vdare--2020-12-31--DERB'S DECEMBER DIARY [10 ITEMS]: Cruz Kills Hong Kong Influx Bill; Picking Chinese Nits With AMREN'

DERB'S DECEMBER DIARY [10 ITEMS]: Cruz Kills Hong Kong Influx Bill; Picking Chinese Nits With AMREN's Jared Taylor; James Flynn RIP; Philocaption

Quote of the month .
: I 've known that quote for as long as I can remember , but without recalling why I know it .
I 've never read William Cobbett , so it must have been somewhere else I saw it .
The mystery was solved as an indirect result of my posting , in last month 's diary , a few words of appreciation for British journalist Richard West , father of Unherd.com Deputy Editor Ed West .
I wrote : Browsing idly on the internet after posting that , I saw a second-hand copy of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to nothing .
I bought it on a whim , having lost my original long since ( if I ever had one and did n't just read a library copy ) .
The author uses that Chesterton quote as a postscript .
That 's where I first saw it .
Senator Cruz kills a bill .
December 5th I ranted about the U.S. Senate passing , by unanimous consent , the horrible `` Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act , '' opening the white-collar labor market to untold multitudes of cheap foreign workers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Overclass Importation Bill . ''
Unanimous consent has to be unanimous : one single senator could have slain this monster by objecting .
No senator did .
Fortunately for American office workers , the beast died of starvation before it could be made law : the House and the Senate were n't able to reconcile their versions of the legislation in time to slip it into the omnibus funding bill .
The Cheap Labor lobbies are tireless , though .
December 7th the House passed a different measure , `` The Hong Kong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 . ''
Executive summary : The U.S.A. should give Temporary Protected Status ( TPS ) to anyone from Hong Kong that claims it .
For finer details see Dan Cadman 's posts at cis.org here and here .
As we at VDARE.com have been complaining for ever and a day , there is nothing temporary about TPS .
Once you 're in , you 're in for ever , work permit and all .
Onwards to the Senate .
On December 18th Senators Blumenthal ( D-CT ) and Durbin ( D-IL ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ colleagues to pass the bill and send it to the President for signature .
This time , though , a hero stepped forward .
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas denied consent .
The bill as written , he said , fatally weakened the standard for claiming refugee status from `` persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution '' to `` concern about the possibility of such persecution . ''
Furthermore , the new weaker standard `` would be used by the Chinese Communists to send even more Chinese spies into the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the 116th Congress wraps up , Cruz 's objection almost certainly kills the bill .
The sponsors will have to start from scratch in the new Congress .
I nurse a strong sentimental attachment to Hong Kong and have Chinese friends there .
The ChiComs ' shameless trashing of the 1997 Basic Law guaranteeing the city 's civil liberties is an outrage .
The resistance put up by angry citizens has been brave and noble .
Believing those things as I do , why am I cheering for Ted Cruz here ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ My preferred immigration policy is the one I have spelled out here at VDARE.com more than once : Derbian minimalism .
Spouse and minor children of citizens ?
Sure .
Nobel Prize-level geniuses ?
No prob .
The occasional Solzhenitsyn-level heroic dissident ?
Yes .
A handful of other special cases , each carefully scrutinized ?
OK. That gets legal immigration down from over a million a year to a few thousand .
Illegals should of course be arrested and deported .
Anything else ?
No , that 's it .
Plus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about importing an overclass .
Plus , Ted Cruz is right : A big intake of Hong Kongers would be addled with ChiCom agents .
Plus , the U.S.A. has no legal or historical commitment to Hong Kongers .
It 's not as though it was our colony .
Plus , there are dissidents a-plenty in China with no wish to emigrate .
The Hong Kongers will fortify their numbers .
The only way for China to attain rational government is for Chinese patriots to struggle for it in China .
Outsiders can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ books like the one I 'm currently reading ( some discussion later in this diary ) ; but at last , this is Chinese peoples ' fight .
James Flynn , RIP .
James Flynn , who gave his name to the Flynn Effect in psychometrics , died December 11th aged 86 .
The Flynn Effect is the steady increase in average IQ scores across most of the 20th century .
It 's been much discussed ; I 've been making passing references to it for at least twenty years .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human intelligence , Flynn was standard-bearer for the nurturists .
He was , however , a polite and collegial soul who seems to have gotten along well with everybody in his field .
See , for example , naturist ( uh … oh , you know what I mean ) James Thompson 's obituary remarks at the Unz Review .
I only once saw Flynn in person .
That was thirteen years ago .
I posted a brief account of it to The Corner , National Review Online 's blog .
A philocaptive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ note a key anniversary — a bicentenary !
— in the annals of philocaption .
The annals of what ?
`` Philocaption , or inordinate love of one person for another . ''
There , I have made up for the omission .
Hazlitt would have had no truck with James Flynn 's nurturism .
As I pointed out in that essay , he was strongly for nature .
Hazlitt : `` No one ever changes his character from the time he is two years old ; nay , I might say , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old … '' Digital Leninism .
On the recommendation of a commenter at the Unz Review I bought and read Kai Strittmatter 's recent book We Have Been Harmonized : Life in China 's Surveillance State .
`` Recent '' calls for some approving remarks .
Strittmatter wrote the book in German and it was published in that language in 2018 .
An English translation by Ruth Martin came out in Britain last year .
This American edition was published September 1st this year by Custom House .
It 's as up-to-date as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example the early part of the coronavirus pandemic .
Strittmatter and Martin must have done some fast work on revising and translating .
Thanks to them both for that .
I 'm not going to attempt a review of the book , being somewhat burned out in that area .
I 've been reading and reviewing Western observers ' books about Communist China for most of my life , starting with Simon Leys and Fox Butterfield back when Mao 's corpse was still warm .
From the mid-1980s on I have reviewed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just been the ChiComs , either .
I 'm well-read in foreigners ' books from the Republican and imperial periods , from Abbé Huc and Robert Fortune to memoirs by long-forgotten missionaries in remote outposts .
`` World-weary '' is not a look that I like , much less cultivate ; but where foreigners ' China books are concerned , I 've read 'em all .
I 'm not sure I qualify as an Old China Hand , but I claim with full confidence to be an Old Books-About-China Hand .
So please @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full review .
Strittmatter is a diligent and observant professional journalist , and We Have Been Harmonized is a good solid book .
You 'll learn a lot about Xi Jinping 's China from it : most to the point , that since 2013 it really has been Xi Jinping 's nation , dominated and shaped by that one man .
The author sometimes plods along heavily for a page or two ; but hey , he 's German .
He counters that effect with some neat turns of phrase : I liked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
I should warn potential readers , though , that Strittmatter suffers from a nasty case of Trump Derangement Syndrome : the snotty European variant , Guilty German Boomer sub-variant .
I have made a mental note not to bother reading anything by Herr Strittmatter on American or European politics .
On China , however , he is , so far as I can judge , sound .
No thoughtful critique of ChiCom culture is complete without some passing tributes to Lu Xun , `` The Chinese Orwell . ''
Strittmatter does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his book is actually titled `` The Iron House , '' a reference to one of Lu 's autobiographical essays , published 98 years ago this month .
Just typing those words here prompts the thought that for China , even more than for the rest of us , it 's been a lo-o-ong 98 years .
A Lu Xun tribute is so much the norm in books of this kind , I would n't have mentioned it , but that it gives me the opportunity to boast of quite likely being the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carries a Lu Xun keychain fob in his pocket .
Commentary on the psychology of power goes all the way back to the ancients .
One of its threads , which comes to mind more and more as I read the news , is that total political power reinforces its authority by humiliation ; in particular , by using threats and physical force to make people avow sincere belief in obvious falsehoods .
A well-known reference point here is the torture scene in Part Three , Chapter Two of Orwell 's 1984 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smith , who he has wired up for electroshock , that two plus two equals five when the Party says so .
And so on .
Another modern classic in this line of observations came from Theodore Dalrymple , I think originally in an interview with FrontPage Magazine , although the link is now defunct .
From goodreads.com : Who can read the brazen , dare-you-to-contradict-me lies of our ruling class and their media shills — `` mostly peaceful protests , '' `` no such thing as race , '' `` guys can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without calling to mind one or other of those observations ?
On page 16 of We Have Been Harmonized Strittmatter reminds us that in this , as in most things to do with the psychology of power , the Chinese got there first .
He tells the story behind the idiom 指鹿为马 ( Zhĭ lù wéi mă , pronunciation here ) , `` to call a deer a horse , '' which is known to all literate Chinese .
The tale of a book .
I took that story in the previous segment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Chéngyŭ Diăngù , pronunciation here ) , Idioms and Allusions , published in Shenyang , Northeast China , by Liaoning People 's Press , 1982 .
This is a compilation of nearly seven hundred literary and historical stories that have settled into the language of educated Chinese people as , yes , idioms and allusions .
The book is well-known in China .
You can download it , although I 'd advise against on computer-security grounds .
My own copy was originally gifted to me as a Christmas present 38 years ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ figure here ) at Siping College , also in Northeast China , where I taught 1982-3 .
It has somehow survived my travels through the decades , although it is now nearly as much scotch tape as paper .
I got good mileage out of it when writing Fire from the Sun .
Idioms and Allusions comes with a tale , one that gives some insight into China 's history during the second half of the last century .
The authors were a husband-and-wife team , Shěn Tónghéng and Yuán Lín ( 沈同衡 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1914 , was a professional cartoonist .
In the China of his time that meant he was mostly a political cartoonist , turning out grotesque caricatures of the enemy of the hour : Japanese , Chiang Kai-shek 's Nationalists , Americans , counter-revolutionaries .
Shěn tells us in an afterword to the book that Yuán Lín was working in the Readers ' Letters department of a newspaper in 1955 .
She noticed the large number of letters from poorly-educated readers asking for explanations of idioms and allusions that had turned up in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they could consult , but all were written in the stiff , difficult style of the old literati , hard for a common reader to fathom .
Yuán decided to compile a popular book to help them out .
Shěn supported the idea , and they drew up some general principles to guide the compilation .
Shěn was at this point head of the Art Department at the Peking People 's Daily , the main ChiCom newspaper — a pretty good position .
Alas , the leading bird is the first to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Shěn was n't shot , but during the Anti-Rightist movement in 1957 he was canceled for `` taking the road of bourgeois liberalization . ''
He was demoted to drudge work sorting and filing the paper 's news photographs , and did no more cartooning for 22 years .
Worse was to come .
In 1966 , when the Cultural Revolution started up , Shěn and Yuán were banished to do hard agricultural labor in occupied Eastern Turkestan ( which the ChiComs call `` Xīnjiāng '' ) , far to the west of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , when Shěn was rehabilitated and allowed to return to Peking .
Somehow , in all those years of disgrace , exile , and hardship they had persevered with compiling Idioms and Allusions .
It was published at last in 1980 , became a bestseller and won prizes .
Thence to my 1982 edition .
Shěn died in 2002 at age 88 ; I do n't know what happened to Yuán Lín .
To the best of my knowledge there is no English translation of Idioms and Allusions .
That 's a pity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ colorful ; some , like `` Call a Deer a Horse , '' are highly relevant to our present cultural concerns .
Someone really should do a translation .
Publishers please note : I can be reached via VDARE.com .
Pascal 's wager on China .
So , is China going to eat our lunch ?
Plenty of people think so : Jared Taylor , for example , writing here at VDARE.com , December 22nd .
From which : There are some nits to be picked with that , and one major blooper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history '' ?
If Jared can find for me a textbook authorized for instruction in any school or college anywhere in China that gives an honest account of the `` land reform '' massacres of the early 1950s , or the appalling Mao famine of 1959-61 , or that even mentions the Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989 , I shall eat it , dust cover and all , with soy sauce , a side dish of noodles , and a bottle of Tsingtao beer to wash it down .
Still , Xi Jinping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was often impressed , visiting last year .
Yes , they are throwing major resources at key technologies — data mining , artificial intelligence , chip fabrication , quantum computing , genomics — while our universities bloat up with Raza Studies departments and Deans for Diversity and Inclusion .
Yes , the high-speed trains are seriously cool , and their city subway systems put ours to shame .
Yes , when the ChiCom government decides to do something they just do it , while we waste our substance bickering about race and politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , though , the old fallacies of what Strittmatter calls `` developmental dictatorship '' — the shiny , efficient meritocracy that keeps the trains running on time .
Behind the PR gloss there is , there always is , fear , crime , and rottenness .
The impeccably-groomed meritocrat-in-chief , smiling out at the world serenely confident in his power , lies awake at night sweating in fear of a palace coup .
Crime ?
A Hong Kong friend of mine had a successful leather-goods business , with a factory over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ syndicate ( local , not Hong Kong-based ) moved in and took it from him , with threats to the lives of him and his family .
The crooks were of course — of course !
— in cahoots with local Party bosses .
Those gleaming new trains and stations ?
The late 21st century 's installed base .
It 's true that the relationship between power and money is different there and here .
In America , money cracks the whip .
Our politicians and their media stooges meekly take their orders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` be bought over the counter like so many pounds of cheese . ''
( Orwell . )
China has billionaires , too — more than any other nation .
A Chinese billionaire , however , knows that his billions , and his reputation , and his liberty , even his life and the lives of his loved ones , exist only at the mercy of the Party .
If he takes a political wrong step , the Party will crush him like a bug .
So what 's the future ?
Will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heights of social efficiency and technological superiority , while we sink into squalor and disorder ?
Or will the rottenness bring down their whole loathsome system at last , ushering in something more honest and less cruel ?
Maybe on the first , and maybe on the second .
A book recommendation , a book suggestion .
Having brought David Goldman into the conversation there , I should add a recommendation for his latest book , You Will Be Assimilated : China 's Plan to Sino-form the World .
It is as deeply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Spengler .
By contrast with Strittmatter , Goldman is an Ever Trumper , to the degree that is still possible after these four years of disappointments and failures .
I can claim a slight bond with Goldman there .
At an informal dinner before the 2016 election , the question went round the table : `` Who will be the next President ? ''
Of the sixteen or so people present , he and I were the only ones to predict Trump .
And yes , Goldman thinks it 's a good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that last link : Well , every rose has a thorn .
But now that I 've mentioned both Strittmatter 's We Have Been Harmonized and Goldman 's You Will Be Assimilated , it occurs to me that for a full set of monitory books on present-day China , there should be one whose title starts with the third-person-plural pronoun .
They Will Eat Your Lunch , perhaps ?
Math Corner .
The solution to my November brainteaser is posted on my website as usual .
However , when I first posted a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got a wrong result : slightly less than fifty-fifty for the probability , when it should be slightly more .
The root cause here was relying on my memory for 220 , one of those numbers that turns up so often you memorize it without trying .
It 's 1,048,576 .
I mis-remembered it as 1,048,296 for some reason .
A Biden moment … When I started doing these diaries I got into the habit , every year end , of inviting readers to come up with interesting things to say about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was when the internet was still young , though .
Nowadays every math geek in the Solar System — as well as , from the look of it , some bots — has a page up about the new year number .
For 2021 , see here , here , here , here , … Sample , from that last link : Betcha did n't know that .
Oh , you want to see 2021 written in cuneiform ?
Here you go .
If woo is your thing , you 'll be yearning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an Angel Number : I 'm not a woo person myself .
When I 'm reading stuff like that , in the short period before my eyes glaze over I get the uncanny feeling I 'm listening to a Barack Obama speech .
So my traditional challenge to find something interesting about the year number is definitely , finally retired .
In lieu thereof , here 's another one of Dr Peter Winkler 's `` Mind-Benders for the Quarantined '' from the National Museum of Mathematics .
And yes , I 've poached @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way of penance , I urge anyone who likes this kind of thing to sign up with them at mindbenders.momath.org .
It 's free !

Quote of the month.
"Most men with any convictions in a confused and complicated age have had the almost uncanny sensation of shouting at people that a mad dog is loose or the house is on fire, to be met merely with puzzled and painfully respectful expressions, as if the remark were a learned citation in Greek or Hebrew." — G.K. Chesterton, William Cobbett
Footnote to that : I've known that quote for as long as I can remember, but without recalling why I know it. I've never read William Cobbett, so it must have been somewhere else I saw it.
The mystery was solved as an indirect result of my posting, in last month's diary, a few words of appreciation for British journalist Richard West, father of Unherd.com Deputy Editor Ed West. I wrote:
Ed comes from a talented family, too; one I've been engaged with as a reader for most of my adult life. His Dad Richard West, who died in 2015, wrote for the London Spectator when I was a subscriber forty-some years ago. I remember his 1981 book An English Journey very fondly, as a small masterpiece of social observation and historical reflection.
Browsing idly on the internet after posting that, I saw a second-hand copy of An English Journey on sale for next to nothing. I bought it on a whim, having lost my original long since (if I ever had one and didn't just read a library copy). The author uses that Chesterton quote as a postscript. That's where I first saw it.
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Senator Cruz kills a bill. December 5th I ranted about the U.S. Senate passing, by unanimous consent, the horrible "Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act," opening the white-collar labor market to untold multitudes of cheap foreign workers, known to VDARE.com as the "Indian Overclass Importation Bill."
Unanimous consent has to be unanimous: one single senator could have slain this monster by objecting. No senator did. Fortunately for American office workers, the beast died of starvation before it could be made law: the House and the Senate weren't able to reconcile their versions of the legislation in time to slip it into the omnibus funding bill.
The Cheap Labor lobbies are tireless, though. December 7th the House passed a different measure, "The Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act of 2020." Executive summary: The USA should give Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to anyone from Hong Kong that claims it. For finer details see Dan Cadman's posts at cis.org here and here.
As we at VDARE.com have been complaining for ever and a day, there is nothing temporary about TPS. Once you're in, you're in forever, work permit and all.
Onwards to the Senate. On December 18th Senators Blumenthal (D-CT) and Durbin (D-IL) asked for the unanimous consent of their colleagues to pass the bill and send it to the President for signature.
This time, though, a hero stepped forward. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas denied consent. The bill as written, he said, fatally weakened the standard for claiming refugee status from "persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution" to "concern about the possibility of such persecution." Furthermore, the new weaker standard "would be used by the Chinese Communists to send even more Chinese spies into the United States."
Coming as it does right before the 116th Congress wraps up, Cruz's objection almost certainly kills the bill. The sponsors will have to start from scratch in the new Congress.
I nurse a strong sentimental attachment to Hong Kong and have Chinese friends there. The ChiComs' shameless trashing of the 1997 Basic Law guaranteeing the city's civil liberties is an outrage. The resistance put up by angry citizens has been brave and noble. Believing those things as I do, why am I cheering for Ted Cruz here?
For consistency, that's why. My preferred immigration policy is the one I have spelled out here at VDARE.com more than once: Derbian minimalism. Spouse and minor children of citizens? Sure. Nobel Prize-level geniuses? No prob. The occasional Solzhenitsyn-level heroic dissident? Yes. A handful of other special cases, each carefully scrutinized? OK. That gets legal immigration down from over a million a year to a few thousand. Illegals should of course be arrested and deported. Anything else? No, that's it.
Plus, all the critical stuff I've written about importing an overclass.
Plus, Ted Cruz is right: A big intake of Hong Kongers would be addled with ChiCom agents.
Plus, the U.S.A. has no legal or historical commitment to Hong Kongers. It's not as though it was our colony.
Plus, there are dissidents a-plenty in China with no wish to emigrate. The Hong Kongers will fortify their numbers. The only way for China to attain rational government is for Chinese patriots to struggle for it in China. Outsiders can help with criticism, boycotts, and books like the one I'm currently reading (some discussion later in this diary); but at last, this is Chinese peoples' fight.
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James Flynn, RIP. James Flynn, who gave his name to the Flynn Effect in psychometrics, died December 11th aged 86.
The Flynn Effect is the steady increase in average IQ scores across most of the 20th century. It's been much discussed; I've been making passing references to it for at least twenty years.
In the evergreen nature/nurture controversy as it relates to human intelligence, Flynn was standard-bearer for the nurturists. He was, however, a polite and collegial soul who seems to have gotten along well with everybody in his field. See, for example, naturist (uh … oh, you know what I mean) James Thompson's obituary remarks at the Unz Review.
I only once saw Flynn in person. That was thirteen years ago. I posted a brief account of it to The Corner, National Review Online's blog.
Wednesday night I attended a function got up by one of the think tanks in New York City, at which Charles Murray debated James Flynn on the black-white gap in test scores. It was all terrifically cordial and collegial (and in fact it's plain that Murray and Flynn, despite being on opposite sides of the nature/nurture issue, like and respect each other a lot).
Even trying my hardest not to be pre-disposed, though, I was struck by how unimpressive Flynn's arguments are when you have to sit through them. He is a pretty pure "nurturist," whose faith in "interventions" is infinite. He adores that Eyferth study (children of black servicemen growing up in Germany) — you can't but suspect that it's the only one the nurturists have got, though there are all sorts of problems with it, and, as Murray points out gently, there are now about ten thousand studies on the other side. The appeal of the Eyferth study for Flynn is, I think, the idea that these black kids in Germany were growing up and learning without any influence from the established ghetto culture of black America — the braggadoccio and honor codes, the who's-actin'-white? pressures and hip-hop filth — which Flynn detests. He seems not to ask himself any of the questions that obviously come to one's mind here.
Murray demolished Flynn's positions briskly but politely, with masses of data neatly presented on PowerPoint slides. If it'd been a fight, the ref would have stopped it in the second.
Watching Flynn's presentation, though, you also can't help but be struck by the fundamental decency of his democratic-socialist position. He honestly, earnestly, wants to lift up the poor and disadvantaged. His way to do it is by deploying legions of government-salaried helpers, all as earnest and sincere as himself, to supply "interventions" to any person or group that needs them. He seems not to be aware of the problems with this. A world populated entirely by Jim Flynns would probably be a pretty nice place …
Two good points from Murray:
On those "interventions": Charles played back some of the data on the fixed-ness of individual nature, including intelligence. Intensive intervention can shift this a bit — occasionally, in very favorable conditions, a lot — but if you remove the interventions, the individual's statistics are soon right back to where they were before. That's the "Head Start Lesson." It's what I've called "walking south on the deck of a north-bound ship." Charles had a personal anecdote. At college he took a speed-reading course. Sure enough, pretty soon he was up to 3,500 words a minute (or whatever the target is). The course completed, by concentrating real hard on what he was doing, he kept up that speed for a short while, then … after a few months found he was back to a plodding 400. Every dieter knows the feeling. You're pretty much stuck with yourself as you are, whatever the self-improvement guru sales pitch tells you. Best just get used to it.
On the genetic side, our knowledge of the human genome is now at the point where we can move away from the coarse, binary black-white model for these studies and begin to treat race as a continuous variable. When we do our testing on that basis (says Murray) the results will be really interesting. I noted with amusement how these guys have been thrashing these things out for so long, they've attained a sort of shorthand for talking about them. It's like being among those long-term prisoners in the old story, who have got so used to hearing each other's jokes they've just given them all numbers — you only need to say "number 85" and everyone falls around laughing. It's the same with these IQ researchers. If you don't know your Eyferth from your Shaker Heights, they can be real hard to follow. ["Debating Intelligence" by John Derbyshire; The Corner, November 30th 2007.]
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A philocaptive anniversary. In August I omitted to note a key anniversary — a bicentenary! — in the annals of philocaption.
The annals of what?
"Philocaption, or inordinate love of one person for another."
Early in the morning of Wednesday, August 16, 1820, on the second floor of a lodging-house in west-central London, Hazlitt had his breakfast brought to him by his landlady's daughter, Sarah Walker. She was 19; he, 42. Having delivered the breakfast-tray, Sarah left. But:
[T]he first time I ever saw you, as you went out of the room, you turned full round at the door, with that inimitable grace with which you do every thing, and fixed your eyes full upon me, as much as to say, "Is he caught?" He certainly was. There followed two years of dreadful infatuation — an exceptionally severe case of philocaption. [Hazlitt's Philocaption: a very child in love, by John Derbyshire; The New Criterion, October 2008.]
There, I have made up for the omission.
Hazlitt would have had no truck with James Flynn's nurturism. As I pointed out in that essay, he was strongly for nature. Hazlitt: "No one ever changes his character from the time he is two years old; nay, I might say, from the time he is two hours old …"
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Digital Leninism. On the recommendation of a commenter at the Unz Review I bought and read Kai Strittmatter's recent book We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State.
"Recent" calls for some approving remarks. Strittmatter wrote the book in German and it was published in that language in 2018. An English translation by Ruth Martin came out in Britain last year. This American edition was published September 1st this year by Custom House. It's as up-to-date as it possibly could be, covering for example the early part of the coronavirus pandemic. Strittmatter and Martin must have done some fast work on revising and translating. Thanks to them both for that.
I'm not going to attempt a review of the book, being somewhat burned out in that area. I've been reading and reviewing Western observers' books about Communist China for most of my life, starting with Simon Leys and Fox Butterfield back when Mao's corpse was still warm. From the mid-1980s on I have reviewed a shelf-full of them.
It hasn't just been the ChiComs, either. I'm well-read in foreigners' books from the Republican and imperial periods, from Abbé Huc and Robert Fortune to memoirs by long-forgotten missionaries in remote outposts.
"World-weary" is not a look that I like, much less cultivate; but where foreigners' China books are concerned, I've read 'em all. I'm not sure I qualify as an Old China Hand, but I claim with full confidence to be an Old Books-About-China Hand.
So please excuse me for passing up on a full review. Strittmatter is a diligent and observant professional journalist, and We Have Been Harmonized is a good solid book. You'll learn a lot about Xi Jinping's China from it: most to the point, that since 2013 it really has been Xi Jinping's nation, dominated and shaped by that one man. The author sometimes plods along heavily for a page or two; but hey, he's German. He counters that effect with some neat turns of phrase: I liked "digital Leninism" (p. 234).
I should warn potential readers, though, that Strittmatter suffers from a nasty case of Trump Derangement Syndrome: the snotty European variant, Guilty German Boomer sub-variant.
"the ignorant, anti-science Donald Trump" (p. 189),
"Trump's alarming isolationism and revolting conduct" (p. 280),
"the destructive power of Donald Trump and the apocalyptic noise of right-wing populists within our own midst" (p. 336) …
I have made a mental note not to bother reading anything by Herr Strittmatter on American or European politics. On China, however, he is, so far as I can judge, sound.
No thoughtful critique of ChiCom culture is complete without some passing tributes to Lu Xun, "The Chinese Orwell." Strittmatter does not disappoint. The eleventh chapter of his book is actually titled "The Iron House," a reference to one of Lu's autobiographical essays, published 98 years ago this month. Just typing those words here prompts the thought that for China, even more than for the rest of us, it's been a lo-o-ong 98 years.
A Lu Xun tribute is so much the norm in books of this kind, I wouldn't have mentioned it, but that it gives me the opportunity to boast of quite likely being the only person on the Eastern Seaboard who carries a Lu Xun keychain fob in his pocket.
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The power of humiliation.
[WARNING: At this point in writing segments for the month's diary I got it into my head that when transcribing Chinese words, other than the most familiar place- and personal names, I should really include tone marks. "Tone" is a combination of pitch (high, low) and contour (level, rising, falling). Modern Mandarin has four tones: high level (mā), high rising (má), low rising (mă), high falling (mà). You can hear them spoken here. (There are some wrinkles you have to learn for good diction, but they're not hard.) If you get the tone wrong, you don't make sense.
Looking back over this and the following segment after writing them, I think adding tone marks was a mistake. It comes across as fussy and distracting.
I can't be bothered to go through removing the tone marks, though. In any case, mine may be the minority judgment. Perhaps readers like tone marks. They sure help if you're trying to learn the language. By all means let me know via email; I shall weigh the yeses and noes and proceed accordingly in future diaries.]
Commentary on the psychology of power goes all the way back to the ancients. One of its threads, which comes to mind more and more as I read the news, is that total political power reinforces its authority by humiliation; in particular, by using threats and physical force to make people avow sincere belief in obvious falsehoods.
A well-known reference point here is the torture scene in Part Three, Chapter Two of Orwell's 1984, where Inner Party honcho O'Brien persuades Winston Smith, who he has wired up for electroshock, that two plus two equals five when the Party says so.
O'Brien holds up four fingers.
"How many fingers, Winston?"
"Four. I suppose there are four. I would see five if I could. I am trying to see five."
"Which do you wish: to persuade me that you see five, or really to see them?"
"Really to see them."
And so on. Another modern classic in this line of observations came from Theodore Dalrymple, I think originally in an interview with FrontPage Magazine, although the link is now defunct. From goodreads.com:
Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.
Who can read the brazen, dare-you-to-contradict-me lies of our ruling class and their media shills — "mostly peaceful protests," "no such thing as race," "guys can menstruate too," etc. — without calling to mind one or other of those observations?
On page 16 of We Have Been Harmonized Strittmatter reminds us that in this, as in most things to do with the psychology of power, the Chinese got there first. He tells the story behind the idiom 指鹿为马 (Zhĭ lù wéi mă, pronunciation here), "to call a deer a horse," which is known to all literate Chinese.
From a Chinese reference book, my translation:
Call a Deer a Horse
In the later Qín dynasty, after the death of First Emperor Yíng Zhèng [in 210 b.c.], the eunuch Zhào Gāo, seizing the opportunity, hatched a plot to usurp the imperial power. He concealed news of First Emperor's death and issued a fake imperial decree ordering that, First Emperor's eldest son Yíng Fúsū having committed suicide, the next son Yíng Húhài was declared Heir-Apparent. That done, Zhào Gāo proclaimed national mourning and assisted Heir-Apparent Húhài's ascent to the throne.
Zhào Gāo himself was Prime Minister in this second reign of the Qín dynasty. At this time Second Qín Emperor Húhài was full-grown, but could only be a naive puppet emperor. Prime Minister Zhào Gāo held the real power.
Zhào Gāo's ambition was by no means satisfied. He wanted to advance himself to the imperial throne, but he was afraid not all the ministers would accept him, so he devised a stratagem. The following is told in Records of the Grand Historian: Qín Dynasty:
One day Zhào Gāo presented a deer to Second Emperor. Pointing to the deer, he said: "I offer Your Majesty this horse!"
Second Emperor laughed and said: "Is the Prime Minister joking with me? This is plainly a deer. How can you say it's a horse?"
Zhào Gāo replied earnestly: "Who would dare play a joke on His Majesty? It's clear this is a horse. If you don't believe it, ask the others."
Second Emperor thereupon asked the ministers present: "Is this actually a deer, or a horse?"
Those ministers who were trusted followers or toadies of Zhào Gāo all said it was a horse. Some others who feared Zhào Gāo's power and influence also said it was a horse. Of the few honest ministers, some were silent, but a few insisted that it was in fact a deer. Zhào Gāo inwardly noted the names of those honest ministers. Later he found a pretext to have them all killed. This story is known as "Call a Deer a Horse." Ever since it has been used as an idiom, a figure of speech for the intentional confusing of truth in order to transpose right and wrong.
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The tale of a book. I took that story in the previous segment from a Chinese reference book, 成语典故 (Chéngyŭ Diăngù, pronunciation here), Idioms and Allusions, published in Shenyang, Northeast China, by Liaoning People's Press, 1982. This is a compilation of nearly seven hundred literary and historical stories that have settled into the language of educated Chinese people as, yes, idioms and allusions.
The book is well-known in China. You can download it, although I'd advise against on computer-security grounds. My own copy was originally gifted to me as a Christmas present 38 years ago this month by a colleague (leftmost figure here) at Siping College, also in Northeast China, where I taught 1982–3. It has somehow survived my travels through the decades, although it is now nearly as much scotch tape as paper. I got good mileage out of it when writing Fire from the Sun.
Idioms and Allusions comes with a tale, one that gives some insight into China's history during the second half of the last century.
The authors were a husband-and-wife team, Shěn Tónghéng and Yuán Lín (沈同衡, 袁林). Shěn, born in 1914, was a professional cartoonist. In the China of his time that meant he was mostly a political cartoonist, turning out grotesque caricatures of the enemy of the hour: Japanese, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists, Americans, counter-revolutionaries.
Shěn tells us in an afterword to the book that Yuán Lín was working in the Readers' Letters department of a newspaper in 1955. She noticed the large number of letters from poorly-educated readers asking for explanations of idioms and allusions that had turned up in the paper. There were reference texts they could consult, but all were written in the stiff, difficult style of the old literati, hard for a common reader to fathom. Yuán decided to compile a popular book to help them out. Shěn supported the idea, and they drew up some general principles to guide the compilation.
Shěn was at this point head of the Art Department at the Peking People's Daily, the main ChiCom newspaper — a pretty good position. Alas, the leading bird is the first to be shot, as the saying goes. Shěn wasn't shot, but during the Anti-Rightist movement in 1957 he was canceled for "taking the road of bourgeois liberalization." He was demoted to drudge work sorting and filing the paper's news photographs, and did no more cartooning for 22 years.
Worse was to come. In 1966, when the Cultural Revolution started up, Shěn and Yuán were banished to do hard agricultural labor in occupied Eastern Turkestan (which the ChiComs call "Xīnjiāng"), far to the west of metropolitan China. That lasted until 1979, when Shěn was rehabilitated and allowed to return to Peking.
Somehow, in all those years of disgrace, exile, and hardship they had persevered with compiling Idioms and Allusions. It was published at last in 1980, became a bestseller and won prizes. Thence to my 1982 edition. Shěn died in 2002 at age 88; I don't know what happened to Yuán Lín.
To the best of my knowledge there is no English translation of Idioms and Allusions. That's a pity. Some of the stories are very colorful; some, like "Call a Deer a Horse," are highly relevant to our present cultural concerns. Someone really should do a translation. Publishers please note: I can be reached via VDARE.com.
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Pascal's wager on China. So, is China going to eat our lunch? Plenty of people think so: Jared Taylor, for example, writing here at VDARE.com, December 22nd. From which:
There are some nits to be picked with that, and one major blooper. "They don't rewrite their history"? If Jared can find for me a textbook authorized for instruction in any school or college anywhere in China that gives an honest account of the "land reform" massacres of the early 1950s, or the appalling Mao famine of 1959–61, or that even mentions the Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989, I shall eat it, dust cover and all, with soy sauce, a side dish of noodles, and a bottle of Tsingtao beer to wash it down.
Still, Xi Jinping's China is pretty impressive. I was often impressed, visiting last year. Yes, they are throwing major resources at key technologies — data mining, artificial intelligence, chip fabrication, quantum computing, genomics — while our universities bloat up with Raza Studies departments and Deans for Diversity and Inclusion. Yes, the high-speed trains are seriously cool, and their city subway systems put ours to shame. Yes, when the ChiCom government decides to do something they just do it, while we waste our substance bickering about race and politics.
There are fallacies lurking behind all that, though, the old fallacies of what Strittmatter calls "developmental dictatorship" — the shiny, efficient meritocracy that keeps the trains running on time. Behind the PR gloss there is, there always is, fear, crime, and rottenness.
The impeccably-groomed meritocrat-in-chief, smiling out at the world serenely confident in his power, lies awake at night sweating in fear of a palace coup. Crime? A Hong Kong friend of mine had a successful leather-goods business, with a factory over the border in Guangdong … until a crime syndicate (local, not Hong Kong-based) moved in and took it from him, with threats to the lives of him and his family. The crooks were of course — of course! — in cahoots with local Party bosses.
Those gleaming new trains and stations? The late 21st century's installed base.
Rottenness? Strittmatter:
In March 2018, when the National People's Congress and the Political Consultative Conference … came together to hold another coronation mass for the "people's leader" and "helmsman" Xi Jinping, no fewer than 153 of the delegates were also listed among China's "super-rich" in the Hurun Report published in Shanghai. Together, their massed wealth was the equivalent of $650 billion, or just slightly less than the GDP of Switzerland. (Page 133.)
It's true that the relationship between power and money is different there and here. In America, money cracks the whip. Our politicians and their media stooges meekly take their orders from the billionaire class. They can "be bought over the counter like so many pounds of cheese." (Orwell.)
China has billionaires, too — more than any other nation. A Chinese billionaire, however, knows that his billions, and his reputation, and his liberty, even his life and the lives of his loved ones, exist only at the mercy of the Party. If he takes a political wrong step, the Party will crush him like a bug.
So what's the future? Will China go steaming ahead to ever new heights of social efficiency and technological superiority, while we sink into squalor and disorder? Or will the rottenness bring down their whole loathsome system at last, ushering in something more honest and less cruel?
Maybe on the first, and maybe on the second.
It is certainly possible that China will be crippled by internal problems, but I do not think it is probable. Counting on China to collapse is not a strategy. We are better off assuming that China will not collapse internally, and that we must mobilize our own strength and resolve to meet the challenge. One might think of this as a variant of Pascal's wager.
[David Goldman's interview with French newspaper Le Figaro; English translation at Asia Times, December 14th 2020.]
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A book recommendation, a book suggestion. Having brought David Goldman into the conversation there, I should add a recommendation for his latest book, You Will Be Assimilated: China's Plan to Sino-form the World. It is as deeply well-informed and thought-provoking as you'd expect from Spengler.
By contrast with Strittmatter, Goldman is an Ever Trumper, to the degree that is still possible after these four years of disappointments and failures. I can claim a slight bond with Goldman there. At an informal dinner before the 2016 election, the question went round the table: "Who will be the next President?" Of the sixteen or so people present, he and I were the only ones to predict Trump.
And yes, Goldman thinks it's a good idea to import an overclass. From that last link:
If America wants to remain the world's preeminent power … it needs a lot of qualified immigrants from China and India to build new industries while we wait for the long-term impact of education reforms.
Well, every rose has a thorn.
But now that I've mentioned both Strittmatter's We Have Been Harmonized and Goldman's You Will Be Assimilated, it occurs to me that for a full set of monitory books on present-day China, there should be one whose title starts with the third-person-plural pronoun. They Will Eat Your Lunch, perhaps?
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Math Corner. The solution to my November brainteaser is posted on my website as usual.
However, when I first posted a solution I buggered up the arithmetic and got a wrong result: slightly less than fifty-fifty for the probability, when it should be slightly more. The root cause here was relying on my memory for 220, one of those numbers that turns up so often you memorize it without trying. It's 1,048,576. I mis-remembered it as 1,048,296 for some reason. A Biden moment …
When I started doing these diaries I got into the habit, every year end, of inviting readers to come up with interesting things to say about the number of the new year. That was when the internet was still young, though. Nowadays every math geek in the Solar System — as well as, from the look of it, some bots — has a page up about the new year number. For 2021, see here, here, here, here, … Sample, from that last link:
2021 is rather special: it is the concatenation of two consecutive integers (20 and 21) and also the product of two consecutive primes (43 and 47). The next such number is 23073409469011482307340946901147 which is the product of the primes 4803478892324963 and 4803478892324969.
Betcha didn't know that. Oh, you want to see 2021 written in cuneiform? Here you go.
If woo is your thing, you'll be yearning to know the significance of 2021 as an Angel Number:
Angel number 2021 will try to convey to you that you are the creator of your life. This angel number 2021 encourages you to stay focussed on your goals. The universal energy will help you to achieve your intentions behind the scenes.
I'm not a woo person myself. When I'm reading stuff like that, in the short period before my eyes glaze over I get the uncanny feeling I'm listening to a Barack Obama speech.
So my traditional challenge to find something interesting about the year number is definitely, finally retired. In lieu thereof, here's another one of Dr. Peter Winkler's "Mind-Benders for the Quarantined" from the National Museum of Mathematics. And yes, I've poached it from their subscription list. By way of penance, I urge anyone who likes this kind of thing to sign up with them at mindbenders.momath.org. It's free!
The hour and minute hands of a certain clock are indistinguishable. How many moments are there in a day when it is not possible to tell from this clock what time it is?
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vdare--2020-09-17--Peter Brimelow In London TIMES, 1988, On The Late School Principal Joe Clark: “Clint Eastwood Need N

Peter Brimelow In London TIMES, 1988, On The Late School Principal Joe Clark: “Clint Eastwood Need Not Apply”

We 're reprinting this column Peter Brimelow wrote for the Times of London , in which he attempted to explain America to Britons .
Joe Louis Clark , the main subject of this column , was the black principal of a dangerous high school in Paterson , NJ , and later the subject of the movie Lean On Me , with Morgan Freeman .
He died on December 29 of last year .
[ Joe Clark , the baseball bat-wielding principal who inspired the movie 'Lean on Me , ' dies at age 82 , By Laura Ly and Joe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 ] Clark , born 1938 , was living in retirement in Florida , before his recent death at age 82 .
He was big news in the 1980s .
As always , any improvement on minority education is considered worth a movie , featuring either a Nice White Lady or a charismatic male minority educator .
But the real story here is about the pushback against Clark by the Left .
Peter Brimelow says below that That 's what 's going on today .
This sententious sentiment from The New York Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high school “ principal ” ( American for headmaster ) in Paterson , New Jersey .
Clark has not yet actually ridden a horse down the corridors of his educational establishment .
But he does patrol them with a megaphone and a baseball bat .
And he expels pupils he regards as trouble-makers .
This has brought him into a nationally publicized confrontation with his Board of Education .
Mr Clark is black , and virtually all of his pupils are either black or Hispanic—mestizos from Latin America .
His school , before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was described by law enforcement officials as “ a cauldron of terror and violence ” .
British readers should note that this is hardly a figure of speech .
Weapons are regularly carried in American ghetto schools .
Pupils rob , rape and murder each other and , from time to time , their teachers .
This , not just racial prejudice , is why white parents bitterly resisted school integration .
William J. Bennett , the Reagan administration ’ s Secretary of Education , has singled out Clark as a praiseworthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he advocates in America ’ s schools .
The White House has even suggested that Clark might like to join President Reagan ’ s staff .
But his critics are equally vigorous .
They argue that Clark has not improved educational results much in his school , that expelling maladjusted and failing pupils merely transfers the problems to the streets , and that anyway he systematically ignores the strict procedures that are supposed to govern the exercise of this supreme scholastic sanction .
Some of Clark ’ s actions undoubtedly appear bizarre @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tradition of charismatic leadership that seems to be a distinct cultural pattern among American blacks—witness the Democratic presidential contender , Jesse Jackson .
Drawings of Clark as Batman fighting off drug dealers hang in the halls .
There are reports that he intimidates and forces out teachers , sometimes with extravagant public denunciations , and last year he flatly refused to allow a state monitoring team into the building .
But he does appear to be genuinely popular with his pupils—the ones that are left , of course .
What ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pedagogy but the politics .
Clark ’ s methods have caused a storm while principals in whose schools pupils learn nothing and might get killed ( but not expelled ) plod undisturbed towards their pensions .
This is because important elements in the American political elite have extraordinary difficulty with anything to do with the use of police power in society .
Thus for them a tough black school principal instantly conjures up , however incongruously , the spectre of Hitler , or at least of the Tsar .
So powerful is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the streets of New York to muggers , and let the public school system collapse ( having removed their own children , of course ) , than accept that a few must be punished for the good of the many .
The New York Times , voice of those elite elements , regretted editorially that Paterson did not have special schools for its ineducable minority .
Money can be a substitute for moral courage .
But if Clark defied Board of Education efforts to reinstate expelled students , the newspaper concluded unhappily , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discipline him—for not respecting the students “ constitutional right ” to “ due process.
” This extraordinarily expansive reading of the US Constitution illustrates the extent to which it has become a Rorschach Blot for liberal neuroses .
Significantly , my opening quotation is not from the paper ’ s editorial but from a column by Albert Shanker , the highly intelligent president of the American Federation of Teachers .
Shanker ’ s tough-mindedness as a union leader is so notorious that he has been immortalized in the Woody Allen film Sleeper as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dispute .
But even compared to him Joe Clark looks like a Cossack .
Peter Brimelow [ Email him ] is the editor of VDARE.com .
His best-selling book , Alien Nation : Common Sense About America ’ s Immigration Disaster , is now available in Kindle format .

We're reprinting this column Peter Brimelow wrote for the Times of London, in which he attempted to explain America to Britons. Joe Louis Clark, the main subject of this column, was the black principal of a dangerous high school in Paterson, NJ, and later the subject of the movie Lean On Me, with Morgan Freeman. He died on December 29 of last year. [Joe Clark, the baseball bat-wielding principal who inspired the movie 'Lean on Me,' dies at age 82, by Laura Ly and Joe Sutton, CNN, December 30, 2020]
Clark, born 1938, was living in retirement in Florida, before his recent death at age 82. He was big news in the 1980s. As always, any improvement on minority education is considered worth a movie, featuring either a Nice White Lady or a charismatic male minority educator. But the real story here is about the pushback against Clark by the Left.
Peter Brimelow says below that
important elements in the American political elite have extraordinary difficulty with anything to do with the use of police power in society. Thus for them a tough black school principal instantly conjures up, however incongruously, the spectre of Hitler, or at least of the Tsar. So powerful is this reaction that they would rather cede the streets of New York to muggers , and let the public school system collapse (having removed their own children, of course), than accept that a few must be punished for the good of the many.
That's what's going on today.
Times of London, January 23, 1988
“Our century should have taught all of us harsh lessons about the temptation of turning to extra-legal methods or to the 'man on the horse' to solve difficult social problems.”
This sententious sentiment from The New York Times was inspired by Joe Clark, a high school “principal” (American for headmaster) in Paterson, New Jersey. Clark has not yet actually ridden a horse down the corridors of his educational establishment. But he does patrol them with a megaphone and a baseball bat. And he expels pupils he regards as trouble-makers. This has brought him into a nationally publicized confrontation with his Board of Education.
Mr Clark is black, and virtually all of his pupils are either black or Hispanic—mestizos from Latin America. His school, before he took it over five years ago, was described by law enforcement officials as “a cauldron of terror and violence”.
British readers should note that this is hardly a figure of speech. Weapons are regularly carried in American ghetto schools. Pupils rob, rape and murder each other and, from time to time, their teachers. This, not just racial prejudice, is why white parents bitterly resisted school integration.
William J. Bennett, the Reagan administration’s Secretary of Education, has singled out Clark as a praiseworthy example of the type of “leadership” he advocates in America’s schools. The White House has even suggested that Clark might like to join President Reagan’s staff. But his critics are equally vigorous. They argue that Clark has not improved educational results much in his school, that expelling maladjusted and failing pupils merely transfers the problems to the streets, and that anyway he systematically ignores the strict procedures that are supposed to govern the exercise of this supreme scholastic sanction.
Some of Clark’s actions undoubtedly appear bizarre to whites, although they are in the tradition of charismatic leadership that seems to be a distinct cultural pattern among American blacks—witness the Democratic presidential contender, Jesse Jackson. Drawings of Clark as Batman fighting off drug dealers hang in the halls. There are reports that he intimidates and forces out teachers, sometimes with extravagant public denunciations, and last year he flatly refused to allow a state monitoring team into the building. But he does appear to be genuinely popular with his pupils—the ones that are left, of course.
What’s really interesting about the kerfuffle is not the pedagogy but the politics. Clark’s methods have caused a storm while principals in whose schools pupils learn nothing and might get killed (but not expelled) plod undisturbed towards their pensions.
This is because important elements in the American political elite have extraordinary difficulty with anything to do with the use of police power in society. Thus for them a tough black school principal instantly conjures up, however incongruously, the spectre of Hitler, or at least of the Tsar. So powerful is this reaction that they would rather cede the streets of New York to muggers, and let the public school system collapse (having removed their own children, of course), than accept that a few must be punished for the good of the many.
The New York Times, voice of those elite elements, regretted editorially that Paterson did not have special schools for its ineducable minority. Money can be a substitute for moral courage. But if Clark defied Board of Education efforts to reinstate expelled students, the newspaper concluded unhappily, there would be no choice but to discipline him—for not respecting the students “constitutional right” to “due process.” This extraordinarily expansive reading of the US Constitution illustrates the extent to which it has become a Rorschach Blot for liberal neuroses.
Significantly, my opening quotation is not from the paper’s editorial but from a column by Albert Shanker, the highly intelligent president of the American Federation of Teachers. Shanker’s tough-mindedness as a union leader is so notorious that he has been immortalized in the Woody Allen film Sleeper as starting a nuclear war over a wage dispute. But even compared to him Joe Clark looks like a Cossack.
Peter Brimelow [Email him] is the editor of VDARE.com. His best-selling book, Alien Nation: Common Sense About America’s Immigration Disaster, is now available in Kindle format.


vdare--2020-12-31--Patrick J. Buchanan: Who Speaks For The Unborn In Massachusetts? Not The Catholic Hierarchy!

In its most recent exercise of liberal democracy , the state senate of Massachusetts voted 32-8 to override Gov .
Charlie Baker 's veto of what is called the Roe Act .
One day earlier , Monday , the state house had voted to override .
The Roe Act is now law in the Bay State .
And what does it say ?
Drafted and adopted to protect a woman 's right to an abortion , should Roe vs. Wade be overturned by the Supreme Court , it guarantees 16-year-old girls the right to abort their unborn children , without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first 24 weeks of pregnancy .
At 24 weeks , an unborn baby has a 60 % to 70 % chance of survival .
But the Roe Act covers this problem as well .
If the `` mental health '' of the teenager is imperiled , she can still get an abortion .
Valerie Richardson of the Washington Times quotes the reaction of the state 's Catholic Action League .
This measure `` will reduce the age of parental or judicial consent for minors seeking abortions , remove born alive protections for infants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criteria for late term abortions , and make abortions more dangerous for women by allowing ( midwives ) and nurse practitioners to perform them . ''
The ACLU , NARAL and Planned Parenthood hailed this as a victory for women 's rights .
Speaking for the Catholic Action League , executive director C. J. Doyle blamed Catholic religious officials and Catholic organizations for their failure to rebuke lawmakers who routinely vote for abortion rights .
`` None of the Catholics who voted for this life-ending measure will suffer a word of rebuke from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ...
There will be no articles or editorials critical of them in the Catholic press .
No one will be denied Holy Communion .
No one will be expelled from the Knights of Columbus . ''
This silence , said Doyle , `` equals consent . ''
And given this silence , `` no rational person can reasonably be expected to take seriously Catholic opposition to the killing of the unborn in Massachusetts . ''
Former New England Patriots ' star Benjamin Watson , a pro-lifer , described the absurdity of what the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs her parents ' permission to get a Tylenol from the school nurse , but she does n't need permission to have an abortion and kill their grandchild .
What the Bay State did , again in an exercise of democracy , raises questions that go beyond normal arguments among Americans on this most divisive of social issues since slavery .
In the 1950s , abortion was regarded as shameful , even criminal , mandating excommunication from the Catholic Church .
Abortionists were social outcasts , often prosecuted and punished .
Now , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abortion has been raised , in what was once `` God 's Country , '' into a constitutional and a human right .
To be accepted as a `` progressive '' today , it is almost an imperative to support a woman 's right to terminate the life of her unborn child .
Even `` devout Catholic '' Joe Biden has come around .
He now favors repeal of the Hyde Amendment he had supported in the past , which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pregnancy arises from rape or incest .
Something comparable has happened with homosexuality and same-sex marriage .
Also once regarded as shameful , this , too , is now a civil and constitutional right and the LGBT flag flies atop U.S. embassies during Gay Pride Month .
As abortion and homosexuality have become new constitutional rights , the old rights of the First Amendment have taken on new meaning .
`` Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion , or prohibiting the free exercise thereof '' has been interpreted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Cross , prayer and Christian symbols all have no place in the schools that educate America 's children .
`` Freedom of speech '' now protects blasphemy and the burning of the American flag .
`` Freedom of the press '' now protects dissemination of what used to be criminalized as pornography .
In brief , using democratic methods and means , and normal legal and judicial procedures , what was once immoral and even criminal has come to be officially declared both constitutional and morally correct .
Scores of millions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet embrace the old beliefs about right and wrong and good and evil , and what is pro-American and what is not , but the nation has changed .
And it raises an even broader question .
Can moral truth be altered ?
Can the killing of unborn children , unjust and immoral in Christian teaching and Natural Law , be made right , and moral , if a legislature uses democratic processes to declare it so ?
If right and wrong can be changed by plebiscites and political votes what do we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along ?
Before we go to war again to defend `` American values , '' ought we not be told exactly for what values our soldiers are fighting ?
For if `` democracy '' inevitably produces the consequences we see in America today , what is the argument for killing people to persuade them to embrace it ?
Patrick J. Buchanan needs no introduction to VDARE.COM readers ; his books State of Emergency : The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America , and Suicide of a Superpower : Will America Survive to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of “ The Greatest Comeback : How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority .
His latest book , published May , 2018 , is “ Nixon ’ s White House Wars : The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever.
” See Peter Brimelow ’ s review : “ Wheel And Fight ” —Pat Buchanan ’ s Nixon Book Provides Road Map For Trump .

In its most recent exercise of liberal democracy, the state senate of Massachusetts voted 32-8 to override Gov. Charlie Baker's veto of what is called the Roe Act.
One day earlier, Monday, the state house had voted to override.
The Roe Act is now law in the Bay State. And what does it say?
Drafted and adopted to protect a woman's right to an abortion, should Roe vs. Wade be overturned by the Supreme Court, it guarantees 16-year-old girls the right to abort their unborn children, without their parents' consent, through the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.
At 24 weeks, an unborn baby has a 60% to 70% chance of survival.
But the Roe Act covers this problem as well. If the "mental health" of the teenager is imperiled, she can still get an abortion.
Valerie Richardson of the Washington Times quotes the reaction of the state's Catholic Action League. This measure "will reduce the age of parental or judicial consent for minors seeking abortions, remove born alive protections for infants who survived abortion, lower the medical criteria for late term abortions, and make abortions more dangerous for women by allowing (midwives) and nurse practitioners to perform them."
The ACLU, NARAL and Planned Parenthood hailed this as a victory for women's rights.
Speaking for the Catholic Action League, executive director C. J. Doyle blamed Catholic religious officials and Catholic organizations for their failure to rebuke lawmakers who routinely vote for abortion rights.
"None of the Catholics who voted for this life-ending measure will suffer a word of rebuke from any priest or prelate in Massachusetts. ... There will be no articles or editorials critical of them in the Catholic press. No one will be denied Holy Communion. No one will be expelled from the Knights of Columbus."
This silence, said Doyle, "equals consent." And given this silence, "no rational person can reasonably be expected to take seriously Catholic opposition to the killing of the unborn in Massachusetts."
Former New England Patriots' star Benjamin Watson, a pro-lifer, described the absurdity of what the legislature did. A teenage girl still needs her parents' permission to get a Tylenol from the school nurse, but she doesn't need permission to have an abortion and kill their grandchild.
What the Bay State did, again in an exercise of democracy, raises questions that go beyond normal arguments among Americans on this most divisive of social issues since slavery.
In the 1950s, abortion was regarded as shameful, even criminal, mandating excommunication from the Catholic Church. Abortionists were social outcasts, often prosecuted and punished.
Now, within the span of a lifetime, abortion has been raised, in what was once "God's Country," into a constitutional and a human right.
To be accepted as a "progressive" today, it is almost an imperative to support a woman's right to terminate the life of her unborn child.
Even "devout Catholic" Joe Biden has come around.
He now favors repeal of the Hyde Amendment he had supported in the past, which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save the life of the woman or if the pregnancy arises from rape or incest.
Something comparable has happened with homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Also once regarded as shameful, this, too, is now a civil and constitutional right and the LGBT flag flies atop U.S. embassies during Gay Pride Month.
As abortion and homosexuality have become new constitutional rights, the old rights of the First Amendment have taken on new meaning.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" has been interpreted to mean that God, the Bible, the Cross, prayer and Christian symbols all have no place in the schools that educate America's children.
"Freedom of speech" now protects blasphemy and the burning of the American flag.
"Freedom of the press" now protects dissemination of what used to be criminalized as pornography.
In brief, using democratic methods and means, and normal legal and judicial procedures, what was once immoral and even criminal has come to be officially declared both constitutional and morally correct.
Scores of millions in the "silent majority" may yet embrace the old beliefs about right and wrong and good and evil, and what is pro-American and what is not, but the nation has changed.
And it raises an even broader question.
Can moral truth be altered? Can the killing of unborn children, unjust and immoral in Christian teaching and Natural Law, be made right, and moral, if a legislature uses democratic processes to declare it so?
If right and wrong can be changed by plebiscites and political votes what do we do with those who refuse to go along?
Before we go to war again to defend "American values," ought we not be told exactly for what values our soldiers are fighting?
For if "democracy" inevitably produces the consequences we see in America today, what is the argument for killing people to persuade them to embrace it?
COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM
Patrick J. Buchanan needs no introduction to VDARE.COM readers; his books State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America, and Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? are available from Amazon.com. Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority.
His latest book, published May, 2018, is “Nixon’s White House Wars: The Battles That Made and Broke a President and Divided America Forever.”
See Peter Brimelow’s review: “Wheel And Fight”—Pat Buchanan’s Nixon Book Provides Road Map For Trump.


vdare--2020-12-31--What Can Be Learned From Differing Rates Of Suicide Among Groups?

From the New York Times ’ “ Upshot ” data journalism section : What Can Be Learned From Differing Rates of Suicide Among Groups White Americans have higher rates than most other racial and ethnic groups .
Austin Frakt is director of the Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center at the V.A .
Boston Healthcare System ; associate professor with Boston University ’ s School of Public Health ; and a senior research scientist with the Harvard T.H .
Chan School of Public Health .
He blogs at The Incidental Economist , and you can follow him on Twitter at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ racial and ethnic groups in ways that can upend expectations .
The explanations may suggest avenues for prevention .
Suicide in America has been rising for two decades , with rates for white Americans consistently well above those for Asian-Americans , Black Americans and Hispanics .
In data released in 2017 , the rate for white Americans was around 19 per 100,000 , and it was about 7.1 for both Hispanics and Asian-Americans/Pacific Islanders , and 6.6 for Black Americans , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Emotional and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ From this , a puzzle emerges .
Because of pervasive racism , Black Americans experience substantial stress , fewer opportunities for advancement and more threats to well-being .
These negative experiences can degrade mental and physical health , as well as limit education , employment and income — all of which can increase suicide risk .
Unemployment , which is higher for Black Americans than white Americans , is itself a source of stress .
Yet the Black suicide rate is about one-third that of whites .
OK , so Occam ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ African-Americans aren ’ t suffering much from pervasive racism , indeed , that they aren ’ t suffering all that much in general .
Maybe one reason blacks have more social stressors is because they are less stressed about them ?
But misclassification can not fully explain the racial difference in suicide .
Other factors may help protect Black Americans from suicide , despite conditions that would seem to place them at higher risk .
Dawne Mouzon , a sociologist and associate professor at Rutgers University , suggested that religious involvement is one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ identify as Christian .
“ Because of their faith , Black Americans are more likely to believe suicide precludes reaching heaven after death , ” she said .
Although church membership has trended downward over the last two decades , it has been lower and fallen faster for white Americans than Black Americans .
According to a national survey by the Pew Research Center , by almost any measure of religiosity , Black Americans are more religious than whites .
Emotional and social support from a church congregation may also confer mental health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Single parenthood is another possible explanation .
Black women are more likely to be single parents than white women , and they have the lowest suicide rates across any race/gender group .
( Suicide is less common among women than men in general . )
… Maybe blacks have low suicide rates because they externalize more than they internalize , as seen in their having a homicide rate 8.2 times as high as nonblacks in 2019 ?
If somebody disses you , rather than dwell on what ’ s wrong with you that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you , you go get your Glock and start firing into the crowd of people eating BBQ in the general direction of your disser , well , that apparently relieves a lot of stress .
Experts say some reasons for the relatively low suicide rate among Latinos — who also tend to be poorer and face discrimination — are close social and family networks , which can build and maintain resilience , as well as moral objection to suicide based on religion .
A study published in 2014 in the Journal of Clinical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of that protection when they assimilate and lose ties to Latino culture .
… In the last two decades , there has been a sharp rise in so-called deaths of despair — suicides , drug overdoses or alcohol abuse — among middle-aged white Americans without a college degree .
In their research on the subject , the Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton pointed to , among other factors , loss of community and loss of status .
Over all , the C.D.C .
report found higher suicide rates in rural @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counties .
Most gun deaths in America are suicides , not murders , and white men are more likely to own a gun .
The C.D.C .
report said rates of suicide by gun in rural counties were “ almost two times that of rates in larger metropolitan counties.
” Among Asian-Americans , one study suggests that collectivist cultures among immigrants that promote care for others could be a protective factor .
Another points to close family relationships .
But what holds for one group may not for another .
Aparna Kalbag , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , works with South Asian-Americans .
“ Their relatively higher education also plays a role , ” she said .
“ It influences how they perceive and react to mental health symptoms .
They view them as something they can change , and they have the resources to do so.
” This is not the case with other , lower-income groups whose access to mental health care is more circumscribed .
So , the Ethnic Order goes : black ( excuse me , Black ) , Hispanic , white , Asian , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Colonization is not only in the past , ” said Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear , an assistant professor at U.C.L.A .
and a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation .
“ It ’ s an ongoing system , a series of structures that continue to disenfranchise , erase and traumatize Indigenous peoples.
” One of the most obvious and tangible effects of colonization on those populations is their forced segregation into reservations and the intergenerational trauma that ensued from severing ancestral relationships to their lands , cultures , languages and ways of life .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harms this causes can not be overstated , ” Professor Rodriguez-Lonebear said .
From my review of Case & Deaton ’ s recent book Deaths of Despair about how they discovered the huge increase in white working class deaths since 2000 that everybody else had ignored in all the excitement over purported White Privilege : “ The more I study the White Death of the past two decades , the more I am instead reminded of the tragic trajectory of a now much less publicized American race , Native Americans .
Like American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be living , and dying , like a defeated people , quietly offing themselves with so little to-do that nobody even noticed what was happening to working-class white lifespans for the first fifteen years of this century .
”

From the New York Times’ “Upshot” data journalism section:
What Can Be Learned From Differing Rates of Suicide Among Groups
White Americans have higher rates than most other racial and ethnic groups. By Austin Frakt Austin Frakt is director of the Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center at the V.A. Boston Healthcare System; associate professor with Boston University’s School of Public Health; and a senior research scientist with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He blogs at The Incidental Economist, and you can follow him on Twitter at @afrakt Dec. 30, 2020 U.S. suicide rates vary widely across racial and ethnic groups in ways that can upend expectations. The explanations may suggest avenues for prevention. Suicide in America has been rising for two decades, with rates for white Americans consistently well above those for Asian-Americans, Black Americans and Hispanics. In data released in 2017, the rate for white Americans was around 19 per 100,000, and it was about 7.1 for both Hispanics and Asian-Americans/Pacific Islanders, and 6.6 for Black Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Emotional and social stress is associated with suicide. From this, a puzzle emerges. Because of pervasive racism, Black Americans experience substantial stress, fewer opportunities for advancement and more threats to well-being. These negative experiences can degrade mental and physical health, as well as limit education, employment and income — all of which can increase suicide risk. Unemployment, which is higher for Black Americans than white Americans, is itself a source of stress. Yet the Black suicide rate is about one-third that of whites.
OK, so Occam’s Razor might suggest, therefore, that African-Americans aren’t suffering much from pervasive racism, indeed, that they aren’t suffering all that much in general.
“Social stressors — lower socioeconomic status and racism among them — are more prevalent and severe for the Black population than the white one,” said Joshua Breslau, a senior behavioral and social scientist at RAND. “But suicide and some risk factors for it, like mental health conditions, are less prevalent in the Black population. This is puzzling.” …
Maybe one reason blacks have more social stressors is because they are less stressed about them?
But misclassification cannot fully explain the racial difference in suicide. Other factors may help protect Black Americans from suicide, despite conditions that would seem to place them at higher risk. Dawne Mouzon, a sociologist and associate professor at Rutgers University, suggested that religious involvement is one source of protection. Black Americans overwhelmingly identify as Christian. “Because of their faith, Black Americans are more likely to believe suicide precludes reaching heaven after death,” she said. Although church membership has trended downward over the last two decades, it has been lower and fallen faster for white Americans than Black Americans. According to a national survey by the Pew Research Center, by almost any measure of religiosity, Black Americans are more religious than whites. Emotional and social support from a church congregation may also confer mental health benefits, Professor Mouzon added. … Single parenthood is another possible explanation. Black women are more likely to be single parents than white women, and they have the lowest suicide rates across any race/gender group. (Suicide is less common among women than men in general.) …
Maybe blacks have low suicide rates because they externalize more than they internalize, as seen in their having a homicide rate 8.2 times as high as nonblacks in 2019? If somebody disses you, rather than dwell on what’s wrong with you that that person said something so unkind about you, you go get your Glock and start firing into the crowd of people eating BBQ in the general direction of your disser, well, that apparently relieves a lot of stress.
Experts say some reasons for the relatively low suicide rate among Latinos — who also tend to be poorer and face discrimination — are close social and family networks, which can build and maintain resilience, as well as moral objection to suicide based on religion. A study published in 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry suggested that immigrant families can lose some of that protection when they assimilate and lose ties to Latino culture. … In the last two decades, there has been a sharp rise in so-called deaths of despair — suicides, drug overdoses or alcohol abuse — among middle-aged white Americans without a college degree. In their research on the subject, the Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton pointed to, among other factors, loss of community and loss of status. Over all, the C.D.C. report found higher suicide rates in rural America than in medium/small and large metropolitan counties. Most gun deaths in America are suicides, not murders, and white men are more likely to own a gun. The C.D.C. report said rates of suicide by gun in rural counties were “almost two times that of rates in larger metropolitan counties.” Among Asian-Americans, one study suggests that collectivist cultures among immigrants that promote care for others could be a protective factor. Another points to close family relationships. But what holds for one group may not for another. Aparna Kalbag, a mental health research psychologist and advocate, works with South Asian-Americans. “Their relatively higher education also plays a role,” she said. “It influences how they perceive and react to mental health symptoms. They view them as something they can change, and they have the resources to do so.” This is not the case with other, lower-income groups whose access to mental health care is more circumscribed.
And finally …
Suicide rates are highest among Native American and Alaska Native populations: 21.8 per 100,000 people.
So, the Ethnic Order goes: black (excuse me, Black), Hispanic, white, Asian, and, finally, Native American.
“Colonization is not only in the past,” said Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear, an assistant professor at U.C.L.A. and a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. “It’s an ongoing system, a series of structures that continue to disenfranchise, erase and traumatize Indigenous peoples.” One of the most obvious and tangible effects of colonization on those populations is their forced segregation into reservations and the intergenerational trauma that ensued from severing ancestral relationships to their lands, cultures, languages and ways of life. “The psychological, social, and economic harms this causes cannot be overstated,” Professor Rodriguez-Lonebear said.
From my review of Case & Deaton’s recent book Deaths of Despair about how they discovered the huge increase in white working class deaths since 2000 that everybody else had ignored in all the excitement over purported White Privilege:


vdare--2020-12-31--NYT Out To Get Coinbase For Crimethink

NYT Out To Get Coinbase For Crimethink

VDare.com note : Coinbase may not be woke enough for the NYT , but they have blocked us from receiving funds via their platform .
See How To Use ( And Donate ! )
Cryptocurrency for how to give anyway .
Back in September , the CEO of Bitcoin firm Coinbase , Brian Armstrong , issued a memo to employees telling them that their job was to do their job , not engage in social justice activism on company time .
Not surprisingly , the New York Times has been out to get Coinbase ever since .
How can we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ People can still use Bitcoin ?
An analysis of internal pay data at the San Francisco company Coinbase shows disparities that were much larger than those in the tech industry .
The fast-growing cryptocurrency start-up Coinbase has been rattled in recent months by tensions between executives and employees who said they were being treated unfairly because of their race or gender .
While management at the company has argued that the complaints were limited to a handful of employees , Coinbase ’ s own compensation data suggests that inequitable treatment of women and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disgruntled workers .
The data , recently obtained by The New York Times , indicated that women at Coinbase were paid an average of $ 13,000 , or 8 percent , less than men at comparable jobs and ranks within the company , according to an analysis of the figures , which included pay details for most of Coinbase ’ s roughly 830 employees at the end of 2018 .
… None of the manager groups overseeing engineers had more than two women in it so all manager categories are ones overseeing non-engineers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 16 salaried Black employees in the data .
They were paid $ 11,500 , or 7 percent , less than all other employees in similar jobs .
I did a text search on the article about how much the tech company pays blacks and whites for the string “ Asian ” but for some reason , Asians aren ’ t mentioned .
After all , who ever heard of a Silicon Valley company employing Asians ?
Presumably , all this underpaid black and female talent at Coinbase will walk out the door @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To not do so would be to leave a billion dollar bill lying on the sidewalk .
The Coinbase analysis was conducted for The Times by Alexandra Marr , an economist who has provided statistical analysis for court cases involving pay bias .
When she factored in stock options for Coinbase ’ s employees — often an important part of pay at start-ups — the compensation for women and men was roughly the same while the gap between white and Black employees grew to 11 percent .
… The pay disparities are likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Francisco company , which is riding a boom in the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin .
It recently told regulators it intended to file for an initial public offering .
Numerous Black employees at Coinbase recently publicly complained about the discrimination they faced at the company .
Several women who work at Coinbase have also complained internally about how they were hired , paid and promoted , according to company documents and five employees with knowledge of the complaints .
Well , there you have it : some blacks and some women complained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are there of firms that prospered by hiring discriminated-against blacks and women ?
The best examples I can think of are in baseball : after Branch Rickey brought Jackie Robinson up to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 , the Dodgers went to the World Series six times in ten years , with 3 black Dodgers winning 5 Most Valuable Player Awards ( Robinson , Don Newcombe , and three for Roy Campanella ) .
In the American League the only teams to break through the Yankees ’ monopoly on the pennant were the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Chicago White Sox ( 1959 ) : both teams that hired a lot of African-Americans and black Latins .
The baseball examples are pretty clear because you had two teams that resisted integrating , St. Louis and Boston , who had met in the 1946 World Series but didn ’ t get back to the World Series until the 1960s , wasting the rest of Stan Musial ’ s and Ted Williams ’ careers .
On the other hand , the dominant Yankees were almost as slow to integrate and kept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1964 .
Can anybody think of a firm that got a major jump on its competition by hiring women ?
My guess is that society flipped so quickly on women that few companies were a pioneer in employing lots of women for very long .
Speaking of Bitcoin , that reminds me that I ’ m wrapping up my third fundraiser of 2020 .
[ See more information at Unz.com ]

VDare.com note: Coinbase may not be woke enough for the NYT, but they have blocked us from receiving funds via their platform. See How To Use (And Donate!) Cryptocurrency for how to give anyway.
Back in September, the CEO of Bitcoin firm Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, issued a memo to employees telling them that their job was to do their job, not engage in social justice activism on company time. Not surprisingly, the New York Times has been out to get Coinbase ever since. How can we have a Great Reset if the Bad People can still use Bitcoin?
From the NYT news section:
Cryptocurrency Start-Up Underpaid Women and Black Employees, Data Shows An analysis of internal pay data at the San Francisco company Coinbase shows disparities that were much larger than those in the tech industry. By Nathaniel Popper
Dec. 29, 2020 The fast-growing cryptocurrency start-up Coinbase has been rattled in recent months by tensions between executives and employees who said they were being treated unfairly because of their race or gender. While management at the company has argued that the complaints were limited to a handful of employees, Coinbase’s own compensation data suggests that inequitable treatment of women and Black workers went far beyond a few disgruntled workers. The data, recently obtained by The New York Times, indicated that women at Coinbase were paid an average of $13,000, or 8 percent,
$13,000 divided by 8 percent is $162,500.
less than men at comparable jobs and ranks within the company, according to an analysis of the figures, which included pay details for most of Coinbase’s roughly 830 employees at the end of 2018. … None of the manager groups overseeing engineers had more than two women in it so all manager categories are ones overseeing non-engineers. The picture was also unequal for the 16 salaried Black employees in the data. They were paid $11,500, or 7 percent, less than all other employees in similar jobs.
I did a text search on the article about how much the tech company pays blacks and whites for the string “Asian” but for some reason, Asians aren’t mentioned. After all, who ever heard of a Silicon Valley company employing Asians?
The pay disparities at Coinbase appear to be much larger than those in the tech industry as a whole, and at the few other tech companies that have had to release data.
Presumably, all this underpaid black and female talent at Coinbase will walk out the door tomorrow and start their own company. To not do so would be to leave a billion dollar bill lying on the sidewalk.
The Coinbase analysis was conducted for The Times by Alexandra Marr, an economist who has provided statistical analysis for court cases involving pay bias. When she factored in stock options for Coinbase’s employees — often an important part of pay at start-ups — the compensation for women and men was roughly the same while the gap between white and Black employees grew to 11 percent. … The pay disparities are likely to add to tensions at the San Francisco company, which is riding a boom in the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. It recently told regulators it intended to file for an initial public offering. Numerous Black employees at Coinbase recently publicly complained about the discrimination they faced at the company. Several women who work at Coinbase have also complained internally about how they were hired, paid and promoted, according to company documents and five employees with knowledge of the complaints.
Well, there you have it: some blacks and some women complained.
By the way, what examples are there of firms that prospered by hiring discriminated-against blacks and women?
The best examples I can think of are in baseball: after Branch Rickey brought Jackie Robinson up to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, the Dodgers went to the World Series six times in ten years, with 3 black Dodgers winning 5 Most Valuable Player Awards (Robinson, Don Newcombe, and three for Roy Campanella). In the American League the only teams to break through the Yankees’ monopoly on the pennant were the Cleveland Indians (1948 and 1954) and the Chicago White Sox (1959): both teams that hired a lot of African-Americans and black Latins.
The baseball examples are pretty clear because you had two teams that resisted integrating, St. Louis and Boston, who had met in the 1946 World Series but didn’t get back to the World Series until the 1960s, wasting the rest of Stan Musial’s and Ted Williams’ careers. On the other hand, the dominant Yankees were almost as slow to integrate and kept going to the World Series routinely through 1964.
Can anybody think of a firm that got a major jump on its competition by hiring women?
My guess is that society flipped so quickly on women that few companies were a pioneer in employing lots of women for very long.
Speaking of Bitcoin, that reminds me that I’m wrapping up my third fundraiser of 2020.
[See more information at Unz.com]


vdare--2020-12-31--Boston Removes Statue Of Abraham Lincoln Liberating Slaves, Because White Men Can't Be Celebrated In

Boston Removes Statue Of Abraham Lincoln Liberating Slaves, Because White Men Can't Be Celebrated In America Anymore

The white guy who freed the slaves isn ’ t free from the woke wave overtaking America… The statue , @ @ @ @ @ featured a freed slave kneeling before Lincoln .
It is a copy of the statue @ @ @ @ @ which Frederick Douglass spoke at the dedication of in 1876 .
The bronze statue features @ @ @ @ @ “ a race set free and the country at peace .
Lincoln rests from his @ @ @ @ @ Commission voted to remove the statue in July , because people are offended that a @ @ @ @ @ a white man .
It was removed on Tuesday morning .
“ After engaging in @ @ @ @ @ ’ s clear that residents and visitors to Boston have been uncomfortable with this statue @ @ @ @ @ of the Black man ’ s role in the abolitionist movement , ” Boston Mayor @ @ @ @ @ said in the statement at the time .
Democrats have been attempting to have the @ @ @ @ @ well .

The white guy who freed the slaves isn’t free from the woke wave overtaking America…
The statue, called The Emancipation Memorial, featured a freed slave kneeling before Lincoln. It is a copy of the statue in Washington, DC, which Frederick Douglass spoke at the dedication of in 1876.
The bronze statue features an inscription that reads, “a race set free and the country at peace. Lincoln rests from his labors.”
The Boston Arts Commission voted to remove the statue in July, because people are offended that a black man would kneel before a white man. It was removed on Tuesday morning.
“After engaging in a public process, it’s clear that residents and visitors to Boston have been uncomfortable with this statue, and its reductive representation of the Black man’s role in the abolitionist movement,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D) said in the statement at the time.
Democrats have been attempting to have the statue in DC removed as well.