“There once was a man from Crete

Who thought he was being discrete . . . “

.

… When he dropped his drawers

And said “What’s mine is yours”

But the dancer thought: “Too-left effete.”

Thomas Sowell on the Trouble With ‘Social Justice’. The eminent economist faults intellectuals who expect equal outcomes and treat individuals as if they were mere ‘chess pieces.’
Wall Street Journal | 10/6/23 | Jason L. Riley

Thomas Sowell is best known for his insights on racial controversies, but race isn’t the main topic of most of his books in a career that spans more than six decades. Mr. Sowell, 93, is an economist who earned a doctorate from the University of Chicago, where his professors included Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek and other future Nobel laureates. His specialty is the history of ideas, and his most recent book, “Social Justice Fallacies,” harks back to his writings on social theory and intellectual history, which include “Knowledge and Decisions” (1980), “The Vision of the Anointed” (1996) and “The Quest for Cosmic Justice” (1999).

In his 1987 classic, “A Conflict of Visions,” Mr. Sowell attempted to explain what drives our centuries-old ideological disputes about freedom, justice, equality and power. The contrasting “visions” in the title referred to the implicit assumptions that guide a person’s thinking. On one side you have the “constrained” vision, which sees humanity as hopelessly flawed. This view is encapsulated in Edmund Burke’s declaration that “we cannot change the nature of things and of men—but must act upon them as best we can” and in Immanuel Kant’s assertion that “from the crooked timber of humanity no truly straight thing can ever be made.”

The opposite is the “unconstrained,” or utopian, view of the human condition. It’s the belief that there are no inherent limits to what mankind can accomplish, so trade-offs are unnecessary. World peace is achievable. Social problems such as poverty, crime and racism can be not merely managed but eliminated. Mr. Sowell begins “Social Justice Fallacies” with a quote from Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who expressed the essence of the unconstrained vision when he wrote of “the equality which nature established among men and the inequality which they have instituted among themselves.”

I like Rousseau (I’ve only read one work, “Discourse on the Origins of Inequality,” which I think was his first), and I don’t find him to be a collectivist or authoritarian or a Nazi — more of an anti-Nazi. He just tries to describe how people come to assemble from individual family units into societies, without saying that rulers should rule without check. He has a section on how tyrants should be kicked out and how hereditary rule is bad. But I defer to Dr. Sowell. He’s demonstrably more learned than I am. I haven’t read this book to see where he goes with this.

… I meant, they totally understand how the world works. Get your mind out of the … oh hell, there I am.

Tiny caliber.

These are all from the 40’s, by the way

That guy’s probably not going home:

Have you ever seen a sex-mad trollop on the highway? What exactly went on in the 40’s?

OK, she probably ended the escalation, though.

Next image: Not a victim, either. I’ll bet she won this conversation:

“Get out of my freaking house, you freaking pervert. NOW! Or you get it below the belt!”

Not a victim here, either.

Whys is the woman above sitting on a Wright Brothers plane? What good does that do?

Well-focused guys with guns are nice to have around, too — Very, very useful. Might want a larger caliber, though.

Oops! Babe tripped: I’ve got this.

Well, it’s not clear if he was a good guy or a bad guy — BUT, getting back to our theme, SHE WAS NOT THE VICTIM today! She walked away, to live another day, I’m assuming.

Sort of Perry Mason-like; but she has the gun and he is cowering behind her. With poison. Good luck getting the bad guy to drink that once he’s seen the label. He may die, but she won’t. She’s got Plan A.

And, almost finally . . .

What the hell is a bogus gob?

She’s not going to be the one to die here, in any case.

Jerk says to honey: “Honey, look; I may be dying. Could you move a little to your left?”

“That’s right, Pinhead; it’s Kiss of Death time … Now get out of my orange squeezey-ball room, or it’s curtains, F%#&@#!”

Heh. If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that . . .

… but there’s probably plenty of meat to this story.

BBC Investigation: Abercrombie & Fitch ex-CEO accused of exploiting men for sex
BBC | Oct 2, 2023 | Rianna Croxford

The ex-CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner face allegations of exploitation from men recruited for sex events they hosted around the world. {Misplaced referent}

A BBC investigation found a highly organised network used a middleman to find young men for the events with Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith.

Eight men told the BBC they attended these events, some of whom alleged they were exploited or abused.

Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Smith did not respond to requests for comment.

But the couple’s middleman denied any wrongdoing and said men went into these events “with their eyes wide open”.

Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) – which also owns the Hollister brand – said it was “appalled and disgusted” by the alleged behaviour.

Two former US prosecutors who independently reviewed documents and testimony uncovered by the BBC have called for an investigation to determine whether charges for sex trafficking could be brought. Under US law, sex trafficking includes getting an adult to travel to another state or country to have sex for money by using force, fraud or coercion. {Misplaced modifier.}

Over two decades from the 1990s, Mike Jeffries transformed A&F from a failing heritage outfitter into a multi-billion-dollar teen retailer by selling sex appeal, with preppy all-American shirtless male store models and provocative billboards.

The BBC has now uncovered allegations that the fashion mogul exploited young adult men for sex at events he hosted in his New York residences and luxurious hotels around the world, including in London, Paris, Venice, and Marrakesh.

As part of a two-year investigation, the BBC has spoken to 12 men who described attending or organising events involving sex acts run for Mr. Jeffries, {Misplaced modifier} 79, and his British partner Mr. Smith, 60, between 2009 and 2015.

Huh. First it was the Daily Mail with a poorly-edited story on this, and now the BBC.

MSM Headline vs. Reality.

I’m attaching my favorite comments.

She borrowed $34,000 in student loans. Now she owes over $500,000
CNN via Yahoo | October 2, 2023

As federal student loan payments restart in October, CNN spoke to a lawyer, a doctor, and a scientist about their debt, and how it’s impacted their lives.

Back of the napkin, it would take 28 years for $34K to grow to $500K at 10% interest.

No payments and 9.35% for 30 years get you there.

In 28 years at one late notice per month they would have 336 late notices.

To let 34K balloon into 500K requires a PHD level of stupid.

Even with a 10% loan you’d be close to 55YO before it went from $34K to $500K

From : https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/interest-rates

Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans Undergraduate
5.50%
Direct Unsubsidized Loans
Graduate or Professional
7.05%
Direct PLUS Loans
Parents and Graduate or Professional Students
8.05%

She would have to have not paid squat like ever. Thats really stupid.

So she either paid nothing for decades or it’s a fake story.

Take a medical doctor: A student loan debt can get up to $1 million; $500k a million, easy. They think they might specialize and get $400k a year income or just do internal medicine and get the national average of $233k. Sounds like a lot of money until you figure out the take home on $233K is about $6,000 biweekly. A student loan for a doctor at $500k is about $3,400 a month, $6,800 if $1 million. Kiss an entire paycheck every month gone for 30 years.

My second doctorate cost $65k over 30 years ago. I was gifted that by the school for the work I was doing for some DoD programs. Other students were freaking out about their school costs. They worked as assistants, lab rats, and other positions, desperate to pay their way through. Few ever did manage it.

It really isn’t hard to get massive student loans. Of course, it takes an idiot to work real hard to make $38k turn into $500k in loans.

This is why democracy is a failed experiment. Stupid people are allowed to vote.

New York student, 21, is jailed for A YEAR in Dubai after tapping airport security officer on the arm during strip search that left her half-naked as they checked her medical waist binder
Daily Mail

A New York business arts student has been jailed for a year in Dubai after she tapped an airport security officer on the arm during a strip search as they checked her medical waist binder and left her half-naked.

Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, 21, who attends Lehman College in the Big Apple, was heading to New York from Istanbul with a friend when they were detained during a ten-hour layover at Dubai International Airport on July 14.

But what she thought would be a short stop in the UAE has turned into a months-long nightmare, after airport security was alerted to a brace De Los Santos was wearing with underwiring on it.

“Brace” or “bra”?

GEORGE: No, occasionally I’ll forget to let the machine pick up. Anyway, they made this large donation to a women’s prison, and I get to go down there and check it out.

KRAMER: That’s caged heat.

GEORGE: Yeah-hah!

JERRY: What are you gonna do there?

GEORGE: Nothing really, you know…just stroll around the cell blocks, maybe take in a shower fight. (chuckles.) Hey, you know you got a bounced check hanging up in the little market over on Columbus?

Repeat Offender Kidnapped Woman, Kept Her in Garage for Weeks While ‘Acting Out a Fantasy’: Prosecutor
Fox News via Yahoo | October 2, 2023 | Audrey Conklin

A Washington jury last week convicted a Tacoma man on kidnapping and sexual assault charges after he held a woman captive in his garage for weeks, according to court records and local news.

Henry Hauser, a 56-year-old repeat sex offender, could face life in prison without parole for his crimes, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, according to FOX 13 Seattle.

Hauser was a level 3 sex offender at the time of his arrest and had cut off his ankle monitor. In 2014, he was convicted of kidnapping a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint and taking her back to his residence, where he gave her methamphetamine and sexually assaulted her, according to Pierce County records.

He was also convicted of second-degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon and felony harassment in 2007, as FOX 13 reported.

“I can’t imagine him not being remorseful for something like this…”