Wednesday, June 04, 2003
I just had to link to the exciting new study that shows that teenage sex is connected to depression and suicide. This study is a big victory for the abstinence movement and for those who support programs to encouage teens to wait.
When you think about it, though, it's obvious. Sex creates a powerful emotional bond, especially for teenage girls but also for a lot of boys. Many of these teens imagine themselves with their sexual partner for the rest of their lives, and it can be very hard when that hope is broken. I think that the tide may be turning back on the sexual revolution from an intellectual standpoint -- I certainly hope so.
When you think about it, though, it's obvious. Sex creates a powerful emotional bond, especially for teenage girls but also for a lot of boys. Many of these teens imagine themselves with their sexual partner for the rest of their lives, and it can be very hard when that hope is broken. I think that the tide may be turning back on the sexual revolution from an intellectual standpoint -- I certainly hope so.
Hilarious post from Eric Alterman today. (The first quote is supposedly something that President Bush told Ariel Sharon, quoted from the Washington Post.
Quote of the Day, and deservedly so, today: “I said you were a man of peace. I want you to know I took immense crap for that.”
Quote of the day, runner-up, same story: “He does not have the knowledge or the patience to learn this issue enough to have an end destination in mind,” said one administration official [of his boss, the president].” Read the whole story. It is really frightening.
And by the way, the article cited above mentions Bush’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in April of last year as a “near-death experience, when Prince Abdullah arrived at Crawford with a book showing pictures of Palestinian suffering and a 10-minute videotape of images of children shot and crushed by Israelis that had appeared on Arab television. Here, according to The New Yorker’s loving profile of Prince Bandar a few months ago, is what Bush had to say: “I want peace. I don’t want to see any people killed on both sides. I think God loves me. I think God loves the Palestinians. I think God loves the Israelis. We cannot allow this to continue.” Yep, that guy’s your president.
Actually, Eric, I think it's only frightening if you're one of the Democratic presidential candidates. Attention all liberals! Please, pretty please keep believing that President Bush is stupid. Please keep "misunderestimating" him. Please raise the "gravitas" question again.
Seriously, the real issue here is that liberals (which includes 89% of the media) believe that all conservatives are dumb. They assumed that Reagan was dumb, and many of them to this day will not admit otherwise. Bush is smart in the same way that Reagan was smart. He sticks to his principles and does what he can to make the world a better place. They both left the "nuance" and research to policy wonks like Bill Clinton, who will ultimately go down in history as having accomplished very little for eight years in office, especially when compared to Reagan's eight and Bush II's eight.
Quote of the Day, and deservedly so, today: “I said you were a man of peace. I want you to know I took immense crap for that.”
Quote of the day, runner-up, same story: “He does not have the knowledge or the patience to learn this issue enough to have an end destination in mind,” said one administration official [of his boss, the president].” Read the whole story. It is really frightening.
And by the way, the article cited above mentions Bush’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in April of last year as a “near-death experience, when Prince Abdullah arrived at Crawford with a book showing pictures of Palestinian suffering and a 10-minute videotape of images of children shot and crushed by Israelis that had appeared on Arab television. Here, according to The New Yorker’s loving profile of Prince Bandar a few months ago, is what Bush had to say: “I want peace. I don’t want to see any people killed on both sides. I think God loves me. I think God loves the Palestinians. I think God loves the Israelis. We cannot allow this to continue.” Yep, that guy’s your president.
Actually, Eric, I think it's only frightening if you're one of the Democratic presidential candidates. Attention all liberals! Please, pretty please keep believing that President Bush is stupid. Please keep "misunderestimating" him. Please raise the "gravitas" question again.
Seriously, the real issue here is that liberals (which includes 89% of the media) believe that all conservatives are dumb. They assumed that Reagan was dumb, and many of them to this day will not admit otherwise. Bush is smart in the same way that Reagan was smart. He sticks to his principles and does what he can to make the world a better place. They both left the "nuance" and research to policy wonks like Bill Clinton, who will ultimately go down in history as having accomplished very little for eight years in office, especially when compared to Reagan's eight and Bush II's eight.
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
Jonah Goldberg has an excellent column up about diversity. One of the excellent points he makes that touches on the U. of Michigan affirmative action case is that the liberal establishment has decided that diversity is important for white students but not for blacks. He quotes someone saying the standard stuff about different cultures and broadening the mind, and this hits hard with this quote.
"Well, if it's an essential goal of education, let's diversify Morehouse College right now before one more black kid is forced to study without the benefit of experiencing the glories of sharing a dorm with a few Asian and white kids. And since it's an established fact that blacks are more educationally disadvantaged than most, doesn't that mean that integrating black schools is even more of an imperative than getting a few more African Americans at Harvard?
Many of our greatest scientists, statesmen, soldiers, and artists attended remarkably un-diverse institutions. Indeed, many of our greatest black leaders attended all black, and often all black male, institutions of higher learning. And yet, if I were to say that a black man can't be properly educated unless some of whitey rubs off on him, I'd get in a lot of trouble." (I think that this particular argument is lacking, though, because blacks are much more likely to be exposed to "white" culture outside of a school setting than whites are likely to be exposed to "black" culture.)
Goldberg also notes that the standard liberal line has changed from one of "affirmative action is important to help black people for the wrong that whites have done" to "diversity is important for white students." The liberals lost one argument, so they started another.
I want to add here that I think that private universities and private companies should be completely free to implement affirmative-action programs, but no tax-paying family should have their child denied admission to a public university because he wasn't the "right" race to get in.
"Well, if it's an essential goal of education, let's diversify Morehouse College right now before one more black kid is forced to study without the benefit of experiencing the glories of sharing a dorm with a few Asian and white kids. And since it's an established fact that blacks are more educationally disadvantaged than most, doesn't that mean that integrating black schools is even more of an imperative than getting a few more African Americans at Harvard?
Many of our greatest scientists, statesmen, soldiers, and artists attended remarkably un-diverse institutions. Indeed, many of our greatest black leaders attended all black, and often all black male, institutions of higher learning. And yet, if I were to say that a black man can't be properly educated unless some of whitey rubs off on him, I'd get in a lot of trouble." (I think that this particular argument is lacking, though, because blacks are much more likely to be exposed to "white" culture outside of a school setting than whites are likely to be exposed to "black" culture.)
Goldberg also notes that the standard liberal line has changed from one of "affirmative action is important to help black people for the wrong that whites have done" to "diversity is important for white students." The liberals lost one argument, so they started another.
I want to add here that I think that private universities and private companies should be completely free to implement affirmative-action programs, but no tax-paying family should have their child denied admission to a public university because he wasn't the "right" race to get in.
