Separate
But Equal:
At a Supreme Court hearing on whether it's time to end the use of
race in college admissions, Justis Antonin Scalia opined
that black students would do much better in "a less-advanced,
slower-track school" compared to a first -class institution
where they are "pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for
them." It may or may not be time to end affirmative action in
college admissions. It is long past time to do away with Scalia on
the bench.
Finally:
One of the Pope's favorite Cardinals has mentioned the
unmentionable; reducing the world's population through birth control
is an absolute necessity if global warming is to be slowed.
Something stronger than the rhythm method will be required.
Little
Dorrit:
In many states the practice of charging prisoners a daily fee for
their room and board while they are in jail is quite routine. And
when they get out they have to pay off the debt, or go back to jail.
Beggars:
Saudi Arabia
maintains that the developed world must compensate it for the loss of
future oil income and provide financial and technical assistance in
converting the country to sustainable energy sources.
Protocol:
Japan has explained that its continuing slaughter of minke whales –
they plan to kill 333 of them this year – is part of an ongoing
scientific experiment to see how long they can keep doing this before
the whales go extinct.
No
Deposit, No Return:
The US is selling 13,000 precision guided smart bombs to Saudi
Arabia, which has promised to use them on Yemen, despite charges that
the Saudis'have
indiscriminately killed and injured civilians.'"
Yes, precisely.
Promises:
Both Germany and the UK say they will ban all gasoline and diesel
fueled vehicles by 2050, which would suggest that no such vehicles
would be bought after about 2040. This – if/when
enacted in the form of law -
should spur work on batteries and the development of alternative
forms of transportation. Or not. It
may violate one trade agreement or another.
They're
Number One:
India accounted for 40% of the world's globalized
(off-shored) engineering
and R&D this year.
Kill
Zones: The US
claims that on Nov 13 a targeted F-15 airstrike
killed Abu Nabil, considered to be the leader of ISIS in Libya. The
Air Force also claims that another airstrike in Somalia on Dec 2
killed “a senior leader of a Shabaab.” An
Iranian quasi official news agency is claiming that the
Caliphate's leader Al-Baghdadi, who was injured in an airstrike in
Iraq last month,
has been smuggled into Libya by the CIA after he was treated in a
Turkish hospital.
Fear
And Loathing: San
Antonio Police Officer
Daryl Carle will soon return to the job he loves, because he can
legally “kill people
and not go to jail.”
For
Sale: Academic
backing for crackpot ideas can be bought as easily for climate change
denial as it was for the benefits of smoking tobacco. Monsanto
is paying for “experts” to testify that the WHO is wrong in
concluding that Round-Up is probably carcinogenic to humans.
Stealth:
Reports claim
Turkey is “covertly” constructing an airbase in Northern Iraq. I
wish the folks widening the road by our house were a little more
covert.
Peace,
Etc: The
Taliban launched an attack on the heavily fortified Kandahar
airport/US-NATO base
in southern Afghanistan, killing 37 civilians and 1 Afghan soldier.
A few days earlier Afghan troops opened fire on a group of children
sitting outside the local mosque in Shahi Khel, two hours north of
Kabul, killing 9. Also
on
Wednesday,
the Taliban seized a district in another southern province,
Helmand, killing 14 Afghan security forces. Mission,
as George said, accomplished.
Progress:
First we were supposed to hate Mexicans. Now we're supposed to hate
Muslims. And they're supposed to thank us. What'll it be next week,
Mexican Muslims singing Kumbaya?
3 comments:
re Scalia. So when Scalia says something so incredibly stone age and ignorant, I wonder does the whole room kind of wince?
In this case, did Clarence Thomas almost raise a finger, if only for a moment of feeble recognition. Or perhaps Roberts fidgeted oh-so-imperceptibly in his seat? Too much to hope for a snicker and chortle from the press. But I pray, does an invisible murmur ripple through the gallery? Maybe the solicitor himself leans back ever so slightly on his heels at the lectern, as if a small gust of wind caught him off guard, leading him to reach up, instinctively, to stay a hat that's not on his head.
Does the fabric of civilization and humanity feel these violations and react, perhaps only at some subconscious level, which then reveals itself through fleeting ripples of energy in the room?
McMike: To your last question, I'd guess that is as likely as a stroke of lightning providing a vacancy on the court so, unfortunately, no.
Re "Progress": Next week the Donald will reveal how he will personally force those Arab countries to pay for the cost of shipping every Muslim in the States back to wherever it was they came from - even if they were born here - and thank us for the effort. For an encore, expect the Donald to offend every Hindu in the world.
I really enjoy your site (many years), and your disclaimer of bias. But Scalia didn't say that, with that intent, and any reasonable reading of the transcript shows this to be false. I'm no Scalia lover, but can't our side not use false narratives to paint our opponents as caricatures? That's why Trump is such a shitbag.
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