I MISSED THIS INTERESTING NEWS WHEN IT WAS REPORTED LAST WEEK: Southern Poverty Law Center employees vote to unionize. (More on the SPLC and its history here.)

IT’S A ZOMBIE: The last thing 21^st century feminists should want is the Equal Rights Amendment.   It would make various female-friendly government policies a lot harder to defend in court. But that’s what they say they want.

A not-so-odd fact:  In 1996, when feminist organizations had the chance to support an amendment to the state constitution that prohibited California from discriminating on the basis of sex, they went crazy in opposition. “It will destroy affirmative action!” they cried. They even ran a television ad in opposition to the measure in which a women in a white coat with a stethoscope was stripped down to her underwear by male hands. Are we now supposed to believe they think a Constitutional amendment banning discrimination is a great idea?

OVERINCARCERATION VERSUS UNDERINCARCERATION:  Maybe I’m just a mean old Scrooge to think so, but it seems to me Paul Mirengoff has got a point here.

(Here’s what I’ve written in the past about the notion that modern police practices and high incarceration rates are a nefarious plots to hurt African Americans.)

TRUMP EXPECTED TO SIGN “BAN THE BOX” LEGISLATION: Alas, the law of unintended consequences is likely to step in here. A number of empirical studies have found that when the law makes it difficult to ask applicants for low-skilled jobs about their criminal records, employers sometimes resort to stereotypes and decline to hire young African American males. I discussed those studies in Part IX of this article about disparate impact liability. It’s a pretty long article, but I hope it will be worth your time if you have any kind of interest in employment discrimination law (one of our most messed up areas of the law).

NOT SO BRIGHT: Boston has changed the name of Dudley Square in the city’s Roxbury neighborhood to Nubian Square. Why? Some people were concerned that Gov. Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) had “something” to do with slavery. In fact, there is no evidence Dudley owned any slaves and, according to the Boston Globe, “his role in the promotion of slavery is somewhat murky.” On the other hand, as Jeff Jacoby points out, the various ancient Nubian kingdoms honored by the square’s new name were centers for slavery. Slaves were a vital part of their economy; they were the kingdoms’ main export.

My late mother was a New Englander and tended to think of New Englanders as better educated than the rest of the country. (We all have our biases.) She must not have been thinking of Boston.

MORE CAMPUS SEPARATISM, MORE SPECIAL STEM PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN AND/OR RACIAL MINORITIES: Of course, it remains true that the easiest way to increase the number of African Americans and Hispanics in STEM is for colleges and universities to eschew race-preferential admissions policies. Sorry to sound like a broken record on this, but it’s easy peasy.

A BROTHER’S CHRISTMAS GIFT OF LIFE: On this day in 1954, the first successful kidney transplant in history was performed at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now called Brigham and Women’s Hospital) at Harvard University. The recipient—23-year-old Richard Herrick—was dying of chronic nephritis. The donor—Ronald Herrick—was his identical twin brother.

The procedure was, of course, dangerous for both brothers, and Ronald, a perfectly healthy young man, had a lot to lose. According to Ronald’s wife, “Ron got a note from Richard the night of the surgery telling him to get out of there and go home.” “Ron sent a note back saying I’m here, and I’m going to stay, and that’s it.”

The surgical team included J. Hartwell Harrison, Joseph Murray, and John P. Merrill. Murray received a Nobel Prize for this and his subsequent work in furthering the science of organ transplantation. He recounted the surgery in his autobiography: “There was a collective hush in the operating room as we gently removed the clamps from the vessels newly attached to the donor kidney.” “As blood flow was restored, the patient’s new kidney began to . . . turn pink. There were grins all around.”

Ronald’s gift gave Richard an extra eight years of life. And they were years of happiness. Richard went on to marry one of the nurses who cared for him and fathered two daughters before dying at the age of 31. Ronald lived with one kidney until 2010, when he died at the age of 79 of unrelated causes.

The Herrick brothers’ pathbreaking surgery is now routine. Ronald thus benefited not just Richard, but all the rest of us too.  In 2018, over 35,000 organ transplants occurred in the United States, of which 81% came from cadavers and 19% from living donors. Of the total, about 21,000 were kidney transplants (which obviously dominates the living donor category). About 8000 were for liver, 3400 for heart, and 2500 for lung.

Alas, the most significant problem today is getting donors who can be matched to recipients. It is estimated that 20 die each day waiting for a transplant.

NOW AND THEN IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO:  A judge changes his mind.  

DECEMBER 20TH:  On this day in 1902, philosopher Sidney Hook was born.  Once a Marxist himself, he became one the world’s fiercest critics of communism and totalitarianism in all its manifestations.  Of his change of heart, he wrote:  “I was guilty of judging capitalism by its operations and socialism by its hopes and aspirations; capitalism by its works and socialism by its literature.” 

PREDICTABLE:  “Mainstream Media Ignores FISA Court Slamming FBI over Trump-Related Surveillance Applications.” (Not just predictable, “science” hath predicted it.)

IT’S HARD NOT TO GET DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU READ STUFF LIKE THIS: “Beware of anyone who means to suggest, either implicitly or explicitly, that Black students are more likely to misbehave than their white peers, because bigotry, as always, boasts of an extraordinarily limited bibliography. Such a perception has been disproved time after time.”  I’ve seen similar statements in lots of places. I wish they were true, but wishing won’t make it so. And believing falsehoods leads to bad public policy.

If the statement were true, it would mean that elementary school teachers (a very Democratic leaning group) are among the most racist people in the universe. Pacific Islander, African American, and American Indian children really are disciplined much more often than white children, who in turn are disciplined much more often than Asian children; if it’s not due to differences in behavior than it must be racism.

But there are differences in average behavior.   And, contrary to the above statement, the “bibliography” is extensive.

FAKE EDUCATION NEWS: Both the UVa education school dean and Washington Post fact checkers didn’t realize we spend much more on education per student in constant dollars than we did in the late 1980s. They really thought it sounded plausible to say we spend less.

For some reason, misinformation about education spending seems to be especially common. I wrote about it here.

ON THIS DAY IN 1878, JOSEPH STALIN WAS BORN: But that’s a bit of a downer, so I’m going to go with Betty Grable instead.  She was born on this day in 1916. Unlike Stalin, she was not responsible for the deaths of millions.

BLACKS WHO DON’T TOE THE PROGRESSIVE LINE DON’T HAVE IT EASY: Black conservatives who oppose school discipline “reform” get ridiculed by Progressives, who can’t understand why anyone—especially parents—would object to a “forward thinking” school superintendent’s proposals to making school discipline “fair.” Maybe, just maybe the parents have a point.

KITTY HAWK:  On this day in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright got their flying machine into the air for a successful 12-second flight.

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.