The Conversation Google Killed

[SUBSCRIBE - Get Print and Full Digital]( [open] [View in your browser]( August 25, 2017 [The Conversation Google Killed]( Every few years, somebody gets pushed out of a job for suggesting that one group of people, on average and in part due to biology, scores... [Read More]( [The Nation-Building Straw Man]( President Trump’s new strategy for Afghanistan shows considerable reflection among the president and his top advisers on many military questions... [Read More]( [TWS CRUISE 2017 FALL]( [How Trump's Turning Liberals into Burkeans]( Most conservatives find the Trump presidency highly distressing for a variety of totally valid reasons—the ideological mishmash, the dysfunction,... [Read More]( [Trump Adviser Gary Cohn Explains Why He Is Sticking Around]( Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said on Thursday said that the Trump administration “can and must do better” in addressing America’s racial... [Read More]( [White House Watch: Trump Picks a Fight With Congressional Republicans]( Things went from bad to slightly worse between Donald Trump and Republican leadership in Congress Thursday. It started—as it always seems to—with... [Read More]( [Free Flag Pin]( Afternoon Links Baseball badassery. A lot of people (wrongly) think baseball is a soft sport. It's true that, unlike football or hockey, there's not a lot of fighting. Of course, getting beaned with a 100 mph fastball is no picnic. But when there is fighting in baseball, it's a big deal. So, yesterday as we put [the latest issue of the magazine to bed]( a number of TWSers gathered round and watched as the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees [engaged in a series of brawls and bean balls](. It was quite a sight. Yesterday, if you still don't think MLB players are tough dudes, was the 98th anniversary of Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell [getting struck by lightning on the mound in the ninth inning](. Caldwell was revived, and finished the game, a winner for the Wahoos. A propagandist's schedule. An anonymous data scientist [has a viral thread on Twitter]( about the strange regularity of what appear to be pro-Kremlin trolls. "Here's an interesting observation - David is posting 8 AM - 8 PM every day, Moscow time. Almost like it's his job or something." And our scientist brought receipts: Just [look at this beautiful chart](. The end of the story (spoiler alert!) is that the troll blocks the data scientist. Telling! Though, it's not unusual to spend all day on Twitter for one's job. In America, we call these folks members of the media. There's no news like bad news. With the mounting number of U.S. Navy collisions, [people are speculating]( that perhaps navigation (in addition to human error, obviously) is to blame: "The U.S. Navy uses encrypted navigation systems that would be [difficult]( to hack or deceive, and there's no sign satellite communications were at fault in the McCain's collision. But there is technology out there to misdirect GPS navigation — typically through a process known as '[spoofing]( that leaves the system thinking it is somewhere it's not." James Bond fans may recall that this is the plot of Tomorrow Never Dies. Villain and #FakeNews mogul Eliot Carver tells Bond: "Great men have always manipulated the media to save the world. Look at William Randolph Hearst, who told his photographers: 'You provide the pictures, I'll provide the war.' I've just taken it one step further." Truckers love NPR, apparently. An interesting item at Current.org [highlights how long-haul truckers, a seemingly unlikely demographic, love public radio](. "They’re like, 'Really? Truckers listen to NPR?' he said. 'I’m like, ‘Yeah, every frigging trucker listens to NPR.'" Strange, considering the existence of SiriusXM, which has Road Dog Trucking, a channel dedicated to truckers. But you never know until you ask! Saint Dominic's Preview. In California, an independent Catholic school founded by Dominican sisters is under fire for removing statues, not of Confederates or racists, but of Catholic saints. [Parents aren't happy, especially about the removal of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus from the courtyard.]( The San Domenico school, a pricey day/boarding school outside of San Francisco seems, to be transitioning from a Catholic school to an independent school founded by Catholics. Not many Catholic schools charge $30,000 a year for kindergarten, but let's not forget that living California means paying California prices. The 167-year old school's student body is, at present, about 20 percent Catholic. So, at a rich-only small-class school, if one in five students are Catholic, would it make sense then, to move first communion and reconciliation (a staple of actual Catholic schools for second graders) to after school? Perhaps. [But removing statues]( "Amy Skewes-Cox, who heads San Domenico School’s board of trustees, said the relocation and removal of some of the school’s 180 religious icons was 'completely in compliance' with San Domenico’s new strategic plan, approved unanimously by the board of trustees and the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael last year. She said at least 18 icons remain, including a statue of St. Dominic at the center of the campus." Alas, this is about inclusion! Addition by subtraction. “'San Domenico is both a Catholic school and an independent school,' said Head of School Cecily Stock, 'but what we were finding after doing some research is that in the broader community we are known as being a Catholic school and are not necessarily known as an independent school. We want to make sure that prospective families are aware that we are an independent school.'” Here's Amy Skewes-Cox again: “If you walk on the campus and the first thing you confront is three or four statues of St. Dominic or St. Francis, it could be alienating for that other religion, and we didn’t want to further that feeling.” Can't have those scary, foreboding saints standing around, can we? (As a result of Jesuit schooling for high school and college, I can confirm I have recurring dreams of St. Ignatius of Loyola that always seem to involve me getting hit in the leg with a cannon ball, with wolves and a pot. It's so weird!) You can sense where this is going. "Mirza Khan, the school’s director of philosophy, ethics and world religions, said, 'The Dominican teaching philosophy is not to teach there is only one truth. It is to foster conversation, to intentionally invite in participants that have different perspectives in a very open-ended process of philosophical and spiritual inquiry. That has been a long-standing part of the Dominican tradition.'" [Except that's not really what the Dominicans actually believe](. It's just the interpretation of their teaching philosophy from [a minister of the Sufi Order]( with a B.A. in comparative religion from Bard College. The story closes with this doozy: "Khan said during his time in Jerusalem he got to see first-hand how devastating it can be when religions are in conflict." One easy way to do that is to get rid of all the Catholics. They seem to be doing a great job. As Van Morrison predicted: Meanwhile back in San Francisco We're trying hard to make this whole thing blend. —Jim Swift, Deputy Online Editor Please feel free to send us comments, thoughts and links to dailystandard@weeklystandard.com. -30- This email was sent by: The Weekly Standard A MediaDC Publication 1152 15th Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20005 We respect your right to privacy - [View our Policy]( [Manage Subscriptions]( | [One-Click Unsubscribe](