BOTTOM LINE: The California Senate doesn’t give a crap about Down Syndrome workers. It wants them priced out of the job market by phasing out the federal program that allows them to be employed at something less than the soon-to-be $15 minimum wage.
What those nice senators don’t tell you: Parents of Down Syndrome workers overwhelmingly oppose this kind of thing. They understand that their son or daughter will soon be out of a job if it passes.
I’M NOT SAYING IT’S ALIENS, BUT …: Mystery Shaking Felt, Boom Heard Across San Diego County for the Third Time in 2021. (Yes, I definitely felt it.)
UGH: The Left is gearing up to return to the Obama Administration’s wrongheaded policy on school discipline. They are claiming the Commission on Civil Rights has “discredited” the Trump Administration’s position. In reality, it was I who discredited the Commission’s position. Its report was unusually awful even by Commission standards.
To understand why the Obama Administration’s policy against “disparate racial impact in school discipline” is both counterproductive and illegal, read my article here. The Biden Administration is getting ready to make an error that will have serious long-term ramifications.
THE CURRENT CROP OF PROGRESSIVES AREN’T SO KEEN ON THEM EITHER: Why the Early Progressives Rejected American Founding Principles.
CHARLES LIPSON: Who Loses When China’s Bat Cave Implodes?
THE DEMOCRATS MAY BE STARTING TO WORRY: GOP Sweeps in Texas Races Signal Growing Hispanic Support.
UP, UP & AWAY: On this day in 1783, the Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrated their new invention—the hot-air balloon.
Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne were the sons of a prosperous French paper manufacturer. Of the two, Joseph-Michel is thought to have been the “obsessed inventor” type, while Jacque-Étienne was the steady businessman.
Not surprisingly, it was Joseph-Michel who first became intensely interested in aeronautics. Among other things, he was fascinated by the way laundry drying over a fire would billow upwards. He began experimenting with directing heated air into a paper or fabric bag, thus causing the bag to rise. He wrote to his brother, “Get in a supply of taffeta and of cordage, quickly, and you will see one of the most astonishing sights in the world.”
By June 4, 1783, they were ready to demonstrate their invention to a crowd of dignitaries in the town of Annonay. The 10-minute flight was unmanned and undirected, but it was said to have achieved an altitude of about 5200 feet. That’s not bad, especially when compared to the 12-second, 120 feet in distance achieved by the Wright Brothers on their second effort at heavier-than-air flight.
In order to really grab the public’s attention, Jacques-Étienne wanted their balloons to be beautiful. He collaborated with wallpaper manufacturer Jean-Baptiste Réveillon to produce a sky blue one with golden representations of suns and zodiac signs. On September 19, 1783, this balloon was launched from Versailles with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in attendance. It had passengers of sorts—a sheep, a duck and a rooster. (more…)
LISTEN MY CHILDREN AND YOU SHALL HEAR: … about that other guy who took a midnight ride during the American Revolution: Jack Jouett.
On the night of June 3, 1781, Jouett—sometimes called “the Paul Revere of the South”—rode 40 miles on back roads to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson and the members of the Virginia legislature that Col. Banastre Tarleton and his army were coming to get them.
Months before, an unprepared Jefferson had fled Richmond as Loyalist and British soldiers, led by turncoat Benedict Arnold, swept into the largely undefended capital city. Jefferson was now ensconced at Monticello; members of the legislature had gathered in nearby Charlottesville.
But the British were not inclined to let them alone.
Some say the 27-year-old Jouett was asleep on the lawn of the Cuckoo Tavern when he was awakened by the sound of Tarleton’s “White Coats.” Others say he was at his father’s home. In any event, he sprang into action and managed to get to Monticello and to Charlottesville before Tarleton. Jefferson and most of the legislators were able to flee in time (though a few slow pokes were captured).
The year 1781 was not Jefferson’s happiest. He was widely criticized for what was seen as Virginia’s lack preparation for the advance on Richmond. Having to flee twice was humiliating for him. But Jouett was a hero. The legislature re-convened in Staunton and voted him a commendation plus a pair of pistols and a sword. He got the pistols in 1783. Alas, it’s not clear he ever got the sword. Politicians have never been that great at delivering on their promises.
THANKS, POWER LINE: Power Line reviews my book. (You can buy it here.)
THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY RIDES AGAIN: This time, they’re in Tulsa commemorating the Tulsa Riot of 1921. (The last time I dealt with them was when they were involved in voter intimidation in Philadelphia. They’re not exactly your average civic organization.)
NOT SO BIONIC: The Six-Trillion Dollar President.
WILFRED McCLAY: Civic education, rightly understood: To become responsible citizens, young Americans need a full, accurate, and responsible account of their own country.
SOME FOLKS ARE MAD THAT BIDEN HASN’T SHUT DOWN MORE IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITIES YET: Honestly, the ones I visited weren’t bad at all.
I GUESS IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME: On this day in 1855, William Walker, a 31-year-old, European-educated, physician-lawyer-journalist-duelist-adventurer from Tennessee, invaded Nicaragua with a tiny army of about 60 well-armed American “colonists.” Nicaragua had strategic importance in the pre-Panama Canal days. Most shipping between the oceans went up Nicaragua’s San Juan River into Lake Nicaragua and then briefly overland to the Pacific (or vice versa). Walker was a “make no little plans” kind of guy. And he definitely liked a little excitement in life.
This was not Walker’s first rodeo. A few years earlier, he and 45 men had conquered Baja California—sort of. They managed to capture La Paz—then the capital of that sparsely populated territory—where he declared himself “President of the Republic of Lower California” and adopted the law of Louisiana to govern it. Not co-incidentally, that meant slavery was authorized. Walker was apparently hoping that his new nation would eventually enter the Union as a slave state. This made him popular with many Southerners and in particular with the Knights of the Golden Circle (a semi-secret society originally founded for that precise purpose–spreading slavery to Mexico and Central America and then annexing them to the U.S).
A few months later, without actually gaining control of Sonora, he declared Lower California to be a part of a larger “Republic of Sonora” and made himself President of that instead.
NO NOOSE IS GOOD NOOSE: Another “noose” story bites the dust. I hope somebody’s keeping score.
MAVERICK: My copy of Jason Riley’s new biography of Thomas Sowell has arrived. I’m looking forward to reading it.
O TEMPORA! O MORES!: Princeton drops Greek and Latin requirement for Classics majors.
TICK TOCK: On this day in 1859, the four-faced clock in the tower over the Houses of Parliament—designed by Augustus Pugin—started keeping time. Since then, the clock has occasionally stopped—sometimes because of bad weather and at least once because too many starlings decided to roost on its minute hand. But it kept ticking when German bombers damaged two of its dials during the blitzkrieg, so came through when it really counted.
The name “Big Ben” is the nickname for the largest bell in the tower (though it is also commonly applied to the clock and to the tower). The bell is 7 feet, 6 inches tall and 9 feet in diameter, weighs 13.7 tons, and is struck every hour on the hour. Smaller bells are struck every 15 minutes.
The current great bell is actually the second such bell. The first cracked during testing before the bell tower was even completed. The second was thus delivered to the site with great fanfare in a carriage drawn by 16 white horses with crowds cheering its progress. It took 18 hours to hoist it up to the belfry.
Alas, it soon cracked too. Fortunately, George Airy, Astronomer Royal, came up with a simple solution: Give the bell a 90 degree turn and use a smaller hammer. The British can be good at “make do and mend” when circumstances require.
HOT! HOT! HOT!: For your reading pleasure, my new book (co-edited with Maimon Schwarzschild)–A Dubious Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education–is being released TODAY. It contains essays by John Ellis, Gail Heriot, Lance Izumi & Rowena Itchon, Peter Kirsanow, Heather Mac Donald, Gail Heriot & Carissa Mulder, Maimon Schwarzschild, and Peter Wood.
MAYBE IT’S TIME TO RE-OPEN THE CANADIAN BORDER: Or maybe not.
ALAS, I’VE LOST COUNT ON THESE: Confirmed: Black Female Was Behind Racist Instagram Hoax Account.
STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS v. HARVARD: As many of you know, SFFA, the organization that is accusing Harvard of discrimination against Asian Americans, has petitioned the Supreme Court to take up its case. If the Court agrees to do so, that would allows it to reconsider its decision in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)–the case that permits colleges engage in race discrimination to pursue “diversity” in admissions.
Earlier this week, Harvard filed its brief in opposition to SFFA’s petition. In it, Harvard argues (among other things) that race-preferential admissions policies are popular with the American people. As this article shows, that’s nonsense.
SFFA has filed a “waiver of reply,” which will allow the case to proceed toward a conference quickly. It’s possible we will learn whether the Court will take the case as early as June 14. Alternatively, this could drag out a while. We’ll see.
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