Today's Drudgetaposition

MICHELLE O: 'SPLURGING IS KEY TO LIFE'...

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Moving in with parents becomes more common -- for middle-aged...

Philosophy: deconstructionism explained and deconstructed.

Deconstructionism is academically–trendy but its meaning can be hard to pin down because its proponents avoid precise definitions.  The basic idea seems to be that words don't mean as much as we think they do.  Here is how the Stanford University Philosophy Department explains it:

[L]anguage is, as Saussure says, nothing but differences. That is, words have meaning only because of contrast-effects with other words. 'Red' means what it does only by contrast with 'blue', 'green', etc. 'Being' also means nothing except by contrast, not only with 'beings' but with 'Nature', 'God', 'Humanity', and indeed every other word in the language. No word can acquire meaning in the way in which philosophers from Aristotle to Bertrand Russell have hoped it might -- by being the unmediated expression of something non-linguistic (e.g., an emotion, a sense-datum, a physical object, an idea, a Platonic Form).

Let's focus on "[W]ords have meaning only because of contrast-effects with other words.  'Red' means what it does only by contrast with 'blue', 'green', etc."  That, of course, is wrong.  'Red' refers to the range of electromagnetic wavelengths that excite one of the three sets of cones in the human eye.  The response of these cones can be quantitatively measured and looks like:

'Red', 'green', and 'blue' are not social constructs whose meaning may vary depending upon cultural influences.  They are definable with scientific precision.

It seems clear that deconstructivists avoid specifics because, once the specifics are exposed, their philosophy is reduced to foolishness.

Hillary visits San Jose; Tea Party breaks out

After ducking a shoe earlier today in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton traveled to San Jose State University to speak tonight.  A tea party broke out outside the Event Center where Hillary was speaking (click on any image to enlarge): 

Channel 2 News showed up and interviewed tea partiers:

In addition to the Tea Party, the San Jose State University's chapter of CollegeGOP  was there:

The student on the left is the chapter's vice president.

The woman below had an answer to Hillary's question: "what difference does it make"?  The difference depends on whose casket it is:

While many signs focused on Benghazi, the next election is not likely to turn on the issue.  At lunch, my waitress was asked if she knew about Benghazi.  She replied, "of course, he was a famous 1960s TV actor."  Yes, young people know about Ben Gazzara.

Other signs walked through other famous moments in Hillary's career.  Remember "reset":

Remember Hillary's role in the Vince Foster episode:

While talking with this woman, a liberal came up to us and asked "do you know which country Benghazi is in?"  I said "Libya."  She replied "I am not talking to you" and then asked my friend above a couple more geography questions which she answered.  The liberal then asked what Benghazi's latitude and longitude were.  We didn't have any numbers for her and that was her opportunity: she declared that we didn't know enough about Benghazi to be protesting it and left in a huff.  I suppose that no history professor would ever try to teach World War II without first requiring the students to memorize the latitude and longitude of Berlin.

Hillary's life also offers important lessons on feminism and women's rights.  To aid in discussion of these issues with the young women on the campus, this Tea Partier brought a show-and-tell item: a blue dress.

Off to the side of the protest was a woman with Hillary-in-a-box:

I thought the toy might have been cruelly designed to scare children, but I was wrong.  She was a Hillary supporter and also a local artist.  She designed and built the Hillary-in-a-box herself.  Standing with her was another Hillary supporter, also equipped with a Hillary-in-a-box:

Remember his outfit the next time someone claims that Tea Partiers wear silly costumes.

Further away, there was this man in the black hat gathering signatures for  MoveToAmend  which aims to end corporate personhood:

He explained to me that the constitution nowhere mentions corporations and the bill of rights applies only to individuals.  I asked if that meant that the the New York Times lacked the right to freedom of speech?  He explained that the Times is actually covered by freedom of the press which is an  exception to the constitution not mentioning corporations.

Speaking of things that upset liberals, take a look at this man:

He is wearing a Molon Labe sweatshirt which depicts an 'assault' rifle while also holding a "don't tread on me" flag. 

Here is another answer to the question of "what difference does it make"?

The overwhelming incompetence that Hillary displayed in that episode really should disqualify her from the presidency.  It won't , of course: most people like Ben Gazzara.

As the protest continued on into the evening, there was also this sign on the war-on-women:

This Tea Party was organized by the Gilroy-Morgan Hill Patriots,  with help from Tea Party Patriots of Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley 9-12 Project, and the Bay Area Patriots/SF Tea Party.

Tonight's event is part of four-day  three-state speaking tour.  ABC News reports:

Clinton’s tour kicks off Tuesday in California where she’ll deliver a keynote at a large marketing summit in San Francisco. Later that day, she’ll pop up to Portland, Ore., to headline the World Affairs Council of Oregon’s annual International Speaker series.

She’ll stop by Las Vegas Thursday where she will give closing remarks at a scrap metal recycling expo (and also likely draw attention from politicos taking note of her first appearance in an early primary state this year).

 According to the New York Times, Hillary charges $200,000 per speech.  So, ABC speculates that she might be paid $1 million over these four days.  Standing by her man has paid off.