THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT’S WEB SITE:  You may want to take a look at this.  Really.

GOT AN HOUR?:  This documentary on Thomas Sowell, hosted by Jason Riley, was definitely worth my time.  Maybe yours too.

PREJUDICE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE:  Does the popular race Implicit Association Test stand up to careful scrutiny?

THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRAISES THE MASSACRE OF ISRAELI ATHLETES AT THE MUNICH OLYMPICS:  Alas, that’s a dog bites man story.  For decades, Palestinian children have been taught in school that they should hate Israel.   When they grow up, they still do.  But John Hinderaker makes a useful point about it at the end of his Powerline Post.

TRANSGENDER DÉJÀ VU: I am waiting to see if (or rather when) the Biden Administration re-issues the Obama Era transgender Title IX bathroom guidance. My amicus brief in the Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. case still demonstrates why that guidance misstated the law and why, under the actual law, school districts have the discretion in this area. Bostock v. Clayton Co. (2020) does not conflict with my analysis. Its hyper-textual analysis arguably bolsters it.

THAT WAS FAST:  Minutes after Biden took office, the Report of President Trump’s 1776 Commission (on which my colleague Peter Kirsanow served) was taken off the White House website.  I am told a Biden Executive Order has abolished the 1776 Commission already.

This afternoon I got an email from Pete.  As he put it,  this “tells you everything about the Left’s priorities–can’t have the truth about America out there for even a minute” and “I’m sure the Fahrenheit 451 crowd is tracking down every copy they can.”

NOT THEIR PILLOW ANYMORE:  “My Pillow CEO says Bed, Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s to stop selling his products.”

A QUICK WAY TO COUNTER BIG TECH CENSORSHIP?:  It’s worth considering.  North Dakota appears to be already doing so.

NEW NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS REPORT:  Freedom to Learn:  Amending the Higher Education Act.

JOIN US:  On Friday, the Pacific Legal Foundation is sponsoring a webinar entitled, “Was 2020 a Turning Point for Identity Politics?”  It will feature Anastasia Boden, Wen Fa, Glenn Loury, and me.

HENRY FORD WAS GREEN WHEN GREEN WASN’T COOL: On this day in history, 1942, Henry Ford patented a car made of soybeans. Sort of.

TUCKER CARLSON:  Meet Biden’s nominee to be Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.  Unbelievable.

THOMAS SOWELL:  “Is Truth Irrelevant?”  Evidently, yes.

ARKANSAS IS CONSIDERING A “STAND YOUR GROUND” LAW; OHIO NOW HAS ONE: In truth, it surprises me that these laws create as much controversy as they do.

ONE OF THE LAST OF WWII’S “SPITFIRE WOMEN” DIES AT 103:  “[W]e had a job to do [and] we just got on and did it.”

FACTS WIN OUT:  Jonathan Leaf reviews Peter Wood’s “learned and thoughtful demolition of the 1619 Project.”

HOT OFF THE PRESS!: If you want to know how we got to the point where almost anything an employer might want to do is forbidden, check out the final version of my disparate impact article, entitled “Title VII Disparate Impact Liability Makes Almost Everything Presumptively Illegal.”

WAPO:  “Trump Administration Seeks to Undo Decades-Long Rules on Discrimination.”

It’s not clear from the article, but it appears the Trump Administration is (finally) trying to rein in disparate impact liability under Title VI.  Disparate impact liability has always been a scandal. It is liability not for discrimination at all.  Rather, it makes just about everything a recipient of federal funds can do presumptively illegal, regardless of whether it is motivated by race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.  The Supreme Court determined long ago that Title VI (as opposed to Title VII) does NOT impose liability for disparate impact.  But that hasn’t stopped the federal bureaucracy from taking the the (erroneous) position that Title VI regulations can and do impose disparate impact liability even if Title VI itself doesn’t.  You can read why the bureaucracy is dead wrong in my school discipline article.

Alas, if this 11th hour action by the Trump Administration is what I think it is, it can be rather easily repealed by the Biden Administration.

THE GREAT DIAMOND HOAX OF 1872: If you’ve ever been to NW Colorado, you may have seen Diamond Peak. If you’ve wondered if there are diamonds there, the answer, sadly, is no. But there is a story—one the San Francisco Chronicle called “the most gigantic and barefaced swindle of the age.”

It concerns two prospectors (or, more accurately, two grifters)—the flamboyant Philip Arnold, a Kentuckian born in the same county as Honest Abe Lincoln, and his taciturn cousin John Slack. Arnold had worked for a short while at the Diamond Drill Co. During that period, he had “acquired” a number of uncut industrial-grade diamonds. The diamonds were not especially valuable, but they looked impressive—enough so to thrill several San Francisco investors.

The cousins had a knack for causing such thrills. They told investors that they had found a huge diamond deposit. They appeared concerned—almost overly concerned—about keeping the location of their find secret. This only intrigued investors.

There’s a reason they called this the “Great” Diamond Hoax. Arnold and Slack could have taken the initial relatively modest amounts they were given as investments and run. But instead they traveled to London under assumed names, purchased more uncut diamonds and returned to San Francisco with more “proof” of their find. The list of willing investors grew and grew. It included Charles Tiffany, General George B. McClellan, and General (and Congressman) Benjamin Butler, among many other prominent citizens of the day.

(more…)

STEVE HAYWARD:  I Heart Gridlock.  (And right now it may be the only halfway appetizing thing on the menu.)

TWO HUNDRED FORTY YEARS AGO TODAY: Gen. Benedict Arnold—whose name, even today, is synonymous with “traitor”—led an army of about 1600, mostly American loyalist “green coats,” up the James River in Virginia. Their mission was to capture the City of Richmond for the British.

Alas, this was not the Old Dominion’s finest hour. Only 200 militiamen showed up to defend the city. Where were the rest? Many were said to have already served their time in the militia. They believed they had discharged whatever duty they owed. It was somebody else’s turn—or that’s how they saw it.

When Arnold’s superior forces confronted them, the tiny band of Virginians quickly broke and ran. Panic ensued. Governor Thomas Jefferson ordered the evacuation of all military supplies. He then fled in his carriage, and so did other government officials and their families—much to the dismay of the Richmond residents who were left behind.

By noon, Gen. Arnold’s troops were marching into the city. Not a shot was fired to prevent them. Arnold sent a message to Jefferson that he would spare the city if Jefferson turned over to him the city’s armaments and tobacco. Jefferson declined and, as a result, Richmond was torched and looted.

Of course, that’s not the end of the story. While no one could have imagined it on January 5, the surrender at Yorktown, which is about 60 miles to Richmond’s southeast, would come in September.  Fortunes can change very quickly in this world of ours.  That should give us reason for optimism (though in fairness I guess it should also give us reason for pessimism when things are going well).

(By the way, here’s a question for you: What motivated Arnold to be a traitor? Some say an important factor was his wife— “the very young, very pretty, very Tory Peggy Shippen.” Maybe.)

MURDER RATES SKYROCKET:  Don’t look now, but the whole country seems to be coming undone.

HAVE MERCY:  The IRS plans to get tough on small business next year with a 50% increase in audits.

Of course, at the rate we’re going, there may not be any small businesses left to audit by next year .

I MISSED THIS IN AUGUST:  Machiavellians, narcissists, and psychopaths more likely to signal virtuous victimhood.  I guess that’s not a shock, but it’s interesting to see somebody nail it down.  (Popular media mention of study here.)