It probably seemed like a foolproof idea in 1955, and it worked exceptionally well for most of Mark Hernandez Chacon’s 64 years. Except that may not be his name, and he has no idea how old he is because the great idea in 1955 turned out not to be so great in 2017.

All because Eva Hernandez Chacon, who raised him as her son, gave him the birth certificate of her child who died at just 8 days old. When authorities discovered that fact more than 60 years later, it wasn’t long before they came knocking — loudly and early in the morning — at his door.

By comparing databases of death certificates with social security, since technology exists today that was unthinkable back then, it became clear that his Chacon’s “mother” made him her child and gave him the birth certificate of a child who died to use for all purposes. Whoever he was before, he was now Mark Hernandez Chacon. Except Mark Hernandez Chacon died eight days after he was born. Except Mark Hernandez Chacon lived a full life too. Continue reading →

When I decided to put a Becker Europa AM/FM cassette radio in the Healey, I realized I was compromising. It was a 1980s radio going into a 1960s car. Most people wouldn’t realize that it was inauthentic, but I did. For someone who went to great pains to restore the car to its original condition, it was a very hard choice.

But I wanted to be able to listen to music, to play the great many cassette tapes I recorded back in college when music was still good, and the radios from the 60s, AM only, were not going to cut it. So I closed my eyes, held my breath, and compromised by getting a Becker Europa 599.

The problem with buying an old radio is that it might not function as it did when new, so I sent mine off to Becker AutoSound in New Jersey for a clean and lube when it arrived in 2003. And, having no particular memory of anything concerning, it came back and worked fine. Into the Healey it went, and old songs came out of it. Continue reading →

To its credit, the New York Times published an op-ed by Indiana University law prof Steve Sanders. The subtitle should have sufficed, as the content was so uncontroversial as to require nothing more to be said.

Those College Students Who Used the N-Word Shouldn’t Have Been Arrested

They were guilty of vulgarity and ignorance, but “ridicule” is not a crime.

Nevertheless, more had to be written or it wouldn’t have made the cut as an op-ed, so Sanders explained. Continue reading →

A Teen Vogue Op-Ed recently stumbled into my newsfeed. After giving the matter some thought, and consulting with the local Junior Curmudgeon’s Legal Aid Society, I’m announcing today that I’m applying to trademark the word “journalist” to stop Teen Vogue writers from ever using it as a descriptor.

Before you immediately dismiss my application as some sort of conservative/Republican stunt, I can assure you this is no partisan political issue. I also want to profess my respect for actual journalists like Radley Balko, Liliana Segura, and Brad Heath. All three and their colleagues are deserving of the “journalist” title for tirelessly working to expose truth to the public.

No, what’s troubling is hack writers for a site with front page listicles like “22 Gifts For Your Friend Who Would Rather Be Napping” and deep insights like “Miley Cyrus Said She Had To Be Gay in An Instagram Live” calling themselves “journalists.” It’s an embarrassment to the profession* and something needs to be done about it. Continue reading →

Appeals to morality have become all the rage, as they not only serve to make us feel better about our choices but can’t be challenged. After all, everybody wants to be moral, and have everyone recognize them as such (or at least not call them immoral). And since morality has no rational basis, there is no battle to be waged against it.

It’s not that there aren’t universally accepted moral beliefs, like don’t kill*, but tipping 30%?

So when you’re thinking about compensating servers, it’s best to start from the assumption that tipping will be around for a while. The smart thing to ask is, how can we make the best of a bad situation? Continue reading →

In the aftermath of the UConn outrage, the ACLU of Connecticut issued its statement.

Policing is an inherently white supremacist institution, and we remain skeptical of its ability to address racism and bigotry. Under existing free speech case law the students who were arrested will almost certainly not be convicted, making it imperative for the university to immediately address racism on campus, including but not limited to these recent incidents.

This could be read in different ways, and people inclined to lie to themselves might read it sufficiently weaselly to not read it as the ACLU-CT saying that it was a shame that there will be no conviction, so it’s left to UConn to punish the evildoers, who, obviously, must be punished.

But to those who haven’t been paying attention, they find some comfort in the quote from David Cole, believing that maybe this is just some rogue local chapter that hates the Constitution too much. Continue reading →

Bed Bath and Beyond apologized for its “lack of sensitivity” in selling “blackface.” Not actual blackface, but jack-o’-lanterns that were black. Black, as in scary for Halloween, but which, if you consider that they are carved faces in a pumpkin that was black, could be construed as blackface if you squinted hard and desperately wanted to find blackface when it was a scary Halloween pumpkin.

Wilbur Aldridge, the regional director at the NAACP, said in a statement that the pumpkin design “shows an extreme lack of sensitivity.”

“By now I would believe everyone [would] know that anything in Black face is offensive… Equally as offensive is that a retail store would have such an item in [their] inventory for general purchase.”

A survey into the offensiveness of statements on social media by a Michigan State professor brought a backlash of outrage for its inclusion of statements that were offensive. It included a warning that offensive statements might be offensive, but that wasn’t sufficient for some students. Continue reading →

It would be very different if it happened today, but on the day before graduation for the Harvard Class of 2013, as Damilare Sonoiki spoke as the Male Orator chosen by his classmates, he had no idea what to expect would be coming his way.

90. On May 29, 2013, Damilare spoke before his graduating class as the male Harvard Orator, and on May 30, 2013, Damilare walked in Harvard’s graduation ceremony.

91. When Damilare participated in Harvard’s graduation ceremony, he had completed all of the requirements to graduate.
92. As of his graduation day on May 30, 2013, no charges had been issued against Damilare by the Ad Board, and he was a student in good standing.
93. Harvard impermissibly withheld Damilare’s degree.

On the one hand, Damilare was the recipient of the Annual Senior Award from The Association of Black Harvard Women, as part of its 15th Annual Tribute to Black Men, celebrating the leadership and contributions of black men at Harvard. Continue reading →

There was never any serious question that the prosecution would be prohibited under RAV v. St. Paul, the 1992 Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment prohibited criminalizing expressions of racism. And the actions of the UConn students didn’t even violate the elements of the offense charged, as Adam Steinbaugh at FIRE noted:

The statute under which the students are charged reads, in full:

Sec. 53-37. Ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race. Any person who, by his advertisement, ridicules or holds up to contempt any person or class of persons, on account of the creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race of such person or class of persons, shall be guilty of a class D misdemeanor.

The Connecticut statute is a rarely-enforced relic dating to 1917 and intended to address advertisements for businesses, not every use of derogatory language.

Continue reading →

At first blush, the sentence imposed by Justice Mark Dwyer seemed very harsh. Four years each for two “Proud Boys” who, after being goaded by Antifa protesting a Gavin McInnes speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club, went on the attack.

By no stretch of law or reality could the beating that followed be called “self defense.” It wasn’t that the preceding conduct was good, although it wasn’t criminal, but that there was a clear break and the group of Proud Boys went after the few Antifa, chasing them down, catching them, beating them.

They were arrested, tried and convicted. Continue reading →