The Bookworm Beat 2-26-15 — morning edition and open thread

As is probably true for any self-respecting high-strung woman, I have bad bruxism. So much so that I’ve ground through several night guards over the years. My current one hasn’t disintegrated yet, but it’s on the brink, so I’m off to my dentist to pick up the new one he made for me. Yay.

I’ll be gone a while since I have errands to run while I’m in his vicinity, so I only have time for a few tidbits here. Still, they are good tidbits….

Martial arts is not necessarily the same as self-defense

One of my favorite movie scenes comes from the first Indiana Jones movie.  It shows an impatient Indiana Jones whipping out a gun and shooting a assailant who’s going through all sorts of ritual movements with a sword as a preliminary to killing Jones.

That scene is as good reminder as any that traditional martial arts may not always be the solution in a dangerous situation. If you need another reminder, check out Marine Sgt. Major Michael Burke’s article suggesting that a good blend of tactics may be what’s needed.

Fake rape culture versus real rape culture

Heather Wilhelm has put together yet another in the growing body of articles disproving the Left’s “campus rape culture” lie. It is a handy-dandy reference piece if you need to rebut a Lefty’s hysterical tirade about the menace of men (usually white, of course) who are stalking and destroying women on America’s college campuses.

And when you do rebut those Lefty’s, perhaps you’ll want to remind them that there is a real rape culture in America, but it’s not middle class white men attacking vulnerable (yet hip, liberated, empowered, and slut-walking women).  It is, instead, men and women of all colors who have the power to sexually assault both men and women in prison. Rape — real, penetrative, violent, brutal rape — is a chronic problem in America’s prisons.

I don’t have a problem with criminals doing the time for the crime. I have a big problem, though, when that time comes complete with a helping of chronic and violent rape on the side.

Sexual identity alphabet soup

If you haven’t already seen Wesleyan’s web page for it’s Open House at 154 Church Street House, you’re missing something wonderful in the annals of American academia. It’s not just a safe space for gays, or gays and lesbians, or gays and lesbians and bisexuals, or gays and lesbians and bisexuals and transgenders…. It’s much, much more:

Open House is a safe space for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Flexual, Asexual, Genderfuck, Polyamourous, Bondage/Disciple, Dominance/Submission, Sadism/Masochism (LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM) communities and for people of sexually or gender dissident communities. The goals of Open House include generating interest in a celebration of queer life from the social to the political to the academic. Open House works to create a Wesleyan community that appreciates the variety and vivacity of gender, sex and sexuality

Unsurprisingly, that lackluster, overwhelming acronym — LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM — has been ridiculed in the conservative blogosphere. It’s clear that conservatives are not engaging in gender identity baiting, either. Instead, they are jeering at an academic world that has taken victimhood, identity politics, and political correctness to this bizarre, repellent extreme.

Interestingly, I haven’t seen anyone comment on the additional information on that same page, the type of information that is consistent with a nanny state run amok:

Lead Paint Disclosure
Housing built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint. Lead from paint, paint chips, and dust can pose health hazards if not taken care of properly. Lead exposure is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women. Before renting pre-1978 housing, landlords must disclose the presence of known lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in the dwelling. Tenants must also receive a Federally approved pamphlet on lead poisoning prevention. The pamphlet may be viewed at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/library/enforcement/pyf_eng.pdf. The University recognizes that any housing built prior to 1978 may contain lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards. By accepting your housing contract, you are affirming that you have reviewed the pamphlet Protect Your Family from Lead In Your Home.

All Wesleyan housing was built before 1978 with the exception of the following: Bennet Hall, Fauver Apartments, 19 Fountain Avenue, 20 Fountain Avenue, 25 Fountain Avenue, 231 Pine Street, and 14 Warren Street.

Las Vegas — the world’s most decadent police state

Megan McArdle arrived in Las Vegas the same day I left. She commented on something I noticed, but didn’t register, which is the fact that there are cameras everywhere. I’ve long been used to that within the casinos, because the floor bosses are checking for cheaters at the card tables. In other words, in Vegas, I expect to be watched.

McArdle, though, points out that the cameras arenjust hooked into the casinos’ security offices, but blanket the streets as well:

Two things immediately stand out to the libertarian visitor: In some ways, it has the most liberty of any place in the U.S. — and it also has the country’s most developed surveillance state.

As with the NSA’s data collection system, all this data doesn’t mean you’re going to be “caught in the act,” whatever that particular act is. What it means is that, if you end up being targeted for something, those holding the data can then return to it in order to investigate you after-the-fact for something you did long ago, but that can be used in the present to humiliate or prosecute you. (And don’t doubt for a minute that sophisticated facial recognition software can very quickly find you in a Vegas crowd.)

Clarifying the Constitition

John Hinderaker has noticed that Leftists, especially Leftist Constitutional law professors occupying the Oval Office, are finding the Constitution confusing and, therefore, are ignoring it. He therefore suggests some simple and clarifying amendments to the Constitution.