Merit Should Be the ONLY Standard

College admissions.

Group That Pushed SCOTUS To End Affirmative Action ‘Gravely Concerned’ Elite Colleges Aren’t Complying With Ruling

Self-anointed “elites” are above the law, don’t you know? After all, the Constitution only applies if they agree with it. Otherwise, it’s just dead words, you know? #gagamaggot

Yeh, 14th Amendment guarantees of equal protection under the law are apparently not recognized by “elite” universities that are nevertheless quite willing to accept federal funds to continue to thumb their collective noses at the Constitution.

There is NOTHING—absolutely NOTHING—good, ethical, virtuous, or societally healthy about “affirmative action.”

OTOH, while not necessarily unlawful, the “good old boy”/nepotistic admissions network is also repugnant. I recall the day when my mom, who was working in the high school supervisors’ offices (large district; half a million pop at the time) came home with an offer from one of the supervisors to gain me admission to an Ivy League school, complete with scholarship aid. I found it. . . distasteful that he would pull strings to get me “in.”

Glad I rejected the offer.

“Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western civilization as it commits suicide.” ~ James Burnham

Burnham wrote that back in 1964, IIRC. . . and I do. See: Suicide of the West, James Burnham

Some folks are finally awaking to that reality:

“A Recipe for Cultural Suicide”—Peter Boghossian on Woke Ideology and the Case for Defunding Universities”

Bug *DUH* quote from a soi disant “liberal” who has FINALLY recognized the clue bat beating him about the head and shoulders

“We can’t just keep funding people who are playing in make-believe-land, cranking out information to inform public policy that’s completely divorced from reality. It’s a recipe for cultural suicide,” says Peter Boghossian, assistant professor of philosophy at Portland State University. . . “

Oh, “we” can indeed keep funding them, but it is cultural, societal, and national suicide to do so. That probably isn’t enough to stop funding the toxic waste production, though. And when we reap TEOTWAWKI, as woke dumbasses seem to desire, the woke dumbasses will just have to suffer the results of their stupidity (and our lack of will) along with the rest of us, because we have allowed far more mob rule (democracy) than the Founders in their wisdom specified, and

“In a democracy (‘rule by mob’), those who refuse to learn from history will be the majority and will dictate that everyone else suffer for their ignorance.” — third world county™’s corollary to Santayana’s Axiom

Will the Last One Out. . .

. . .please turn out the lights?

I got a call from a client this A.M. They’ve sold their house/acreage and businesses and are moving to Panama ~September 15. Giving up on the U.S. and just need a lil “exit work” on their tech. Doomsday Preppers? No, just worn down by “gummint bureaucrappy” created and encouraged by Left AND Right (neither of which is either “progressive/liberal” or “conservative”) and fearing more “quantitative easing” and other “feddle gummint meddlin'” in the economy will wipe out their retirement years.

They are not alone in their fears.

One of the most obvious symptoms: A president is–or has been–mostly just emblematic of the direction of the country, but King Putz’s unconstitutional diktats (and recent diktats spewing from the agencies he rules) have certainly demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the rule of law and expanded–thanks to a supine Congress–the powers of the presidency far, far beyond any level seen before (save, perhaps, for the Lincoln Years). Reversal of the Obama Blight will take decades, and many, MANY down-ticket elections of honorable people (though where those can be found, I can’t say), to reverse. . . if it is possible at all, especially given the propaganda machines of the Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind and Academia Nut Fruitcake Bakeries.

For the 2016 presidential race, I could hope for a clear choice between an openly blatant socialist and a genuine conservative, but I’m unsure where we could get one of the latter on the ticket, nowadays. . . Heck, just FINDING one would be a task for Diogenes.

Leftists Are Anti-Science

[By “Leftists” I mean, of course, the full spectrum of Dhimmicraps–and their Bureaucrappic minions–and all others to the left of “mainstream” Dhimmicrappic thought, Academia Nut Fruitcakes–almost all of them in the “humanities”–and at least 99.99% of the Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind.]

In every aspect of leftist propaganda–from hardcore Marxist theory to anthropogenic climate scare-ism to social “welfare” policies–leftist theories have been tested in the real world and found to be fatally flawed. Whenever I view the real world wreckage of leftist cant, I’m reminded of a Robert Heinlein comment:

“One can judge from experiment, or one can blindly accept authority. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all important and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. . . “

By any honest assessment, whether one were to use Heinlein’s metric for science or Popper’s or any other honest scientist, leftist thought is anti-science.

I Blame the Hivemind

For at least a couple of decades now, anyone who has watched the Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind so-called “news” shows has been programmed to eliminate the ability to discern clear distinctions as to many things, but the most egregious–and most consistent–destruction of reason has been the twisting of time. How many times have you heard *cough* “news” *cough* readers refer to events that occurred some time in the past as happening contemporaneously with the reader’s babbling?

Past tense for past events, idiots. But no, in *cough* “news” *cough* readerland present tense is fairly consistently used to refer to past events. And so an essential anchor of reason is eroded daily and common folk attempting to be writers begin to write such drivel as,

The sun rose rose over San Antonia [sic] de Bexar as a Blood [sic] red omen of what the day will [sic] bring to the men of the Alamo.

Good Sharkey, Colonel god! Past tense, properly used, mixed with future tense speaking of a (long) past event! Oh, why not. *sigh* If the past is present, then surely the past is future as well. Time means nothing.

OTOH, any literate person who’s not been lobotomized by watching *cough* “news” *cough* shows would have written,

“The sun rose rose over San Antonio de Bexar as a blood red omen of what the day would bring to the men of the Alamo.”

It’s still a bit overwrought for me, but at least the conditional is dealt with properly. It’s not just aspiring web “journalists” committing such gagamaggot faux pas with English, no. Such superbly dumbass writing abounds in traditionally published works, from newspapers to books from traditional publishing houses (which at one time employed literate proof readers and editors) and in the speech of *cough* “news” *cough* readers inhabiting the Hivemind, the political and entertainment classes and even Academia Nut Fruitcake Bakeries.

Is it any wonder these dumbasses who consider themselves an elite that’s fit to rule the hoi polloi are making a mess of everything they touch? They cannot consistently deal with speaking clearly and rationally on simple subjects.

And the sheeple eat it all up with a spork (because they cannot be trusted with a real fork).

Waivermania

Obumascare Waivers are now “old news” (which the Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind has largely ignored, and so guaranteed that thinking people everywhere arekeeping them in mind… and marking their score cards accordingly). The new thing? Waivers for NCLB (“No Child Left Behind” known disaffectionately by anyone with more than two active brain cells as “No Child Gets Ahead”). A commenter at Jerry Pournelle’s Chaos Manor blog offered this comment, in part:

One can hope that this will allow some worse-off schools to adopt plans more suited to the students they have. One suspects it’ll far more often let the local bureaucrats return to not caring whether they’re compounding the problem with bad teaching, as long as they perform the proper rituals for Washington.

Which of course spurred me to wonder just what rituals would satisfy some “feddle gummint bureaucrap” as to qualifications for a waiver. This sort of thing, perhaps?

Was Pollyanna Stupid or Evil?

It’s a tough question. If you’re unfamiliar with the reference, take some time out. I’ll wait. Meanwhile, I’ll leave this here for interim consderation:

Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.–Napoleon Bonaparte (ascribed)

There is such a thing as human evil. I’ll allow no argument on that point, because any argument otherwise is simply either stupid* or evil. Period. So, accept as axiomatic that human evil exists. Is it then stupid or evil to look human evil in the face and see good? (I’ll allow a third option: insanity.)

Examples abound:

Idiots who defend Islam as a “religion of peace”. Stupidity or witting enabling of the evil hate cult of Islam?

People who assert that America is an unjust society, because we have people they class as poor? Evil or stupid? Consider this:

Ahhh, I’m tired of this already, and my BP is starting to climb… *sigh*

So, are those who are enablers of the hate cult of the Butcher of Medina evil or stupid (or both–likely, IMO)?

Are those who seem to be actively attempting to destroy our society via such activities as encouraging the kleptocratic “gimme” culture evil or stupid (or both–likely, IMO)?

And when do we stop ascribing destructive behaviors to stupidity alone and start calling it malice?


Yes, I aborted a bunch of stupid/evil material ranging from “pro-choice” (which is really, “Deny ANY choice to the unborn”), “Edumacation”, the Thugs Standing Around program of full employment for goons and petty tyrants, and “feddle gummint” tyrannical meddling in citizens’ lives while actively enabling outlaws to The Cult of Anthropogenic Climate Scare-ism and numerous points in between. One can select any issue dominated by the lies of the Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind, politicians *gag-spew* and Academia Nut Fruitcakes and plug it right into the “Stupid or Evil” matrix for consideration.


*I include in my use of “stupid” acts of witting, deliberate avoidance of facts. Witting, deliberate distortion of facts is evil–slander against truth.

Academia Nut Fruitcakes Get a Kick in the… Nuts

Jonathan Haidt, confirmed Liberal and atheist takes his colleagues to task.

Sample:

I submit to you that the under-representation of conservatives in social psychology, by a factor of several hundred, is evidence that we are a tribal moral community that actively discourages conservatives from entering. … We should take our own rhetoric about the benefits of diversity seriously and apply it to ourselves. … Just imagine if we had a true diversity of perspectives in social psychology. Imagine if conservative students felt free enough to challenge our dominant ideas, and bold enough to pull us out of our deepest ideological ruts. That is my vision for our bright post-partisan future.

There’s more at the linked article, a demonstration of an exception proving (“proving” here meaning “testing” as most of my readers would know) the rule that contemporary “liberals” are anything but. Liberal, that is. Haidt apparently is one of the few genuine liberals left in the American Academia Nut Fruitcake Bakeries laughingly called “institutions of higher learning”.

Remembering the Constitution

You know, that document that is supposedly the basis for all the “feddle gummint’s” meddling nowadays? The one that enumerates specific, limited powers for the Federal government of the States? The one largely ignored or twisted by our wonderful *spit* congresscritters, the judiciary and executive branches?

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

My recommendation would be to, on this day, the “birthday” of the Constitution, take some time out to simply READ it. Don’t pay any atention to dumbasses, liars and charlatans who say it’s written in archaic language that’s hard to understand (it isn’t, for anyone who’s moderately literate). That’s worse than the lame excuse the Medieval church gave for keeping common folk from reading the Bible, “It’s in Latin and you’re illiterate anyway, so just let us experts interpret it for you.” *feh* Academia Nut Fruitcakes, Mass MEdia Podpeople, politicians *spit* and the like would prefer you remain ignorant of its provisions so you’ll be unable to see when (every day) the establishment elite trample its protections for our liberties. Politicians especially don’t want you to really know what the Constitution says, because when you do it will lay bare the fact that approaching 100% (there are a very few holdouts) of congresscritters *spit* are in daily breach of their oaths of office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

Of course almost all congresscritters are in breach of their oaths; they ARE the primary enemies of the Constitution! Witness all the talk from BOTH sides of the Uniparty aisle about federal “reform” (takeover) of health care. Hint: there is NO enumerated power in the Constitution that would allow such a thing.

Read the Constitution for yourself and see: it’s true. The Federal government has no such power, legitimately, but that is not going to stop Congress from acting illegaly in this case any more than it has stopped Congress from enacting other laws it has no legitimate power to enact. Note in the Christian Science Monitor article linked above that,

Ironically, consumers today cannot freely buy health insurance from across state lines. If there’s any legitimate application of the “commerce” clause, it would be to overturn such restrictions. But the framers never gave Congress the general power to regulate industry.