"If the tech scene is really a meritocracy, why are so many of its key players, from Mark Zuckerberg to Steve Jobs, white men?"

Finally agreeing with Glenn Reynolds on something, I think that's the wrong question. The right one is:

If the Mark Zuckerbergs and Steve Jobs-types are so good, why's the internet experience such a fucking suck now? 

Represented by, say, Glenn Reynolds staying popular while making one wrong political call after another, like the recent "win from losing" fiasco? He might as well be Oprah, selling homeopathic "medicines" and anti-vaccine nonsense, as far as the internet "matters" to our lives. And despite the disbelief on Reynolds' part, Silicon Valley is a closed world - even to black millionaires:

"Two sources told Valleywag that West recently attended a dinner packed with venture capitalists at Laurene Powell Jobs' home where West supposedly had the temerity to trot out his tagline: "I'm the next Steve Jobs."

But some say West's efforts to drum up tech money for DONDA have not been fruitful.

…DONDA's road map may be hazy, but is it any more far-fetched than some of the ludicrous pitches propped up Silicon Valley's free flowing capital? Especially from investors who claim to back the founder, not the idea, and embrace failure—West recently said he lost $13 million on business ventures because "I didn't have the knowledge to do it the right way"—as a badge of honor.

West is clearly not waiting around for the Valley,...."

Just like I'm, clearly, not waiting around for Glenn Reynolds to ever decide to tell the truth, or be fair:

And whether I'm doing it the right way or not,...

 

Thanks, Homeopathy!

The standard for who can say stupid shit is pretty low out there.

“We have no direct information that religious beliefs factored into this, but there was a belief system and homeopathic medicine did factor in.”

Standards, for who, and why you can do stupid shit - they're low, too.

And for some reason, I really, really, REALLY wanted to say that, bad,...

 

"Though you haven't heard of it, there are some fundamentalist churches that encourage dating and marrying nonbelievers and trying to convert them."

"It's called 'missionary dating' and it's a real thing."

Opening a religion post with "Though you haven't heard of it,...." cracks me up. It's now the story of my life and - while Emily Yoffe may not have heard of it - feminist NewAge is definitely THE "fundamentalist church" where "fishing" has always been real, too, so ♪shut-up♬.

"The assumptions of homeopathy,…are in overt contradiction to those of acupuncture which, in turn, are out of sync with those of reflexology, aromatherapy and Reiki.

Instead, each branch of alternative medicine has its own axioms that are largely detached from reality or, indeed, from the axioms of other branches of alternative medicine."

As far as I know, whites will only really stand up to Oprah on two topics - cattle futures and race - when they curiously, but proudly, love to point out how rich she's gotten with their full support:

You know, selling dangerous, bogus, NewAge occult "remedies" and the gurus and beliefs that go with 'em,...

 

The things believers find confusing are, themselves, confusing:

  “Costco has Bibles for sale under the genre of FICTION. Hmmmm." 

 Meanwhile, Whole Foods has homeopathy for sale under the guise of MEDICINE. Hmmmm,...

 

Dear Ann Althouse,

I know you're aware of women's make-up, NewAge, and homeopaths (the last two, both, a part of ObamaCare) so for you, now, to be bowled over by The Sebelius Lie - something I find to be such a normal, everyday, average occurrence it's almost unworthy of mention - strikes me as bizarre:

Incredible... not just that she would lie but that she'd lie about something so easily shown to be false. Just astounding.

Really? Aren't you being pretty selective in your outrage? 

We've got a web of deception around us, so thick, we could make a claim we're cocooning, but it's "incredible" and "astounding" to you that the news story de jour (a very important point about conventional thinking, there) contains a politician -  a politician - telling whoppers? 

What about all the low-hanging fruit that led Sebelius and the rest of us here? 

Where's the outrage?

Ever heard of the "Broken Window" theory? 

Clean up the small crimes and the larger ones solve themselves?

Why do you think we don't pursue that in the blogosphere?

What "incredible" and "astounding" things is it hiding? 

While pretending to expose something?

Politicians lie - Big Whoop - we know that.

The problem is the dickheads you still allow to happily run free,...

 

“Mormonism would gain a measure of respectability if only some credible evidence could be found to support at least one of Joseph Smith’s claims.”

In 2009, Alexa Ray Joel (daughter of Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel) tried committing suicide by overdosing on “Traumeel” pills.

Fortunately for Miss Joel, Traumeel pills are homeopathic. So she did not have to induce vomiting, get her stomach pumped or take any other poison-control measures because she was never in the slightest bit of danger (at least, not from the pills). As a toxicologist at NYU Medical Center explained: “Nothing would happen because there's nothing in it. There's no active ingredient. There's nothing in these pills."

“That girl who was shot by the Taliban. She is the antidote. We need people like that. I get inspired by people like that.” 

-Billy Joel

 

Everybody stay calm, alright? Me and the good doctor will do all the freaking out for everybody:

  "Homeopaths truly live on a different planet, a planet where belief is everything and responsibility is an alien concept. I certainly hope that they will not take over planet earth in a hurry. If I imagine a world where homeopaths dominate primary care in the way it is suggested in this article, I start having nightmares. It seems to me that people who harbour ideas of this type are not just deluded to the point of madness but they are a danger to public health."

I can attest to that:

My own nightmares are just subsiding after 7 years,..