Dominatio Per Malum

New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that white firefighters in New Haven were subjected to race discrimination when the city threw out a promotional examination on which they had done well and black firefighters poorly.

“The city rejected the test results solely because the higher scoring candidates were white,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority, adding that the possibility of a lawsuit from minority firefighters was not a lawful justification for the city’s action.

“Fear of litigation alone,” Justice Kennedy wrote, “cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions.”

The 5-to-4 ruling, which reversed an appeals court decision joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, now a Supreme Court nominee, will have broad impact, lawyers specializing in employment discrimination law said.

“This decision will change the landscape of civil rights law,” said Sheila Foster, a law professor at Fordham.

The new standards announced by the court will make it much harder for employers to discard the results of hiring and promotion tests once they are administered, even if they have a disproportionately negative impact on members of a given racial group.

Public employers that use civil service examinations and similar tests will be most directly affected, but the principle announced by the court applies to all employers and all sorts of procedures used to rank and sort potential and current employees.

Although i normally agree with the “Liberal” Wing of the USSC, this is one time where i think the “conservative” majority has rightly decided the case. Even as we seek to eliminate discrimination, we should no go so far in the other extreme as to effectively discriminate against the majority. Equality means just that, to be equal.

Hodgeman grills Obama on his nerd cred.

Due to Life, i won’t have the time nor energy to watch movies, much less review them. So, this blog won’t be updated very much. From time to time, if i am very free and it strikes my fancy, i might write something down. Otherwise, this blog is for all intents and purposes semi-dead.

Still, here are some of the films which i recently watched. I may not even bother to write anything about it so just look at the numerical rating.

Australia (2008) 6/10

Way too long and overindulgent. But entertaining nonetheless.

The Girlfriend Experience (2009) 6/10

Stephen Soderberg follows up his epic, 2 part film Che with a small, arthouse flick that uses Sasha Grey as stunt casting. But Ms Grey is surprisingly good in the lead role and the film’s disjointed time-line whilst mildly annoying at first actually enhances the film. While the film looks great, and Sasha Grey provides the requisite eye candy, the film feels distant and the main character remains a cipher, whose motivations and personality never rise to the surface.

Speedy Scandal (2008) 8/10

Despite a totally hackneyed and predictable plot, the film was one of the top grossing Korean films of 2008. And understandably so because it is a great crowd-pleaser and is highly entertaining. Cha Tae-hyun may be repeating the same performance he did in My Sassy Girl but he is so pitch perfect as the comical battered male that you just don’t care that he is recycling his persona. It may not be art, but it sure is entertaining.

Push (2009) 5/10

It has a nice soundtrack. That’s the most positive thing i can say about this film.

Coraline (2009) 8/10

Easily one of the best films of the year and definitely in the running for best animated film (currently only Pixar’s Up seems to be its only challenger) Coraline is a dark, intelligently crafted tale that will win the hearts of adults. Its not really kid friendly and i can best describe it as Pan’s Labyrinth turned into an animated film. Visually, top marks. Its a smart and beautifully rendered film that deserves to be seen.

Yes Man(2008) 3/10

Just Say No to this.

Stage Beauty (2004) 7/10

Claire Danes is good but it is Billy Crudup who gives a phenomenal performance.

JCVD (2008) 8/10

Jean Claude Van Damme in his best film ever. Surprisingly, JCVD is an affectionate, entertaining movie that actually gives Van Damme the opportunity to show off his acting chops. Just as the Wrestler gave Mickey Rourke a new start, JCVD equally gives Van Damme the best film he has ever made. Unfortunately, noone seems to have noticed, but JCVD is well worth taking a look, if only for an amazing extended soliloquy given by Van Damme which is as honest as it is heartbreaking.

Franklyn (2008) 4/10

Bold concept, interesting visuals. But I can’t fucking understand the damn film!

Romeo + Juliet (1996) 3/10

Never ever ever ever let your cast speak in iambic pentameters. The characters speak in Shakespearean dialogue, which unless you are studying R&J as part of Lit class means that the average viewer can’t catch the dialogue. Not even a winsome pairing of Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio could save this overwrought mess.

Suspect X (2008) 5/10

Retarded plot.

Still Walking (2008) 6/10

Very Arthouse and incredibly slow but if you have the patience, Hirokazu Kore-eda weaves an intriguing tale that explores family dynamics. I was a tad disappointed with this because his earlier film Nobody Knows was one of my all time favourite films.

Last Chance Harvey (2008) 6/10

Annie Hall (1977) 6/10

Overrated.

Two Lovers (2008) 5/10

It’s a good thing that Joaquin Phoenix wants to quit acting, because he is not a particularly good actor.

There is an article in the New York Times by Timothy Egan titled “An Innocent Abroad” about one Amanda Knox accused of murder in Italy. It is an Opinion piece, not a news report and in it the author Egan does more than merely insinuate, he practically accuses the Italian justice systems of unfairness and casts grave aspersions on the character of the prosecutor. Now, Knox may or may not be guilty of murder and every accused is of course entitled to be presumed innocent. However, Egan’s article (the title tells you all about its slant) comes across as a puff piece that puts his perception of the truth without even bothering to give balanced account of both sides of the story. That is the sort of writing that may pass muster at a lesser paper, but to be associated with as august a paper as The New York Times is quite sad. I wonder if the NYT is slipping in terms of quality control? Because quite simply the article (albeit listed as an Opinion piece) was simply a disgraceful piece of writing.

This is not to say if Knox is or is not guilty. That is not the topic discussed. It is instead the ethics of writing a blatant puff piece casting various assertions with skimpy evidence. Indeed the article is thick with irony as it castigates an allegedly crooked prosecutor for accusing Knox with insufficient evidence even as it blatantly defames the prosecutor with equally threadbare “evidence.”

Star Trek (2009) 8/10

This was really (and perhaps unexpectedly) good. I liked it more than Watchmen because the film is tight and moves along with quick, snappy pacing whereas Watchmen tended to get bogged down by weak and superfluous scenes. Despite a fairly predictable plot, Star Trek thrives because its characters are compelling, especially the juxtaposition between Spock’s logic and Kirk’s emotions. All in all its great summer entertainment and my #1 fav film of the year so far.

The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs - Series - NYTimes.com

Worldwide, there are 19 million unsafe abortions a year, and they kill 70,000 women (accounting for 13 percent of maternal deaths), mostly in poor countries like Tanzania where abortion is illegal, according to the World Health Organization. More than two million women a year suffer serious complications. According to Unicef, unsafe abortions cause 4 percent of deaths among pregnant women in Africa, 6 percent in Asia and 12 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Reliable figures on abortion in Tanzania are hard to come by, but the World Health Organization reports that its region, Eastern Africa, has the world’s second-highest rate of unsafe abortions (only South America is higher). And Africa as a whole has the highest proportion of teenagers — 25 percent — among women having unsafe abortions.

The 120-bed hospital in Berega depends on solar panels and a generator, which is run for only a few hours a day. Short on staff members, supplies and even water, the hospital puts a lot of its scarce resources into cleaning up after failed abortions.