A while back, I attended what’s delightfully called a “webinar,” which is like a seminar but on the web, so there’s nothing to prevent you from playing spider solitaire, dozing off, going to the bathroom or having a nosh, all while feeling that you’re involved. I hate the format, and have turned down a few requests to participate. I don’t blame anyone who enjoys, or at least tolerates, them but it’s not what I care to do.

But this wasn’t just a generic webinar, but one put on by an organization I support, that included people I respect on a subject that was of interest to me, so why not? I swiftly got my answer. The webinar opened with a warning, that anyone who used “dehumanizing” language in the scrolling comments would be ejected. Some examples of “dehumanizing” words were given. Continue reading →

In Grutter v. Bolinger, Justice Sandra Day O’Conner infamously predicted that 25 years would be long enough.

The Court takes the Law School at its word that it would like nothing better than to find a race-neutral admissions formula and will terminate its use of racial preferences as soon as practicable. The Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.

That was 2003. John McWhorter argues that we’re ahead of schedule, at least when it comes to race and gender. Continue reading →

The assistant attorney general in charge of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice is Kristen Clarke. Her bona fides as a warrior for racial justice, whatever that means, are far beyond reproach, to the extent that her office pursued a second prosecution of the three men convicted in Georgia of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery after they had been sentenced to life in prison, two without the possibility of parole.

In some cases, the family of a murder victim takes a magnanimous view toward the killers. Not here. His mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, demanded more.

Arbery’s family was outraged that the plea would allow the McMichaels to serve time in federal prison instead of the Georgia state system. Continue reading →

Not that I knew Ilya Shapiro well enough to believe I knew what was really going on in his head, but having followed him for some time, I felt I knew him well enough to know that while he was libertarian on the conservative side, he wasn’t racist. What he could be was  too cavalier, a bit too cocky in his thrust. Sometimes it could manifest itself as snark. Other times, it was reckless.

The problem I had was that he was a very smart guy, smart enough not to be this reckless. And if it wasn’t reckless, then it was something else, something worse. Continue reading →

How cool is it that you can make a restaurant reservation online? And you can see the menu online. And if you’re ordering out, you can place your order online, and even set the time when you want to come pick it up. It’s easy, painless and convenient. No waiting for someone to answer the phone, or finding out that someone misheard and screwed up the order. It’s wonderful. So why then should restaurants have phones anymore?

Gregory Ryan, 39, owns and operates two restaurants in California’s Santa Barbara County: Bell’s and Bar Le Côte. Neither of the restaurants has a phone line, a decision Mr. Ryan said was made because they have small teams. People reach Mr. Ryan and the restaurants through email and Instagram direct messages, which he said “are a good way to be able to connect and speak with people in very, very quick ways.” After being in the restaurant business for 15 years, Mr. Ryan said about 80 percent of phone calls are “typically a waste of time.” Continue reading →

By its own terms, the Equal Rights Amendment expired in 1982, after Congress extended its own initial expiration date. You remember the ERA, the progressive constitutional amendment of 1972?

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

It seems too obvious to deny, even if somewhat duplicative of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Rights Clause. But then, women were still subject to sex discrimination back then, with those seeking to break out of traditional gender roles at war over who had to go the market for orange juice. Continue reading →

It’s one thing for a person to seek redress to a governmental body, which is a right protected by the Constitution. But then, does the protester get to disrupt the body to the point where it cannot conduct its business? This was the issue facing City of National City, California (great name, right?), but before you leap off the edge, it could happen elsewhere, like Washington.

Tasha Williamson, and others, decided to engage in a protest at a City Council meeting. Continue reading →

I’m a huge fan of Neil Young’s music, whether CSNY or solo. There are lyrics that pop into my head. The melodies can move me. More than anything else, the songs bring me back to happy, simpler times. And there was a lot about his protest music that rang true to me, at least at the time.

I’ve never seen the Joe Rogan Experience, and don’t quite understand why a comedian and former host of a show where people ate bugs is qualified to offer much by way of insightful commentary. A lot of other people, apparently, like the show. Continue reading →

I remember when candidate Trump, from the debate stage, announced he would appoint a Supreme Court justice who would overrule Roe v. Wade, as candidate Clinton announced she would appoint one who would uphold abortion. Both made me cringe. It’s now normal for presidential candidates to “sell” Supreme Court seats to voters as an enticement. Even Reagan did it announcing he would nominate a woman, who turned out to be Sandra Day O’Connor.

To be fair, it’s not as if seats haven’t been deemed “owned” by a demographic. The great Thurgood Marshall’s seat was reserved for a black justice, and so Clarence Thomas, whose qualifications were in serious doubt, got the nod. Of course, the only thing in common between Justice Marshall and Justice Thomas is their skin color, dispelling the myth that melanin is all it takes. Continue reading →

In the latest version of “Let’s Come Up With A Stupid Law,” Florida’s entry is the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

A Florida House committee on Thursday passed a bill seeking to ban discussions of sexuality and gender identity in school classrooms, which LGBTQ+ advocates say will effectively “erase” LGBTQ+ history, culture, and students.

The Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, passed Thursday in the House Education and Employment Committee largely along party lines.

Continue reading →