The stuff Marx said about alienation might apply as well. But I was never really smart enough to understand what I read of Marx.

Content substitutes symbols for experience. Socrates argued that writing erodes memory while offering only the appearance of wisdom.

"[People] will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant[.]"

Anyway, the full report is here: sagamoreinstitute.org/wp-content/u...

This stat was wild to me: 10% of 9th grade boys reported alcohol consumption in the past 30 days versus 25.4% for 9th grade girls.

12th grade boys jump to 43.8% while 12th grade girls climb modestly to 35.6%.

I pretty much guarantee those senior boys are plying those freshman girls with booze!

I've only glanced at the report, but there is some fascinating stats already. Boys and girls are fairly comparable academically in 11th grade, but boys "fail to launch" senior year and into college. More women are going into "male coded" careers but fewer men doing the reverse.

Light beers aren't woke?

Like a guy who murdered his parents begging the court for mercy because he's an orphan.

He never made a pledge. Someone has misled you.

The dismissal of Biden's accomplishments by Republicans, mainstream media, non-voters, and a big chunk of Democrats have pretty well convinced me that good governance doesn't offer much in the way of electoral advantages.

"Is the Pope Catholic?
We asked J.D. Vance, and the answer might surprise you."

Has this one been done yet? @nytpitchbot.bsky.social

Valerie Warycha's resignation apparently has more to do with her opposition to the incumbent Secretary of State nominee, Diego Morales.

GOP election division leaders resign • Indiana Capital Chronicle The top two Republicans in the Indiana Election Division have tendered their resignations, effective May 6.

Both of the Republican election division leaders are resigning after the primary is over. Brad King has been there forever (and, prior to that had worked at the Legislative Services Agency where I got my start.) He basically just said that he's 68 years old and it's time.

Every billionaire is evidence of an economic failure. You can't convince me that any value they contributed to society in exchange for that billion wasn't something they would have done for, say, $500 million -- meaning the economy has wasted a half billion that could have been spent elsewhere.

orban defeated by a margin so large it put jair bolsonaro back in the hospital

This is great. But could you make Jesus golden? And, instead of Jesus, make him a calf?

In our legal system, a plea of Not Guilty does not necessarily mean that the Defendant did not commit the offense or that he was not involved in a crime. Rather, it is a popular plea, often employed by Defendants who are, indeed, guilty, but ar reluctant to go to prison. In any event, it imposes upon the State the burden of proving the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

I hear you. I got in a couple of stupid bar fights caused, in part, by me running my mouth back in the early 90s. (But also, you'll no doubt be shocked to learn, because of alcohol.)

I'm glad that the price of my social correction was a broken nose and not a gunshot wound.

I read a fair amount of history, and I watch "Survivor."

If they haven't already, former advocates for Judeo-Christian values will drop the "Judeo." Then when Christians feel they have sufficiently beaten non-Christians, they'll turn on Catholics.

Eventually, it's that Emo Philips Baptist joke.

My main hesitation against leaning into that idea too heavily is that I feel like I sound too much like those gun enthusiasts who like to quote Heinlein when he said, "an armed society is a polite society."

At least until the inevitable Christian Nationalist crackup when they start fighting in earnest over whether Catholics are *really* Christians.

I took a college seminar about the new-fangled Internet in 1995. We were talking about how social interactions were different online. I glibly said that the chance, even if remote, of getting punched in the nose made people a little more circumspect.

I still think there's something to that notion.

😂

a man in a suit and tie is giving a speech at a cbs news presidential debate ALT: a man in a suit and tie is giving a speech at a cbs news presidential debate

Not again! This keeps happening to him.

I don't remember seeing an image of Earth before that captures the (thin, fragile, tiny layer of) atmosphere so clearly. I mean, look at that.

I'm certainly projecting to some extent, but I wonder how much of this has to do with the setting in of nihilism based on the perception that nothing ever gets better.

Made up grievances are amplified while real world progress is ignored.

I shouldn't know what's going on at Truth Social anymore than I should know what's going on at 4chan.

If reporting is absolutely necessary, maybe: "the President announced his intent to commit war crimes on a fringe social media site today." But don't just broadcast it verbatim.

When I was a kid, it seemed like the girls were mostly dating the athletes -- many of whom were self-centered jerks. If that has changed over the decades, then that's a good thing.

I should never know what happened on Truth Social. Stop spreading that shit.

I had a great Carvana experience. I did the same thing - got the car, took it to a mechanic to check it out.

But I can see where it might've been a big hassle to arrange the return if it was a lemon upon delivery or the mechanic found something concerning.

Not to mention the people who prevent lives from being in danger to begin with. Medical professionals saving lives is cool. But public health infrastructure is even cooler!