The Thousandth cut

       Dreams of a thriving multiracial democracy were dealt another blow by the Supreme Court, which, yesterday ruled that colleges and universities could not take race into account when deciding whether or not to accept students.

      Couched in the garbled legalese which can make freedom sound like slavery, the 6 justice majority voted to go back to an earlier era when white privilege was enough to ensure admission to elite universities over equally qualified POC applicants.  Or, worse yet the admission of blacks with lesser grades whose only sin was being born black in a white man's world.

     It is ironic this latest attempt to roll back racial justice should come at a time of falling enrollment at many colleges.   These institutions will be scrambling to recruit students of any and all colors in an attempt to keep their student body numbers stable.   Elite institutions such as Harvard and other Ivy league schools are not worried at present and their degrees will still provide a path to wealth and power. 

     Society as a whole suffers when racism and other forms of oppression are allowed to thrive.  It will take many years to undo the harm of this court ruling.

Witnessing perfection

         I don't normally watch the Yankees play on the west coast.   The games usually start after my bedtime and in recent years the games have been 4 hour affairs which the yanks manage to lose anyway.  However, last night I decided to watch at least a few innings before bed.   Starting in the third inning, I sensed something special was going to happen when the yanks' journeyman pitcher, Domingo German, effortlessly retired the first nine men he faced.

       After a home run gave the visitors a 1-0 lead, I continued to watch in fascination as German continued to set down the home team in order.   By the eighth inning I was spellbound as it became apparent he had a chance to pitch the 24th perfect game in MLB history.   Never having seen a perfect game in its entirety, I hung with the telecast until German joined 23 other men to pitch the elusive perfect game.   While German may never be a HOF caliber pitcher, no one can take away last night's history making performance.

They will keep trying

        The Supreme Court delayed the country's transition to authoritarianism for a while longer by backing away from the independent state legislature theory.   By a 6-3 vote, the justices ruled that state legislatures are subject to their individual constitutions and the judicial oversight of state courts.

      That means GOP controlled state legislatures cannot nullify the will of voters if the legislature doesn't like the results of an election.  But don't worry, the right wing policy machine will come up with another dodge to cancel the votes of people they don't like and they will find allies in red states.  Democracy ain't easy.

Eating in

        According to the Wall Street Journal, many restaurants in the US are still suffering from a shortage of workers, despite wages having "shot up'' 5.2% since April of last year.  Adjusted for inflation, that comes to about a 1% increase.  That's hardly going to create a stampede of workers looking to cash in.

      What the article in the WSJ doesn't convey is the very real expense of eating out in today's economy.  The tab for a couple eating at a mid-priced restaurant in Plattsburgh can easily run over $100 when you throw in a couple of drinks and the tip.   Even bringing the family to McDonalds can set you back more than $50.

     Restaurants come and go, but their business model is predicated on cheap and abundant labor.   Paying people a fair wage and passing it on to the public will price many out of business.   As I write this, there are still waiting lines of people at many restaurants in town, at least on weekends.   Let's see what happens if they are forced to pay more to service the crowds.

The more things change

      When I was an undergrad, majoring in Political Science (which is neither political or science) and minoring in history, most of the dictatorships in the world were run by men whose support was concentrated in the upper levels of the military and the bureaucracy.   Leonid Brezhnev was a case in point, harking back to the Stalinist model.   

      My, how things have changed!   The latest iteration of a Russian dictator is more aligned with the Peter the Great model of absolutist monarch.  Vladimir Putin is propped up by a gaggle of plutocrats who owe their wealth and position to him.   As long as these men believe their interests are served by sticking with Putin, he will remain in power.  The reverse is also true.   The recent attempted coup by "Putin's chef" is a case in point.   Prigozhin must have been calling many of Putin's allies to see if he could pry them away from their allegiance.  When it appeared he could not do so, he abandoned the enterprise and supposedly accepted exile in Belarus.

    This state of affairs cannot last very long.   The loss of the Wagner group will significantly affect the war effort in Ukraine.  If the Ukrainians' counter offensive pushes Russian forces back, the calculus of Putin's allies will change.  Chaos is the most likely result with no clear leader emerging it will be a dangerous time for Russia and the world.

Priorities

       Yesterday's breathless reporting on the search for 5 voyeurs visiting the site of the Titanic's final resting place ended in a downer as cameras recorded a debris field near the wreck.   The grisly fate of the wealthy thrill seekers held the nation's and the world's attention for a few minutes.   As one blogger put it, it was the equivalent of jumping the Grand Canyon on a minibike for kicks.   Excuse me if I am less than impressed.s

silly season

        Who knew the governor of North Dakota was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president?   I certainly didn't until I saw a piece in the NYT this morning.  A billionaire by virtue of selling his software company to Microsoft, as one Democrat put it, every morning while shaving, he looks in the mirror and sees a president.

       This is the time in the election calendar when money, time and ego conspire to make almost any wealthy American believe they have a claim to the highest office in the land.  After all, look at the example of tRump.   What these hopefuls don't seem to remember is the decades of self promotion Donny Two Scoops engaged in before running.  But, for the moment, Doug Burgrum has just as many delegates as any of the candidates.   At least his policy prescriptions are the supposedly tried and true GOP talking points.   Low taxes, less government and entrepreneurship, along with the new litmus tests of anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ rights and whatever other baggage any serious Republican must carry.   Anyway, it' s still June.