Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

Affirmative action struck down. Almost 250 pages to read through. 2/3 of the Court wanted to speak their mind on this one, heh

20-1199 Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (06/29/2023) (supremecourt.gov)

[THE_WIZARD_]

Here come the Prog protests...

[iam416]

The more accurate way of saying it is that Affirmative Action, like any other race-based decision by the government, is now subject to strict scrutiny. That doesn't mean it's absolutely struck down, it just means that you better have an ultra compelling reason to be a racist and do so in the most minimalist ways necessary to achieve that reason. Harvard and UNC weren't anywhere close to that standard.

I really don't see how they could have principally ruled any other way.

[THE_WIZARD_]

They had to rule it this way...and 6-3 says it all. Although this is a historic and monumental ruling by the Court...if you think these Prog institutions are going to suddenly "play by the rules"...you are sadly mistaken. I see a plethora of lawsuits in the future...

[THE_WIZARD_]

Let the protests begin...this is going to be fun to watch the Prog protests...led by AOC and the Group of Loons...

[Dr. Strangelove]

I don't think Thomas and Jackson will be speaking much at the company picnic.

One small nugget in the main Opinion is that Roberts appears to exempt the military academies from the new strict scrutiny test.

[iam416]

They had to rule it this way...and 6-3 says it all. Although this is a historic and monumental ruling by the Court...if you think these Prog institutions are going to suddenly "play by the rules"...you are sadly mistaken. I see a plethora of lawsuits in the future...

Yes. BUT, one of the things that really bothered the Court is that the admissions process wasn't transparent. It was a "trust us" sort of thing. Yeah, we end up with classes that are perfectly balanced in terms of race year after year, but that's just happenstance.

So, I think any government entity that's operating some sort of affirmative action program is going to have to be really transparent or else they're dead where they stand.

And Gorsuch took the time to point out in his concurrence that, while this is a constitutional case as it applies to government entities, the Civil Rights Act also says the same damn thing (warning shot to private companies). Now, the T7 of the CRA part isn't the law, yet, but it's hard to see how it won't be once it eventually gets decided by the Court -- and it will (some idiot Circuit Court will ignore the holding, find a way to distinguish the CRA from the 14th A and it'll create a circuit split that needs resolved).

[THE_WIZARD_]

Correct. Roberts and Co...basically are saying the "checkbox" way of standards is unconstitutional...but make no mistake...there are dozens of ways to circumvent this process...my brother-in-law is the registrar of the university in his town (public institution) ...and he told me this was coming...and they have discussed it at the university...and have "a battle plan"....now whether what they do and the subsequent results will be challenged...I suspect there will be lots of lawsuits resulting from this ruling...

[Jeff Buchanan]

Putin is on a rehabilitation tour throughout Russia with video coverage announcing he's more popular than a "rock star." General Sergi Surovkin, allegedly Prigozhen's pal, and former Commander of all forces in Ukraine has been" detained." At the time of his alleged detention he was Commander of an aerospace division. In an interview, his daughter said, "he's working today." The press is reporting that there is a reshuffling of commanders in the Russian forces with Putin allegedly removing officers who may have been supportive of Prigozhen's mutiny. Allegedly, Garissimove, who replaced Sirovkin late last year is also out. Although sources naming who Putin's targets are will be unreliable, there's no question he's out to ID and punish disloyalists. Pro-war milbloggers are praising Putin's purge. OTH, ISW reports that it is creating widespread suspicion within Russian officer ranks. Given the already questionable effectiveness of the Russian chain of command in executing Putin's objectives in Ukraine, this isn't going to help.

Russian military spokesmen are claiming that the missile attacks on a crowded late night club in Kramatorsc (just west of Donetsk and controlled by Ukraine) targeted a gathering of Ukrainian officers to include 2 generals and 50 lower ranking individuals allegedly killed in the missile strike. Ukraine Intelligence Services arrested a resident of Kramatorsc accusing him of assisting Russian forces in targeting the club. Connecting the dots tells me there likely were Ukrainian officers in that club. Still, there are now 12 civilians dead and many more than that wounded, some seriously. A crowded railroad station in Kramatorsc was the target of a missile attack a year ago that killed 25.

There are two obstacles playing an outsized role in Ukraine's slow, incremental progress in their counter-offensive that started in early June: mine fields and flat terrain increasing the exposure of personnel and equipment to Russian fires. Rejoinders from Ukrainian officials involve the mitigating circumstances of breaking through well constructed Russian fortifications. Some analysts are calling the slow progress due to timidity of commanders at the front to advance in the face of withering Russian bombardment - unlike Wagner PMC's forces throwing themselves toward certain death with callous disregard for lives (Russian blocking forces shot retreating soldiers), Ukrainians want to experience minimal personnel and equipment losses as a preservation of forces approach subjugating territorial objectives to that goal. One Ukrainian commander expressed frustration with allegations of timidity by saying, "some want us to move forward more quickly while at the same time dithering over providing us with the tools to do it."

[iam416]

Correct. Roberts and Co...basically are saying the "checkbox" way of standards is unconstitutional...but make no mistake...there are dozens of ways to circumvent this process...my brother-in-law is the registrar of the university in his town (public institution) ...and he told me this was coming...and they have discussed it at the university...and have "a battle plan"....now whether what they do and the subsequent results will be challenged...I suspect there will be lots of lawsuits resulting from this ruling...

The transparency issue is still a really big one. If you put everything into a black box and it still comes out w/ Asians needing 250 points more on the SAT than AAs, then you're fucked. You really are. It may take more litigation to make this point clear, but it's coming.

NOW -- the way I'd deal with it is to rely on socioeconomic stuff. Thing that bothers the fuck out of people is that a black kid with two doctors for parents gets a plus over a white kid with a single mom in shitbird, nebraska. That's total bullshit. BUT, you could easily emphasize giving poor kids a plus factor -- and that would be race-neutral and it would benefit AAs more than any other group.

But that's not what they want.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Keep shitbird Nebraskans in Nebraska.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I can see the D's using this as another issue in 2024...along with abortion..."MAGA COURT" is racist blah blah...they are racists and want to prevent you from your rights!!!

[Dr. Strangelove]

I would NOT expect the same degree of anger over this decision as abortion. It depends how you phrase the question but support for AA is like 50/50 at best.

[THE_WIZARD_]

"Never let a crisis go to waste"

Oh...trust me...it will be used...

[AlabamAlum]

DSL,

I think support for AA is 110%. Or more.