POLITICS IS THEIR RELIGION: I can’t believe this is real and not a Saturday Night Live skit, but a Reform temple in New Jersey actually substituted the traditional haftorah reading on Rosh Hashanah (the additional reading from the Torah beyond the requisite portion of the week) for a reading, with the traditional haftorah tune, of some of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s writings.

Putting aside the substitution of politics for religion, I think more than anything else I’ve ever seen this makes the case that we need to reform our judicial system to eliminate the cult of personality that develops around long-serving Justices. And I say that as someone who admired Ginsburg, despite my disagreements with her.

SPEAKING OF COVER-UPS: Until my research assistant gathered these names for me, I would not have recognized what they have in common, because of what can only be described as a widespread unwillingness of the MSM to cover important things that conflict with the narrative reporters and editors collectively want to establish. Do you know what these names have in common?
1. Javar Harrell
2. Dave Patrick Underwood
3. Chris Beaty
4. Dorian Murrell
5. Italia Kelly
6. Marquis M. Tousant
7. Marvin Francois
8. John Tiggs
9. Jose Gutierrez
10. Victor Cazares Jr.
11. David Dorn
12. Horace Lorenzo Anderson
13. Tyler Gerth
14. Antonio Mays Jr.
15. Secoriea Turner
16. Jessica Doty Whitaker
17. Aaron Danielson
(more…)

WHEN AYN RAND NOVELS BECOME OUR LIVED REALITY: NPR decides that now is a good time to showcase an author of a book called “In Defense of Looting.” NPR’s Report starts: “In the past months of demonstrations for Black lives, there has been a lot of hand-wringing about looting.” Handwringing? H/T Wally Olson.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Dear Looters: Feel free to visit NPR Headquarters in DC!

IN SHORT, SHE’S NO MODERATE: Hans Bader: The Progressive Media Mislabels Kamala Harris. Anyone who isn’t the favored candidate of the woke far left (in this case it was Liz Warren) is now a moderate.

THERE IS NO BOX ON GOVERNMENT FORMS FOR “JUST AMERICAN”: Is Kamala Harris Legally African American, Indian, Both, Neither, or Something Else? And I’m somewhere between amused and bemused that the progressives who insisted that Biden must pick a “woman of color” or “African American” woman are all like, “how dare you discuss what Sen. Harris’ race is, she’s just an American!” This is how American racial categories roll. The left wants everyone to be categorized by the government, but for the categories to never be discussed because they are so obviously arbitrary, counter-productive, absurd and ultimately indefensible.

My wife, who is apparently a glutton for punishment, listened to an entire Arlington County school board meeting last night. School is online only indefinitely. She reports there was great concern expressed about, and discussion of how to help: (1) the teachers, especially those who will have kids at home (the proposal was to give teachers with kids ten and younger child care, and no one else); (2) the staff, who should not be subject to any layoffs or hours reductions, even if, like extended-day staff, they have nothing to do; (3) poor kids who rely on school lunches; and (4) poor kids who have trouble accessing the internet.

Other than (4), there was essentially no discussion of educating students, which was a disaster online in the Spring, nor concern expressed for parents who can’t afford childcare, can’t afford tutors to help their kids, and who are otherwise experiencing a looming disaster with indefinite school closure.

The way at least my county school system has reacted to this crisis would have been considered outrageous ideological propaganda if a libertarian-oriented public choice scholar had predicted it. I’ve heard the same about other districts.

WE ARE LIVING IN BIZARRO WORLD, WHERE EVERYTHING IS OPPOSITE: CEO of Boston’s Tatte bakery chain steps down amid discrimination accusations.

A petition signed by nearly 300 current and former employees details comments and actions that they found offensive or discriminatory, including “crude, sexual remarks made about customers, performative alignment with LGBTQ+ organizations, promoting ‘inclusive’ optics on social media, queerphobic and ableist comments by management, and firing employees who do not fit the ‘Tatte aesthetic.'”

So one of the accusations is that she supported LGBT etc. organizations, and another is that she made sure that the company’s ads were “inclusive,” i.e., included a ethnically and otherwise diverse group of models. This is seen as evidence as racism and homophobia (as it would be if she had done the opposite.)

THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT CONTINUES TO MAKE ITSELF LOOK FOOLISH: Drudge linked this study, which purports to show that “recovered” Covid patients have high rates of heart issues as detected via imaging. I read the study and I saw a lot of problems, the most glaring of which is the way the authors define “recovered.” Recovered means that the subject tested negative for Covid after previously testing positive. The subjects may have just tested negative the day before they were imaged. In other words, while they no longer had Covid, their bodies did not have time to heal/recover from whatever damage Covid wrought.

I thought to myself that perhaps, though I do teach scientific evidence and thus know how to read a study, surely I’m missing or misunderstanding something. But then I read the accompanying editorial comment, which states, “There are important residual questions about potential selection bias and generalizability and not all of the patients may have recovered…”

What? You can’t (well, you obviously can, but shouldn’t) publish a paper that purports to be about “recovered” Covid patients when you, the editor, has doubts about whether (or how many of) the subjects were actually recovered!

SPOILER: IT’S THE “PROGRESSIVE” LEFT THAT INSISTS THAT THE GOVERNMENT FORCE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHERS TO USE TOTALLY UNSCIENTIFIC “RACIAL” CATEGORIES: Two Decades Ago, The FDA and NIH Mandated the Use of Race to Categorize Subjects and Report Results in Medical and Scientific Research They Oversee. It was a Huge Mistake. If you don’t have time to read the link, just consider this. The FDA and NIH require researchers to break down their results by various categories, including “Hispanics.” Putting aside the dubious scientific salience of ‘race,’ Hispanics can be of European, Indian, Asian, or African origin, or any combination of those. What possible scientific rationale could there be to report the results of, for example, a drug trial by Hispanic status? But that’s exactly the sort of voodoo that the government requires.

WHEN WOKES AND RACISTS ACTUALLY AGREE ON EVERYTHING: Video here.

BAD EXPERIENCE WITH LORDANDTAYLOR.COM AND THE CAPITAL ONE SPARK CARD: Long story short… My wife bought a dress for L&T.com. They had, at the time, a 60-day return policy. She returned it within the 60 day period. They refused the return because it was not within their 15-day return policy. It turns out they had changed their return policy after her purchase. Wife called, explained this. They refused to budge. Challenged the charge with Capital One, with full documentation. Capital One sided with Lord and Taylor. I called to ask why, and was told that “visa policy” was that we needed an acknowledgement from the merchant that they accepted the return. I explained that the problem was that they didn’t accept their return, contrary to the existing return policy when she ordered the dress. The phone rep. was sympathetic, but said she was powerless to help. Guess which credit card I am canceling as soon as I finish this blog post?

UPDATE: Someone gave me a tip that physical Lord and Taylor stores are being much better about returns than the website, so I called and they told me they would take the dress back if it was unworn and still had tags. The closest store is almost a half-hour away, but this was an unusually expensive dress for my wife (a candidate for mom-of-the-bat-mitzvah-girl dress), so it was worthwhile. Still not happy that I had to waste that time and energy, but better than not getting a refund.

BARI WEISS RESIGNS FROM NEW YORK TIMES, ALLEGING THE PAPER IS RIFE WITH GROUPTHINK, SELF-CENSORSHIP, AND AN ANTISEMITIC HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT: Her resignation letter is something… Weiss is only conservative by Upper West Side standards, but her letter validates what a lot of people on the right have surmised goes on at the Times.

LET’S RENAME THE REDSKINS TO BETTER REFLECT LOCAL CULTURE: “The Washington Lobbyists.” “The Washington Special Interests.” “The Washington Underpaid Holders of Useless Masters’ Degrees Working at NGOs.” “The Washington Logrollers.” “The Washington Vulnerable Incumbents.” “The Washington Expense Accounts.” “The Washington Blusterers.” “The Washington Anonymous Sources.” “The Washington Backstabbers.” “The Washington Midlevel Bureaucrats.” “The Washington GS-13s.” “The Washington Gridlock.” “The Washington Demagogues.” For my academic friends, “The Washington Rent-Seekers.”

MORE: “The Washington Scandals.” “The Washington Deep State.” “The Washington Cover-Ups.” “The Washington Talking Heads.” “The Washington Kinsley Gaffes.” “The Washington Tax Loopholes.”

ONCE AGAIN, THE MEDIA IS LYING: I’ve seen countless stories about ICE’s “new” student visa requirement barring student visas for students who would be taking only online classes. The idea that this is “new” is false. Foreign students are required to take a “full course of study” to fulfill visa requirements. The longstanding rule is that a study may take only one online class per semester as part of the full course of study. ICE *may* allow a student to take more than one online course, but any additional course must be taken in the physical presence of a university instructor. Here is the DHS webpage from 2012, in the Obama years:

An F-1 student may only count one online or distance education course without the physical oversight of a school employee (or the equivalent of three credits) toward a full-course of study per academic term. F-1 students may be eligible to take more than one online class to maintain their status as long as the class is physically proctored or monitored by a school employee.

ICE waived the rule for the Spring and Summer 2020 semesters due the Covid emergency. Given that Congress has now had four months to address the issue but has not, it’s not clear what the “emergency” would be that would allow ICE to ignore a binding regulation.

In any event, given that the regulation is clear that foreign students may not stay in the U.S. on student visas if they are taking online only classes, and given that universities knew they may have to go all online this Fall, why are so many university “leaders” acting like the government actually enforcing the rule once the immediate emergency has passed is a complete surprise? Surely it was *possible* that ICE would agree to continue to not enforce a rule, but surely any decent university lawyer would have understood that it was not a certainty, and would have been advising the provost to make contingency plans for foreign students. And, though the answer here is obvious, why are so many reporters stating that this is a “new” rule?

I INCREASINGLY THINK WE ARE LIVING IN SUPERMAN’S BIZARRO WORLD: Re the below, note (1) that New York Times journalist Farnaz Fassihi is, for lack of better terminology, white/Caucasian; (2) she is criticizing white people, from which she inexplicably implicitly exempts herself, for weighing in on diversity, etc.; (3) the article she links to quite explicitly states that the letter in question was initiated by an African American man; and (4) thus, by her own logic, she is barred from weighing in. This is today’s New York Times–lies, deceit, and some very convenient claims of victim status to shut up anyone not fully marching in the woke parade.

UPDATE: As for privilege, from Fassihi’s Wikipedia bio: “Her great-great grandmother is said to be Taj Saltaneh Qajar, the most notable daughter of Naser al-Din Shah, who ruled over Iran from 1848 to 1896.”

AND JUST TO BE CLEAR, “PUSHED A NARRATIVE” MEANS “LIED THROUGH HIS TEETH:

INTERESTING WHAT YOU ARE STILL ALLOWED TO SAY IN THESE OH-SO-SENSITIVE DAYS: Here’s someone whose Linkedin profile identifies her as an Assistant Attorney General in Vermont arguing, if I interpret this word salad correctly, that if a Jewish student isn’t actively working to undermine Israel, he or she should not be in college. Somehow, I don’t trust her to administer justice in a nondiscriminatory way.

LOCKDOWNS FOR THEE, BUT NOT FOR ME: Mark Lurie, associate professor of epidemiology at Brown University’s School of Public Health, March 26, 2020: “If you don’t follow the CDC recommendations, you’re increasing (the chance) that you’re going to get infected and that you’re going to infect other people.” Lurie said that “denialism” is something that’s been seen at the beginning of other epidemics, but the more coronavirus “infiltrates our daily lives, the more people are going to take it more seriously.” “The virus doesn’t care about your party affiliation or you political beliefs.” “If you don’t follow the CDC recommendations, you’re increasing (the chance) that you’re going to get infected and that you’re going to infect other people.”

Same Mark Lurie, today’s New York Times: “Instinctively, many of us in public health feel a strong desire to act against accumulated generations of racial injustice.” “But we have to be honest: A few weeks before, we were criticizing protesters for arguing to open up the economy and saying that was dangerous behavior.” He said he took his daughter to a protest early in June and felt a chaser of regret in its wake. “We felt afterward that the risk we incurred probably exceeded the entire risk in the previous two months,” he said. “We undid some very hard work, and I don’t see how actions like that can help in battling this epidemic, honestly.”

At least Lurie, unlike some others, kinda sorta acknowledges he’s being a hypocrite, though it would be nice to see an apology to those he accused of putting their political beliefs above public health, because he did exactly that. I don’t know when, if ever, “public health experts” will regain the public’s trust after this debacle.

THE AMERICAN PRAVDA: I had to go to an Australian news source to discover that the driver of the vehicle that sped into BLM protesters in Seattle is an African American. (Apologies if one of my colleagues at Instapundit covered this, I have been away for the holiday weekend.) I have to assume that American media outlets know this, and decided intentionally not to mention it to create the implication that this was a racist murder, rather than a guy driving recklessly on what he thought was an abandoned highway. I increasingly feel like I’m living somewhere akin to the former USSR, in terms of the way the media are dedicated to a particular narrative regardless of the facts. At least unlike in the USSR I can access alternative sources to our equivalent of Pravda.

HOW CONSUMED WITH HATRED DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO ROOT FOR COVID-19?: Krugman-level hatred.

MEDIA FAIL: Trump says the most violent cities are all run by Democrats; Washington Post retorts, “Only 19 of 20, and the 20th is run by an independent, so there.”

CLEARLY: Lawyer: Vermont School Violated Free Speech by Removing Principal Who Criticized BLM.

UNEXPECTEDLY: Surge in L.A. Cases of Coronavirus Attributed to Protests: “It’s ‘highly likely’ that the surge is connected to mass protests that erupted in recent weeks over the death of George Floyd, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.”

DID THE MASSIVE RALLIES OF THE PAST FEW WEEKS REALLY HAPPEN: The Washington Post has this story, about foreign bigwigs being astounded by what the article describes as the Trump administration’s inept handling of the coronavirus, and what they see as the U.S. giving up on containing it. I don’t think any of our elites come off especially well in how they have handled the virus, but I do seem to recall this series of events, which is entirely absent from the Post article: (1) Hundreds of thousands of people coming out in the streets with little social distancing in defiance of all previous public health guidance; (2) various mayors and governors who had been among the strictest in fining, denouncing, and generally bullying anyone who defied social distancing guidelines not only not trying to break up these gatherings, not only leaving them alone, but actually (3) attending them, encouraging their attendees, and praising them; (4) various respected public health experts, who had previously been adamant about banning large public gatherings, at best not saying anything (with very few exceptions) and in many cases actually praising the gatherings as a net benefit to public health; (5) leading to even more people coming out on the streets in defiance of all prior public health guidance on social distancing, tens of thousands at a time all over the country; (6) leading to the utter breakdown of obedience by the rest of the population to any distancing guidelines, as many people who had been banned from attending church, funerals, opening their businesses, and so on figured that the people who had been insisting on strict social distancing were frauds and liars.

But since the Washington Post couldn’t find a single foreign observer to comment on such a remarkable chain of events, and since in any event they can’t be blamed on Trump, they must never have happened, must be my imagination.

I ALSO CALLED BIDEN AND WITHDREW MY NAME LAST NIGHT: Amy Klobuchar drops out of Biden VP contention. After all, I had about as much chance as she did at that point.