THERE’S NO RATIONAL BASIS: Illinois court strikes down state’s school mask mandate. “The judge took pains to acknowledge the damage caused by the pandemic and the obligation of the government to take reasonable measures to promote public health and safety. But the ruling also notes that there are limits to executive authority even during an emergency and such a condition does not allow the state government ‘to act unlawfully even in the pursuit of desirable ends.'”
Archive for 2022
February 7, 2022
#RESIST: Honk! Honk! Canadian PM Won’t Send the Army to Remove Anti-Mandate Truckers for a Simple Reason. “The mayor of Ottawa tossed out the possibility of getting the Canadian Armed Forces to clear out the protesters, which is insane. It speaks to the heart of this mandate nonsense. In the mind of the left-winger, truckers who refused to be jabbed for a virus with a 99-plus percent survival rate are the insane ones but using the military in a martial law exercise to ensure compliance is totally rational. Just smile, everyone. We’re witnessing people afflicted with extreme mental illness. . . . Trudeau ruled out the use of the military, possibly because they told him outright that they weren’t going to do it over this.”
WESTERN CIVILIZATION AS CULTURAL SYNTHESIS: It started with the Greeks, according to Instanpunditeer Lee Dise, in day one of his HillFaith series on Lessons from History.
STATE LEGISLATURES NEED TO TERMINATE THE ABA’S ROLE IN ACCREDITATION: Law Students Face Mandatory Bias Training Beginning In Fall 2022 Under Proposed ABA Diversity Accreditation Requirement.
It has become politicized and intrusive.
Related: “Recommended actions that would demonstrate ‘progress…under the Standard’ would include (206-5) ‘Diversity, equity, and inclusion training.’ This raises two concerns. First, there is evidence that such ‘training’ is not effective, and can even be counter-productive. Second, and even more seriously, such training will almost certainly violate the academic freedom rights of faculty at many (probably most) schools by demanding conformity to a particular ideology about ‘diversity,’ its meaning, and its value.”
SUPREME COURT HAS AGREED TO HEAR THE HARVARD CASE ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ASIAN AMERICANS: A few of my preliminary thoughts are on the Volokh Conspiracy.
(I’ve noticed sales of A Dubious Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education picked up the day the Supreme Court announced its decision.)
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Asians Get The Ivy League’s Jewish Treatment.
Facing a potential fraud investigation by the state of Florida, GoFundMe reversed a decision to redistribute money given by thousands of donors to the Canadian “Freedom Convoy” protesting COVID-19 regulations.
On Friday, the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe froze the convoy’s official campaign, claiming law enforcement convinced the company that the convoy had become violent and unlawful.
GoFundMe encouraged donors to submit a refund form, and said that any funds not properly returned to donors would be donated to a charity chosen by the Freedom Convoy.
Within hours, however, GoFundMe walked back the refund applications, instead announcing it would be refunding donors automatically.
Related: Freedom Convoy Raises $2M on GiveSendGo After GoFundMe Removes Campaign.
ONLY BELIEVE IT’S A CRISIS IF THE PEOPLE WHO TELL YOU IT’S A CRISIS ACT LIKE IT’S A CRISIS:
YEAH, BUT NOW THE PARTIES HAVE SWITCHED: “If it looks like President Biden’s nominee will divide the Senate strictly along party lines, some will argue that the Vice President cannot break the tie. Back in 2020, noted Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe advanced this position in a Boston Globe op-ed, anticipating a possible 50-50 vote on the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett. (She was ultimately confirmed 52-48.)”
I predict that if it comes to that, Tribe will cave under pressure, as he did over NAFTA.
CRACK PIPES – YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: Patrick Hauf at The Washington Free Beacon reports this unbelievable — even for the Biden White House — story:
“The Biden administration is set to fund the distribution of crack pipes to drug addicts as part of its plan to advance ‘racial equity.’ The $30 million grant program, which closed applications Monday and will begin in May, will provide funds to nonprofits and local governments to help make drug use safer for addicts.
“Included in the grant, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, are funds for ‘smoking kits/supplies.’ A spokesman for the agency told the Washington Free Beacon that these kits will provide pipes for users to smoke crack cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and ‘any illicit substance.'”
No, I am not making this up and it’s not April 1.
HOW VERY META: Famous Marketing Professor Calls Facebook’s Metaverse a ‘Flaming Bag of S**t.’
Turns out at least one major marketing expert agrees with what the plebeian public already knows — Mark Zuckerberg may not be able to pull off this Metaverse thing.
On a new new episode of Vox’s Pivot podcast with Kara Swisher, renowned NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway laid the cards on the table. While he gave Zuckerberg credit for being a “visionary” who’s doing the right things to try and pivot a sinking ship — aka Meta-formerly-known-as-Facebook, which is now losing active users for the first time ever — but he’s not convinced that its Metaverse is headed in the right direction.
“If he pulls it off, it’ll be one of the most impressive feats in — not even corporate renewal — but vision around maintaining growth,” Galloway said during the podcast. “I don’t think they’re going to. I think this thing is already a giant flaming bag of shit.”
Part of Zuckerberg’s problem, according to Galloway, is that Meta’s Quest headset, previously known as Oculus, is still way too clunky to impress Meta’s target audience.
Facebook is free and exists on any device users want it on. Meta’s Quest is expensive and sits on users’ heads.
Awful as Facebook is, Meta is worse.
As I’ve noted before, judges are overwhelmingly members of the Gentry Class and — as with other members of that class — loyalty to tribal beliefs tends to trump all else with them.
RIGHT TO KNOW: How Many U.S. Agencies Are Funding Peter Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance Pulling Viruses Out of Animals? “EcoHealth Alliance CEO Peter Daszak just got another taxpayer-funded windfall. Instead of being deposed regarding his firm’s work at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, he is receiving a new pile of cash from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The new award gives EcoHealth Alliance $4,675,023 for a five-year project in Liberia, on the continent of Africa. USAID awarded the funding well after serious questions surfaced about EcoHealth Alliance’s coronavirus research. There are ample concerns about whether those activities violated the Obama administration’s ban on gain-of-function research even if they did not create the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”
THE LIST OF THINGS THAT BRING ME JOY AT 4AM IS VERY SHORT: The Quiet Joy Of Working At 4:00 AM.
ON SUNDAY’S I RUN A PROMO FOR (MOSTLY) INDIE WRITERS ON MY BLOG: Book Promo And Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.
There is also a vignette writing challenge that sometimes becomes fun and has birthed several novels.
A BETTER OPTION IS TO SHIP NUKES TO THE OBJECT, SHIFT ITS TRAJECTORY AND MINE IT FOR MINERALS: Humanity could avoid asteroid apocalypse with nukes, scientists reveal.
BECAUSE THE MONEY AND THE POWER WAS THE LEFT’S TO CONFER, THAT’S WHY: Why did the media choose to geld themselves?
BEHOLD, MY SHOCKED FACE: Memphis BLM founder Pamela Moses sentenced to 6 years for illegally voting.
COMPANIES NEED TO STOP THINKING TWITTER IS LIFE: Spotify deleted over 100 episodes of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast.
THE MALICIOUS LEADING THE IDIOTS: Germany to raze a 1,000-year-old forest in the name of ‘going green’.