ON THIS DAY IN 1899,  Noël Coward was born.  My favorite Coward quote:  “It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”

OK IS NO LONGER OK, OK?:  Rolling Stone breathlessly reports on the OK sign at the Army-Navy game: Was it meant to convey a belief in white supremacy?  Or does the OK sign just mean OK?

We live in the Age of Stupid. Rock stupid.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): The 4Chan trollers have scored again. I remember when “culture jamming” was a lefty thing, but the lefty culture jammers never scored at this level.

DAME MARY BARRACO:  A heroine has died at age 96 in Virginia Beach.  May the heavens receive her joyfully.

CRIME IN THE BIG APPLE:  According to this, murder is up 8.7% in New York City this year.  That’s a lot.  Robbery, felony assault, “shooting incidents,” and “housing crime” are also up.  But rape, burglary, grand larceny, auto theft and “transit crime” are down, so the overall crime rate is said to be down. I wonder how much of this is the failure to report (or the failure to record reports of) more minor crimes.   I’ve written about some of my worries on the topic of criminal law enforcement here.  I worry a lot ….

U.K. ELECTION:  Exit poll predicts huge Tory victory.  Purr.

SIX MORE YEARS:  Yesterday, I was re-appointed to the U.S Commission on Civil  Rights for an additional term.  Technically, I was re-appointed by Senator Grassley in his capacity as President Pro Tempore of the Senate.  But Grassley acts on the recommendation of either the Majority Leader or the Minority Leader in making the two Senate appointments to the Commission.  In my case, of course, Senator McConnell was the recommender.  So thank you Senator Grassley and especially thank you Senator McConnell!

Of the eight seats on the Commission, four are Presidential appointments and four are Congressional.  Up until a week or so ago, all four of the Presidential appointees were put there by President Obama, which made for a Commission of 6 liberal/progressives and 2 conservative/libertarians.  Pete Kirsanow (who I hope will be re-appointed shortly over on the House side) and I were the very vocal minority.

Two of the Obama appointees have now rotated off and will soon be replaced by two new appointees by President Trump. That will make for an interesting 4-4 Commission.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE:  The EEOC continues to go after employers who aren’t sufficiently enthusiastic about hiring felons.  The agency considers it race discrimination.  Here is why all this is wrongheaded and probably unconstitutional.

HOW LONG WILL IT BE BEFORE SOMEONE ACCUSES LOW-DOSE ASPIRIN OF BEING RACIST?:  New study finds low-dose aspirin helps prevent cardiovascular events in whites, but not blacks.

GOOD QUESTION:  Mother Jones channels Charles Murray:  Why do we pretend that one-parent families are no big deal?

JEFF JACOBY:  The “Brezhnev Doctrine” as applied to the American welfare state. 

JOHN FUND:  Media Bias May Be Boris Johnson’s Biggest Adversary.

ON THIS DAY IN 1886, CLARENCE BIRDSEYE WAS BORN: He figured out that fast freezing things makes them taste a heck of a lot better than the mushy crap that you get from slowly freezing them. Progress!

ON THIS DAY IN 1608, JOHN MILTON WAS BORN: He wasn’t the type to sweat fake news: “Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt here strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?”

TRANSGENDER BATHROOM CASE: Are federally funded schools required to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms, locker rooms and showers that match their gender identity? Or does the law permit the schools flexibility in dealing with transgender cases?

A few years ago that question made it up to the Supreme Court in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. While the case was pending, however, the Trump Administration withdrew the Obama-Era policy that took the position that schools must assign anatomical boys who identify as girls to the girls’ facilities (and vice versa). In view of that change, the case was sent back down for further consideration. Recently, the District Court again held for the student G.G.   The case is now once again on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Peter Kirsanow (my colleague on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights) and I filed an amicus curiae brief in our private capacities when the case was in the Supreme Court. If it gets to the Supreme Court again, we hope to file that brief again (with small modifications in view of the changed circumstances of the case). But in case you’re dying to know, here’s our conclusion: There is nothing in the law that requires schools to follow one practice or another. They have discretion.

THE NYT “1619 PROJECT” REVISITED:  Katherine Kersten offers some perspective.

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY WANTS TO MAKE A FEDERAL CASE OUT OF SCHOOL DISCIPLINE (AGAIN):  New bill seeks to re-establish federal control over school discipline policy.  This is a battle I have already fought (and I thought I’d won when Education Secretary DeVos withdrew the Obama-Era “Dear Colleague” Letter on school discipline). Please let’s not do this again.

BORDERLANDS: Two of my colleagues on the Commission on Civil Rights will be speaking today on a panel on Capitol Hill about the Commission’s report entitled “Trauma at the Border.”

I won’t be there. Alas, dissenters like me don’t get invited. Nevertheless, here is my dissent from that report. And here is my more thorough dissent from the Commission’s earlier report on mostly the same subject. If you are interested in immigration detention issues, the latter dissent in particular is worth a read. If nothing else, it has entertainment value.

BE PREPARED:  Yes, at least if you live in the USA, you can own a narwhal tusk like the one used against the London Bridge terrorist, but they are not cheap.

HA!  THIS EXPLAINS A LOT: But what explains all the other candidates?

THE COCOANUT GROVE FIRE: On this day in 1942, in Boston Massachusetts, the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire killed 492 Thanksgiving weekend revelers. Yes, that’s four hundred and ninety-two.

Nightclub fires with horrific death counts have occurred throughout the world, but I am aware of none worse than the Cocoanut Grove fire. The only usable street exit was a revolving door. The crowd quickly pressed up against that door so no one could escape. Some of those who did escape the fast-moving flames somehow climbed up onto the roof and jumped down on parked cars. Others escaped through kitchen windows and doors.

I wish I could report to you a few hero stories. As Instapundit readers may have noticed, I like hero stories. But as one survivor put it, “… I looked back at the dance floor. People were fighting to get out of the club. Pandemonium is the only word I can think of, and I must say the scene did no credit to the male sex.” (Ah … the 1940s, when masculinity was still measured the old-fashioned way.)

I did find one apparently unverified story, and there are likely others that I missed (or, sadly, that everyone missed because the individuals involved didn’t live to tell the story):

Joseph Lawrence Ford, a second-class petty officer in the Navy, stationed at Portsmouth, N.H., said he entered the burning building by breaking a window and jumping inside. He added: “I crawled along on my hands and knees and then I bumped into five forms. All were moaning and some were twisting around on the floor, clawing at their throats.”

An AP reporter wrote that Ford reported that he rescued three women and two men.  (Note that the fact that the story is unverified does not mean it isn’t true.  It’s not so easy to verify this kind of thing.)

Anyway, if you’re looking for something to be thankful for, you can start with being thankful you weren’t at the Cocoanut Grove fire.  And for those of you (like me) who have never had your mettle tested in a sudden emergency, be thankful for that too.

UPDATE:  A reader supplies us with more hero stories:

From “The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II” by Robert J. Cressman:

November 28, Sat.

United States

“Cocoanut Grove” nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts, catches fire;
Ensigns George W. Carlson and Mac A. Cason, SC-V(P), USNR, driving
through the city at that hour, respond immediately when they see flames
issuing from the burning building. Exhibiting courage, leadership and
resourcefulness, these two Supply Corps officers, who organize rescue
parties from enlisted men they see in the gathering crowd, are later
deemed “the cause of saving more lives than any other single agency.”
Despite rescuers’ efforts, however, 492 people perish in the tragedy.

In the military, officers of all services and specialties are supposed to show initiative and lead. Enlisted personnel are suppose to intelligently respond to orders and work as a team to carry out the mission.

John Nisley, USN (Ret.), 1974-1994

Well done, Ensigns Carlson and Cason and CPO Ford.

THE WASHINGTON STATE AG WONDERS WHY STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES ARE DISCIPLINED MORE OFTEN THAN OTHER STUDENTS: Well … duh … it’s because we define “students with disabilities” to include students with behavioral problems.

SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR:  Israeli Team Uses Silicon Chip to Deliver Alzheimer’s-Busting Protein to Brain.

BUREAUCRACY RUN WILD:  If you want to understand why the EEOC is among the most powerful and least accountable agencies in the federal government, this article is a good place to start.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU WOULD BE IN TROUBLE AT INDIANA WESLEYAN:  “Guilty of Cultural Appropriation in an ‘Insensitive’ Facebook Post.”

HEY, KIDS, WHAT TIME IS IT?:  Time for Supreme Court term limits.  Maybe.