Non-Violent Open Thread

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Brought to you by Viagra.

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Uniparty Kabuki

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Wikipedia:

Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.

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Ever notice that as the two parties become more alike the partisan rhetoric has become more intense? That’s Uniparty Kabuki.

There is effectively only one party in this country when it comes to anything that matter. We’re now half-way thru the Obama administration but have you noticed any significant changes since the dark days of George Bush?

I thought 2008 was the ugliest election ever but 2012 turned out to be just as nasty. When it was over we ended up right where we started. Both sides have held power for significant chunks of time in recent decades. Meanwhile, what has changed in the last 30 years?

Democrats are the supposedly the party of women, gays and minorities, but women and minorities haven’t made any progress since the seventies. They haven’t lost ground either. It’s been forty years since Roe v. Wade but despite all the whoop-ti-doo and folderol that goes on every election year abortion is still legal.

While it is true that gay rights have made tremendous progress (going from sodomy being a crime and homosexuality being considered a mental disease) that has less to do with anything the Democrats have done than it does with a general change in societal attitudes. Will and Grace did more for the LGBT community than anyone in Washington.

But when it comes to things like the Patriot Act, FISA, TARP and PPACA they always seem to get passed and survive any attempt at repeal. Government is still spending money we don’t have. Supposedly tough regulations don’t seem to inhibit lawbreaking or corruption. The POTUS pretty much does whatever the fuck he wants.

Occasionally some low-lever malefactor gets thrown to the wolves. Four of our people were murdered in Benghazi so three people we never heard of before lost their jobs. Another Illinois governor goes to prison but corruption goes on unchecked. Bernie Madoff got busted after scamming people out of billions of dollars over a 20 year period. JJJ makes a plea agreement that keeps him out of jail and allows him to keep his congressional pension.

Hey look! Squirrel!

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Today’s Kids Are Special – Just Ask Them

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From the Beeb:

Does confidence really breed success?

Research suggests that more and more American university students think they are something special. High self-esteem is generally regarded as a good thing – but could too much of it actually make you less successful?

About nine million young people have filled out the American Freshman Survey, since it began in 1966.

It asks students to rate how they measure up to their peers in a number of basic skills areas – and over the past four decades, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of students who describe themselves as being “above average” for academic ability, drive to achieve, mathematical ability and self-confidence.

This was revealed in a new analysis of the survey data, by US psychologist Jean Twenge and colleagues.

Self-appraisals of traits that are less individualistic – such as co-operativeness, understanding others and spirituality – saw little change, or a decrease, over the same period.

Twenge adds that while the Freshman Survey shows that students are increasingly likely to label themselves as gifted in writing ability, objective test scores indicate that actual writing ability has gone down since the 1960s.

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I guess if you grow up getting trophies for everything it could give you the idea that you’re pretty hot stuff.

Money quotes:

Yet there is very little evidence that raising self-esteem leads to tangible, positive outcomes.

[...]

He found that although high self-esteem frequently had a positive correlation with success, the direction of causation was often unclear. For example, are high marks awarded to people with high self-esteem or does getting high marks engender high self-esteem?

[...]

“Self-control is much more powerful and well-supported as a cause of personal success. Despite my years invested in research on self-esteem, I reluctantly advise people to forget about it.”

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I never suffered from an excess of self-esteem. My family was old school and they considered humility to be a virtue and pride a deadly sin. I didn’t have to wait for the Festivus Airing of Grievances to find out all the ways I disappointed them.

When my mom took me clothes shopping she wouldn’t even let me buy cool clothes. “Son, that’s in style” she would say. “Put it back and then try on these plaid high waters.” (Unfortunately store-bought clothes were rare. I had to wear my sister’s hand-me-downs until I was a junior in high school.)

My K-12 teachers were old school too. They believed that a “C” was average and that “average” really meant “exceptional”. Twice a year they would meet with my mom and tell her all the ways I disappointed them too.

My P.E. and Little League coaches thought that building character was far more important than self esteem, and they believed that nothing builds character more than warming a bench and being ridiculed mercilessly.

It was due to all that humility training and character building that I am the happy, successful and well-balanced individual I am today.

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Watch This!

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“The Rule Of Lawlessness”

Seriously – watch it!

This is an open thread.

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