Boots & Sabers

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Category: Culture

SCOTUS Signals Intent to Weigh in on Race Considerations in Higher Education

by | 1142, 14 Jun 21 | , | 1 Comment

Racism, even if well intentioned, is still racism.

The Supreme Court on Monday called for President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice to weigh in on a pending case over affirmative action at Harvard University, signaling the court’s interest in a dispute that could scale back the widespread use of race in higher education admissions.

 

In an unsigned order, the justices requested a brief from acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar expressing “the views of the United States.” Such a move is often a prelude to the court ultimately deciding to hear a case, though not always.

Monday’s move also has the potential to delay the litigation, even if the court eventually votes to consider the case. If the court agrees to hear it in its term beginning in October, a decision would be likely by June 2022. If the court doesn’t hear the case until the term after that, the decision may not appear until the summer of 2023. It requires the votes of four justices to take up a case.

 

The dispute, known as Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard, No. 20-1199, was brought by a group led by the anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum. Students for Fair Admissions said that Harvard’s limited consideration of the race of its applicants discriminates against Asian applicants in favor of white applicants. That runs afoul of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, they argue.

 

A federal appeals court rejected the group’s arguments in November, finding that its “limited use of race in its admissions process in order to achieve diversity” was consistent with Supreme Court precedents. In February, Students for Fair Admissions filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking the justices to hear its appeal of that decision.

“you can’t tell a kid they should feel shame because of the color of their skin.”

by | 0731, 6 Jun 21 | , , | 33 Comments

Good for Texas

Toth’s bill, which has passed in both chambers of the Texas Legislature and is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for signature into law, states that social studies and civics teachers are not allowed to discuss the concept that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex,” or the idea that “an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.”

 

The bill also states that teachers cannot be compelled to talk about current events, and if they do, they must “give deference to both sides.” While supporters say this provision promotes objective teaching, critics counter that it limits honest conversation around the deep-rooted issues surrounding the history of race and racism in the U.S.

 

“The more people learn about critical race theory, whether Republican or Democrat, the more they oppose it,” said Toth, who noted that he is also a preacher, and said God led him to write this bill limiting the teaching of what he termed “an offshoot of critical theory and Marxism.”

 

Yet he also said his bill wouldn’t prevent a discussion about critical race theory, but would prevent teachers from endorsing what he sees as its conclusions.

 

“We’re not saying you can’t talk about critical race theory,” he added. “We’re saying you can’t tell a kid they should feel shame because of the color of their skin.”

Minneapolisians (is that a word?) Suffer After Defunding Police

by | 1839, 4 Jun 21 | , | 3 Comments

What a shame.

Welcome to Minneapolis, a city well on the way to eclipsing the violence that once saw it called Murderapolis.

 

One year after the death of George Floyd saw this city become ground zero for the defund the police movement, its people are paying for it with their blood.

 

Last night the city erupted in violence and flames once more as news that police had shot dead a black man wanted on a warrant was met with yet more looting and riots.

 

[…]

 

There have been 36 homicides so far this year, more than double the number at this point last year and more than four times that seen in 2019.

 

Car-jackings are up a staggering 222 per cent. Shootings have risen 153 per cent. Eighty per cent of the victims are black.

 

At time of writing, 211 people had suffered gunshots wounds so far this year. This time last year that figure was 81.

 

Gun theft from vehicles is up more than 100 per cent while the police department has seized 100 fewer guns this year than they had at the same point in 2020.

 

And while crime soars Minneapolis Police Department has lost one third of its force.

 

Disenfranchised and de-humanized, more than 200 police officers have either permanently left the already stretched department or signed off on disability.

Variants

by | 2035, 3 Jun 21 | , | 10 Comments

Two points. First, the glib over-made point that we can seem to name every variant after the location in which it originated but we are told that it is racist to identify the original virus by it’s origin.

Second, after the last year, the entire public health establishment and media has blown their credibility. This variant could be the next Black Death and 70% of America won’t believe it until the bodies are clogging the rivers. That is the price America will pay for the duplicitousness of quacks like Fauci.

A coronavirus variant that first cropped up in the nation of Nepal has been detected in the U.S, a health expert claims.

 

Known as Delta+K417N, the variant is said to combine mutations from the Indian and South African variants.

 

This means that, like the Indian variant, it is more transmissible and, like the South African variant, it is more evasive of COVID-19 vaccines.

Growing Hemp in the Domes

by | 1327, 26 May 21 | , | 2 Comments

Interesting proposal.

The county has issued a request for proposal for a private entity to lease one of the Domes’ greenhouses to propagate hemp clones for market consumption. The RFP is live until June 7.

 

The growing operation is one of several ideas that has emerged in recent years to revitalize or repurpose the Domes.

 

County supervisor Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, who first presented the idea of growing hemp in the Domes’ greenhouses in 2018, has previously touted a report indicating the operation could bring in as much as $1.6 million annually for the county parks.

I don’t have a problem with hemp, but is this really the role of government and a good use for the Domes? I assume that if there is an industrial hemp operation going on, then they would not be open to the public for educational purposes. If they will be open, then it’s a pretty boring field trip. So what’s the purpose? It it to have a revenue-generating commercial interest to fund domes that the public can no longer use? What is he public interest in that? I expect that “as much as” $1.6 million per year is still not enough to cover the maintenance and operations for the Domes themselves, so there wouldn’t even be surplus to use on other county expenses.

The Domes are cool and all, but perhaps it is time to let them go. The county has been trying for 20 years to find a way to update and maintain them and the public clearly isn’t that interested. Move on and spend the money on something the county’s residents do want

West Bend School District Lifts Mask Mandate

by | 0727, 26 May 21 | , | 0 Comments

Excellent.

WEST BEND — Beginning today, face coverings will be made optional, but highly recommended, for all West Bend School District staff members and students.

Now let’s hope that there isn’t any bullying against people for whatever choice they make about wearing a mask.

Appleton School District Considering Renaming Lincoln Elementary

by | 2132, 25 May 21 | , , | 0 Comments

Hmmm…

APPLETON – Residents of the Appleton Area School District will get their chance this week to provide feedback on the proposal to rename Lincoln Elementary in honor of Ron Dunlap.

 

[…]

 

The vision, written at the top of the survey, is: “Working together, students, family, staff and community will ensure that each graduate is academically, socially and emotionally prepared for success in life. Every Student Every Day.”

 

And, the survey says: “An important factor in pursuing this vision is the environment in which students learn. Students learn best when they are challenged and feel supported, welcomed and respected.”

 

Eggert questioned why the survey would include the district’s vision statement, saying the proposal to rename Lincoln Elementary stems from a community effort to honor Dunlap after his 2019 death.

 

Dunlap, who was named one of the most influential African Americans in the state, dedicated nearly four decades of his life to public education. Because Dunlap spent 16 years as principal of Lincoln Elementary before becoming the district’s first coordinator of minority services, the district-organized team landed on the proposal to change Lincoln’s name to the “Ronald C. Dunlap Elementary School, Home of the Lincoln Lions.”

Motives matter. If the district wants to rename a school to honor a local leader who made great contributions to the community, then that’s outstanding. Districts can rename schools (although, they must be flush with cash to spend money on something relatively trivial) at their discretion. If they want to honor a modern local leader instead of an old president from Illinois, then cool.

If they are renaming the school to send the message that Lincoln is not worthy of being honored and want to replace him with a token local leader as an excuse, then it indicates a much larger problem with the district. I hope some parents get to the bottom of what’s going on in their district.

Don’t Snuggle With Your Chickens

by | 1038, 22 May 21 | , | 1 Comment

This is the state of America in 2021. We have created and funded a federal agency that takes it upon itself to nag people to not kiss their chickens because 163 people (out of over 300 million) may have gotten sick from it. Really? This is what we want our federal government doing?

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged people to refrain from kissing live poultry amid an outbreak of salmonella.

The CDC and public health officials are investigating salmonella outbreaks after 163 people were reported ill in 43 states.

 

The infections have been linked to contact with backyard poultry.

“Don’t kiss or snuggle the birds, as this can spread germs to your mouth and make you sick,” the health agency said

 

[…]

 

Some 34 people have been taken to hospital since mid-February, but no deaths have been reported.

Abortions Go Virtual

by | 0829, 22 May 21 | , , | 0 Comments

The debate over abortion clinics is becoming moot.

Between March 2018 and March 2020, 57,506 people from all 50 states requested self-managed medication abortion through Aid Access.

Among the requests, 73.5% said they were specifically seeking self-managed abortion because they were unable to afford in-clinic care. An abortion can cost as much as $1,500, according to Planned Parenthood, and that number varies widely based on what form of abortion and if a patient has insurance that covers the procedure. Under the Hyde Amendment, federal Medicaid does not cover abortion, although some states have different rules.

 

In-person abortion care can also incur other costs due to the heavy restrictions around the health care procedure, such as transportation, child care and lodging, especially if a state requires a patient do two office visits over multiple days.

 

The next most common reasons individuals sought self-managed medication abortion were privacy, for 49.3% of respondents, and distance from a clinic, for 40.4% of respondents.

“Florida was the most “real life” for us since the pandemic began”

by | 1755, 21 May 21 | , | 2 Comments

We are seeing a yawning gap in perspective depending on where you live.

But the truth was that our time in Florida was the most “real life” for us since the pandemic began. We enrolled the kids in sports. The boys played soccer and our daughter played softball. There was no discussion about the kids wearing masks while playing—they would not. Masking outdoors was rare in Florida in general. In February, Governor Ron DeSantis posted a photo on Twitter of himself and a Little League team, no one in masks. There were some gasps on Twitter. Just the week before, I had watched my daughter take her own mask-less team pictures with tears in my eyes. Normal felt amazing, even luxurious. When my daughter’s softball team won the championship, the kids all hugged. It felt human and real in a way that seeing other people as disease vectors for nearly a year had not.

 

Two months later, Anthony Fauci said, “The risk when you’re outdoors—which we have been saying all along—is extremely low.” He had not, in fact, been saying it all along, but some people, DeSantis and many Floridians among them, understood the low risks and adjusted their behavior accordingly. New Yorkers largely had not.

I’ve traveled a decent amount in the last year – not as much as I used to, but quite a bit. Some areas were opening as early as last May and have been almost completely open all of 2021. While you see some people wearing masks, omnipresent sanitizer, and a little bit of social distancing, everything has been operating at full capacity for months. Schools are open. Businesses are open. People are going about their normal lives.

In other states and areas, people are still living under the oppression. Schools are virtual or hybrid. Businesses are closed. Capacity is limited. Masks are required. People are living like it is a post-apocalyptic wasteland where the very air is poison.

That’s why when Fauci or someone talks about how NOW it is safe to get rid of the masks ourtoors (or whatever his latest quackery is), half of the country shrugs and says, “we’ve know that since last summer.” And when people freak out over a picture of a crowd of party-goers, half the country can’t even comprehend why it’s an issue.

For those of you living in the totalitarian zones, there’s are swaths of Free America still out here. Come join us, but leave your politicians at home.

Breaking Up Oregon?

by | 2155, 20 May 21 | , | 5 Comments

I get it. I imagine El Paso would like to join New Mexico too.

Voters in Malheur, Sherman, Grant, Baker and Lake counties passed a measure that would require county officials to promote and discuss moving the Idaho border west, and incorporate their populations. The counties would join Union and Jefferson counties in Idaho. The predominant industries in the counties that voted to join Idaho are timber, mining, trucking and farming.

 

The measure might capture local sentiment, but actually moving the border would require much wider support, including the approval of both Oregon and Idaho state legislatures. It would also require approval from Congress.

The efforts were led by the grassroots group Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho, which believes adding conservative counties to Idaho would benefit the state. The group cites Oregon’s lack of rural representation in the legislature, the state’s 2020 drug decriminalization law, and the state’s tax rate as reasons to move out of the state.

 

“If Oregon really believes in liberal values such as self-determination, the legislature won’t hold our counties captive against our will,” said Mike McCarter, the leader of the movement, in a statement. “If we’re allowed to vote for which government officials we want, we should be allowed to vote for which government we want as well.”

Democrats Are Increasingly Anti-Semitic Driven by Progressive Wing

by | 2119, 20 May 21 | , , | 2 Comments

There are a number of fissures in the Democratic coalition. This one is widening quickly.

The latest clashes between Israel and the Palestinians has revealed exactly how much the political centre of gravity in the Democratic Party has moved on the conflict in recent years.

 

“The shift is dramatic; it’s tectonic,” says pollster John Zogby, who has tracked US views on the Middle East for decades. In particular, younger generations are considerably more sympathetic to the Palestinians – and that age gap has been on full display with the Democratic Party.

 

While President Joe Biden has expressed a more traditional view, repeatedly emphasising that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas rocket attacks, he’s finding himself out of step in a party that is now at least as concerned with the conditions on the ground for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank – and Israeli policies viewed as contributing to their plight.

 

[…]

“We’ve seen a steady growth in support for Palestinians, but it’s never really been a high-intensity issue,” Zogby says. “It’s becoming that. It’s becoming a major wedge issue, particularly among Democrats, driven by non-white voters and younger voters, by progressives in general.”

“Ring is effectively building the largest corporate-owned, civilian-installed surveillance network that the US has ever seen”

by | 1957, 18 May 21 | , , | 2 Comments

Yikes.

Ring video doorbells, Amazon’s signature home security product, pose a serious threat to a free and democratic society. Not only is Ring’s surveillance network spreading rapidly, it is extending the reach of law enforcement into private property and expanding the surveillance of everyday life. What’s more, once Ring users agree to release video content to law enforcement, there is no way to revoke access and few limitations on how that content can be used, stored, and with whom it can be shared.

 

Ring is effectively building the largest corporate-owned, civilian-installed surveillance network that the US has ever seen. An estimated 400,000 Ring devices were sold in December 2019 alone, and that was before the across-the-board boom in online retail sales during the pandemic. Amazon is cagey about how many Ring cameras are active at any one point in time, but estimates drawn from Amazon’s sales data place yearly sales in the hundreds of millions. The always-on video surveillance network extends even further when you consider the millions of users on Ring’s affiliated crime reporting app, Neighbors, which allows people to upload content from Ring and non-Ring devices.

 

Then there’s this: since Amazon bought Ring in 2018, it has brokered more than 1,800 partnerships with local law enforcement agencies, who can request recorded video content from Ring users without a warrant. That is, in as little as three years, Ring connected around one in 10 police departments across the US with the ability to access recorded content from millions of privately owned home security cameras. These partnerships are growing at an alarming rate.

COVID Restrictions Hit Strippers Hard

by | 0733, 18 May 21 | , | 0 Comments

Even the strippers are fleeing California.

“A lot of times you’ll see a lot of girls just sitting around,” said Brittney, who started stripping around two years ago to supplement income from two other jobs. “It’s just not fun anymore.”

 

As some of the United States’ estimated 3,821 strip clubs start to open up again, women who work as strippers are confronting a transformed industry. Revenue in the industry is estimated to have decreased 17.4% in 2020 and is forecast to fall another 1.5% this year, according to research by IBISWorld.

 

Under guidelines in San Francisco, for instance, strip clubs such as Gold Club that offer food are able to reopen, but strippers and patrons must keep their masks on. Performances are limited to stage dances, with no physical contact with customers. Lap dances and private “VIP” rooms, the source of the majority of a stripper’s income, are still prohibited.

 

During the pandemic, strippers in states with stronger anti-coronavirus measures migrated to ones with laxer ones, such as Texas and Florida, according to dancers and club owners. Bob Tapella, the co-owner and manager of Cheetahs Gentleman’s Club in Sunnyvale, California, estimated nearly 60% of his dancers left the state to find work elsewhere.

Systematic Attack on U.S. Personnel Continues Apace

by | 1022, 17 May 21 | , , | 0 Comments

Connect the dots… economic warfare; biological warfare; border assault; targeting infrastructure; advancing Marxism in our public institutions… we are under a long-term, sophisticated attack. We live in a hostile world and this has always been true. What has changed is that we have stopped fighting it.

A second case of a mysterious brain illness known as ‘Havana Syndrome’ has been reported near the White House as US intelligence officials continue investigating the cause and source of the suspected sonic attacks.

 

CNN on Monday reported that a second member of the National Security Council was struck by the illness near an entrance to the White House. The development comes less than three weeks after the reveal of the first case, which also involved an NSC official.

 

The neurological symptoms in both cases are consistent with a string of strange sonic attacks that have reportedly affected more than 130 US diplomats, spies and troops worldwide, sources told CNN.

NYC Pride Shuns Police

by | 1930, 16 May 21 | , | 2 Comments

Hmmmm… lumping an entire group of people together and systematically excluding them. How very homogenous and uninclusive.

Law enforcement and corrections personnel have been banned from participating in New York City Pride events until 2025, event organizers announced Saturday.

 

“The sense of safety that law enforcement is meant to provide can instead be threatening, and at times dangerous, to those in our community who are most often targeted with excessive force and/or without reason,” said the organizers of the annual march in a statement. “NYC Pride is unwilling to contribute in any way to creating an atmosphere of fear or harm for members of the community.”

 

Event organizers said that they will not promote law enforcement on their social media accounts or any Pride-owned media through mentions, interviews or spotlights and “will not allow NYPD to speak at its events or use any NYC Pride platform.”

 

The group is also attempting to limit the presence of on-duty police officers at its events. The New York City Police Department will be used “only when absolutely necessary as mandated by city officials,” the statement said. Their goal is to keep police officers “at least one city block away from event perimeter areas where possible.”

Cultural erosion of individualism is destroying our way of life

by | 0700, 15 May 21 | , | 1 Comment

Here is my column that appeared in the Washington County Daily News earlier this week

One of the most annoying, and damaging, aspects of our 21st-century American culture is the erosion of social boundaries. Aggravated by social media, our culture of rugged individualism and respect for independent thought is shifting into one dominated by busybodies, bullies, and wannabe tyrants. It is a culture that drives the expansion of government as busybodies find their way into power over our lives. If we want to shrink our government, we must start with our culture.

 

This cultural shift is inescapable in our government school systems where they are teaching generations of young Americans that it is appropriate for government workers to be the authority over all aspects of their lives. Gone are the days when a school’s staff was only responsible for students when they are at school. Many school administrators and teachers now think that they have the responsibility and authority to manage the lives of students outside of school. School busybodies are intent on directing students on everything from eating to birth control to race relations to religion – everything that used to be considered the private affairs of students and their families. Many parents and families were surprised by the reaction of school officials when students organized their own proms. In response to COVID-19, many schools imposed onerous restrictions on proms or canceled them altogether. Wanting to have a traditional prom experience, some families and students organized their own proms. Instead of being supportive, or, at the very least, indifferent, some school officials blasted parents and students for being irresponsible, uncaring, or stupid. School officials have no business interfering in a private event, but the fact that they felt entitled to lecture parents and students speaks to how far they feel their authority extends.

 

We are also seeing the rampage of the busybodies in the roiling public debate over the COVID-19 vaccines. Thanks to the incredible success of Operation Warp Speed, we have reached the point where vaccines are widely available. Virtually everybody who wants to be vaccinated can do so with ease. They are so readily available that a person could wake up in the morning, decide they want to be vaccinated, and have a shot in the arm by nightfall. While we will not know the long-term effects of the vaccines for many years, they have proven remarkably effective for their intended purpose of warding off COVID-19 and its variants.

 

With all the information available and the infinite complexities of people’s circumstances, people have different opinions on the necessity of getting vaccinated. Some people are passionate about getting vaccinated. Most of them have already been vaccinated which is why the vaccination rate is declining and supply is abundant. Some people are adamant that they will not be vaccinated and are willing to accept the consequences of their decisions. Then there are the throngs of people who are relatively indifferent. They may get vaccinated. They may not.

 

In a different era, people would make their own choices about getting vaccinated and everyone else would respect their decision. In this era, whether or not someone has chosen to be vaccinated has become a matter for public discussion. “Have you been vaccinated?” has become a common subject of small talk at work and in casual conversation. Woe to those who are not vaccinated or do not express the appropriate level of determination to be so. They will attract a torrent of clucking tongues and derision from the people who think that their choice is the correct one and cannot abide you making a difference choice. There is a yawning chasm between caring about your neighbor’s health out of sincere concern and chastising their choices because of how it impacts you.

 

If the busybodies and bullies were only making noise, it would be annoying, but tolerable. What makes them intolerable is when they impose their views on everyone else with the power of government. When the neighborhood bully gains power over you through government, we walk the path that ends in tyranny.

 

Somewhere along the way, “live and let live,” and its more ornery cousin, “none of your business,” stopped being part of the American culture. The cultural shift away from individual rights and responsibilities is corrosive to our way of life. The cultural rot that infects proms and vaccines is part of a larger infection that is running rampant through our society and government. We must reverse the shift by being intentional about respecting individuals, their choices, and their rights.

 

If you are wondering if I have been vaccinated, it is none of your business.

Cultural erosion of individualism is destroying our way of life

by | 0715, 11 May 21 | , , , | 11 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a taste:

If the busybodies and bullies were only making noise, it would be annoying, but tolerable. What makes them intolerable is when they impose their views on everyone else with the power of government. When the neighborhood bully gains power over you through government, we walk the path that ends in tyranny.

 

Somewhere along the way, “live and let live,” and its more ornery cousin, “none of your business,” stopped being part of the American culture. The cultural shift away from individual rights and responsibilities is corrosive to our way of life. The cultural rot that infects proms and vaccines is part of a larger infection that is running rampant through our society and government. We must reverse the shift by being intentional about respecting individuals, their choices, and their rights.

 

If you are wondering if I have been vaccinated, it is none of your business.

Golden Globes Gets Canceled

by | 1534, 10 May 21 | | 6 Comments

Is it the corruption, massive decrease in public interest (as indicated by ratings), or the fact that it’s run by an insular, possibly racist and sexist, group of people? What does it say about all of the Hollywood folks who pandered and supported this group until very recently?

The HFPA has been under fire since the Los Angeles Times revealed allegations of corruption and impropriety as well as a lack of any black members.

 

“We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform,” a statement from the network read. “However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”

 

The network has shown the Golden Globes since 1996, paying about $60m a year for rights. The most recent ceremony, which saw Nomadland win big, saw a 60% drop in viewers.

 

The last week has seen studios, publicists and stars continue to distance themselves from the HFPA. Netflix, WarnerMedia and Scarlett Johansson have all urged the industry to take action. “Unless there is necessary fundamental reform within the organization, I believe it is time that we take a step back from the HFPA,” Johansson said.

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