Antifa Issues Warning on GOP Bill
Campus Reform reports that various radical organizations are attacking the “Unmasking Antifa Act, “which would provide enhanced penalties for certain crimes committed while in disguise. The act was introduced into the House of Representatives on June 8 by the GOP. After the bill was covered by mainstream publications in early July, “Antifa USA,” an activist group based out of Arizona, tweeted an image of what appears to be an Antifa member surrounded by an arsenal of military-style weapons.
“I don't think the #Fascists & their collaborators comprehend the gravity of the situation, our resources, nor dedication to #Antifascism,” the organization tweeted.
Wisconsin High Court Rules for McAdams
John McAdams, the conservative professor with tenure that Marquette University has been trying to fire for almost 4 years, has won a favorable ruling in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Court ruled on Friday that Marquette "breached its contract with Dr. McAdams when it suspended him for engaging in activity protected by...guarantee of academic freedom.” McAdams had written a blog post criticizing another Marquette instructor, Cheryl Abbate, for not allowing class discussion of the Catholic position on gay marriage because she said the issue had been settled, and discussion of it might offend gays in the class. Marquette, at least nominally, is a Catholic, Jesuit institution.
The Court ordered Marquette to “immediately reinstate” the academic with “tenure, compensation, and benefits." According to the decision, the court ruled that the university violated its contract with McAdams, which included an academic freedom clause. “This ruling rightly demonstrates that when a university promises academic freedom, it is required to deliver,” Robert Shibley, the executive director of FIRE, said in a statement.
U. of Washington Pays up over Free Speech Lawsuit
The University of Washington will pay $127,000 in legal fees to lawyers for the university’s College Republicans to settle a free-speech lawsuit filed by the group, The Seattle Times reports. The College Republicans chapter sued after the university tried to charge a $17,000 security fee for the group to hold a campus rally in February with the conservative group Patriot Prayer. A federal district court judge blocked the fee.
U. of Michigan Responds to Speech First’s Suit
The University of Michigan is pushing back against a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the school’s “Bias Response Team” and policies that allegedly chill campus speech. In a court filing on Friday, the University said the lawsuit, filed last month by the watchdog group Speech First, presented a “false caricature” of school’s conduct code and how it is implemented. The lawsuit claimed the University of Michigan disciplinary code uses vague and broad definitions of “bullying” and “harassment,” effectively barring speech that other students might find “intimidating,” “demeaning,” “bothersome” or “hurtful.” “Under this regime, the most sensitive student on campus effectively dictates the terms under which others may speak,” the lawsuit said.
Portraits Taken Down at Harvard School—Too Male and White
A teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School will take down portraits of prestigious white male doctors and scatter them throughout the grounds in a new diversity move. Of the 31 various doctors and department heads that have their paintings hung in the Louis Bornstein Family Amphitheater at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, all are men, 30 are white, and one is Chinese. They’ve been described as “pioneers of medicine,” and getting a portrait hung there is something great to aspire to, according to the white male doctor who most recently had his image installed, Dr. Ron Walls, founding chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine.
But apparently having a cluster of white male doctors’ portraits — great as they may be — sends a message to employees and students that “white men are in charge,” Dr. Jeroan Allison, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who researches health disparities, told the Boston Globe, which first reported the news. A hospital official told the Globe removing the portraits will create a “sense of belonging” for women.
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“Balanced Representation!”
What’s not to like??
Don’t we apply that rule to ordinary life… in all ways….at all times? And aren’t the results of “balanced representation” always superior to outcomes which are demographically unbalanced? Of course they are!
I used to prefer good, well-trained dentists….dentists who were good at dentistry….but then I read this study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, which told me: “The underrepresentation of Blacks, Hispanics or Latinos, and American Indians or Alaska Natives among dentists raises concerns about the diversity of the dental workforce, disparities in access to dental care and in oral health status, and social justice.” And now I am convinced that social justice and diversity (which flow only from “balanced representation”) are vastly more important than being good with cavities and teeth. Huzzah!
I used to think that being a Basketball Wizard was and should be the primary qualifier for being in the NBA, but I have seen the light and have come to despise those incredibly unbalanced and unrepresentative teams which are filled to overflowing with really good players who all — dare I say it — look the same and display, always, the same incredible level of talent. Where are the short, uncoordinated Hispanics and Native Americans? Where are the fat White Guys who can’t dribble? Where — for God’s sake — are the women??? Women comprise 50% of the population and yet there’s not a single one on any NBA team? Can’t we trade a Stephen Curry to get, say, a Nancy Pelosi or a Kim Kardashian in the Golden State uniform? And just wait until that “balanced representation” team plays Houston next year!
And what about plumbing? Every time I hire a plumber, they all look like they grew-up in the exact same Plumbing Family (they all certainly buy the same gap-waist pants)! What’s up with that? Of course, they all have done a great job with all those plumbing things, but c’mon! What’s really important here? Great, cost-effective plumbing solutions installed by expert plumbers….or balanced demographic representation among all those who drive plumbing trucks? All I know is next time a pipe bursts, I’m gonna wait until I get a trans-gendered Black immigrant (I just hope he knows something about plumbing) before I accept an unrepresentative solution in my flooded basement.
And sadly, as I look back at all the women I dated, they were — in retrospect — pathetically unrepresentative of all the various demographic possibilities which are out there. I just hope my wife understands as I seek to — belatedly — make that population sample significantly more balanced.
“THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.” That totally balanced, totally representative, totally equal future — it can’t get here fast enough. Vonnegut would be so proud!