Day: July 5, 2023

No Affirmative Action

This session of SCOTUS has seen the ‘end’ to affirmative action….to some it is a good thing and to others it reeks of racism….just depends on where one stands in the political landscape…

It appears the most of America agrees with the court on this issue…..

The majority of Americans approve of the recent Supreme Court decision gutting affirmative action, according to a new ABC News poll. Just 32% disapprove of the ruling, which restricts the use of race as a factor in college and university admissions, while another 16% said they don’t know whether they approve or disapprove. Among Republicans, 75% approve of the SCOTUS decision, but just 26% of Democrats approve. (Among independents, 58% approve.) And a higher percentage of white people (60%) and Asian people (58%) approve when compared to Black people (25%) and Hispanic people (40% approve and 40% disapprove). Other poll findings:

  • When asked if they believe Black and Hispanic students have a fair chance of being admitted to the higher education institution of their choice when compared to white and Asian students, however, just 47% of poll respondents believed Black students had a fair shot while 50% believed Hispanic students did. (Asked about white and Asian students’ chances, two-thirds of poll respondents believed they have a fair shot.)
  • When asked if they believe the country’s highest court makes rulings based on justices’ political beliefs or based on the law, 53% said partisan political beliefs while 33% said on the basis of law and 14% didn’t know.

See more from the poll here

When it comes to college affirmative action helped minorities get an education when privilege was the only decider…..now with the decision it may well go back to those dark days….but there is a way to head that beast off at the pass….

A civil rights group is challenging legacy admissions at Harvard, saying the practice discriminates against students of color by giving an unfair boost to the mostly white children of alumni. It’s the latest effort in a growing push against legacy admissions, the practice of giving admissions priority to the children of alumni, per the AP. Backlash has been building in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court’s decision ending affirmative action in college admissions. Lawyers for Civil Rights, a nonprofit based in Boston, filed the civil rights complaint Monday on behalf of Black and Latino community groups in New England, alleging that Harvard’s admissions system violates the Civil Rights Act.

“Why are we rewarding children for privileges and advantages accrued by prior generations?” said Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, the group’s executive director. “Your family’s last name and the size of your bank account are not a measure of merit, and should have no bearing on the college admissions process.” Opponents say the practice is no longer defensible without affirmative action providing a counterbalance. The court’s ruling says colleges must ignore the race of applicants, activists point out, but schools can still give a boost to the children of alumni and donors.

A separate campaign is urging the alumni of 30 prestigious colleges to withhold donations until their schools end legacy admissions. That initiative, led by Ed Mobilizer, also targets Harvard and other Ivy League schools. President Biden suggested last week that universities should rethink the practice, saying legacy admissions “expand privilege instead of opportunity.” Several Democrats in Congress demanded an end to legacy admissions in light of the court’s decision, along with Republicans including Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is vying for the GOP presidential nomination.

A sterling idea!

I say get rid of all preferential treatment….making it a level playing field….make the little turds compete for every spot.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Ukraine War

Holiday is done so back to the grind.

For over a year, although it does not seem to be that important anymore, Ukraine conflict has been raging but in all that time there has been little American public dissent to our massive waste of money on this regional conflict.

Why is it so?

There are many versions of why this all began…there is the NATO thing…..there is the corruption from the previous admin of the country….then there is the voice of the paranoid….to protect democracy.

Has anyone noticed that there is little to no debate on this conflict?

And what debate there has been has been irrational at best.

Because war is uncertain and reliable information is sparse, no one knows how the war in Ukraine will play out. Nor can any of us be completely certain what the optimal course of action is. We all have our own theories, hunches, beliefs, and hopes, but nobody’s crystal ball is 100 percent reliable in the middle of a war.

You might think that this situation would encourage observers to approach the whole issue with a certain humility and give alternative perspectives a fair hearing even when they disagree with one’s own. Instead, debates about responsibility for the war and the proper course of action to follow have been unusually nasty and intolerant, even by modern standards of social media vituperation. I’ve been trying to figure out why this is the case.

What I find especially striking is how liberal interventionists, unrepentant neoconservatives, and a handful of progressives who are all-in for Ukraine seem to have no doubts whatsoever about the origins of the conflict or the proper course of action to follow today. For them, Russian President Vladimir Putin is solely and totally responsible for the war, and the only mistakes others may have made in the past was to be too nice to Russia and too willing to buy its oil and gas. The only outcome they are willing to entertain is a complete Ukrainian victory, ideally accompanied by regime change in Moscow, the imposition of reparations to finance Ukrainian reconstruction, and war crimes trials for Putin and his associates. Convinced that anything less than this happy result will reward aggression, undermine deterrence, and place the current world order in jeopardy, their mantra is: “Whatever it takes for as long as it takes.”

The Perpetually Irrational Ukraine Debate

This whole conflict thing, in my opinion, has become a total clown show.

If the truth be told, we are getting sick and tired of the little piss-ant who runs the cease-pool of corruption, tyranny, delusion and death called Ukraine. This clown – and that’s what he is actually trained as – just can’t seem to stop stridently demanding money, arms and support from the rest of the world and lecturing everyone to fall into line or else.

In his actual clown days, of course, Volodymyr Zelensky was known for the act depicted below. But when it comes to the collective West, the latter seems to enjoy the fact that the Ukrainian president continues to bang away upon it, relentlessly pounding out a melody of me, me and more.

But lately Zelensky has really gone over the top, peddling the hideous canard that if we don’t enable him to fight “them” over there with everything and all that he demands by way of money and weapons, we will soon bleed and die against “them” over here.

That’s the “Putin is going to invade Europe next and maybe America too”, nonsense. It’s actually groundless blithering idiocy, and yet Washington treats him as a brave ally and statesman:

Enough of the Ukrainian Clown Show!

Before someone thinks that have it all figured out then let me set the record straight….I do NOT support Russia’s aggression at all….I think they are acting with all the barbarity they can muster.

My point is this conflict has little do with the security of the US regardless what the mental midgets try to tell you.

Personally I think the this conflict has caused by a failure in US diplomacy….a failure of the State Department.

Nothing written excuses or condones Russia’s actions. The Russian invasion is a war of aggression and a violation of international law. An attempt at understanding the Russian perspective on their war does not endorse the invasion, occupation and war crimes committed, and it certainly does not imply the Russians had no other option but this war. Rather, this essay seeks to communicate that this war was not unprovoked and that the actions of the US and NATO over decades led to a war of choice between the US, NATO, Ukraine and Russia. A war long wanted by megalomaniacs and war profiteers in DC, London, Brussels, Kyv and Moscow became realized in February 2022.

A War Long Wanted: Diplomatic Malpractice in Ukraine

This is where the conversation breaks down….most seem to think that Putin one morning woke up and thought screw it let’s invade Ukraine….there is so much more to this than most are willing to try and understand.

Finally on the democracy thing in Ukraine….looks like Zelensky has found a way to extend his tenure as leader of Ukraine without the inconvenience of an election.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told BBC last week that there will be no Ukrainian presidential election in 2024 if martial law is still in effect, The New Voice of Ukraine reported.

Zelensky’s five-year term is due to end in 2024, but his comments suggest that it will be extended indefinitely if the war isn’t over by then. He made similar comments about Ukraine’s parliamentary elections, which are due to be held in October of this year, in an interview with The Washington Post last month.

When asked if parliamentary elections will be held this fall, Zelensky said, “If we have martial law, we cannot have elections. The constitution prohibits any elections during martial law. If there is no martial law, then there will be.”

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, also said this month that elections can’t happen in Ukraine under martial law, which Zelensky declared when Russia invaded. “Ukrainian legislation stipulates it is impossible to hold any elections during martial law. And this makes sense,” he said.

Stefanchuk added that if elections happen, it could “lead to the rupture of the state, which our enemy is waiting for. That is why I think the most correct and wise decision is to hold elections immediately after the end of martial law.”

After declaring martial law, Zelensky took steps to consolidate his power, including banning the main opposition party in Ukraine’s parliament, Opposition Platform — For Life, which held 44 seats at the time. He also banned ten other opposition parties and nationalized the media.

(antiwar.com)

Another black eye for democracy

And that is the way it is…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”