris Johnson, and most of the other candidates. When I noted that Theresa May has probably been the worst PM since Neville Chamberlain, he replied, “Since Lord North.”

Business, Education, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Woke Privilege

3 Comments

When it turns into woke apocalypse.

I hope that Oberlin is just the first of many such lawsuits. Enough is enough. It won’t stop until they start to really feel pain.

[Update a few minutes later]

What happened to Oberlin could happen to any college: They’re all a mess.

To be fair, I doubt if it would happen at Hillsdale. But this is amazing:

Gibson’s attorney Lee Plakas asked Protzman what was the reason for cutting ties with the business they had worked with for more than a century. He pointed out emails from various administrators that the student might have throw a “tantrum” on campus, specifically in the cafeteria while eating dinner, and that might be a good reason to get their cookies and bagels elsewhere.

“The concern was that the students were angry?” Plakas asked. “The fear was that angry students would throw food [made by Gibson’s] on the floor [of the cafeteria] and stomp on it?”

“Yes, that was one of the concerns,” Protzman answered.

“Doesn’t that sound more like a nursery school than a college?” Plakas continued.

“Nursery school students do throw food on the floor, yes,” Protzman said, adding “We are not the students’ parents,” as the reason the school could not tell the students to quit threatening to throw food on the floor and eat their dinner like nice people do.

For those who want more details of the “Student Food Stomp Threat,” the food to be flattened into the cafeteria tile was going to be donuts and bagels made by Gibson’s, but no one could was sure of the students were going to put cream cheese on the bagels before they jumped on them.

These “students” do not belong in college. But it will probably take several more multi-million-dollars verdicts to get their attention. They’re like the mule that has to be hit in the middle of the head with a two by four.

[Update a few minutes later]

Related: Did your child return from college a better person?

In a lot of cases, I’d expect not.

[Update a while later]

Why is the University of North Carolina funding a “Hub For Social Justice”?

Because they can. For now.

Business, Economics, Education, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Oberlin College

15 Comments

…is claiming poverty.

Screw them. Put them out of business. Let them serve as an example to the other Social Justice Universities.

[Update a while later]

Campus insanity is migrating into society, and Republicans had better stop it before it’s too late.

This is also a useful reminder that contra leftist tropes, business, and corporations, hate the free market.

Plus this:

…key Republican leaders, like Senator Lamar Alexander (R–Tenn.), are resisting calls from among their colleagues and conservative groups to attach protections for free speech to the endlessly flowing spigot of cash from Washington. Instead, Republicans seem to be substituting real support for free speech with a toothless resolution, which pays lip service to calling out speech codes and speech “zones” as contrary to the First Amendment.

There is a reason (well, lots of reasons) they call them the Stupid Party.

[Friday-morning update]

Will Oberlin learn its lesson? Probably not.

[Update a while later]

The jury hated Oberlin.

And deservedly so.

In my view, the main significance of the jury’s verdict is that is shows how normal people react when they are exposed to today’s campus leftism. You cannot sell to a normal person the idea that it is “racism” for a store to catch a student stealing a bottle of wine, and call the police, merely on account of the student’s skin color. Social justice warrior culture is insane, and is properly judged as such by normal people, who–luckily for them–tend not to encounter it often. The jury’s reaction to the demonization of Gibson’s bakery is, I think, a good indication of how most Americans will respond if, and when, they realize how depraved the Left has become.

Yes.

[Saturday-morning update]

Conor Friedersdorf has the full story:

After that initial round of protests, Oberlin caved to student demands to cancel all its business with the bakery. Later, an Oberlin Police Department investigation, undertaken to probe accusations of racist behavior at the bakery, found that among 40 adults arrested for shoplifting at the business in a five-year period, six were black, suggesting vigilant enforcement against people of all races.

“Suggesting…”

Business, Culinary, Education, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Social Commentary, Technology and Society

Meatless Burgers

7 Comments

Of course they aren’t any healthier, but this article (as is generally the case) is malinformed on nutrition:

Part of the appeal for diners is that eating less red meat can cut the risk of heart disease and other health risks. But nutritionists and registered dietitians say ordering a meatless burger at a chain — especially one where you can get fries with it — might not be that much better for you. “Are they healthier as far as sodium, calories and fat content? Definitely not,” Sharon Zarabi, a registered dietitian and bariatric program director at Lenox Hill Hospital, told MarketWatch.

There is zero scientific evidence that red meat increases your risk of heart disease (or any other health risk). And there is nothing wrong with sodium, calories (per se) or fat (at least saturated fat, though transfats and seed oils are terrible, nutritionally).

“It’s almost the same amount of calories as the regular burger. The fat is slightly lower, but the saturated fat is still pretty high,” notes Zarabi of the saturated fat, which is almost the same exact amount in each. Consumers can expect to pay at least 10 cents more for the Impossible Whopper ($4.29), with prices varying by location. In the Bay Area, the meatless Whopper is selling for $6.19 before tax, compared to $4.89 for the original version. (Burger King did not respond to a request for comment.) Zarabi urges consumers to look at the weight in grams for each menu option. At White Castle, the Impossible Slider is 90 grams in weight, compared to the Original Slider, which is 55 grams. If you don’t look at the nutrition facts, it could easily seem like the Impossible Slider is worse for you, but they’re actually almost on par with each other. The Impossible Slider is 210 calories with 11 grams of fat, and 4 grams of saturated fat, compared to the Original Slider’s 140 calories with 7 grams of fat and 2.5 grams of saturated fat. The Impossible Slider costs $1.27 more. White Castle did not respond to a request for comment.

This is all junk science. Calories aren’t the issue, saturated fat isn’t the issue, weight in grams isn’t the issue. And sliders are terrible, regardless of what the patty is made of, because they’re mostly bread. But at least this nutritionist gets it right:

Dr. Lisa Young, a registered dietitian and author of “Finally Full, Finally Slim,” says meat alternatives become even more unhealthy when you factor in the bread, condiments and French fries that typically round out a fast food meal.

Not to mention the sugary soft drinks. There may be sound ethical reasons for being a vegan, but don’t delude yourself that it’s a healthy diet.