Affirmative action is a fraud, a sham, a dirty trick played on the people of the USA in the name of "racial equality" and "fairness". From the getgo, it was a plot by the usual gang of "progressive thinkers" and "anti-racists" to get even with the white people of America for "centuries of oppression of people of colour".
The argument was that African-Americans -- not all vizmins, just the blacks -- weren't getting ahead in society and in life because they were being held back by things like segregated schools. A decade after Brown v. Board of Education ended segregation, blacks were still found to be under-represented in US colleges and universities because, evidently, they couldn't cut the mustard on the admissions tests.
The solution proposed by the guilt-wracked liberals was not to help the poorly educated African-Americans with things like, say, Remedial English, but to make the "Eurocentric" tests easier! When that didn't work, hundreds of "civil rights" laws and regulations were put in place to effect give "minorities" preferential treatment in getting into school, getting government jobs, getting public housing, and so on.
America being the most litigious country on earth, it didn't take long -- about a decade -- for hundreds of lawsuits to be brought challenging this state-mandated reverse discrimination. Eventually one such action reached the United States Supreme Court: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. In that landlmark case, Justice Lewis Powell found "diversity in the classroom" to be "a compelling state interest". So, he said, affirmative action was allowed under the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act.
But, a majority of the justices found, the university's programme went too far, so it was struck down and Mr. Bakke (a white man) was admitted to the U.C.-David medical school. The practical effect of Bakke was that most affirmative action programs continued without change.
But was Bakke a binding precedent -- the law of the land -- or merely a non-binding plurality opinion? In 2003, the majority of the Supreme Court upheld Powell's position in Grutter v. Bollinger. They found that a "race-conscious admissions process that may favor underrepresented minority groups" did not amount to a "quota system", which would have been unconstitutional under Bakke.
However, Chief Justice Rehnquist, joined by three other justices, dissented. He called the University of Michigan Law School's system a thinly veiled and unconstitutional quota system, citing the fact that the percentage of African-American applicants closely mirrored the percentage of African-American applicants that were accepted. Still, the 5-4 decision was hailed by the usual suspects as a victory for progressive thinkers over racists, yada yada yada, and reverse discimination was apparently enshrined as the law of the land.
Last week, however, the Supreme Court appeared to reverse itself. Its just-released decision in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action upheld the right of the citizens of Michigan to ban race conscious admissions at the state’s colleges and universities, and in many other governmental activities as well.
The phrase which I've emphasized is the key. The Supreme Court is saying, in Schuette, that the final decision as to the necessity for or rightness of schemes like affirmative action rests with the people, not the courts!
Two propositions were accepted by the parties and the Court:
(1) In certain limited circumstances, the constitution permits race-conscious admissions (affirmative action), and
(2) Although the Constitution permits affirmative action it does not require it.
The second proposition means that a public university can decide not to engage in affirmative action, and that a university’s board of trustees or regents can forbid the university it governs from considering a student’s race in the admissions process.
That is essentially what the Court said -- although not so clearly -- in Grutter. Here's how Charles Krauthammer explains it.
Here's how Mr. Krauthammer put it in his syndicated column. "After 36 years since the Bakke case, years of endless pettifoggery — parsing exactly how many spoonfuls of racial discrimination are permitted in exactly which circumstance — the court has its epiphany: Let the people decide. Not our business. We will not ban affirmative action. But we will not impose it, as the Schuette plaintiffs would have us do by ruling that no state is permitted to ban affirmative action." [The emphasis is mine. Walt]
Does this mean that a judicial stake has at last been driven through the heart of affirmative action? Hardly. What is clear, though, is that the majority of Americans (and their British and Canadian cousins) are fed up with anti-white racism. If the majority is allowed to have its say and have its way, as the US Supreme Court now says it should be, the end of reverse discrimination may well be in sight.
Further reading: "Ethnic politics, public opinion forcing a second look at U.S. affirmative action: Two recent Supreme Court decisions throw the ball to state legislatures", a well-balanced analysis by Neil Macdonald on the CBC News website.
Footnote: Walt has just acquired a copy of Charles Krauthammer's latest book, Things That Matter (Crown Forum, 2013). In a blurb on the back cover, David Brooks says that Mr. Krauthammer's writing "transcends the crush of daily events and can be read, with profit, always." Indeed.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Parents of raped 14-year-old mutilate Muslim cleric, say he should be "punished even more severely"
Interesting item on Reuters today, a report from some remote part of Armpitistan, where the parents of a 14-year-old girl have been arrested after they attacked a Muslim cleric who (the parents say) perpetrated a series of sexual attacks on their daughter. For revenge -- and the honour of the family of course -- they cut off the holy man's... wait for it... nose and ears. What?! Did you think it would be something else?
The provincial "head of women's affairs" [What does this mean, actually? Ed.] told Reuters that the girl had told her parents four months ago she had been assaulted. Speaking from the police chief's office, Abdul Qahar, the girl's father, said, "I invited the mullah to dinner. Then I cut off his ears and nose. I don't know if a cat ate his ears, but his nose went down the drain."
The 32-year-old cleric denied he had assaulted the girl. Police said they have opened a case against him. In most of Afghanistan, outside the capital, Islamic sharia law takes precedence over secular criminal or civil law. Said the girl's mother, Sultana, "If there was a functioning rule of law, then he would be punished even more severely!"
International human rights activists say there has been a sharp rise in violent attacks against women in the deeply fundamental Muslim country, where women have fought hard to gain rights after the collapse of Taliban government in 2001. Restoring women's rights after the Taliban was ousted by an American-led coalition of troops was cited as one of the main objectives of the war. Mission not accomplished!
What lesson do we learn from stories like this? They're savages there, one and all. Leave the benighted heathens to cutting off each other's body parts and whatever else seems "right" to them!
The provincial "head of women's affairs" [What does this mean, actually? Ed.] told Reuters that the girl had told her parents four months ago she had been assaulted. Speaking from the police chief's office, Abdul Qahar, the girl's father, said, "I invited the mullah to dinner. Then I cut off his ears and nose. I don't know if a cat ate his ears, but his nose went down the drain."
The 32-year-old cleric denied he had assaulted the girl. Police said they have opened a case against him. In most of Afghanistan, outside the capital, Islamic sharia law takes precedence over secular criminal or civil law. Said the girl's mother, Sultana, "If there was a functioning rule of law, then he would be punished even more severely!"
International human rights activists say there has been a sharp rise in violent attacks against women in the deeply fundamental Muslim country, where women have fought hard to gain rights after the collapse of Taliban government in 2001. Restoring women's rights after the Taliban was ousted by an American-led coalition of troops was cited as one of the main objectives of the war. Mission not accomplished!
What lesson do we learn from stories like this? They're savages there, one and all. Leave the benighted heathens to cutting off each other's body parts and whatever else seems "right" to them!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
St McPeter's special today: Sainthood 2-for-1!
This editorial cartoon appeared in The Remnant -- a pro-family, pro-life, pro-Catholic newspaper which Walt recommends highly. A big "well done" to the artist.
Worth reading in the Remnant: "Pope Paul VI: Next Contestant on the Santo Subito Show"
Friday, April 25, 2014
Hasty canonizations of John XXIII and JPII - Heaven can't be pleased!
Walt will not be among the million or more pilgrims expected to flock to the Eternal City this weekend for the "canonizations" of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII. I put "canonizations" in quotes because there is serious doubt about the propriety of declaring these popes saints.
In times past -- before Vatican II and even through the papacy of Paul VI -- it took a long time for the process of canonization to unfold. A case or "cause" had to be opened, and then promoted under the direction of a "postulator", whose mission was to make the case for the sainthood of the individual. But there was also a "devil's advocate" charged with arguing the case against the person in question. And, as proof of saintliness, two miracles -- not one but two -- had to be authenticated, and declared attributable to the intervention of the proposed saint. All this could take decades, even centuries.
But nowadays, under Francis the Party Pope -- now becoming known as "Pope of the Cold Calls" -- all those formalities are no longer required, especially for wannabe saints of the "new and improved" Roman Catholic Church of Vatican II. Francis has short-circuited the norms of Holy Mother Church so that JPII and John XXIII can be elevated to sainthood without the usual enquiries, arguments, and proofs of sanctity.
Why is this being done? Because to authenticate the saintliness of John XXIII, who convened Vatican II in spite of the warning given to him by Our Lady of Fatima, and John Paul II, who perpetuated and even worsened its errors, is to (in the minds of the faithful) authenticate the Council itself. So says Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, in his latest Letter to Friends and Benefactors (No. 82), titled "We vigorously protest these canonizations ".
Also worth reading is the Catholic Family News interview with Professor Roberto de Mattei on the proposed canonizations. Here's a quote: "If I had to admit that Pope Roncalli [John XXIII] exercised virtue in a heroic way while carrying out his role of Pontiff, I would undermine at the core, the rational presuppositions of my faith. When in doubt, I adhere to the dogma of faith established by the First Vatican Council, according to which there can be no contradiction between faith and reason..."
Meanwhile, in a village called Cevo, in northern Italy, a man was killed yesterday when a crucifix devoted to John Paul II collapsed on top of him. The gigantic cross -- nearly 100 feet high -- was erected to honour the late pontiff’s 1998 visit to the nearby city of Brescia.
Coincidentally, the 21-year-old victim lived with his parents in a town called Lovere, on Via Papa Giovanni XXIII. In English, that's "Pope John XXIII Street". More primitive people might take the event as an evil omen, but of course we Catholics aren't that primitive... are we...
In times past -- before Vatican II and even through the papacy of Paul VI -- it took a long time for the process of canonization to unfold. A case or "cause" had to be opened, and then promoted under the direction of a "postulator", whose mission was to make the case for the sainthood of the individual. But there was also a "devil's advocate" charged with arguing the case against the person in question. And, as proof of saintliness, two miracles -- not one but two -- had to be authenticated, and declared attributable to the intervention of the proposed saint. All this could take decades, even centuries.
But nowadays, under Francis the Party Pope -- now becoming known as "Pope of the Cold Calls" -- all those formalities are no longer required, especially for wannabe saints of the "new and improved" Roman Catholic Church of Vatican II. Francis has short-circuited the norms of Holy Mother Church so that JPII and John XXIII can be elevated to sainthood without the usual enquiries, arguments, and proofs of sanctity.
Why is this being done? Because to authenticate the saintliness of John XXIII, who convened Vatican II in spite of the warning given to him by Our Lady of Fatima, and John Paul II, who perpetuated and even worsened its errors, is to (in the minds of the faithful) authenticate the Council itself. So says Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, in his latest Letter to Friends and Benefactors (No. 82), titled "We vigorously protest these canonizations ".
Also worth reading is the Catholic Family News interview with Professor Roberto de Mattei on the proposed canonizations. Here's a quote: "If I had to admit that Pope Roncalli [John XXIII] exercised virtue in a heroic way while carrying out his role of Pontiff, I would undermine at the core, the rational presuppositions of my faith. When in doubt, I adhere to the dogma of faith established by the First Vatican Council, according to which there can be no contradiction between faith and reason..."
Meanwhile, in a village called Cevo, in northern Italy, a man was killed yesterday when a crucifix devoted to John Paul II collapsed on top of him. The gigantic cross -- nearly 100 feet high -- was erected to honour the late pontiff’s 1998 visit to the nearby city of Brescia.
Coincidentally, the 21-year-old victim lived with his parents in a town called Lovere, on Via Papa Giovanni XXIII. In English, that's "Pope John XXIII Street". More primitive people might take the event as an evil omen, but of course we Catholics aren't that primitive... are we...
Saying the unsayable about the unspeakable in Brampton, Canada
Brampton, Ontario, Canada used to be a nice little white little community. Walt passed through there in the early 1950s and remembers it having a population of less than 10,000 and one (1) traffic light at the main intersection, which everyone called "The Four Corners". (Banks occupied three of the four corners. How Canadian is that?!) The traffic signal had only red and green lights, didn't need a yellow. No-one signalled turns because everyone knew where everyone else was going anyway. It was that kind of town.
Sixty years later, Brampton has changed. The population is well over half a million, and more than half of those are vizmins, mainly from south Asia although a black ghetto is developing in the city's northwest quadrant. Don't take Walt's word for it. Check out "Brampton's growing pains", which appeared in the Brampton Guardian last week.
The Guardian kind of downplays the issues of immigration, race and poverty because Canadians like to pretend problems like ghettoization only exist in other countries. In case you can't find the paper's reference, we'll copy it here.
"The population explosion has also sparked concerns about ghettoization, both in terms of income and race. Like other Peel Region municipalities, Brampton faces growing income inequality thanks to a decline in well-paying jobs, a surge of immigrants who may face language barriers in the workplace, and rising home prices."
The article didn't generate a lot of interest or discussion. Why would it, in places with nicknames like "Bramladesh" and "Sikhdale"? That's the way things are, thanks to Pierre Trudeau's Liberal governments of the 1970s and every one of their successors of both red and blue stripes. The politicians opened the floodgates because every immigrant is a potential voter who will be beholden to the progressive pols who allowed them to escape their third-world cesspits by coming by the boatload to the Great No-longer-white North.
Now, however, a political action group called Immigration Watch Canada, is causing some long-overdue discussion about the pitfalls of excessive immigration of unassimilable minorities. They dare to question the wisdom of "a social engineering experiment that is conducted on Canada’s mainstream population in order to make it a minority."
They're circulating a pamphlet called "The Changing Face of Brampton - Is This What You Really Want?", which has predictably (and instantly) been denounced as "racist" by the usual gang of "progressive thinkers" and forces for good in the community.
The flyer points out the drastically changed demographics of Brampton's population. It shows two photos. The first is of a group of white people. The second shows a group of Sikhs. Under it is the question: "Is this really what you want?"
Certain people are upset -- hotter'n firecrackers as Fred C. Dobbs would say. "This kind of message divides the community", said MPP Jagmeet Singh (NDP, Bramalea-Gore-Malton). Mr. Singh is the first turbaned Sikh to be elected to the Ontario legislature. Said he, "We need to celebrate our diversity and celebrate the fact that Canada is first and foremost a country of immigrants." Ah yes. "Celebrating diversity" is the politically correct thing to say and do. Not "Is this really what you want?"!
Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell expressed her disapproval in a tweet -- of course -- and written statement from her office. "These flyers are disgusting," she said, suggesting the document might fall under a hate crime. ("Hate crime" = political incorrectness.) "Racism has no place in Brampton. I have informed Peel police about these bigoted acts."
(Mayor Fennell, by the way, has a higher salary and expense account than just about any other "chief magistrate" in Canada. She gets re-elected year after year thanks in part to the votes of people whose ID might be called into question by people less charitable than Walt.)
Balpreet Singh, of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, doesn't think the "hate crime" charge is going to stick. "I think the pamphlets are in very bad taste," he said, "but I don't think that they go into the territory of hate crime, so I don't expect anything to be done."
That's one thing both Mr. Singhs and Immigration Watch Canada agree on. There will be a provincial election as early as June, a municipal election in the fall, and a federal election next year. Nothing will be done to halt or even reduce the flow into Canada -- and other Western countries -- of unassimilable third-world immigrants. It's too late.
An earlier comment worth reading: "Brampton suffers identity crisis as newcomers swell city’s population", Toronto Star, 24 May 2013
Sixty years later, Brampton has changed. The population is well over half a million, and more than half of those are vizmins, mainly from south Asia although a black ghetto is developing in the city's northwest quadrant. Don't take Walt's word for it. Check out "Brampton's growing pains", which appeared in the Brampton Guardian last week.
The Guardian kind of downplays the issues of immigration, race and poverty because Canadians like to pretend problems like ghettoization only exist in other countries. In case you can't find the paper's reference, we'll copy it here.
"The population explosion has also sparked concerns about ghettoization, both in terms of income and race. Like other Peel Region municipalities, Brampton faces growing income inequality thanks to a decline in well-paying jobs, a surge of immigrants who may face language barriers in the workplace, and rising home prices."
The article didn't generate a lot of interest or discussion. Why would it, in places with nicknames like "Bramladesh" and "Sikhdale"? That's the way things are, thanks to Pierre Trudeau's Liberal governments of the 1970s and every one of their successors of both red and blue stripes. The politicians opened the floodgates because every immigrant is a potential voter who will be beholden to the progressive pols who allowed them to escape their third-world cesspits by coming by the boatload to the Great No-longer-white North.
Now, however, a political action group called Immigration Watch Canada, is causing some long-overdue discussion about the pitfalls of excessive immigration of unassimilable minorities. They dare to question the wisdom of "a social engineering experiment that is conducted on Canada’s mainstream population in order to make it a minority."
They're circulating a pamphlet called "The Changing Face of Brampton - Is This What You Really Want?", which has predictably (and instantly) been denounced as "racist" by the usual gang of "progressive thinkers" and forces for good in the community. The flyer points out the drastically changed demographics of Brampton's population. It shows two photos. The first is of a group of white people. The second shows a group of Sikhs. Under it is the question: "Is this really what you want?"
Certain people are upset -- hotter'n firecrackers as Fred C. Dobbs would say. "This kind of message divides the community", said MPP Jagmeet Singh (NDP, Bramalea-Gore-Malton). Mr. Singh is the first turbaned Sikh to be elected to the Ontario legislature. Said he, "We need to celebrate our diversity and celebrate the fact that Canada is first and foremost a country of immigrants." Ah yes. "Celebrating diversity" is the politically correct thing to say and do. Not "Is this really what you want?"!
Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell expressed her disapproval in a tweet -- of course -- and written statement from her office. "These flyers are disgusting," she said, suggesting the document might fall under a hate crime. ("Hate crime" = political incorrectness.) "Racism has no place in Brampton. I have informed Peel police about these bigoted acts."
(Mayor Fennell, by the way, has a higher salary and expense account than just about any other "chief magistrate" in Canada. She gets re-elected year after year thanks in part to the votes of people whose ID might be called into question by people less charitable than Walt.)
Balpreet Singh, of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, doesn't think the "hate crime" charge is going to stick. "I think the pamphlets are in very bad taste," he said, "but I don't think that they go into the territory of hate crime, so I don't expect anything to be done."
That's one thing both Mr. Singhs and Immigration Watch Canada agree on. There will be a provincial election as early as June, a municipal election in the fall, and a federal election next year. Nothing will be done to halt or even reduce the flow into Canada -- and other Western countries -- of unassimilable third-world immigrants. It's too late.
An earlier comment worth reading: "Brampton suffers identity crisis as newcomers swell city’s population", Toronto Star, 24 May 2013
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Ypsilanti police set to flush out phantom pooper
Ypsilanti MI police are flushed with success, you might say, having closed in on the phantom pooper. That's right. For the last month six months, in spite of the winter weather, someone has been soiling slides at Ypsilanti's Prospect Park, much to the consternation of slider wannabes and their parents.
In January, Ypsi Police Chief Tony Wiggum [Ed., please check.] sent an e-mail to his minions to say "We have a problem in Prospect Park with a miscreant that does not understand the difference between a children’s playground slide and a toilet. Apparently this extremely misguided individual feels the need to defecate on the slide despite the cold weather."
Apparently catching the phantom pooper wasn't a high priority, though, until this month. According to the Detroit Free Press, city officials decided the dirty deeds had to be stopped immediately! "This winter, it wasn't necessarily a problem," said city council member Pete Murdock. "But now that the weather is getting warmer, we need to get a handle on it."
A handle? Hmmm. Difficult image to get into one's mind, but Adams Outdoor Advertising decided to help out by creating a series of billboards urging Ypsilantians or Ypsis or Gypsis or whatever the locals call themselves to do their "civic doody" and "report the pooper"!
Another sign read, "Help us flush the pooper!" Each billboards featured a Superman-like figure in a brown "anti-poop" shirt. The hashtag #YPSIPOOPER is prominently displayed, prompting many locals to crack wise.
However, Todd McWilliams, general manager of the advertising company, said his company was shit serious -- inspired to design and erect the billboards after an employee from Ypsilanti brought a news report about the phantom pooper to the office.
And it looks as though the billboards may have done some good. Last Friday the Ypsi police issued a press release stating, "We are investigating a person of interest possibly involved in these incidents. We will be not be providing any further information, as the case is still open and active."
Meanwhile, unfortunately for fans of the #YPSIPOOPER billboards, the City of Ypsilanti has requested that they be removed, after just three days of, errr, exposure.
However, Ypsilanti police are still requesting the public's help. Their press release concludes, "Any information relative to the case can be directly forwarded to us here at the police department." So if you live in Ypsilanti and you want to pass something, give them a call. Never let it be said that Walt's readers don't know shit!
In January, Ypsi Police Chief Tony Wiggum [Ed., please check.] sent an e-mail to his minions to say "We have a problem in Prospect Park with a miscreant that does not understand the difference between a children’s playground slide and a toilet. Apparently this extremely misguided individual feels the need to defecate on the slide despite the cold weather."
Apparently catching the phantom pooper wasn't a high priority, though, until this month. According to the Detroit Free Press, city officials decided the dirty deeds had to be stopped immediately! "This winter, it wasn't necessarily a problem," said city council member Pete Murdock. "But now that the weather is getting warmer, we need to get a handle on it."
A handle? Hmmm. Difficult image to get into one's mind, but Adams Outdoor Advertising decided to help out by creating a series of billboards urging Ypsilantians or Ypsis or Gypsis or whatever the locals call themselves to do their "civic doody" and "report the pooper"!
Another sign read, "Help us flush the pooper!" Each billboards featured a Superman-like figure in a brown "anti-poop" shirt. The hashtag #YPSIPOOPER is prominently displayed, prompting many locals to crack wise.
However, Todd McWilliams, general manager of the advertising company, said his company was shit serious -- inspired to design and erect the billboards after an employee from Ypsilanti brought a news report about the phantom pooper to the office.
And it looks as though the billboards may have done some good. Last Friday the Ypsi police issued a press release stating, "We are investigating a person of interest possibly involved in these incidents. We will be not be providing any further information, as the case is still open and active."
Meanwhile, unfortunately for fans of the #YPSIPOOPER billboards, the City of Ypsilanti has requested that they be removed, after just three days of, errr, exposure.
However, Ypsilanti police are still requesting the public's help. Their press release concludes, "Any information relative to the case can be directly forwarded to us here at the police department." So if you live in Ypsilanti and you want to pass something, give them a call. Never let it be said that Walt's readers don't know shit!
Sexist, racist, insufferably cute "Hello Kitty" VIDEO - watch it here
Yes, folks, Walt has it for you. Be the first [more likely 4 millionth. Ed.] to see the official "Hello Kitty" video, starring Canuck singing phenom Avril Lavigne, accompanied by harujuku dancers, rolling around in their underwear as every silly kitty should.
Whaddya think? Idolator.com calls "Hello Kitty" probably the worst thing you’ll watch all week. The Mirror calls it “so bad that it’s actually quite good".
But is it racist and/or sexist? Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich [Who he? Ed.]says, "There are serious questions about whether it’s offensive (expressionless Asian dancers, Tokyo-as-prop) or offensively obvious (this one’s for you, large Japanese fanbase!). There are even more serious questions about the title, 'Hello Kitty', which is also like half of the lyrics, and which everyone agrees is a double entendre."
Walt finds Ms Lavigne's video ever so cute, which seems to be the point. But is it music?! Ha. Hahahahahahaha...
Whaddya think? Idolator.com calls "Hello Kitty" probably the worst thing you’ll watch all week. The Mirror calls it “so bad that it’s actually quite good".
But is it racist and/or sexist? Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich [Who he? Ed.]says, "There are serious questions about whether it’s offensive (expressionless Asian dancers, Tokyo-as-prop) or offensively obvious (this one’s for you, large Japanese fanbase!). There are even more serious questions about the title, 'Hello Kitty', which is also like half of the lyrics, and which everyone agrees is a double entendre."
Walt finds Ms Lavigne's video ever so cute, which seems to be the point. But is it music?! Ha. Hahahahahahaha...
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