Advice Goddess Radio, Tonight, 7-8 pm PT: Dr. Vladas Griskevicius On Making More Effective Choices By Using "Deep Rationality"
Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life!" with the best brains in science.
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Decisions that we make that seem stupid can actually make a lot of evolutionary sense, meaning that they would have made sense in the ancestral world; they just don't make sense in the world in which we now live.
Unfortunately, we can't just tell our genes, "Hey, it's 2013! There are no hungry tigers roaming the streets of Baltimore and, by the way, my girlfriend's on The Pill."
But, my guest tonight, evolutionary psychologist, psychologist and marketing professor Dr. Vladas Griskevicius, is going to give us the background to make wiser choices in the future by helping us understand the ways we can be primed to act against our modern interests.
His fascinating book, co-authored with Dr. Douglas Kenrick, is "The Rational Animal: How Evolution Made Us Smarter Than We Think."
Listen at this link at 7-8 p.m. Pacific, 10-11 p.m. Eastern, or download the podcast afterward:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2014/07/01/dr-vladas-griskevicius-make-wiser-choices-via-deep-rationality
Don't miss last week's show with Dr. Mark Goulston, "How Real Influence Takes Persuading By Connecting, Not Pushing."
Listen at this link or download the podcast:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2014/06/23/dr-mark-goulston-real-influence-takes-persuading-by-connecting-not-pushing
Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
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Please consider ordering my new book, the science-based and funny "Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," (only $9.48 at Amazon!). Orders of the book help support my writing and this radio show!
Half Of All Medical Reporting Is Subject To Spin
I've long been disturbed that the LA Times "Health" section simply moves over general interest reporters to report on science. They have no idea of the body of work and no idea of how to vet studies, so the reporters I've read there basically act as credulous stenographers. As do "health" reporters at many publications and outlets.
From NHS.uk, a study found that 51% of news items reporting on medical trials -- randomized controlled trials, considered the "gold standard" of studies -- distorted the findings:
The piece first explains spin as it relates to reporting on medical studies:
To spin information is to distort the true picture to fulfil an agenda, often by presenting information in way that creates a positive or favourable impression.The researchers defined spin for the purposes of the study as "specific reporting strategies (intentional or unintentional) emphasising the beneficial effect of the experimental treatment."
Examples of medical spin cited by the researchers are:
Reporting positive effects that were not statistically significant - so that the effects could have been the result of chance.
Focusing on an outcome that the trial was not designed to study - for example, a trial that aimed, without success, to use acupuncture to treat hot flushes found incidentally that the treatment produced a slight improvement in sex drive. So the trial was spun with headlines such as "Acupuncture perks up sex drive."
Focusing on inappropriate sub-groups - for example, a trial of a new type 2 diabetes drug might be a total failure in the population at large but show a slight improvement in women in their twenties. This can be spun as an important breakthrough. However, type 2 diabetes is rare in women in their twenties, so the new drug would not actually be of great use.
Ignoring safety data - we need to be sure that the potential benefits of treatment outweigh the risks but research summaries and press releases routinely omit mention of risks, side effects and so forth, and thus give an overly positive impression of results.
Why this is important?
It is estimated that 90% of the public get information on developments in medicine and healthcare from the mainstream media. So the quality and reliability (or lack of it) of medical and health journalism is vitally important in determining whether we get an accurate idea of medical advances.At best, unreliable medical journalism can lead people to waste time and money on treatments for which there is no evidence of them being effective. At worst, it can kill.
For example, the unfounded link between the MMR vaccine and autism became a "health scare" perpetuated by large sections of the mainstream media from the late 1990s. Despite the lack of credible evidence to back up the link, frightened parents justifiably avoided letting their children have the MMR jab. Official statistics show that this led to a sharp rise in measles cases. While in most cases measles is simply unpleasant, in a small number of cases it can be fatal.Between 1998 and 2008 there were 15 measles-related deaths reported to the Health Protection Agency in England and Wales. All of these deaths may have been prevented by MMR vaccination.
Things to consider:
Things to consider
When you read a news report about a medical study, you may find it useful to consider: Was the research in humans? Headlines that talk of a "miracle cure" often relate to research conducted on, say, mice - and the results may not apply to people.How many people did the study involve? Small studies involving just a handful of people are more likely than large studies to reach conclusions that could simply be the result of chance.
Did the study actually assess what's in the headline? As mentioned, a headline saying acupuncture boosts your sex-life was actually based on a study into whether acupuncture could treat hot flushes.
Who paid for the study? While most commercially funded studies are reliable, it is always worth checking if there could be any potential conflict of interest, for example where a company funds research into its own products.
More on how to read health news.
via @medskep
Crony Donationism
What kind of school administrator, at a time when students are going broke paying tuition (and/or will be on the hook for student loans maybe until they die of old age), offers Hillary Clinton (or any speaker) $250,000 -- or $300,00?
I would guess the motivation is not just having her speak but a de facto donation to her war chest and/or a pay for influence play conveniently marked as a speaker's fee.
Tim Devaney writes at The Hill that outraged UNLV students want Clinton to return the $225,000 fee she will reportedly receive for speaking at the school. (She got the $300,000 for a recent speech at UCLA.)
UNLV students are demanding Clinton to return what they see as an "outrageous" speaking fee for an October event and have criticized the school for paying her so much money at a time when tuition is scheduled to spike by 17 percent over the next four years."We really appreciate anybody who would come to raise money for the university," UNLV student body president Elias Benjelloun told a Nevada television station. "But anybody who's being paid $225,000 to come speak, we think that's a little bit outrageous. And we'd like Secretary Clinton, respectfully, to gracefully return to the university or the foundation."
Benjelloun said the potential 2016 presidential contender should donate her fee to the university.
via @vpostrel
The Short Memory Zone: It Isn't Just The Democrats Who "Lose" Email
Reason Foundation's Adrian Moore (@reasonpolicy) said it in his tweet about this story:
Leaving aside partisan crap, many Republicans have "lost" incriminating emails. Politicians lie and cheat.
Jason Easley, at PoliticsUSA, has a piece up, "Republicans Who Are Attacking Obama For Missing IRS Emails Caught In a Web of Hypocrisy":
Republicans who are trying to blame Obama for the missing IRS emails need to look in the mirror. Gov. Scott Walker, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have all had emails go missing, hidden, or intentionally destroyed.Here are just a few of the Republicans who have either wiped hard drives, or lost emails:
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney - The Bush White House was the Republican founding father of private email systems. In order to avoid, public accountability the Bush administration used a private email network on RNC servers. The Bush administration also lost 22 million emails. They just so happened to lose the emails from the architects of Bush's torture policy. Within those 22 million lost emails were five million emails that were lost relating to the 2007 firing of eight U.S. Attorneys. The Bush administration denied for years that any emails were lost, but as part of settling a lawsuit, eventually admitted that twenty-two million emails had been lost. The Obama administration tried to clean up the Bush mess, but was only able to restore 61 days worth of emails.
Free Linky
(Willy is indisposed and cannot be freed at this time.)
Finalist For Five LA Press Club Awards
I am a finalist for five awards in the highly competitive Southern California Journalism Awards. Four of these finalist slots are for my column, but I'm also a finalist -- with Gregg! -- for best radio documentary for my weekly science-based radio show...against four other contenders, all from NPR powerhouse KCRW.
Awards ceremony is tonight.
Here's one of my column finalist mentions and the competition:
B7. COMMENTARY
* Amy Alkon, Creators Syndicate, "Science-Based Syndicated Advice Column"
* Gustavo Arellano, Michelle Woo, Nate Jackson, Gabriel San Roman, OC Weekly, "Where the Black People At?"
* Marty Kaplan, Jewish Journal, "Marty Kaplan's Column"
* Ashley Merryman, The New York Times, "Loosing is Good For You"
* Raphael J. Sonenshein, Jewish Journal, "Columns"
And the most thrilling:
F11. DOCUMENTARY RADIO
* Amy Alkon and Gregg Sutter, Blog Talk Radio, "Science-Based Weekly Radio Show"
* Madeleine Brand, Saul Gonzalez and Matt Holzman, KCRW, "Power & Water"
* Eric Molinsky and Bob Carlson, KCRW, "Missileers"
* Myke Dodge Weiskopf, KCRW, "Fire Island"
* Kerstin Zilm and Bob Carlson, KCRW, "Falling"
Thanks to all of you who read my column (and please read me in papers -- which print my column four or five weeks earlier than I do -- so they can afford to keep publishing me). And thanks to all of you who listen to the radio show, especially Jim P. and Adam Bein, who were loyal supporters from the very start.
*No radio show tonight. We'll run a repeat tomorrow and have a live show next week.
UPDATE: Just got back -- exhausted. It was tough competition and I got 2nds and 3rds, but we didn't have a pen so I have to wait until they post them!
Gives New Meaning To "Blowing Up The Grid"
Oopsy.
"Fat Acceptance" Or Should Somebody Say Something About The Emperor's Size XXXXL New Clothes?
A Letter To The Editor in The New York Times from Carol Weston, the advice columnist at Girls' Life and the author of "Girltalk" and "Ava and Pip" -- who was chastised for what she wrote by others (at the link):
I've been an advice columnist for 20 years, and I wish we could change the depressing fact that one of three kids is overweight or obese. I wish advertisers of junk food would stop targeting children. I wish every town had safe sidewalks and playgrounds for exercise. I wish teenagers would take better care of themselves.Summer is here, and a few camps are banning talk about appearances ("Where Mirrors Don't Rule," ThursdayStyles, June 19). Seems like a good idea. But while I'm all for getting our minds off our bodies, is it a favor to pretend that a problem is not a problem? Obesity is not a clothes crisis; it's a health crisis. Obese people are at a much higher risk for diabetes and heart disease, and this can cost them their lives -- and cost the country billions.
I recently heard from two girls who weigh over 240 pounds. One said her dad called her heavy and this hurt her feelings. The other said she had never had a boyfriend but it wasn't because of weight -- a friend who weighed more had had three boyfriends.
I replied with helpful words about fathers and boys, but also offered gentle unsolicited advice. I never recommend dieting (which usually doesn't work), but I do urge girls to meet friends for walks, not pizza. To drink water, not sugary soda. To try to eat smaller portions and less processed food.
When the NYC Girls Project ran ads saying, "I'm beautiful the way I am," I winced. Our world is not one-size-fits-all, and yes, XL is O.K. But when a girl is XXXL (or, for that matter, emaciated), I don't think: Let's not talk about it. We need to stay body-conscious -- in smart, not superficial, ways.
For the record, per Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat," it is carbohydrates -- sugar, flour, starchy vegetables like potatoes, apple juice -- that cause the insulin secretion that puts on fat.
Why We Should Stay Out Of Iraq
Benjamin H. Friedman, a Cato research fellow in defense and homeland security, writes at Cato that "the major reason using force to defend Iraq's government is a bad idea is that it always was":
Advocates of going into Iraq, like advocates of staying in Iraq in past years, tend to employ sunk costs logic, where the pursuit of a dumb idea before somehow makes it sensible now. Invocations of dead and wounded Americans' sacrifice give such thinking added resonance but do not make it sensible.Surge mythology notwithstanding, our efforts to reorder Iraq have always been misguided. The goal - a multiethnic, democratic, stable Iraq- was a nice idea but never vital to U.S. national security or worth thousands of U.S. lives and vast stores of our wealth. Our presence there did not stabilize Iraq, let alone the region, or keep oil prices down. Nor is regional stability or oil production worth much U.S. effort.
The idea that we need to fight ISIS because of its potential to use terrorism against the United States suffers similar flaws. During the Iraq War, hawks constantly warned that leaving Iraq would allow terrorist havens to form there. Their mental model was 1990s Afghanistan. They ignored the fact that al Qaeda (the original group that attacked Americans ) came from particular conflicts, rather than being some kind of plant that grew in failed states. And even in Afghanistan, the problem was more that the government -- the Taliban -- allied with al Qaeda, rather than the absence of government. And hawks forgot that U.S. gains in drones and surveillance technology since the 1990s had destroyed havens--now those were easy targets.
Today, we are repeatedly told that ISIS is more brutal than al Qaeda and thus a bigger danger to Americans. But that logic confuses an insurgency with a group focused on attacking Americans. ISIS is a nasty organization fond of terrorist violence, radical Islam, and Islamic caliphates, but not an obvious threat to Americans. Conflating morally noxious Islamists with those bent on killing Americans is one of the errors keeping us at endless war.
RELATED: The Iraq war was a bipartisan disaster.
Melty
Grilled linky.
Government Ruins Everything
Parents of a Plymouth, Michigan, high school boys' varsity baseball team raised money, paid for, and built bleachers and a scoreboard -- all of which they are now supposed to tear down. From Yahoo Sports, Ben Rohrbach writes:
The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation following an anonymous complaint. Ultimately, officials demanded that the seating and scoreboard be torn down because the upgrades are superior to Plymouth's girls' softball facilities (pictured). The boys' seating is also not handicap accessible, which is a separate violation of government regulations.Plymouth High School superintendent Michael Meissen said the seats and scoreboard will be preserved until the district decides how to remedy the situation. Meissen told WJBK-TV that the school wants to follow the government's regulations and be "fair to everyone," but it does not have the funds to upgrade the girls' softball bleachers. The school reportedly plans to install a new scoreboard on the softball field, though.
There are obvious Title IX implications to this story, as federally funded schools are required to provide equal opportunity for both boys' and girls' sports. Forty-two years after the law was passed, schools and colleges across the country are still struggling to comply with the rules in the face of shrinking budgets. Plymouth joins a long list of schools that may be in violation of Title IX, whether they realize it or not.
Of course, there could be a quick resolution to this controversy. The girls' softball parents might also think about raising money to build their own stadium seating. It seemed to work for the boys' baseball parents for six years.
Diplomas vs. Dirty Jobs
Reason posted an interview with Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs, and a commenter calling herself "carol" left this below:
It broke my heart when my straight A, gifted son decided that college wasn't for him and he became an ironworker. As a single parent I busted my ass to see to it that he and his sister would have the money they needed for college and ironworking wasn't part of the plan. Then I realized that it wasn't my plan or my life, it was his. Do you guys know what ironworkers make? My son has a job he enjoys and he makes a very good living. There is a lot to be said in favor of "dirty jobs."
Zombie Links
Anyone seen my arm?
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Our Government Seeks To Jail A Bunch Of Old Sick People For Openly Growing Medical Pot
Timothy Egan writes in The New York Times about how the United States, supposedly the land of the free, is the globe's top jailer, with "our prisons are stuffed with people serving interminable sentences for nonviolent crimes":
70-year-old Larry Harvey, his wife, two family members and a friend are facing mandatory 10-year prison terms for growing medical marijuana -- openly and, they thought, legally -- on their farm near the little town of Kettle Falls.To get a sense of the tragic absurdity of this federal prosecution, reaching all the way to the desk of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., consider what will happen next month. Pot stores will open in Washington, selling legal marijuana for the recreational user -- per a vote of the people. A few weeks later, the Feds will try to put away the so-called Kettle Falls Five for growing weed on their land to ease their medical maladies. Federal sentencing guidelines, which trump state law, call for mandatory prison terms.
...Harvey is a former long-haul truck driver with a bad knee, spasms of gout and high blood pressure. He says he has no criminal record, and spends much of his time in a wheelchair. His wife, Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, is a retired hairdresser with arthritis and osteoporosis. Mr. Harvey says he takes his wife's home-baked marijuana confections when the pain in his knee starts to flare. The Harveys thought they were in the clear, growing 68 marijuana plants on their acreage in northeast Washington, one of 22 states allowing legal medical marijuana. (Federal authorities say they are several plants over the limit.)
Their pot garden was a co-op among the four family members and one friend; the marijuana was not for sale or distribution, Mr. Harvey says. "I think these patients were legitimate," Dr. Greg Carter, who reviewed medical records after the arrest, told The Spokesman-Review of Spokane. "They are pretty normal people. We're not talking about thugs."
But the authorities, using all the military tools at their disposal in the exhausted drug war, treated them as big-time narco threats. First, a helicopter spotted the garden from the air. Brilliant, except Harvey himself had painted a huge medical marijuana sign on a plywood board so that his garden, in fact, could be identified as a medical pot plot from the air.
This was followed by two raids. One from eight agents in Kevlar vests. The other from Drug Enforcement Agency officers. They searched the house, confiscating guns, and a little cash in a drawer. The guns are no surprise: Finding someone who does not own a firearm in the Selkirk Mountain country is like finding a Seattleite who doesn't recycle. Still, the guns were enough to add additional federal charges to an indictment that the family was growing more than the legal limit of plants.
Beyond the fact that this is a horrible violation of people's civil liberties (you should have the freedom to grow and ingest whatever the hell you want)...are these really people anybody thinks we need to keep in cages for the rest of their lives?
via @maiasz
When School Is The Most Stupid-Filled Place Your Kids Can Spend The Day
Progress is now defined differently -- for example, as stopping enormous stupidity from being the status quo in schools.
That's what they had to do in Florida: pass a law stopping schools from suspending students for brandishing...yes, imaginary guns. Like "guns" made by kids biting their Pop-Tarts into gun shapes:
Jonathan Taylor posts at A Voice For Male Students, linking to a Leslie Postal piece from the Orlando Sentinel about "the Pop-Tart bill":
Gov. Rick Scott today signed into law a bill that says students cannot get into trouble for 'brandishing a partially consumed pastry' or other harmless items meant to simulate a gun. The 'Pop-Tart' bill aims to stop students from getting in trouble for play that involves obviously pretend guns. Students shouldn't face discipline, for example, for drawing a picture of a gun or pretending a pencil or their finger was a firearm.
via ifeminists
UPDATE: Lenore Skenazy on a school prohibiting sunscreen, which the school classifies as both a "medication" and "toxic":
I don't think they even drink liquid soap, the gateway drug for sunscreen.
via @overlawyered
If You're Male, You Must Be Guilty
@AdamKissel tweet: 
Lynxie
Linkie in a nice spotted fur coat.
True Libertarians Aren't Conservatives
Just last week, because I criticized Hillary Clinton's hypocrisy for being publicly for estate taxes and privately (when it comes to her and Bill Clinton's money) all for seizing loopholes to get out of paying them, an old friend I am very fond of (but haven't seen or talked to for over 10 years) assumed I am a Republican. I am not. I'm a libertarian. Which is why I have been wildly critical of George Bush, the Clintons, and Barack Obama, all of whom are for big government in their own special ways.
This friend also assumed I am for no government. I am not. I'm for limited government -- government where necessary as opposed to government wherever it suits some crony capitalist politician's interest to vote something in.
Robert A. Levy, in a Cato post, notes that people often conflate libertarians and conservatives:
Cato has consistently embraced civil liberties, including but not limited to the right to same-sex marriage. By contrast, conservatives - with whom we are mistakenly equated - have been selective in their endorsement of personal freedom. Indeed, some conservatives, who vigorously promote federalism, have also promoted a Federal Marriage Amendment. That amendment, which defines marriage throughout the country as "the union of a man and a woman," would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriage within their own borders, even if desired by the state's citizens. What could be less compatible with fundamental principles of federalism?More generally, conservatives agree with Cato on some issues - such as the right to bear arms, lower taxes, reduced spending, free trade, and less economic regulation. Liberals agree with us on other issues - such as immigration reform, drug legalization, marriage equality, and a non-interventionist foreign policy. Does that indicate libertarians are philosophically inconsistent? No, it indicates quite the reverse - conservatives and liberals are philosophically inconsistent. Conservatives want smaller government in the fiscal sphere, but they condone bigger government when it comes to empire building and regulating personal behavior. Liberals want fewer government restrictions in the social sphere, but they embrace strict limits on economic liberties. Unlike liberals and conservatives, Cato scholars have a consistent, minimalist view of the proper role of government. We want government out of our wallets, out of our bedrooms, and out of foreign entanglements unless America's vital interests are at stake.
Hear, hear, hear.
The Flight Attendant Call Button: When Do YOU Use It?
There's a discussion about this now at FlyerTalk.com, and I thought I'd pose this question to those of you who comment here:
When is and isn't it appropriate to use the flight attendant call button -- and why?
Acclaimed Bassist Christian McBride Says TSA Thuggos Seized (And Kept) His Bow
If you're one of those who trots out the tired line, "It's a free country," you'd best stop doing that, because it no longer is.
Our civil liberties are being stomped on, eroded, and yanked from us at every turn and Americans are just standing around blinking like bewildered cows as it happens.
Adrian Chamberlain writes for The Times Colonist that the bassist's bow was seized at the border on the way to Victoria:
Bassist Christian McBride blamed U.S. authorities for confiscating his bow before he arrived in Canada to play the TD Victoria International JazzFest.Performing Monday at First Metropolitan United Church, McBride said that he'd been forced to borrow a bow he was not used to.
That same day, McBride wrote on his Facebook page: "Now it's confirmed. I can tell you that the good ol' TSA [America's Transportation Security Administration] confiscated (aka stole) my brand-new bow right out of my hard case . . . I arrived in Saskatoon only to find the bow missing inside the case to my Lemur Travel Bass."
He added: "Maybe they thought it was a weapon (idiotic) or they were looking for ivory, of which there wasn't any. I will get to the bottom of this."
...The Associated Press reported this week that musicians are concerned that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's stricter rules on transporting items containing elephant ivory are inflicting unintended complications on the music community.
...Noonan said a great number of professional and student musicians are playing with bows that contain a small quantity of African elephant ivory, which were legally crafted and legally obtained. She said it's unlikely that they would have asked for particular documentation when they purchased the bows.
via @MarcDanziger
No Fly List Doesn't Fly In Court: Small Victory For Civil Liberties
U.S. District Judge Anna Brown has ruled that the process surrounding the government's no-fly list is unconstitutional, as it gives those put on it no effective way to challenge their inclusion. (In seven years, one person has gotten off of it, and it took $3.5 million in legal fees -- donated by the firm that took her case pro bono -- for her to do it.)
NPR's Eyder Peralta writes:
In the opinion, Brown writes that being placed on the list has far-reaching implications. Flying internationally, she writes, is not a luxury, but a right. She concludes:"One need not look beyond the hardships suffered by Plaintiffs to understand the significance of the deprivation of the right to travel internationally. Due to the major burden imposed by inclusion on the No-Fly List, Plaintiffs have suffered significantly including long-term separation from spouses and children; the inability to access desired medical and prenatal care; the inability to pursue an education of their choosing; the inability to participate in important religious rites; loss of employment opportunities; loss of government entitlements; the inability to visit family; and the inability to attend important personal and family events such as graduations, weddings, and funerals. The Court concludes international travel is not a mere convenience or luxury in this modern world. Indeed, for many international travel is a necessary aspect of liberties sacred to members of a free society."Accordingly, on this record the Court concludes Plaintiffs' inclusion on the No-Fly List constitutes a significant deprivation of their liberty interests in international travel."
Via the Oregonian (PDF):
In a 65-page opinion issued Tuesday ... Brown ordered the government to come up with a new way for the 13 plaintiffs to contest their inclusion on the list that prohibits them from flying in or through U.S. airspace. The government must provide notice to the plaintiffs that they are on the roster and give the reasons for their inclusion, Brown wrote. She also ordered that the government allow the plaintiffs to submit evidence to refute the government's suspicions.
Advice Goddess Free Swim
Sleepy from a crazy but very good week. You pick the topics. I'll post more on Thursday morning.
P.S. One link per comment or my spam filter will eat your post.
Gary Oldman: Planet Of The Way Too Politically Correct Or Something Else?
"Planet of the Apes" star Gary Oldman is in some (predictable) hot water for his recent statements in a Playboy Interview:
PLAYBOY: Mel Gibson?OLDMAN: Yeah.
PLAYBOY: What do you think about what he's gone through these past few years?
OLDMAN: [Fidgets in his seat] I just think political correctness is crap. That's what I think about it. I think it's like, take a fucking joke. Get over it. I heard about a science teacher who was teaching that God made the earth and God made everything and that if you believe anything else you're stupid. A Buddhist kid in the class got very upset about this, so the parents went in and are suing the school! The school is changing its curriculum! I thought, All right, go to the school and complain about it and then that's the end of it. But they're going to sue! No one can take a joke anymore.
I don't know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things. We're all fucking hypocrites. That's what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word nigger or that fucking Jew? I'm being brutally honest here. It's the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy. Or maybe I should strike that and say "the N word" and "the F word," though there are two F words now.
PLAYBOY: The three-letter one?
OLDMAN: Alec calling someone an F-A-G in the street while he's pissed off coming out of his building because they won't leave him alone. I don't blame him. So they persecute. Mel Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he's actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him--and doesn't need to feed him anymore because he's got enough dough. He's like an outcast, a leper, you know? But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn't turned and said, "That fucking kraut" or "Fuck those Germans," whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me. It's just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone, that we all stand on this thing going, "Isn't that shocking?" [smiles wryly] All right. Shall I stop talking now? What else can we discuss?
PLAYBOY: What do you think of the pope?
OLDMAN: Oh, fuck the pope! [laughs and puts head in hands] So this interview has gone very badly. You have to edit and cut half of what I've said, because it's going to make me sound like a bigot.
PLAYBOY: You're not a bigot?
OLDMAN: No, but I'm defending all the wrong people. I'm saying Mel's all right, Alec's a good guy. So how do I come across? Angry?
PLAYBOY: Passionate, certainly. Readers will have to form their own opinions.
OLDMAN: It's dishonesty that frustrates me most. I can't bear double standards. It gets under my skin more than anything.
We've "all said these things"? We all sure as hell haven't.
The problem is, there are bigots and there are blusterers who reach for the most convenient insult -- the low-hanging fruit on the insult tree. I suspect Alec Baldwin is a blusterer. Mel Gibson, it seems clear to me, goes way beyond that.
But, not being loose with statements like this is like not swearing around a 4-year-old or somebody's elderly aunt. It's upsetting and hurtful to people to hear.
The reality is, there are a lot of Jews in Hollywood (and a disproportionate number of Jewish Nobel Prize winners), just like there seem to be many engineers named things like Singh and Wu and many professional basketball players who are very tall and black. Question: When is mentioning any of this mere observation and when is it racism? Where do we draw the line? Where should we?
Are we all "fucking hypocrites," as Oldman puts it? To a great degree we are. Hypocrisy is built into human consciousness. (Social scientists refer to it as "cognitive biases.") And I think older generations have muttered racial and religious nastinesses amongst themselves in a way the younger generation does not, and I think the change in this is due to how we are more racially mixed as a society than ever before.
Oldman's apology, sent to the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, via Deadline Hollywood:
Dear Gentlemen of the ADL:I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy Interview were offensive to many Jewish people. Upon reading my comments in print -- I see how insensitive they may be, and how they may indeed contribute to the furtherance of a false stereotype. Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter. If, during the interview, I had been asked to elaborate on this point I would have pointed out that I had just finished reading Neal Gabler's superb book about the Jews and Hollywood, An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews invented Hollywood. The fact is that our business, and my own career specifically, owes an enormous debt to that contribution.
I hope you will know that this apology is heartfelt, genuine, and that I have an enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people in general, and those specifically in my life. The Jewish People, persecuted thorough the ages, are the first to hear God's voice, and surely are the chosen people.
I would like to sign off with 'Shalom Aleichem' -- but under the circumstances, perhaps today I lose the right to use that phrase, so I will wish you all peace - Gary Oldman.
From a WaPo piece by Soraya Nadia McDonald:
[Oldman's] manager, Douglas Urbanski ... doubled down in his defense of Oldman. Urbanski attempted to deflate the ballooning crisis in a statement to the Wrap, saying, "In this interview Gary is doing what many intelligent people do: he is illustrating the absurd by being absurd."Abraham H. Foxman, executive director of the ADL, said: "Gary Oldman's remarks irresponsibly feed into a classic anti-Semitic canard about supposed Jewish control of Hollywood and the film industry. He should know better than to repeat and give credence to tired anti-Semitic tropes. Mel Gibson's ostracization in Hollywood was not a matter of being 'politically incorrect,' as Mr. Oldman suggests, but of paying the consequences for outing himself as a bigot and a hater. It is disturbing that Mr. Oldman appears to have bought into Mr. Gibson's warped and prejudiced world view."
How The Push For "Equality" Ruins College Sports
Men and women are not the same, yet supposed anti-discrimination measures like Title IX that treat them as if they are and as if they have the same interests, including athletic interests. A "Policy Focus" newsletter from the Independent Women's Forum explains how creating a de facto quota system is ruining sports on campus:
Since women now outnumber men on college campuses, accounting for nearly six in ten undergraduate students (and Title IX's oversight and quota regime does not apply to enrollment), colleges that wish to shield themselves from potential Title IX lawsuits must ensure that their pool of athletes mirrors the student body in terms of sex.Title IX has contributed to the elimination of scores of men's athletic teams (commonly baseball, wrestling, gymnastics, track and field, swimming, and crew) and the near extinction of some sports (like gymnastics) for men at the college level.
Americans want both men and women to have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. Instead of just celebrating Title IX, policymakers should reform the law so that it fulfills its authors' original intentions of ensuring that both men and women have opportunity to participate in college programs.
Later in the piece:
Promoting Misguided Understanding of Equality: We don't expect men and women to always act the same. We aren't concerned if women outnumber men in dance classes or art programs. We shouldn't be concerned if men IX's application to athletics, but not to female- dominated extracurricular programs suggests an anti-male agenda in enforcement policies....Oddly, Title IX enforcement has centered exclusively on athletics. If Title IX were applied
to other endeavors, such as student newspaper, government and theater, then opportunities for women to participate would have to be slashed. Presumably, feminists celebrating Title IX would recognize that this would be unfair to women and be applied to athletics.
And more:
Reforming Title IX
Policymakers should return Title IX to the law's original intention so that it prevents discrimination, rather than creates discrimination by enforcing a draconian quota system.
via @CHSommers
Make Your Meat Your Own
Yes, it's a first-world problem -- the juicy steak on your plate that lacks a message other than the unspoken, "EAT ME!"
Happily, someone has come up with a solution -- a branding iron for your meat (grilled or still kicking, if you two are both into that sort of thing): DCI BBQ Branding Iron For Personalized Grilling
And yes, that says, "Your Name Here."
Burpy
Linky with reflux.
"Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" In Joe Sharkey's New York Times Travel Column Today
For the record, I've been a fan of Joe Sharkey's for years. It's always thrilling to appear in The New York Times (well, unless the story is that you embezzled money), but Sharkey did a particularly wonderful inclusion of me and quotes from my book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" in his column today on alleviating air travel hell:
So I called Amy Alkon, the Advice Goddess, as she bills herself in her syndicated column. She is the author of two books: "I See Rude People: One Woman's Battle to Beat Some Manners Into Impolite Society," and the recently published "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say ..." (a word that this publication is too polite to use).Ms. Alkon has gripes, of course. A few years ago, she had a well-publicized run-in with a Transportation Security Administration agent who, Ms. Alkon asserted, became too touchy-feely during a pat-down. And she is annoyed by gate attendants and flight attendants who do not enforce rules on carry-on sizes, and "turn their backs on any roll-aboard smaller than a sarcophagus."
Still, she is very supportive of flight attendants and gate agents who have to manage the endless circus, which most do with aplomb, though some do not. "When I was researching the book, someone suggested, 'Bring candy for the people at the gates and the flight attendants' -- but I ended up not including that because I was worried that someone might think of trying to poison them," Ms. Alkon said.
"Still, since we're thrown in with strangers, isn't it nicer to have someone think, 'Oh my God, someone cared about me!' " she said. "Being nice to each other is really not that hard. When you're stuck in some unpleasantry in flying and you reach out and do something kind, you'll feel better about that horrible situation. It helps to get outside of yourself."
I especially like her suggestion that passengers simply say hello to the flight attendant when boarding. "If you walk down the street and you say hello to someone you pass, and if they don't reply, that feels really bad," she said. "It's a dignity violation. Flight attendants, they have to say hello like 100 or 200 times each flight, and how many people ignore them as they say hello at the door? Just say hello back! Or as a flight attendant said, 'Even just give me a man-nod.'"
Also from the airplane section of my book, a tip my editor loved: 
I Know You've All Been Waiting For My Opinion On Who Will Take The World Cup
Best I can do: 
Baby, Now With A Hole In His Chest From A Flash-Bang: Another Heartbreaking Casualty Of The Drug War
Alecia Phonesavanh writes at Salon that a drugs-searching SWAT team blew a hole in her 2-year-old son:
It's been three weeks since the flashbang exploded next to my sleeping baby, and he's still covered in burns.There's still a hole in his chest that exposes his ribs. At least that's what I've been told; I'm afraid to look.
My husband's nephew, the one they were looking for, wasn't there. He doesn't even live in that house. After breaking down the door, throwing my husband to the ground, and screaming at my children, the officers - armed with M16s - filed through the house like they were playing war. They searched for drugs and never found any.
I heard my baby wailing and asked one of the officers to let me hold him. He screamed at me to sit down and shut up and blocked my view, so I couldn't see my son. I could see a singed crib. And I could see a pool of blood. The officers yelled at me to calm down and told me my son was fine, that he'd just lost a tooth. It was only hours later when they finally let us drive to the hospital that we found out Bou Bou was in the intensive burn unit and that he'd been placed into a medically induced coma.
For the last three weeks, my husband and I have been sleeping at the hospital. We tell our son that we love him and we'll never leave him behind. His car seat is still in the minivan, right where it's always been, and we whisper to him that soon we'll be taking him home with us.
Every morning, I have to face the reality that my son is fighting for his life. It's not clear whether he'll live or die. All of this to find a small amount of drugs?
via @maiasz
The Infantilizing Absurdity Of The State Of California Getting In Bed Between Two Horny University Students
Cathy Young writes at reason on "affirmative consent" in sex and the likely passage of a California law using it as the standard for evaluating sexual assault complaints. The bill details how sexy this is:
"Affirmative consent" is an affirmative, unambiguous, and conscious decision by each participant to engage in mutually agreed-upon sexual activity. Consent is informed, freely given, and voluntary. It is the responsibility of the person initiating the sexual activity to ensure that he or she has the consent of the other person to engage in the sexual activity. Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent. Consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual encounter and can be revoked at any time. The existence of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the fact of past sexual relations between them, should never by itself be assumed to be an indicator of consent.
Young continues:
To counter the common view that such negotiations are awkward moment-ruiners, the activists quoted in the Times argue that explicit consent can be "fun" and even ensure better sex through communication. Educational posters on the Columbia campus proclaim that "asking for consent can be as hot, creative, and as sexy as you make it."With all these earnest reassurances, one can't help wondering if the consent evangelists really believe what they preach: The ladies (and their gentlemen allies) do protest too much. Moreover, their protestations are belied by the fact that the preaching is backed by undisguised coercion. In feminist educator Bernice Sandler's list of "Ten Reasons to Obtain Verbal Consent to Sex," the assertion that "many partners find it sexy to be asked, as sex progresses, if it's okay" is followed by "Because you won't be accused of rape" and "Because you won't go to jail or be expelled." Fun, fun, fun.
To say that sex without consent is rape is to state the obvious. But in traditional sexual scripts, consent is usually given through nonverbal cues. Of course this doesn't mean that people never talk during sex; but there's a big difference between sweet nothings and mandatory negotiations based on constant awareness that you may be raping your partner if you misread those cues. And "constant" is no exaggeration. Thus, the sexual assault policy at California's Occidental College states that "individuals choosing to engage in sexual activity must evaluate consent in an ongoing manner" and that consent can be withdrawn through an explicit "no" or "an outward demonstration" of hesitation or uncertainty, in which case "sexual activity must cease immediately and all parties must obtain mutually expressed or clearly stated consent before continuing." Whether anyone could feel "sexy" under such conditions seems dubious at best.
The feminism of "affirmative consent" is equally dubious. Indeed, this standard arguably strips women of agency in a way that traditional sexual norms never did. In the traditional script, the man initiates while the woman decides where (or whether) to set the limits. Under explicit consent rules, the person taking the lead must also assume much of the responsibility for setting the limits by making sure his partner wants to proceed--while the more passive party cannot be responsible even for making her wishes known without being asked.
Since I started pulling this post together over the weekend, I got an email from Hans Bader at Open Market quoting a WaPo piece by GMU law prof David Bernstein. Bernstein reports that things are even scarier on the Federal level, with the Obama administration basically looking to deem most people as guilty of sexual assault. The piece is appropriately titled, "YOU are a rapist; yes YOU!"
But at least the affirmative consent standard leaves room for a defense that the complainant provided appropriate non-verbal cues that signified consent. By contrast, the Office on Violence against Women, a U.S. Justice Department subsidiary, informs us on its home page that "sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the *explicit consent* of the recipient." This is not, in fact, the legal standard in any jurisdiction in the United States, and it's not because it's completely absurd. The vast, vast majority of "sexual contact or behavior" is initiated with only *implicit consent.* [UPDATE: There is one type of sexual relationship that, as I understand it, involves primarily explicit consent--the relationship between a prostitute and her (or his) clients, with exact sexual services to be provided determined by explicit agreement in advance.] The DOJ website definition makes almost every adult in the U.S. (men AND women)-and that likely includes you, dear reader-a perpetrator of sexual assault. Just leaning over to give your date (or your spouse) a kiss without asking first and receiving a yes comes within stated definition of sexual assault, regardless of how many times you've done it before without objection. In fairness, the examples the OVW gives-forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape-are proper, at least if we assume they mean "nonconsensual fondling." Nevertheless, it's embarrassing that DOJ allows such an inaccurate and ridiculous definition of sexual assault to be on its website.
Where do they get the geniuses they hire at the DOJ to put out definitions like this? I'm not a lawyer -- just someone who knows just enough to be dangerous -- and even I'd know better than to go with that vastly broad definition at DOJ. The practice of law, to me, involves having an imagination about how you and your client could get tripped up, embarrassed, or screwed. Failures of imagination are failures in the practice of law.
Oh, and how many eyeballs looked at this and just nodded at the emperor's bare ass as they rubber-stamped it?
RELATED: Hans Bader sent a link to this amusing video, which lays out how sexy this "affirmative consent" business would be. (What will be next, having students file fuck permission slips with the registrar?)
Blimpy
Floaty links...
Table Manners 101: I Did Include Just A Few
My book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," is largely science-based (but readable and funny) tips on human behavior. I did give about 10 basic table manners tips for anyone raised in a cave by wild animals. For example:
And yes, this really is an issue for some people. I wrote about this here, in my advice column.
My Friend Kingsley Browne Went To Nepal And All I Got Were Some Fabulous Pictures
This one, for example. In regular life, he scales legal mountains and writes books
End Eminent Domain Abuse Through Cultural Pressure
Today marks the 9th anniversary of the Supreme Court's awful Kelo decision -- giving government officials the power to bulldoze a neighborhood for the benefit of a multibillion-dollar corporation.
In the words of dissenting Justice Sandra Day-O'Connor about the consequences of the Supreme Court's decision in Kelo:
The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.
My good friends, Ted Balaker and Courtney Balaker, are making a film in collaboration with the Institute for Justice about Suzette Kelo's struggle with New London, Connecticut, and ultimately, with the Supreme Court, to keep her pink house.
Here's their USA Today op-ed on Kelo and eminent domain abuse and how they think culture -- a movie about this -- can help bring this to the public's attention and possibly help stop eminent domain abuse:
The Constitution once limited how governments could use eminent domain, but post-Kelo, that's no longer the case. Officials routinely lock arms with corporations or billionaires to forcibly transfer property from one private owner to another, not for public use, but for private gain.The powerful bullying the powerless -- that's the opposite of inclusion. And how about diversity? Eminent domain abuse typically strikes poor and minority communities. Not at all compassionate, but it encapsulates the Barclays Center's dodgy backstory, in which officials flattened a neighborhood that was more diverse than powerful to erect a massive complex that has enriched developers and the NBA franchise that calls the facility home.
How to tame the ugly spirit of eminent domain abuse and cronyism? We suggest turning to a force mightier than politics: culture. We are producing a feature film based on Kelo's historic saga, and we hope to achieve some of the impact garnered by Erin Brockovich, another underdog film about a real-life working-class woman.
Erin Brockovich showed how culture can elevate otherwise obscure issues to drive reform. Cultural depictions played an important role in the recent shift in public support for same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization, and Kelo's courageous struggle could likewise help viewers understand the human cost of eminent domain abuse.
After all, her story already reads like a feature film. The recently divorced nurse was on her own for the first time in her life and fell in love with a rundown little house overlooking a river in New London, Conn., She fixed it up with her own hands and painted it pink. Little did she know that power brokers from city hall to the governor's mansion were bent on seizing her little pink house and the homes of her neighbors so that Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company, could enhance its corporate facilities. City officials promised more tax revenue and Pfizer executives looked forward to high-end housing and other perks. (Pfizer had high hopes for a soon-to-be-released drug called Viagra.)
Nine years after being taken from her, the land where Kelo and her neighbors once lived remains a barren lot, home to migratory birds and feral cats. So much for tax revenue.
People outside civil liberties circles tend not to be acquainted with the Kelo decision, but this -- eminent domain abuse -- is yet another way our civil liberties are eroded. Having private property be safe from some public official with favors to dispense is a fundamental right in a free society.
For more information on Courtney and Ted's film, here's their Facebook page (why not toss them a "like"), and here's their website, if you'd be interested in investing in their film (which already has a substantial amount of its funding).
It's None Of The Government's Business Who Wears Eyeliner In Their Driver's License Photo
The South Carolina DMV told a teenage boy who wears makeup that he had to remove it for a driver's license photo.
Unless he has so much on that it obscures his identity, they have no business saying that.
(And I'm guessing they aren't telling girls with pounds of makeup on to go home and wash their face.)
From CNN Wire:
Sixteen-year-old Chase Culpepper went to take his driver's test in Anderson in March.Chase considers himself "gender non-conforming," he told CNN affiliate WYFF. He regularly wears makeup and girl's clothes.
After passing his driver's test, Chase went to take his photo for his license. But an employee at the office asked him to remove his makeup.
The employee told Chase he couldn't wear "a disguise" and didn't look "like a boy should," the teen told the affiliate.
CNN reached out to the state DMV and was told it had a policy specifying the requirements for the photograph.
"At no time will an applicant be photographed when it appears that he or she is purposely altering his or her appearance so that the photo would misrepresent his or her identity," the policy says.
Here's the shot. His identity look "obscured" to you? 
Earn It!
Pop star Sting says his kids won't be getting much of his estimated $306 million fortune.
From Page Six of the NYPost:
LONDON -- Pop icon Sting says his children won't be getting trust funds from his vast fortune, assuming there's any money left in it.The 16-time Grammy Award winner and former frontman of The Police, told The Mail on Sunday that the vast wealth would be "albatrosses" around the necks of his six children.
..."People make assumptions, that they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but they have not been given a lot," he was quoted as saying.
I do think it might be wise, if parents have the money, to give kids a sum to spend to get good at what they do -- maybe for a year or so.
Some kids may piss away that money -- but some kids, like me, would have used it to work and grow and not just in between jobs I needed to pay the rent.
The Linky Way
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, um...something or other...
Advice Goddess Radio, LIVE, Tonight, 7-8pm PT: Dr. Mark Goulston On How Real Influence Takes Persuading By Connecting, Not Pushing
Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life!" with the best brains in science.
We tend to believe that we just have to reason others into doing what we want -- or even doing what we see is best for them.
The reality is, we influence people by connecting with them and feeling where they're coming from, not trying to push them into doing things our way, notes psychiatrist, business coach, and hostage negotiator trainer Dr. Mark Goulston.
Even if the shoving approach might sometimes lead to short-term change, it tends to breeds lasting resentment, not successful business and other relationships.
On tonight's show, Goulston will lay out the fine points of the connected influence that moves people to go along with our goals and how to avoid the disconnected style that moves people away from us and leads to resentment and other bad feelings and outcomes.
Goulston's book, co-authored with executive coach John Ullmen, that we'll be discussing on this show is "Real Influence: Persuade Without Pushing and Gain Without Giving In."
Listen at this link from 7-8 pm Pacific, 10-11 pm Eastern, or download the podcast afterward:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2014/06/23/dr-mark-goulston-real-influence-takes-persuading-by-connecting-not-pushing
Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
My show's sponsor is now Audible.com. Get a free audiobook download and support this show financially at no cost to you by signing up for a free 30-day trial at audibletrial.com/amya (It's $14.95 after 30 days, but you can cancel before then and have it cost you nothing.)
Please consider ordering my new book, the science-based and funny "Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," (only $9.48 at Amazon!). Orders of the book help support my writing and this radio show!
The Penis Is Not A Philanthropic Organization
These are a few of my Pins of quotes from my new book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck."
These three are all from the Dating chapter, which gets into how a good deal of what we see as the "rudeness" of the opposite sex has to do with our ignoring or not accepting that we have different biology, psychology, and differing sexual strategies coming out of those differences. 
And on the other side of these differing sexual strategies: 
I also particularly liked this fun quote from my friend Walter Moore that pretty much lays out the problematic expectations from each end:
UK Health Group Calls For A Sugar Tax To Cut Childhood Obesity
From the BBC:
A "sugar tax" should be introduced by the UK government to help curb obesity in childhood, a campaign group says.Action on Sugar has produced a seven-point plan to discourage children from consuming foods and soft drinks with high levels of added sugar.
How wonderful that the children do the grocery shopping for their parents in the UK.
Neighborliness Outlawed In Leawood, MO
I write about one of the wonderful Little Free Libraries near me in "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" -- a little hutch, just bigger than a mailbox, that people put up so people around them can exchange books for free.
Well, in Leawood, Missouri, a man was told that he could face a ticket from the city if he doesn't remove the LFL, because it's a structure detached from his house. (Birdhouses must be faring poorly there as well, notes a commenter below the story in the PVPost.) Jay Senter reports for the PVPost:
Brian Collins, who lives near the intersection of 89th Street and Ensley Lane, installed a Little Free Library his father-in-law had given his wife for her birthday around three weeks ago. Collins went out of town for a few days last week, and when he arrived home, he found a letter from the city's codes enforcement officer informing him that the Little Free Library was not permitted under city code because it was a "detached structure" and that he had until June 19 to come into compliance."Your take a book leave a book structure must be attached to the house," the letter read.
...That response irked Collins, who pointed out that the whole point of the Little Free Libraries was that they were right in their neighborhoods and easily accessible from the street.
There was also the nitwittery of suggesting that the LFL be attached to a big library -- an actual library.
This is kind of like locating a refrigerator inside another refrigerator.
Government officials so often seem to have this special kind of genius.
Minx.
As in, "Oh, you little..."
New York Times Style Section Piece On Me And "Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck"
I lucked out. A funny, wonderful, and talented reporter, Brooks Barnes, did a piece on me for The New York Times Style section, and they sent a terrific photographer, Emily Berl, who took the shot of me marching across Main Street in Santa Monica.
One of my favorite parts was the very end -- but I don't want to give it away. Read the whole thing here.
It posted Friday night and will be in the Sunday Style section in the print version of the paper.
And if you haven't bought a copy of my book, please consider doing that. The book is discounted from the $14.99 retail price to only $9.48 at Amazon and $9.67 at Barnes & Noble.
Spawn On A Plane
From my new book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" (in which I also offer behavioral science-based solutions to the miseries caused by the entitled and inconsiderate):
Here's another from the Airplanes section:
Because I'm Mature Like That
I like this as an ad for Viagra: 
Lampy
Linkies with individual reading lights.
The Science Of Hangovers
Yes, only the most solemn scientific subjects are covered here at advicegoddess.com.
For the record, Naproxen, which works for me for migraines, works if I'm feeling a bit, oh, "My asshole friends serve cheap wine."
Your cure, if any?
If You Want Cookies With A Little Extra Punch, Why Should That Be The Government's Business?
We so often just accept that the government gets to seize drugs and cage people for selling them and we act as if the government has a right to tell people what substances they can and can't put in their bodies.
These practices are antithetical to a free society. On a related note, I haven't read Matt Kibbe's book, Don't Hurt People and Don't Take Their Stuff: A Libertarian Manifesto
Back to the topic of this post, in a recent news story, these particular cookies had cocaine baked into them, and the U.S. Customs and and Border Protection agency is crowing about seizing them at Newark Airport.
From NBCLosAngeles the cookies were said to have a "street value of more than $50,000" because there were 118 pellets of cocaine baked into them:
A spokesman for the agency said Thursday that customs officers made the discovery June 5 during an examination of luggage from passengers arriving on a flight from Guatemala City.Customs officials said Guatemalan citizen Mauricio Isidro Rivera Hernandez was arrested after officers allegedly discovered the cookies in his three checked bags.
He was handed over to the police department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and faces state charges of narcotics smuggling.
Introverts On A Plane
From my new book I hope you'll consider buying, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck."
Many introverts don't see what's so bad about snakes. (Snakes so rarely try to strike up a conversation.)
CNET's Headline -- "Yahoo Workforce At A glance: Mostly Male, Mostly White"
It's acceptable to say -- or say in a manner of speaking, "Too many white people...eekers!"
But if your goal actually is making the workforce to match the population better, the headline should actually read something that won't fly quite as well with the PC -- something like: "Let's Fire Some Asians."
Via Manny Klausner, Sonny Bunch explains the distortion in that headline (and outlook) at the Washington Free Beacon:
Yahoo's workforce is half-white. That's not "mostly," unless you take "mostly" to mean "the highest single percentage."* But that's a semantic point: the headline/lede are misleading because they want you to think that Yahoo has an abnormally or disproportionately high number of white employees. This is--and I can't stress this enough--total poppycock. Indeed, if we look at the population as a whole, whites are actually underrepresented at Yahoo. Massively so. Non-hispanic whites make up 63 percent of the American population, well more than the 50 percent at Yahoo. Asians, meanwhile, make up about five percent of the general population but 39 percent of Yahoo's workforce. If my point sounds familiar, it's because I made a very similar one a couple of weeks ago after Google was excoriated by Valleywag** for being "mostly white"--and just two percent black--while completely ignoring the fact that the racial "imbalance" had absolutely nothing to do with whites being overrepresented at the company.So why does the "mostly white" meme persist about tech companies? I think it's because those who are obsessed with diversity for diversity's sake have a hard time reconciling one very inconvenient truth: If you want to equalize the races--be your concern tech companies or colleges, the two places this argument seems to pop up more than anywhere else***--you must do so at the expense of Asian Americans. Rather than saying "Ugh, these institutions are disproportionately Asian," the diversity set says "Wow, these places are mostly white!" While accurate(ish), this kind of dodges the question, doesn't it? Because it's not so much the proportion of white folks as the proportion of black and hispanic folks that concerns them. It's no fun for the diversifier to say "Geez, we need fewer Asians at these institutions to make way for blacks and hispanics." Forcing them to acknowledge the costs--more blacks and hispanics means fewer Asians, if proportion is all that matters--creates a serious mental tension. That mental tension leads to a mental block. And that mental block leads to the brain spitting out the following formulation: "These companies are mostly white!"
Cognitive dissonance. It's a hell of a drug.
Bunch also notes -- as I've observed before to friends:
***Oddly, we don't have this conversation about NBA franchises very frequently.
Right...where are the 5'2" Jewish and Latino women playing for the Lakers?
Islam *Is* Being Reformed
Raymond Ibrahim writes at PJMedia:
Synonyms of "reform" include "make better," "ameliorate," and "improve" -- splendid words all, yet words all subjective and loaded with Western references.Muslim notions of "improving" society may include purging it of "infidels" and their corrupt ways; or segregating men and women, keeping the latter under wraps or quarantined at home; or executing apostates, who are seen as traitorous agitators.
Banning many forms of freedoms taken for granted in the West -- from alcohol consumption to religious and gender equality -- can be deemed an "improvement" and a "betterment" of society.
Clunky
Linky in platform shoes.
Tigger Warning
Heh.
Tough Talk On Borders. And It Isn't From Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
So notes Debra J. Saunders in her column about a Hillary Clinton town hall/book promo event. In Clinton's words:
"We have to send a clear message. Just because your child gets across the border, doesn't mean the child gets to stay. We don't want to send a message that is contrary to our laws or will encourage more children to make that dangerous journey."...After an audience member lambasted President Obama as the nation's "deporter-in-chief," Amanpour asked the former secretary of state what she would do about the thousands of children who have been crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Some 90,000 unaccompanied minors are expected to be apprehended this year. "Should they be sent back?" Amanpour asked.
Before Clinton said flatly, "They should be sent back" she talked up comprehensive immigration reform. Good Democrat. Also, she asserted that violence in Central America has driven desperate youths and mothers to seek refuge.
In citing Central American chaos, Clinton essentially was rejecting conservatives' contention that like a Pied Piper, Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program - which freezes deportations for some immigrants who came to America illegally as children - has lured children from south of the border into the U.S.
Obama immigration critic Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies agrees that violence in Central America is a driver. But, he added, "If we enforce our laws, it has a deterrent effect. When you combine the disorder and poverty push factors in Central America, and the fact that we're giving them a pass, then you end up with this cascading crisis at the border."
Have A Nice Fight -- Uh, Flight!
Another fine quote "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck":
A question for all of you: Should airplane seats be fixed so they can no longer recline?
Imagine If You Were Called For An IRS Audit And You Only Brought Pictures Of Your Dog
As in, "Audit this, IRS!"
The IRS had basically decided to only bring dog pix in the way they were picking and choosing emails of Lois Lerner to show Congress. The WSJ has an editorial about this, rightly calling it the "IRS Contempt of Congress":
The IRS is now telling Congress that it has lost the emails of no fewer than seven IRS employees central to the targeting of conservative nonprofits, though that's only half the outrage. There's also the IRS's quiet admission that it has spent most of the past year willfully defying Congress.After informing Congress on Friday that it can't find two years of email from former Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner, House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp revealed Tuesday that the IRS can't produce records for six more employees whose hard drives also supposedly failed. These six happen to have been central to the IRS crackdown on conservative groups, and the lost emails were sent when the targeting took place, including in 2010 and 2011. The six include Nicole Flax, former chief of staff to former IRS Commissioner Steven Miller.
There's an equally disturbing IRS confession contained in its Friday letter to Congress. Some history: House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa as early as June 4, 2013 asked the IRS to provide "all documents and communications sent by, received by, or copied to Lois Lerner" between Jan. 1, 2009 and the present." Note the "all."
...The IRS has from the start been picking and choosing which of Ms. Lerner's emails it deigned to show Congress. And it did so despite knowing that Congress wanted everything.
This IRS filter has delayed the investigation and denied Congress access to important information. Congressional investigators learned only last week that Ms. Lerner corresponded with the Justice Department about potentially prosecuting conservative nonprofits. Congress had to subpoena Justice to obtain that Lerner correspondence. Only after Congress demanded the IRS explain why it hadn't provided this Lerner-Justice correspondence did the IRS suddenly confess in its Friday letter that it had been picking and choosing emails.
And now we get the disappearance of seven hard drives. Ms. Lerner's hard drive, by the way, appears to have "crashed" in June 2011, not long after Mr. Camp first asked the IRS if there was any political targeting going on. She denied it. Mr. Koskinen is due to testify before Congress on Friday, and he's got a lot to answer for.
The arrogance and contempt for Congress and the public in this -- blogged by The Blaze's Jason Howerton -- is stunning:
The emails sent by ex-IRS official Lois Lerner that may have provided crucial details about the tax agency's targeting of conservative groups could be lost forever after her "crashed" hard drive was "recycled," several sources told Politico on Wednesday.Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told the publication that lawmakers were "informed that the hard drive has been thrown away." Other anonymous sources also reportedly confirmed the development.
You're forced to keep your receipts for how long, in case some IRS snoop wants to go through them and fine you or maybe even send you to jail?
Why Innovation Is Missing From Healthcare And How To Change That
An economist I respect, Veronique de Rugy, wrote a little while ago at the Wash Ex:
Imagine a world where everyone, not just the mega-rich, has access to modern, affordable, high-quality care. In this world, doctors don't need to beg bureaucrats and insurance administrators for permission to save lives. Entrepreneurs here actively compete to lower prices and innovate novel solutions. Imagine, in other words, a world in which our health care system is dragged out of the Stone Age and into a modern, competitive market economy....Robert Graboyes, our resident health care expert, believes that the health care debate produced the wrong diagnosis. While most health commentators focus on the demand side and service provision, Graboyes says the real sickness lies in the outcomes of those services. He asks, "Why is there no Steve Jobs of health care?"
That's a good question. Where are the visionaries of vaccination innovations, the capitalists of cost-cutting care provision, the impresarios of imaging technology?
Grayboyes notes that recent advances in "[g]enomics, 3-D printing, nanobots, wearable sensors, social media, telecommunications, imaging, artificial intelligence, state-of-the-art data mining and other new technologies" have not been substantially integrated into health care provision despite their obvious benefits. These kinds of cutting-edge applications are not only possible, they are necessary to break (not just cut!) the health cost curve.
Over the years, Graboyes has collected many exciting examples of innovations that have been quietly occurring under the radar across the health care world. The solutions that will fundamentally improve health care provision come not from legacy corporate mega-labs, but from those great incubators of American innovation: people's garages.
De Rugy goes on to say:
Graboyes coins an apt metaphor to explain the problem: the frontier of innovation is being quashed by the fortress of entrenched interests.The frontier's innovation in healthcare is the solution, but the fortress will not give up its control without a fight.
Here's where my second colleague, Adam Thierer comes in. His excellent new book, Permissionless Innovation, makes a passionate case for knocking down these barriers to innovation erected by governments and special interest groups. Thierer argues that the creators of new technology shouldn't have to seek the blessings of skeptical, out-of-touch regulators before being allowed to develop and deploy innovations.
Compare this permissionless innovation to the stifling "precautionary principle" norm favored by public officials. This principle allows regulators' imaginations to run away with them: Any perceived threat of a low-probability, worst-case scenario is a good enough excuse for these officials to stifle technological developments. The Frontier is strangled so the Fortress can keep its power for another day.
An example of this "precautionary principle" is genomics testing company 23andme, recently shut down by the FDA.
Minkie
Furry little links with sharp teeth.
Airplane Manners: Let's Be Realistic About The Limitations Of The Cleaning Crew
From my new book, which I hope you'll buy, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck."
The seat back pocket is not a place to leave little gifts for the next passenger who has your seat.
Also, while we're at it, here's another from the book, from my Pinterest page: 
Lettuce Entertain You
A friend took me to dinner the other night and took a photo.
Hat by the very talented Amy Downs, made in the mid-90s.
Clintons: Taxes Are For Other People
Coming off Hillary's "poor we" whining about how broke they were coming out of the presidency (hardly able to afford gold leaf flakes for their breakfast cereal in one of the breakfast rooms of one of their mansions), there's a report in the NY Post about the Clintons using a loophole to avoid the estate tax they helped create. Leonard Greene writes:
"The estate tax has been historically part of our very fundamental belief that we should have a meritocracy," Hillary Clinton said at a December 2007 appearance with billionaire investor Warren Buffett.But according to Bloomberg News, the Clintons have employed a variety of financial strategies designed to help shield multimillionaires from the estate tax, a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property.
The tax can top out at 40 percent of assets.
Bill and Hillary Clinton have long supported an estate tax to prevent the US from being dominated by inherited wealth.
As long as the tax is for other people, it appears.
According to federal financial disclosures and local property records, the Clintons created residence trusts in 2010 and shifted ownership of their Westchester house into them in 2011, a strategy popular among the nation's 1 percent.
The move could save the Clintons hundreds of thousands of dollars in estate taxes, financial experts say.
If You Were Born Before Or Around 1970
You should be dead and your parents should have been brought up on charges.
via @iowahawkblog
Hey, Europe: Quit Being Such A Mooch
Shouldn't Europe pay more for its own defense? So asks an LA Times op-ed by Graham Allison.
To this day, Americans risk their lives to protect the security of citizens in Europe.This defense is not cheap, and it is not balanced. Americans spend about $2,300 per head on defense, including the defense of Europe. Europeans spend $550 per head on their own defense.
On paper, this adds up to $275 billion in total European defense spending and 1.5 million active duty European troops. This is almost twice the number of active-duty troops as Russia has and three times its budget. But the gap in what defense experts call "tooth to tail" -- the amount devoted to overhead and support for each combat soldier -- is evident in the test that was posed by Russian troops on the border of Ukraine. What did European NATO members do? What they have always done: Call USA-911. Truth be told, European military forces today sometimes seem like expensive dentures.
Asking America to provide a security blanket has an understandable appeal. But for war-weary Americans determined to reduce unsustainable deficits by cutting federal expenditures, including defense, the current arrangement appears increasingly anachronistic.
As the Ukraine crisis reminded Europe's leaders about threats on their continent, it is past time for Europeans to ask less what America can do for them, and more what they can do for European security.
Slumpy
Slouchy links.
Writerly Self-Indulgence Applied To Other Professions
Imagine if you were an accountant and you called your boss and said, "I'm just not feelin' it today."
Detained For Refusing Optional Eye-Follow Test At DUI Checkpoint
The Austrian Insider, who posted this, said the "pen test" -- where you follow a pen with your eyes -- is optional, and according to what I read on numerous DUI lawyer websites, he's correct.
I know the breathalyzer test (in California) is mandatory. But that's not what he was asked to take.
I emailed The Austrian Insider, whose name is Sean Aranda -- thanking him and saying something I wish more people would consider (that last bit):
Thanks so much -- and for standing up to the guy. Every time people knuckle under and give up their civil liberties it makes them that much easier to yank them away from all of us.
I also asked him to write about the "optional" thing, so I could post it with the video. He emailed me back:
I wrote an email to citizensreviewboard@sandiego.gov stating my complaint about wrongful detainment.Everywhere I am being told that they do not have the right to detain you without suspicion of drinking, and refusing their test is not suspicion. I have read everywhere that those pen tests can be refused. The officer was very rude to me the entire time, making a point to tell me over and over how I am the one uncooperative person of the night. He didn't believe I wasn't on probation, asking me multiple times and rolling his eyes. Only after my license came back clean and I blew a .000BAC did he become nice and try to shake my hand.
I made it a point multiple times during my off camera encounter to ask him if the pen test was optional, he said "yes" every time, and each time I would say "how is it is optional if I ended up here?" to which he never respond.
What I'd like to see is more people following his lead (and, I guess, mine with the TSA) -- standing up against civil liberties violations and intimidation by government employees in positions of power.
Employers Are Posting Jobs But They're Reticent To Settle On A Candidate
Catherine Rampell writes in the WaPo that it now takes 24 working days for the average job opening to be filled -- as opposed to five years ago, when the recovery began and the average opening took about 16 days to fill.
My bet is that lingering uncertainty is the real explanation."If uncertainty is noise in a vibrant economy, it's deafening in a subpar growth economy," says Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial.
Some of this uncertainty is related to paused policy measures and political gridlock; we still don't know what the housing finance system will look like, for example, and whether we're soon due for a tax overhaul, or immigration reform, or the employer health insurance mandate.
But the bigger problem is uncertainty about the underlying health of the worldwide economy. Economic growth in the United States has been inconsistent, to say the least; the U.S. economy actually shrank in the first quarter of this year. Geopolitical risks in places such as Russia and Iraq are probably also worrying employers, especially the mega-companies that have been slowest to extend job offers.
Given the risks out there, companies might as well wait to fill an opening until they're absolutely certain they need someone, or until they find that "purple squirrel" of an impossibly qualified candidate willing to work for impossibly little money. In the meantime, bosses can just dump more work on their staff, since even the most beleaguered workers are still too afraid to quit. It's a vicious cycle: As long as employers hesitate to fill openings, workers have nowhere else to land; and as long as workers have nowhere else to land, employers can let openings sit fallow.
Could we please just have one libertarian presidential candidate who makes it into office? Before the country goes entirely to pot, before we all end up spied on and in jail and/or broke?
Limpie
Linkie with a sprained ankle.
Get Dressed
New markdowns on Spring clothing for men, women, and bébé at Amazon.
Search Amy's Amazon here.
Laws Should Come With Expiration Dates
This would help get rid of laws passed by vote-panderers appealing to the hysteria of the moment -- especially those with unintended consequences, as so many seem to have.
For example, do we really want to brand as sex offenders -- and treat as the same as kiddie diddlers -- teens who, at 17, have sex with their 16-year-old girlfriend? Do we really need to keep a watch on them and, say, restrict them from dropping off their kids at elementary school?
This idea comes from a piece by Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe:
THE GREAT state of Minnesota, you'll be glad to learn, is no longer interested in the size and color of your bug deflector. The legislature in St. Paul recently scrapped the 1953 law regulating that automotive accessory, one of almost 1,200 antiquated or bizarre laws that Governor Mark Dayton recommended repealing as part of a major legislative "unsession." Among other changes: Minnesotans have been liberated from the ban on possessing more than two hen pheasants, the penalty for distributing berries in the wrong-sized container is history, and it is now legal to coast with your car's gears in neutral."We got rid of all the silly laws," one state official told the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. That was probably overstating things, given the more than 46,000 laws that Minnesota lawmakers have enacted over the years. Still, the pruning of 1,200 pieces of deadwood is no small achievement.
It's also a reminder of why nearly all laws and regulations should come with expiration dates.
Politicians are always under pressure to respond to the crisis or controversy of the moment -- by passing a statute, imposing a mandate, authorizing a subsidy, setting up an agency. When the issue fades, the laws and regulations remain, long after public attention has moved on.
...In the real world, things don't last forever. The carton of milk in your refrigerator has an expiration date. So does the credit card in your wallet. Cars need periodic tune-ups. Medical prescriptions have to be reauthorized.
Government should operate on the same assumption. Every law should expire automatically after a fixed period of time -- say, 12 or 15 years -- unless lawmakers expressly vote to reauthorize it. Likewise every legislatively created agency and program. Members of Congress and state legislatures should be required to revisit their handiwork on a regular basis, reviewing it for relevance, efficacy, and soundness, and allowing measures that have outlived their usefulness to lapse.
Share An Embarrassing Moment
There's a point to this. It takes admitting you're human and therefore fallible to admit and be open about all the ridiculous things about yourself. I admit them all the time (and admit countless failings on my part in my book), but I have to apologize that this one isn't particularly awful; it just happens to be current.
Apparently, according to Gregg, not only do I baby-talk to my dog, but I do it in a bad Irish accent.
Seeing mistakes as part of life and even stuff to laugh at helps me risk failing instead of hiding under the bed.
Come up with some of your embarrassments and I'll probably think of better ones of my own.
FDA's Artisanal Cheese Crackdown: They Actually Haven't Backed Down
Lawyer Baylen Linnekin, executive director of Keep Food Legal, writes at reason that the FDA is not letting the cheese makers be:
The FDA's statement goes on to claim adamantly and definitively that agency bureaucrats "have not and are not prohibiting or banning the long-standing practice of using wood shelving in artisanal cheese."It notes that a letter the FDA sent to the New York State Department of Agriculture earlier this year was to blame. "[The] language used in this communication may have appeared more definitive than it should have, in light of the agency's actual practices on this issue," said the statement.
So all of this public concern about a potential ban on artisanal cheesemaking is really just much ado about nothing? The FDA backed down, right?
No, and no.
The agency's statement also says that the FDA "will engage with the artisanal cheesemaking community" based on FDA's historic concerns "about whether wood meets [agency food safety] requirement[s.]" It will also "invite stakeholders to share any data or evidence they have gathered related to safety and the use of wood surfaces."
Parsing this language is almost unnecessary. The FDA still wants to ban the use of wooden crates in cheesemaking.
When the FDA "invites stakeholders" to "engage" with its bureaucrats, only bad things happen. When those stakeholders lack a powerful lobby in Washington, D.C., it's time to expect the worst.
The recent FDA chronology bears this out. Recall that the FDA invited the makers of Four Loko and other beers that contained added caffeine to talk with the agency. This period of engagement between Four Loko "stakeholders" and the FDA ended with the agency banning the product.
Yes, it's more of the unconstitutional fourth branch of government increasing its bloat. Linnekin continues:
The FDA is a powerful and power-mad agency that regulates 80 percent of the food supply (and growing). The food and beverages you eat and drink today are only legal because the agency hasn't yet figured out a way to ban them.You dine at the pleasure of the FDA. Enjoy it while it lasts.
More from Walter Olson here.
Elfie
Links the size of mini donuts.
Advice Goddess Radio: Tonight -- Dr. Jonathan Rottenberg On Depression
Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life! (with the best brains in science)."
Back next week with a live show, but for tonight, I have a replay of a very important show -- Dr. Jonathan Rottenberg on depression, in which he busts a lot of the myths about depression and cures.
Listen at the link at 7-8pm Pacific Time or 10-11pm Eastern. More about him and his book at the link below.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2014/06/16/dr-jonathan-rottenberg-on-depression-an-evolutionary-understanding
Cell Phone Rudeness: "Privatizing Public Space As One's Own"
That's how I describe it in The Telephone chapter of my new book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck."
I also offer solutions -- those most likely to get a person to pipe down or turn off the sound on their phone. (In other words, they take into account the realities of human behavior.)
The Fake-Life World Of Radical Feminism On Male Pursuit
Kate McDononough at Salon serves up a rude "feminist phone intervention" for guys who ask for a woman's number and "won't take no for an answer."
I'm 50 years old and have not taken away movie roles away from Angelina Jolie but I'm not the Thing That Lives Under The Bridge, either.
In all my years on the planet, I have never, ever had a guy "not take no for an answer" when I expressed a lack of interest.
Yet, there's such a feminist fantasy that this goes on with frequency that there's -- yes -- now "an app for that."
This "feminist phone intervention" is kind of perfect. If you're at a bar, in the super market, walking down the street or anywhere, really (street harassment and unwanted sexual advances are not location specific) and someone asks for your number and won't take no for an answer, you can now give that person feminist icon bell hooks' number. Well, not exactly bell hooks' number, but a generic number that will serve up an automated quote from the writer and activist through text or voicemail.
Look at McDonough's posted text message, supposedly from a guy who met her at Chipotle. Who wants to bet it's from some mustachioed feminist co-conspirator friend of hers? 
What's this really about? My guess: Empowering women -- for male-bashing.
Like Pixar -- Create An Environment For Genius
It's actually collective genius that makes films like the ones Pixar does. ("Toy Story" is an example from 1995.) At Harvard Biz Review, Linda Hill, Greg Brandeau, Emily Truelove and Kent Lineback explain. A quote from Pixar's co-founder Ed Catmull:
For 20 years, I pursued a dream of making the first computer-animated film. To be honest, after that goal was realized - when we finished Toy Story - I was a bit lost. But then I realized the most exciting thing I had ever done was to help create the unique environment that allowed that film to be made. My new goal became...to build a studio that had the depth, robustness, and will to keep searching for the hard truths that preserve the confluence of forces necessary to create magic.
The authors explain:
What happens when an organization innovates? What does that process look like?It's an important question if you want more innovation, because the answer will shape what you do as a leader. If you think, as many do, that innovation comes from hiring a few "creative" people and implementing their best ideas, then you might assume your job is to find those people, sequester them in R&D or Product Development, review the solutions they propose, and adopt the winners.
...Talent matters, obviously, but any organization that wants to innovate again and again must do more than hire a few "creative" individuals. Even with the right people, there's still the huge problem of getting them to work together productively.
What does this say about the task of leaders who want more innovation? It says, above all, that no leader can make innovation happen, just as no director can conceive and create all the pieces that make a great CG film. Instead, leaders must create an environment that draws out the slice of genius in each individual and then melds those many slices into a single work of innovation - a new product, a new process, a new strategy, a new film - that is collective genius. This almost magical transformation is what truly innovative organizations are able to do well, over and over.
Charles Duhigg On Alcoholics Anonymous
He says at NPR:
"When [Alcoholics Anonymous] started, there was no scientific basis to it whatsoever. In fact, there's no scientific basis to AA. The 12 steps that are kind of famous? The reason why there's 12 of them is because the guy who came up with them -- who wrote them one night while he was sitting on his bed -- he chose them because there's 12 apostles. There's no real logic to how AA was designed. But the reason why AA works is because it essentially is this big machine for changing the habits around alcohol consumption and giving people a new routine, rather than going to a bar or drink. ... It doesn't seem to work if people do it on their own. ... At some point, if you're changing a really deep-seated behavior, you're going to have a moment of weakness. And at that moment, if you can look across a room and think, 'Jim's kind of a moron. I think I'm smarter than Jim. But Jim has been sober for three years. And if Jim can do it, I can definitely do it,' that's enormously powerful."
The Waiter
Funny.
Draw nky
Find the missing "li."
Airplane Manners: Swapping Your Middle Seat
From my new book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck":
Sure, if somebody offers to change seats so you can sit with your spouse or partner, that's very nice of them and I'm all for doing kindnesses for strangers (see the last chapter, "Trickle-Down Humanity," especially).
But I also advise readers to consider the introverts -- those who really dread any interaction with another human being -- and the imposition even of causing somebody to have to say no and perhaps feel like the bad guy.
More Pinned quotes from the book are here, and I'm continuing to post them.
Good Review For My Book, "Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," In The Wall Street Journal!
Thank you, Moira Hodgson! She writes:
It may not be good manners to say such a thing, especially in this newspaper, but the title of this book s*cks. Once I started reading, though, I was drawn in. I couldn't help agreeing with much of what Amy Alkon has to say about etiquette today, even though I'm of the generation of people over 40 who, she notes ruefully, wince when someone says "no problem." I have a problem with "no problem" and also with "Have a great day!" and "Enjoy!"...Now, it seems, people consider the spontaneous phone call rude. Ms. Alkon labels it promiscuous phoning--ringing someone because the urge to know right now happens to strike you. Instead, she says, "you can text, tweet, e-mail or Facebook FB +0.33% -message." No problem--if you belong to the generation that knew how to work the remote before learning to walk.
Ms. Alkon writes that in our transient society we no longer have the constraints that existed when we lived in smaller groups and those who misbehaved were ostracized. Today you can be as rude as you like and get away with it because you'll probably never see your victims again. This observation won't come as a surprise if you've ever endured a train journey next to a person who yakked nonstop on a cellphone or had a concert or play interrupted by jangling mambo tones. When a woman next to me one night finally retrieved her cellphone, she shouted into it: "I told you not to call me when I was in the theater!"
But technology can also act as a weapon against rude behavior. "Webslapping is typically the best solution when someone is egregiously rude . . . ," Ms. Alkon writes; "there's a new sheriff out there, and it's the YouTube video gone viral."
Ms. Alkon delivers sound advice on navigating social-networking sites (she calls them "giant parasites targeting your personal information like tapeworms waiting for a move-in special on your large intestine."), on observing email etiquette and on texting at the dinner table: "If you're going to invite somebody to dinner and ignore them, at least have the decency to get married first and build up years of bitterness and resentment."
P.S. I actually don't blame technology for rudeness in the book; it's the people using it who are to blame. But she gets all the rest right!
They Should Name It "Epidemic Jenny" After Jenny McCarthy
I'm talking about the whooping cough epidemic in California and suggesting they name it like they name hurricanes.
Jen Christenson writes for CNN that there were 800 new cases reported in the past two weeks alone:
The [CA public health dept] says that there were 3,458 whooping cough cases reported between January 1 and June 10, well ahead of the number of cases reported for all of 2013.This is a problem of "epidemic proportions," the department said. And the number of actual cases may be even higher, because past studies have shown that for every case of whooping cough that is reported, there are 10 more that are not officially counted.
Whooping cough, known to doctors as pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory infection that is caused by a bacterium known as Bordetella pertussis.
The popular name for the disease comes from the whooping sound an infected person makes when gasping for breath after a coughing fit.
The bacteria spreads through coughing and sneezing. One person can infect up to 15 people nearby, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Typically symptoms appear an average of seven to 10 days after exposure.
Infants and young children are more vulnerable to the disease than other age groups. It can be particularly dangerous for babies. About half of the infants who get whooping cough end up in a hospital. Some cases are fatal.
That's why the public health department in California is strongly urging people to make sure their vaccinations are up to date, especially if they're pregnant. State health officials are working closely with schools and local health departments to spread the word.
Falsifiability: Look For The Flies In Your Ointment
Wendy McElroy has a good column at The Daily Bell on "falsifiability" (or "falsification"), the possibility that some claim or idea could be proved false. An excerpt:
"Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk." - Henry David ThoreauEvidence that something is wrong with a theory is rarely as obvious as a trout in the milk. This is particularly true when a belief is deeply-held or invested with emotion.
One of the most powerful intellectual tools to test your own beliefs is a modified form of "falsification" (or refutation), a concept popularized by the philosopher Karl Popper. He argued that the process of trying to prove a scientific hypothesis through amassing evidence in support was the reverse of what should occur. A scientist should attempt to disprove his hypothesis by finding contradictory evidence.
His reason was simple but compelling. Popper agreed with Albert Einstein who once stated, "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong." Popper used the now-classic example of the general statement, "all swans are white." No matter how many white swans are counted, the statement cannot be proven. But one black swan disproves it.
Her concluding caveat:
Falsification has limitations and it is generally unpopular with contemporary philosophers who point to such flaws as the theory itself being unfalsifiable. Moreover, not all beliefs need to be based on evidence. Many personal beliefs are just that - personal; many religious beliefs fall into this category. But if you want to argue that a position is objectively true, then falsifiability is a quick and effective technique by which to test your beliefs, to get insight into how firmly you hold them ... and why.
Slinky
Links in a wiggle skirt.
11 Essential Etiquette Tips For 20-Somethings
My piece on this -- with tips largely from my book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," but also a few originals, is up at the HuffPo. Kindly share it on social media and all over the damn place -- if you are so inclined!
A few excerpts:
Think twice about throwing a birthday party in a pricey restaurant -- or any restaurant.
Unless all your friends are hedge-fund kazillionaires who shred dollar bills to line the hamster cage or you are picking up the entire dinner and drinks tab, consider having birthday cake and cocktails at your place or another friend's. At the very least, celebrate with birthday drinks in a bar -- one where those short on finances can order a single glass of house wine and get a separate check without a glare from the bartender or waitress. Yes, your birthday comes but once a year, but the Visa bill comes monthly and includes interest, and your friends will be even gladder you were born if they don't celebrate your next birthday by finally paying off the bill from your previous one.At a business function, introduce yourself with your first and last name.
"Hi, I'm Amanda" sounds like it should be followed by "and I'll be your cocktail waitress." As a bonus, giving your whole name makes it far easier to find you and hire you or ask you on a date.Say "you're welcome" instead of "no problem" to anybody who looks old enough to have gray hair.
People born before 1960 tend to feel almost homicidal when someone responds to "thank you" with "no problem" instead of "you're welcome." Ridiculous, I know. Unless you say "no problem" in a surly tone, you're probably indicating a cheerful willingness to be of service. You may also feel "you're welcome" sounds a little stuffy. But if your tips depend on how well you're liked, it's probably wise to swap out "no problem" for the old standard that doesn't make the old people want to either dock your tip or grab the busboy's tray and clobber you.When dining with a group, the dinner check should not turn into a form of wealth redistribution.
If everyone's paying an equal share of the check, the person whose meal and drinks cost substantially more than somebody else's should take the lead and make things fair. If that's you, you might turn to the vegan next to you who had only the $12 tofu platter and a Coke and say, "You just put in $20, and I'll put in the other $70 of your share since I had that glass of port from a bottle wept on for three decades by a French monk."
Doggie Buttwash AKA Central Park Drinking Fountain
Story here, at Gothamist. I would have been far less mild-mannered than the video crewperson who confronted the woman using the drinking fountain as a doggie bidet, perhaps shouting, "Hey, everybody, line up to take a drink where this woman is power-washing her dog's anus!" 
(As I write in "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," I'm for bringing back shame. All for it.)
Al Qaeda Terrorists: We Like To Return Them, Much Like Bottles And Cans
...So they can pick up murdering and taking over territory, right where they left off.
The Right Scoop notes that the guy running the show in the jihadi takeover of Iraq was released by the US in 2009.
Colin Freeman writes at the Telegraph/UK of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's leading al-Qaeda-linked militants toward the Iraqi capital:
While he may lack the photogenic qualities of his hero, Osama bin Laden, he is fast becoming the new poster-boy for the global jihadist movement.Well-organised and utterly ruthless, the ex-preacher is the driving force behind al-Qaeda's resurgence throughout Syria and Iraq, putting it at the forefront of the war to topple President Bashar al-Assad and starting a fresh campaign of mayhem against the Western-backed government in Baghdad.
Jenny From The Blockage
Travel rudeness, airports. Another fine quote from Amy Alkon's "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" (St. Martin's Press, June 3, 2014), which I hope you'll buy.
My page of Pinterest quotes from the book is here -- and growing daily.
It's Probably Hard Work Being This Ridiculous
Lynn Stuart Parramore writes at Alternet about her concern-trolling of Trader Joe's...well, here's the headline:
Trader Joe's NYC Store Defends 'Racist, Sexist, and Misogynistic' Songs on PlaylistEven after Elliot Rodger's killing spree, Trader Joe's manager says the store will keep playing a famous song that demeans women.
An excerpt from the piece:
Last Friday evening, I was shopping for food at the packed Trader Joe's on Sixth Avenue in New York. I like shopping there. The prices are pretty good, the employees friendly, the store inviting.As I was standing in line, I heard the jaunty marimba of the Rolling Stones' 1966 smash hit, "Under My Thumb." We've all heard the song 1,000 times -- it's a very catchy tune, from a talented, superstar band. But it also features lyrics that are not exactly friendly toward women. As I listened, I thought about how the song plays in the wake of Elliot Rodger's killing spree, fueled, as the killer explained in a lengthy manifesto, by his rage against women and desire to control them.
We've been wringing our hands, asking how young men can become so hostile and eager to dominate to women. Well, isn't it because our culture feeds them the message at every turn, even in the most mundane settings? What does it mean that degradation of half the population is considered appropriate background noise to everyday life?
My problem is that I cannot make out the words of many pop songs. (And then there's that matter Gregg teases me about, about how I asked about Ginger Baker, "What's she doing now?")
She continues:
Last Friday evening, I was shopping for food at the packed Trader Joe's on Sixth Avenue in New York. I like shopping there. The prices are pretty good, the employees friendly, the store inviting.As I was standing in line, I heard the jaunty marimba of the Rolling Stones' 1966 smash hit, "Under My Thumb." We've all heard the song 1,000 times -- it's a very catchy tune, from a talented, superstar band. But it also features lyrics that are not exactly friendly toward women. As I listened, I thought about how the song plays in the wake of Elliot Rodger's killing spree, fueled, as the killer explained in a lengthy manifesto, by his rage against women and desire to control them.
We've been wringing our hands, asking how young men can become so hostile and eager to dominate to women. Well, isn't it because our culture feeds them the message at every turn, even in the most mundane settings? What does it mean that degradation of half the population is considered appropriate background noise to everyday life?
...Morrison told me he would write down the name of the two satellite companies that compile the music lists, Mood and Muzak (actually they are one company: Mood bought Muzak in 2011). "Maybe you could call them," he offered.
"But Trader Joe's is the company that makes the contracts. Doesn't Trader Joe's have any responsibility?"
"I'm sorry," Morrison said. "There's nothing I can do."
Yeah, me, too.
I like this commenter on Alternet:
DJ1706
Why not just pass a law that says nothing offensive to anyone may ever occur in public and be done with it?
This guy, too:
Eric__
Sweet bejeezus...this woman is likely to breed.
Licky
Links with tongue.
Be Less Naked For Less
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And don't forget, for only $9.48, buy your copy of "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck"!
Mahatma And Bothered
Another fine quote from my new book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck."
If You Weren't Nuts Before Going In There, You Will Be Afterward
I'm talking about the top photo in the Slate piece by Jordan G. Teicher with Mark Gerald's photos of psychoanalyst's offices.
"Rudenfreude"
A little term I came up with that you'll find in Chapter One of "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" (which I sincerely hope you'll buy!). 
In case you're not currently up to going after and punishing the rude, I offer plenty of encouragement in the book. And if you're still not up to it, there's at least the satisfaction of reading about the rudesters I and others make an example of. (Thanks, Steve Miller, of Florida, for letting me use "Dog Crap Booby Trap.")
More of my Pinterest posts of funny quotes to share from my book are here.
The Dangerous Rise Of A Fourth Branch Of Government: The Administrative State
The administrators are the ones -- at the FDA, in this case -- who tried to ban artisanal cheese-making on wooden boards, a practice that has failed to kill people for centuries. Don't want to eat cheese that doesn't have the crap cooked out of it? Don't eat it. No cheese maker is holding you at gun point and trying to force you to down a cracker with Mimolette on it.
Jonathan Turley writes about the cheese decision, from which the FDA recently backed off:
The whey hit the fan after the New York State Department of Agriculture asked the FDA for clarification as to whether wooden surfaces were acceptable for the aging of cheese. Metz then responded with the following:"The use of wooden shelves, rough or otherwise, for cheese ripening does not conform to cGMP requirements, which require that "all plant equipment and utensils shall be so designed and of such material and workmanship as to be adequately cleanable, and shall be properly maintained." 21 CFR 110.40(a). Wooden shelves or boards cannot be adequately cleaned and sanitized. The porous structure of wood enables it to absorb and retain bacteria, therefore bacteria generally colonize not only the surface but also the inside layers of wood. The shelves or boards used for aging make direct contact with finished products; hence they could be a potential source of pathogenic microorganisms in the finished products."That one line effectively ended centuries of cheese making without any vote of Congress or a hearing or a scientific study. One administrator appears to have rendered a decision that would decapitate an industry. I recently wrote about the rise of a "fourth branch" within our system and the dangers that it poses for a tripartite system. There has been a gravitational shift in our system toward this fourth branch which now has a surprisingly degree of executive, legislative, and judicial powers. This issue is also raised in the recess appointment context and the diminishing control of Congress over agency actions. I have previously testified and written about President Barack Obama's use of recess appointments, which I viewed as flagrantly unconstitutional. Recently, the D.C. Circuit agreed with that view and found that the Obama Administration had violated the recess appointment powers.
Turley continues in a column on the untoward rise of the administrative branch of government:
The rise of the fourth branch has been at the expense of Congress's lawmaking authority. In fact, the vast majority of "laws" governing the United States are not passed by Congress but are issued as regulations, crafted largely by thousands of unnamed, unreachable bureaucrats. One study found that in 2007, Congress enacted 138 public laws, while federal agencies finalized 2,926 rules, including 61 major regulations.This rulemaking comes with little accountability. It's often impossible to know, absent a major scandal, whom to blame for rules that are abusive or nonsensical. Of course, agencies owe their creation and underlying legal authority to Congress, and Congress holds the purse strings. But Capitol Hill's relatively small staff is incapable of exerting oversight on more than a small percentage of agency actions. And the threat of cutting funds is a blunt instrument to control a massive administrative state -- like running a locomotive with an on/off switch.
The autonomy was magnified when the Supreme Court ruled in 1984 that agencies are entitled to heavy deference in their interpretations of laws. The court went even further this past week, ruling that agencies should get the same heavy deference in determining their own jurisdictions -- a power that was previously believed to rest with Congress. In his dissent in Arlington v. FCC, Chief Justice John Roberts warned: "It would be a bit much to describe the result as 'the very definition of tyranny,' but the danger posed by the growing power of the administrative state cannot be dismissed."
The judiciary, too, has seen its authority diminished by the rise of the fourth branch. Under Article III of the Constitution, citizens facing charges and fines are entitled to due process in our court system. As the number of federal regulations increased, however, Congress decided to relieve the judiciary of most regulatory cases and create administrative courts tied to individual agencies. The result is that a citizen is 10 times more likely to be tried by an agency than by an actual court. In a given year, federal judges conduct roughly 95,000 adjudicatory proceedings, including trials, while federal agencies complete more than 939,000.
These agency proceedings are often mockeries of due process, with one-sided presumptions and procedural rules favoring the agency. And agencies increasingly seem to chafe at being denied their judicial authority. Just ask John E. Brennan. Brennan, a 50-year-old technology consultant, was charged with disorderly conduct and indecent exposure when he stripped at Portland International Airport last year in protest of invasive security measures by the Transportation Security Administration. He was cleared by a trial judge, who ruled that his stripping was a form of free speech. The TSA was undeterred. After the ruling, it pulled Brennan into its own agency courts under administrative charges.
Turley is exactly right in his ending to his piece:
In the new regulatory age, presidents and Congress can still change the government's priorities, but the agencies effectively run the show based on their interpretations and discretion. The rise of this fourth branch represents perhaps the single greatest change in our system of government since the founding.We cannot long protect liberty if our leaders continue to act like mere bystanders to the work of government.
Radley Balko (from 2007) on how private enterprise does the administrating so much better anyway.
Debtor's Prison Is Alive And Well
A woman died in jail after she failed to pay a fine -- for her child's truancy from school -- writes Brian Doherty at reason:
Some monstrous policy out of Pennsylvania, from Associated Press via the Pottstown Mercury News, a land where there is no such thing as debtors prison for the poor unless that debt is to the government, that institution that only monsters question because after all it's there to help the poor:Hundreds of parents, some impoverished and overwhelmed, have been jailed in Pennsylvania for failing to pay court fines that arise from truancy hearings after their children skip school, creating what some call a "debtor's prison" for people like Eileen DiNino.DiNino, 55, of Reading, was found dead in a jail cell Saturday morning, hours after she surrendered to serve a 48-hour sentence.
She had racked up $2,000 in fines, fees and court costs since 1999 as the Reading School District tried to keep her children in class, most recently at a vocational high school.
More from the AP/Pottstown story, revealing how they stick it to the poor:
[DeNino's] bill included a laundry list of routine fees: $8 for a "judicial computer project"; $60 for Berks constables; $40 for "summary costs" for several court offices; and $10 for postage."In recent years, the government has found all sorts of interesting ways to extract money from people. The fines can be $20 and the courts costs can be $150," Guida said.
DiNino faced fines from nine active truancy cases, which spawned 55 citations. Guida once handled one of her cases but did not remember how many children she had or other details.
Her court-appointed lawyer did not immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment. Her death is not suspicious, but the cause has not yet been determined, police said.
Virginia Cop Batters Man Shooting Video Of Cop Stop On Phone after Verbal Intimidation Attempts Fail
From Carlos Miller's Photography Is Not A Crime:
Once again, a cop tried to reach into his bag of unlawful charges to intimidate a man from video recording them hassling his friend on a crowded street in Virginia.First the Norfolk police sergeant threatened to arrest Jeremiah Schwenk with interfering, even though the video shows the cop walked up to him, seeking to interfere with his right to record.
Then the cop accused him of blocking pedestrian traffic and causing a disturbance, even though the man had not said a word until he was approached, not to mention pedestrian traffic was flowing freely.
Finally, the jacked-up, wide-eyed cop was unable to contain his anger anymore, especially after Schwenk asked for his name and badge number (see if you can make out his name at 2:21).
He then smacked Schwenk's camera away, ordering him to "get that light out of my face."
Imagine doing that every time a cop shines a light in your face.
...The following interaction took place early in the video after the cop initially confronted Schwenk about recording.
"I"m making sure my friend doesn't get his rights violated," Schwenk said.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," the cop said.
"This is for our protection," Schwenk said.
"I thought that is what the police were for," the cop said, still pushing the myth.
"No, sir, the police do not protect people."
Minkie
Linkie with a fur coat and sharp teeth.
Help Me Understand The Obsession By Some Brides With Throwing The Wedding Of The Century
I'm writing a column about the unaffordability of attending weddings, especially for those in the prime getting-married years, who have a bunch of friends marrying off.
Some couples have weddings that are less formal events that most people can easily afford to attend. Or, if their wedding is more traditional, they have requests like my grammar ninja copyeditor's wife made of her bridesmaids -- simply to wear a "fall color" -- meaning they could wear something they already had.
Because I'm not a wedding person -- or even a marrying person -- I want to try to understand where the brides who are determined to throw some big, expensive, showy affair or a destination wedding are coming from.
(Some of these brides will get enraged if people won't fork over for all the expenses, like the dress, a hotel, and other costs, even beyond the gift, meaning they assume their friends need to show their friendship by going into debt for them. Others realize that a destination wedding will be out of reach of a lot of people, but have one anyway and are okay with friends and even family not coming.)
Please post here to try to help me see the side of the bride who wants the lavish affair. I want to be fair and balanced about this, even though I personally wouldn't some wedding of the century-type deal -- that is, even if I were interested in getting married, which I'm not.
48 Hours in Brunei: The Hollywood Reporter Infiltrates the Underground Gay Scene
Patrick Brzeski has written a very interesting piece for THR on the situation for gays in Brunei after the Sultan announced Brunei's stone-the-gays law.
Sad how gays and others in Brunei buy into Islam's views on homosexuality and/or shrug off the disgusting dictate about the possibility of gays being stoned:
Despite being minority Christian, her views closely align with many Bruneians I've spoken with: She loves her sultan and feels bad he's being criticized; the new law isn't so terrible; and provided gays keep their "situation" private, nobody will get stoned.
From thereligionofpeace.com on Islam and homosexuality:
Homosexuals have been beheaded, hung and stoned in modern Saudi Arabia and Iran, where Muhammad's laws are applied most strictly. Five other Muslim countries also have the death penalty on their books for homosexual behavior. In the past, gays were burned as well. As one cleric recently put it, the only point of theological debate is over how the offender should be killed.
There is an exception:
In 2012, a cleric issues a fatwa endorsing sodomy as a means of widening the anus in order to pack it with enough explosives to kill bystanders in a suicide bombing. As Sheikh Abu al-Dema al-Qasab put it, "Jihad comes first, for it is the pinnacle of Islam, and if the pinnacle of Islam can only be achieved through sodomy, then there is no wrong in it."
I can see the bumper sticker: "Sorry, I'm saving my ass for Islam."
Perhaps They Should Rename It "Raccoon-Style"
Barack Obama: The President Who Would Be King
Walter Olson posts at Overlawyered about a Cato Institute panel discussing the way Obama flagrantly ignores the Constitution's "Take Care Clause," refusing to adhere to his obligation to faithfully execute the laws:
Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz noted that the Constitution's Take Care Clause directs the President to take care that the laws are faithfully executed......Rosenkranz pointed to a number of Obama executive actions that are hard to reconcile with the Take Care clause. The text of the Affordable Care Act, for example, states that the employer mandate prescribed by the law was to begin Jan. 1, 2014. "You don't need a lawyer to interpret this, you need a calendar." Yet President Obama elected unilaterally to delay the mandate and substitute a later effective date of his own choice.
..."President Obama is being the kind of President Nixon wanted to be," said panelist Jonathan Turley, a well-known legal commentator and law professor at George Washington University: "Many Democrats will rue the day they stood by while the President asserted these kinds of powers."
Robocars: A Moral Imperative To Have Them
Ronald Bailey writes at reason quoting a NYT piece about how many fewer traffic deaths and injuries there would be with "enhanced driving technologies":
Two studies by researchers at Virginia Tech -- H. Clay Gabler, a professor of biomedical engineering, and Kristofer D. Kusano, a research associate -- suggest how much safer robot cars might be. They found that even cars that are not fully autonomous but which automate some of the most dangerous aspects of driving could have as big an effect as seatbelts have had...They found that lane-departure warning systems would have prevented 30.3 percent of the crashes caused by lane drifting, and 25.8 percent of the injuries. Rear-end and collision warning systems and automatic braking would have prevented only 3.2 percent to 7.7 percent of crashes, but would have reduced their severity. The number of people injured or killed would have declined in the range of 29 to 50 percent, the researchers concluded.
By comparison, seatbelts have reduced injuries and fatalities by about 50 percent, and are considered the most beneficial auto safety measure of all time, Mr. Gabler said.
The title of the piece -- about the "moral imperative" -- comes from a tweet by tech venture capitalist Marc Andreessen after the crash that injured comedian Tracy Morgan and killed a fellow comedian riding with him.
An Answer To The Student Loan Repayment Problem
Jordan Weissman writes at Slate that a Wisconsin Republican has the best plan for fixing the student debt crisis. Sounds pretty smart to me:
Since 1983, Tom Petri, a low-key House GOP congressman from Wisconsin, has advocated an idea that education wonks sometimes call "universal income-based repayment." It would completely scrap the convoluted system that former students currently rely on to repay their loans. Instead, college debt would work like just tax withholding. A borrower would simply pay a set percentage of her monthly earnings to the government, deducted straight from her paycheck.Countries including Britain, Australia, and New Zealand already take a similar approach. And, as many education experts have agreed, bringing it stateside would likely cure some of the worst symptoms of America's student loan binge. It would ensure that every single borrower's payments stayed manageable and virtually eliminate the risk of delinquencies and defaults.
Think of it as the financial equivalent of putting up gutter rails in a bowling alley--it's a foolproof plan to stop borrowers from veering into trouble.
For example, let's say a student borrowed $26,000 for college, at an average interest rate of about 4.7 percent. On a standard 10-year plan, she would owe $272 per month, every month. It might be affordable. It might not. On an income-based plan, however, she might owe 15 percent of her disposable earnings instead. With an adjusted gross income of $25,000, her bill might come to about $94 per month; at $38,000, it would be closer to $250. And if her earnings fell below a certain threshold, she'd pay nothing at all until her income rebounded.
Inky
It was a dark and stormy link.
Wow -- California Teacher Tenure Laws Ruled Unconstitutional
Jennifer Medina writes in The New York Times:
LOS ANGELES -- A California judge ruled Tuesday that teacher tenure laws deprive students of their right to an education under the state Constitution. The decision hands teachers' unions a major defeat in a landmark case, one that could radically alter how California teachers are hired and fired and prompt challenges to tenure laws in other states."Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students," Judge Rolf M. Treu of Los Angeles Superior Court wrote in the ruling. "The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience."
The ruling, which was enthusiastically endorsed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, brings to a close the first chapter of the case, Vergara v. California, in which a group of student plaintiffs argued that state tenure laws had deprived them of a decent education by leaving bad teachers in place.
The teachers' unions said Tuesday that they planned to appeal.
via @clairecmartin
Trigger Warning!
Heh.
Let's Bring Back Shame!
A photo of a note I left for a parking hog from the "Going Places" chapter of "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck." 
This is just one from a page of Pinterest pix (and mostly quotes) from my book. There are many, many more in the book -- please buy a copy! And a few for your friends!
Electronic Checks: Look, Ma! No Safeguards!
I've learned a lesson -- to check my bank accounts with frequency.
I learned it the hard way, after I saw a large sum of money had been removed by "electronified check," nearly two months ago. (I've been so busy with the book, I let a few things slide a little.)
The remover of this money was the LA County Treasurer's Office, the place that takes people's property taxes.
Well, as I put it in a horrified email to them (because their office was closed on Saturday, when I discovered this), I don't even own a doghouse.
It turns out that somebody at the LA County Treasurer input the account number of a woman (who did owe property taxes) very sloppily, messing up two of the digits on the end -- which made the money come out of my account at my bank instead of hers.
Yes, that's right. All somebody needs to debit a bunch of money from your account is your account number and the bank routing number. There's no safeguard that has them enter a PIN. And apparently, my bank -- probably like a lot of banks -- goes, "Oh, ho-hum!" when they see a large and unusual amount deducted from your account.
Benefit from my stupidity: Check your bank account once a week. I sure will now. (And no, thanks, I don't want text alerts on every transaction -- they'll wake me up from my naps.)
Yes, I will get the money back (I just barely made the 60-day window to do that), but this was an awful, stressful experience. And I am truly appalled to find how easy it is for anybody to swap a couple of numbers and clean you out.
Reynolds: Regulators Wreck Uber
The government wants to "protect" you and me (we helpless baby ducks of citizens) -- or so they say -- but what they're really protecting is established taxi businesses.
Law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds writes at USA Today:
The regulatory knives are out for Uber and Lyft, two ride-sharing services that make life easier for consumers and provide employment opportunities in a stagnant economy. Why are regulators unhappy? Basically, because these new services offer insufficient opportunity for graft.Services like Uber and Lyft disrupt the current regulatory environment. I have the Uber app on my phone. If I need a car in areas where Uber operates, it looks up where I am using GPS, matches me with participating drivers nearby, and in my experience gets me a Town Car in just a few minutes. It's the comfort of a limo service, with the convenience of a taxicab. I get a better service, the driver gets a job, but now there's competition for those entrenched companies.
In most cities, traditional taxi services are regulated by some sort of taxi commission. Similarly, limo services -- the ones that provide the black Town Cars favored by big shots (and used by many Uber drivers) -- are regulated by some sort of livery office. The rules strictly forbid the two sectors of the market from competing with one another. And, generally, entry is limited so that neither faces too much competition in general. In holding down competition, these regulators act on behalf of the entities they supposedly regulate for the benefit of consumers.
They do this because consumers typically pay very little attention to taxi and limo regulations while the regulated industries, unsurprisingly, pay very close attention. They express their gratitude in a variety of ways, some legal, and the regulators in turn look after the interests of the regulated. Consumer well-being is a far less significant concern.
In the world of Administrative Law, this phenomenon is known as "regulatory capture." Set up a government agency to regulate an industry, and in short order it will wind up regulating on behalf of that industry. (One example is the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission, which has been doing its best to block ride-sharing services.) Look at almost any established regulatory regime, and the regulatory environment will tend to favor entrenched companies over new entrants. This is no accident.
And when new competition shows up? That's when the regulators ride to the rescue. Austin, Texas, is impounding cars of drivers for ride-sharing services. The DMV of Gov. Terry McAuliffe's Virginia is also trying to ban Uber and Lyft.
It should be your choice to take a ride in an unregulated taxi, assuming you are a mentally competent adult.
Shouldn't it be? I sure think so.
Pole Dancing Should Be An Olympic Event
Not to worry, those of you at work, no nudity. Just some pretty impressive grace and athleticism.
Slurpee
Post linkies that are head-freezingly refreshing.
Got Rapunzel?
One-day deal at Amazon
Search Amy's Amazon
And when you need a few more bucks in your cart to get free shipping -- or just because you want to read something that will make you think, give you some good ideas, and laugh -- buy a copy or two of my new book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck." (Only $9.48 with Amazon's discount).
Hillary Clinton's Horrible Struggle
Yes, sometimes a girl has a hard time keeping the lights on. 'N' stuff.
Video here.
Hoggy Parkers
Parking rudeness -- the day after Christmas at the packed Irvine Spectrum mall. Photo from my new book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" (which I hope you'll all buy -- only $9.48 for a hard copy at Amazon; only $9.67 at Barnes & Noble): 
For more of my quotes from the book, here's my Pinterest page.
A Canadian Network Reports A Mass Shooting Without Naming The Shooter
Matt Cooper writes for PolicyMic:
Sun News Network is treating a mass shooting like no other major North American outlet.After a shooter murdered three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers and left two others in critical condition in New Brunswick, the Canadian network refused to show his name or picture. The network ran an editorial Friday to give the reasoning behind the decision.
"It's easy to report on the life of the killer, to scour his deranged Facebook page, to speculate about motive, but doing so could actually encourage the perception that his heinous acts are somehow justified," the editorial reads. "We will not help give this killer his blaze of glory."
Interestingly enough, Sun News is known as a conservative network, called "Fox News North" by its detractors (though the network has pushed back against that comparison).
The reasoning: Studies have shown that intense media coverage of celebrity suicides can lead to a copycat effect, increasing risk factors for suicide. While mass shootings are too rare to allow for a statistically significant determination of whether or not media coverage helps lead to copycat murders, some researchers theorize that the same effect is in play.
via @marcorandazza
Why Should Socks Match?
I prefer them to be mismatched and in colors other than various shades of boring.
Mine from yesterday, photographed for a friend: 
My friend wanted to know whether bright, multi-colored stripes on her floor would be too much with the big, bright, multi-colored dots already on her walls.
My answer: "No, they wouldn't."
My follow-up answer, accompanied by the photo: "Then again, maybe I'm the wrong person to ask."
"Make Sweet Love To Me..."
Milky
Linkie. It does a website good.
Advice Goddess Radio, Tonight, 7-8pm PT: Maria Konnikova On How To Think Like Sherlock Holmes
Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life!" with the best brains in science.
This is a "Best Of" replay -- only because my new book just came out, and it's been a wild week, and I didn't have time to prep a book for the radio show. I should be back to live shows in the next week or two.
This is a show I found fascinating -- one on the difference between seeing versus actually observing and many of the other habits and practices of Sherlock Holmes.
Science writer and psychologist Dr. Maria Konnikova draws on 21st century neuroscience and psychology to show how we can employ Holmes' thought processes to unlock our own capacities for ever-present mindfulness, astute observation, and logical deduction in order to see more, live more rationally, and, in turn live smarter.
Her book we discuss: Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes
Listen at this link from 7-8 pm Pacific, 10-11 pm Eastern, or download the podcast afterward:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2014/06/09/maria-konnikova-how-to-think-like-sherlock-holmes
Don't miss last week's show on successful behavioral change.
Great aspirations...sucky follow-through: This describes life for a lot of us -- sometimes, despite our best intentions.
Best-selling author and psychologist Art Markman is going to help us out of this rut. His book we discuss on this show is "Smart Change: Break the habits that hold you back -- and form the habits of success."
As in the book, on this show, he turns to behavioral science to help us understand our brain's motivational systems so we can short-circuit negative behaviors and create positive ones with staying power.
Listen at this link or download the podcast:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2014/06/02/dr-art-markman-how-to-instill-smart-habits-and-make-changes-that-stick
Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
My show's sponsor is now Audible.com. Get a free audiobook download and support this show financially at no cost to you by signing up for a free 30-day trial at audibletrial.com/amya (It's $14.95 after 30 days, but you can cancel before then and have it cost you nothing.)
A Hard Day's Chasing Squeaky Toys
My tiny Chinese Crested Aida, more than ready for bed.
The Foster System As Sex Trafficker
Its horrors can leave parentless kids with little other choice than selling sex, Tara Burns explains in a compelling read at Vice.com.
My caseworker called my friends and told them I was a runaway (she said if they harbored me, they could be charged with a felony), so I went to a hotel bar instead of bothering my pals. At the bar, I found a man to go home with. Today we would call this "survival sex." According to a recent study of youth in New York City's sex trade called "Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children," 30 to 50 percent of homeless youth work as sex workers and only 16 percent of girls started with a pimp or escort service.A couple days and a couple men later, I ran into my best friend's foster parents at the store. She had lived with them since her mother died years ago, and they said that they could easily take me in because they were already licensed to foster her. They called my caseworker, and she came right over. After my caseworker searched my bag for drugs and took my money again, she agreed that I could stay with them. My new foster mom took me shopping and bought me a pretty baby-blue sweater that covered the cuts on my forearms.
My first night at her house, I sat down with the family at a big, round table for dinner. We look like a family! I thought--at least until I noticed the kids looked at the floor and stayed silent. I soon found out why they kept their mouths shut. Midway through dinner, my friend's brother took a timid bite of macaroni, and my new foster mom exploded. She said his chewing was disgusting, called him a dog, dumped his plate on the floor, and then stood over him ordering him to eat like a dog and lick the floor clean. As he obeyed her demands, she kicked him.
A few hours later, my new foster mother tucked me into bed, kissed my forehead, and told me I had a family now. I waited for her to leave and then grabbed my blue sweater and climbed out the window. Outside, I realized we were miles out of town, and I didn't have any equipment for cold-weather camping, so I climbed back in the window. The next morning, I called the cop who looked out for me, and she picked me up. I asked her to drop me at the store and promised her my new foster mom would pick me up later--adults accusing me of being a crazy liar had taught me to stop talking about abuse.
I walked to my usual bar, where I met their new bartender. He refused to let me in, since I was underage, so I walked in the cold through the areas where men usually picked me up and paid me for sex, stomping my feet in the snow to keep warm. No one stopped for me, so I walked to the shelter and begged them to let me in.
"I don't think I'm supposed to let you in," the worker said. "Just come in and warm up while I call and check." She called the director at home, and the director said not to let me in.
"You know I might just freeze to death in your parking lot," I said. In response, the worker gave me a blanket. I wrapped my body in the blanket and then sat in the snowbank near where the director always parked.
"Fuck you," I told her when she arrived.
"You need to get off our property or I'm calling the police," she said.
"Call the cops! Call the cops and tell them how you don't let kids in your shelter!"
She rolled her eyes as she stepped around me. "I don't have time for this," she said. I looked at the morning traffic and snow and then stripped down to my tank top. A couple minutes later, one of my regulars stopped to pick me up. Who needs a shelter when you can suck dick for cash?
via @mistressmatisse
#BringBackOurGirls (But Never Mind The Boys)
Atane Ofiaja writes at Policy Mic that "#BringBackOurGirls Misses the Real Story About What's Happening to Nigeria's Boys":
Boko Haram has been killing schoolboys in huge numbers for quite some time now. The group is not just trying to bar young girls from "Western education" -- they don't want anyone to get a "Western education."Back in February, Boko Haram killed 59 schoolboys between the ages of 11 and 18. Last September, they killed 50 young men between 18 and 22 as they slept in their dorms. Last June, they killed 60 schoolboys between the ages of 10 and 16. Schools have been their targets for the last year, and the boys are not spared.
Noah Rothman asks at MediaIte, "Why Did Kidnapping Girls, but Not Burning Boys Alive, Wake Media Up to Boko Haram?"
On February 25, between 40 and 59 children were killed by the fundamentalist militant group. Early that morning, Boko Haram terrorists attacked a boarding school and shot many of children, aged 11 to 18, while they slept. Some of the students were gunned down as they attempted to flee. Others had their throats slit. In some buildings, Boko Haram militants locked the doors and set the building alight. The occupants were burned alive.All of the victims were boys. Reports indicated that the young girls the militants encountered were spared. According to the BBC, the militants told the girls to flee, get married, and shun the western education to which they were privy.
Beyond wire reports and a handful of segments on globally-focused outlets like NPR, this atrocity went unremarked upon in the popular news media.
...An even more disturbing question needs to be asked now: why did the press spring to action when young women were kidnapped, but were virtually unmoved when it was young boys who were being slaughtered and burned alive?
The Death And Decay Of Detroit -- Visible In Several Years Time
Neighborhoods disappearing in Google and Bing map photos comparing 2009, 2011, 2013. Shocking and terribly sad.
via @DavidBCollum
Lumpie
Linkie with bumps.
New Trend In Prenups -- The Social Media Clause
Lauren Effron writes for ABCNews:
A husband and wife are on a romantic vacation at a beach resort. The husband, thinking his wife looks hot, snaps a photo with his phone of her in her bathing suit and posts it to Facebook and Instagram. The wife, hating the way she looks in a bathing suit, finds out about the photo after her phone starts blowing up with notifications that she had been tagged and the comments are flooding in.She demands he take down the photo. He'd better do it, too -- or he might have to fork over thousands of dollars.
In an age where we are constantly seeking instant gratification through our social media connections, more couples are seeking the so-called "social media prenup," a written document, or often simply a discussion, that addresses what's acceptable to share online about each other, sometimes with serious consequences.
...A typical social media clause will state that couples can't post nude photos, embarrassing photos or photos or posts that are likely to harm a spouse's professional reputation, Carrozza said. Her clients don't pick and choose between what's acceptable for Facebook versus Instagram, but do more of a blanket provision for all social media.
"There might be a bathing suit photo that might be particularly embarrassing," Carrozza said. "Posting that would have to be cleared."
With her clients, Carrozza said, the penalty for violating the social media clause has been monetary. The amount set depends on a person's wealth, she said, but, for example, for someone living in New York City who makes below $5 million, Carrozza said, "the clause we're using with it is $50,000 per episode," meaning per post or per tweet.
I understand why people are doing this, but if you can't just have the person you're marrying care enough about your wishes to adhere to them, you're already in trouble.
No pictures of my boyfriend appear on this site, save for one or two of his shadow in Paris. He's a private person, and he didn't have to ask me to come up with this policy; I just wanted to do what he's comfortable with.
In "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," I advise that, in all your friendships and relationships, you be proactive in letting people know what your personal "privacy settings" are. You, not anyone else, get to decide what gets posted about you.
Also, on a friendship level, as I write in the book, "Friends don't post photos that make friends look like crap":
Good grammar meets "Good Manners..."
One of my favorite parts of my week is talking to David Yontz, managing editor at Creators Syndicate, who copyedits my column. I call him "SuperDave" and a "grammar ninja," because he knows his craft so well. And he's funny and fun, which is reflected in his grammar podcast, which (in case you're sensitive) includes profanity and -- horrors! -- occasionally some talk about sports (though in the service of points about grammar).
I love listening to these podcasts -- I always learn something and there's always a lot of interesting stuff. This week, especially, I enjoyed, because it's...mostly about me and my book! And also about a little Twitter fight I had with a presumptuously rude grammar nanny -- who, by the way, was right in what he corrected me in. (I knew he was, but going around correcting strangers' grammar on Twitter is akin to going up to a stranger in the grocery store and telling her, "Excuse me, lady, but that dress really isn't working with those shoes.")
Dave explains what I got wrong and a trick to figure out how to do it correctly. And it's funny and fun and about meee! So give a listen.
And follow me on Twitter at @amyalkon and Dave at @davidyontz. Get all of his podcasts here -- at Stop!... Grammar Time. And here's a link to my podcasts, Nerd Your Way To A Better Life! (with the best brains in science).
"Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" On CBC Radio's "Day 6"
Brent Bambury: He's smart, he's handsome, and he asked interesting questions of me on CBC's Day 6 -- a show which will also air on a number of stations in the US, on Public Radio International.
One of the things I talk about that I don't talk about in the book is the wedding trend, which I find rather awful, of "Trash the Dress." (I'm writing about this in an upcoming column.) Get a preview of what I think by tuning in to the show.
Advice Goddess Free Swim
Sleepy from an exciting week and a long day Friday. You pick the topics. I'll post more on Saturday morning.
P.S. One link per comment or my spam filter will eat your post.
Live Far Away And Want A Signed Copy Of "Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck"?
St. Martin's just sent me these classssy book-signing plates that you can insert into your book (they're stick-on).
If you want a signed one to put in your copy of "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" (which I thank you from the bottom of my heart for buying), please just send me:
1. a SASE as it's called in the trade -- a self-addressed, stamped envelope.and 2. A note with what you want me to sign. (My favorite thing to sign is "I'll never forget your enormous penis." But just a signature or something else is fine.)
I'm working on my next book, so I don't pick up the mail so frequently, but I go about once every week and a half or so, and I'll sign the book plate and send it back to you as soon as I do pick it up.
My mailing address:
Amy Alkon
171 Pier Ave #280
Santa Monica CA 90405
D-Day Repost: Our Trip To The American Cemetery At Normandy
The original post with all the comments (but otherwise the same as this one) is here.
Gregg's uncle was killed at 21 in World War II, near Martinville (which is less a town than a rural street), in the invasion on Normandy by Allied forces. We rented a car and went to Normandy with our friends Mark and Chantal to see the American Cemetery and find the ridge where he died.
9,387 servicemen and women are buried at The American Cemetery; 307 of whom are Unknowns, as in this photo.
Most of the gravestones are crosses, but there are some Jewish stars as well.
The cemetery is on a palisade overlooking Omaha Beach, the American army name for the place, which has since stuck. (That's me, with Mark turning around to go back up to the cemetery behind me.)
Dogs were forbidden in the cemetery, so Lucy got stuffed into her ferret case (bought at the now-closed department store, Samaritaine), and carried in a giant orange bag I'd brought for the purpose of dog-hiding. She was decidedly unthrilled, but I hope, understood that the opportunity to eventually sniff other dogs' pee in Normandy after we toured solemn areas of human interest beat staying home with the neighbors in the USA.
Helicopter Parenting Other People's Kids
Michael Brendan Dougherty writes at The Week that parenting mistakes (and "mistakes") are now being reported to the cops:
Surely one of the joys of parenthood are all the happy occasions to judge other parents inferior. But should we arrest them?This week Salon published a heartrending story by a mother who let her child play with an iPad in the car while she went into a store for a few minutes. It was about 50 degrees outside. Some bystander decided to videotape the incident, and then, without confronting her, filed a police report. A warrant was put out for the mother's arrest for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The only problem that I can see in her account is her willingness to believe she did something wrong at all.
Unfortunately, she's not the only mother who has been targeted for supposed parental malfeasance. Last month, FreeRangeKids, a blog that argues against helicopter parenting, posted a story of cops being called on parents whose children were simply playing outside, unsupervised. The same site recently reported about a father who made his son walk one mile home while he thought about some misbehavior, which resulted in the father being given a one-year probation. The judge cited the mere existence of child predators as a reason for the verdict.
What is wrong with these tattlers? My own moral instincts tell me that the bystander of the Salon story should have been charged for harassment and filing a false report.
The novel phenomenon of American upper-middle-class helicopter-parenting, in which kids are scheduled, monitored, and supervised for their "enrichment" at all times, is now being enforced on others.
It's an odd way to "help" a child who is unsupervised for five minutes to potentially inflict years of stress, hours of court appearances, and potential legal fees and fines on their parents. Children who experience discreet instances of sub-optimal parenting aren't always aided by threatening their parents with stiff, potentially family-jeopardizing legal penalties. The risk of five or even 10 minutes in a temperate, locked car while mom shops is still a lot better than years in group homes and foster systems.
Lenore Skenazy is quoted in the Salon article by Kim Brooks, the mother who was reported for leaving her son in her car while she ran into the store:
We talked for about an hour, and what stuck with me and surprised me most was not her sympathy, but her certainty, her utter lack of equivocation or doubt. "Listen," she said at one point. "Let's put aside for the moment that by far, the most dangerous thing you did to your child that day was put him in a car and drive someplace with him. About 300 children are injured in traffic accidents every day -- and about two die. That's a real risk. So if you truly wanted to protect your kid, you'd never drive anywhere with him. But let's put that aside. So you take him, and you get to the store where you need to run in for a minute and you're faced with a decision. Now, people will say you committed a crime because you put your kid 'at risk.' But the truth is, there's some risk to either decision you make." She stopped at this point to emphasize, as she does in much of her analysis, how shockingly rare the abduction or injury of children in non-moving, non-overheated vehicles really is. For example, she insists that statistically speaking, it would likely take 750,000 years for a child left alone in a public space to be snatched by a stranger. "So there is some risk to leaving your kid in a car," she argues. It might not be statistically meaningful but it's not nonexistent. The problem is," she goes on, "there's some risk to every choice you make. So, say you take the kid inside with you. There's some risk you'll both be hit by a crazy driver in the parking lot. There's some risk someone in the store will go on a shooting spree and shoot your kid. There's some risk he'll slip on the ice on the sidewalk outside the store and fracture his skull. There's some risk no matter what you do. So why is one choice illegal and one is OK? Could it be because the one choice inconveniences you, makes your life a little harder, makes parenting a little harder, gives you a little less time or energy than you would have otherwise had?"Later on in the conversation, Skenazy boils it down to this. "There's been this huge cultural shift. We now live in a society where most people believe a child can not be out of your sight for one second, where people think children need constant, total adult supervision. This shift is not rooted in fact. It's not rooted in any true change. It's imaginary. It's rooted in irrational fear."
Why We Shouldn't Trust The System
I see, vis a vis an issue my neighbors and I have been fighting on that the laws are frequently ignored and not enforced. And this particular issue isn't something where anyone's been imprisoned.
But a man has spent 24 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit -- while a respected prosecutor sat on exculpating evidence.
Joaquin Sapien writes at ProPublica:
On the afternoon of July 18, 1990, James Leeper, a newly minted homicide prosecutor in Brooklyn, had to make a challenging closing argument. The man he had charged with murder had mounted a substantial defense--offering plane tickets and video footage indicating he had been vacationing at Disney World when a man named Darryl Rush was shot dead in front of a Brooklyn housing project. Leeper acknowledged to the jury that it seemed like the "perfect alibi."Nonetheless, Leeper confronted the defense straight on: Yes, the defendant, a man named Jonathan Fleming, could have been in Florida around the time of the murder, Leeper conceded to the jury. But Fleming had ample opportunity to fly back to New York, kill Rush and return to his family vacation, Leeper argued. In fact, Leeper told the jury, there were 53 possible airline flights Fleming could have taken to do just that.
Leeper's presentation won the day. The jury returned a guilty verdict. Fleming, 27, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
It took 24 years, but eventually it became clear that there had been much more to Fleming's alibi defense, and that Leeper had failed to disclose it to the jury.
The original case file from 1990 contained a time-stamped receipt showing that Fleming had paid an Orlando hotel phone bill just hours before Rush's murder. The file also contained a letter from the Orlando Police Department informing Brooklyn detectives that Fleming had been seen at the hotel around the time of the killing. By law, Leeper was obligated to turn that material over to Fleming's lawyer. But he had disclosed none of it.
In April, Fleming was set free, the latest victim of a string of wrongful convictions involving the Brooklyn District Attorney's office. But Leeper's role in the case has packed a distinctive mix of shock and dismay.
Interviews with an array of current and former Brooklyn prosecutors, his adversaries in the defense bar, and at least one former Brooklyn judge have uniformly produced glowing testimonials to Leeper's skill, compassion and integrity. People, even those with unflattering views of Leeper's longtime boss, former District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, and the office he ran, find it close to impossible to accept the fact that Leeper knowingly hid vital evidence in a murder case.
"He was universally thought of as a model prosecutor," said Dan Saunders, now a Queens Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney, who once worked with Leeper in the Brooklyn District Attorney's office. "You'll hear that from everybody. He was a trustworthy and reliable guy. The kind of guy you want to entrust with the difficult work of being a government prosecutor. I hope people say something like that about me one day."
via @reason
Seattle's $15 Minimum Wage: Somebody's Gotta Pay. Why Not You?
A Seattle airport parking lot has added on an 8.25 percent "living wage surcharge" to customers' bills, reports Mark J. Perry at AEI:
A $15 per hour minimum wage might sound good in theory, but ends up having many unintended, secondary, negative consequences in the form of less employment, reduced hours, reduced job and business creation, higher prices for consumers, etc. In the end, and maybe very soon, it will be evident that SeaTac's $15 per hour minimum wage, like all government mandated price controls, are really an "economic death wish."...The company that issued the [parking] receipt ... is MasterPark at the Seattle's SeaTac Airport. According to its website, the company now charges a $0.99 per day "living wage surchage." For a 7-day period that would add $6.93 and 8.25% to the base fee of $84. For a 30-day parking fee of $199, the $29.70 "living wage surcharge" would add a tax of almost 15% to the base rate.
via @reasonpolicy
Lumpie
Linkie with a little extra weight around the middle.
Dadville
20 percent off select Father's Day Gifts (in the shoe section, including flip-flops) at Amazon
Enter promo code DADSHO14 at checkout for a discount on eligible items.
And while you're at it, why not give your dad the gift of laughter with my funny book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck"? Only will add $9.48 to your cart with Amazon's discount.
Have You Ever Declined A Wedding Invite Because It Was Too Expensive To Attend?
Would you?
Oh, and I forgot this part initially. If you did decline because it was too costly to attend, did you tell them the truth?
For Some, Getting Ready For A Date Requires A Little Less Effort
Another fine quote from my new book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck":
See all my Pinterest quotes from the book here. Putting up new ones as I have time.
P.S. For a signed copy of my book, if you live far away, please order from Diesel Books in Brentwood, California, and leave a note as to what you want me to sign. (Feel free to ask for it signed the way I sign for friends who share my humor: "I'll never forget your enormous penis.")
A Book Is Born
I had my book launch party/reading for "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" the other night at wonderful Diesel Books in Brentwood.
Here are a few photos by my talented author friend Sonya Sones -- no slouch in the book title department herself, having written The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus.
Here I am with another talented writer friend, Susan Sisko Carter, who's finishing a hilarious novel that was great when I read about two drafts ago. 
Things You Don't Say When You Rear-End Somebody
"My car cost four times what yours did."
Yes, a woman actually said this to someone I know -- immediately after rear-ending this person (who asked to be kept anonymous).
Indiana: Stopping Rape Of Men Is Just Too Expensive
John Tuchy writes for the Indy Star about the Indiana governor's refusal to comply with federal prison rape standards:
Gov. Mike Pence has told the U.S. attorney general that Indiana won't comply with federal prison rape standards because they are too costly.In a letter to Eric Holder, Pence said complying with the Prison Rape Elimination Act "would require the redirection of millions of tax dollars currently supporting other critical needs for Indiana."
...Indiana is one of seven states to tell the Department of Justice that it will not follow federal guidelines designed to reduce prison rape and sexual abuse. The law was passed in 2003, and governors had a May 15 deadline to inform the Justice Department whether they were in compliance or planned to be.
Indiana Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison said it would cost the state $15 million to $20 million a year to follow the guidelines, mostly because they require hiring more staff.
He said the DOC already has put many rape prevention measures in place on its own, including a rape complaint coordinator in every prison.
I'm sure that person is highly successful -- probably at sitting in their office all day with nothing to do.
via ifeminists
Linkie
Sleepy. Help me out.
Really Nice LA Weekly Piece About My Reading Last Night
This, of course, was the Diesel Books reading for my just-published St. Martin's Press book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck."
Sarah Fenske, the LA Weekly editor-in-chief, who wrote the piece, called me "endlessly engaging." That made my day.
P.S. I told her I get all my clothes on eBay. In fact, my entire outfit last night came from eBay (for example, Max Studio shirt, $10, plus $2.74 shipping), save for the scarf, which I bought in Paris.
Faculty Against Trigger Warnings
Seven humanities professors (named at the bottom of the piece) post at Inside Higher ed on why they won't use trigger warnings. An excerpt:
We are concerned about the movement on college campuses to mandate or encourage "trigger warnings" - notifications that class material may cause severe negative reactions - on class syllabuses. We are currently watching our colleagues receive phone calls from deans and other administrators investigating student complaints that they have included "triggering" material in their courses, with or without warnings. We feel that this movement is already having a chilling effect on our teaching and pedagogy. Here, we outline why a movement with the very salutary intent of minimizing student pain may be, in fact, ineffectual as well as harmful to both students and faculty. We offer this outline in the spirit of collective engagement amongst faculty, students, and administrators because we want to support both faculty in their choice to teach difficult material and students in their need for an ethic of care at the university.1. Faculty cannot predict in advance what will be triggering for students.The idea that trauma is reignited by representations of the particular traumatizing experience is not supported by the research on post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma. Flashbacks, panic attacks, and other manifestations of past trauma can be triggered by innocuous things: a smell, a sudden movement, a color. There is simply no way for faculty to solve for this with warnings or modified course materials.
...3. Most faculty are not trained to handle traumatic reactions. Although many of us include analyses of the cultural logics and legacies of trauma and/or perpetration in our courses, this expertise does not qualify faculty to offer the professional responses traumatized students may need. Institutions seriously committed to caring for traumatized students ought to be directing students, from their first days on campus, to a rich array of mental health resources. Trigger warnings are not an adequate substitute for these resources or for the information students need to get help.
4. PTSD is a disability; as with all disabilities, students and faculty deserve to have effective resources provided by independent campus offices that handle documentation, certification, and accommodation plans rather than by faculty proceeding on an ad hoc basis.
via @boraz
Linker Warnings
If it's posted here by the people who comment here regularly, it's probably hilarious, disturbing, or hilariously disturbing.
My Book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," Is Out Today
Here's a quote from the Neighborhood chapter, which, I hope reflects that the book is realistic and practical.
Yes, I know your impulse is to leave the poo with a little pink bow on top on your neighbor's step.
Mine, too.
If you want to avoid cage-fighting the neighbor in the Homeowners' Association gazebo, best to start with the note I suggest below.
As you can see, it's a manners book for regular people, and it's also funny. I hope you like it. Please buy a copy if you haven't already!
The book is discounted from the $14.99 retail price to only $9.48 at Amazon and $9.67 at Barnes & Noble.
Come to my book launch party tonight! If you live close to LA, it would be so wonderful to meet some of you, especially longtime blog commenters. There's a book launch party/reading at Diesel Books in Brentwood, at the Brentwood County Mart, on Tuesday, June 3, 6:30-8pm.
Come a little early! Wine and snacks will be served (thank you, Gregg!).
Please invite people!
Diesel Books, Brentwood Country Mart, 225 26th Street, Suite #33, Santa Monica CA 90402, (310) 576-9960
Quiz: The Washington Post Or The Onion?
The story's headline:
Female-named hurricanes kill more than male hurricanes because people don't respect them, study finds
Via @CHSommers
Cleared Of Criminal Charges But The Feds Still Want To Keep His Cash
Asset forfeiture is legalized theft -- by the government from citizens. Often these citizens are merely suspected, or even just a accused, of a crime. In this case, a man was cleared of criminal charges but the feds still want to keep his money -- $200,000 of it.
Zach Noble writes at The Blaze:
Minneapolis tobacco shop clerk Mokrane Rahim was arrested in November 2012 after undercover police purchased synthetic marijuana, also known as K2 or "spice", from his shop, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.Police found 72 pounds of a "green, leafy substance" in Rahim's apartment, along with a Mercedes-Benz and slightly more than $200,000 in cash.
The problem: while synthetic marijuana would soon be outlawed, at the time of Rahim's arrest it wasn't explicitly banned.
Legally, Rahim is now in the clear, as all charges against him have been dismissed and a judge ordered the return of his confiscated property.
But the federal government apparently plans to hold onto his money.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger has filed a lawsuit to allow the government to keep the money, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported; while the state of Minnesota would only be able to keep seized funds in the event of criminal conviction, the feds apparently have legal standing to keep the money because synthetic marijuana was an "analogue" of an illegal substance at the time of the seizure.
Before anyone tars him with the druggie brush, take note that there are plenty of people who've had some cash to buy a car or make another expensive purchase who've had their cash seized. (They often are told they have to prove they are innocent to get it back -- not how things are supposed to work in this country.)
In short, this time it was Rahim. Next time, it could be you.
If you can't get into fighting for civil liberties for the greater good, think of your own good.
Really, you could be next.
Blinkie
A linkie with a piece of soot in its eye.
Sex Snacks
Did I get your attention? It's a term in my column, "Bad Harem Day," that I just posted.
It's up a day earlier than usual because tomorrow's the day my book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," is out, and I'm foreseeing it being a busy one.
Technology Doesn't Cause Rudeness
This is the question I often get asked -- "Doesn't technology cause rudeness?' -- basically blaming the Internet, Facebook, and the iPhone for people in public places who steal our attention by yammering on their cell phones. 
(I offer solutions for this problem in my new book.)
By the way, my book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," goes on sale tomorrow and has started shipping today. Please buy a copy! I worked really hard on it and I think it's the best thing I've ever written.
The book is discounted from the $14.99 retail price to only $9.48 at Amazon and $9.67 at Barnes & Noble.
Bowe Bergdahl Trade: The Law Is A Minor Annoyance To President Obama
The President traded FIVE high-level Taliban leaders for captured Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl like it was a trade between the Detroit Tigers and the Red Sox -- and never mind any of that federal law business. Mike Lupica writes in the NY Daily News about the sort of guys we just gave back:
To get one of our guys back, five very bad guys are released from Guantanamo. All of them are senior Taliban. All are labeled highly dangerous. One of them is a murderous thug named Mohammad Fazl, who was an associate of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the supreme Taliban commander. Fazl was wanted as a potential war criminal by the United Nations, mostly because of the murder of thousands of Shiites.This is from his Guantanamo case file:
"Detainee is ... likely to pose a threat to the U.S., its interests, and allies. If released, detainee would likely rejoin the Taliban and establish ties with ... elements participating in hostilities against U.S. and coalition forces... "...Momammed Nabi, another one released in this deal, worked with both the Taliban and Al Qaeda. So did Abdul Haq Wasiq. Khairullah Khairkhwa, according to a detainee file obtained by WikiLeaks, was a direct associate of Osama Bin Laden; Khairkhwa also pulls a get-out-of-jail-free card. They are not just bad guys, they are worst guys, which is why this isn't quite the feel-good story that Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel want it to be.
...Five of them for one of ours. This is the kind of deal that gets you fired if you make one like it in sports.
Jonathan Turley notes that the President broke federal law -- and practice (of not negotiating with terrorists) -- in making this trade:
The release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held captive in Afghanistan, has been a source of celebration but also concern in Washington. While the country has long insisted that it would not negotiate with terrorists, it seems like it has been doing precisely that for years in working out a trade that ultimately led to the release of five Taliban leaders. More importantly, federal law requires notice to Congress some 30 days before a release of a detainee from Guantanamo Bay -- another federal provision that the White House appears to have simply ignored in a unilateral act....The circumstances of Bergdahl's capture remain suspicious. He claimed in a videotape as a captive that he lagged behind a patrol and was captured. A friend who works closely with the military in Afghanistan says that that is highly unlikely given the protocols used on patrols. Fellow soldiers claim that Bergdahl was a deserter. My friend says that he was told that Bergdahl walked away from this base. He is quoted as saying that he was ashamed of being an American and disenchanted with the mission in Afghanistan. He was listed as missing in June 2009, three days after reportedly sending his parents an e-mail stating "I am ashamed to be an American" and "The horror that is America is disgusting." Those sources say that he voluntarily left the mountain base.
That could put the President in a rough position. He declared that
"Sergeant Bergdahl has missed birthdays, and holidays and simple moments with family and friends which all of us take for granted. But while Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten"-- not by his family or his hometown in Idaho, or the military. "And he wasn't forgotten by his country, because the United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind."If Bergdahl is a deserter, there will be pressure to charge him, but the trade may become even less popular if he is sitting in a brig. Critics are likely to demand answers about his actions and alleged dissection while detailing the threat of these five leaders as well as their alleged Al-Qaeda connections.
Even the moms of deserters and traitors don't forget them or their birthdays. Boo frigging hoo.
Also, Mike Lupica asks the right question:
By making a deal like this, how many bad guys will get their ticket out of Guantanamo the next time the Taliban grabs an American?
Bloomberg's Inspiring Speech Calling For Freedom Of Thought And Speech At Universities
An excerpt, via the WaPo's Valerie Strauss:
Ideas can be dangerous. They can change society. They can upend traditions. They can start revolutions. That's why throughout history, those in authority have tried to repress ideas that threaten their power, their religion, their ideology, or their reelection chances."That was true for Socrates and Galileo, it was true for Nelson Mandela and Václav Havel, and it has been true for Ai Wei Wei, Pussy Riot, and the kids who made the 'Happy' video in Iran.
"Repressing free expression is a natural human weakness, and it is up to us to fight it at every turn. Intolerance of ideas - whether liberal or conservative - is antithetical to individual rights and free societies, and it is no less antithetical to great universities and first-rate scholarship.
"There is an idea floating around college campuses - including here at Harvard - that scholars should be funded only if their work conforms to a particular view of justice. There's a word for that idea: censorship. And it is just a modern-day form of McCarthyism.
"Think about the irony: In the 1950s, the right wing was attempting to repress left wing ideas. Today, on many college campuses, it is liberals trying to repress conservative ideas, even as conservative faculty members are at risk of becoming an endangered species. And perhaps nowhere is that more true than here in the Ivy League.
"In the 2012 presidential race, according to Federal Election Commission data, 96 percent of all campaign contributions from Ivy League faculty and employees went to Barack Obama.
"Ninety-six percent. There was more disagreement among the old Soviet Politburo than there is among Ivy League donors.
"That statistic should give us pause - and I say that as someone who endorsed President Obama for reelection - because let me tell you, neither party has a monopoly on truth or God on its side.
"When 96 percent of Ivy League donors prefer one candidate to another, you have to wonder whether students are being exposed to the diversity of views that a great university should offer.
"Diversity of gender, ethnicity, and orientation is important. But a university cannot be great if its faculty is politically homogenous. In fact, the whole purpose of granting tenure to professors is to ensure that they feel free to conduct research on ideas that run afoul of university politics and societal norms.
"When tenure was created, it mostly protected liberals whose ideas ran up against conservative norms.
"Today, if tenure is going to continue to exist, it must also protect conservatives whose ideas run up against liberal norms. Otherwise, university research - and the professors who conduct it - will lose credibility.
"Great universities must not become predictably partisan. And a liberal arts education must not be an education in the art of liberalism.
"The role of universities is not to promote an ideology. It is to provide scholars and students with a neutral forum for researching and debating issues - without tipping the scales in one direction, or repressing unpopular views.
"Requiring scholars - and commencement speakers, for that matter - to conform to certain political standards undermines the whole purpose of a university.
via @AdamKissel
Linkle
Don't spray the floor. Nobody likes yellow rain.
Advice Goddess Radio, LIVE, Tonite -- **Earlier! -- 5-6 pm PT: Dr. Art Markman On How To Instill Smart Habits, Ditch Bad Ones, And Make Changes That Stick
Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life!" with the best brains in therapy and research.
Great aspirations...sucky follow-through.
This describes life for a lot of us -- sometimes, despite our best intentions.
Best-selling author and psychologist Art Markman is going to help us out of this rut. His book we'll be discussing on this show is "Smart Change: Break the habits that hold you back -- and form the habits of success."
As in the book, on tonight's show, he'll turn to behavioral science to help us understand our brain's motivational systems so we can short-circuit negative behaviors and create positive ones with staying power.
**Different time this week only! Listen at this link from 5-6 pm Pacific, 8-9 pm Eastern, or download the podcast afterward:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2014/06/02/dr-art-markman-how-to-instill-smart-habits-and-make-changes-that-stick
Don't miss last week's show, Dr. Jesse Bering On Sex, What's "Normal," And The Sexual Deviant In All Of Us.
Dr. Jesse Bering's book, "Perv," is subtitled "The Sexual Deviant in All of Us." This is a book about weird sex but it's also a book about all of the ways that even "normal" people fall along the spectrum of "perversions."
Tonight's show, like Bering's book, will be a fascinating inside look into how our specific sexual desires seem to be shaped in childhood, how sexually not "normal" some of the most seemingly normal people are, and how human psychology leads us to find others' sex practices upsetting and creepy instead of just different from our own.
As Bering writes, "Humans aren't the only sex deviants in the animal kingdom. But we are the only ones to stigmatize each other as disgusting perverts."
Listen at this link or download the podcast:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2014/05/19/dr-jesse-bering-on-sex-whats-normal-and-the-sexual-deviant-in-all-of-us
Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
My show's sponsor is now Audible.com. Get a free audiobook download and support this show financially at no cost to you by signing up for a free 30-day trial at audibletrial.com/amya (It's $14.95 after 30 days, but you can cancel before then and have it cost you nothing.)
"Yeah, We're Just Down The Block From Hotel Danny Pearl"
A tweet:
@NBCLA
Afghan Taliban says soldier was treated as "valued guest" while he was held captive 5 years http://4.nbcla.com/1ho1kZJ pic.twitter.com/YaWiER3xSk
My response:
@amyalkon
Yeah, I'm sure it was the Holiday Inn Express of the land of beheadings, apostate slaughter, honor killings, & acid on schoolgirls.
Penile Colony
It's a myth that you can learn to be attracted to someone because they're a great person. It's ultimately cruel to get involved with somebody you aren't physically into, even if you mean well and believe the myth.
This is from the dating chapter of "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck."
Seattle's $15 Minimum Wage Hike Already Shows Some Unintended Consequences
Perks that came with jobs are disappearing, for one, and employees are paying in other ways.
At United Liberty, Matthew Hurtt writes:
Earlier this month, Seattle voted to raise its minimum wage gradually to $15 by the year 2020. Unlike the SeaTac wage hike, Seattle's hike will apply to all businesses.But 15 minutes south near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, employees are already seeing the negative effects of such a hike. A February report from the Seattle Times revealed:
At the Clarion Hotel off International Boulevard, a sit-down restaurant has been shuttered, though it might soon be replaced by a less-labor-intensive cafe...Other businesses have adjusted in ways that run the gamut from putting more work in the hands of managers, to instituting a small "living-wage surcharge" for a daily parking space near the airport.
That's not all. According to Assunta Ng, publisher of the Northwest Asian Weekly, some employees are feeling the pinch as employers cut benefits. She recalls a conversation she had with two hotel employees who have been affected by the wage hike:
"Are you happy with the $15 wage?" I asked the full-time cleaning lady."It sounds good, but it's not good," the woman said.
"Why?" I asked.
"I lost my 401k, health insurance, paid holiday, and vacation," she responded. "No more free food," she added.
The hotel used to feed her. Now, she has to bring her own food. Also, no overtime, she said. She used to work extra hours and received overtime pay.
What else? I asked.
"I have to pay for parking," she said.
I then asked the part-time waitress, who was part of the catering staff.
"Yes, I've got $15 an hour, but all my tips are now much less," she said. Before the new wage law was implemented, her hourly wage was $7. But her tips added to more than $15 an hour. Yes, she used to receive free food and parking. Now, she has to bring her own food and pay for parking.
"Osteoporosis Drugs -- Cosmetic Surgery For The Bones?"
Really helpful piece blogged by Dr. Skeptic on osteoporosis drugs, with some fascinating information. An excerpt:
How Fosamax works Fosamax blocks bone resorption (bone breakdown). Bone continues to be laid down, but none is taken away. This makes the bone more dense, but it is no longer in balance and structurally, it is not the way the body thinks it should be.Bone density is not everything
Bone that is 10% more dense is not necessarily 10% stronger. To use an extreme example, consider people with "marble bone disease" - osteopetrosis; they have the ultimate bone density. Bisphosphonate drugs for osteoporosis stop bone resorption by bone-eating cells called osteoclasts, so the bone-making cells (osteoblasts) work unopposed. In osteopetrosis, there is a congenital loss of osteoclasts, so the patient's bones are extremely dense (see picture) and surgery on these patients requires special tungsten tip and diamond drills and is still almost impossible. Interestingly, these patients often sustain fractures because their bones are hard, but like concrete, they are also brittle.Also, the biggest risk factor for a fracture is not bone density, it's falling. Falling comes from confusion, poor vision, sedative medications, unfamiliar surroundings, or simply getting up at night and stumbling to the bathroom without a light, etc.
Does Fosamax work?
In any study looking at bone density, Fosamax increases the density. But because none of us can feel our bone density, that outcome is not patient-relevant. Does it prevent fractures? The answer is yes, but mainly in those who have a very high risk of fracture, i.e. those with osteoporosis who have already sustained a low-energy fracture, not for those who are healthy but happen to have low bone density....The upside
In patients with a previous low-energy fracture (like a hip or wrist fracture after a simple fall), Fosamax has repeatedly shown that it will reduce the risk of a hip fracture (probably the most important one to prevent) from 2% to 1% over 3 years. You can call that a 50% reduction, but I call it a 1% reduction. Still, multiply this number by the number of people at risk and you can save a large number of fractures with this drug, even though 100 people need to be on the drug for 3 years to prevent one hip fracture.The downside
If taken for more than 3 years, the risk of inducing a stress fracture of the femur rises. ...
Learn The Truth About The "Hot Coffee Case"
And how so-called "tort reform" award caps can hurt the victims -- like the parents whose state's award cap meant that they can't get the money they were awarded for a lifetime of care for their son. Good long read by Alex Mayyasi at Priceonomics.
Linkus
Linus, but dragging around a "k" instead of that ratty blanket.
DOD
The Deal of the Day -- at Amazon
$39.99 for men's Florsheim shoes. Shoes that were $100!
While you're at it, why not buy my book? "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck," only $9.48, with Amazon's discount!
There's also up to 50% off
