vdare--2020-01-11--Jaywalking And Race: Disparate Enforcement Or Disparate Lawbreaking?

Race-denialist item of the week comes from a website called StreetsBlog , which bills itself as , quote , `` Informing The Movement To Improve Walking , Biking , And Transit . ''
Oh , you did n't know there is such a movement ?
Me neither ; but as someone who walks a lot , bikes a bit , and rides New York City public transit , I have no objection at all to there being one .
Headline from them , January 8th , headline : NYPD Targets Blacks and Latinos for `` Jaywalking '' Tickets .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' It turns out , you see , that 89.5 percent of summonses for walking against a traffic light , or crossing mid-block , that 's just short of ninety percent , went to blacks and Hispanics , who are together only 55 percent of city residents .
That 's flagrant racism , obviously .
And as if that is n't bad enough , 44 percent of the tickets go to people aged 18 to 25 , even though that group comprises just 7 percent of the population .
So New York City @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 're also ageist .
When will there finally be justice and equal outcomes for all ?
How long , O Lord , how long ?

Race-denialist item of the week comes from a website called StreetsBlog, which bills itself as, quote, "Informing The Movement To Improve Walking, Biking, And Transit." Oh, you didn't know there is such a movement? Me neither; but as someone who walks a lot, bikes a bit, and rides New York City public transit, I have no objection at all to there being one.
Headline from them, January 8th, headline: NYPD Targets Blacks and Latinos for "Jaywalking" Tickets. There are scare quotes around "jaywalking."
It turns out, you see, that 89.5 percent of summonses for walking against a traffic light, or crossing mid-block, that's just short of ninety percent, went to blacks and Hispanics, who are together only 55 percent of city residents. That's flagrant racism, obviously.
And as if that isn't bad enough, 44 percent of the tickets go to people aged 18 to 25, even though that group comprises just 7 percent of the population. So New York City cops are not only racist, they're also ageist.
When will there finally be justice and equal outcomes for all? How long, O Lord, how long?


vdare--2020-01-13--USCIS Sabotaging Laws On Unlawful Presence, Letting Legally Barred Deportees BACK IN

It is illegal for any alien to be in the United States without being lawfully admitted and adhering to the conditions of admission .
To put it more simply , you can not enter the United States illegally , nor may you violate the terms and conditions of a lawful admission .
To back up this part of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( INA ) , in 1996 , Congress enacted provisions prohibiting illegal aliens from adjusting status in the United States , basically a 3 year bar for anyone who has 1 year or less of unlawful presence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have more than one year unlawful presence , and a permanent bar for those who have unlawful presence who attempt to reenter the United States .
A waiver is available , but it has a very high standard .
The waiver was also only available if the alien was outside the United States and applying for an immigrant visa at an American Embassy or Consulate .
This made it difficult for illegal aliens ; they had a high standard to meet for the waiver ; therefore they risked leaving the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being stuck outside the United States for 3 or 10 years , or risked a permanent bar by reentering the United States .
Also of import , waivers were not available for aliens in removal proceedings or have an outstanding order of removal , i.e .
a deportation order or other removal order .
However , the Obama Regime wanted to get around this law that prohibited illegal aliens from adjusting status to legal permanent resident in the United States .
So , similarly to what they did with the Deferred Action for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Obama Regime created an illegal program to benefit these illegal aliens , the Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver program .
This program was two-fold : First , allow illegal aliens to apply for the waiver in the United States and , second , stop applying the legal standard for a waiver , “ extreme hardship ” to a spouse , child , or parent who was a legal permanent resident or U.S. citizen .
Basically , the Obama Regime scheme was to approve all waiver applications regardless of whether the alien in question @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a spouse , child , or parent .
Basically , the legal standard was that if an alien were removed , the parent , spouse , or child would die without care or income provided by the alien .
The Obama Regime management at U.S .
Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) would approve any claim , without serious examination or fraud review .
Sadly , the Trump Administration has done nothing about this problem , other than recalculate how certain non-immigrant students have unlawful presence calculated , which , of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the courts .
And this is what we get : illegal aliens continue to march through the waiver process without any examination of their claims , or adherence to the law .
Case in point , an illegal alien who was ordered deported , has obtained a waiver , and is back in the United States .
After almost two years in Mexico , Jorge Garcia — whose deportation in January 2018 became a national story after a Free Press report — is back home in metro Detroit .
Garcia , 41 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Christmas Day , hugged by his two children and wife shedding tears of joy , his family members said .
“ I ’ m really happy ” to be back , Garcia , of Lincoln Park , said Friday .
“ The last year was very stressful , it got to the point where my blood pressure was very high , I was getting anxiety attacks .
… I see it like a nightmare … something like a bad dream.
” Garcia was granted two waivers by U.S. immigration officials with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attorney Mayra Lorenzana-Miles .
One of the waivers was to resolve the issue of unlawful presence in the U.S. and the other was to request admission in the U.S. after deportation , Lorenzana-Miles said .
Garcia is now a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. , getting his official card this week , and is on a path to U.S. citizenship in a few years , she said .
[ Deported Two Years Ago To Mexico , Jorge Garcia Of Metro Detroit Returns To US , by Niraj Nirakoo , Detroit Free Press @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Garcia has over 30 years unlawful presence and he absconded from a deportation order .
That is enough for a permanent bar to returning to the United States .
Furthermore , neither his children nor his wife have any condition that requires his presence in the United States .
Why did USCIS and the Department of State approve his waivers ?
Most likely , Deep State saboteurs who want Garcia voting in the 2024 Presidential election .
He will be eligible for citizenship in three years , so that is quite likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be voting to elect a new people or to close the border ?
Again we see that President Trump is not insisting on his America First policies be imposed on the bureaucracy .
I warned President Trump that USCIS would be a problem .
[ President Trump Will Have Foes In Immigration Bureaucracy—But Also Friends .
They Can Help Him Win , by Federale , VDare , April 25 , 2019 ] It appears that Ken The Knife still has work to do at USCIS .
Ken Cuccinelli should end the Provisional Unlawful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that do not meet the extreme hardship standard .
The best method to do this is to centralize all applications for waivers in USCIS headquarters and appoint an official to supervise this who understands the law .
But it is not just USCIS that has problems : someone at U.S. Customs and Border Protection ( CBP ) is also under the thrall of Third World nation busters .
A black woman from the Caribbean on a student visa was found to be inadmissible , likely due to terrorism concerns , but officials at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CAIR ) called up a CBP manager and had the alien admitted .
Apparently , CBP works for Hassan Shibly , a Syrian anchor baby , who has access to “ leadership at CBP ” who can overturn the legal decisions by front-line officers and managers at CBP .
Why is an openly political organization like CAIR that is dedicated to mass immigration have such power and access ?
Obviously the swamp is still strong .
President Trump should fire Mark Morgan , an Obama retread , who is head of CBP .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to officials , high or low , nor should President Trump allow officials to act other than in the interests of Americans , not aliens .
It is sad that the bureaucrats in CBP and USCIS are more concerned about the lives of aliens than Americans .
Time to change the culture at CBP and USCIS .

It is illegal for any alien to be in the United States without being lawfully admitted and adhering to the conditions of admission. To put it more simply, you cannot enter the United States illegally, nor may you violate the terms and conditions of a lawful admission.
To back up this part of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), in 1996, Congress enacted provisions prohibiting illegal aliens from adjusting status in the United States, basically a 3 year bar for anyone who has 1 year or less of unlawful presence, a 10 year bar for those who have more than one year unlawful presence, and a permanent bar for those who have unlawful presence who attempt to reenter the United States.
A waiver is available, but it has a very high standard. The waiver was also only available if the alien was outside the United States and applying for an immigrant visa at an American Embassy or Consulate. This made it difficult for illegal aliens; they had a high standard to meet for the waiver; therefore they risked leaving the United States and not receiving a waiver, then being stuck outside the United States for 3 or 10 years, or risked a permanent bar by reentering the United States. Also of import, waivers were not available for aliens in removal proceedings or have an outstanding order of removal, i.e. a deportation order or other removal order.
However, the Obama Regime wanted to get around this law that prohibited illegal aliens from adjusting status to legal permanent resident in the United States. So, similarly to what they did with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the Obama Regime created an illegal program to benefit these illegal aliens, the Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver program. This program was two-fold: First, allow illegal aliens to apply for the waiver in the United States and, second, stop applying the legal standard for a waiver, “extreme hardship” to a spouse, child, or parent who was a legal permanent resident or U.S. citizen. Basically, the Obama Regime scheme was to approve all waiver applications regardless of whether the alien in question met the legal standard of extreme hardship to a spouse, child, or parent.
Basically, the legal standard was that if an alien were removed, the parent, spouse, or child would die without care or income provided by the alien. The Obama Regime management at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would approve any claim, without serious examination or fraud review.
Sadly, the Trump Administration has done nothing about this problem, other than recalculate how certain non-immigrant students have unlawful presence calculated, which, of course, has been held up by the courts.
And this is what we get: illegal aliens continue to march through the waiver process without any examination of their claims, or adherence to the law. Case in point, an illegal alien who was ordered deported, has obtained a waiver, and is back in the United States.
After almost two years in Mexico, Jorge Garcia — whose deportation in January 2018 became a national story after a Free Press report — is back home in metro Detroit. Garcia, 41, arrived at Detroit Metro Airport last month on Christmas Day, hugged by his two children and wife shedding tears of joy, his family members said. “I’m really happy” to be back, Garcia, of Lincoln Park, said Friday. “The last year was very stressful, it got to the point where my blood pressure was very high, I was getting anxiety attacks. … I see it like a nightmare … something like a bad dream.” Garcia was granted two waivers by U.S. immigration officials with the Department of Homeland Security, said his attorney Mayra Lorenzana-Miles. One of the waivers was to resolve the issue of unlawful presence in the U.S. and the other was to request admission in the U.S. after deportation, Lorenzana-Miles said. Garcia is now a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., getting his official card this week, and is on a path to U.S. citizenship in a few years, she said. [Deported Two Years Ago To Mexico, Jorge Garcia Of Metro Detroit Returns To US, by Niraj Nirakoo, Detroit Free Press, January 10, 2019]
Now, Garcia has over 30 years unlawful presence and he absconded from a deportation order. That is enough for a permanent bar to returning to the United States. Furthermore, neither his children nor his wife have any condition that requires his presence in the United States. Why did USCIS and the Department of State approve his waivers? Most likely, Deep State saboteurs who want Garcia voting in the 2024 Presidential election.
He will be eligible for citizenship in three years, so that is quite likely. And do you think he will be voting to elect a new people or to close the border? Again we see that President Trump is not insisting on his America First policies be imposed on the bureaucracy. I warned President Trump that USCIS would be a problem. [President Trump Will Have Foes In Immigration Bureaucracy—But Also Friends. They Can Help Him Win, by Federale, VDare, April 25, 2019]
It appears that Ken The Knife still has work to do at USCIS. Ken Cuccinelli should end the Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver program and stop approving waivers that do not meet the extreme hardship standard. The best method to do this is to centralize all applications for waivers in USCIS headquarters and appoint an official to supervise this who understands the law.
But it is not just USCIS that has problems: someone at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is also under the thrall of Third World nation busters. A black woman from the Caribbean on a student visa was found to be inadmissible, likely due to terrorism concerns, but officials at the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) called up a CBP manager and had the alien admitted.
I want to share with you a very trying experience I had while entering the United States. I was stopped for secondary questioning by US Customs and Border Protection and after several hours of questioning, I was informed that I would be denied entry into the United States. I was also informed that my F1 visa, the student visa that allows me to pursue my Ph.D. in the US, would be canceled. Due to the timely intervention of executive leadership at @cairflorida on my behalf, the decision was reversed and I was allowed entry into the US. [CBP Denied Entry to Muslim Princeton PhD Student… Until CAIR-FL Intervened!, unattributed, CAIRFlorida, undated]
Apparently, CBP works for Hassan Shibly, a Syrian anchor baby, who has access to “leadership at CBP” who can overturn the legal decisions by front-line officers and managers at CBP. Why is an openly political organization like CAIR that is dedicated to mass immigration have such power and access? Obviously the swamp is still strong.
President Trump should fire Mark Morgan, an Obama retread, who is head of CBP. Nation busting groups should not have access to officials, high or low, nor should President Trump allow officials to act other than in the interests of Americans, not aliens. It is sad that the bureaucrats in CBP and USCIS are more concerned about the lives of aliens than Americans. Time to change the culture at CBP and USCIS.


vdare--2020-01-13--Black Male Who Killed White Ex-Penn State Quarterback in Philadelphia Cleared of Most Charges, Becom

Black Male Who Killed White Ex-Penn State Quarterback in Philadelphia Cleared of Most Charges, Becomes Celebrity to Black Community in the City

Earlier : His Name Is Sean Schellenger : Philadelphia NAACP Trying to Downplay the Murder of White Former Penn State Quarterback by Black Male Sean Schellenger was a white man , who played quarterback at Penn State .
He lived in Philadelphia , a 41 percent black city .
He was murdered in 2018 by a black male .
This black male was acquitted of the charge of murder , and will only face two years of probation for murdering Schellenger ( of course , the probation is for tampering with evidence , since he was cleared of manslaughter ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a celebrity to the black community of Philadelphia .
One black journalist wrote about how she hugged him when she spotted Michael White walking on the streets of city… Michael White ’ s lawyer : ‘ When I saw him , I saw my son , wide-eyed and like a deer in headlights ’ , by Jenice Armstrong [ Email her ] Philadelphia Inquirer , October 22 , 2019 It had been seven years since Keir Bradford-Grey , who heads the Defender Association of Philadelphia , had stood before a jury and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was representing Michael White , 22 , who had been charged with fatally stabbing real estate developer Sean Schellenger during a scuffle near Rittenhouse Square last year .
And this wasn ’ t just any old manslaughter case but one that had attracted national attention because it symbolized long-standing tensions over race and class .
As the mother of a black boy , the 45-year-old chief defender brought a unique perspective .
So she went to attorneys Jonathan Strange and Dan Stevenson , who initially headed up White ’ s defense , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me to be part of the team.
” “ When I saw him , I saw my son , wide-eyed and like a deer in headlights .
[ He was ] not a malicious kid but someone who could get into an unfortunate situation .
That ’ s what I saw when I saw Mike , ” she told me Monday during an interview at the Defender Association office , at 1441 Sansom St. “ I didn ’ t see a troublemaker .
I just couldn ’ t see that in his face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me.
” Bradford-Grey is sensitive to how America perceives black males as threatening and criminal .
She didn ’ t want White ’ s case to go the way of the five falsely accused boys portrayed in Ava DuVernay ’ s 2019 docudrama When They See Us .
She also didn ’ t like the narrative that she kept seeing in the media about White being an instigator because he involved himself in an exchange between Schellenger , who was white , and a motorist blocking traffic at 17th and Chancellor Streets .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ — who testified that he was on a break from college at the time of the stabbing — as a food deliveryman , because it “ drives a certain perspective.
” “ He was just a private kid who didn ’ t know who to trust , ” Bradford-Grey said of White , who had been accepted to eight historically black colleges .
“ He ’ s very expressive in his poetry , but it was hard for him to talk about himself.
” Bradford-Grey argued in court that White , who pulled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Schellenger , had acted in self-defense .
“ It was never his intent to kill him , ” she told me .
Jurors deliberated for eight hours over two days .
“ I kept saying : ‘ Please let them see what we see .
I hope we did a good enough job .
I hope we brought to light what we needed to , ’ ” she said .
“ And I hoped that they looked at him when he testified and saw who this young man was and who he wasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ portrayed as.
” On Thursday , White was acquitted of all charges except tampering with evidence .
His sentencing is scheduled for December .
Shortly after the verdict , I spotted him walking along Market Street .
I ran up and all but grabbed him after he told me the verdict .
A friend who was with me gave him a bear hug .
We were sad about Schellenger ’ s death , but excited that White had been acquitted and that he had gotten a second chance at life .
As for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ went home and slept .
I ’ ll bet it was her best sleep ever .

Earlier: His Name Is Sean Schellenger: Philadelphia NAACP Trying to Downplay the Murder of White Former Penn State Quarterback by Black Male
Sean Schellenger was a white man, who played quarterback at Penn State. He lived in Philadelphia, a 41 percent black city. He was murdered in 2018 by a black male.
This black male was acquitted of the charge of murder, and will only face two years of probation for murdering Schellenger (of course, the probation is for tampering with evidence, since he was cleared of manslaughter).
In fact, 22-year-old Michael White is a celebrity to the black community of Philadelphia. One black journalist wrote about how she hugged him when she spotted Michael White walking on the streets of city…
Michael White’s lawyer: ‘When I saw him, I saw my son, wide-eyed and like a deer in headlights,’ by Jenice Armstrong, [Email her] Philadelphia Inquirer, October 22, 2019
It had been seven years since Keir Bradford-Grey, who heads the Defender Association of Philadelphia, had stood before a jury and litigated a case.
But there she was representing Michael White, 22, who had been charged with fatally stabbing real estate developer Sean Schellenger during a scuffle near Rittenhouse Square last year.
And this wasn’t just any old manslaughter case but one that had attracted national attention because it symbolized long-standing tensions over race and class.
As the mother of a black boy, the 45-year-old chief defender brought a unique perspective.
So she went to attorneys Jonathan Strange and Dan Stevenson, who initially headed up White’s defense, and “they were gracious enough to allow me to be part of the team.”
“When I saw him, I saw my son, wide-eyed and like a deer in headlights. [He was] not a malicious kid but someone who could get into an unfortunate situation. That’s what I saw when I saw Mike,” she told me Monday during an interview at the Defender Association office, at 1441 Sansom St. “I didn’t see a troublemaker. I just couldn’t see that in his face, let alone when he talked to me.”
Bradford-Grey is sensitive to how America perceives black males as threatening and criminal. She didn’t want White’s case to go the way of the five falsely accused boys portrayed in Ava DuVernay’s 2019 docudrama When They See Us.
She also didn’t like the narrative that she kept seeing in the media about White being an instigator because he involved himself in an exchange between Schellenger, who was white, and a motorist blocking traffic at 17th and Chancellor Streets.
It annoyed her how reporters described White — who testified that he was on a break from college at the time of the stabbing — as a food deliveryman, because it “drives a certain perspective.”
“He was just a private kid who didn’t know who to trust,” Bradford-Grey said of White, who had been accepted to eight historically black colleges. “He’s very expressive in his poetry, but it was hard for him to talk about himself.”
Bradford-Grey argued in court that White, who pulled out a knife during his encounter with Schellenger, had acted in self-defense. “It was never his intent to kill him,” she told me.
Jurors deliberated for eight hours over two days.
“I kept saying: ‘Please let them see what we see. I hope we did a good enough job. I hope we brought to light what we needed to,’ ” she said. “And I hoped that they looked at him when he testified and saw who this young man was and who he wasn’t and who he was being portrayed as.”
On Thursday, White was acquitted of all charges except tampering with evidence. His sentencing is scheduled for December.
Shortly after the verdict, I spotted him walking along Market Street. I ran up and all but grabbed him after he told me the verdict. A friend who was with me gave him a bear hug.
We were sad about Schellenger’s death, but excited that White had been acquitted and that he had gotten a second chance at life.
As for Bradford-Grey, she felt like celebrating but went home and slept. I’ll bet it was her best sleep ever.


vdare--2020-01-13--Patrick J. Buchanan: Iran Crisis Is Trump's In-Kind Contribution to Bernie

The directed killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani , Iran 's blood-soaked field marshal in the `` forever war '' of the Middle East , has begun to roil the politics of both the region and the USA .
A stunned and shaken Iran retaliated by firing a dozen missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq .
Yet , before launching the attack , Iran signaled that its retaliation would be strictly proportionate , to avoid an escalation .
U.S. forces were warned where the missiles would hit .
Result : zero U.S. casualties in the two strikes .
Hours after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , however , an apparently panicked Iranian officer at an air defense missile battery launched and shot down a Ukrainian airliner leaving Tehran airport with 176 people aboard .
For days , the ayatollah indicated he did not know the cause of the disaster had been one of Iran 's own surface-to-air missiles .
Thus , while hundreds of thousands had been marching last week in nationalist solidarity to honor the dead general , today , thousands of Iranians are marching against the ayatollah , accusing his regime of having known the truth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iraq , a nonbinding vote has been taken in parliament to demand a full U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq for the execution of Soleimani .
President Donald Trump is threatening the Iraqis with sanctions if Baghdad follows through and expels the 5,200 U.S. troops still there .
NATO allies with units in Iraq are silently seething , as they received no warning we were about to take down the general .
Here , the political fallout from the execution of Soleimani has only just begun .
Democrats , after denouncing Soleimani as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soldiers , are accusing Trump of carrying out , without the consent of Congress , a premeditated act of war on a nation on which Congress has n't authorized war .
Trump 's claim that the general had to be taken down to abort an `` imminent '' attack on Americans , including attacks on not one but four U.S. embassies , is being derided .
The justice of killing the general seems less the issue now than the wisdom of the act , and a storm is brewing over whether Trump and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pelosi has already pushed through the House a nonbinding resolution asserting that Trump has no authority to carry out acts of war against Iran without Congress ' consent .
Rep. Matt Gaetz , a Trump supporter from Florida , stunned the president by voting for the Pelosi resolution .
Sen. Mike Lee broke with Trump to denounce the briefing that Congress received , about attacks on Americans being imminent , as both contemptuous and the worst briefing he ever had .
The general may have gotten the justice he deserved in that SUV @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consequences of his execution are now coming in .
Trump has elevated the Middle East wars as a major issue in 2020 , not his strong suit .
For , as the military says , `` The enemy gets a vote ! ''
as to how much blood , including American blood , will be shed in 2020 .
Also , by sending the 82nd Airborne to Kuwait and Iraq , Trump underscored the truth : We are still mired in the `` endless wars '' of the Middle East despite his promise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the conservative-populist coalition that put Trump in office .
War Party interventionists , who have long sought to have the United States do to Iran what Bush 43 did to Iraq , are exhilarated by what they believe the Soleimani killing portends—an inevitable war with Iran .
Trump has also energized the anti-war majority in the Democratic Party , specifically the candidacy of Bernie Sanders , whose anti-war and anti-interventionist credentials are as long-standing and solid as is his fidelity to socialism .
Sanders voted against both the Bush II Iraq War @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and George H.W .
Bush 's Desert Storm expulsion of the Iraqi army from Kuwait .
With the killing of the general and the possibility of a U.S.-Iran war rising , Bernie is the Democratic candidate whose anti-war credentials are the longest and strongest and whose position of avoiding war with Iran is most in sync with the majority of the party he seeks to lead .
Sanders could ride anti-war sentiment to victory in Iowa and New Hampshire and have the wind behind him going into South Carolina and Super Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too far for most Americans , and an insuperable obstacle to his ever becoming president , but should he win the nomination , he could occupy in 2020 the space Trump occupied in 2016 , as the anti-interventionist , anti-war candidate .
And if Bernie ran a `` Come Home , America '' campaign , half a century after the slogan 's author , George McGovern , lost in history 's largest landslide , Sanders could change the face and future of American politics .
Patrick J. Buchanan needs no introduction to VDARE.COM @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : 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 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Provides Road Map For Trump .

The directed killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran's blood-soaked field marshal in the "forever war" of the Middle East, has begun to roil the politics of both the region and the USA.
A stunned and shaken Iran retaliated by firing a dozen missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq. Yet, before launching the attack, Iran signaled that its retaliation would be strictly proportionate, to avoid an escalation.
U.S. forces were warned where the missiles would hit. Result: zero U.S. casualties in the two strikes.
Hours after the Iranian missiles hit the U.S. bases, however, an apparently panicked Iranian officer at an air defense missile battery launched and shot down a Ukrainian airliner leaving Tehran airport with 176 people aboard.
For days, the ayatollah indicated he did not know the cause of the disaster had been one of Iran's own surface-to-air missiles.
Thus, while hundreds of thousands had been marching last week in nationalist solidarity to honor the dead general, today, thousands of Iranians are marching against the ayatollah, accusing his regime of having known the truth and lied to the nation.
In Iraq, a nonbinding vote has been taken in parliament to demand a full U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq for the execution of Soleimani. President Donald Trump is threatening the Iraqis with sanctions if Baghdad follows through and expels the 5,200 U.S. troops still there.
NATO allies with units in Iraq are silently seething, as they received no warning we were about to take down the general.
Here, the political fallout from the execution of Soleimani has only just begun.
Democrats, after denouncing Soleimani as a war criminal and serial killer of American soldiers, are accusing Trump of carrying out, without the consent of Congress, a premeditated act of war on a nation on which Congress hasn't authorized war.
Trump's claim that the general had to be taken down to abort an "imminent" attack on Americans, including attacks on not one but four U.S. embassies, is being derided. The justice of killing the general seems less the issue now than the wisdom of the act, and a storm is brewing over whether Trump and his aides have been dissembling.
Nancy Pelosi has already pushed through the House a nonbinding resolution asserting that Trump has no authority to carry out acts of war against Iran without Congress' consent. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Trump supporter from Florida, stunned the president by voting for the Pelosi resolution.
Sen. Mike Lee broke with Trump to denounce the briefing that Congress received, about attacks on Americans being imminent, as both contemptuous and the worst briefing he ever had.
The general may have gotten the justice he deserved in that SUV departing Baghdad airport, but the unintended consequences of his execution are now coming in.
Trump has elevated the Middle East wars as a major issue in 2020, not his strong suit. For, as the military says, "The enemy gets a vote!" as to how much blood, including American blood, will be shed in 2020.
Also, by sending the 82nd Airborne to Kuwait and Iraq, Trump underscored the truth: We are still mired in the "endless wars" of the Middle East despite his promise to extricate us.
Fractures have appeared in the conservative-populist coalition that put Trump in office. War Party interventionists, who have long sought to have the United States do to Iran what Bush 43 did to Iraq, are exhilarated by what they believe the Soleimani killing portends—an inevitable war with Iran.
Trump has also energized the anti-war majority in the Democratic Party, specifically the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, whose anti-war and anti-interventionist credentials are as long-standing and solid as is his fidelity to socialism.
Sanders voted against both the Bush II Iraq War that Sen. Joe Biden voted to support, and George H.W. Bush's Desert Storm expulsion of the Iraqi army from Kuwait.
With the killing of the general and the possibility of a U.S.-Iran war rising, Bernie is the Democratic candidate whose anti-war credentials are the longest and strongest and whose position of avoiding war with Iran is most in sync with the majority of the party he seeks to lead.
Sanders could ride anti-war sentiment to victory in Iowa and New Hampshire and have the wind behind him going into South Carolina and Super Tuesday.
His socialism may be a bridge too far for most Americans, and an insuperable obstacle to his ever becoming president, but should he win the nomination, he could occupy in 2020 the space Trump occupied in 2016, as the anti-interventionist, anti-war candidate.
And if Bernie ran a "Come Home, America" campaign, half a century after the slogan's author, George McGovern, lost in history's largest landslide, Sanders could change the face and future of American politics.
COPYRIGHT 2019 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--2020-01-13--Roger Scruton And The Church Of England

Roger Scruton And The Church Of England

There have been many fine tributes to Sir Roger Scruton and we should be grateful that he lived to see the journalists that tried to destroy him disgraced and one of his biggest supporters become Prime Minister .
There was one particular passage in The American Conservative that I found striking .
One final note .
When I was an Anglican , I read with great anticipation Scruton ’ s book Our Church , his homage to the Church of England .
He took the same line as all of England ’ s great eulogists , from Samuel Johnson to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thomas Tallis to the Book of Common Prayer , the CofE is the great spiritual redoubt of the English people .
I left the Church of England to join the Church of Rome because I couldn ’ t help but feel that the English church was rapidly succumbing to a trendy religious liberalism .
I only mention this because I know Sir Roger was a faithful communicant of the CofE ; indeed , he played the organ at his local parish .
He was the great exponent of oikophilia , of love of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worship in the ancient custom of his ancestors .
[ The Passing of a Giant , by Michael Warren Davis , January 12 , 2020 ] The idea that the `` CoE is the great spiritual redoubt of the English people '' is true , but considering the denomination 's sad state , it 's also greatly depressing .
As John Derbyshire noted , many may attend the Church of England out of loyalty to the tribe , but the Church of England itself seems to hate the tribe .
Former Archbishop of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Islamic law .
Andrew Fraser , author of The WASP Question , noted that the Church of England ( and the global Anglican community ) has been subsumed into the immigrant resettlement racket .
There was the degrading spectacle of the black head of the Episcopalian Church moaning about white racism during the disgraceful spectacle of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 's wedding , a marriage which is already proving to be a disaster for the royal family [ Meghan Markle Is Not Enough , by Gregory Hood , American Renaissance , May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one could have predicted . )
All this leads me to reflect on the `` invisible race '' of WASPs , the founding population that have so bought into universalism ( or have been deliberately subverted ) that they are no longer capable of taking their own side , or even admitting that they exist .
And yet , they do .
Throughout England , throughout America , throughout the Anglosphere , that great `` emigrant race '' goes on , and its institutions endure .
Brexit and the recent British election shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation .
Perhaps once again , they can build or reclaim those institutions that are supposed to represent them .

There have been many fine tributes to Sir Roger Scruton and we should be grateful that he lived to see the journalists that tried to destroy him disgraced and one of his biggest supporters become Prime Minister.
There was one particular passage in The American Conservative that I found striking.
One final note. When I was an Anglican, I read with great anticipation Scruton’s book Our Church, his homage to the Church of England. He took the same line as all of England’s great eulogists, from Samuel Johnson to Peter Hitchens: from the hymns of Thomas Tallis to the Book of Common Prayer, the CofE is the great spiritual redoubt of the English people. I left the Church of England to join the Church of Rome because I couldn’t help but feel that the English church was rapidly succumbing to a trendy religious liberalism. I only mention this because I know Sir Roger was a faithful communicant of the CofE; indeed, he played the organ at his local parish. He was the great exponent of oikophilia, of love of home: he wanted nothing but to worship in the ancient custom of his ancestors. [The Passing of a Giant, by Michael Warren Davis, January 12, 2020]
The idea that the "CoE is the great spiritual redoubt of the English people" is true, but considering the denomination's sad state, it's also greatly depressing. As John Derbyshire noted, many may attend the Church of England out of loyalty to the tribe, but the Church of England itself seems to hate the tribe.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams supported the implementation of Islamic law. Andrew Fraser, author of The WASP Question, noted that the Church of England (and the global Anglican community) has been subsumed into the immigrant resettlement racket. There was the degrading spectacle of the black head of the Episcopalian Church moaning about white racism during the disgraceful spectacle of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, a marriage which is already proving to be a disaster for the royal family [Meghan Markle Is Not Enough, by Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, May 30, 2018]. (No one could have predicted.)
All this leads me to reflect on the "invisible race" of WASPs, the founding population that have so bought into universalism (or have been deliberately subverted) that they are no longer capable of taking their own side, or even admitting that they exist. And yet, they do. Throughout England, throughout America, throughout the Anglosphere, that great "emigrant race" goes on, and its institutions endure. Brexit and the recent British election shows there is life yet in the English nation. Perhaps once again, they can build or reclaim those institutions that are supposed to represent them.


vdare--2020-01-10--Radio Derb: Harvey On Trial, Joe Biden's Plan, Legalizing Jaywalking, And Banning "Illegal," Etc.

09m21s Vagabonds and strumpets .
( Unwittingly into the bathroom . )
18m02s The order-liberty cycle .
( Swinging from @ @ @ @ @ ) 25m13s When Joe Biden was right .
( And when Stalin died . )
@ @ @ @ @ .
( ARE YOU KIDDING ME ? )

00m47s Emmanuel Weinstein. (Harvey on trial.)
09m21s Vagabonds and strumpets. (Unwittingly into the bathroom.)
18m02s The order-liberty cycle. (Swinging from one to the other.)
25m13s When Joe Biden was right. (And when Stalin died.)
32m43s Flagrant racism in de Blasio's New York. (Ticketing jaywalkers.)
34m52s Those triggering capital letters. (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)
36m05s Banning "illegal alien." (Get yourself a prejudometer.)
38m52s Signoff. (With the British Coolidge.)
[Music clip: Haydn's Derbyshire March No. 1, organ version]
01—Intro. And Radio Derb is on the air! Greetings, listeners, from your glibly genial host John Derbyshire.
This has been one of those weeks when the main political news, domestic and foreign, didn't much stir my interest. I am therefore going to take an aimless ramble though the broader cultural scene
[Permalink]
02—Emmanuel Weinstein. As I'm recording this podcast on Friday, it's Day Five of the trial of movie producer Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein faces five charges: two counts of predatory sexual assault, two of rape, and one more of a criminal sex act. Altogether he could get 28 years in prison. He's 67 years old.
Weinstein is actually a Goldstein. I mean, he's being put in front of us the way Emmanuel Goldstein was put in front of the workers at the Ministry of Truth in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: as an Enemy of the People, whose image was to be cursed and spat at during the Two Minutes Hate.
Looking up the relevant passage in that novel just now, to make sure I got Goldstein's name right—the fact-checkers here at VDARE.com can be pretty ferocious, let me tell you—I found myself reading this passage from Chapter One. Everyone is seated in the conference hall and the Two Minutes Hate has just started. Quote:
As usual, the face of Emmanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People, had flashed on to the screen. There were hisses here and there among the audience. The little sandy-haired woman gave a squeak of mingled fear and disgust.
End quote.
It so happened that just half an hour before reading that, I had been enjoying my breakfast over this morning's copy of the New York Post. Here's a quote from page 14 of the Post. The story is about events on Thursday in the Weinstein trial. That was the third day of jury selection. Quote from the New York Post:
After Justice James Burke summoned 120 jurors into the courtroom, packing the gallery and jury box, he announced the name of the case: "The People of the State of New York Against Harvey Weinstein."
"Oh, s—t!" exclaimed one female juror, seated in the jury box, as she glanced at the fallen Hollywood titan at the defense table. ["Juror says 'Oh, s—t!' after learning she may be on Harvey Weinstein case" by Rebecca Rosenberg; NY Post, January 10th 2020.]
End quote.
Obviously this is the little sandy-haired woman from Orwell's novel, escaped somehow from the realm of fiction into the so-called "real world." Or if not anything so metaphysically improbable, it is surely at least a very exquisite instance of life imitating art.
You may infer from all that that my sympathies—you can say "prejudices," if you like—are with Harvey Weinstein here. Well, yes, they are.
I don't know Weinstein personally—never met him. I do know him very slightly at one remove. I mean, I know someone who knows him. That would be Taki Theodoracopulos, who I worked for in the decade we just left—who, indeed, once granted a full 38-minute interview to Radio Derb. Taki was friends with Weinstein, and so far as I know still is. He speaks well of him.
So I have trouble getting on board with this particular Two Minutes Hate. In fact I have double trouble. I was strongly impressed by Dorothy Rabinowitz's 2003 book No Crueler Tyrannies, about the child sex-abuse hysteria of the 1990s. I was so strongly impressed, I see on a site search that I have mentioned the book six times over the years. At fifty podcasts a year over fifteen years that's not obsessive, but it tells you how well the Rabinowitz book sensitized me to the weird mass hysterias that sweep over the American public from time to time.
The MeToo movement is, according to me, one of those hysterias. It has all the components: fantasizing plaintiffs coached by avaricious trial lawyers, jurors carefully selected for ignorance and gullibility, politically ambitious prosecutors, trial judges steeped in the Cultural Marxism of lefty law schools … it's all there.
And the real driving force, the energizing principle behind these hysterias, is the CultMarx loathing of some aspect of normal human life. In the child sex abuse hysteria it was loathing of the family; in MeToo it's loathing of male sexuality—or, as the Social Justice Warriors say, "toxic masculinity."
I see I'm going to need another segment on the Harvey Weinstein case. Before I go to it, let me just give you another quote from this morning's New York Post story.
This quote follows immediately on from the previous one. So the little sandy-haired woman, a prospective juror, just cursed out loud on discovering that she's being considered for the Weinstein case. Now the judge, James Burke, reacts to that. Quote:
[Inner quote.] "Now I noticed that there was some reaction when the defendant's name was read," Burke said mildly. "I heard a gasp from my left, over here, so I have to tell you that having heard of Harvey Weinstein or even being familiar with the allegations made against him in the press or elsewhere are not by themselves disqualifying." [End inner quote.]
End quote.
So I guess I should revisit what I said about jurors being selected for ignorance and gullibility. Ignorance is not essential to qualify as a juror. Knowledge of Weinstein and the charges against him is not by itself—note that emphasis—is not by itself disqualifying for jury service in the case, Judge Burke instructs us.
You can know who Weinstein is, and you can even know the charges against him; just so long as you understand that he's an Enemy of the People, the court is fine with you.
[Permalink]
03—Vagabonds and strumpets. I'm not precisely clear how the charges against Harvey Weinstein align with things we've heard about what he's supposed to have done.
What precisely, for example, is the "criminal sex act," listed as separate from the rape and assault charges? If it's not rape and it's not sexual assault, why is it criminal?
Sure; I know that back in the dark, hateful past of forty or fifty years ago, when Americans groaned under the iron heel of puritanical heteronormative oppression, all kinds of sex acts were criminalized. But wasn't that all swept away in the glorious dawn of late-twentieth-century enlightenment?
One of the plaintiffs, name of Mimi Haleyi, accuses Weinstein of performing oral sex on her against her will. Was that the "criminal sex act"? It's not clear.
And—I'm sorry to be indelicate here, but it's germane to my argument—I'm struggling with the idea of nonconsensual cunnilingus. Weinstein's a big guy, but it seems to me some determined wriggling and leg-crossing, with some well-aimed slaps to his head, perhaps with the assist of a table lamp or some such, would have made the whole engagement highly unrewarding from Weinstein's point of view.
Similar skepticism applies to the rape charges, as I've seen them reported. Rape is certainly a real thing, but I don't see how it can be carried out between two adults without serious violence or the threat of violence. Here are some scenarios I can imagine where rape actually happened.
Scenario One: The man is holding a knife to the woman's throat, and she believes he'll use it.
Scenario Two: The man has accomplices who hold the woman down and cover her mouth to muffle screams.
Scenario Three: The man comes upon the woman in some remote location, beyond the sight and hearing of other people, and knocks her out or somehow overpowers her.
Scenario Four: The man gets the woman alone, slips her a Micky Finn, and does the deed while she's unconscious.
I'll certainly allow those as genuine rape scenarios. A man convicted on sound evidence in any of Scenarios One, Two, or Three should, in my opinion, go to the chair. Scenario Four is more debatable …
None of the charges I've seen against Weinstein look like any of those scenarios, though. None of them, to my eyes, look like anything worse than gross bad manners.
And what's with all the helpless passivity on display from the "victims" here? My dating days are decades behind me, I'll allow; but I don't remember women being such trembling, shrinking violets.
Yo, ladies: Scream, break something, throw some large object through a window. The thing he's intending to do to you involves exposing his most sensitive parts to your nails, your teeth, your feet, the shards of any dish or bottle you can break. If he doesn't have a knife to your throat, doesn't have a couple of buddies holding you down and stuffing a towel in your mouth, and the room you're in isn't scientifically soundproofed, the advantage is all yours.
Sample story from the Weinstein case. Quote:
Prosecutors allege that Weinstein met Jane Doe 2 during a business meeting at a restaurant inside a hotel. They were with a female acquaintance. After that, the three spoke in the lobby and eventually went to Weinstein's hotel suite, prosecutors allege. Jane Doe 2 said she unwittingly made it into Weinstein's hotel bathroom, and the female acquaintance shut the door behind her.
At that point, Weinstein allegedly took off his clothes and took a brief shower, the court papers allege.
"While naked he moved towards her keeping himself between her and the door and preventing her from leaving. She laughed from shock as the defendant took down her dress. He turned her around and held her in place by her breast as he masturbated until he ejaculated on the floor," wrote prosecutor Paul Thompson.
He then let her leave, the documents say. [Trapped in bathroom, held down by Weinstein: Woman's horrifying allegations laid out by prosecutors, by Richard Winton; L.A. Times, January 6 2020.]
End quote.
All my previous remarks apply. "He took a brief shower"? What, while she stood and watched? Hotel bathroom fixtures come apart with a good pull. You then have a weapon in your hands in a room rapidly flooding and a naked guy trying to protect his family jewels. She'd "unwittingly" made it into the bathroom? What, she mistook it for an elevator? And who's this "female acquaintance"? Is she charged with being an accomplice to sexual assault? Shall we hear courtroom testimony from her?
And all this is within the larger world of showbiz. I said in the last segment I am double skeptical: first from knowledge at one remove of Weinstein the person, then second from reading about a previous mass hysteria in Dorothy Rabinowitz's book.
The environment here being showbiz, you can make that triple skeptical. Flocks of pretty young women desperate for a movie part; rich old guys who can make it come true for them; what does anyone think is going to happen? Are we really now so deep into denial of our own human nature?
Showbiz is the province of vagabonds and strumpets, just as much today as in Shakespeare's time. If vagabondage and strumpetry aren't your choice of society, stay away from showbiz people. Find some other line of work.
The Harvey Weinstein case? Mass hysteria, pumped up by unscrupulous lawyers, delusional showbiz airheads, and CultMarx media ideologues. That's my verdict. Case dismissed!
[Permalink]
04—The order-liberty cycle. A listener has chidden me for saying, in my December 27th podcast, quote: "If voting made a difference, they wouldn't allow it." That was in reference to the many cases where a referendum or ballot initiative was voted one way by the people, then squashed, reversed, or gutted by judges and/or politicians.
My listener, quote:
This is the sort of slogan that we might have believed in when we were teenagers. We're a long way from being stupid teenagers now, and you should know better than to simplify the world into bumper stickers.
Here's an example. You are a great fan of the late Margaret Thatcher. (I'm not, but that's a topic for a different letter.) Thatcher undoubtedly made many changes in British domestic and foreign policy. Do you think these changes would have been made if Labour had stayed in power? I don't think so. Voting for Thatcher made a difference.
Neither of us knows how Boris Johnson will play out, but do you think his laws and policies will be the same as Jeremy Corbin's? Voting for Johnson made a difference …
If voting made no difference, why are tyrants so afraid of it? Why do dictators either eliminate or rig elections? Why do so many heroes sacrifice their lives to achieve democracy?
Being glib doesn't become you.
End quote.
Hm. I don't know; I kind of like the glib look … That itself is glib, though, so I'm sliding into an infinite regress there—whoa!
My correspondent of course has a point. Sometimes voting does make a difference. I have a point too, though: all too often it doesn't. That was the case in the examples I cited: Oregon giving driver licenses to illegal aliens in defiance of Ballot Measure 88, and the crushing of California Proposition 187 back in 1994, when Californians voted to deny welfare benefits to illegal aliens.
Those of us afflicted with Trump Disappointment Syndrome often find ourselves wondering what good our Presidential vote did in 2016. America is still inviting the world and invading the world. Would things really have been much different in a Hillary Clinton administration?
So voting doesn't make any difference, except when it does. I'd argue that the doesn'ts way outnumber the doeses, and we ought to be thinking hard what we can do to improve on that.
We, along with all the other developed democracies, have a huge administrative state managed by a vast, entrenched nomenklatura of bureaucrats, time-servers, ideologues, and political seat-warmers. That's a mighty big ship, and she doesn't turn easily.
On the general subject of political change in a democracy, there is also what I call the order-justice cycle.
It's a cliché of course that there is a tension in any society between order and liberty. You can have too much order, by stifling liberty altogether: think of North Korea. And then, you can have too much liberty, where antisocial people run wild without restraint. For a fair and happy society, you need to find the point of balance.
Bertrand Russell visited Lenin's Russia in 1920. The following year he went to warlord China. Commenting on these trips, he said: "I went to Russia, where I found too much government. Then I went to China, where I found too little."
We are not actually very good at finding that point of balance, as we see right now with all this prison reform in the air. Our rulers have made a collective decision that too many people are going to jail and too many of those we arrest are being asked to post bail. I bloviated about this last week, speculating that white race guilt is driving all that liberalization.
So the lever is getting pushed all the way over to maximum liberty, with the corresponding decline in order. That only goes on, though, until public unhappiness about the decline of order rises to some critical mass. Then, yes, democracy works its magic. We vote in a Rudy Giuliani to push the lever back towards more order.
Can't we just find the right point of balance and lock that lever in place? On the historical evidence, no we can't. Voters just aren't that active or attentive. They adjust, put up with a decaying state of affairs, until it gets to be too much for them.
Compulsory voting might help. New York City has a crazy communist mayor because hardly anyone in the city bothers to vote in mayoral elections. Turnout in the two elections de Blasio won were thirteen percent and eighteen percent. In New York, you get what you don't vote for.
So democracy, yes; but our current system has problems we should be thinking hard about … and we're not.
[Permalink]
05—Joe Biden was right! Big news of the week was the arm-wrestling bout with Iran. Again, as I said last week, there is no market here at Radio Derb for Great Game strategizing. I'd like for us to tip over the chess-board and walk away.
The whole thing just fills me with despair and disgust at the sheer colossal stupidity of American foreign policy. Trillions of dollars, thousands of lives, tens of thousands of maimed and disfigured, for what?
Doesn't anyone have to answer for it all? Doesn't anyone at least get reduced to the ranks of ordinary citizens with ordinary jobs, instead of wallowing in extravagant government pensions, corporate directorships, and six-figure speaking fees?
I guess not. They're the nomenklatura. They can do as they please. I more and more find myself thinking there are tumbrils and guillotines in our future, and not minding the thought very much.
I have a couple of sidebar points about the Iran business, though.
First sidebar point. I read with interest that there were mass casualties from a crowd stampede at the funeral for General What's-his-name, the Iranian bigshot we blew up with a drone last week. Apparently the streets of the general's home town were too narrow for the crowds to be properly managed. Quote from the New York Times:
For us Cold War babies, that brings to mind Stalin's funeral in Moscow, March 1953. Again, crowds overwhelmed the crowd control measures and many people were crushed or trampled to death. Nobody knows the numbers: estimates start at a few dozen.
So, one for the memo file: If you're in a totalitarian dictatorship when someone really important dies, stay away from the funeral procession. It'll be on TV anyway.
(If you're in a civilized country, the issue doesn't arise. I followed Winston Churchill's funeral cortege all through the streets of 1965 London without mishap. That was when Britain was a civilized country. Nowadays things might be different.)
Second sidebar point. I know, Joe Biden is a figure of fun. I enjoy laughing at the seat-warming old fool just as much as you do.
Stopped clocks are right twice a day, though, and Joe Biden has occasionally been right. I'm looking at the op-ed cosigned by Joe Biden and Leslie Gelb, a Council on Foreign Relations panjandrum, back on May 1st 2006.
That op-ed makes melancholy reading thirteen years and eight months later. Sample:
It is increasingly clear that President Bush does not have a strategy for victory in Iraq. Rather, he hopes to prevent defeat and pass the problem along to his successor. Meanwhile, the frustration of Americans is mounting so fast that Congress might end up mandating a rapid pullout, even at the risk of precipitating chaos and a civil war that becomes a regional war.
End quote.
Our frustration was mounting so fast! Thirteen years and eight months ago! That's precisely five thousand days ago this Wednesday, if my calculator has not deceived me. Five thousand days! Imagine how much more frustrated we must be now!
And: "Congress might end up mandating a rapid pullout." Congress! [Laugh.]
That's not my man point, though. My main point is a bit further down in Joe and Leslie's op-ed. After noting the ineffectual nature of Iraq's so-called "governments of national unity," Joe writes, or agrees with Gelb writing, the following, quote:
The alternative path out of this terrible trap has five elements.
The first is to establish three largely autonomous regions with a viable central government in Baghdad. The Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite regions would each be responsible for their own domestic laws, administration and internal security. ["Unity Through Autonomy in Iraq" by Joe Biden and Leslie Gelb; NY Times, May 1 2006.]
Yesssss! Partition! Iraq is a bogus country. It should be three countries. All right, that's not precisely what Joe wrote, but he and Gelb were headed in the right direction.
The rest of the foreign policy establishment was of course aghast. Iraq's borders are sacrosanct! they swooned. If only they'd felt the same way about America's.
So yes, sure, Joe's a clown. Even a clown is right once in a while, though.
[Permalink]
06—Miscellany. And now, our closing miscellany of brief items.
Imprimis: Race-denialist item of the week comes from a website called StreetsBlog, which bills itself as, quote, "Informing The Movement To Improve Walking, Biking, And Transit." Oh, you didn't know there is such a movement? Me neither; but as someone who walks a lot, bikes a bit, and rides New York City public transit, I have no objection at all to there being one.
Headline from them, January 8th, headline: NYPD Targets Blacks and Latinos for "Jaywalking" Tickets. There are scare quotes around "jaywalking."
It turns out, you see, that 89.5 percent of summonses for walking against a traffic light, or crossing mid-block, that's just short of ninety percent, went to blacks and Hispanics, who are together only 55 percent of city residents. That's flagrant racism, obviously.
And as if that isn't bad enough, 44 percent of the tickets go to people aged 18 to 25, even though that group comprises just 7 percent of the population. So New York City cops are not only racist, they're also ageist.
When will there finally be justice and equal outcomes for all? How long, O Lord, how long?
[Permalink]
Item: On the snowflake front, National Review reports that Lecturers at a college in Britain—in the journalism department, yet—have been warned that when writing, texting, or emailing to students, they should not use all capital letters. Apparently students find all-caps scary and … what's the cant word?—triggering?
The best reaction to that came from our own Steve Sailer on twitter. Tweet:
I was in an email group with a Nobel Laureate who always typed in all caps.
I suggested to him that he could try typing in all lower case because the all caps made him appear to be shouting.
He replied, [in all caps] BUT I AM SHOUTING!
End tweet.
[Permalink]
Item: Back to New York City: This Latino guy on the City Council—a body that I can tell you, from years of reading about it, has way too much time on its hands—this Latino guy Francisco Moya wants to pass a bill that will ban the use of the terms "alien," "illegal alien," or "illegal immigrant" in official municipal documents.
Wait a minute: Didn't New York do that already? Not precisely. Checking back, I see that back in September last a directive from the city's Commission on Human Rights made it illegal to refer to someone as an "illegal alien" when motivated by hate. Violations can be punished by fines of up to $250,000 per offense.
Has that ever been tested in a court of law? How would it be?
What we need is some objective way to measure the degree of hate in someone's heart when they say "illegal alien." But again, we already have one: the prejudometer, as advertised by British newspaper columnist Michael Wharton twenty years ago. Quote from his column, April 13 2001:
Inexpensive and handy for pocket or handbag, you simply point [the prejudometer] at any person (including yourself) you suspect of "racism," press the easy-to-find "action" button and read off the result in prejudons, the internationally recognised scientific unit of racial prejudice.
Plainly I'm going to need one of those for my occasional jaunts into New York City. I'd better get on Amazon looking for a reasonably-priced prejudometer—or, as I suspect it is nowadays called, hate-ometer. You'll have to excuse me …
[Permalink]
07—Signoff. That's it, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for listening and for your emails, including those that chide. A little chiding now and then keeps a writer on his toes.
For our sign-out, here's something new. We've had music, both instrumental and vocal, and we've had poetry. Here for a change is some plain spoken English.
In my December Diary I mentioned the British politician Stanley Baldwin, whose first spells as Prime Minister coincided quite closely with Calvin Coolidge's Presidency, and whose governing style was Coolidgean. I noted that unlike Silent Cal, Baldwin was not wise enough to quit while he was ahead. He was Prime Minister again in the mid-1930s, with unhappy results.
Still, Stanley Baldwin seems to me to have been a pretty good egg. Curious to hear the man's voice, I went looking for sound recordings. Here, from a CD that's been gathering dust on my bookshelves, is a bit of his last speech as Prime Minister, May 18th 1937. It touches on some of what I said earlier about order, freedom, and the point of balance.
Baldwin was addressing the Empire Rally of Youth here. And yes, that's the British Empire [sigh].
More from Radio Derb next week.
[Permalink]
[Music clip: Stanley Baldwin, Address to the Empire Rally of Youth.]
Let me end in this, the last speech I shall make before a great audience as Prime Minister of this country. Let me proclaim my faith, which is the faith of millions of all races from end to end of the British Empire. Here we have ceased to be an island, but we are still an Empire.
And what is her secret? Freedom, ordered freedom, within the law, with force in the background and not in the foreground: a society in which authority and freedom are blended in due proportion, in which state and citizen are both ends and means. It is an empire organised for peace and for the free development of the individual in and through an infinite variety of voluntary associations. It neither deifies the state nor its rulers …


vdare--2020-01-10--Report On "Gun Violence In Virginia" Makes It Clear: Blacks Responsible For OVERWHELMING MAJORITY Of

Report On "Gun Violence In Virginia" Makes It Clear: Blacks Responsible For OVERWHELMING MAJORITY Of Fatal/Non-Fatal Shootings In VA

Earlier : In Face of Democrat Party Tyranny , 90 % of Virginia Counties Become 2nd Amendment/Gun ‘ Sanctuaries ' ; These Counties Are Overwhelmingly White !
The two charts below are all that should matter when considering firearm violence in the Commonwealth of Virginia , and what should happen with gun control when the new state legislature convenes ( with Democrats poised to pass gun control largely targeting placid white gun owners ) .
The question our elected officials should be asking is two-fold : Why do white males commit the overwhelming bulk of suicides with firearms in Virginia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overwhelming bulk of homicides/nonfatal shootings with firearms in Virginia ?
From the Virginia Department of Health “ Gun Violence in Virginia ” report measuring gun violence from 2014-2018 , we learn : • Rates of gun-related death in Virginia ( all manners ) are very similar to national rates of gun-related death • Handguns were involved in nearly 80 % of homicides and nearly 80 % of suicides • Rates of gun-related suicide among men increase with age • White men and Native American men had the highest rates of gun-related suicide • @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of age had the highest rates of gun-related homicide Again : Our elected officials should be trying to ascertain why white males are primarily using firearms to commit suicide and why black males are using firearms to murder/non-fatally shoot other black males in Virginia .
Of course , the only thing Democrats are interested in doing is making it illegal for law-abiding white males to own guns in Virginia , though the primary activity these white gun owners do with their firearms is use them for suicide .
Meanwhile , the data clearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear and present danger ( the data showing , as stated , white males using their firearms primarily for suicide ) in Virginia .
Is it nature or nurture ( the increasing anti-white system acting as a vise on all aspects of life ) causing white males to use their firearms for suicide ?
And is it nature or nurture compelling blacks in Virginia to use firearms to commit the overwhelming amount of fatal/non-fatal shootings in the state ?
These are questions we should be asking when it comes to firearms and gun @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

Earlier: In Face of Democrat Party Tyranny, 90% of Virginia Counties Become 2nd Amendment/Gun ‘Sanctuaries'; These Counties Are Overwhelmingly White!
The two charts below are all that should matter when considering firearm violence in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and what should happen with gun control when the new state legislature convenes (with Democrats poised to pass gun control largely targeting placid white gun owners).
The question our elected officials should be asking is two-fold: Why do white males commit the overwhelming bulk of suicides with firearms in Virginia and why do black males commit the overwhelming bulk of homicides/nonfatal shootings with firearms in Virginia?
From the Virginia Department of Health “Gun Violence in Virginia” report measuring gun violence from 2014-2018, we learn:
Key Points on Gun-Related Death in Virginia • Rates of gun-related death in Virginia (all manners) are very similar to national rates of gun-related death • Handguns were involved in nearly 80% of homicides and nearly 80% of suicides • Rates of gun-related suicide among men increase with age • White men and Native American men had the highest rates of gun-related suicide • Black males and males age 20-24 years of age had the highest rates of gun-related homicide
Again: Our elected officials should be trying to ascertain why white males are primarily using firearms to commit suicide and why black males are using firearms to murder/non-fatally shoot other black males in Virginia.
Of course, the only thing Democrats are interested in doing is making it illegal for law-abiding white males to own guns in Virginia, though the primary activity these white gun owners do with their firearms is use them for suicide.
Meanwhile, the data clearly shows black males with firearms represent the clear and present danger (the data showing, as stated, white males using their firearms primarily for suicide) in Virginia.
Is it nature or nurture (the increasing anti-white system acting as a vise on all aspects of life) causing white males to use their firearms for suicide?
And is it nature or nurture compelling blacks in Virginia to use firearms to commit the overwhelming amount of fatal/non-fatal shootings in the state?
These are questions we should be asking when it comes to firearms and gun ownership, but that will remain unasked.
[Comment at Unz.com]


vdare--2020-01-14--Bernie Field Organizers Rave About Gulags, Riots, And Re-Education Camps. Will Conservatism Inc. Do

Bernie Field Organizers Rave About Gulags, Riots, And Re-Education Camps. Will Conservatism Inc. Do Anything But Complain?

Earlier : John Derbyshire Considers His Future As A Zek In Cultural Marxist America The main unreported story in the Main Stream Media over the last few years is the radicalization of the American Left .
It 's unreported because the main driver of this radicalization is journalism itself .
Antifa violence , repressing speech , and lawfare have all been enthusiastically defended by journalists .
Defending power and repressing speech is all journalism consists of today .
They ’ re Narrative Police and their job is to lie for the System .
How will journos handle # Expose2020 ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bernie Sanders ’ s organizers are as extreme as the most paranoid conservative could have imagined .
• They openly talk about using violence against conservatives and even “ liberals.
” • They openly talk about gulags , and defend the ones created by Stalin .
The videos are out there for all to see .
This is no surprise to anyone who has dealt with campus leftists .
They are quite willing to tell you that you should be killed , that all conservatives are Nazis , and that any means are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will anyone care ?
Keep in mind Alt-Right groups were investigated , prosecuted , and forcibly shut down for far less .
The difference is that the MSM , a political actor in its own right , actively supports the objectives of these Sanders organizers .
When Inauguration Day was marred by riots and violence , journalists cheered .
When Republican Steve Scalise was shot , they played it down .
When MAGA meetups were threatened with shootings , no one cared .
If history is any indication , the Trump Administration and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In fact , they 've worked directly with antifa groups to prosecute the president 's own supporters .
President Trump then rewarded the U.S. Attorney who undertook this effort by nominating to the U.S. District Court [ President Trump Bungles Again , by Gregory Hood , American Renaissance , December 19 , 2019 ] .
I 'm sure there will be plenty of talking heads expressing outrage about these Sanders organizers on Fox News tonight .
But to all you staffers still in the Beltway Right , and I know you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that if these same antifa raving about `` gulags '' called your boss to complain you are a `` racist , '' or were `` linked '' to `` racists , '' or even knew about forbidden `` racist '' books , they 'd fire you within the hour .
The terrifying thing about this video is not that these guys are the real face of the Democratic Party .
We already knew that .
The terrifying thing is that these are the people to whom the conservative movement have granted veto power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ These are the people Mitt Romney proudly supported .
These are the type of people the Trump DOJ have worked with .
If that does n't scare you , nothing will .
The hour ’ s late .
This isn ’ t a game .
It ’ s time to step up and help us build a true nationalist movement .
If we can ’ t… well , we can ’ t say we weren ’ t warned .

Earlier: John Derbyshire Considers His Future As A Zek In Cultural Marxist America
The main unreported story in the Main Stream Media over the last few years is the radicalization of the American Left. It's unreported because the main driver of this radicalization is journalism itself.
Antifa violence, repressing speech, and lawfare have all been enthusiastically defended by journalists. Defending power and repressing speech is all journalism consists of today. They’re Narrative Police and their job is to lie for the System.
How will journos handle #Expose2020? James O'Keefe has struck again, showing Bernie Sanders’s organizers are as extreme as the most paranoid conservative could have imagined.
The videos are out there for all to see.
This is no surprise to anyone who has dealt with campus leftists. They are quite willing to tell you that you should be killed, that all conservatives are Nazis, and that any means are justified to achieve equality.
But... will anyone care? Keep in mind Alt-Right groups were investigated, prosecuted, and forcibly shut down for far less. The difference is that the MSM, a political actor in its own right, actively supports the objectives of these Sanders organizers.
When Inauguration Day was marred by riots and violence, journalists cheered. When Republican Steve Scalise was shot, they played it down. When MAGA meetups were threatened with shootings, no one cared.
If history is any indication, the Trump Administration and the Department of Justice won't care. In fact, they've worked directly with antifa groups to prosecute the president's own supporters. President Trump then rewarded the U.S. Attorney who undertook this effort by nominating him to the U.S. District Court [President Trump Bungles Again, by Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, December 19, 2019].
I'm sure there will be plenty of talking heads expressing outrage about these Sanders organizers on Fox News tonight.
But to all you staffers still in the Beltway Right, and I know you’re reading me, keep in mind that if these same antifa raving about "gulags" called your boss to complain you are a "racist," or were "linked" to "racists," or even knew about forbidden "racist" books, they'd fire you within the hour.
The terrifying thing about this video is not that these guys are the real face of the Democratic Party. We already knew that.
The terrifying thing is that these are the people to whom the conservative movement has granted veto power over all personnel and policy decisions. These are the people Mitt Romney proudly supported. These are the type of people the Trump DOJ have worked with.
If that doesn't scare you, nothing will. The hour’s late. This isn’t a game. It’s time to step up and help us build a true nationalist movement. If we can’t… well, we can’t say we weren’t warned.


NYT: #OscarsSoNonLatinx

From the New York Times news section : The ongoing Not Enough Plaques for Blacks Crisis continues to mount .
Here ’ s what happened : Little diversity in the acting categories .
Antonio Banderas and Florence Pugh are first-time nominees .
The Netflix slate stretches to best animated film .
LOS ANGELES — … Despite a plethora of diverse films competing for Oscar attention this year , the 9,000-member Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences largely maintained its traditional point of view , handing out the most nominations to four very male , very white movies .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which portrays the DC Comics villain as sharing the psychological traits of real-life mass shooters , led all films with 11 nominations , including ones for best picture , director ( Todd Phillips ) , actor ( Joaquin Phoenix ) and score ( Hildur Gudnadottir ) .
It ’ s just a crazy hunch , but I ’ m betting that composer Hildur Gudnadottir is very white but not very male .
The best-picture category can have as many as 10 or as few as five nominees , depending on how voters spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nine .
Joining “ Joker , ” “ The Irishman , ” “ Marriage Story , ” “ Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood ” and “ 1917 ” were “ Ford v Ferrari , ” “ Jojo Rabbit , ” “ Little Women ” and “ Parasite.
” Little diversity in the acting categories .
Black actors and actresses were largely sidelined , with the British-Nigerian actress Cynthia Erivo ( “ Harriet ” ) as the sole nominee .
The academy has mounted an effort to double female and minority membership @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more film professionals from overseas .
But even after four years of the initiative , the organization remains 68 percent male and 84 percent white .
The director ’ s branch again left out women , bypassing acclaimed work from Lulu Wang ( “ The Farewell ” ) , Greta Gerwig ( “ Little Women ” ) and others .
Best Director , like Best Actor , is a tough category .
For example , Ford v Ferrari got one of the nine Best Picture nominations , but James Mangold missed out on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Christian Bale didn ’ t get one of the five Best Actor nominations .
They are finally following my 2014 suggestion to move the Oscars up to the Sunday night one week after Super Bowl Sunday .
And from the New York Times opinion section : Jennifer Lopez didn ’ t get an Oscar nod for her career-best turn in “ Hustlers.
” Her snub highlights a larger problem with Hollywood ’ s Latinx representation .
… Even more dispiriting is what Ms. Lopez ’ s snub means for Latinx representation more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Latinx performer with a real shot of recognition in the major categories this year and seemed to shoulder much of the burden of fending off another # OscarsSoWhite .
( A kind reminder that the Spanish-born Antonio Banderas , who earned a deserved nomination for best actor for “ Pain and Glory , ” is not Latinx . )
The absence of Latinx representation is a longstanding issue for the academy .
Had she been nominated , Ms. Lopez would have been the first American Latinx actress singled out by the academy since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supporting actress nod in 1994 for “ Fearless.
” The magnitude of this quarter-of-a-century gap might be difficult for some to understand at first — the entertainment industry tends to lump together American-born Latinxes , Latin Americans and Hispanics into a monolithic entity , inaccurately plumping numbers in otherwise well-intentioned studies about diversity .
Indeed , the grand total of American Latinx actors ever nominated for film ’ s highest acting honors totals is four : In addition to Ms. Perez , they are Rita Moreno ( who won in 1962 ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) and Edward James Olmos ( nominated in 1989 ) .
He is missing the American-born half-Mexican Susan Kohner ( mother of the Weitz Brothers of American Pie ) who was nominated for Best Actress for Imitation of Life in 1959 .
Also , Mexican-born and part-Irish part-Mexican Anthony Quinn was in America from adolescence , and he won two Oscars and was a sizable box office star back in the day .
In general , actors of Mexican descent ( e.g.
, Ricardo Montalban ) were more popular in old time Hollywood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than in modern Hollywood .
If only American-born Latinxes were considered in the data research focused on diversity in studio productions and what types of roles they are offered , calling the results dismal would be an understatement .
And then there ’ s the fact that no American Latinx filmmaker has ever been nominated for the best director Academy Award , in part because they are rarely considered to helm the “ prestige ” films Oscar voters are usually attracted to .
It ’ s evident that an illusion of inclusion in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the past decade .
The heavily decorated Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón , Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro — collectively referred to as “ the Three Amigos ” — have served as a flimsy Band-Aid to an industry that heralds their accomplishments as proof that everyone who matches their idea of Latinx is being celebrated .
… And stateside Latinx creators have been virtually erased both onscreen and behind the camera .
This year , without any of the men in the overachieving trio in the race , the mirage of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto received his third nomination , for “ The Irishman , ” Prieto ’ s grandfather was mayor of Mexico City .
Good cinematographers come out of Mexico City , like 3 time Oscar-winner Emmanuel Lubetzki .
2019 was a good year for me as a movie reviewer since , mostly through sheer laziness , I managed to avoid wasting my time watching and reviewing insignificant movies , while dragging myself to most of the better ones .
Here are my reviews of nominees : • Once Upon a Time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Noah Baumbach ’ s Marriage Story , which is a very good neo-Woody Allen comedy-drama with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansen , plus oldtimers Laura Dern , Alan Alda , and Ray Liotta as their divorce lawyers .
It ’ s like if Annie Hall and Alvy Singer got married and then got divorced over whether to live in L.A. or N.Y.
It ’ s currently on Netflix .
Uncut Gems , a drama with Adam Sandler as a gem dealer with a sports betting addiction , got shut out .
My wife @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t like it quite as much .
It ’ s definitely not bad , but it seems to split viewers as to whether its terrific or meh .
My impression is that in general individuals either like or don ’ t like it , depending upon how much they feel sorry for Sandler ’ s character , and it ’ s a little hard to predict which ahead of time .
So you might give it a try My review of the war movie 1917 will be in Takimag.com on Wednesday morning

From the New York Times news section:
Oscar Nominations 2020: ‘Joker’ Leads With 11 Nods; Three Others Get 10
“The Irishman,” “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and “1917” each received 10 nominations. Black actors and actresses were largely overlooked.
The ongoing Not Enough Plaques for Blacks Crisis continues to mount.
By Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling
Jan. 13, 2020 Here’s what happened:
Little diversity in the acting categories.
Antonio Banderas and Florence Pugh are first-time nominees.
The Netflix slate stretches to best animated film. LOS ANGELES — … Despite a plethora of diverse films competing for Oscar attention this year, the 9,000-member Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences largely maintained its traditional point of view, handing out the most nominations to four very male, very white movies. “Joker” (Warner Bros.), which portrays the DC Comics villain as sharing the psychological traits of real-life mass shooters, led all films with 11 nominations, including ones for best picture, director (Todd Phillips), actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and score (Hildur Gudnadottir).
It’s just a crazy hunch, but I’m betting that composer Hildur Gudnadottir is very white but not very male.
Sam Mendes’s visually dazzling World War I epic “1917” (Universal-Amblin) and Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Sony) each received 10, including best picture recognition. “The Irishman” also collected 10, with Martin Scorsese receiving his ninth nomination for best director.
The best-picture category can have as many as 10 or as few as five nominees, depending on how voters spread their support. This year there were nine. Joining “Joker,” “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and “1917” were “Ford v Ferrari,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Little Women” and “Parasite.” Little diversity in the acting categories.
Black actors and actresses were largely sidelined, with the British-Nigerian actress Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”) as the sole nominee. The academy has mounted an effort to double female and minority membership, in large part by inviting in more film professionals from overseas. But even after four years of the initiative, the organization remains 68 percent male and 84 percent white. The director’s branch again left out women, bypassing acclaimed work from Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”), Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”) and others.
Best Director, like Best Actor, is a tough category. For example, Ford v Ferrari got one of the nine Best Picture nominations, but James Mangold missed out on one of the five Best Director nods and Christian Bale didn’t get one of the five Best Actor nominations.
… Even so, the academy showed signs of progress with its recognition for Bong Joon Ho’s drama-comedy-horror mash-up “Parasite, which earned six nominations, including its best-picture nomination — the first ever for a South Korean film.
But aren’t South Koreans white-adjacent?
… The academy’s board of governors, alarmed by sharp declines in television ratings, decided in 2018 to move up this year’s ceremony. It will be held on Feb. 9, two weeks earlier than the last go-round, a seemingly small truncation that nonetheless has the movie capital in a tizzy.
They are finally following my 2014 suggestion to move the Oscars up to the Sunday night one week after Super Bowl Sunday.
And from the New York Times opinion section:
J.Lo Was Robbed. Latinas Were Robbed. Jennifer Lopez didn’t get an Oscar nod for her career-best turn in “Hustlers.” Her snub highlights a larger problem with Hollywood’s Latinx representation. By Carlos Aguilar
Mr. Aguilar is a film critic. Jan. 13, 2020. … Even more dispiriting is what Ms. Lopez’s snub means for Latinx representation more broadly — Ms. Lopez was the only Latinx performer with a real shot of recognition in the major categories this year and seemed to shoulder much of the burden of fending off another #OscarsSoWhite. (A kind reminder that the Spanish-born Antonio Banderas, who earned a deserved nomination for best actor for “Pain and Glory,” is not Latinx.) The absence of Latinx representation is a longstanding issue for the academy. Had she been nominated, Ms. Lopez would have been the first American Latinx actress singled out by the academy since Rosie Perez, who earned a best supporting actress nod in 1994 for “Fearless.” The magnitude of this quarter-of-a-century gap might be difficult for some to understand at first — the entertainment industry tends to lump together American-born Latinxes, Latin Americans and Hispanics into a monolithic entity, inaccurately plumping numbers in otherwise well-intentioned studies about diversity. Indeed, the grand total of American Latinx actors ever nominated for film’s highest acting honors totals is four: In addition to Ms. Perez, they are Rita Moreno (who won in 1962), José Ferrer (a winner in 1951) and Edward James Olmos (nominated in 1989).
He is missing the American-born half-Mexican Susan Kohner (mother of the Weitz Brothers of American Pie) who was nominated for Best Actress for Imitation of Life in 1959. Also, Mexican-born and part-Irish part-Mexican Anthony Quinn was in America from adolescence, and he won two Oscars and was a sizable box office star back in the day. In general, actors of Mexican descent (e.g., Ricardo Montalban) were more popular in old time Hollywood, with its Latin Lover archetype, than in modern Hollywood.
If only American-born Latinxes were considered in the data research focused on diversity in studio productions and what types of roles they are offered, calling the results dismal would be an understatement. And then there’s the fact that no American Latinx filmmaker has ever been nominated for the best director Academy Award, in part because they are rarely considered to helm the “prestige” films Oscar voters are usually attracted to. It’s evident that an illusion of inclusion in relation to Latinx people has permeated Hollywood over the past decade. The heavily decorated Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro — collectively referred to as “the Three Amigos” — have served as a flimsy Band-Aid to an industry that heralds their accomplishments as proof that everyone who matches their idea of Latinx is being celebrated. … And stateside Latinx creators have been virtually erased both onscreen and behind the camera. This year, without any of the men in the overachieving trio in the race, the mirage of collective advancement has vanished. While the Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto received his third nomination, for “The Irishman,”
Prieto’s grandfather was mayor of Mexico City. Good cinematographers come out of Mexico City, like 3 time Oscar-winner Emmanuel Lubetzki.
2019 was a good year for me as a movie reviewer since, mostly through sheer laziness, I managed to avoid wasting my time watching and reviewing insignificant movies, while dragging myself to most of the better ones. Here are my reviews of nominees:
I’ve also seen Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, which is a very good neo-Woody Allen comedy-drama with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansen, plus oldtimers Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta as their divorce lawyers. It’s like if Annie Hall and Alvy Singer got married and then got divorced over whether to live in L.A. or N.Y. It’s currently on Netflix.
Uncut Gems, a drama with Adam Sandler as a gem dealer with a sports betting addiction, got shut out. My wife found it extremely engaging but I didn’t like it quite as much. It’s definitely not bad, but it seems to split viewers as to whether it's terrific or meh. My impression is that in general individuals either like or don’t like it, depending upon how much they feel sorry for Sandler’s character, and it’s a little hard to predict which ahead of time. So you might give it a try.
My review of the war movie 1917 will be in Takimag.com on Wednesday morning.


vdare--2020-01-14--LSU's Joe Burrow: Nature and Nurture at Quarterback

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow , the Heisman Trophy winner , finished up a fairly good season Monday evening in a 42-25 win over Clemson in the national championship game .
Burrow threw for 5 touchdowns and 463 yards , down only slightly from his 7 touchdowns and 493 yards in the semifinal win over Oklahoma .
A general pattern is that to get to be a top quarterback these days is a multigenerational project .
From Wikipedia : Joseph Lee Burrow is the son of former University of Nebraska , NFL and CFL player Jim Burrow , who went on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 40 years .
The elder Burrow , whose last coaching position was defensive coordinator at Ohio University for more than a decade , retired after the 2018 season in part to be able to see all of Joe ’ s games in his final college season .
Joe was born in Ames , Iowa while his father was on the staff at Iowa State .
According to a 2019 Sports Illustrated story , “ The Burrow athletic lineage dates back nearly a century.
” In the 1940s , one of his grandmothers set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an 82-point game in basketball .
His paternal grandfather played basketball at Mississippi State ; his uncle , John Burrow , played football at Ole Miss ; and two older brothers also played football at Nebraska .
He attended the 2002 Rose Bowl at age six as his father was an assistant coach for Nebraska .
Not long after , he began playing in youth football leagues .
Unlike his father , uncle , and brothers , who all played on defense , Burrow started out as a quarterback because his first youth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ play the position .
The Burrow family moved to Fargo , North Dakota in 2003 when his father was hired as the defensive coordinator for the North Dakota State Bison .
One day while visiting the office , future Central Michigan head coach Dan Enos commented that the seven year old had a future in football .
On the other hand , as Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in the late 2000s , it ’ s not easy to figure out exactly which 6 ’ 4″ broad-shouldered son of a football coach or a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quarterback .
( Gladwell overstated his case , but it ’ s worth remembering his point . )
Burrow , for example , couldn ’ t crack the starting line-up at Ohio State .
So he made use of the same loophole in the NCAA rules that Russell Wilson of the Seahawks used to save his career after his coach at North Carolina State couldn ’ t figure out how to use him so he transferred to Wisconsin : if you have already gotten your undergrad degree , you can transfer without sitting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having completed his Ohio State B.A .
in 3 years transferred to LSU and is now expected to go # 1 in the NFL draft .

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, the Heisman Trophy winner, finished up a fairly good season Monday evening in a 42-25 win over Clemson in the national championship game. Burrow threw for 5 touchdowns and 463 yards, down only slightly from his 7 touchdowns and 493 yards in the semifinal win over Oklahoma.
A general pattern is that to get to be a top quarterback these days is a multigenerational project. From Wikipedia:
Joseph Lee Burrow is the son of former University of Nebraska, NFL and CFL player Jim Burrow, who went on to a coaching career that lasted nearly 40 years. The elder Burrow, whose last coaching position was defensive coordinator at Ohio University for more than a decade, retired after the 2018 season in part to be able to see all of Joe’s games in his final college season. Joe was born in Ames, Iowa while his father was on the staff at Iowa State. According to a 2019 Sports Illustrated story, “The Burrow athletic lineage dates back nearly a century.” In the 1940s, one of his grandmothers set a Mississippi state high school record with an 82-point game in basketball. His paternal grandfather played basketball at Mississippi State; his uncle, John Burrow, played football at Ole Miss; and two older brothers also played football at Nebraska. He attended the 2002 Rose Bowl at age six as his father was an assistant coach for Nebraska. Not long after, he began playing in youth football leagues. Unlike his father, uncle, and brothers, who all played on defense, Burrow started out as a quarterback because his first youth team had no one else who could play the position. The Burrow family moved to Fargo, North Dakota in 2003, when his father was hired as the defensive coordinator for the North Dakota State Bison. One day while visiting the office, future Central Michigan head coach Dan Enos commented that the seven-year-old had a future in football.
On the other hand, as Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in the late 2000s, it’s not easy to figure out exactly which 6’4″ broad-shouldered son of a football coach or a successful businessman is going to succeed at quarterback. (Gladwell overstated his case, but it’s worth remembering his point.) Burrow, for example, couldn’t crack the starting line-up at Ohio State. So he made use of the same loophole in the NCAA rules that Russell Wilson of the Seahawks used to save his career after his coach at North Carolina State couldn’t figure out how to use him so he transferred to Wisconsin: If you have already gotten your undergrad degree, you can transfer without sitting out a year. So Burrow, having completed his Ohio State B.A. in 3 years, transferred to LSU and is now expected to go #1 in the NFL draft.