I can't help noticing that this is a single prompt presented with no context. It's not at all clear how representative this is of the rest of the test, or more importantly, of the curriculum. Maybe there's also a question asking respondents to write a speech justifying not having deployed the army to quell riots before they escalated further and resulted in the deaths of an additional 25 people.
In a less enlightened age, we used to believe that you could not really understand an issue without being able to summarize the best arguments for both sides, and that the ability to argue for a position you oppose---or even better, abhor---is a better signal of your rhetorical and critical thinking skills than the ability to argue for a position you support.
It's good that we know better now.
Meta-level issues aside, for kicks and giggles, what would you say would be an appropriate response if the Capitol riot on January 6th had been much larger, and the Capitol police had, after incurring several fatal casualties, failed to bring it under control, with no signs of making progress? Are there no realistic circumstances in which calling in military support, resulting in the deaths of 25 rioters, is the least bad plausible outcome?
I don't really like the passive management elements that they started adding to the omnigenre games 10-15 years ago. They're not really developed enough to be as much fun as a full strategy game would be, so they just end up feeling like a hassle. I don't want to do chores in a game.
From the headlines, those articles appear to be about misleadingly edited or faked videos. I find it plausible that the media were using a weakman strategy---debunking fake or edited videos in order to avoid acknowledging better criticisms of Biden's fitness for office---but calling out fake videos is, in and of itself, not something I would count among the media's many sins.
Well, no, he's a left-wing populist, which is the opposite of actual progressivism. His agenda is progressive only in the sense of the word that also describes his neurodegeneration.
It's certainly possible. I would very much like to have Trump out of the picture, though ideally in a way that makes him a laughingstock rather than a martyr. It's also possible that somewhere between high school and age 20, he had his mind warped by social media and took a sharp left turn. Many such cases.
Though as CJ says, straight-up mental illness is always a pretty good bet. Remember how it turned out that that guy who shot Giffords had a beef with her because she wouldn't answer the question "What is government if words have no meaning?"
the price of the electricity was going to be more than the price from alternate regional sources
Are the alternate regional sources fossil fuels? Solar power is great, but do we have any credible carbon-free alternative to nuclear power that can compensate for its intermittent availability?
Good to know that, since the Giffords shooting, Democrats have learned to tell the difference between metaphorical use of "bullseye" and a literal call to assassinate someone. There may be hope for you yet.
There was a brief period where PDFs ceased to be an annoyance on desktop browsers, because they would be put in the browser cache, where they get cleaned up automatically, and displayed right in the browser.
Phone browsers, inexplicably, make the same mistake originally made with desktop browsers: They go into your download directory and stick around indefinitely until manually cleaned up.
So after a brief golden age, PDFs are annoying again.
Oh, hey, he's still repeating the "8.2% tax rate" lie to promote his idiotic mark-to-market tax. People overlook this because Trump's constant BSing makes him look better by comparison, but Biden really does lie quite a lot; he just does it more strategically than Trump.
"Elite," in a very loose sense of the term, describes the kind of people who most eagerly lapped that slop up. Intellectual fashions among the top 10-20% of the population in terms of SES dictated uncritical acceptance of these narratives.
You keep doing this thing where you attribute disagreement with you to anxiety or resentment over social status. Not only is this totally content-free, but it suggests that you yourself just blindly accept whatever is popular in your social circles as truth, and deeply resent people who dare to question your civic religion. It's really not a good look.
I get the Russian and French part, but could you elaborate a bit on the real differences between Anglo-American and German law that form the basis for this joke?
Basically all of what we read prior to high school was YA literature of one form or another, for the obvious reason that a large majority of elementary and middle-school kids aren't ready for Shakespeare or adult-level literature. Historical YA literature like Across Five Aprils and the Witch of Blackbird Pond is still YA literature.
Perot was a blessing in disguise. After his first two years, Clinton got paired with a Republican House that didn't send him any big spending bills, and federal spending only increased enough to compensate for inflation and population growth. 1988-2000 was a golden age for fiscal responsibility enthusiasts.
Most educated people know about Simplified Chinese: Back in the 50s, the CCP simplied the structure of many Chinese characters in an attempt to increase literacy, although I don't think there's any evidence that it actually makes it easier to learn to read; the only real advantage is that they're faster to write by hand. Anyway, since that time, simplified characters have been used in China, and Singapore jumped on board in the 70s, while traditional characters are still used in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Fewer people know about simplified Japanese. After World War II, Japan also simplified some characters, although the changes were more limited, with only about 350 characters being affected. For example, Yokohama changed from 横濱 to 横浜, geisha changed from 藝者 to 芸者, and Yen changed from 圓 to 円. More apropos to this post, the character for 10,000 was changed from 萬 to the previously obscure 万, the former originating from a pictograph of a scorpion.
Which is to say, the belief that 10,000 steps per day is optimum for good health is, in part, the result of a bureaucratic decree that 10,000 should look like a guy walking instead of a scorpion.
If that is what makes money, that is what is going to be made.
More than one thing can make money. One of the reasons that markets are better than politics is that you don't have to be in the majority to get what you want. As long as there's enough of a market for a product to make it profitable to make and sell that product, somebody will do it, even if there's a larger market for other products.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Eton’s Ethically Equivocal Entrance Exam Essay”
I can't help noticing that this is a single prompt presented with no context. It's not at all clear how representative this is of the rest of the test, or more importantly, of the curriculum. Maybe there's also a question asking respondents to write a speech justifying not having deployed the army to quell riots before they escalated further and resulted in the deaths of an additional 25 people.
In a less enlightened age, we used to believe that you could not really understand an issue without being able to summarize the best arguments for both sides, and that the ability to argue for a position you oppose---or even better, abhor---is a better signal of your rhetorical and critical thinking skills than the ability to argue for a position you support.
It's good that we know better now.
Meta-level issues aside, for kicks and giggles, what would you say would be an appropriate response if the Capitol riot on January 6th had been much larger, and the Capitol police had, after incurring several fatal casualties, failed to bring it under control, with no signs of making progress? Are there no realistic circumstances in which calling in military support, resulting in the deaths of 25 rioters, is the least bad plausible outcome?
On “On Civil War”
No, that was Cuties.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Assassin’s Creed 2: The Ezio Collection”
I don't really like the passive management elements that they started adding to the omnigenre games 10-15 years ago. They're not really developed enough to be as much fun as a full strategy game would be, so they just end up feeling like a hassle. I don't want to do chores in a game.
On “President Biden Drops Out, Endorses Vice President Harris”
From the headlines, those articles appear to be about misleadingly edited or faked videos. I find it plausible that the media were using a weakman strategy---debunking fake or edited videos in order to avoid acknowledging better criticisms of Biden's fitness for office---but calling out fake videos is, in and of itself, not something I would count among the media's many sins.
On “From The Los Angeles Times: Schiff calls on Biden to drop out, citing ‘serious concerns’ he can’t win”
Well, no, he's a left-wing populist, which is the opposite of actual progressivism. His agenda is progressive only in the sense of the word that also describes his neurodegeneration.
On “Trump was just shot at a rally. He appears to be fine.”
It's certainly possible. I would very much like to have Trump out of the picture, though ideally in a way that makes him a laughingstock rather than a martyr. It's also possible that somewhere between high school and age 20, he had his mind warped by social media and took a sharp left turn. Many such cases.
Though as CJ says, straight-up mental illness is always a pretty good bet. Remember how it turned out that that guy who shot Giffords had a beef with her because she wouldn't answer the question "What is government if words have no meaning?"
On “Linky Friday: Eternal Vigilance Requires Eternal Listicles, Soundtracked to Roundball Rock”
Are the alternate regional sources fossil fuels? Solar power is great, but do we have any credible carbon-free alternative to nuclear power that can compensate for its intermittent availability?
On “Trump was just shot at a rally. He appears to be fine.”
Good to know that, since the Giffords shooting, Democrats have learned to tell the difference between metaphorical use of "bullseye" and a literal call to assassinate someone. There may be hope for you yet.
"
Overpopulation. You gotta pump up those fertility numbers if you want to replace us.
On “It’s Time For Biden To Be A Statesman”
Your claim that Biden has been the best president of your lifetime makes a lot more sense, now that I understand your criteria.
"
Why would he start now?
On “Dems in Disarray! No, For Reals This Time”
There was a brief period where PDFs ceased to be an annoyance on desktop browsers, because they would be put in the browser cache, where they get cleaned up automatically, and displayed right in the browser.
Phone browsers, inexplicably, make the same mistake originally made with desktop browsers: They go into your download directory and stick around indefinitely until manually cleaned up.
So after a brief golden age, PDFs are annoying again.
On “The Master Debaters (Not)”
Oh, hey, he's still repeating the "8.2% tax rate" lie to promote his idiotic mark-to-market tax. People overlook this because Trump's constant BSing makes him look better by comparison, but Biden really does lie quite a lot; he just does it more strategically than Trump.
On “From Matt Yglesias: Elite misinformation is an underrated problem”
"Elite," in a very loose sense of the term, describes the kind of people who most eagerly lapped that slop up. Intellectual fashions among the top 10-20% of the population in terms of SES dictated uncritical acceptance of these narratives.
On “About Last Night: Debate Debacle Edition”
Obviously they're both going to be unfit for office. Candidates who are fit for office can't win primary elections.
On “From NY Mag: Freddie deBoer On Forcibly Treating the Mentally Ill”
You keep doing this thing where you attribute disagreement with you to anxiety or resentment over social status. Not only is this totally content-free, but it suggests that you yourself just blindly accept whatever is popular in your social circles as truth, and deeply resent people who dare to question your civic religion. It's really not a good look.
On “Five New Rulings from The Supreme Court of the United States”
I get the Russian and French part, but could you elaborate a bit on the real differences between Anglo-American and German law that form the basis for this joke?
On “Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Abortion Medication Restriction on Legal Standing”
You won't believe what those far-right hacks did this time!
On “Open Mic for the week of 6/10/2024”
They're almost as bad as teachers!
https://www.foxnews.com/us/nearly-350-k-12-educators-arrested-child-sex-crimes-2022
On “RENT has not held up”
Twenty years ago I had a girlfriend in New York. When I went to visit her, she took me to see Rent, which she had not seen, either.
She later apologized for this.
On “Open Mic for the week of 6/3/2024”
Basically all of what we read prior to high school was YA literature of one form or another, for the obvious reason that a large majority of elementary and middle-school kids aren't ready for Shakespeare or adult-level literature. Historical YA literature like Across Five Aprils and the Witch of Blackbird Pond is still YA literature.
On “Judging Trump’s Greek Chorus After His Verdict”
Perot was a blessing in disguise. After his first two years, Clinton got paired with a Republican House that didn't send him any big spending bills, and federal spending only increased enough to compensate for inflation and population growth. 1988-2000 was a golden age for fiscal responsibility enthusiasts.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Pikmin Bloom and Getting Your Steps In”
As you may have noticed, the other real advantage to simplified characters is that they're easier to read as 10-point type on a monitor.
"
Most educated people know about Simplified Chinese: Back in the 50s, the CCP simplied the structure of many Chinese characters in an attempt to increase literacy, although I don't think there's any evidence that it actually makes it easier to learn to read; the only real advantage is that they're faster to write by hand. Anyway, since that time, simplified characters have been used in China, and Singapore jumped on board in the 70s, while traditional characters are still used in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Fewer people know about simplified Japanese. After World War II, Japan also simplified some characters, although the changes were more limited, with only about 350 characters being affected. For example, Yokohama changed from 横濱 to 横浜, geisha changed from 藝者 to 芸者, and Yen changed from 圓 to 円. More apropos to this post, the character for 10,000 was changed from 萬 to the previously obscure 万, the former originating from a pictograph of a scorpion.
Which is to say, the belief that 10,000 steps per day is optimum for good health is, in part, the result of a bureaucratic decree that 10,000 should look like a guy walking instead of a scorpion.
On “Open Mic for the week of 5/27/2024”
More than one thing can make money. One of the reasons that markets are better than politics is that you don't have to be in the majority to get what you want. As long as there's enough of a market for a product to make it profitable to make and sell that product, somebody will do it, even if there's a larger market for other products.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.