Links and Notes, July 17, 2024
This and That
The Disaster Watch, Election 2024
Biden is not functioning well, and Trump is a living martyr. Hell in a hand basket.
Schools and Kids
Jeff Selingo’s newsletter is always excellent. TIL about Early Early Admissions.
Oren Cass, the economist for American Compass, has an interesting op-ed in the Times about the massive gap between elite America and everybody else. Cass is concerned that that typical worker no longer earns enough to provide middle-class security for a family. Cass is a conservative, but sounds like Sanders and AOC.
He writes that only 1 in 5 young adults are making a smooth transition from high school to college to work; the numbers are worse for young men. They’re highly likely to be living at home with their parents. Meanwhile, surveys show that most young people aren’t interested in elite colleges, big salaries, corner office in a city. They want a moderate salary, a job close to home, and time to coach their kid’s soccer team. But policies don’t reward that path. Read the whole article. It’s interesting.
More and more schools are promoting cellphone bans. Good news.
Life
Shopping: It’s Amazon Prime Day. I bought a tablecloth and a Ring doorbell. I’m also looking at a Garmin watch, earbuds, and a rice maker.
Watching: House of the Dragon
Reading: ADHD is Awesome
TikTok: I’ve been making silly videos. Want to see some? For my professional account, I made of Ian at his autism college to share with other autism families. Because my home pictures are very popular on Pinterest (who knew?), I made a video for my personal account about how we transformed our split level house.
Travel: Pictures of Bethlehem Steel, New Haven, and Vermont.
ICYMI
At Age 22, My Son Is Getting His First Taste of College and Independence
After a week of frenzied shopping on Amazon — desk lamp, window fan, desk organizer, storage bins, extra long dorm sheets — Ian and I settled into the serious business of packing him up for a five-week summer program at college. We made stacks of shorts and t-shirts. We collected quarters for the washing machine. He made piles of devices, chargers, and …
The Inevitability of the Next Trump Presidency
History unfolds not through neat, well-planned, highly funded events and campaigns orchestrated by the smartest people in the nation. It comes to us on butterfly wings, through overlooked people and groups — a Serbian nationalist group, a failed art student
I highly recommend Zojirushi rice cookers. We’ve had the 3-cup with retractable cord for years. When both kids were teenagers we upsized to a 5 cup induction model; it makes lovely rice but actually I miss the retractable cord! Older kid is very insistent about taking the 3-cup to college this fall…