Monday afternoon round-up and Open Thread

We always hear about countries or communities that are suffering from brain drain.  I’m not sure if brain drain can ever be defined down to an individual level but, if it can, I’ve got it.  Insomnia always leaves me with fewer brain cells the next day.  Still, there’s interesting stuff out there, and here I am to share it with you.

I’ve never been a fan of ostentatious wealth.  I’m happy shopping at Target and Costco, and I find embarrassing the lavish annual vacations we take.  Having said that, I find even more embarrassing this San Francisco-based guy who apologized for his ostentatious display of Google glasses, which was, he believes, the root cause for his being mugged and the glasses being destroyed before his eyes.

Thomas Lifson says it will be interesting to see this Progressive civil war play out, and posits that conservatives might be able to take advantage of it.  Certainly, it will be good if they neutralize each other.  My only comment is to ask why, in Progressive-land, it’s okay for a mugging victim to say that it was his fault — he was asking for it — by wearing ostentatious technology, but it’s not okay tell young women that it’s stupid to get sh*t-faced on alcohol, which is often a predicate to morning-after regrets that are then reclassified as rape?  

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Ron Christie points out that crying “race” is the last refuge of a failed Democrat party.  Failed, yes, but still mighty powerful, especially when its opposition is strong on ideas, but weak on organization.

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Yes, the economic sky is falling.  We’ll all be speaking Greek soon.

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More to follow so check back in a while….