Links and Minifeatures 10 10 Wednesday

Memo to all spam-meisters: When I check the error log, it warms my heart to see all your attempts at comment and trackback spam deleted without me having to deal with it. You may as well give up and go away. There are no automated trackbacks allowed, and comments all require logins and verifications. I'd rather tell folks I have 10% fewer visits and not have to pay for the bandwidth you consume to no good purpose.

(If you're trying to leave a legit comment and it won't let you, please let me know, and I'm perfectly willing to put in a manual trackback if you meet the conditions.)

Yesterday's traffic was back above 2000 visits for the first time since the host change. It's a long way from the 4000 or so that I was averaging before, but it's climbing back

Hangman's Noose Found on NYC Prof's Door

here's her CV

Observe the selected publications.

her "Find Articles by" report

Anybody happen to notice that the person who found it was her co-author on three listed publications between this year and last? (here's their CV)

The article describes all of the standard panaceas. Protest rallies. Sensitivity meetings. Students interviewed about what a racist place Columbia is.

I admittedly have read none of her writings. That's zero. Nor am I an expert in her field. With that said, the titles certainly look like those that would be chosen by someone who has motivation to find racial discrimination, whether or not there is any. Furthermore, with the recent behavior of academics, and the penalties they have faced for jumping at any opportunity there may be to profit from the possible appearance of anti-minority racism, I'm going to pessimistically estimate the probability that this is a put-up job at 80%. All of the elements are there.

Furthermore, I'd estimate the probability of it falling down the media memory hole if shown to be a likely put up job at 100%.

If, on the other hand, evidence is lacking or evidence is found that leads a reasonable person to conclude this was an actual threat or attempt to intimidate, the probability that this is going to be a cause celebre of the left for decades is 100%.

Nonetheless, I will apologize if such evidence is actually found.

Here's one example of faked hate speech, via Instapundit

Michelle Malkin with a wonderful round-up on the S-Chip Issue.

My wife would love to quit the job that furnishes our family health care insurance and work on Mary Kay full time. We choose otherwise for now. When our cash flow is reliably strong enough, that choice will be different.

Q and O is also worth reading.

gateway Pundit on the party of bogus victims.

Don't get me wrong. I could support a certain kind of national health care, constructed rationally, intended as basic care, that people could buy additional benefits on top of. In order to be rational, it would have to include rationing, and decreasing coverage with age. It would have to live on a budget.

If covering the children was the be-all and end all, we could cut off a small percentage of the benefits of Medicare parts A and B for senior citizens, and have all the cash we need to afford it. Strange that if covering children is the goal of over-riding importance advocates of S-Chip claim, nobody has proposed this. Me, I suspect S-Chip is a trojan horse. If anyone were to propose such a thing, do you have any doubt those screaming loudest about children's health care would vote against it?

(and I also checked out Daily Kos, Ezra Klein (who volunteered to debate Michelle Malkin, but was otherwise unworthy of mention), Oliver Willis, Democratic Peace, Brad DeLong, Eschaton, and even Democratic Underground today).

You can't make this up Department:
Captain's Quarters reports on a judge preventing the government from issuing "no match" letters. The proximate cause is preventing illegal aliens from being fired or deported. But how about identity theft?

Captain Ed agrees with me on the insanity of the 9th circuit. Unfortunately, I have to live with it. He doesn't.