Seeing Problems Where We Might See Solutions

The future is coming at us like a freight train, which terrifies a certain slice of the NY Times demographic:

A Wi-Fi Barbie Doll With the Soul of Siri

Ever since Siri appeared as a regular feature on the iPhone, certain young children — and, let’s face it, some of their parents — have spent hours chatting up the virtual assistant, curious about the details of her humanoid back story.

Siri, where do you live? Siri, do you have a boyfriend? Siri, how old are you?

Which means there is a toy in your future grandchild's future:

Founded in 2011, ToyTalk already produces popular animated conversational apps — among them the Winston Show and SpeakaZoo — that encourage young children to engage in complex dialogue with a menagerie of make-believe characters. Now the company’s technology, originally designed for two-dimensional characters on-screen, is poised to power tangible playthings that children hold in their hands.

This fall, Mattel plans to introduce Hello Barbie, a Wi-Fi enabled version of the iconic doll, which uses ToyTalk’s system to analyze a child’s speech and produce relevant responses.

“She’s a huge character with an enormous back story,” Mr. Jacob says of Barbie. “We hope that when she’s ready, she will have thousands and thousands of things to say and you can speak to her for hours and hours.”

I know what you might be thinking - this could lead to a cultural shift that revolutionizes education and moves the needle on an important aspect of the Two Americas problem. Let's cut to The Economist on America's growing and seemingly intractable class divide:

Upbringing affects opportunity. Upper-middle-class homes are not only richer (with two professional incomes) and more stable; they are also more nurturing. In the 1970s there were practically no class differences in the amount of time that parents spent talking, reading and playing with toddlers. Now the children of college-educated parents receive 50% more of what Mr Putnam calls “Goodnight Moon” time (after a popular book for infants).

Educated parents engage in a non-stop Socratic dialogue with their children, helping them to make up their own minds about right and wrong, true and false, wise and foolish. This is exhausting, so it helps to have a reliable spouse with whom to share the burden, not to mention cleaners, nannies and cash for trips to the theatre.

Working-class parents, who have less spare capacity, are more likely to demand that their kids simply obey them. In the short run this saves time; in the long run it prevents the kids from learning to organise their own lives or think for themselves. Poor parenting is thus a barrier to social mobility, and is becoming more so as the world grows more complex and the rewards for superior cognitive skills increase.

That appeared in a review of Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis by Robert Putnam, but they also cite "Coming Apart" by Charles Murray.

It may seem obvious that a Siri-type doll might be able to read to and engage with a youngster in a way that represented an upgrade from the harried single mother working two jobs (or even the harried Super Mom grappling with kids, work and life.) And maybe that intellectual stimulation would level the class divide a bit. Maybe!

But that is not where the Times is headed. Spoiler Alert - their focus is on privacy and gender stereotyping:

It was probably inevitable that the so-called Internet of Things — those Web-connected thermostats and bathroom scales and coffee makers and whatnot — would beget the Internet of Toys. And just like Web-connected consumer gizmos that can amass details about their owners and transmit that data for remote analysis, Internet-connected toys hold out the tantalizing promise of personalized services and the risk of privacy perils.

“Is this going to be some creepy doll that records what is going on in your home without you knowing it?” asks Nicole A. Ozer, the director of technology and civil liberties at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. “What is being recorded? How long is it being stored? Who is it being shared with?”

They do note the educational opportunities:

The advent of connected toys that can record and talk back to children is likely to deepen this debate over the Internet of Things because of the potential for these intelligent toys to powerfully affect children’s imagination, learning and social development.

...

Sandra L. Calvert, the director of the Children’s Digital Media Center at Georgetown and the lead author of the study, said that toys able to personalize their responses to children in real time could have an even greater effect on them.

“These could be real cutting-edge approaches to facilitate children’s learning,” Dr. Calvert told me. But, she added, the toys’ impact would depend largely on the depth and breadth of their conversational abilities. “It’s only as good as the programmer,” she said.

It could be great but it might not be. Thank heaven for experts! 

And then we are back to privacy and other concerns:

But the notion of this technology, originally designed for mobile screens, incarnated in the body of Barbie is already generating controversy, even before the toy has been introduced.

ToyTalk and Mattel executives are fully aware that children’s advocates and feminists will be watching closely to see whether Hello Barbie challenges girls to think deeply or perpetuates beauty and gender stereotypes. Last fall, for instance, Mattel faced withering scorn when critics discovered that a children’s book titled “Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer” showed the character seeking help from male friends to code a game.

“Everybody involved is very aware of how carefully this content needs to be crafted,” Michael Shore, head of consumer insights at Mattel, told me earlier this week about Hello Barbie. “With this powerful a technology, this is something we need to be hypervigilant about.”

Hmm. The PC police will make monitoring interactive toys a full time job. Of course, pitch this as a new means of indoctrination (Islamic Barbie is your friend!) and the libs will be stampeding to get on board.

Comments

[jimmyk]

I don't usually disagree vehemently with Janet, but I'm going to take issue with her 11:32am.

Amazon lost money its first 5 years or so, and seems to have lost money the last couple of years, but its revenues keep growing, so investors are willing to stay with them. Also, I suspect if you look at the details, some of those losses don't correspond to negative cash flow. They might be depreciating assets or finding other ways to show paper losses. But I still agree that Angie is likely toast, at least in its current business model.

[jimmyk]

there's no money-returned for unused months option

Ouch, that's a good business plan for a company that doesn't expect to remain in business.

[DrJ]

The field is very different, but it is common for pharma-oriented biotechs to lose $50 million a year or more until they get acquired or introduce their product. In this case it is a gamble that their "medicine" will work and be worth $1 billion or more per year.

"Medicine" is in quotes because it seems that none can say "drug" any longer. Not even "ethical pharmaceutical." No, it is "medicine." Yuck.

[pagar]

IMO, a company that really produces nothing (IMO again) can not be compared to one that hopes to produce a useful product in the future.

[DrJ]

pagar,

a company that really produces nothing (IMO again) can not be compared to one that hopes to produce a useful product in the future.

Tell that to the capital markets. It is pretty easy these days to raise venture monies for a social media venture. For a biotech? Not so much. It takes too long and costs too much money.

[exdemocrat]

Two more simple questions:

1. What benefit has the US obtained from this secret 'deal' with Iran that it did not already have?

2. If any such benefit can be articulated (and pass the laugh test), what evidence is there that this benefit could not have been gained in a different way?

3. If 1 and 2, what evidence is there that this different way would have been less effective and/or less costly?

4. Why, as a journalist or journalistic organ have you not done anything to ask these questions and insist on credible answers?

[exdemocrat]

(OK, 4)

[henry]

DrJ is referring to the get members now, monetize with ads later social media business plan.

[rich@gmu]

didn't Beozs hit upon the idea: get big fast when building out Amazon and the Angie's List business model really wouldn't be able to replicate that idea. Never understood AL or the tv ads, so there you go.

[rse]

jimmy-my understanding on amazon is that it is data gathering and that treasure trove of useful info is its real asset. What it sells in many ways is simply the means and excuse to data gather on who buys what, what else they buy, personal characteristics, etc.

Rick-I have written about what the OECD and the Un are really up to, but both places truly deplore anyone asserting that differences among people are not all due to environmental differences.

As I check footnotes, the footnote referenced the fact that if there are genetic differences that are not malleable to changes in environment and practices like the nature of schooling, that would mean the intended plans could not work. Since that was deemed politically unacceptable, the authors refused to even consider it. All of this was in the footnote in a report put out by CERI--the OECD's research arm in Europe.

maryrose-I was just downtown taking the diva to a dance competition at GWCC. When you are closer to coming to ATL, send me an email and I will tell you precisely how to get from airport to where you are staying the most reliable way. Please do not just rely on GPS in Atlanta. The Diva's phone was trying to get me to turn on a one way street the wrong way when I knew perfectly well what I was doing.

[rich@gmu]

good questions that won't be asked ex dem.

[DrJ]

rich,

That idea predates Bezos. I recall attending a few venture meetings more than 15 years ago, before the first dot com bubble. All of the pitches were for getting eyeballs. None talked about how they were going to make money.

I was not impressed.

The life sciences companies were all pretty solid, though the pitches defied reality.

[Gentlejim]

Ex,
Did you use Common Core math for your 1:12?

[Rick Ballard]

"if there are genetic differences that are not malleable to changes in environment and practices like the nature of schooling, that would mean the intended plans could not work"

RSE,

Much as if CO2 isn't the control knob for 'global' temperature, then AirTaxes aren't particularly useful as wards against the SkyDragon. Progressive fascist fantasists desperately need to keep the focus away from the bleeding obvious through selective scientism involving widespread use of blindfolds and ear plugs.

[jimmyk]

my understanding on amazon is that it is data gathering and that treasure trove of useful info is its real asset.

I suspect that's true, but ultimately that has to translate into revenues. What's odd about Angie's List is that I think the usual social media model involves charging nothing, or almost nothing, to the end user, to build up loyal customers, and then make money from ads or data mining, plus possibly beginning to charge modestly for the service. $150 membership fees sound like a recipe for failure, especially for a service that is likely to be needed infrequently.

[jimmyk]

"revenues" in my 1:37 should have been "profits." Revenues they have plenty of.

[rich@gmu]

>>>both places truly deplore anyone asserting that differences among people are not all due to environmental differences<<<

lol ... suppose they are unmoved by the failed subsidize housing experiments in the US and other places.

Posted by: DrJ | March 29, 2015 at 01:28 PM

figures as much. Bezos got his start on Wall Street so understanding the financial model and getting access to capital wasn't his biggest problem (just googling his bio and I didn't know that). now they have a drone fleet to get one hour delivery business up and going ... yikes!!!

[rich@gmu]

isn't that closer to the linkedin social media model rather than the facebook model?

[Rick Ballard]

Oesterle's move would make sense if he was very concerned about the claw back provisions of the proposed deal in Indiana, just as Pence's move makes sense if his objective is to raise his profile among what he considers to be the most important segment of the electorate.

The 50% claw back provision which comes into play if Oesterle fails to hire per his blue sky proposal becomes a coffin nail if revenues slip badly - like Q1 GDP growth estimates have already done.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Angie's List has been been in a death spiral for some time.
Does her service rate undertakers?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

BTW, did anyone else have to look up cisgender to know that is the new word used for "sane" in jimmy's privilege link?

[boris]

Most dogs from a hunting breed can be trained to hunt.

Most dogs from a herding breed can be trained to herd.

Most dogs from either breed can be mis-trained to be useless.

Therefore: "that would mean the intended plans could not work" ...

Seems to me they are fully capable of achieving something they would call success ... i.e. all children equally useless.

[rich@gmu]

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/237317-omalley-no-ones-inevitable-for-2016

looks like O'Malley is getting the stage set ...

[DebinNC]

I'm probably in the minority of JOMers who enjoy reading Jennifer Rubin, but today's is hard to fault imo:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/03/26/rick-perry-and-scott-walker-get-more-impressive-with-time/

Finally, we have a number of good choices.

[Jane]

did anyone else have to look up cisgender

yes

[clarice]

Jane, I have to keep looking it up. It doesn't compute in my mind I guess.

Egyptian navy firing warning shot at Iranian ships:http://defence-blog.com/?p=4448

[rich@gmu]

had no idea that that was so Rick ...

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/03/25/gdp-growth-estimates-tumble-again/

during a GOP administration that would have been the screaming headlines for a week.

[James D.]

"Cisgender" is a good signal word. Of someone uses it non-ironically, it tells you that you can safely ignore anything that person has to say.

[Stephanie De Nile is a river in Progtopia]

What is being materially misrepresented in the "won't serve gays" controversy is that these people will serve gays and many have served the gays for years considering them loyal customers and on a first name basis with many of them. It's just that what had been buying before were cupcakes cookies and birthday cakes. No one had an issue selling those, but they have issues with selling and actually participating materially in a gay wedding by making the wedding cake.

If these bakers really hated gays, would they have participated in a birthday ceremony by baking a birthday cake for someone they wished was dead?

[rich@gmu]

i still don't understand what that neologism means ... i can google it and find, good lord over 400 thousand results, and even read the helpful dictionary entry at the top of the google page, but i still don't get it.

DebinNC-

that was a good read.

[Stephanie De Nile is a river in Progtopia]

BTW you can extrapolate it to the abortion controversy and doctors/nurses/hospitals objections to performing abortions v giving normal standard care. The Catholic hospitals can't be very comfortable with these court decisions on something as "trivial" as a cake v procedures that contradict the Hippocratic oath of do no harm. The courts seem to be moving in favor of moral equivalence between cakes and lives.

[DrJ]

cisgender

I looked it up once some time ago, and it stuck. Then again, chemists are used to cis/trans structures in organic chemistry.

It still is a code word.

[rich@gmu]

so q1 is looking to be a wipeout; the middle east is on fire; the administration is hailing a "deal" with Iran (an implacable enemy of the US for the last 36 years) without even disclosing the provisions or having anything signed ...

I'm going to check to make sure frogs aren't in the weather forecast in this next week.

[Rick Ballard]

ION - Arabs Establish Joint Military Force to Confront Persian Menace

If BOzo succeeds as the Persian Rug, restoring oil cash flow to the terrorist regime, oil prices should fall below $40. OTOH - if the Arabs hold a big "Persians Going Out of Business" fireworks display, oil might head back to $80.

Yemen makes a very nice causus belli, as the communique makes clear by reference to Article 51 of the UN Charter.

The Arab League is to be commended for its recognition of reality, in sharp contrast to the buffoonery occurring in Lausanne.

[rich@gmu]

man and woman, male and female, and boy and girl were just so difficult to understand ...

[Stephanie De Nile is a river in Progtopia]

Dancing on the point of a needle, rich.

What I want to know is who the hell is Julia Serano and why does she get to make up these definitions and who the hell made her queen (king) of the sexual/gender world?

[clarice]

I just made my best batch of baguettes ever. This may not seem like much, but they are the hardest breads to master , and nothing Kerry-Obama do at the moment can get to me. For a few more minutes at least.

[Jane]

Actually if you scroll over the tab the definition of cisgender comes up. I now forget what it means - except maybe - I'm okay with being a female. Sheesh.

I just watched Carly Fiorina on Fox and thought she did a really nice job.

[jimmyk]

did anyone else have to look up cisgender

I think if pressed I might have come up with the definition, from previous discussions here (I think when the FB 57 gender flavors were being discussed), but to be honest it was process of elimination. The other two choices were "transgender" and "genderqueer." Not even sure what that last one is, but 100% sure it's not me. (And yes, that's logically possible.)

[Jane]

Can you send me one Clarice?

[rich@gmu]

lol ... what is terrifying is these people wake up every morning not quite sure what they are? there is a song from the 90's and i'd link it but it is definitely nsfw (or really not safe anywhere) ... anyway.

[rich@gmu]

or the Iranians could launch an assault on Abqaiq (and other oil infrastructure) using their proxies in the KSA.

#smartdiplomacy

[jimmyk on iPhone]

rich, they're questions that have never occurred to 99% of humans who have ever lived. And probably still not to 98%. But there is that 1% that is evidently vulnerable to doubts raised about anything, presumably because they've never developed any core beliefs or values.

[rich@gmu]

jimmyk ...

it isn't like the equipment is detachable ... good grief.

57 flavors was quite funny by the way.

[Stephanie De Nile is a river in Progtopia]

Based on the scattiness of their arguments, a case could be made that every female that broke a gender barrier didn't; because, they really identified as male. So much for voting for Hillary as the first female president...

[Danube on iPad]

Think of all the millenia, the eons, of human progress. It has been an inexorable (if interrupted) journey toward improvement of material well-being, alleviation of pain, intellectual enlightenment and extension of life, until now we have got to this point. This point, where a seemingly growing number of people are fucked up about what gender they are, a growing number of others take that confusion seriously, and the rest of us are to be shunned.

We coulda been contendahs. We coulda been somebody. Insteddah bums, which is what we ah.

[clarice]

Maybe people have to learn to live in comfort and peace without going nuts.

[clarice]

When you come to visit we'll make them, Jane.

[exdemocrat]

Rick - following your link, on Friday the SA ambassador to the US told Blitzer: "We have been assured by the [Obama] Administration that all paths leading to a nuclear weapon by Iran will be cut off. We have been assured that there will be very intrusive inspections that will insure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear capability and we hope that this pans out."

Good to know we're not the only ones getting punk'd.

[DrJ]

Regarding the cis/trans nonsense, am I the only employer who is really leery about hiring someone in a protected class? I've never fired anyone, but I sure want to be able to without going through the courts.

[sbw]

Nothing is as bigoted as identifying an individual by some arbitrary group.

Groupishness is imaginary. Made up by people who don’t value individuals for who they are.

If someone is an *ss, their groupishness is no excuse.

[iqvoice]

I keep hoping & waiting for James O'Keefe to enroll at Pitzer and check the African-American box on the form. If anybody calls him on it, he can say he is trans-racial and they need to check their biased, cisracial privilege.

Only a color-normative cave-person would dare to discriminate against the trans-racial.

[rich@gmu]

http://news.yahoo.com/provisional-agreement-key-elements-iran-deal-diplomats-133744004.html

>>>One of these diplomats in talks in Switzerland said Iran had "more or less" agreed ...<<<

>>>Iranian diplomats denied that any tentative agreement on these points has been struck, saying that reports of a specific number of centrifuges and exporting its stockpiles were "journalistic speculation".<<<

we are in the position that the Iranians are being more honest than the US officials negotiating.

I take it that Kerry never played cards or thumbed through the art of war or the prince.

[rich@gmu]

lol ... claim he is from Rhodesia (which I think has been tried before and stuck down by the courts, but i don't know). i'm still stuck on the cis- nonsense ...

ex dem-

that describes the exact pathways of Iraq and North Korea in the 1990's ... hummm so is the plan to try to trick Iran into an Oil For Food sanctions regime (which I think Rick had mentioned is an idea being kicked around for Libya).

[Gentlejim]

Iowahawk very funny today

[rich@gmu]

this is one of the cases I was thinking of but bad cases make bad law and think he was just provoking the situation (he apparently washed out at medical school) ...

http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-jersey/njdce/2:2009cv02221/228038/82/

[Jane]

When you come to visit we'll make them, Jane.

I hope that includes Sarasota.

IQvoice, that's hysterical.

[Jane]

Okay Hit, no pressure but I'm ready for a new thread.

[Jane]

Who is left in the elite 8?

[clarice]

Sure, Jane,, though we'll probably have to settle for boule or pizza there.The baguettes take too much time C

[rich@gmu]

David Burge @iowahawkblog
· Mar 27

David Burge retweeted POLITICO
Say what you want about Neville Chamberlain, but he at least got a piece of paper to wave around.

Don't let a nuclear-armed Iran distract us from America's #1 threat - Indiana bakeries

[Jim Eagle]

Jane,

In 12 seconds you'll have 3 teams in the final four with one more elite 8 to go at 5:05. Gonzaga v. Diuke. Wisconsin and Kentucky are already in. Now we wait to see if Michigan State or Louisville join them.

[clarice]

David Burge @iowahawkblog · 7h 7 hours ago
US pushing Iran deal like a desperate Myrtle Beach time share salesman at a Ramada Inn seminar http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/237273-72-hours-to-iran-deadline …

[Jim Eagle]

5 minute OT. All tied up 65-65. I really have no dog in this fight but I haven't seen so many missed layups, tap ins or put aways under the net in a long time. I don't even think there has been more than 2 dunks.

[anonamom]

How many time outs do they get in overtime?

[rich@gmu]

>>>A nuclear agreement would represent a major victory for President Obama, who has argued diplomacy is best way to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.<<<

???

[Jeff Dobbs]

clarice:
When you come to visit we'll make them, Jane.

Jane, could you plan a trip to see Clarice that would include the second weekend in May?

I mean, I know you and I have had a couple of visits you don't like to recall, but I think we should give it another chance. Third time's the charm. This time, I pinky swear, I won't get us into any illegal activities.

Oh, hi:
Okay Hit, no pressure but I'm ready for a new thread.

Well, I could. I just . . . when TM puts up a thread, I think I should give it 24 hours of it's own. And even then, I wasn't planning anything until the ayem.

[rich@gmu]

think it is one full and one 30 second but don't know for sure ...

free basketball.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Joan!!!!!!!!! I'm sorry I missed you when compiling the last thread. It is but a vague memory of you mentioning yourself as an author.

Unfortunately for me, I remember other stuff . . . like the fact that you're an Okie (though I'm certain not from Muskogee).

Please understand how much I despise having to use that word sorry, it is a central part of who I am as a JOMer not to use it.

But I sincerely mean it in this case.

[rich@gmu]

GMax is smiling.

[JohnH]

Off year for big ten basketball. Only two teams in the final four.

[Jim Eagle]

Michigan State is in. Leaves the Zags v. Blue Devil game to set the four places.

[rich@gmu]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-29-12-14-08

a man of the people.

[GMax]

How bout them Spartans? Beat the number 2, number 3 and number 4 seeds in their bracket. Bring on the DOOKIES

[clarice]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205214392871457&set=a.10205214393551474.1073741830.1595044785&type=1

Don't know if this will work--it's today's baguettes.

[GMax]

Seriously did you see the adjustment Izzo made at halftime? All of a sudden Pitino's match up zone has all kinds of holes in it, most of them inside of 5 feet. This is a very flawed set of players, who Izzo gets to play hard. He has had many more talented teams, but this one is in the Final Four.

[DebinNC]

"We have suffered a total and unmitigated defeat ... you will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi régime. We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude ... we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road ... we have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been deranged, and that the terrible words have for the time being been pronounced against the Western democracies: "Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting". And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time."

Winston Churchill's response in the House of Commons to Neville's "deal" with the devil.

[Jim Eagle]

If Barabara Lee is right and global warming will chase women into prostitution then this new law in France won't make difference:

French Law Would Make it Illegal to Look "like a prostitute"

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/french-law-illegal-prostitute-article-1.2165396?utm_content=buffer5d9a2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsTw

Last I saw of BoE he was heading to Paris to run the NO campaign against the law.

[exdemocrat]

Who/where is our Winston, Deb?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Gmax:
Seriously did you see the adjustment Izzo made at halftime?

If this is not just a rhetorical question, the answer is no.

If it is just a rhetorical question, then I'm not answering.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Gmax:
Seriously did you see the adjustment Izzo made at halftime?

If this is not just a rhetorical question, the answer is no.

If it is just a rhetorical question, then I'm not answering.

[GMax]

How many time outs do they get in overtime?

You get one extra time out in OT, but you get to retain any unused TOs from regular time. Pitino had used all of his, and State had one left so MSU had 2 in OT, and Louisville had one.

[GMax]

Double your pleasure double yer fun I guess...

[Jeff Dobbs]

Dang, all these new-found power, and I don't have the ability to delete my own double-comment?

I'm gonna have to take this up with management.

[GMax]

with management

Mr. VIMH?

[James D.]

I take it that Kerry never played cards or thumbed through the art of war or the prince.

I kind of doubt he ever got much past "One Fish, Two Fish", and I'd bet even that gave him no end of trouble.

[Jane]

I was watching (and rooting for) Michigan, so thanks for filling me in.

[DrJ]

What possibly could go wrong (WSJ):

U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle increasingly are finding appeal in an ambitious concept for overhauling the nation’s income-tax system: a tax based on consumption, a tool long used around the world.

The tax-writing Senate Finance Committee is giving new consideration to the consumption-tax idea with the hope that its promised boost to economic growth would ease the way to a revamp.

Of course global norms are important to establish a VAT, but not for territorial taxation.

[Jane]

Jane, could you plan a trip to see Clarice that would include the second weekend in May?

Funny, I was planning to drive to Florida in May. That might be arranged.

[GMax]

Jane I know what you meant, but Michigan is sitting on their @sses in Ann Arbor, watching the Spartans play. As it should be.

[DebinNC]

Imagine the lives of everyone you love being in the hands of a man who thought it made sense to participate in a photo op in which he'd enter a small store and ask, as cameras rolled, "Can I get me a hunting license here?"

[Jane]

Who/where is our Winston, Deb?

Seems like the perfect opportunity for someone to step up. I bet it's Cruz but I hope it's Walker.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Do it, Jane! Do it, Jane! Do it, Jane!

[James D.]

I was referring to the Dr. Seuss book, but I imagine Kerry never got much past Go Fish in the realm of card games, either.

[Jim Eagle]

Now is good time to read John Lukacs "Five Days in London, May 1940" on how Churchhill and his War Cabinet handled the Chamberlin appeasement, Germany's "Phony or Reluctant War" and Dunkirk. Churchill even had a divided cabinet that still wanted to search for Chamerlainesque peace terms with Hitler.

Lot of lessons in leadership there but unfortunately, we don't have a parlimentary system of government. And Churchill wasn't a community organizer.

[Rick Ballard]

"Who/where is our Winston, Deb?"

I believe Sisi, Salaman and Netanyahu are working on a reasonable response which will be employed as we wait. The Arab invocation of Article 51 is a pretty broad fig leaf.

[Frau Verboten]

James D. - all the cosmetic surgery and millions of genever-soaked raisins have not enhanced Sen. Backbench's intellect.

I hope Carly Fiorina leaves Hillary! looking like Dirty Harry's fraternal twin.

[Jane]

what's with the orange sneakers?

[Michael (fpa Patriot4Freedom)]

Clarice - Thanks for the excellent "Pieces" this morning, as usual.

Those baguettes look worthy of the best boulangerie in Paris. Bet they're probably every bit as tasty, too. Congratulations on perfecting your technique.

[DebinNC]

John Kerry's medical doctor daughter with her Iranian-American husband, a neuro-surgeon. They met while doing their residences at Mass General.