Month: June 2023

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ISN’T AFFIRMED

Affirmative action has taken a direct hit by the Supreme Court as it applies to college admissions. The court, voting along party lines, never a good thing, decided that using race to keep people out of college is a bad thing (personally, I believe that if a ruling goes along party lines, it should be re-argued). Is that right, using race as a deciding factor is bad? Well, they decided that using the fact that just because people are Anglo and Asian is not good enough reason to keep them from being admitted and that being any other demographic shouldn’t be used for preferential treatment. Where was this Supreme Court in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, am I right? It reminds me of when my older brother used to beat the crap out of me until I turned 17 and then I got the better of him and then he said, fighting is wrong. Well, no shit… to both things. I agree that using race as a basis for inclusion or seclusion is a horrible idea, no matter the race, but affirmative action was set up because of the seclusion of minorities to a good education. A good education not only in colleges but also in primary (grammar) and high school, which leads up to the reason why minorities needed affirmative action in the first place. Inner city schools are woefully understaffed and using books prior to World War 2. I found out the allies won by watching Saving Private Ryan. That’s an exaggeration. Our books were old and students were close to 40 per class, in some classes, which made it difficult for the teaching staff. Inner city schools are the product of generations of racism, where inner cities did not get the resources afforded to our suburban counterparts by the State. Money was short, classes were crowded, the teachers were well intentioned but frustrated, and most of them actually tried to teach something. Kids had to go home to no parents who had to work two jobs to survive because the well paying jobs went to college grads from Harvard that were mostly Anglo folks. So, when affirmative action was implemented in 1961, it started to create diversity, not only in colleges but also in wealth distribution.

We are now 70 plus years, is that right, inner city education, 60 years plus from the implementation of Executive Order # 10925, Affirmative Action, signed by JFK prior to his assassination, I’m guessing because my school books didn’t get to that part, but my intuition tells me that if it was after the assassination, congress wouldn’t have allowed it, even though there are no laws forbidding Zombies from being President as there are no laws forbidding felons from being President. Just for reference, I started H.S. in the mid 80’s, 1980’s, not 1880’s, like my son says. That Executive Order had a profound affect on minorities, especially the intelligent and talented minorities who only needed a chance to show their brilliance, unfortunately, it didn’t help me at all. But any measure that uses race as a basis for its existence will and should come to an end at some point or the action itself was worthless. At some point, we need to progress as a society, to the point where someone’s race or ethnicity is no longer a factor or what was the use of promoting equality if it was never going to be achieved? The only question that needs to be asked is if we are there yet? The Supreme Court,  (Of the 116 Supreme Court Justices, only six were not white men in more than 230 years of the court) has decided that diversity and equality has been achieved. That’s an opinion, and whether we agree with it or not, it’s the law. I am an admirer of the Supreme Court and also an admirer of the Supreme Taco from Taco Bell, which has nothing to do with it, except it’s delicious… the taco, not the court. Even though I understand the ruling, it doesn’t mean that I have to agree with every aspect of the majorities decision, but I do have to abide by it. Does that mean that affirmative action is dead? I don’t think so.

The court decided that using race as a basis is against the constitution, but affirmative action was always meant to provide the lesser socioeconomic class with an opportunity and since socio-economics is a raceless class, it could take over as the basis for affirmative action. The thing is that a large amount of minorities fall under the lower socio-economic class model. If Harvard and UNC changed their affirmative action position from race to socio-economic opportunity for the underprivileged, they would achieve the same results without violating the current Supreme Court ruling. It’s a solution… maybe, right? Because if this is just an argument over rich white and asian folk against rich minority folk wanting to get into their first choice of college, then this whole thing is just bullshit and the most screwed up way to end affirmative action. Well, like someone once advised me to do, I’m going to Taco Bell, the Burrito Supreme is calling my name.

And, you have to remember, that while the Judicial Branch is suppose to be a neutral arbitrator of the law, they are still just human, as far as I know. I don’t know how far AI has come but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t hit the android stage yet. Their ruling isn’t wrong in it goes with the letter of the law, but maybe not the spirit of the law. I’m pretty sure they wrestled with the decision but it sure doesn’t help that liberal news orgs are constantly looking for issues with the conservative justices and then can’t understand why they follow the letter of the law to the detriment of liberal point of views. I will say one thing….

iacta alea est

Let’s see what repercussions the latest rulings have on the political landscape….

JUDICIAL BRANCH AND WHY NO ONE THINKS THEY ARE A SEPARATE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT

With a major case, the first of its kind, on the way, the government has gone Cyndi Lauper… in it has shown its true colors. The criticisms of Judge Cannon have picked up and the DOJ wants to move the case to NJ. It seems that Judge Cannon should put “Trump appointed” on her name plate next to her name. During the former President’s reign in office, President Trump stated much of the same, claiming Obama appointed judges were out to sabotage his policies, with a sharp rebuke coming from Chief Robertson when he tried, to no avail, to set the record straight by outright stating that the Judicial branch is a separate part of government and does not get persuaded by politics. With the right going to a judge in Texas and the left going to the 9th circuit to get favorable decisions, the public is left wondering what judges can they go to to get a fair and neutral decision, I’m partial to Judge Mills Lane, if you can’t come to an agreement you can always duke it out and Judge Lane was one of the best boxing referees of all time.

Judge Cannon is under scrutiny because she, a female Hispanic Judge, appointed a special master to oversee evidence. I’m guessing her thinking was to keep things apolitical and neutral. The DOJ disagreed and challenged her decision and the 11th circuit reversed her decision. The DOJ then celebrated by appointing a special prosecutor so they could keep things apolitical and neutral. But even the appointment of the “special” people were criticized as having political leanings. I have no idea what’s up with these “special” people, but where I came from, if you were called “special”, you rode on a short bus and weren’t given any sharp items to play with. I don’t think this is the same thing. Either way, the Judicial branch isn’t only being criticized by the public, it’s also being attacked by the institutional people (where I lived, those were the ones that rode the short bus and never came back, again, I don’t think it’s the same thing). So, if the public doesn’t trust the Judicial branch and the institution, the other two branches, don’t either (is it don’t?, doesn’t?, don’tdoesn’t?, donesn’t?) anyway, how can we get a fair and neutral outcome? What is it that we can do to fix this problem?

Luckily, I have the solution, we use a Ouija board… No, maybe….. No. What we do is we let the Supreme Court decide who can be a judge. We let the experts pick qualified people and not the people that were voted in that used to work at Hooters, because wet T shirt judges are much different and a lot less sober than Judges that practice law… most of the time. The other two branches can than make a final selection of the chosen judges and confirm these qualified people. What you will have then is people criticizing neutral judges and not politically chosen ones. What are they going to say, this Supreme Court chosen Judge….? The solution seems like a no brainer, it has to be because I thought of it but the chances that they implement this plan and give up power is the same chance of me winning the lotto twice on the same day while just being missed by lightning. Because if I hit the lottery twice in one day, I am definitely getting hit by lightning.

A lot of people think the courts are an extension of the Justice Department as in a lot of the current federal judges used to be prosecutors for the Justice Department. This makes a lot of sympathizing for one side. It’s no wonder that they have a 97 percent winning record. I don’t even have that kind of percentage in spelling my name right. But if you add that advancement to a higher court depends on the same branch that the Department of Justice is in, that winning rate makes a lot more sense. That’s why advancement should be left to Judicial Branch, where advancement depends on you not forgetting to bring your boss coffee. At least it gives the illusion of the separation of powers.

TAYLOR vs. LOPEZ

In what is sure to be a very entertaining fight, Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor puts his undisputed title and the WBO belt on the line against a fierce competitor in Teofimo “The Takeover” Lopez. This fight, which is not on PPV, will be shown on ESPN+, which by the way is worth every penny just for the fights alone, I hope Bob Arum lives another 30 years, is going to be a Canadian wildfire…. huh, throwing in a little current events in there, could have said barn burner but what’s that compared to a cookout in the Canadian woods, that’s a crap load of smores they can make with that blaze. Anywhooo…. getting back on subject… The two fighters are going to put it on the line in a must win situation for both fighters. The last two outings for the pugilists saw them barely hold on to get another notch on the W column keeping them relevant. Taylor’s match against Catterall saw Taylor win a split decision victory and there were many who agr….. and there were some that agr…. and there was one who agreed and his name was Josh Taylor and that’s a maybe. In Lopez’s last outing against one of my countrymen, Sandor Martin, Lopez was knocked down and pulled out a squeaker in similar fashion as Taylor, by split decision. That fight was a little less controversial even though some thought that Martin, pronounced Marteen and make sure you roll that r, with his slick boxing might have given him the edge. I saw the fight and it wasn’t a robbery to give Lopez the decision, I mean they didn’t stop the fight while Martin was punching Lopez like in some other fights …Tony Weeks… And Lopez was landing the more telling shots, when he could land, mainly because Martin isn’t a power puncher. That being said, these two dualists must win convincingly, there can’t be controversy. Let’s break it down….

We’ll start with the Champion and betting favorite, Josh Taylor, who sports an undefeated record in Scotland, just joshing, everywhere. Taylor (pictured above yelling for more crumpets, both versions) sports a record of 19 wins no losses with 13 big wins coming by KO. Taylor’s biggest asset is his good hand speed and ring IQ as well as being a southpaw with real good foot movement. His other plus is that he is very confident, which can turn into a negative if you don’t take an opponent serious, but I think that’s what happened in his last fight so he had that moment and I’m pretty sure he learned from it. His biggest win is against Prograis, another world champion and damn good fighter, when he isn’t fighting Taylor. Taylor (pictured above screaming for tea with those crumpets) has a good chance of beating this version of Lopez, what I will call the electrical version or electric Lopez. Taylor has to maintain his distance, use that right jab to keep electric Lopez from setting up big shots and then sneak that left hand in when electric Lopez is trying to place his feet. Taylor’s biggest weakness, besides his, we’ll just keep naming it over confidence, is that he gets too close because he likes hooks, which means that he gets in range of his opponent. With fighters like Catterall, he might get away with it because Catterall doesn’t pack big power, but if the dynamic Lopez shows up and not the electric Lopez, it will be a short night and a quick nap in front of millions for Taylor.

The challenger in the red corner… blue corner?… the other corner is Teofimo Lopez who has an impressive record of 18 wins with 1 defeat, to a tough Aussie, with 13 big wins by KO. Lopez (pictured above wondering if the Scottish alphabet is the same as the American alphabet) is a naturally gifted boxer, when he is dynamic Lopez and not electric Lopez. Lopez (pictured above screaming at the wall for just standing there and doing nothing) is what you will call a 5 tool boxer; speed, agility/athleticism, ring IQ, power and force. There are only a handful of other boxers that have all those qualities at a high level; Davis, Inoue and Crawford. I know some might disagree with my assertion that Lopez belongs on that list but before he became electric Lopez and was dynamic Lopez, he was definitely on that list. Lopez is, maybe now we can say was but can still be again, hopefully, an elite boxer. He, along with the other fighters mentioned, were, some still are, must see fighters. For Lopez to be considered that again, he must win and if he wins in impressive fashion, then he just joined that list once again. Lopez has his work cut out for him due to Taylor’s height and reach, sort of, 1 inch advantage. The first thing that has to happen is that dynamic Lopez has to show up and not electric Lopez, but that’s not something he can control. Then Lopez must must be quick and show lateral movement and get the angles, keep turning Taylor to make his jab useless. Then he has to take out the body, chop down the tree, and then go on top. He can’t get hyper focused on the chin of Taylor because the Scotsman is quick and slick. The obviously funny thing about my assessment, that I stole from the real pros, is that dynamic Lopez did all those things, the electric Lopez comes out too fast and tries to take out his opponent with one punch and then just stands there and takes unnecessary punishment or leaves himself open for counters. In all honesty, the best version of Taylor, even the uhhh… supremely confident and best prepared version of Taylor, would not be able to beat dynamic Lopez and would most likely get knocked out. The latest version of Lopez, electric Lopez, will most likely lose to Taylor. So for Lopez, the fight hinges on electricity… and dynamics.

Best of Luck to both combatants and may the best man win.

On a side note… some reporter was outraged at Lopez’s statement of “I’m going to Kill Taylor”. Well, I believe that Taylor’s goal was to decapitate Lopez, which he didn’t bring up, so, somehow, decapitation isn’t as bad as killing someone, because I guess you can just pick your head up afterwards and sew it back on? The selective outrage by the reporter is unnecessary and shouldn’t have been reported on. If you gave me a dollar every time a boxer used the hyperbole of making their opponent deceased in one form or another, then I would be hanging out with Elon Musk or Bill Gates or Steve Jobs… not Steve Jobs, he is actually deceased. He stated it was the worst thing he ever heard a fighter say… ridiculous, this must be the first fight he ever covered.

UPDATE: Dynamic Lopez showed up. It was a really good fight. Taylor gave a good showing but Lopez was too young, too quick, too slick, too strong and too much for Taylor on this night. The one thing I did notice is that Taylor was hurt on a couple of occasions and Lopez backed off. There is no doubt that the criticism levied at him about his comments by some reporters made him pause when he should have stepped on the gas. It is worse to take prolonged punishment then to take one shot that knocks you down. Lopez shouldn’t worry about knocking someone out, his concern should be for him not to get hurt and to win in emphatic manner if at all possible and secure a good payday for him and his family. His opponent knows the risks and is trying to do the same thing thing, win in an emphatic manner. I will say that at the end of the 12th, Lopez backed off with about 5 seconds left after he hurt Taylor with a good right hand, maybe was an alright move if he didn’t think he could get the knock down. But as the scores showed, that round decided the fight and if he could have gotten the knock down and decided to back off because of some asinine comment by a reporter and they gave Taylor that round, Taylor would have went home the Champ by majority decision draw. I would also like to say that both fighters were classy at the end of the fight. Taylor made no excuses and Lopez gave Taylor his props. You see, all the disparaging remarks by both fighters was just hyperbole, like in every other fight ever made. I’m disappointed at how this was reported prior to the fight… I’m going to go eat a honey bun. Big ups to the broadcasting, they were on point.

And just to harp on it some more…. what do you call that instinct? The one when you have someone hurt and you go in for the knockout? It’s called the killer instinct and all great fighters have or had it. What the hell did I do with that honeybun, that’s my killer instinct.