The "Great Reset": Brought to you by the same people who looted the planet back in 2008?

I can agree that technocratic neoliberal capitalism is past time for root and branch reform. It is well on the way to crafting an anti-religious--and thus anti-human--hell, where everyone reads from the same corporate human resources handbook. As explored recently on this page, said handbook stridently argues that women abort their children in the West and for unimpeded access to slave labor in the East. 

Fascism with a globalist face and slogans, in other words. But very much a tyranny, with those who are favored party members--and those who will follow directions.

And I hope you can forgive me if I am skeptical that the same financial titans who brought us the Great Recession and took countless billions from the public fisc without a shred of responsibility for their own conduct are the right leaders for "building back better."

And now the Roman pontiff is aping their language. 

As Steve says, "good to know." 

On the bright side, the thing that wears the skin of the Western world is literally bankrupt seven times over, and that's just financially. The balkanization of that world along identity politics lines will ensure its demise, so we have that going for us.

 

The First Amendment applies during pandemics.

Such was the finding of the Supreme Court late Wednesday, enjoining Governor Cuomo from color-coding worship services out of existence.

The majority opinion was written by the eminent Swedish jurist Per Curiam, but the fireworks are in the concurring opinion of Justice Gorsuch.

If you pick up on an undertone of "FINALLY" in his opinion, you are paying attention.

At the same time, the Governor has chosen to impose no capacity restrictions on certain businesses he considers “essential.” And it turns out the businesses the Governor considers essential include hardware stores, acupuncturists, and liquor stores. Bicycle repair shops, certain signage companies, accountants, lawyers, and insurance agents are all essential too. So, at least according to the Governor, it may be unsafe to go to church, but it is always fine to pickup another bottle of wine, shop for a new bike, or spend the afternoon exploring your distal points and meridians. Who knew public health would so perfectly align with secular convenience?

As almost everyone on the Court today recognizes, squaring the Governor’s edicts with our traditional First Amendment rules is no easy task. People may gather inside for extended periods in bus stations and airports, in laundromats and banks, in hardware stores and liquor shops. No apparent reason exists why people may not gather, subject to identical restrictions, in churches or synagogues, especially when religious institutions have made plain that they stand ready, able, and willing to follow all the safety precautions required of “essential” businesses and perhaps more besides. 

The only explanation for treating religious places differently seems to be a judgment that what happens there just isn’t as “essential” as what happens in secular spaces. Indeed, the Governor is remarkably frank about this: In his judgment laundry and liquor, travel and tools, are all “essential” while traditional religious exercises are not. That is exactly the kind of discrimination the First Amendment forbids. Nor is the problem an isolated one. In recent months, certain other Governors have issued similar edicts. At the flick of a pen, they have asserted the right to privilege restaurants, marijuana dispensaries, and casinos over churches, mosques, and temples. See Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v. Sisolak, 591 U. S. ___,  (2020) (GORSUCH J., dissenting). In far too many places, for far too long, our first freedom has fallen on deaf ears.

And there's more than a little heat flung at the Chief Justice, too--but I'll let you find that yourself. For the record, there seems to be an awareness among most of the dissenting Justices that Cuomo's restrictions are suspect, but they would have preferred to wait until the Governor activated his colorful sharpies again first. 

Dunning-Kruger Incarnate.

That would be Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo of the Airline Terminal News Network.

Yesterday, while they were agreeing with the Year Zero Statue Purge, the duo regaled those waiting in Boarding Zones 4-9 with this nugget of insight into the beliefs of 2 billion people across the globe:

“Jesus Christ, if that’s who you believe, if that’s who you believe in, admittedly was not perfect when he was here on this earth.”

The latter of the duo is allegedly a practicing Catholic, and nodded along amicably. Not so by the way, he resents being called "Fredo," so much so that he spectacularly beclowned himself in his initial objection to the moniker. But as yesterday shows, he confirms on a regular basis why the nickname fits. Truly, Cuomo's only qualification for his role is his surname, but like the poor, nepotism will always be with us.

The former is also a staggeringly-incompetent blowhard even by the low standards of television journalism, but he thus far lacks a compelling nickname. Then again, he doesn't rise to the level of one. He's a nonentity, gaining the notice of the public not trapped in transportation hubs only when he says things like the above. Were it not for his media perch, it is difficult to envision a job he could do outside of sales, where soothing customers with affirming bullshit is a useful skill.

If you have noticed a strain of anger in my posts on various topical matters, you are correct to do so. It stems from a constant low-grade despair. Right now, the two things I have been centered in for my adult life, faith in Almighty God and love of country, are punchlines for the ruling class of both church and nation. A coalition of venal bureaucrats, radical partisans and too-immature youths in the grip of a mob mindset are ascendant in both.

Well, active youths mobbing about aren't exactly a major problem in the Catholic Church--three generations of "it doesn't matter" have sunk in. But otherwise the problems are congruous.

And there is almost no resistance in either case. The center cannot hold because there is no center. All is an accelerating spiral downwards, growing more vertiginous and hallucinatory in its madness.

The lamps are going out all over the world, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.

Maybe the despair isn't so low-grade after all.

So about that bust of Christopher Columbus that stood for 110 years in downtown Detroit?

Past tense.

Executive decision:

The decision by Mayor Mike Duggan to pull the bust from public view in Detroit's downtown comes as several Columbus statues have recently been destroyed, vandalized or removed in America amid public outcry against the Italian explorer during racial justice protests.

John Roach, a mayoral spokesman, said via text message that "the mayor decided it ought to be placed in storage to give us time to evaluate the appropriate long-term disposition of the statue."

The bust's removal from its perch on Randolph, north of East Jefferson, makes it the second visage of a figure this month to be removed from the public eye in Metro Detroit. The statue of late Dearborn Mayor Orville Hubbard was recently pulled from the grounds of the Dearborn Historical Museum.

“I've been bothered for a while by the fact that the statue is occupying such a place of prominence next to City Hall right on Jefferson, and I supported City Council, three years ago, when they voted to eliminate Columbus Day as a holiday in the city of Detroit," Duggan said Monday.

Roach said he was not aware of any group's involvement in the removal of the bust and added there were no other statues planned for removal as of Monday. Duggan, meanwhile, said the city will work with community members to decide the appropriate measures for the bust's future.

No more removals planned “as of Monday.”

But by Friday we will have always been at war with Eastasia. 

By the way, "right on Jefferson" means Jefferson Avenue. 

And Detroit's Jefferson Avenue was named for guess who? 

So how long before we see the street signs sent to the memory hole?

For those of you familiar with Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series, the forthcoming  community consultations on all of these issues will be Lord Vetinari in full effect:

[Lord Vetinari] was a great believer in letting a thousand voices be heard, because this meant that all he actually needed to do was listen only to the ones that had anything useful to say, ‘useful’ in this case being defined in the classic civil-service way as ‘inclining to my point of view.’ In his experience, it was a number generally smaller than ten.

The people who wanted a thousand, etc., really meant that they wanted their own voice to be heard while the other nine hundred and ninety-nine were ignored, and for this purpose the gods had invented the committee.

Vetinari was very good at committees, especially when Drumknott took the minutes. What the iron maiden was to stupid tyrants, the committee was to Lord Vetinari; it was only slightly more expensive, far less messy, considerably more efficient, and, best of all, you had to *force* people to climb inside the iron maiden.

So those of you--who for some bizarre reason--may be developing a suspicion that the "community members" discussing Columbus will be light on Detroit's Italians, who were instrumental in placing the bust back in 1910, are probably on to something. 

And how much longer will the Knights of Columbus be welcome at City Hall when the bust of their namesake "bothers" the Mayor enough to have it unceremoniously removed?

Year Zero never ends.

 

I would like to offer you a standing gentleman's wager.

I know: strictly-speaking, that would require me to be a gentleman.

But in our debased age, I am probably somewhat closer to the classical definition than many.

So, here it is:

By the end of 2025, the Knights of Columbus will no longer be known by that name. 

And the rationale will be clothed with terms like "inclusive" and "welcoming."

But the driving reason will be fear.

And after pocketing this concession without so much as a grunt of approval, the Year Zero militias will submit their next demand.

Corporate Concern Trolling: Always Good for a Derisive Chuckle.

Indiana: The Worst Place Ever?

It is if you listen to Apple CEO and billionaire, Tim Cook (scroll down).

Enacting a state-law religious freedom restoration act makes it a veritable hotbed of discrimination and such. According to him of the ironclad principles.

However, if you have an ounce of intellectual integrity, you'd ignore Tim Cook, given that he just opened the world's largest Apple store in the United Arab Emirates last month.

That would be the same United Arab Emirates where you can be put on trial for "gay handshakes" and other through-the-looking-glass views of human rights.

So, think of that when pondering Cook's admonition that "opposing discrimination takes courage." When dollars are on the line, his courage is placed into some kind of medically-induced coma. Well, OK, to be fair--Apple also expanded into Saudi Arabia this year, too, so...

You. Gotta. Be. Kidding. Me.

What the Hell, man?

Oh, and speaking of corporate posturing--Angie's List, too, is just so concerned about Indiana these days, alleging that it has to pass on the expansion of its headquarters in Hate Central. 

Because Integrity.

Or is there just the outside chance it's trying to posture for good publicity in the wake of major credibility problems posed by a lawsuit filed three weeks ago in Pennsylvania and the likelihood that public funding would not be approved? You decide!

 Filed March 11 in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, the lawsuit alleges that Angie's, an online consumer review service, manipulates company ratings that are sold to its subscribers as impartial user reviews. It does so, the lawsuit claims, by giving paid advertisers preferential treatment, such as boosting their visibility on the site and suppressing negative reviews.

"Angie's List does not help members find the 'best' service provider, but rather the one who paid the most money to Angie's List," the complaint says. "This certainly is not 'always placing the interests of the consumer first,' " as the company says in its public filings.

Debra DeCourcy, an Angie's spokeswoman, said it is company policy not to comment on pending litigation. The company's lawyers have not yet filed a response in court.

The lawsuit was brought by Pennsylvania resident Janell Moore, an Angie's member since 2012, according to court documents. Moore says she relied on Angie's reviews in 2014 to hire a remodeling contractor who didn't finish the work and refused to refund her $4,000.

According to the lawsuit, when she tried to file a negative review, she learned from an Angie's employee that other subscribers had given the contractor bad reviews as well — only they didn't show up on the site. The suit claims that's because Angie's suppresses bad reviews of paid advertisers by hiding them or not counting them toward the companies' A-F rating.

Advertising has become a substantial source of revenue for the company, dwarfing that of subscriptions, according to its annual reports. The company made $241.9 million from service providers in 2014 vs. $73.1 million from members.

The lawsuit comes at a critical juncture for Angie's, as it seeks $18.5 million in taxpayer assistance to expand its headquarters on the Near Eastside. City-County Council members in both parties have expressed support for the project, while acknowledging that many of their constituents remain deeply skeptical of giving the company public assistance.

The timing of the attack of alleged integrity is...intriguing.

Corporations: the principle usually follows the money.

The cheery sang-froid has dissipated.

I find myself more unnerved by the Pope's resignation than I was yesterday. Losing certainty in increasingly uncertain times is bad, full-stop. I pray that the next Pope has a full awareness of what he's up against. He can't be a doomsayer, but a chirpy optimist is the last thing we need.

  Turning and turning in the widening gyre
  The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
  Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
  Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
  The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
  The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
  The best lack all conviction, while the worst
  Are full of passionate intensity.

Tidings from Connecticut.

Remember that grossly-unconstitutional proposal in Connecticut to restructure the governance of the Catholic Church along congregationalist lines?

One of the drafters has been nominated for a vacant state supreme court seat.

"Do you expect me to talk?"

"No, Mr. Bond--I expect you to die!"

Welcome to Kulturkampf '13.