THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023Also, Stephens and Brooks jump ship: Joe Biden had always been known as a bit of a gaffe machine. (That was before we started to learn about the various ways he failed to rein in his drug-addicted son.)This latest gaffe—the error involving the classified … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023...producing a treasured result: Once again, we want to apologize for the length of this Case Study.In full fairness to ourselves, the holidays got in the way. Then too, we have to say this:So many peculiar behaviors are involved in the case of that UVa … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2023Or at least, so the New York Times says: It's been a while since miraculous Finland was being hailed by our upper-end mainstream press corps.This morning, the miraculous nation was back on top once again! These are the headlines which appear atop a news … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2023Nonwhites said the same things: As our Case Study nears its end, we return to the basic text of the UVa study in question.We return to the very start of the four researchers' report on the UVa study. Their widely cited research report starts in the mann … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2023Her presentation struck us as strange: Karen Attiah is a good, decent person. At present, she's a columnist for the Washington Post. She has served in other important capacities for the Washington Post in the past.Last Friday, she wrote a piece about the … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2023On its face, a peculiar procedure: We apologize for the amount of time it has taken to conduct our ongoing Case Study. We ran into some holiday delays, and some other surprises besides.Our Case study has dragged on and on. Still, we plan to continue the C … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2023Days of wonder reach Brazil: Was the girl from Ipanema there? The New York Times doesn't say, but it sounds like everyone else was:NICAS AND SPIGARIOL (1/9/23): Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s ousted former president, Jair Bolsonaro, stormed Brazil’s Co … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2023Anatomy of a tribe: Long ago and far away, the candidate we voted for made an unfortunate statement. The hopeful in question was Hillary Clinton. The statement in question was this:CLINTON (9/9/16): You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put h … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2023Others craft talking-point: The gentleman from California has been elected Speaker of the House. As one caller to C-Span has noted, one of the votes which got him there came from George Santos. He's the gentleman from New York by way of Fantasy Island!We' … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2023When turtle moms talk to their eggs: It's been a while since we marveled at the cultural drift of the (online) Washington Post.We've just now turned to the online Post's virtually endless front page. Starting at the top of the page, these are the headlines … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2023No Thumbs On the Scales Left Behind: "How did things ever get this far?"According to Francis Ford Coppola, that's a question which Vito Corleone once asked. A similar question might be asked of the crazily inaccurate factual claim which appeared in the Wash … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2023Commenter Perry pretty much misses the point: We've lost a chunk of time today. At the point of subjecting the reader to boredom, we'll comment on a pair of comments to the post by Kevin Drum which we reviewed this morning.Drum's post produced very few co … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2023It's "a dog's breakfast," he says: We're prepared to swear it! We haven't been trolling Kevin Drum in recent weeks, at least not consciously.As far as we know, we haven't even been practically trolling Drum.We say that because Drum has now offered a detai … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2023A report from darkest Florida: We were intrigued by Daniel Golden's new report for The Atlantic—by his occasionally puzzling report from deep inside darkest Florida.Golden's report involves the effects on college instruction of the DeSantis "Stop W.O.K.E … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2023Racists beneath every bed: In recent years, our blue tribe has developed a high-level skill. We've learned how to tag people as racist without being honest enough the use the actual term.So it went when Professor Sabin described the shocking beliefs of t … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2023Professor swings and misses: Did increased exposure to lead result in this nation's increase in violent crime from the 1970s on into the early 1990s?Did the elimination of leaded gasoline in the mid-1970s result in the later decrease in violent crime (alon … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2023The conduct of blue tribe elites: Why in the world did Michele Norris believe that grossly inaccurate claim?The claim in question wasn't simply inaccurate; it was grossly inaccurate. So why in the world did Michele Norris believe it?The claim appeared in a … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2023...upon our blue tribe's stage: "All the world's a stage," the Shakespeare character famously said, "and all the men and women merely players."Modern experts disagree with that famous assessment. According to these disconsolate scholars, all the world turn … | Continue reading
MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2023Case study resumes tomorrow: Why in the world did she say it?More specifically, why did the Washington Post's Michele Norris make the (ludicrous) highlighted claim?NORRIS (12/9/20): We are not just tussling with historical wrongs. A recent study of White m … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2022Some blue year's resolutions: We'd love to see our flailing blue tribe make some new year's resolutions. The gist of these resolutions would be:Blue tribe, let's try healing ourselves! Let's encourage Nicolle Wallace and her favorite reporters and friends … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2022Also, return to Maus: What were Newton's three laws of motion? We always thought they were these: 1) What goes up must come down.2) What goes around comes around.3) The shortest distance between two points is almost never available.On Tuesday night, our … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2022Can we trust the things we're told? Once again, our current, award-winning Case Study is being placed on hold. The reason:Family members have arrived in town, including two delightful great nieces!This Gang of 5 is safely ensconced in a Little Italy BN … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2022In Gotham, the Times plays Hamlet: In print editions, the New York Times has a hard-hitting report at the top of today's front page.Headline included, the report starts off like this:For Holdouts in Masks, Life Turns LonelierBitsy Cherry had been bracing … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2022Or quite possibly, none of them did: We'll repeat our earlier confession:When we read the claim in the Washington Post, we didn't necessarily believe it.We'd seen too many bogus claims from our own blue tribe in the past! That includes many claims like t … | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2022Bocellis let Yuletide linger: As you may recall, we're roughly halfway through a very important case study.At issue is an important question: What do These (White) Medical Students Today believe about (biological) racial differences?We're examining the ac … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2022Be careful about the things you're told: Especially at times like these, the world of us the human beings is quite frequently Narrative All the Way Down.Or at least, so the anthropologists tell us! With those words of caution in mind, we'll suggest you … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2022Bomb cyclones coincide: With one bomb cyclone rapidly approaching, we've laid in a stockpile of hot chocolate and have otherwise battened appropriate hatches.That said, a second bomb cyclone has hit with the release of extensive materials from the January … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2022The Washington Post's vast concern: Should Lawn Boy, a novel by Jonathan Evison, have been available in the libraries of our public schools?We have no idea. We aren't familiar with the book. Nor are we especially current on matters of this type.At any r … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2022A slightly odd research design: Readers, can we believe the things we're told by our most trusted tribunes? By the most trusted tribunes from our own blue tribe?Sadly, we think the answer is no. In the case study we continue today, we offer one rather s … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022What Mika and Lawrence said: In 2016, when he ran for the White House, was Donald J. Trump being audited by the IRS?Unless the New York Times was crazily wrong in its ballyhooed reporting, yes—he actually was. This morning, we showed you excerpts from … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022...by our blue tribe's tribunes? Yesterday, we began to offer you an award-winning case report. Our case report is tied to a very basic question.Our very basic question is directed to members of our own blue tribe. The question goes like this:Can we … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2022An eternal rumination: Last week, in this brief report, we said we'd offer some detail about a famous statement by Augustine.The statement is almost two thousand years old. In a conversation with Ezra Klein for the New York Times, Dean Buonomano recalled … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2022For the historical record: Near the end of the first Covid year, a certain demographic problem seemed to be developing.An elevated degree of "vaccine hesitancy" was being recorded among black Americans. At the Washington Post, Michele Norris offered some … | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022The (online) Washington Post: So many news topics, so little time! Below, you see the headlines on the four (4) news reports which currently top the endless front page of the (online) Washington Post:Jan. 6 committee refers Trump to Justice Department for … | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022Belief in our own tribe's assertions: The front page of today's New York Times features two poles of a cultural dislocation.Over There, within the red tribe, a newly elected congressman doesn't seem to be the person he says he is. Over Here, within our bl … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2022...in the online Washington Post? While we're at it, these are the six (6) bannered news reports currently being featured at the top of the endless front page of the (online) Washington Post:Disaster scenarios raise the stakes for Colorado River negotia … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2022...by your tribe's most trusted tribunes? We're breaking an array of promises with today's brief posting.We said that we would discuss this persistently puzzling "philosophical" question: What is time? Beyond that, we still haven't made our way back to … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2022We did have to chuckle at this: What does feminist filmistry look like? The elevation of Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles has had us thinking about that.By happenstance, Jeanne Dielman replaced previous winner Vertigo in the new Sight … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2022These elites today: It probably isn't Joshua Needelman's fault. We'll assume he just got the assignment.Needelman is six years out of college (Maryland, class of 2016). At present, he's a "reporting fellow" at the New York Times. The program replaced the … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022Where the numbers stand: A few weeks back, we took a preliminary look at the nationwide numbers from the 2022 House elections.By now, the votes are pretty much counted. Here's the way the numbers look at the Cook Report:November 2022 House elections:Tot … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022...our blue elites responded: As far as we know, Tucker Carlson isn't cognitively challenged in any major way.In the case of Donald J. Trump, we aren't entirely sure. With Tucker, we see few signs.That's why we started yesterday's report with that first … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022We plan to answer his question: We spotted the sign at the World Cup match. "Allez les bleus," the sign said.Inevitably, it called Steve Martin's observation to mind. "Those French," Martin famously said. "They have a different word for everything!"Thi … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022Reporting what Tucker said: These journalistic elites today!Over the weekend, Justice Kavanaugh was partying hardy—or at least, so Politico said.On Monday night, we watched as Lawrence O'Donnell went on and on, then on and on and on and on, flogging th … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022Balthazar suffers and dies: Just to be completely honest, we've seen and liked several films which might strike others as boring. We're thinking of My Dinner with Andre (1981). We're thinking of Wings of Desire (1987).We saw Wings of Desire at The Charle … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022And what the Times reported: Over the past how many years, The Crazy has played an increasingly major role in our semi-parodic imitation of a national discourse—in our "imitation of life."Today, The Crazy or its approximation is back in the news again. F … | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022Dargis drops it to third: These elites today! Often, they're in the framework-of-understanding business, sometimes in ways we may not fully see.Last Wednesday, the New York Times co-chief film critics—Manohla Dargis and A. O. Scott—released their own list … | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022Dueling elites gone wild: Just this once, we're going to let you ask us about our weekend.Also, we're going to take a point of personal privilege. Two items in the New York Times struck us with the greatest thunderclap during that two-day period. One item … | Continue reading
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2022Also, who chooses the Washington Post? We never cease to be amazed by the other-worldly, dimwit drift of the online Washington Post.As we type at 11 a.m., the online Post is offering six reports under banner headlines at the top of its endless front page. … | Continue reading