Overnight Open Thread (12-23-2014)

Quote of the Day I

I have had the following experience more than once: I am speaking with a professional academic who is a liberal. The subject of the underrepresentation of conservatives in academia comes up. My interlocutor admits that this is indeed a reality, but says the reason why conservatives are underrepresented in academia is because they don't want to be there, or they're just not smart enough to cut it. I say: "That's interesting. For which other underrepresented groups do you think that's true?" An uncomfortable silence follows.

-- Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry explaining how liberal bias is ruining the social sciences

Quote of the Day II

Israel is just a pretext for setting loose emotions that originate elsewhere.

-- William Jacobson in Israeli-free Hummus Can't Fill Progressive Jews' Void

Quote of the Day III - 1 Shopping Day Left Edition

Did you know that it is legal to own a grenade launcher? Yeah, that is pretty awesome. By the letter of the law you can also possess live HE grenades, but acquiring them is incredibly difficult. However a smattering of other rounds are available if you want to experience the joy of an M203 without the strict storage requirements and high cost of 40mm HE. Surplus practice grenades are affordable and can be reloaded with .38 special blanks too!

-- Review of the LMT M203 Grenade Launcher

The Year in #VoxFails

The single best thing Vox management could do to improve their reputation would be to require every writer there to spend at least 3 minutes googling their topic before hitting post.

As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about copyright and intellectual property, I was terribly intrigued by the notion that the government can't claim a copyright on its coins. Seems like that could lead to some problems, no?
Except, oops, "This article was totally wrong."

I could go on, but hopefully you get the point: never ever ever ever trust any single solitary thing that you read at VOX DOT COM. EVER. There's roughly a 100 percent chance that they have gotten the story either partly or wholly wrong.

And of course Vox never fails to FAIL: No, this winter solstice wasn't the longest ever. Scientists explain what we got wrong.

Staying Classy: Anti-Police Protesters Crash Memorial for Slain NYPD Officers

Republican Warnings Confirmed: De Blasio Taking New York Back to 1970

Insty on the Left and 'Protests'

But (barely) deniable violence for purposes of intimidation is all part of the scheme. That's what "no justice, no peace" means. As Richard Fernandez has written: "It is impossible to understand the politics of the Left without grasping that it is all about deniable intimidation." That's why they don't want you to own guns, and that's why they're so panicked at groups, like the Tea Party, that aren't intimidated.

Wodehousing a Thing?

I'm skeptical yet intrigued...

You've probably already heard about "Wodehousing," a disturbing trend in which teenagers videotape themselves covering strangers' homes with the full text of P.G. Wodehouse novels. . .

26 Interesting Facts About North Korea

It's such a bizarre hell hole that all of these are entirely plausible.

Israel and the Secret War Stockpile

Many of these JDAMs shipped to Israel weren't owned by Israel but by the United States. This was because, starting in 2009, the U.S. began storing weapons and military equipment in Israel. These emergency supplies served a dual purpose. The primary reason for this gear being in Israel was because it could be quickly flown to American forces in the region as needed. A secondary purpose was as an emergency reserve for Israeli forces, if Israel got involved in an intense war and needed rapid resupply. In this situation the United States could simply declare an Israeli purchase and release the ammo and spare parts stored in Israel to Israel. Because of this dual purpose, all the weapons and spare parts in the warehouses and bunkers are material in use by both the U.S. and Israeli forces. Currently, there's nearly a billion dollars-worth of stuff in these emergency stores, which include JDAM bomb kits, missiles, other ammunition, spare parts, armored vehicles, and electronic equipment.

It's Come to This: LAPD Launches Investigation Over Michael Brown Parody Song

Oops: 7 Teens Come Home Pregnant From School Trip

Teh Tweet!

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posted by Maetenloch at 10:05 PM

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