URLs du Jour

2017-11-28

Proverbs 18:12 is a sage observation:

12 Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honor.

… except in the dictionary! Hah!

Come to think of it, the Proverbialist was unaware of English dictionaries. He would not have gotten this joke.


■ The Washington Free Beacon reports on "Federal Fumbles", this years compilation of wasted taxpayer dollars: Sen. Lankford Singles Out ‘Doggie Hamlet’ in Wasteful Spending Report.

Doggie Hamlet? Yes, and it was performed in our very state:

"This is Weird, Right? A $30,000 NEA grant supports the production of Doggie Hamlet," Lankford's report states.

"The adaptation does not include any actual lines from Hamlet, is conducted outdoors in a 30-by-50-foot field in New Hampshire, and is mostly humans yelling or running toward confused sheep and dogs," according to the report.

Unfortunately, the University Near Here was not involved; instead 'twas that college on the Other Side of the State.

The performance is defended Gia Kourlas, a dance critic for the NYT, who asks and answers: But Is It Art? In the Case of ‘Doggie Hamlet,’ Yes.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a performance. The stage is a meadow, and the score is a collection of sounds, including the commands of a dog handler and the pounding of hooves. A woman extends her arms while four sheep, trailed by a determined dog, trot in a circular formation. In quick cuts, we see bigger flocks — a blur of curly wool and strong snouts — race by. Moments later, a young man holds a sheepskin and spins, before collapsing onto the grass.

Pun Salad is (a) outraged over this waste of money; (b) a bit wistful that I didn't catch any performances.


■ Peter Suderman at Reason notes yet another extra-Constitutional dumpster fire in DC: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now Has Two Different Acting Directors.

For a preview of what policy battles will increasingly look like as they are separated from the legislative arena, consider the current leadership showdown at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

As of [the morning of November 27, 2017], two different people are claiming to be the agency's acting director.

That also seems to be the case as I type. Unfortunately, a little too early in the day for popcorn.


■ But, as David Harsanyi notes, This Is The Perfect Time To Destroy The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Republicans have long argued that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is corrupt, unaccountable, and unconstitutional. This week, Democrats proved that’s exactly how they like it.

After resigning as CFPB director, Richard Cordray named his former chief of staff, Leandra English, as interim head of the agency. The Dodd-Frank financial regulation law empowered Cordray to pick someone in “absence or unavailability of the Director.” So Donald Trump made Mick Mulvaney available, invoking the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which allows the president to temporarily fill a vacancy with a government official whom the Senate has confirmed. The CFPB’s own top lawyer, a Democrat appointee, sided with Trump. It seems unlikely that a clause in Frank-Dodd meant to prevent vacancies will supersede the legitimate powers of the president, but we’ll see.

Democrats set up the CFPB, stacked it with Progressive ideologues, and act as if it's a fourth branch of government. Swell idea.


■ A candidate for "Longest Books Ever Written": Things About Which Nancy Pelosi is Profoundly Confused. David French, at NRO, contributes a chapter: Nancy Pelosi Is Profoundly Confused about Due Process. He contrasts (a) Pelosi's championship of "Title IX"-based denial of due process for college students accused of sexual misconduct with (b) her demand that "icon" John Conyers be afforded "due process" in the multiple charges of sexual misconduct.

That sound you hear is the legion of non-iconic, vulnerable college students (who at many schools are disproportionately black) wondering why due process strengthens Congress but not the campus. In reality, however, the hypocrisy is even deeper than you think. Members of Congress enjoy due-process protections so extensive and so biased against accusers that if they were applied to student accusers at college, they’d be considered a civil-rights violation.

Good luck squaring that circle, Nancy.


■ At Town Hall, Kurt Schlicter offers Dating Tips For Prominent Democrats.

We’ve learned so much about what women face in the last few weeks, and you liberal men should take this as an opportunity to change – specifically, out of your flapping bathrobes and into some Dockers. Groping, flashing, molesting shrubs – believe it or not, some women consider these things to be wrong. Crazy? Sure, but for now it’s no more monkey business as usual. As a noted Democrat, you need to maintain your political viability, and you can exploit the respect and concern for women you’ve always pretended to have to help you dodge responsibility for whatever you’ve already done!

Given the example set by Teddy Kennedy, it's no surprise that pols consider a D next to their names to be a free pass.


WalletHub has news you can use: 2017’s Most Sinful Cities in America.

Las Vegas isn’t the only sinful place in America. In other cities, bad things happen and stay there, too. From beer-loving Milwaukee to hedonistic New Orleans, the U.S. is filled with people behaving badly. No place is innocent. We all have demons.

Their methodology is interesting and—sing it, brother—they consider "laziness" to be a sin, even though God didn't see fit to mention it in the Commandments. (Number one lazy city in the US? Providence, RI. I've been there, and it's hard to disagree.)

For Granite Staters, Manchester is the city in which to misbehave, although it's a mediocre 97th place in the US.

Rapid City, SD is number 29?!? What's up with that?

Here's the embed, feel free to poke and prod:

Source: WalletHub


■ And the Google LFOD alert was sent out for a Dave Bartosiak article in The Drive: Porsche Exec Sees Future with Mods On-Demand

Maybe it’s my patriotic, “live free or die” mentality, but there’s a part of this whole autonomous future that really scares the pants off me. I don’t want to get stuck in a world where I have to give up driving because robots are better at it. For me, it’s bad enough that I have to turn off traction control every time I get in the car. One Porsche exec set out to calm my fears in an interview this week. The quote of the day was, “You will still want to drive a Porsche on your own in the future.”’

I, however, can see an upside, LFOD-wise, since I'm at the age where driving skills are presumed to decline. Just ask the local squirrels—I'm a menace.