“What we’re talking about is an inundation of under-qualified white guys.” —Jack Teter, who runs a political action committee dedicated to convincing those guys not to run for office
“The most powerful supercomputer in the world is not as good at recognizing things as the human brain.” —Golan Levin, an artist and engineer
Evening Read
Cass R. Sunstein on Star Wars’s dad complex:
To every child, boy or girl, a father must seem, at times, to be a kind of Darth Vader—large, tall, frightening, with a booming deep voice, insanely powerful, and at least potentially violent. For any child, boy or girl, a father is both Jedi and Sith—Obi-Wan Kenobi, gentle and calming and good, and Vader, fierce and terrifying. Of course, every father offers his own combination. But almost every one seems to have easy access to the Dark Side, at least to a child, and with his immense power, he appears capable of anything.
One of the things Star Wars is most deeply about is fathers, sons, and redemption. In its own way, it points to the indispensability of paternal love, and it has a lot to say about the lengths to which people, boys or girls, will go to get it. In the first Star Wars trilogy, Lucas was able to get quite primal about fathers and sons, and while his tale speaks to everyone, he’s given some personal hints as to why.
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News Quiz
1. China currently produces more _________ than anywhere else in the world.
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2. Only about 10 percent of American students __________ during school.
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3. In Argentina and India, smiling at strangers is associated with ____________.
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Reader Response
Is Bernie Sanders’s campaign coming to an end? One reader writes:
Imagine these scenarios: Say a hot mic picked up Hillary saying something crazy or a racial epitaph or something. That might be something that could sway voters on the fence. Or let’s go back to 2008. Imagine if Obama got caught saying something crazy, or dissing women or whatever. I think that might have swayed a lot of people to vote for Clinton. Although these are extreme examples and the former isn’t likely, my point is that you play the game to the end because you don’t know what could happen.
If I were Sanders and came all this way, I wouldn’t stop; anything can happen. Similarly, if I was Clinton, I wouldn’t say “I got a such a big lead, I’m going to stop. No, I’m playing the game to the final whistle.”
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Verbs
Dr. Heimlich maneuvered, minivan-sized sponge discovered, Hitler’s house seized.
Answers: Beer, study abroad, dishonesty