Supreme Court: 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis

I listened to the Oral Arguments for the 303 Creative LLC vs Elenis Supreme Court case. 

This is the case where a Web Designer was asserting her right not to create a wedding announcement web site for a same sex couple because it would compel speech from her that was against her beliefs. 

My first take is that the Supreme Court should have never taken up this case on a pre-enforcement basis. There was no actual case to be heard, so all parties had to deal with hypotheticals upon hypotheticals, and, meanwhile, the plaintiff had yet to be asked to provide the service that her complaint was in reference to.

My second take is that the attorneys on both sides were pretty bad, and not just because the definition of 'public accommodations' is exceedingly grey when it comes to creative services and 'speech'. 

Each party seemed to have a very hard time holding a clear line during questioning. So, for example, if an opposite sex couple asks for a wedding announcement web site that has nothing more than their names, pictures, the date and location of the event, and links to the registry and hotel, and a same sex couple asks for the exact same site with an update to the underlying information, i.e. such that we can infer that 303 would not be creating any new 'speech', 303 asserts that the same 'speech' applied to the same sex couple creates a message that they object to, while the government asserts that 303 is objecting based on the characteristics of the customer, which is fatal to the case in this example, because sexual orientation is a protected class. 

The problem here is that hypotheticals can go to the kind of extremes that everyone can agree to. Can an African American Web Designer be compelled to create a rally site for the KKK? Can a Trans Web Designer be compelled to create an anti-trans site for a Religious organization? If you answer 'no' to these questions, then even if the counter-examples are abhorrent to you, the basis is the same: Individuals should not be compelled create 'speech' that is not in alignment with their beliefs. 

But where does this lead? Will Businesses pre-screen customers to make sure that their services are only used in a way that conforms with their beliefs, and will they have a legitimate case for walking away mid-stream if they discover that this will not be the case? Can you imagine a wedding band that arrives to discover they are performing for a same sex (or even opposite sex) couple and simply turning around because they do not sanction the marriage? 

That is not what Business is about. If a Business is going to claim that it has the artistic degrees of freedom to create 'speech' then it should pursue its 'art' with excellence, regardless of the customer. That means the best possible wedding announcement web site for a same sex couple, and the most compelling rally site for the KKK. Money is exchanged, services are delivered, live and let live. Even this is not so great, especially for the latter example, but it is better than the alternative, IMHO.

Ayn Rand

I don't think that anyone can properly read an Ayn Rand (1905-1982) novel without first understanding her history (Russia 1905-1931, America 1931-1982), her philosophy (reason, individualism, capitalism), and the time period in which she came of age. 

One must also understand that the characters in her works of fiction are over-stated caricatures of the ideas they represent, in order to avoid the tedium of trying to understand them in any other way. 

With that in mind, the genius of her seminal work 'Atlas Shrugged' (1957) cannot be over-stated, and the genius of its predecessor 'The Fountainhead' (1943) is equally noteworthy. In both books, Rand has a fixation on the seemingly altruistic 'humanitarian' with latent, corrosive intentions. 

On this front, her depiction of Ellsworth Toohey in 'The Fountainhead' lays the groundwork for the much more deleterious characters in 'Atlas Shrugged'.

"One Small Voice" [Toohey's Newspaper Column] never seemed to say anything dangerously revolutionary, and seldom anything political. It merely preached sentiments with which most people felt in agreement: unselfishness, brotherhood, equality. 

"I'd rather be kind than right." 

"Mercy is superior to justice, the shallow-hearted to the contrary notwithstanding." 

"Speaking anatomically - and perhaps otherwise - the heart is our most valuable organ. The brain is a superstition." 

"In spiritual matters there is a simple, infallible test: everything that proceeds from the ego is evil; everything that proceeds from love for others is good."

"Service is the only badge of nobility. I see nothing offensive in the conception of fertilizer as the highest symbol of man's destiny: it is fertilizer that produces wheat and roses."

"The worst folk song is superior to the best symphony."

"A man braver than his brothers insults them by implication. Let us aspire to no virtue which cannot be shared."

"I have yet to see a genius or a hero who, if stuck with a burning match, would feel less pain than his undistinguished average brother."

"Genius is an exaggeration of dimension. So is elephantiasis. Both may be only a disease."

"We are all brothers under the skin-and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it."

It is this last quote that reveals Toohey's utter disregard for humanity, at least when it comes to the humanity represented by the individual. He only cared for humanity in the abstract, which leaves quite a lot of room for the destruction of the individual along the way. 

What is humanity if not an aggregation of individuals? 

Keep that in mind whenever you hear seemingly altruistic 'humanitarians' lobby for the curtailment of individual rights, the derision of individual achievement, and the use of the inevitable inequities of life as proof that 'benevolent' control of resources is required for a more equitable distribution of them. 

Meditation

 

I am no expert, but I can say, from personal experience, that meditating, especially if you have health issues, is very much like moving from a modality where you exist on top of a broken machine to one where you occupy the machine itself. 

It is like moving from being strapped on top of an airplane angling its way towards the ground, to being in the airplane itself with, at the very least, access to the cockpit and the inner workings of the aircraft. 

In the first modality, the wind and the noise consume your senses, the movements of the plane are involuntary as far as you are concerned, and since you are attached to the top of the plane, you cannot see the ground below, so you do not know where you are in relation to the rest of the world.

In the second modality, you gain some insight into how the plane is operated and instrumented (including, most importantly, the altimeter), you get to walk along the length of the plane to see more of what is going on around it, and [as an extra added bonus] you get to use the bathroom ;-) 

Controlling the plane is another matter, but the first step is getting OFF the plane and INTO the plane. Of course, meditation does not bestow immortality, so you are still going to eventually run out of fuel and go down. You might not gain enough mastery by that time to actually land the plane, but you might, at least, flatten out the approach and skid your way to a more enlightened ending.

This would be very much like how a Zen master might gather their pupils for a nice dinner, during which they would say, "I am going to die tonight", and where complete mastery would entail dying just after dinner but before the dishes have to be washed.

Trailblazer.me and Webassessor Account Transition

09/30/2021 Update: 

It appears as though there is a new capability in Trailhead that might supplant the process I've described below. You can view the following help articles: Merge Trailblazer.me Accounts, Link Your Trailhead and Webassessor Accounts. That said, I am still leaving my original post intact, just in case.

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Let's say you are changing employers and your current trailblazer.me and webassessor.com accounts are wired up to the email address and Salesforce org associated with your employer. This is a common case for Salesforce and Salesforce Partner employees, because there is a desire to link badges and CERTS to the employer, but when you are moving on, you want to take your badges and CERTS with you, so to speak. Here is a step by step guide for how to achieve that objective:

1. Create a new Developer Edition Org (DE Org)
• Of course, you can also become a Salesforce customer and create a PROD org ;-)
• Use your personal email when you sign up. To appease my OCD, I created a brand new email alias (e.g. sf-trailblazer@domain.com) and used this for both my login and email
2. Log into Trailblazer.me using your existing credentials
3. In the upper right corner, left-click your icon and then select 'Settings'
4. Under 'Connected Accounts', select 'Connect' to add a new Connected Account
5. You will be asked to login into your Salesforce Org (DE or PROD)
• Use the credentials created in Step #1 above
• After you successfully login, you will be redirected back to Trailblazer.me > Settings
6. Under 'Email Accounts', select 'Add Email' to add a new Email Address
• Use the email address that you used in Step #1 above
• You will have to go through a two-factor authentication process
7. Log out of Trailblazer.me
8. Log into Trailblazer.me using the new credentials created in Step #1
• Note that you may have to do this in incognito mode, to prevent the login process from redirecting you to the my domain associated with your existing credentials
9. Under 'Connected Accounts', select the 'Disconnect' button next to your existing Salesforce org (i.e. the org associated with the employer that you are leaving)
10. Under 'Email Accounts', select the 'Disconnect' button next to your existing email address (i.e. the address associated with the employer that you are leaving)
11. Now log into webassessor.com using your existing credentials
• As an aside, you will NOT be updating your webassessor.com credentials during this process. So, if your current username for Web Assessor is <your_name>@<your_current_employer.com>, it will remain the same even after you leave your current employer, but this is of no real consequence.
• If your really want to, you can submit a case to Trailblazer support to ask for your webassessor.com username to be changed. I did, and it changed my life!
12. Select 'Edit Profile' in the upper-right section of the screen
13. Update the following fields:
• 'Email Address'
• Use the same email address used in Step #1
• 'Email address associated with your Salesforce account'
• Use the same email address used in Step #1
• 'Company Name'
• You can use "Self" or whatever
• 'Are you a'
• If your current employer is Salesforce and you are moving to a Salesforce Partner, then select "Salesforce Partner", or select "Salesforce Customer" (or whatever)
• As an aside, you should also make sure your other fields (i.e. phone, address) are correct
• When you select 'Save', you may be asked to provide your password to update your email

Now you may need to wait up to 24 hours for the linkage to be updated. After 24 hours, you can test the linkage by going to the Salesforce Certification Verification Page and entering your new email address (used in Step #1) in the 'Certification Holders: Check Your Status' section. If you do not see your certifications after 24 hours, then submit a ticket to Trailhead support. 

Cheers!

Anti-Intuitive

 

Image from koloajodo.com

In an ancient kingdom, a wise man provided a king with an herbal remedy that saved the queen’s life. Grateful, the king offered the wise man anything he wished in return. Noticing a chess board beside the king's throne, the wise man asked for a grain of rice to be placed in a corner square, and then for the quantity to be doubled each time it was moved through the succession of squares through the entire board. The courtiers all laughed, thinking that this was the paltry wish of a foolish old man. The king, with a look of regret at having granted the wise man leave to wish for anything, smiled and said, let me give you my crown instead.

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Why?

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Because 2 to the 63rd equals 9.22337E+18 or 9,223,370,000,000,000,000 or 9 quintillion. Placed end to end, this amount of rice would stretch for about 30 trillion miles, which is more than the distance between Earth and the closest star beyond our Sun, Alph-Centurai. 

Our minds do not readily intuit this kind of progression. 

-- This is an adaptation of a story first known to have been recorded in 1256 by Ibn Khallikan, but modified to suit my personal tastes

Women in the Workplace

A Fortune 500 company sponsored an executive retreat on Hawaii's Big Island. The point was to foster collaboration between executives as they climbed up the slope of the Kilauea Volcano, which had recently erupted in 2018 and was thought to be dormant for the foreseeable future. The executive cadre consisted of 10 male executives and 2 female executives, who endured a lot of snide comments and eye-rolling as they struggled to keep up with the men. At some point the volcano started to rumble, and the guide, seeing that they were too far from the bus at the base to make a run for it, decided to call in a rescue helicopter. However, given that they were on a slope, the helicopter had to hover over the group while they climbed onto a rope ladder, and then they had to simply hold on to the ladder during transport, because there was no way to get into the helicopter during flight. As the pilot struggled to keep the helicopter in the air, he realized that the load was roughly 100lbs over, so he called out to the executives on a loudspeaker: "One of you has to let go, or we are all going down!" This took a little while to sink in, but, even after it sunk in, still, no one volunteered to let go. Finally, one of the women said: "Okay, I will let go. After all, women have been sacrificing themselves for other people for as long as mankind has been around. From child-bearing, to child-rearing, to giving up our careers, to supporting our husbands as they progressed in their careers, to taking care of everyone when they are sick, even as we are sick. Why should this situation be any different?". The men all stared at her in disbelief. With emotional admiration, they all began vigorously applauding with both hands. After the rope ladder was clear, the women gave themselves a knowing glance and warm smile, and then hung on tight for the rest of the ride.

-- Modified from a version I heard on a Tara Brach podcast. She did not recall the source.

The Roots vs The Flower

I think that the most important issue that we need to grapple with in American today is, what kind of racism continues to exist? In my opinion, claims on either end of the spectrum lack legitimacy, i.e. we are not experiencing a more camouflaged version of Institutional racism but we are not experiencing Incidental racism by a few bad apples either. Rather, we are experiencing a racial bias within the fabric of our society. It is of the same variety that James Baldwin describes in his great debate with William F. Buckley (below). Thus, for example, the notion that the police are, in effect, patrolling the border between black and white communities is not only an inaccurate depiction but also a counter-productive one, as it tilts the frame towards a kind of Institutional racism that does not exist. As well, the notion that policing is uniformly applied across black and white communities, and the disproportionate representation of African Americans in the criminal justice system is as a result of disproportionate criminal activity is an equally inaccurate and counter-productive depiction, as it glosses over a much more militarized and aggressive form of law enforcement that has evolved in high-crime, high-poverty communities, which are typically black communities. The question remains, how do we address a racial bias in the fabric of our society? I do not think it can be addressed by asking white America to take ownership of sins that they have not committed and ask forgiveness for views that they do not hold (as an aside, I would not be considered 'white' by the normal standard, as I am half Indian). This is under the assumption that the vast majority of white Americans are not overt or covert racists, and do not commit racist acts by commission or omission. This may or may not be the case, but, given that it is not a supposition that can be derived from hard data, I think that we would be much better off assuming it is the case. In my view, the only path forward is to re-frame this debate on Individual terms, and adopt measures that benefit all Individuals, even as they will, in fact, benefit African Americans disproportionately. This tracks to the classic answer that Barack Obama gave in a debate, whereby, when asked how he will address the socioeconomic woes of African Americans, he replied that he would address the socioeconomic woes of all Americans, and African Americans would enjoy an incidental, disproportionate benefit by virtue of their more challenging circumstances. To get there, I think that it will be important for everyone to rally around a common cause for preserving Individual life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, without regard to color, but with full knowledge that, in doing so, they will address the disparities of color within our economy, politics and criminal justice system. This would entail enforcing policies of deescalation and removing criminal liability protections in policing, fixing upside-down voting districts, investing in education and economic enterprise zones, etc, but also enforcing a more uniform code of Individual responsibility and accountability, like eliminating the welfare state and reverse discrimination, such that all Americans that need help can get it, but all Americans are, ultimately, on a level playing field. Rather than burning calories on continually fixating the racist roots of America, let’s focus the measures that will produce a non-racist flower ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPz7kTnEWKE&t=975