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Alas, if this 11th hour action by the Trump Administration is what I think it is, it can be rather easily repealed by the Biden Administration.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

THE LONG MARCH THROUGH THE INSTITUTIONS IS COMPLETE–THE LEFT CONTROLS TEEN VOGUE: Teen Vogue publishes a column entitled “No Class” written by a leftist union organizer. The most recent installment is “What the Labor Movement Wants from Joe Biden.” Of particular interest to me was its demand for the repeal of the so-called “subminimum wage” for severely disabled workers.

There’s one thing you can count on:  Eliminating the “subminimum wage” will almost certainly eliminate jobs for Down Syndrome workers. I can only assume that’s what unions want.  They’re just not allowed to say it.

A couple of months ago, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a report that sided with the labor movement on this issue. (As usual, I dissented.)  It received almost 10,000 public comments on this topic—more than we have ever received on any topic. About 98% of those who submitted comments—most of them parents or other relatives of severely disabled workers—urged the Commission NOT to eliminate the sub minimum wage option.    Apparently, we are supposed to believe that Teen Vogue and the labor movement care more about the welfare of Down Syndrome workers than their own parents do.

JOHN ROSENBERG:  “If Democrats Win in Georgia, Racial Equality Loses.”

BIDEN’S NOMINEE FOR EPA CHIEF IS KNOWN FOR HIS INTEREST IN COMBATTING “ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM”: If he’s confirmed by the Senate, we will likely be in for an interesting few years.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights did a report on environmental racism a few years back. Its empirical research demonstrated the opposite of what my progressive colleagues expected: It showed that coal ash dumps were disproportionately located near whites. Somehow that research got buried in the report. My dissent is here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OZZIE SMITH: My favorite baseball player ever turns 66 today.  (Come for the somersaults, stay for the game.)

ODDEST CHRISTMAS EVER:  I spent the entire day working on the copyedits for the volume of essays my gentlemen friend and I working on for Encounter Books.  The book should be out in a few months.  It will have essays by John Ellis, Gail Heriot, Gail Heriot & Carissa Mulder, Lance Izumi & Rowena Itchon, Peter Kirsanow, Heather Mac Donald, Maimon Schwarzschild, and Peter Wood.

I’m pleased and excited about the book (more details to follow), but … well … working on copyedits would be a tedious way to spend an ordinary working day.  Doing it on Christmas Day felt completely wrong … almost disorienting.

Just wait till next year:  Biggest tree ever.  Decorations for the whole house.  Poinsettias.  Christmas turkey.  Figgy pudding.  Egg nog.  Hark the Herald Angels Sing.  Guaranteed.

BIDEN PROMISES TO END PROLONGED DETENTION AT IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTERS: That’s great if he can do it consistently with enforcing the law.

But it may be worth pointing out that when I inspected an immigration detention center a couple of years ago with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, my colleagues and I were a bit surprised that it was as nice as it was. Naturally, what we actually saw didn’t make it into the Commission’s report (which instead parroted unsubstantiated rumors, some of which were obviously and even provably false).  But it did make it into my dissent.

ANOTHER DEFECTION:  “A dissident women’s studies PhD speaks out.“

DON’T SELL TOO EARLY:  On this day in 1878, Louis-Joseph Chevrolet, race car driver, car designer, and co-founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company, was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.  Being the co-founder of Chevrolet didn’t make him rich.  He sold out to his partner after just four years (who soon sold to General Motors).  But his name lives on.

IT’S ALL HOW YOU LOOK AT IT: Three different left-leaning media outlets reporting on the same year-end ICE report show that the Washington Post beats the competition at coming up with dramatic sounding but ultimately misleading headlines.

ICE Arrests and Deportations Drop Sharply in 2020, Largely Due to the Pandemic—CBS News.

US Immigration Arrests Down 27% in 2020—A Trend Activists Hope Biden Will Continue—Reuters.

Deportations of Migrant Families Spiked in 2020—Washington Post.

The “spike” that the Washington Post points to is actually good news no matter what one’s views on immigration law enforcement: ICE has entered into an agreement with Central American countries that allows it to verify quickly where illegal entrants are from, thus allowing for quick repatriation without the need for an extensive stay at an immigration detention center.  One has to read well into the article before one learns that deportations are way down.

The original headline for Washington Post might have been something like “ICE Deportation Decline,” since that is what’s on the URL, but the “spike” headline is what’s there now.

MORE “STAND YOUR GROUND” CONTROVERSY:  Ohio governor is deciding whether to sign or veto “Stand Your Ground” law.

OUR COUNTRY IS DYING OF STUPIDITY:  Fairfax County, Virginia judge decides black defendant can’t get fair trial in courtroom featuring portraits of white judges.

IN RED STATES TOO:  Anti-racism training comes to Louisiana State U.

THUS SPEAKS “THE NATION”:  “The Votes of Black Americans Should Count Twice:  Vote reparations would empower us to replace oppressive institutions with life-affirming structures of equality.”

NOT SURE THAT’S CONSTITUTIONAL:  The VA has said that it plans to prioritize racial minority members over whites in the distribution of the COVID vaccine.  My colleague Peter Kirsanow and I express our misgivings here.

JOHN FUND:  California’s Business Climate Deniers.