JONATHAN HAIDT: Campus Turmoil Begins In High School.

A CHEERFUL NOTE: The Many Things That Could Go Badly Wrong for Europe in 2016. “It may not be a 1914-style powder-keg, but the continent is going to have to work harder than ever to defend—let alone build on—its achievements of the last 60 years.” May not be.

SAVE A SAMPLE OF HER DNA FOR ANTI-AGING RESEARCH: Elle Macpherson at 51.

58% OFF adjustable dumbbells.

ED KRAYEWSKI: Armed Protesters in Oregon Occupy Remote Federal Outpost at Wildlife Refuge After Marching Against Sentence of Father and Son Ranchers; Justice Department appealed the sentence to get it extended to the mandatory minimum, which the district chief judge thought was “grossly disproportionate.”

Meanwhile, here’s the Tweet Of The Day.

SPOILER ALERT: 10 New Cars That Come With the Craziest Wings.

WELL, GOOD: F.D.A. Regulator, Widowed by Cancer, Helps Speed Drug Approval.

ALL STORIES ARE THE SAME: From Avatar to The Wizard of Oz, Aristotle to Shakespeare, there’s one clear form that dramatic storytelling has followed since its inception.

I suppose that’s a good thing for Hollywood, since, in order to generate maximum profits from globalization, today’s films come in so few flavors.

(Via Maggie’s Farm.)

IN THE MAIL: From Steve White & Charles E. Gannon, Imperative (Starfire).

Plus, today only at Amazon: LifeSpan TR 1200i Folding Treadmill, $799.99 (47% off).

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 969.

WAR ON TERROR, ASIAN EDITION: Xinjiang Seethes Under Chinese Crackdown.

BLUE ZONE MELTDOWN: Puerto Rico’s Rolling Catastrophe:

Puerto Rico was already in default, and no one seems to have expected that it would make this payment in its entirety. But the official announcement underscores the fact that there is no end in sight for the island’s crisis. The appetite in Congress for a bailout or bankruptcy protection appears to be minimal, and it seems likely to stay that way for the near future unless and until Puerto Rico’s woes start to hit the mainland in a major way—a prospect that is not inconceivable, but which advocates of a no-strings-attached bailout have every incentive to exaggerate. So in the short term, the island will probably be forced to continue grinding it out on the backs of its own taxpayers.

In the medium term, as we have said before, there is a role for Washington in bringing Puerto Rico’s crisis under control. The guiding principle of U.S. government involvement should be “relief for reform“—that is, Puerto Rico should be eligible for meaningful assistance in servicing its debts if and only if it can make profound structural changes to the decrepit blue model governance system that landed it in this mess.

Well, once the ruling class can’t squeeze out any more graft, it becomes more receptive to change.

HEH: After The Trump Terror Vid, Can We Start Calling Her ‘Al Shabaab Media Advisor Hillary Clinton’?

I JUST ASSUME THAT THESE DEMOCRATIC TOWN HALL THINGS ARE STAGE MANAGED, WITH THE ACTIVE CONNIVANCE OF THE PRESS COVERING THEM: Hillary Clinton finds another young plant to pick at town hall meeting.

FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED: New York Post: Why America is right to think Obama’s losing the War on Terror.

ANOTHER REASON TO RETIRE TO TENNESSEE:

Tennessee’s inheritance tax is also going away. The tax was anywhere from 5.5 to 9.5 percent of the estate left behind.

The Beacon Center of Tennessee fought the inheritance tax for years as an unfair double tax.

“This is a big deal because Tennessee is one of the last states in the country to come around and say it’s not fair to tax people when they are alive and tax them again when they die,” said Mark Cunningham with the Beacon Center. “A lot of people save up and work hard, and they want the money to go to their family, not to the government.”

There’s no income tax, either. And I’ve talked to the Beacon Center folks a bit — they seem to be doing good work on a number of fronts.

AT AMAZON, fresh deals on bestselling products, updated every hour.

Also, coupons galore in Grocery & Gourmet Food.

Plus, Kindle Daily Deals.

And, Today’s Featured Digital Deal. The deals are brand new every day, so browse and save!

IS THAT YOU, FOX BUTTERFIELD*? ‘I have to say what I have to say’: Donald Trump continues to defend Muslim ban despite policy being used to recruit terrorists in Al-Shabaab video.

Meanwhile, the House of Stephanopoulos is rewriting history once again. “Media Lies: ABC News Now Says Hillary Clinton Predicted Trump Would Be Used In Isis Videos.”

Nice shifting of the goal posts there, ABC.

* The Butterfield Effect strikes again!

ASHE SCHOW: 2015: A year of campus hysteria.

The ridiculousness started in February when Northwestern University professor Laura Kipnis penned an article about “sexual paranoia” at colleges and universities. She bemoaned the campus climate of disregarding due process in favor of political correctness and the need to believe all accusers, regardless of the facts and evidence.

Kipnis was then accused by at least two students for alleged “retaliation.” The students claimed her article created a “chilling effect” on campus and discouraged accusers from coming forward. Kipnis was accused of violating Title IX — the federal statute that bans sex discrimination and is being used to force colleges to adjudicate felonies. She was not accused of sexual assault, but for somehow violating the law because a few students didn’t like her article.

Kipnis was eventually — and thankfully — cleared of the violation, but the message was clear: Dare to speak against the prevailing narrative and suffer painful consequences.

Kipnis was tied up in the same administrative hearing process that many young men (and a few young women) find themselves in when accused of sexual assault. Due process is seen as a hindrance to “justice” and discarded.

But just as Kipnis was vindicated by her employer, many of the male students accused of sexual assault saw their lawsuits dismissed by judges deferring to college procedures.

College has become a hostile educational environment for male students. And that hasn’t happened by accident.

DOES THIS MEAN DC WILL SOON BE LONGING FOR THE COOL TECHNOCRATIC CONFIDENCE OF THE MARION BARRY ERA? “With homicides surging more than 50 percent this year, it’s probably not a comfort to residents of Washington D.C. that their police force has dropped to its lowest levels in 10 years.”

MISSISSIPPI COUNCILMAN: ‘LET’S THROW ROCKS, BRICKS AND BOTTLES AT THE POLICE.’

Somebody’s obviously bucking to become the ambassador from France.

JOIN THE CLUB, ANGELA: Clinton email: Merkel despised ‘Obama phenomenon.’

SO THE WASHINGTON POST HAS A BIG STORY ON LAWYERS CHISELING VICTIMS OUT OF STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT MONEY and it even names one in particular, but doesn’t mention that he’s a Democrat.

SO, BASICALLY THE GOP’S OBAMA, THEN: New Yorker: Donald Trump Isn’t a Fascist; He’s a Media-Savvy Know-Nothing.

FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO AMERICA BACKTRACKS AFTER DEFENDING BURNING OF EMBASSIES:

David Westin, call your office. (You too, John “Forgainst it” Kerry.)

THOU SHALL NOT MOCK THE NARRATIVE!

● WATCH: Mummers Parade Mocks Bruce Jenner in Comedy Sketch Singing ‘Dude Looks Like a Lady.’

● Outrage as official Times Square Ball Twitter account tweets the hashtag #BallLivesBatter.

Remember, as the Ayatollah  Khomeini famously warned, “There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.”

Whoops, sorry, wrong totalitarian religion there, but it’s an easy mistake to make these days — “When politics becomes a religion, nonbelievers must be punished,” David Gelernter writes.

Or as the caption added to a photo of Bernie Sanders asks, “How can you separate church and state, when the state is your church?”

Related: And to bring this post full circle, “Why ‘Draw Mohammed’? The Artist Explains.”

PATTERICO: Please Help Me Thank Bruce Godfrey for His Efforts on Behalf of Free Speech.

AT SCIENCE: At C.D.C., a Debate Behind Recommendations on Cellphone Risk.

FOR THE SAME REASON I SO OFTEN END UP METAPHORICALLY SETTING FIRE TO SOMETHING ON MY BLOG: As much as I’d prefer the simple (and quiet) life, someone has to do it, and I can. Why ‘Draw Mohammed’? The Artist Explains.

SPEAKING OF SF/F FANDOM: This is what I mean (With “Amazing” Update).  (And that link is to The Liberty Zone, so language warnings are in effect, though Nicki uses swearing so creatively it’s almost poetry.)

WELL AT LEAST SOME THINGS AREN’T BAD: Trekkies rejoice: New ‘Star Trek’ stamps are coming in 2016.

SO, HE HASN’T WATCHED WORLD NEWS IN OVER 90 YEARS? Secret to a long life is not to worry, says 109-year-old.

THAT CHUNNEL WAS A BAD IDEA: New threat to British border as France builds first official refugee camp for 13 years.

AFTER YEARS OF THE MEDIA AND EDUCATION DISCOURAGING LOYALTY TO THE WEST WESTERN POLITICIAN WAKES UP: David Cameron: All Britons need to show loyalty in war against Isil.

IT IS A PILE OF HOT SOMETHING: President Obama’s Bizarro-World victory tour.

THE STATE VERSUS THE FREE MARKET: Proxy fight keeps ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’ on ice — even as Uber shows real future.

OUR MEDIA IS GOOD AT CREATING THESE: The myth of the cop killing ‘epidemic’.

TRUST THE POLICE TO SAVE YOU: You Can’t Make This Up (second item down.)  And I thought my kids’ schools had bad plans!

OCCUPY OREGON: Three of Cliven Bundy’s sons, militia seize federal building in Oregon.

Hey, we’ve established over the past few years that it’s perfectly fine to occupy public property when you’re working for social justice.

THOSE WILD EUROPEANS AND THEIR CRAZY GUN CULTURE: Gun sales up in 12 Swiss cantons. “Applications for gun permits in Switzerland increased by 20% between 2014 and 2015, according to a survey conducted in 12 cantons by Swiss public television, SRF.” Prediction: It will increase much more in 2016.

LEE STRANAHAN: Black Lives Matter: We Saw It Coming, Now Here’s What’s Coming Next.

HMM: Nigel Farage’s car wheels ‘were sabotaged in an assassination attempt’: Ukip leader lost control of Volvo when wheel fell off on motorway… and police confirm foul play.

AFTER YEARS OF GOING ALL-IN FOR VAGINAS, NOW THE DEMOCRATS ATTACK PENISES: Dems Take Aim at Erectile Dysfunction with Bills to Counter Abortion Restrictions.

One of these things is not like the other.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Donald Trump Is Not The Only Reason Bernie Sanders Is Losing.

AT AMAZON, coupons galore in Vitamins & Dietary Supplements.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Disney Just Invented a Wall-Climbing Robot Spider Car.

FLASHBACK: When Bill Cosby Endorsed Hillary Clinton.

I’M BEGINNING TO THINK THAT THE REAL PROBLEM ISN’T THAT IRANIANS ACT THIS WAY, BUT THAT AMERICANS DON’T: Iranian Rioters Storm Saudi Arabian Embassy, Set It On Fire Over Execution Of Cleric.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE UPDATE: The Middle East Couldn’t Possibly Get Worse. Could It? “We generally think of demonstrators as opponents of the government, but that isn’t necessarily true. (Occupy Wall St., for example, was basically an inept arm of the ruling Democratic Party.) Here, as in 1979, those who stormed the Saudi embassy were doing the Iranian government’s bidding. Note how the mob threw fire bombs at the Saudi embassy and ‘forced their way’ into the embassy, but then were ‘cleared by police.’ Likewise, they were allowed to start a fire that was then ‘swiftly extinguished.’ I am pretty sure that if Iran’s government wanted to protect the Saudi embassy, it could do so. . . . Of course, the United States is not responsible for everything that goes wrong in the world. The Middle East, in particular, is more than capable of bringing about disaster on its own. But it is hard to observe these events without wondering what Barack Obama was thinking when he decided to build Iran up as a regional hegemon, to seek an alliance with the mullahs, to release more than $100 billion in frozen assets to Iran’s government, to rescue Iran’s economy by procuring the end of sanctions, to bless and protect Iran’s ongoing nuclear program while posing no meaningful obstacle to the mullahs’ development of missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons to the United States, as well as to Europe. I don’t know how to reconcile these policies with a good faith intention to pursue peace in the Middle East or to advance the national security interests of the United States.”

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: Fight Breaks Out At Newark Anti-Violence Rally.

The noon press conference was called by a group of activists led by Salaam Ismial, co-chair of the New Jersey Study Commission on Violence, and Abdul Muhammad, a longtime Newark anti-violence activist. In a release announcing the event, the two said they planned to ask Mayor Ras Baraka to “unleash his quality of life plan in addressing ongoing violence facing Newark residents.”

As the group spoke to reporters, however, a group of Baraka supporters including activist Donna Jackson and Tyrone “Street Counselor” Barnes began heckling and shouting from the base of the steps.

It soon evolved into an intense face-off between Jackson and Muhammad, which then erupted into a skirmish between members of the two camps. At one point, Barnes put his hands around Muhammad’s neck and pushed him to the ground.

You can’t make this stuff up.

FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED: Overwhelmed by ‘Migrants,’ Sweden Throws in the Towel as Europe Faces ‘General, Permanent Terror Threat.’

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ:

Has Greg Abbott been reading Kurt Schlichter or something?

UPDATE: From the comments: “All the Democrats have is higher taxes and gun control, and they don’t want to talk about higher taxes. So….”

SHOT: 10 photos of Carrie Fisher promoting “Return of the Jedi” at a Rolling Stone Magazine beach shoot, 1983.

CHASER: Carrie Fisher: I had sex with Princess Leia fans.

LYING LIARS GONNA LIE: Makers of The Hunting Ground Are in Denial About Their Film’s Flaws.

“There is no controversy.” This lengthy interview with The Hunting Ground producers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick could be distilled to that one line—a line the filmmakers desperately insist upon over and over again.

The interviewer, Robert Scheer, outs himself as both an unabashed admirer of their point of view and as someone who doesn’t believe what critics (at Reason, presumably) are saying about the film’s reliance on flawed statistics and dishonest sources. But he’s forced to confront the controversy—the one the filmmakers deny is a thing—anyway, not because he accepts it, but because so many other people are beginning to.

It’s a dishonest propaganda film. It’s not “flawed,” in the sense that they made a few mistakes. It’s exactly the film they set out to make, regardless of the facts. I mean, when even Variety calls it “agitprop that plays fast and loose with statistics and our sympathy,” you know the problem is more than a few “flaws.”

I DON’T THINK THAT THE BLACK LIVES MATTER CROWD HAS REALLY THOUGHT THIS THROUGH: Mississippi councilman says throw rocks at police chasing petty crooks in Jackson. “Let’s get rocks; let’s get bricks, and let’s get bottles. . . . And we’ll start throwing them, and then they won’t come in here anymore.”

Remember, the police, ultimately, aren’t there to protect the citizenry from the criminal class. They’re there to protect the criminal class from the citizenry.

HEH: Treasure of the Sierra eBay: Merkur XR4Ti Pace Car for Sale.

AT AMAZON, deals in TV, Audio & Video.

RATS ON THE WEST SIDE, BEDBUGS UPTOWN: “Elgin Ozlen, from Long Beach, posted a video on YouTube on Friday that shows more than 50 bugs crawling in the seams and along the sides of the mattress he says was in his room at the Astor on the Park Hotel on the Upper West Side.”

There’s an easy solution, of course.

CHANGE: Gun Sales Surge In Switzerland As Army Chief Warns “Arm Yourselves.”

IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER BLOG: 2015’s Worst Millennials.

FASTER, PLEASE: Gene Editing Offers Hope for Treating Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Studies Find. “Three research groups, working independently of one another, reported in the journal Science on Thursday that they had used the Crispr-Cas9 technique to treat mice with a defective dystrophin gene. Each group loaded the DNA-cutting system onto a virus that infected the mice’s muscle cells, and excised from the gene a defective stretch of DNA known as an exon.”

WELL, THAT’S A RELIEF: Thanks to technology, we’re not going to run out of oil.

Why, it’s as if so much of the doomsday Malthusianisms of the early 1970s was simply nonsense generated by angry leftists butthurt at Richard Nixon being in the White House, and looking to short-circuit democracy as a response:

Related: 24 days to Al Gore’s ’10 years to save the planet’ and ‘point of no return’ planetary emergency deadline. “Gaia seems to be a ‘Gore denier’. How inconvenient.”

Think Rush Limbaugh’s going to have some fun when Al’s Doomsday clock expires?

UCLA STUDENT WORKING AT DAVID GEFFEN MEDICAL CENTER TOLD JEWS TO “GET THE F*** OUT OF HERE.”

Shhh…nobody tell her Geffen’s religion, or where his parents were born.

(Found via Iowahawk, who asks, “wonder what David Geffen thinks of this.”)

BRIAN DOHERTY ON GUN POLITICS: Public murders committed with guns are used to try to drive gun policy, even though gun policy is powerless to prevent them.

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Gold Nanoparticles can be used to make straight v-shaped nanochannels a few nanometers across for next generation computer chips and devices.

THE AIRLINES’ CHECKED BAG FEES ARE IN LARGE MEASURE A TAX ARBITRAGE PLAY: “That’s because moving revenue out of fares and into ancillary revenue excludes that revenue from the domestic 7.5% excise tax on tickets…Eliminate the tax disparity and — since most aircraft don’t max out their carrying capacity — in ten years I’d bet that checked bags get rebundled back into the fare.”

(Via Virginia Postrel.)

BECAUSE THEY’RE MOSTLY WHITE PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T VOTE FOR HIM? Michael Walsh: Why Does Obama Hate Law-Abiding American Gun Owners?

And because gun ownership is so disturbingly American and traditional.

FLASHBACK: “All You Americans Are Fired.”

“WE NO LONGER LIVE IN A NATION OF LAWS. IF WE DID, [HILLARY] WOULDN’T BE RUNNING FOR THE WHITE HOUSE — SHE’D BE RUNNING FOR MEXICO.” BILL WHITTLE ON 2016 — INTO THE FOG:

Related: CNN’s State Department stenographer Elise Labott appears in latest email dump. “Kerpen noted that Labott seemed to have a ‘tweet on request’ arrangement with Clinton advisor Philippe Reines.”

(Via SDA.)

AT AMAZON, deals on cellphones & service plans.

KURT SCHLICHTER: DON’T LET LIBERALS TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T SAY ABOUT HILLARY:

That’s a little taste of what will happen in the general election, but we conservatives have to face the heat and tell the truth. Imagine Supreme Court litigator Ted Cruz (or whoever) on the stage at a debate with Hillary, when everybody’s watching and she’s minimally able to rely on the media to save her. Hillary starts talking about what a friend to women she is, and Cruz comes back with her shameful treatment of the women her husband abused. Yeah, I expect the moderators to pull a Candy Crowley and screech and intervene to stop it, and the next day the mainstream media will be full of pearl-clutching outrage about the Republican daring to bring up a subject that they’ve decreed was off-limits. But normal people will ask. “Hey, wait a minute. Hillary did what? Why are we only hearing about this now?” And the fact that we have an alternative media – talk radio, Twitter, Facebook, the net in general, means that we can get our ideas and our views out there. They can’t gatekeep her track record of perfidy forever.

Thank you Don Lemon, not only for bringing me an ungodly amount of attention and making me a conservative martyr, but for revealing the mainstream media’s tactics, techniques and procedures to silence conservatives and keep them from telling the truth about your gal Hillary. We have the truth, Republicans – let’s not be afraid to tell it.

Read the whole thing, which is a reminder of Andrew Klavan’s 2009 video from the start of the Obama administration that all “liberal” arguments ultimately consist of two words:

TIM CARNEY: The Top 12 Revolving Door Moments Of 2015. Here’s just one:

President Obama said he was going to stop the revolving door, and he spoke as if Obamacare was a broadside to the industry. If you believed either of these lines, you were surprised in 2011 when Obama picked hospital executive Marilyn Tavenner as Medicare administrator. Not done with the revolving door, Tavenner cashed out in 2015 to become president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the largest lobby for the insurance industry, which is — thanks to Obamacare — increasingly dependent on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for profits.

Follow the link for 11 more reasons to enact my revolving-door surtax.

GANGSTER GOVERNMENT: Report: Emails show coordination of Chicago mayor, police, investigators after shooting. Why are Democrat-run cities such hellholes of unaccountable official violence?

WHY THE RAHM STORY MATTERS:

What’s happening in Chicago is an earthquake that points to the escalating crisis of governability for blue cities across the United States. There are at least six dimensions to this crisis.

First, the Windy City’s economic strength over the last generation was facilitated, in part, by a sharp decline in violent crime. Experts differ as to why crime fell, but aggressive policing probably played a role, just as it did in cities across the United States. Yet that aggressive policing also led to more confrontations between cops and civilians, and contributed to the development of a culture and ethos on the force that made civilian deaths more likely. It’s unclear how far Chicago (or any other American city) can go in dismantling the structure of aggressive law enforcement without seeing a resurgence of the crime levels that once ravaged urban communities across the country and sparked an intense political backlash.

Second, the police problem is partly an offshoot of an even wider and more intractable problem: the consequences of public sector unions and life tenure for city employees. There is a harsh conflict of interest between the city’s employees and the city’s voters. . . .

It’s getting harder and harder, then, for American cities, even successful ones like Chicago and New York, to manage their affairs well. These are the fault lines beneath the surface of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago, and they aren’t going away. To the contrary, they are likely to produce more frequent and more destructive quakes over time.

The increasing fragility of blue cities and states is the biggest problem the Democratic coalition faces. Those who hope that demographic change will create a “permanent Democratic majority” need to think about arithmetic as well as demography. The numbers don’t add up for blue cities. The governing model doesn’t produce the revenue that can sustain it long-term. Making cities work—enabling them to provide necessary services at sustainable cost levels while achieving economic development that rebuilds the urban middle class—is the biggest challenge the Democratic Party faces. As Mayor Emanuel is learning, that is a daunting task.

Indeed.

Related: The Larger Meaning Of Rahm Emanuel’s Woes. “I would add that some Democrats have understood the problem for a while. Their solution is the ‘regionalism’ manifested in, among other things, President Obama’s ‘affirmatively furthering fair housing’ initiative.”

Plus, good advice from the comments: “If you are thinking of moving to a state or city, check the U-Haul rates to and from. It’s an education.”

ANALYSIS: TRUE. 2016 will usher in a fresh wave of assaults on Second Amendment rights. Punch back twice as hard.

DECADENT UNDERACHIEVERS: “Colleges are imposing quotas in order to limit the number of Asian students. And just in case these alarmist stories have not convinced Tiger Moms to dumb their children down, now a high school in New Jersey has found a new way to do the job,” Stuart Schneiderman writes at his Had Enough Therapy? blog, linking to a New York Post article by Betsy McCaughey, and noting, “American parents believe that their darlings are under too much pressure and cannot compete. The solution: to dumb down the curriculum. Yes, indeed, that will do it. McCaughey reports the sad news:”

But many non-Asian parents are up in arms, complaining there’s too much pressure and their kids can’t compete. In response, this fall Superintendent David Aderhold apologized that school had become a “perpetual achievement machine.” Heaven forbid!

Aderhold canceled accelerated and enriched math courses for fourth and fifth grades, which were 90 percent Asian, and eliminated midterms and finals in high school.

Using a word that already strikes terror in the hearts of Asian parents, he said schools had to take a “holistic” approach. That’s the same euphemism Harvard uses to limit the number of Asians accepted and favor non-Asians.

Aderhold even lowered standards for playing in school music programs. Students have a “right to squeak,” he insisted. Never mind whether they practice.

Mike Judge, call your office.

IN THE MAIL: From Isaac Asimov, The End of Eternity.

Plus, today only at Amazon: 51% Off Select H&R Block Tax Software.

And, also today only: Up to 30% off Gaiam Balance Ball Chairs.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 968.

SEVEN TECH TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2016.

TAKE THAT, BITTER CLINGERS: Obama’s Climate Deal Leaves Blue-Collar, Rural Voters Out in the Cold.

HEY, HILLARY, HOW’S THAT “RESET” BUTTON WORKING OUT FOR YOU? Smart Diplomacy: For 1st Time, Putin Officially Names the U.S. as a Threat. If only it were true.
. .

Related: Moscow’s current tone is “reminiscent of Soviet days”; If anyone is stuck in the Cold War mentality, it is the Russians. Hey, Barack, the 1980s called — they want to know if we’d like to borrow their President.

OBAMA IS PRESIDENT, AND DEATH RATES ALWAYS GO UP UNDER SOCIALISM: America’s Self-Destructive Whites:

Why is Middle America killing itself? The fact itself is probably the most important social science finding in years. It is already reshaping American politics. The Post’s Jeff Guo notes that the people who make up this cohort are “largely responsible for Donald Trump’s lead in the race for the Republican nomination for president.” The key question is why, and exploring it provides answers that suggest that the rage dominating U.S. politics will only get worse.

For decades, people in rich countries have lived longer. But in a well-known paper, economists Angus Deaton and Anne Case found that over the past 15 years, one group — middle-age whites in the United States — constitutes an alarming trend. They are dying in increasing numbers. And things look much worse for those with just a high school diploma or less. There are concerns about the calculations, but even a leading critic of the paper has acknowledged that, however measured, “the change compared to other countries and groups is huge.”

The main causes of death are as striking as the fact itself: suicide, alcoholism, and overdoses of prescription and illegal drugs. “People seem to be killing themselves, slowly or quickly,” Deaton told me. These circumstances are usually caused by stress, depression and despair.

Fundamentally transformed.

UPDATE: Psychologists say that depression is anger turned inward. What happens if it turns outward?

POLITICIZING THE ROSE BOWL GAME: “Meet the man behind the ‘Trump is disgusting’ skywriting,” according to CBS:

A millionaire real estate developer — who also happens to be a donor to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign – is behind the aerial messages at the Rose Bowl calling GOP front-runner Donald Trump “disgusting” and he says that there’s more to come. Much more.

“There’s no place for him,” said Stan Pate, from Alabama. “He needs to go back to one of his tall towers and build buildings and whatever else he does. He’s a despicable man.”

“I want to see America wake up and say this is not what we expect,” he added.

Those hosting a tailgate party at the Rose Bowl on New Years Day might have been surprised to look up to the sky and see messages blasting Trump. Multiple planes spewed cloud-like messages castigating the GOP front-runner, such as “AMERICA IS GREAT, TRUMP IS DISGUSTING. ANYBODY BUT TRUMP.” The messages quickly went viral on social media and created a buzz for those attending the 127th Rose Parade, the annual ritual on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California.

The NFL has become far too politicized over the last decade. I guess it’s time to expect the same from college football as well, as yet another formerly politics-free zone is violated — there aren’t many of those left at all these days, it seems.

UPDATE: “Did anyone else read this as ANY BODY BUTT RUMP?” Heh.™

(Via American Power.)

FROM TIGERHAWK, predictions for 2016. #2 already failed to pan out. . . .

FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORMED: Overwhelmed by ‘Migrants,’ Sweden Throws in the Towel as Europe Faces ‘General, Permanent Terror Threat.’

ANALYSIS: TRUE. On Guns, The Democrats Aren’t Serious.

AT AMAZON, fresh deals on bestselling products, updated every hour.

Also, coupons galore in Grocery & Gourmet Food.

Plus, Kindle Daily Deals.

And, Today’s Featured Digital Deal. The deals are brand new every day, so browse and save!

ROGER SIMON ON 2016, THE YEAR OF THE CHINESE CURSE:

It’s not just because I have been reading the English translation of Michel Houellebecq’s Submission  that I sense we are heading for some sort of apocalypse in 2016.  The novel, ironically published in its original French the day of the Charlie Hebdo massacre (7 January 2015),  all too realistically describes an election and near civil war in France in 2022, ending in a Muslim takeover of the state (through an alliance with the left).  Not even a year after its publication, and the more recent events in Paris and San Bernardino, this riveting book seems, if anything, a bit tardy in its time frame.

As the famous supposedly-Chinese curse goes:  ”May you live in interesting times.” (Yes, I know the curse is apocryphal and about as Chinese as a fortune cookie, but it makes the point.)

In 2016, no matter what happens, it is my suspicion that we will all be cursed as never in our lifetimes — and I am not young.   We will be yearning for a little boredom or, as the Chinese really do say, ”Better to be a dog in a peaceful time, than to be a human in a chaotic (warring) period.”

Others have made specific predictions.  That is not my purpose here.  I’m not good at prognostications anyway. (We will be arguing between A and B and it will turn out to be C.) I only want to examine the zeitgeist going into 2016, why it will be, to adopt yet another cliché, a year of living dangerously.

Read the whole thing.

Earlier: “When You Believe In Nothing, Islam Becomes Something — One of France’s best known writers weaves a believably dystopian tale where cultural passivity leads to Islamic dominance in the heart of Europe.”

ANALYSIS TRUE: Former Socialist Justice Warrior explains how SJW “communities thrive on self-loathing disguised as elitism.”

See also: Dunham, Lena — or in her case, is it the other way around?

(Via Ace.)

MICHAEL BARONE: Obama Reshapes Presidential Politics — But Maybe Not to Democrats’ Benefit.

One thing that’s striking about the presidential race, which, finally, officially begins soon, is how much the race has been shaped by Barack Obama. The course of the contests for both the Republican and the Democratic nominations would be inconceivable absent the course of the Obama presidency.

This is most apparent in the phenomenon that goes by the name of Donald Trump. Trump’s gratuitous insults of rivals reflect the coarseness of Obama’s nonstop insults of Republicans and anyone who does not share his views and priorities. Despite his pre-presidential promises of nonpartisanship, Obama has been the most grating and vitriolic partisan president of the last 60 years. Trump’s more outlandish proposals — making Mexico pay for a border wall, making common cause with Russia in Syria — can be seen as a variation on Obama’s insistence that climate change is the nation’s No. 1 problem and his acquiescence in, well, making common cause with Russia in Syria.

And the adoring crowds that throng Trump’s monster rallies — what do they remind you of? The crowds that cheered Obama in 2008 as he promised to fundamentally transform America and stop the rise of seas.

Yep.

THE REVOLUTION EVENTUALLY DEVOURS ITSELF: Big City Machines Losing Control of the Monster They Created.

PREDICTION FULFILLED:

Shot: https://t.co/Hu2liKW9e1 Chaser: https://t.co/qPbxJG3Gv6

— Adam Baldwin (@AdamBaldwin) January 2, 2016

FLASHBACK: Bernie Sanders Recants 1972 Article on Women’s Fantasies of Rape.

DON SURBER: What Schools Can Do To Reduce Gun Violence. “I think Duncan and the others know what they are doing by undermining discipline. Frankly, the Democratic Party must somehow benefit from ghetto violence because every city they run seems to have a Third World-level homicide rate.”

RON RADOSH: WHAT ISRAEL POLICY DOES HILLARY CLINTON ACTUALLY FAVOR?

Whatever purports to give her the most votes, popularity, and (especially) power at that given moment.

FLASHBACK: Why Online Anonymity Frightens Progressives.

Despite its importance to the evolution of liberal societies, or perhaps because of it, anonymity is intensely disliked by today’s trendy, progressive commentariat. Lance Ulanoff, editor-at-large of Mashable recently argued that anonymity should be abolished across the entire internet. SJW darling Wil Wheaton demanded the same for online videogames. Feminist academic Danielle Citron wants web companies to remove the “privilege” of anonymity at will.

Even I once wrote a column along these lines before coming to my senses and realising the value of anonymous and pseudonymous debate online.

Centres of anonymous culture, such as reddit, 8chan and 4chan, are the subject of particularly fearful narratives. 4chan is described as the “cesspool of the internet,” 8chan is a “troll forum,” and Reddit is a “worse black hole of violent racism than Stormfront.”

The commentary isn’t just detached criticism. Many of the writers engage in horrified, hyperbolic rhetoric, presenting anonymous commenters as dangerous evildoers in need of punishment. Ulanoff branded anonymous critics of former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao “sub-human cowards” who “spew hate,” and urged Reddit to record their personal addresses. Adding real-world accountability to Reddit, according to Ulanoff, is the only way to stop its “disgusting, hateful, and racist content.”

But Pao’s critics weren’t racist. They were concerned with free speech, and resented the former CEO for watering down the site’s previous commitment to that ideal. Ulanoff’s use of the word “racist” typifies the progressive approach to discourse: argument via scarlet letters, shaming, and “isms” instead of robust debate.

With influential columnists throwing around career-ruining allegations so casually, it’s little wonder that Redditors and 4chan users are so wary of abandoning their anonymity.

Lefties are a minority that relies on punishing speakers to ensure that the majority doesn’t realize just how big a majority it is. That’s why they hate free speech, and especially anonymous free speech. It’s why many campus groups demand that universities block Yik Yak.

Remember: They’re not well-meaning people who are just a bit overzealous. They’re horrible, nasty, awful people who want everyone who disagrees with them to be silenced and afraid. Keep this in mind, and respond with the appropriate level of respect and politesse.

THE GODS OF THE COPYBOOK HEADINGS COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT.

Then: “Bearded God-Killers” of the late 19^th century taught Europeans to think “beyond good and evil,” paving the way for the immense bloodshed of the morally relativistic 20^th century. (And inspiring a legion of American “Progressives” along the way.)

Now: Europe is having to teach bearded potential killers “the difference between right and wrong,” as the New York Times notes:

“The biggest danger for everyone is silence,” said Per Isdal, a clinical psychologist in Stavanger who works with the foundation, which developed the program Mr. Kelifa attended in Sandes.

Many refugees “come from cultures that are not gender equal and where women are the property of men,” Mr. Isdal said. “We have to help them adapt to their new culture.”

The first such program to teach immigrants about local norms and how to avoid misreading social signals was initiated in Stavanger, the center of Norway’s oil industry and a magnet for migrants, after a series of rapes from 2009 to 2011.

Henry Ove Berg, who was Stavanger’s police chief during the spike in rape cases, said he supported providing migrants sex education because “people from some parts of the world have never seen a girl in a miniskirt, only in a burqa.” When they get to Norway, he added, “something happens in their heads.”

You don’t say.

Related: Populist Parties Are Rising In Europe Because Mainstream Conservatives Have Failed.

(Via Philip Schuyler.)

POLITICO: Get ready for a Ted Cruz-Nikki Haley ticket. And a GOP establishment freak-out in January.

Come to think of it, Politico’s freak-out over that ticket would be fun to observe as well.

#MALEPRIVILEGE: Young Man Crushed To Death Saving Woman From Falling Elevator.

FASTER PLEASE: Sensors Designed for Prosthetic Hands Could Lead to New Textile Standards.