Oops

It was a rough opening weekend for Jem and the Holograms.

I think she should be the winner.

Bob Ross is now available online.

What do you think of LEGO's position here?

Earworms seem to be a recurring theme on YLT.

Reviews on the new Apple TV are out.

Responses:

1. Moose!  Get that out of here!  (But formal apology was funny.)

2. I would not like to spend my Saturday night in jail.

3. Maybe the way social media can redeem itself is by allowing people to review the unhinged ravings of these people and get them some help (and/or just stop them) before they turn into rampage killers.

4. This article probably comes closer to describing the unpleasant experiences of many women that do not constitute rape but are potentially being shoehorned into that description, and it is certainly a problem.  Experts always say that communication is one of the most important aspects of sex, and while I don't doubt that there are enough times where a terrible boyfriend or husband will sexually assault his significant other, I would think that sex within the confines of a relationship would at least open up the possibility of communication taking place.  Nobody is talking about likes and dislikes or preferred methods of consent in the course of a drunken hookup.  (I would further note that the sort of communication necessary for many women to enjoy sex often doesn't happen in the confines of a relationship either, and that's something worth considering.)  It's a shame to me that women hear these judgments and feel bad because the sort of guys that would be interested in listening and communicating and being part of a mutually enjoyable experience probably aren't paying attention to this gossip.

This statement is a problem, though:  “What I want is not for me to have that burden. I want one of my male partners, who are wonderful men who care about me, to have just once been like, ‘No, this is unacceptable to me. I’m not going to continue to have sex with you when you’re not getting off!’ And I can’t imagine that happening.”  What she wants is the thing that will never happen unless she at least communicates her dissatisfaction, for two reasons: 1) guys often believe (rightly) that confidence in the bedroom is a turn-on, and thus will be loathe to display weakness or what they perceive as weakness, which will often constitute "is this okay?" questions; and 2) guys worth having will be responsive to the needs of their partners, and if only to ensure return visits to the bedroom, will be happy to respond to any direct requests or feedback.

Also, the abortion piece is in my view irrelevant to the overall problem.

5. That's very charitable of her.

R2R:

1. I actually don't have much qualm with their actions, and while I will only rarely question the decision of a woman to call 911 when she feels danger (better safe than sorry), I think this all could have been solved in short order if the guys just stayed and talked to the cops in a civil manner.  These cops clearly weren't trying to shoot people (my evidence being that they didn't shoot anyone).  I don't really like the argument that, because there have been a few instances elsewhere that resulting in deaths by police officer, then running, fighting, resisting arrest, or otherwise being confrontational with a police officer is therefore a reasonable response.

2. This is the substitute for inability to explain science to people, as well as a way to discredit people's arguments without responding to them.  I am saying nothing about the arguments of the 3% or the 97%, but the problem is that that statistic isn't either.  I think there are good arguments for acting reasonably in the face of uncertain data (an analogy might be drinking lightly/moderately during pregnancy), and a cleaner environment is unquestionably a good thing, which is why I think the approach in this article is noteworthy.

3. I want to understand the mom's frame of mind at each stage of this: when she first got the call, when she brought in her kids, and when she was deciding to write a book about it.  Is it all just short-term decisions to profit without any coherent long-term morality considerations?  I only ask because she seemed more than happy to engage, but now she's writing this book, and the implicit moral position behind the value of the book is that Louisville did something wrong, which has to mean on some level that she did something wrong.  But maybe she has just declined to think about this - I'll never know because I'm not buying her book.

4. How did you not respond to 4???

R2R2R:

5. We can celebrate alone together!

R2R2R2R:

3. I just didn't want the grievance... But really, it wasn't a terrible experience - the band played some songs I like.  But the whole idea of it is kinda ridiculous.  Also, if you want to start enforcing YLT, you're going down a dangerous path.

R2R2R2R2R2R:

4. The manager would have to use judgment, which is the one skill that people seem to be forgetting about.  I listened to a podcast recently where the guest was talking about how as a society we've gone too far in the direction of rules to the point that we no longer know how to exercise good judgment.  For example, it used to be that good teachers knew how to reach their students in somewhat individualized ways, paying attention to some more than others and tailoring incentives and penalties to the particular student, with some overall general rules to which everyone is subject.  But nowadays many teachers are implicitly (or explicitly) barred from doing so, out of fear than an angry parent will sue or otherwise cause problems if her child is treated differently.  A manager has to evaluate each situation within reasonable parameters to decide what accommodations would benefit the firm and the employee.  It's fine if circumstances change, and it's also fine if someone asks primarily because they now realize that "yes" is a possible answer to a question they've been dying to ask, but the default to equal treatment in every way ultimately does more harm than good: it either eliminates the possibility of help because now nobody can get help or requires the firm to spend too much money on one form of compensation to the detriment of other forms (e.g. money) or their bottom line.

B