Links – 02/12/2017

  • Under the leadership of a superintendent who took seriously the disparate impact doctrine, which assumes that any policy that disproportionately affects some groups is thereby discriminatory, the public schools in St. Paul, Minnesota changed their disciplinary procedures so as to drastically reduce the gap between different racial groups. As City Journal reports, the result was exactly what anyone who hasn’t been brainwashed would have expected, namely anarchy and chaos.
  • A bipartisan effort is mounting in the Senate to make it impossible for Trump to achieve a détente with Russia by depriving him of the ability to remove sanctions. Here is a passage from the article which speaks volumes: “There was so much agreement between the witnesses that Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) joked it was hard to tell which was a Republican and which was the Democrat.” Indeed, whenever there is a bipartisan consensus about something in Congress, you can be almost certain that it’s retarded.
  • People often talk about the “war on science” that conservatives allegedly wage, but while it’s true that on some issues the right has a problem with science, it’s also true of the left on other issues. City Journal published a good piece a few months ago which argues that, in fact, left-wing attacks on science are more common. This is really not surprising when you think about it. Even if conservatives had a greater propensity to attack science than liberals, the fact that universities are overwhelmingly left-wing would still make it likely that scientists face more pressure from the left, because most people around them are liberal and they are the people who, for the most part, decide whether they get a job, are promoted, get funding, etc.
  • Mother Jones published a good profile of Keith Ellison, who has a very good chance of becoming the DNC chair. He is clearly lying about his past, but you have to admit that, if he told the truth his opponents would never let it go. I think people should really stop trying to discredit people by bringing up stuff from several decades ago. I don’t really care if Ellison was in love with Farrakhan 20 years ago. I think his relationship with CAIR, a profoundly backward organization (although it passes as liberal within the regressive left because muslims are oppressed or whatever), is enough to discredit him if you care to do so.
  • Robert Parry wrote another excellent article about the scandal caused by Trump’s statement during his interview that the US wasn’t so innocent. Of course, Trump is obviously right, but it didn’t prevent the sophisticates on both sides from being outraged.