Archive for 2014
July 9, 2014
BUZZ ALDRIN talks about the Moon.
REVOLVING DOOR UPDATE: U.S. Aides Find New Door To Jobs on Campuses Dealing With Sex Crimes.
To the list of defense contractors recruiting retiring Pentagon officials, corporate law firms hiring former SEC and Justice Department officials, and trade associations signing up former senators, add another new hot recruiting field for the private sector. Universities are snapping up employees with experience related to the federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which is in charge of enforcing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
That law is best known for boosting the presence of women’s sports on college campuses, spawning a sports-bra company of the same name. Lawyers with experience related to the federal Office of Civil Rights are in high demand at the moment, though, not because of any ability coaching undergraduate soccer players or designing athletic apparel. Rather, they are being sought after for their ability to coach college administrators through the legal mine field that is the latest guidance from the Obama administration on “Title IX and Sexual Violence.”
Later this month, Valerie Simons will start a $150,000-a-year job as Title IX coordinator at the University of Colorado. The Boulder Daily Camera reports that Ms. Simons “served as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Education Section, where she was the lead attorney in charge of enforcing Title IX and other civil rights laws around the U.S.” In her new position, she will report directly to the university’s chancellor.
In May of this year, Stanford announced that Catherine Criswell would join that university as its Title IX coordinator after a 19-year career at the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
Harvard last year hired as its Title IX coordinator Mia Karvonides, another Department of Education Office of Civil Rights lawyer; a Harvard memo at the time reported by the Boston Globe reported that her “duties at the Office of Civil Rights included investigating post-secondary and elementary/secondary institutions for compliance with Title IX. “
More such hires are on the way.
Write complicated, intrusive regulations — then get hired by their targets to help them comply, and to use your connections with the new crop of enforcers. Yet another argument for my revolving-door surtax.
July 8, 2014
YEAH, PRETTY MUCH: Is Obama’s Foreign Policy Too European? “While Mr. Obama’s new style of diplomacy — soft power and nonintervention — was at first seen as a welcome break with the Bush years, five years later a dismal realization has set in. It turns out that soft power cannot replace hard power. On the contrary, soft power is merely a complementary foreign policy tool that can yield results only when it is backed up by real might and the political will to employ it if necessary.” Do tell.
AT AMAZON: Top Printer Deals. Browse and save.
POLITICS IN OBAMA’S AMERICA: ‘Tequila Party’ Asks Holder to Prosecute Tea Party for Murrieta ‘Terrorism.’ It’s always about criminalizing the opposition with these people.
This also seems like time for another mention of Kurt Schlichter’s new book.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Enrollment In Journalism Programs Drops For Second Straight Year.
POWER LINE: A Window Opens Onto the Left-Wing Conspiracy. “The Democracy Alliance is not a famous organization, but it deserves to be. The Alliance consists of approximately 100 rich liberals who have taken upon themselves the task of coordinating America’s many left-wing organizations to promote a single radical agenda. The Alliance does not publicize the names of its members, but it held a conference for its ‘partners’ and membership prospects in April, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel (naturally) in Chicago. Someone who attended the conference unfortunately (heh) left his or her copy of the documents passed out by the Democracy Alliance behind, and they eventually fell into the wrong hands. Ours.”
ONCE AGAIN, THE HIGHER EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT DEMONSTRATES ITS COMMITMENT TO OPENNESS: Boise State U. Charged Libertarian Students Gigantic ‘Security Fee’ to Host Pro-Gun Speaker.
NOW UP AT PJTV: Helen’s first report from the Detroit Men’s Rights Conference. Including psychological advice for men who are married to or dating women with Borderline Personality Disorder, and reports on colleges’ prejudices against mens’ student groups. More to come!
FROM JOHN HINDERAKER: A Message To Our Readers In Melbourne, Australia.
YES, IT IS: Grover Norquist thinks Republicans can ride Uber to power in urban areas. That’s probably a stretch.
That said, the treatment of new companies like Uber and Lyft by established interests provides an object lesson in what government is really all about.
KEVIN WILLIAMSON: The Problem With Science Is Scientists.
As Thomas Ray once said, every successful system accumulates parasites. Science has been a very successful system.
CYBERTERRORISM: How Google Map Hackers Can Destroy a Business at Will. “Beneath its slick interface and crystal clear GPS-enabled vision of the world, Google Maps roils with local rivalries, score-settling, and deception. Maps are dotted with thousands of spam business listings for nonexistent locksmiths and plumbers. Legitimate businesses sometimes see their listings hijacked by competitors or cloned into a duplicate with a different phone number or website.”
PEOPLE KEEP ASKING ME IF ZEPHYR TEACHOUT IS RELATED TO TERRY TEACHOUT: Surprisingly, no.
AT AMAZON, Bestsellers In Mysteries, Thrillers & Suspense. Get your beach reading together.
SHOCKING NEWS FROM OUR GOVERNMENT: “People who are unmarried or separated are most likely to live in areas of concentrated poverty.”
Of course, after the “food deserts” debacle, I’m not sure I should entirely trust this “areas of concentrated poverty” study, either.