Have Highly Placed Judges Been Boycotting “Lower Tier” Law Schools

To a significant extent, yes. Here is an excerpt from Josh Blackman's article at Reason: "Judicial Boycotts of Non-Elite Schools":

Could one say that the Justices have imposed a boycott of every other law school outside the T14? I'm sure they would resist the characterization. For sure, they have not announced any public boycott. But the practical consequences of their hiring pattern is that students who graduated from non-elite law schools are persona non-grata.

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Meanwhile, Librarians at Public Libraries Work Overtime to Protect Us from Harmful Books

As reported by FAIR, in "All Is Not Quiet In the Library Catalogs: Navigating the changing landscape of library cataloging":

Traditional cataloging practice requires the cataloger to describe the book as objectively as possible; there are even specific guidelines reminding catalogers not to select subject headings (those hyperlinked topic descriptors in the record) based on their own values and beliefs. One of the first questions I was asked in my hiring interview was to confirm that I would agree to catalog materials that I, personally, found offensive. After all, libraries—and, by extension, catalogers—are supposed to be guardians of free speech and intellectual freedom. We do not know who will be looking for the materials and for what purpose, and so we have to be fair, accurate, and objective in order to make it easier for the material to be found. But it seems that now the overriding duty of the cataloger is to protect the patrons from the harm that the records (not even the materials!) may cause them.

In the discussions I mentioned above, fellow catalogers were unabashedly stating that certain marginalized groups should get to decide how a book should be labeled. If a cataloger who is a member of a marginalized social group believes the book in question is harmful or offensive, he is fully in the right to add a note in the catalog stating his beliefs. Thus we now have four books in the international catalog (used by libraries worldwide) with the label “Transphobic works”. Several books that are critical of the current gender affirmation care model now have the subject heading “Transphobia”. These books are not about transphobia, so the subject heading is likely being used as a way to warn the reader of the record (and potentially the librarian choosing which books to order for the library) that these are “bad books” and should not be read or purchased.

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Republicans Rethink the Benefits of Censorship

Congressional Democrats are still the all-star censorship team, but Matt Taibbi points out that two-faced Republicans are working hard to try to play catch-up. The title to his article is "More Republicans Betray Causes They Supported Ten Minutes AgoThe Great Bipartisan Constitution-shredding project of 2024 continues at breakneck speed."

Whispers about familiar villains preparing new versions of the election censorship programs that animated the Twitter Files grew louder last week, when Virginia Senator Mark Warner let slip at a conference that the FBI and DHS have renewed “voluntary” communications with Internet platforms.

Republicans who objected to the last programs on First Amendment grounds are now rushing to out-censor the censors. Between renewal of FISA surveillance, the depressingly bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act, and now a proposed No Fly List for campus protesters, most all of congress apart from a few libertarian holdouts is signed up for the project of turning War on Terror machinery inward. Not exactly the surprise of the century, but still, sheesh.

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The Expansive Mission of the CIA

Exposed by James O'Keefe

What are they intentionally not telling Joe Biden? What are they going to not tell the next president in order to steer their agenda?

The CIA is the same agency that, in conjunction with its corporate media lapdogs, (and see here) decided to swing the last presidential election by lying about the Hunter Biden laptop.

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Carrot or Stick?

Mike Johnson's reversal makes no sense here unless he was bribed big-time or he (or someone he cares about) was threatened with grave physical or financial harm. I have no idea what could turn a person so quickly, but it tells you that it doesn't matter what your intentions are when you first go to Congress. It doesn't matter how strongly you hold to your principles. The system will eat you up and laugh at you.You will dance when they tell you to dance.

Glenn Greenwald:

We interviewed Mike Johnson last year, a couple of months before he became Speaker.

It was the day he grilled FBI Director Christopher Wray on spying and censorship abuses.

Listen to what he told me: only to completely reverse himself and lead renewal of NSA/FBI spying powers:

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Rep. Mike Johnson in 2023: Says the unchecked power of intelligence agencies “keeps us up” at night.

@SpeakerJohnson in 2024: Plots with the Biden administration to ensure these agencies can spy on Americans without a warrant.

What happened?

Continue ReadingCarrot or Stick?