Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Quick Hits: Volume CLXXX

- Have you seen the virtue-signaling advertisement released by Gillette where they condemn "toxic masculinity?"

If not, here it is:





I'm not going to deny that a small part of this ad has merit. But the universal dismissal of the old saying "boys will be boys" misses the mark, per Matt Walsh.

In any case, "boys will be boys" does not generally function as an excuse. It is a cliche but, like many cliches, it contains great wisdom. Boys will indeed be boys, and should be boys, and should be allowed to be boys without their natural boy-ness being constantly suppressed. Boys are energetic, aggressive, creative, competitive. They need safe and accepting outlets for these impulses. Incidentally, rolling around and roughhousing is one such outlet. The ad shows an enlightened man swooping in to stop a couple of young boys from wrestling around in the grass, which is exactly the wrong approach. As long as it's all in good fun, and nobody is getting seriously hurt, and it is not a case of assault or actual bullying, then the fatherly instinct to step back and let the boys be boys is correct.


I'd love to see a Venn diagram of those who invalidate the "boys will be boys" mantra and those who find it perfectly acceptable for young boys to dress in drag to perform for adults.


- Say, did you hear the bizarre story about the Menendez brothers showing up in the background of New York Knicks guard Mark Jackson's trading card from nearly 30 years ago? That particular game (where Lyle & Erik sat court side) was one of the activities in which they partook after murdering their parents.

Check out the crazy story here.


- A bipartisan group of Minnesota's elected officials gathered Tuesday to discuss plans on easing the burden of the state's federal workers (and those on federal assistance) due to the government shutdown.

The complete impact of the shutdown on Minnesota won’t be understood for a while, but some things have already become clear: It’s costing the state money — an estimated $100 million so far — and Minnesota leaders aren’t afraid to demand every penny in federal funding the state is owed.

Walz, with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison, state lawmakers from both parties and religious leaders at his side, reassured residents Tuesday that a lack of federal funding won’t hurt the safety net so many rely on — for now.

So, $100 million, huh? Perhaps the state can recoup that amount which went missing in the daycare fraud saga. I'm certain new MN Attorney General Keith Ellison is ON IT!!!

-------------------------------------

1 comment:

Bike Bubba said...

Regarding the Gillette ad, I'm not as offended as I found it ham-handed. We might note as well that forcible rapes have increased about tenfold since the early 1960s, about a 4x increase in per capita incidents, and the plan in 1960 wasn't Gillette's today. It was "men open doors for ladies, don't hit ladies, and don't take advantage of ladies."

With due respect to the difficulty in reporting--only one third of victims report sexual assaults to police--it strikes me that they seemed to be on to something in that regard that we might learn from.

But that said, the kerfuffle did help me see that Harry's is a lot cheaper. We'll see how it works out.