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JANUARY 30,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THIS IS INSANITY – OVERNIGHT:  It will destroy the very students it presumably is designed to help.  From Campus Reform:   At Boston University, students are no longer graded on their writing, as Marisa Milanese and Gwen Kordonowy explain in a recent article on the school's writing program's “‘ungrading’ movement.”   According to Milanese and Kordonowy in a recent column, out of 100 instructors in the Boston University program, “nearly half employed contract grading in some form this semester.”  Milanese and Kordonowy, a master lecturer and senior lecturer, respectively, say they still comment on students’ writing, although, they “…no longer place a letter or number on anything they write. No As and Bs. No 82s or 94s.”  The pair refer to their technique as “contract grading,” which “typically involves minimum expectations for students to earn a final course grade.”  The explanation goes on to suggest, “These expectations are unrelated to performance: Attend class and participate, meet due dates, fulfill the criteria of every assignment, make substantive revisions and so on.”  I'd love to know where these students will be in ten years.  Probably functionally illiterate.  The ability to communicate in written and spoken English is a much-demanded skill both nationally and internationally.  The world is not buying what these two "teachers" are selling.  And that's economic death.

January 30, 2022       Permalink

THE HUGE BACKFIRE – OVERNIGHT:  President Biden's promise to restrict his choices for a Supreme Court justice to African-American women may be going down well with his base, but is exceedingly unpopular with the general public.  Anyone surprised?  From Fox: 

More than three-quarters (76%) of Americans want President Joe Biden to consider all potential nominees to replace outgoing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, according to a recent ABC News-Ipsos poll.

The poll comes after Biden said Thursday that he will announce his nominee before the end of February, and that the candidate will be a Black woman. Among Democrats, 54% supported considering all nominees regardless of race and gender. Just 23% of those polled wanted Biden to restrict his list of nominees to Black women.

The poll, which was conducted Jan. 28-29 with Ipsos Public Affairs' KnowledgePanel among a random national sample of 510 adults, also found that 43% believe that the Supreme Court is partisan, and that justices rule "on the basis of their partisan political views."

Other finding from the poll were unflattering toward the president, who earned low approval numbers on issues ranging from inflation — with 69% disapproving — to surging crime and gun violence. Just 1% of those polled said the state of the economy is "excellent."

Biden's Supreme Court announcement follows through on a pledge he made during the 2020 campaign. When his campaign was faltering during the 2020 Democratic primary in South Carolina, Biden reportedly told Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., he would publicly promise to appoint a Black woman to the high court in exchange for the House majority whip's endorsement.

Biden's decision has been criticized by those who claim he is allowing identity politics to seep into the Supreme Court. Last week, Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson told WMAL that "to create that kind of situation in the highest court in the land is really abominable, and very detrimental to our freedoms."

COMMENT:  Biden rules with the intellect and sensitivity of a big-city political machine.  Every move is a political deal, every appointment pays off a debt.  But restricting a Supreme Court appointment on the basis of race or gender is a bridge too far.  Despite its image being battered by controversy, the Supreme Court is still seen by most Americans as a revered if imperfect institution.  Americans would like to think that appointments to the Court are noble acts.  They see, though, that nobility is nowhere in sight.

January 30,  2022     Permalink

JANUARY 29,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

A GOOD STEP FORWARD – OVERNIGHT:  Virtually ignored by the American press, which is reluctant to give former President Trump credit for anything, the Abraham Accords are moving forward in the Mideast, expanding peaceful relations.  Now, a real breakthrough, from the Times of Israel:  Israeli President Isaac Herzog took off for the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, marking the first-ever official visit by an Israeli president to the Gulf state.  Herzog was invited for the two-day visit by Abu Dhabi’s powerful Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, known colloquially as MBZ and seen as the UAE’s de facto ruler.  Herzog is slated to visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and will meet with bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Dubai ruler Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Expo 2020 Dubai Commissioner-General and Tolerance Minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Emirati business leaders, and members of the Jewish community in the country.    Thanks are due to President Trump, who started the peace train moving in the Mideast, and to his son-in-law, who did the legwork.  In fact, President Trump should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the Abraham Accords.  Some chance.  President Reagan should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Cold War.  Some chance.

January 29, 2022      Permalink

WHAT A WONDERFUL CHARITY – OVERNIGHT:  You'd think that, by now, our so-called "free press" would have been all over Black Lives Matter, demanding to know exactly what it does for African-Americans.  If you thought that, you'd be wrong.  BLM is a hard-left, Marxist organization whose manifesto is chilling.  Have you ever seen that manifesto printed in any newspaper?  The national press has given BLM a pass.  Big corporations have written large checks because "black lives matter."   There's even a Black Lives Matter Square in Washington, D.C.

But now some ugly things are being reported.  Maybe, just maybe, we'll see an accounting that is long overdue.  From Fox: 

Black Lives Matter (BLM) moved millions of dollars to a charity in Canada run by the wife of co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors to purchase a mansion that used to be the headquarters of the Communist Party of Canada, according to public records reviewed by the New York Post.

M4BJ, which is a non-profit based in Toronto that was set up in part by Janaya Khan, bought the 10,000-square foot mansion for $6.3 million in July 2021. Khan is the wife of Khan-Cullors, a self-professed Marxist who helped found Black Lives Matter Global Foundation Network.

Last year, Khan-Cullors resigned from the organization after an investigation revealed that she spent $3.2 million on homes in Georgia and Los Angeles. She reportedly denied that the homes were purchased with donations to BLM.

It was lunch money she saved up in a jar.

The purchase of the Toronto mansion, which is also called Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism, drew criticism from within the organization.

"For BLM Canada to take money from BLM Global Network [Foundation] for a building without consulting the community was unethical," Canadian BLM activists Sarah Jama and Sahra Soudi recently said. "For BLM Canada to refuse to answer questions from young Black organizers goes against the spirit of movement-building."

According to a recent investigation by the Washington Examiner, two activists who were supposed to assume leadership after Khan-Cullors' resignation left abruptly in September.

Cullors stepped down from her role as executive director of the activist group’s central foundation last year amid questions about her finances. Cullors was questioned intensely on a series of real estate investments and property purchases, leading to criticism for her perceived opulence while claiming to be a Marxist.

COMMENT:  I love it.  Her real offense was, apparently, acting in an un-Marxist manner.  Do they execute for that?

January 29,  2022      Permalink