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I’ve got the first early Saturday morning legal ethics seminar I’ve had for a while, so let’s throw the blog open to the commentariat, shall we?
As always, do stay on topic, don’t be uncivil, and don’t junk the blog up with trivia, nastiness, jokes and memes like some other blogs I could mention.
I’ll be back later, for good or ill, I promise.
Ethics Alarms 
Read just yesterday it is now out in the open the impeachment proceedings are intending to prevent President Trump from being on the ballot this fall. Should he not be forced off the ballot the election will be claimed to have been stolen.
So the party which concocted an entire illegal plan to steal the last election and failing that undo a duly elected President now claims any election including Trump will be illegitimate.
Apparently we should just let Nancy Pelosi become President now and enjoy our wide array of leftist choices in November..
Who are the enemies of democracy again?
Two reality shows from the past are re-emerging far too soon with reboots.
The first is “The Biggest Loser”, a weight-loss game show that pushed overweight contestants to the limit with ridiculous and humiliating challenges, caused physical injuries that persist years later and pushed healthy eating on the air while pressuring the players to reduce their intake to unhealthy levels in order to show dramatic weight loss that was presented as being the result of one week’s work when it was often longer.
The reboot promises a more healthy environment. I’m not betting on it. Realistic weight loss is not exciting and boring does not bring in advertising dollars.
Because in any television show, it’s always about the dollars.
I stopped watching TBL after being convinced it was not ethical to continue to support a show that exploited vulnerable people (admittedly, I did tune in for a couple of more months when a contestant happened to be one of my old high school classmates).
But I only watched a handful of “Extreme Makeover:Home Edition” episodes before I decided that it was just as bad, if not worse.
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” involves families that are living in dilapidated homes, often with dangerous flaws for which there is not enough money to fix. The show sends the family off to Disneyworld and, in its absence, tears down the shack, rebuilds the home with the help of volunteers and local contractors and surprises the family with a new home. These houses are typically much larger than they had been before and are often designed with theme rooms (think firefighters or sports) for the kids.
After two or three episodes, I started thinking, “What happens after the show is over, though?” What happens when the kid stops liking fire engines? Some of those rooms were put together for older teens that would normally be leaving the home (or should have by then). No 19-year old kid is going to want to leave a specially-designed room with fancy electronics to go live on his own.
A football field with stadium lights was built for a family of sports fans right next to their rebuilt home.
Then I realized that there’s no way the families could afford the new places. They were living in broken down houses in the first place because that’s all they could afford. If they could do better, they would have. I started wondering how they could afford the increased bills that would obviously come with these new homes: electric bills, water bills, tax bills.
It turns out that many of them couldn’t. Several high-profile situations erupted in which families were forced to sell the new homes because they couldn’t afford to live there. Local businesses that contributed to the Built In A Week Homes sometimes had to come back to redo wiring and plumbing on their own dime due to the corners cut during the show’s filming.
No word on whether this version will tone down the excess, but, if EM-HE wants to do a better service to its families, it would just fix the problems with the existing homes and, instead of sending them off to Disneyworld, put the parents through a week-long financial counseling seminar.
Somehow I doubt that which is why shows like the two above are unethical.
Agree? Disagree?
Proof-read and proof-read again and still didn’t realize I’d clicked on the reply button under Adimagejim’s post. Jim, sorry, the post above is clearly not intended as a reply to your post.
Which, by the right, is right on target. The Democrats are constantly plotting to accuse the President and his supporters of the very things they themselves are guilty of doing. This had always been about preventing him from governing and keeping him from being re-elected. When he wins again, the cycle starts all over again.
I think they shift gears toward civil violence since the Alinskyite methodology is not working. It’s what the desperate do when nearing the end of their rope.
If they act out, we will be ready.
Always found them to be both unethical and unwatchable.
That Ty guy was enraging.
The home make over show was the equivalent of the $15 an hour minimum wage. Lots of people want it. Few people can earn it. Therefore the most vulnerable and least able lose big time.
Ty will be back. Not as host, though, but as a “skilled laborer”. How many times will he just be itching to yell the show’s signature line, “Move that bus!”?
If only the bus had run over him early on. 😈
That was on ABC and therefore a Disney property, right? That would explain why it would be needlessly rebooted.
I will, once again, paraphrase Bomber Harris, who spoke to a friend standing next to him as they watched London burn during The Blitz.
“The Democrats are sowing the wind.”
I couldn’t decide if this is a pile-on of your post, or if I should have made my own thread. You beat me to the look-how-asinine-they-are punch, so here it is: the situation in Virginia. Behold, a pile of links sure to send me into moderation! Jack, this isn’t criticism, I know the consequences of my behavior well and fully approve of your moderative decisions – even should my very life be demanded of me. I apologize for your inconvenience!
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB399
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SJ29
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SJ14
https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SJ8
https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB65
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1627
It would seem the Democrats are taking radically open steps to ensure that no political opposition will ever gain ground again. That last one, apparently in conjunction with Virginia’s low bar for what constitutes harassment, is especially nefarious. Though I suppose the tampering with the electoral college is risible as well. So, it escalates, and, the left party being a cult of true believers, no de-escalation is likely or maybe even possible.
Behold! Out of mediation!
A gracious host, as always!
We seem to see this regularly, but REM wants to stop Trump from using their music in his rallies:
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article239389138.html
Is this an attempt by REM to appear relevant (or get some attention)?
Do they not understand their own licensing agreements?
Their solution would be simple: stop licensing their music altogether.
So, are they just dumb?
Do they understand their licensing agreements, but want to delude the public with their virtue-signalling?
Are they making people dumber?
Or, do they want their money, AND be able to make a cheap statement of principle?
-Jut
I’ll say yes to questions 2, 3 and 5.
My selection of yes on 3 is predicated on a deductive reasoning based on my answering yes to 2 and 5.
And now for something completely different. A humorous hint of what sort of hilarity will ensue if the NYT prevails and Liz Warren is the Dem nominee:
https://babylonbee.com/news/warren-rejects-peace-pipe-offered-by-sanders
I see that OB, & raise you a:
In Major Deal, The Babylon Bee Purchases Competing Satire Site CNN
With apologies to Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend!”
https://babylonbee.com/news/new-deadlier-ar-16-introduced-which-is-an-ar-15-wearing-a-maga-hat
(Am I the only one who’s noticed “my friend” is only appended when the speaker, usually of Italian descent, is making a threat?)
Lee Corso is a Moron Savant, anyone that’s say otherwise will surrender their banking information upon request.
Cory Booker Moved To Tears During Participation Trophy Acceptance Speech
I will tell you what happened to me last week.
I frequently take short videos of the scene when going out in public. Sometime after recording this short video at Hurricanes Bar and Grill in Huntington beach, California on January 18, 2020,, security wanted to talk to me outside. They told me that some people were “uncomfortable” with me taking pictures, and they told me to leave. I inquired further, but they refused. I know there is no blanket policy against recording, because I have done it before here and at other places like Disneyland with no incident. And no one had previously asked me to stop taking pictures or recording.
This is completely unacceptable! No one I worked for would tolerate me mistreating a client like that.
Whoever was managing on January 18, 2020 should be fired! There is no excuse!
I have to make sure that happens.
Here is a link to the video, for context.
Here you go:
I am tempted to end it at:
Res Ipsa Loqitor
But I am too annoyed. The article is impossy for anyone of normal intelligence to read. The idea is just so banal, so nonsensical, that a serious treatment is tedious to read.
The women is literally treating the liberal agenda as the wisdom of the cosmos. She is packaging liberal talking points as religion. At best astrology is entertainment, at worst exploitation of the dimwiited.
This women’s actions are unethical at both ends: she is destroying its lingering entertainment value for yet another advenue for political shrilling, AND she is packaging talking bits to indoctrinate anyone foolish enough to take astrology seriously.
Does anyone really need to read that their cosmic duty is to reduce their carbon footprint between the sports and comic pages. Is the liberal cause really going to use straight up psuedo-science to promote what they allege is serious science and injustices?
Sounds like a Babylon Bee article to me!
1. I’ll make this an unethical website of the month. Thanks.
2. I’m going to kill myself, I think. Thanks in great part to the left wing visitors who have left Ethics Alarms while saying utter brain-killer like “We’re on the right side of history!” and the conservative readers whose litmus test I cannot and must not pass—knee-jerk endorsement of their unethical positions and heroes—I’m struggling to keep the traffic here at levels that were OK five years ago, when participation was on the upswing. The product is as good today as ever, maybe better, and that idiot gets a million visits a month? Great. The morons and the totalitarians win, then. I’m wasting my life.
Combining Leftist activism with horoscopes is actually a brilliant idea. They’re like the peanut butter and chocolate of gullible stupidity. “Two dumb things that are dumb together!”
You have a very profitable career in advertising ahead of you, Isaac!
Arggh! Can’t find the website, and that link no longer works!
It’s on everyone mind so I’m going to broach the topic, the impeachment trial of President Trump. I for one have been watching as much of the impeachment trial proceedings in the Senate as I can via CSPAN. It’s been extremely tough to watch some of it.
There is absolutely nothing ethical about what the House Managers have done. I am so utterly disgusted with the DC Democrats that we are irretrievably broken. I’m actually feeling shame about every Democrat that I’ve ever voted for, I’ve fed the beast and I am so sorry for my participation.
I’ve been saying since the transcript of the Ukrainian phone call was made public is that the only way anyone can twist the phone call into a quid-pro-quo is if that person is already completely consumed with anti-Trump bias. I stick by that assertion and I’ll state it right now the ENTIRE case against President Trump is because these people are completely consumed with anti-Trump bias and they will twist everything that Trump does into being wrong. Their whole case is built upon a floating foundation of sand where they are trying to intentionally misinform the public that what they are reading between the lines and reading peoples minds is fact and that the separation of powers, the rights of the Executive Branch, the rights of the President of the United States and the rights of the person holding the office of the President of the United states have no rights under the law. They are literally impeaching the President for upholding his rights. As far as I can tell nearly the entire DC Democratic wing of the United States Congress is either willingly or unknowingly involved in a ongoing soft coup perpetuated by unethical and immoral political hacks. The lying political hacks House Managers and Nancy Pelosi need to be taught a serious lesson and thrown out of office and prosecuted (if possible) for their massive abuse of power and outright bastardization of the United States Constitution.
I’ve always had a hard time with how prosecutors, in my opinion, unethically distort the facts to impune guilt but what I’ve seen the House Managers do in this Senate trial is well beyond belief, beyond unethical, beyond unconstitutional, it’s immoral. I’m officially calling the House Managers intentional liars with evil intent, I have no other explanation for their actions.
Any DC Senator, Republican, Democrat or Independent that votes for convicting the President based on what the House Managers presented should be protested by their constituents and removed from office and stripped of their Congressional benefits. I’ve had it with these unethical political hacks.
The Trump defense has already destroyed the House Managers case using facts that Rep. Adam Schiff and his hack pack of House Manager liars have immorally omitted and we’re only three or four hours into the President’s defense presentation.
The Democrats have forever driven me away from any candidate they present. There is no way I’d ever again vote for a Democrat Party candidate after this fiasco, their ideology is corrupt with power and they simply cannot be trusted with power. I’m done with them.
Jack recently wrote about the tipping point where he may need to vote for Trump based on the Democrat’s various vile decisions.
I read it and wondered aloud, “What the Hell took you so long, Jack.” I was there within a year after the last election.
They really have disgusted me for the last three years.
It gets, actually, significantly worse. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere- my marriage fell apart. I am a full time custodial Dad, so I, out of necessity, use the awful apps for dating- Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Facebook Match. The number of women (and possibly men too- I don’t play for both teams as they say)- who say things like “Swipe left if you voted for Trump” or “Trumpsters Get Lost” or “Republicans need not apply” would appall you. I always accommodate them. (Except one time- and she was gorgeous and I was feeling low that night- DON’T JUDGE ME! Okay, you can judge me. I felt sick about it after. These are BAD people). Really, the way this has permeated to the mundane and every day life is terrifying. Notably, I have yet to see a single conservative say “If you voted for Hilary, swipe left.” The worst I have seen is “If you’re a snowflake who doesn’t support the police, swipe left.” And I only saw that once. I would say the “swipe left for Trump” happens about ten percent of the time. It’s pretty scary. And incredibly arrogant. And sickening. And it’s bad for America.
Well, they have turned this life long moderate into a life-long conservative. So, they’re doing a good job, I guess.
It’s absolutely terrible.
In the last 4+ years the Democrats have perverted the truth, perverted facts, perverted the Constitution, they pervert everything they touch, everything.
Very depressed reading blogger Amy Alkon’s post about being impressed by Adam Schiff’s blather at the impeachment trial. The man has been lying for years now, claiming the Mueller investigation would prove impeachable offenses, grotesquely misrepresenting facts, leaking classified documents, conspiring with the media, and smart Amy is impressed by a guy who says “if we can’t impeach for this, we can’t impeach for anything,” a per se moronic, dishonest comment. She’s impressed because, despite basic intelligence and common sense, she’s not political, not a lawyer, not conversant in the Constitution, doesn’t know Presidential history, hasn’t been paying close attention, but knows she detests Trump, and thinks, like so many other ignorant members of the public, that if she thinks an elected President is “unfit,” that’s enough to impeach him.
These people don’t deserve to live in a democracy. Too lazy, too gullible, too complacent, too easy to mislead and manipulate.
I thought the same thing. Amy’s smart, I’ve read her for years, but…it’s so damned hard to find anything, any article anywhere, that lays out why the Democrats are wrong. I read Ethics Alarms, and I also read actual source documents whenever I can (the transcript of the Ukraine phone call, Micheal Brown’s autopsy report, court records, arrest records, Senate voting histories, to name a few things I’ve dug for over the years). It takes a tremendous effort to root out the truth. There’s almost nothing out there but Democratic talking points.If you use Google, it’s nearly impossible to find anything you’re looking for easily. A search for ‘Obama’s total drone strike numbers’* turns up pages of articles about Trump drone strikes, the Iraq attack etc. I use DuckDuckGo now for finding any opposition info about Democrats. I am still flabbergasted about the difference between the actual Ukraine phone call transcript, and what the Democrats claim it contains, and how it has become the House/media narrative. Do they count on people not reading it? It’s the only explanation I can think of for how brazen they are!
* I was searching for it because a few weeks ago an article came out saying that ‘Under Trump’s drone strikes far exceed Obama’s’, and I remembered his as being in the low 500’s. The article says, ‘ According to a 2018 report in The Daily Beast, Obama launched 186 drone strikes in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan during his first two years in office. In Trump’s first two years, he launched 238……. The Trump administration has carried out 176 strikes in Yemen in just two years, compared with 154 there during all eight years of Obama’s tenure, according to a count by The Associated Press and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.’
However, Obama’s final total was over 500 for both terms. The way the article is written omits other countries Obama used drones in, and focuses on only two years, and voila, you can claim that drone attacks are escalating under Trump. This kind of twisting/omitting facts is the norm now. It shouldn’t be so hard to find information.
Seeking opposition research? Don’t they claim that’s what got us here in the first place?
Anywho, I’ve had the same problem; trying to run down the rest of the story when the story supports a certain agenda.
While they’re certainly not alone on this, Lefty makes bank on most people having < the attention spans of GOLDFISH.
This has its roots in the Great Awokening which started in 2014.
http://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/18259865/great-awokening-white-liberals-race-polling-trump-2020
This ios in shapr contrast to the rise of communism and Nazism.
the Russian czarist regime did not promote communism.
the German Weimar regime did not promote Nazism.
These Woketarians have expanded the definition of racism to the brink of incoherence.
We see their policies. The EEOC has called criminal background checks racist. (I wonder why the Woketarian Left does not apply this same logic to universal background checks for firearm purchases.)
Trump was elected in part due to the excesses of the Great Awokening.