HL 73 “Reparations in the Theatre World” commented on current conventions and unwritten but ignored, at peril, Rules that prevail in the legitimate theatrical and cinema worlds. The Rules, de facto, constitute an informal regime of reparations for discrimination and other injustice done to racial minorities in those industries. […]
Results of the first NBC/WSJ national poll of Americans who say they will vote in next year’s primary elections confirm that Democrats in all 50 states have learned what New Yorkers have known for quite awhile: Kirsten Gillibrand and Bill de Blasio are zeroes. They each failed to gain one percent support in the poll where Biden, Warren, Sanders, Harris and Buttigieg registered 26%, 19%, 13%, 13% and 7% respectively. […]
The June 11, 2019 edition of the PBS “Nightly Business Report” was startling because the 1, 2, 3, 4 top stories were all antitrust. Here be it and see it. Uno: Ten state attorneys general sue to block the Sprint/T-Mobile merger. Dos: A federal judge may unscramble the CVS/Aetna merger consummated in 2018. Tres: Trump wonders aloud about the competitive effects of the proposed merger of United Technologies and Raytheon. Cuatro: The House Judiciary Committee began its much-heralded antitrust oversight hearings, squarely targeting Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. […]
The Williams College Class of 1969 held a Reunion Seminar on June 8, 2019 (exactly 50 years after graduating on June 8, 1969) with the subject of reexamining two books that the class had been asked to read and discuss during orientation week in September 1965. They were "The Image" by Kenneth Boulding and "Science and Human Values " by Jacob Bronowski . The seminar panel comprised Laurence McCullough , Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Medical Ethics, Baylor College of Medicine, Robert Kandel, a prominent real property lawyer/developer , former New York City Commissioner of Economic Development and currently Chair of Berkshire Farm and Services for Youth in Canaan, New York and Lloyd (all Williams '69). With some minor reference to the two works, Lloyd's comments [...]
In HL’s Grand Central Station neighborhood hipster-doofi line up for five buck Matcha Wellness Lattes at cashless Bluestone Lane kiosks and Birkenstock-shod elder hippies tender $20 – plastic only – for a snack size soup and avocado toast at the Great Northern Deli. While on line with them HL suppresses an impulse to lecture and instead waits his turn, places an order and refuses it when the proffer of cash is rejected. Our own private uncivil disobedience. A variation has HL offer the “cards” in his phone and watch digital wallets – also not accepted – but that only demonstrates that these particular cashless merchants are also clueless. […]
In one of the most consequential antitrust rulings in a half-century, Apple v. Pepper, SCOTUS on Monday allowed iPhone app purchasers to sue Apple for overcharges on apps designed and priced by developers (not Apple) but sold on the App Store. The decision was 5 to 4, with Justice Kavanaugh not merely siding with the liberal quartet of Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan, but writing a highly pro-consumer majority opinion that the right-wing dissenting foursome (who thought they had a quintet) bitterly complained was hopelessly and irrationally liberal. […]
Abigail Disney, Walt’s great niece and Roy’s granddaughter, stole the show last weekend, topping even Disney Studio’s Avengers: Endgame $1.2 billion box office for favorable mentions. Her criticism of Disney’s 2018 compensation of $65 million to CEO Bob Iger, because that was “1424 times the median pay of a Disney worker” also earned her another rare trifecta (see HL 70) of leading stories in the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal. […]
“Biden is Running for President, After Months of Hesitation.” Not HL’s words, but those from The New York Times’ headline and first spin, crudely letting us know that they are not thrilled. The paper of record that used to keep its “opinions” on those pages now places its thumb on the scale by thumbing its nose at the old wall between news and its’ editorial board’s desires. There, formally announcing candidacy 16 months before the nominating convention, is described as hesitation and equivocation. Instead of the smart conduct of the leading contender for virtually every minute of the last several months, waiting while the 19 others in the Peanut Gallery announced. […]
At upcoming debates, Democratic presidential candidates will be asked whether they support reparations to African-Americans for America’s original and continuous sin. Not certain that Trump, Bill Weld and any other Republicans seeking the nomination will be asked that. If there are debates and hosted by Fox, a more likely question is whether Brown v. Board should be overruled. […]
By this 72nd post it should be clear, at least to HL, that Hopelessly Liberal is a chronicle of survival and adherence to constitutional norms and the rule of law during Trump’s presidency. Private law firms are businesses, but their business also is a learned profession. And when they do their work well, they do good, have fun, make a living and uphold the American system of justice – under our imperfect Constitution, but the oldest written and one better than any other ever conceived. So today HL celebrates the anniversary of one damn good American law firm. […]
