The world is a big place. While the US Presidential election is a big deal, there are other things going on. I thought I would round up some things I found interesting over the last few days.
Looking Forward/Looking Back
Presidents and the Past
Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson wrote Why the President Needs a Council of Historians. It isn’t enough for a commander in chief to invite friendly academics to dinner. The U.S. could avoid future disaster if policy makers started looking more to the past in The Atlantic. They discuss a new spin on an old subject, Applied History, that looks for analogues to current events in the past.
We urge the next president to establish a White House Council of Historical Advisers. Historians made similar recommendations to Presidents Carter and Reagan during their administrations, but nothing ever came of these proposals. Operationally, the Council of Historical Advisers would mirror the Council of Economic Advisers, established after World War II.
Of course, the idea isn’t new. See Thucydides and Churchill.
ENERGY (IN)DEPENDENCE
Read Running on Empty. Was the failure to solve the US energy crisis of the 1970s a product of bad government policy, or of voters demanding that their government do the impossible? at The Nation.
It is a great discussion of/ conversation with the book Panic at the Pump authored by political economist Meg Jacobs.
This Week in Transgender Issues
In case you missed it, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily stayed a Fourth Circuit ruling on gender identity and Title IX Wednesday.
“In a rare break from its summer recess, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked a federal appeals court ruling Wednesday that allowed a transgender boy in Virginia to use the boy’s bathroom at his local public high school.”
Also, 2 Months, No Food: The Story of a Transgender Inmate's Hunger Strike
“San Francisco County doesn't house prisoners according to their gender identity. Instead, trans inmates are currently held together in a segregated area of a men's facility, at least until the county decides how to handle their housing in the long term. Before going on hunger strike, Cadence said she had been mocked by inmates, deputies, and other staff for being transgender. She filed multiple grievance forms to express her frustration. But she says they did little to make the harassment stop.”
THE OLYMPICS ™®
Bad news for Brazilian tax payers.
Good Twitter news for Leslie Jones.
Gold medal news for WVU Rifle Team and the US Olympic Team™®.
Negative opinion, meh opinion about tape delays. And an interesting response from NBC.
“The people who watch the Olympics are not particularly sports fans. More women watch the games than men, and for the women, they're less interested in the result and more interested in the journey. It's sort of like the ultimate reality show and miniseries wrapped into one.”
Good news for Team Refugee, minus the "refugee-washing" (?) of the IOC™®.
Read it again: “These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthem. We will offer them a home in the Olympic Village.” A temporary home is offered for 10 people, while hundreds of families are displaced from their actual homes.
Also, This Week in Culture
Movies
Good news for Ava DuVernay and women of color in Hollywood.
Bad news for the DC cinematic universe.
Comic Con
In case you didn't get enough in San Diego, head to Tampa this week!
Accelerated Gastronomy
Bring back the McRib! and Bring on the culinary disasters!
Pop Psychology
Bad news for children of "Helicopter Parents".
Good news for “being who you are”.