University of California throws in the towel and agrees with blacks and Hispanics that they're too stupid and illiterate to pass standardized tests.

or less

Agrees not to look at SAT and ACT scores, even when they’re submitted voluntarily.

Off to med school, and then coming to a hospital near you.

Of course, it’s not just blacks and Hispanic who have trouble with the English language. Here’s a Korean-American weighing in:

I know I shouldn't complain b/c I'm in a better shape in math than others. But I got 14 LESS questions wrong on English and I have the same score??!?#rescoreJuneSAT pic.twitter.com/hpZXdy0OPW

— John Kim (@keesungkim41) July 16, 2018

Ah, John? That would be “fewer”. You’re welcome.

The Week in Pictures is up

Over at Powerline. Sampling:

And from last week (carpenter/daughter Kate thought this was funny, as do I)

I suppose we can't do this to CNN, even with a "knock on the roof" one-hour warning to evacuate

no, not even if don lemon’s in the building, and Rachael Maddow is visiting

IDF airstrike demolishes building housing press offices in Gaza.

An Israeli airstrike destroyed a high-rise building that housed several media outlets in the Gaza Strip, including The Associated Press and Al Jazeera.

The airstrike Saturday came roughly an hour after the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate the building, the AP reported. Al Jazeera aired the bombing live.

and now it’s time for most of you to go to bed

Did Trump listen to the experts?

my confidence, and my credibility, is this high!

(Edited to include the inadvertently omitted “past 75” in the quote of Dr. Emanuel)

Trump was, and still is, blasted by the media and its scribes for “not following the science” and “refusing to listen to his own experts”. I thought it’d be interesting to see what those experts were saying while Trump was fighting impeachment, the expansion of China’s military adventurism around the globe, and, you know, world affairs.

First up is Trump’s Covid Task Force’s Ezekiel Manuel (brother of Rahm), urging Americans to “calm down”.

January 30, 2020;

Americans are too worried about the new coronavirus that’s spreading rapidly across China, former White House health advisor Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel told CNBC on Thursday

• “Everyone in America should take a very big breath, slow down and stop panicking and being hysterical,” said Emanuel.

• “I think we need to put it into context, the death rate is much lower than for SARS,” he added.

Dr. Emanuel, a medical ethicist, and not an epidemiologist, can be forgiven for not worrying about a disease that mostly kills old people; he’s famous for saying life past 75 is not worth living, and disputed claims that seniors could still be productive members of society; instead, they’re a useless drain on resources and fulfill no useful role, even seniors still active:

"These people who live a vigorous life to 70, 80, 90 years of age — when I look at what those people 'do,' almost all of it is what I classify as play. It's not meaningful work. They're riding motorcycles; they're hiking. Which can all have value — don't get me wrong. But if it's the main thing in your life? Ummm, that's not probably a meaningful life."

Okay, but how about St. Fauci? Didn’t he warn the president of impending doom? Er, no. January 21, 2020:

“This is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States should be worried about right now.”

MIT Medical/CDC? “Hey, don’t sweat this China thing”.

January 31, 2020: While new evidence indicates that people who are infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) may become contagious before symptoms are noticeable, neither the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) nor WHO (World Health Organization) have changed their recommendations regarding the treatment of asymptomatic individuals who may have been exposed to 2019 n-CoV while traveling. 

MIT and MIT Medical are closely monitoring the situation and will promptly implement any new recommendations. However, at this point, MIT is not recommending quarantine or isolation for any member of our community, nor is it necessary for MIT Medical to “clear” individuals returning from affected areas before they are allowed to go to work or school.

If you have traveled from China within the last 14 days, you should continue to be vigilant about monitoring yourself for fever and lower respiratory symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath. However, not all affected individuals will exhibit all symptoms, and if you have any symptoms at all, call MIT Medical right away at 617-253-4865.

Again, like Dr. Death Emanuel’s comments, some context is required here. The MIT statement was released on the same day that Trump imposed his racist ban on foreign travelers from China, so a response from the disloyal opposition was clearly called for. The good wokettes at MIT were happy to oblige.

Sadly but not unexpectedly, “following the science” lost its appeal to Red State Governors this week. While last year they gleefully imposed mask mandates and shutdowns on the excuse that they were just obeying CDC ‘s scientific guidelines, when the masks came off at the CDC Thursday, months overdue, the new guidelines were dismissed as “politics, not science”.

Power will be retrieved from the bureaucrats/and Nomenklatura only when we pry it from their cold, stiff fingers.

Circling Back: While I’m on this riff, let’s not forget De Blasio assuring New Yorkers that the subways were safe to ride, on March 5, 2020:

Mayor de Blasio took a short, rare subway ride to demonstrate to New Yorkers the coronavirus shouldn’t alter their habits.

"I’m here on the subway to say to people nothing to fear, go about your lives and we will tell you if you have to change your habits but that's not now,” Hizzoner said on a packed C train he caught at the Fulton St. stop Downtown.

“We have the best public health professionals protecting us,” he added. “All over the city there are doctors, nurses and disease detectives trying to keep everyone safe and so far we have had really good results.

What, you worry? Hizzoner rides the rails 3/4/2020

(On March 9, 2020, De Blasio finally lifted his ban on subway workers wearing face masks).

[This] was a departure from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s stance on the issue last week, when agency’s Chief Safety Officer Pat Warren said “medical guidance indicates that respiratory masks do not protect healthy people” and “at this time they may not be worn by uniformed MTA employees.”

And of course, who can forget our Speaker of the House’s counterattack against Trump’s anti-Asian hate?

Still more giving them what they voted for

With full-out war imminent, Biden (or his handlers) sends pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli as his envoy to the Middle East.

UPDATE: Biden sending $130 million to Palestinians “to foster peace”, reversing Trump’s cutoff of aid. “This will be so welcome”, Arashi Hamas told FWIW. “Iran can only supply us with so many missiles, so many RPGs. Now it’s off to the Syrian Home Depot! — baby needs new shoe bombs.”

What could possibly go wrong?

(we probably don’t have to worry about the Germans)

FWIW’s New Mexico correspondent sends these along with the comment, “May God take me before they take us”.

Chinese Military Recruiting Ad

From Russia, With Love

And then there’s US

Yes, it's the Bee, but it's a genuine product nonetheless

At $26 per, it’s more than I’m willing to spend just to piss people off (I can do that for free), but it’s a funny idea.

Good and harder

This is why you elected me; what’s the beef?

SEC gives the corporations who put the Democrats in power what they were asking for: criminal investigations of companies who aren’t sufficiently woke.

Wall Street’s top cop Gary Gensler wants to charge companies who aren’t woke enough with securities fraud.

FOX Business has learned that the Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a series of inquiries into whether corporations make proper disclosures involving so-called Environment, Social, Governance issues, known by the short-hand ESG.  

The purpose of the crackdown, initiated at the behest of Gensler, who became SEC chairman last month, is to prod corporate America to adopt policies that improve diversity, and other non-financial issues such as environmental concerns, securities lawyers who represent potential targets tell FOX Business. 

These lawyers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the SEC will also look at such issues as "conflict minerals," or whether companies import raw materials from countries that use the money to finance war and adequately disclose the matter in corporate reports. 

Another area of concern includes whether companies disclose if so-called forced labor is used anywhere in their global supply chains, these lawyers add. The SEC will also be monitoring the racial diversity of corporate boards, and whether companies alert investors about fully meeting environmental standards, these lawyers say. 

Progressives in Congress have attempted such legislation in the past only to be thwarted by the GOP majority. Now with Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, the enforcement of so-called ESG standards on companies will likely be revived. 

As usual, though, the Republicans will blow this opportunity to let the Democrats eat their own by defending the corporations they still think are friends.

But the move by Gensler is politically fraught. …. Gensler’s edict will likely receive blowback by the GOP senate, which regulates the SEC. Traditional corporate disclosures have involved matters considered "material" to an investor, such as financial issues or the health of top executives.

Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., voted against Gensler’s nomination stating that his support of ESG issues would "advance a liberal social and cultural agenda on issues ranging from climate change to racial inequality" that is outside the purview of the SEC. 

Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs banker, is close to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.., a polarizing figure with Republicans and business leaders because of her support of progressive causes such as enforcing ESG standards on businesses.  

"Issues such as diversity on boards are partly normative, or non-legal, and partly legal" for companies in terms of their disclosure, said John Coffee, a professor of law at Columbia University and an expert at corporate disclosure.  "The SEC already requires much disclosure on how hard you are trying on diversity, and why you have not succeeded, but Gensler will likely increase that disclosure.  And the two political parties will disagree." 

An SEC spokesman had no comment, but would not deny that the commission has launched probes into ESG disclosures. A press official for Warren didn’t return a call for comment. 

Don’t try to protect your enemy, stand back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the show, you dummies.

Their transgender POC operators are ready, but not the ship

Despite Promises, USS Ford Heads To Shock Trials With 4 Broken Elevators

Full ship shock trials on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) are set to begin within weeks. Commissioned in 2017, but with key systems incomplete, U.S. Navy leaders have repeatedly assured Congress and the public that the USS Ford would be ready before the forthcoming shock trials. But with four of the USS Ford’s seven critical lower-stage weapons elevators still unready for service, naval credibility is at stake. If the shock trials go forward, testing an incomplete ship, the Navy stands to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fully validate the battle-hardiness of America’s future carrier fleet in real-world conditions.

Late on May 7, a Navy spokesperson confirmed that four lower-stage advanced weapons elevators will not be certified until later in 2021, likely after the shock trials take place. Two of the four undelivered lower stage elevators are being tested, and the final two elevators are in the “last stages of construction” and are “estimated to complete, certify and turnover later this year.” The spokesperson noted that the USS Ford’s unready elevators “will be in an appropriate material condition to safely conduct Full Ship Shock Trials.”

While the Navy could still complete the elevators before the shock trial, it is running out of time. If the remaining weapons elevators are not certified by the time the shock trials begin, then they probably will not be delivered until sometime near the end of the USS Ford’s next Planned Incremental Availability—which is expected to complete in February 2022.  

The USS Ford is a victim of the Navy’s ongoing credibility crisis. While the Navy’s likely inability to deliver all of the USS Ford’s elevators before the USS Ford’s full ship shock trials will be a disappointment, the repeated failure of key Navy leaders to detect and disseminate accurate performance information on the USS Ford’s progress is dangerous. The Navy and Nation needs accurate information from naval leaders far more urgently than it needs the USS Ford’s elevators to work. 

National credibility is on the line, and all involved, from Acting Navy Undersecretary James F. Geurts on down, must be held accountable for what they say and then fail to do.

Much more at the link — it’s a big deal, seems to me.

Fortunately, Providence has a "Nonviolence Institute" to deal with these matters

Rival gangs let loose on each other, 9 shot

A shooting Thursday in Providence, Rhode Island, reportedly left nine injured, including three who are in serious condition. It is believed to be the largest in the city’s history.

The shooting emerged from a disagreement between two groups that turned violent at around 7 p.m. Thursday, the police said, according to WPRI, a local CBS affiliate. At least three of the nine victims are in serious, “maybe critical” condition at Rhode Island Hospital, Providence Police Chief Col. Hugh Clements reportedly announced at the scene.

Clements described the shooting as part of an “ongoing feud” between two violent groups known to the city’s authorities, according to the Associated Press.

The violence reportedly started when members of one group shot at a house from a vehicle. Residents of the house — members of the rival group — then shot back, according to The Associated Press. The police chief characterized the participants as “young men.” 

The shooting underscores a worrisome trend of gun violence observed in Providence in recent weeks. Since the start of 2021 and prior to Thursday, 19 people had been shot in the city, seven of whom had been killed in gunfire homicides, Clements said, according to The Providence Journal.

However, no other shooting in city history has injured this many people, according to police.

“It’s unfortunate that young men in this community have no regard for life at times,” Clements said. “They fire the guns willingly at each other, which is the case here. So very disappointing.”

But don’t worry, I’m confident that the bedside counseling by the Nonviolence Institute will have made this sort of bad behavior a thing of the past.