Overnight Open Thread (12-17-2013)

Quote of the Day I

"In 2012 the CEO of Walmart made $20.7 million. Walmart has about 2 million employees (as far as I can tell, this is only counting the employees in the American stores). So, if you divided the CEO's entire pay among the employees they'd each get $10.35 more per year- that's not quite 20 cents per week; a half a cent per hour for full time employees. Woohoo.

Now, look at a paystub and see how much the various governments' steal from every paycheck, and then tell me who the real parasite is."

Quote of the Day II

Until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the state, beyond the post office and the policeman. He could live where he liked and as he liked. He had no official number or identity card. He could travel abroad or leave his country for ever without a passport or any sort of official permission . . .The Englishman paid taxes on a modest scale: nearly £200 million in 1913-14, or rather less than 8 per cent of the national income.

Quote of the Day III

And at PJ Media, Bryan Preston has finally found the best description ever of MSNBC, something he reveals in the very first sentence of a post you'll want to read:  "Religious cable network MSNBC rallied the faithful with a pair of heartworming [sic -- done on purpose] messages."

Are Americans All Latent Nazi-like Sadists?

Well that's what Stanley Milgram's obedience experiments in the early 60s seemed to imply. But when you look at the details of exactly what was done during the experiments they actually suggest the opposite.

For one thing a majority of the subjects (60%) in most of his scenarios refused to continue with potentially lethal shocks even when heavily coerced by the experimenter. And of those who did administer the shocks many were convinced it was all a sham (and they were in fact correct about this).

It's surprising how often Milgram's 24 different variations are wrongly conflated into this single statistic. The 65% result was made famous because it was the first variation that Milgram reported in his first journal article, yet few noted that it was an experiment that involved just 40 subjects.

By examining records of the experiment held at Yale, I found that in over half of the 24 variations, 60% of people disobeyed the instructions of the authority and refused to continue.

...Milgram went to great lengths with the stagecraft of his experiment, and was dismissive of subjects' claims that they had seen through the hoax. Yet unpublished papers at Yale show that suspicion was alive and well among many of Milgram's subjects (which is not surprising, given that Candid Camera was the most popular TV show in the United States at that time).

Subjects wrote to Milgram or called him afterwards to describe what had made them suspicious. Some commented on how the learner's cries seemed to be coming from a speaker in the corner of the room, suggesting it was a tape recording. Others noticed the check given to the learner looked dog-eared and worn, an indication that it had been handed over many times before. The experimenter's lack of concern for the learner and failure to respond to the learner's complaints suggested there was nothing to worry about. Some subjects described how they had surreptitiously pressed switches of lower voltage but still the learner's cries intensified.

So we're not all secretly Nazis at heart and in fact it takes a lot of effort to get most people to act like one even under highly controlled conditions.

North Korea's Youth Revolution

With the execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle the young people seem to be in charge - and that's not a good thing. Just ask those lucky enough to survive China's Cultural Revolution.

The 67-year-old Jang was for decades a trusted eminence grise, the interlocutor in an otherwise eccentric family. His wife was the youngest daughter of the current leader's grandfather and North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. She was also the sister of the young leader's father, Kim Jong Il.

Jang was appointed the de facto regent before Kim Jong Il died in December 2011, a job that included reining in youthful impulses - something the younger Kim clearly resented.

In a 2,700-word screed released Friday, Jang was accused of doing "serious harm to the youth movement in our country, being part of the group of renegades and traitors in the field of youth work bribed by enemies."

Just two years in power, Kim Jong Un has made a cult of youth the theme of his rule, investing the country's scarce resources in water slides, roller coasters and ski slopes.

Megan McArdle: Why I Try Not to Write Bad reviews

I am, as my family and friends will testify, neither nice nor sweet. And I have certainly delivered my share of scathing takedowns and over-the-top denunciations. But I'm not particularly proud of it, and as I backpack into middle age, I've been trying to cut down on the snark, along with late nights, red wine and almost everything else I enjoyed in my 30s.

...But that's not actually the main reason I avoid it. The main reason I avoid the joys of snarky takedowns is that it's not very good for you. Snark is immense, immense fun; the only thing more enjoyable than chortling to yourself over a particularly well-turned insult is having your friends and acquaintances e-mail to tell you how awesome it was. But if you're basically pretty good at snotty putdowns - and most bloggers have at least an apprentice-level facility with this art - it's almost too much fun. It's too easy. It's the writing equivalent of skiing the bunny slope.

I have written some epic snark, and I have written a book, and let me just tell you, there is no comparison. Books are hard. Reported features are hard. Sarcasm and outrage are easy, which is why they tend to peak in adolescence, unlike, say, mastery of nuclear physics.

Producing content is hard while snark is easy.

Just How British Are You?

Apparently my Brit-emulator mode is quite good since my score was not too bad.

The Glock Ad You'll Never See on TV

Michigan Man Fired After Helping Put Out a Fire

Actually given his prior 'offenses' David Bowers seems like exactly the kind of guy you'd want watching over your store. Consider it Meijer's loss.

The Horrible Bad Bad Fisher-Price Bouncy Seat with iPad Holder

Eh - it's actually more interactive than a lot of the stuff people  leave babies with. And sometimes mommy does need a break to use the bathroom and make some phone calls.

The seat is angering parents and child advocates who say the introduction of screen technology so early is harmful to the health and development of babies and claim Fisher-Price's seat hits a new low.

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood today began a letter writing campaign against the $75 product, calling it 'oppressive and destructive to young children,' while also naming it the worst toy of the year.

The AoSHQ group. Yeah.

Teh Tweet!

Tonight's post brought to you by Lord Flashheart's Guide to Women Flying:

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to maetenloch at gmail. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

posted by Maetenloch at 10:45 PM

| Access Comments