The state of the culture

This essay about couples who are childless by choice doesn't come right out and call them selfish. But it throws around the term "hedonists" a lot, suggesting that the couples put their own pleasure ahead of everything else in life. But what if they're wrong, and in the end realize there should be much more to life?

Well, now we should feel special, guys. Michelle Obama thinks we are "useful."

During a conversation with students in the United Kingdom, First Lady Michelle Obama told them that men were “useful” for promoting the idea of more education for girls.

“We’ve got to send different messages about the importance of educating our girls.”

Strange old world just keeps getting stranger:

Why is Caitlyn Jenner treated as a groundbreaking cultural hero and Rachel Dolezal condemned as a charlatan? If it’s okay to be transgender, what’s wrong with being “transracial”?

[. . .]

Oh, brother. Or perhaps that should be oh, person. "You guys" is now on the "stop saying it, it's creeping sexism and offensive" list:

Is this a big deal?

If you have certain requirements for a job, and those requirements keep a very high percentage of one group or another out of that job, do members of those groups need to try harder, or should the standards be changed? That's a debate that's held all the time in this country, and various jurisdications have come up with various answers, Sometimes, there is a little more urgency in coming up with the right answer:

The kids just won't believe it when we tell them to be careful online because stuff stays there forever, will they?

It's risky to predict Supreme Court decisions, but the consensus seems to be, 1) The court will split in the usual four-four way on the gay marriage question, 2) Justice Anthony Kennedy will be the swing vote and, 3) given the opinion he wrote in the case partially dismantling the federal Defense of Marriage Act, he will vote in favor of gay marriage. Therefore, gay marriage as the law of the land is a done deal.

Cognitive dissonance:

Our bubbled mainstream media got a serious crash-course in reality this week with the revelations that Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio don’t hate gays, and that Bruce Jenner, who is in the process of transitioning into a woman, remains a Christian Republican.

Is the world really ready for a revival of "The Muppets" that is "more adult"?