HOW GRIGGS v. DUKE POWER CO.’S DISPARATE IMPACT THEORY HAS HELPED CREATE STUDENT DEBT:  “A Novel Plan to Reduce Student Debt.”

For the background all conservatives should have on disparate impact liability and why Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971), was an utter usurpation by the Supreme Court, please read “Title VII Disparate Impact Liability Makes Almost Everything Presumptively Illegal.”  Our legal system is soooo messed up.

HANS BADER:  “Minneapolis Schools Will Lay Off White Teachers First.“

THIS IS TERRIFYING TO ME:  Fortunately, the schools are getting major pushback:

As a teacher in Oakland, Calif., Kareem Weaver helped struggling fourth- and fifth-grade kids learn to read by using a very structured, phonics-based reading curriculum called Open Court. It worked for the students, but not so much for the teachers. “For seven years in a row, Oakland was the fastest-gaining urban district in California for reading,” recalls Weaver. “And we hated it.”

The teachers felt like curriculum robots—and pushed back. “This seems dehumanizing, this is colonizing, this is the man telling us what to do,” says Weaver, describing their response to the approach. “So we fought tooth and nail as a teacher group to throw that out.” It was replaced in 2015 by a curriculum that emphasized rich literary experiences. “Those who wanted to fight for social justice, they figured that this new progressive way of teaching reading was the way,” he says.

Phonics.  Phonics. Phonics.  It’s the approach that works.

UNITED BODEGAS OF AMERICA WANTS NEW YORK TO PASS A “STAND YOUR GROUND” LAW:  Well, it does make sense.  Why should a small business owner have to run away while his business is being raped?  Count me with the bodega guys on this one.

LADYLIKE BEHAVIOR:  Transgender cheerleader allegedly tries to choke teammate who wasn’t into this gender identity stuff.

IT ALREADY HAS:  The DEI DIE Revolution Will Transform Tenure.

HARVARD WILL BE REPRESENTED BY ZOMBIES AND ORCS:  Oral arguments in the Supreme Court cases against Harvard and the University of North Carolina will be held on Halloween.  I hope that doesn’t turn out to be a bad omen.

Here’s one reason to want to rule against Harvard and UNC.  There are, of course, many others.

REMEMBER WHEN SAN DIEGO WAS A CONSERVATIVE CITY?:  The San Diego Unified School District wants to overthrow “heteronormativity” and promote “genderqueer,” “non-binary,” “pansexual,” and “two-spirit” identities.  Home schooling just became even more popular.

THIS IS REALLY WORTH READING IN FULL:  UNC’s settlement of the Nikole Hannah-Jones lawsuit is really obscene. She gets a modest, but wholly undeserved amount of money ($75,000).  But she also managed to secure “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” sinecures for a boatload (20) university administrators.  Plus more.

JOHN FUND:  Will Sinema Be the Senate’s Iron Lady?

THANK YOU, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS:  The NAS is stating something publicly that would have been uncontroversial even a few years ago.  In “Against Transgenderism,” it declares what everybody knows but is afraid to say out loud:  Thinking you’re a woman is not the same as actually being a woman.  Ditto for thinking you’re a man.  It’s utter lunacy that it takes cojones (of the metaphorical sort) to say so, but that’s where we are today.  One day people will look back on our era and wonder what the heck with wrong with us.

Please support the NAS in any way you can.  They stick their necks out in so many ways so you don’t have to.  (Yes, I have a bit of a bias here.  I’ve been a member for about 30 years and a board member for about 20.  I’m darn proud of it, too.)

PURR:  Pizza guy rescues children from burning building.

ABOLISH EVERYTHING:  “Joe Biden Urged to Abolish ICE as Agency Reportedly Runs Out of Money.”

(FWIW, when I toured immigration detention facilities a few years ago they turned out to be much nicer than I had been led to believe.)

INFORM, ENCOURAGE, ENGAGE:   Californians for Equal Rights Foundation proudly presents our first ever Annual Conference:  Fighting Preferences and Indoctrination in Education.  If you’re going to be in Southern California on Saturday, September 3, come join us.  Speakers include Williamson Ever, Wen Fa, Rick Sander, Eli Steele, and me.  Early Bird registration is $50 for this day-long event and includes breakfast and lunch.

THE AMY WAX SAGA:   Professor Wax stands accused of making minority students feel bad.  Alas, a lot of what she has to say is simply the obvious and true:  Minority students who receive preferential treatment in admissions (or any students who receive preferential treatment) will, on average, do less well than students who weren’t given preferential treatment. Duh.  That’s why schools established admissions standards in the first place.

Penn law dean Ted Ruger is seeking to impose a “major sanction” on Wax.  In fact, he been trying to get her to resign for a while now.

Yesterday, the Academic Freedom Alliance (of which I am a founding member) sent a letter defending Professor Wax.

This story continues to develop.

DEVON WESTHILL KNOWS FROM EXPERIENCE:  “Going Soft on Black Children’s Misbehavior is the Wrong Policy Prescription.”

IN DEFENSE OF THE LSAT:  Those who oppose the LSAT argue it is not an objective measure of aptitude.  But the truth is the opposite.  They oppose the LSAT because they don’t like objective measures.  They prefer to be able to manipulate admissions criteria according to their political preferences.

HARVARD SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED:  The Harvard University web site refers to Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which is currently pending before the Supreme Court, as a “politically motivated lawsuit.”  Well … I guess … if Harvard means that in the sense that Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was a politically motivated lawsuit, then yes.  The web site also states, “Harvard College does not discriminate against applicants from any group in its admission processes.” This is simply false.

(Here’s my amicus curiae brief supporting Students For Fair Admissions.  After reading the Harvard web site, I’m all the more happy that I had the time to write it.)

COOLEST DAY IN HISTORY:  On this date in 1902, Willis Haviland Carrier completed his design for the modern air conditioner.  God bless him.  I still remember the day the house where I grew up in Virginia got air conditioning.  I was probably about nine years old.

Here’s a reminder of how much difference air conditioning has made:    In 1900, Phoenix’s population was 5,544; today the Phoenix metro area has 4,652,000 people–an unthinkable number without Carrier’s invention.  This afternoon, the temperature in Phoenix is expected to reach 110 degrees.

SOMEWHAT HARSH:  But that doesn’t mean he’s wrong.

I’M HOPING TO BE ABLE TO FIGHT THIS:  “Excusing Misbehavior Is Bad for Kids and Schools, But That’s What Biden Admin Want to do for ‘Equity.‘”  (Here’s my argument.  Oh, and here’s more … I’ve been hammering on this nail for a while.  It’s important.)

SAN DIEGO MAYOR TAKES SIDES IN A LABOR DISPUTE:  I wouldn’t have thought this is a great way to keep business in San Diego.

CHURCH DESECRATED AND SET ON FIRE IN BETHESDA, MARYLAND:  Mostly peaceful, no doubt.  For the record, “Bethesda” or “beth hesda” means “house of mercy” in Hebrew.

NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT:  Efforts to amend the law to increase the caps on Title VII monetary damage awards (on account of inflation) must be resisted.  This article explains why this matters.

COMET!:  On this day in 1801, French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons sighted his first comet.  By the end of his career he had discovered 37 of them–more than anyone in history using visual methods.

Pons was not your average scientist.  He was born to a poor family and had little in the way of formal education.  He was hired to be the caretaker of the Marseille Observatory.  At first, he was not taken seriously by the credentialed scientists Pons assisted.  But after a while, they had to admit that he had a knack for finding comets.  By the end of his career he had been awarded the Lalande Prize three times.