“Family, friends, colleagues, students and postdocs, alumni, distinguished guests” [ Gay, C., Harvard Inaugural Address, 2023] and Ethics Alarms readers: “My hope is that” [Gay,C. ‘It’s not my fault!’ op-ed, New York Times, 1/4/23] this open forum will reflect “your own commitment….to the common cause of” [Gay, C., Harvard Inaugural Address, 2023] ethics consideration and exploration, and that “any temptation to use” [ Ormsby, J.; Translator’s Introduction to “Don Quixote” (Project Gutenberg, 1997.] anyone else’s ideas or wording will ” be resisted” [Ibid.] today. Our goal here, after all, is to”question the world as it is and imagine and make a better one” [Gay, C., Harvard Inaugural Address, op.cit.] as we inspire “a new birth of” [Lincoln, A; “Gettysburg Address,” 1863] ethics awareness in our culture.
Ethics Alarms 
Outstanding Introduction!
Yeah, that was one of the funniest Open Forum intros yet.
That intro put a smile on my face, thank you.
On a silly note – Is it ethical to use those nickels, $1.00 checks, magnets, return address labels, mittens, greeting cards, etc sent from unsolicited charities if you do not donate to them? I just cannot get myself to use any of that stuff if I am not able to contribute! Dumb, I know, but…
Yes. I use them because they were sent to me and will otherwise go to waste if I don’t. I didn’t ask for them nor did I make any agreement to support them financially in exchange for those items.
Have any of you heard of Threads.net?
I recently opened an account, using my InstaGram login.
Here is one of my reply posts on a thread about crime.
https://www.threads.net/@mejercit/post/C1uUmbAL6VK
You should read the whole thread.
Just to get this off the top of my head, I would like to propose an indefinite moratorium on the use of the expression “our democracy.”
Cutting out the phrase ‘our democracy’ would go against ‘my truth,’ though.
I concur, as a repeat offender. How about “the republic”?
Here is Jacob Sullum.
https://reason.com/2024/01/04/7-reasons-trumps-lawyers-say-he-is-not-disqualified-from-running-for-president/
Here is an interesting tweet.
Personally I think it’s unethical and absolutely absurd that the political left’s “new” narrative about our illegal immigration problem is to blame Republicans for the whole thing. It’s all over the place, even President Biden is blaming Republicans. It’s all a bald faced LIE and Republicans need use the word LIARS when describing the political left!
The political left is openly LYING to everyone, the lefts “Immigration Reforms” that they are constantly demonizing Republicans for not participating in will not do a damn thing to stop the massive invasion (an incursion by a large number of people into a place or sphere of activity), yes it’s an invasion of illegal immigrants from crossing our borders.
One of my former students posted a meme on his FB page. I can’t figure out how to post it here, but it shows a photo of everyone’s favorite ex-president of Harvard with the message:
“I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter. I had to fall to lose it all, but in the end it doesn’t even matter.
–Claudine Gay”
For readers who might not know, those are the lyrics to a Linkin Park song from a couple of decades ago.
I offer a “well played” to whoever created this one.
Thus reminding me of the “Matter Trio” from Ruddigore, inexcusably stuck into “The Pirates of Penzance” on Broadway. Yes, that is Vincent Price as “Despard Murgatroyd”
Miguel Almaguer is abruptly, for whatever reason, unemployed.
The youthful, bright, engaging, androgynous/ethnic/POC (AKA: An orgasmic Lefty Q-Rating) was a rising star who it appeared NBC was grooming/fast-tracking for a top slot in the corporation.
Then it all came crashing down, amid tight-lipped secrecy and many as yet unanswered questions.
When there remains no fear of retribution, people’s tongues tend to loosen, I’d LUV to hear a The Rest Of The Story exposé; would it be unethical for him to supply one?
PWS
Is it unethical to use a small deception to shine a light on a larger, more dangerous one?
Below is an oldie but goodie from five years back (maybe covered in EA at the time?), that seems somehow appropriate in light of the exposure of Clauding Gay and others “Peter-principled” into prominence by their skill at parroting and adhering to woke agendas.
Three writers, self-described as liberal but anti-PC, cobbled together 20 absurd papers laden with woke jargon, and submitted them to various journals. Seven were accepted and published, including one discussing six poems generated by algorithm.
https://reason.com/2018/10/03/dog-rape-hoax-papers-pluckrose-lindsay/
I believe that it was covered in Ethics Alarms at the time, and Jack rated it as an unethical solution.
Yes, there were a couple posts. One regarding this article and another about a previous hoax by Boghosian (sic?).
Here is Ilya Somin.
https://reason.com/volokh/2024/01/05/supreme-court-will-consider-trump-section-3-disqualification-case/
One of the channels I watch on Youtube frequently criticized TedX talks. The most recent video was on a talk about safety for non straight students in the classroom. The talk was mostly complete nonsense, boilerplate progressive cant about gay, trans, any person that isn’t straight. The commentator brought up something that I believe could generate good discussion. There was a brief discussion about high school students not feeling completely safe at school. The commentator remarked that he believed that high school students should not feel completely safe at school, specifically mentally. High school is meant to challenge students and prepare them for real life. Being completely safe, that is coddled, will inhibit a student’s ability to adapt to the real world.
How far should a high school go to challenge a student’s ideas? I assume that most people here would agree that a high school should challenge a student’s preconceived notions. The main question would be on how much should be challenged and in what way.
I want to piggy-back off QuaaLloyd’s comment above regarding charities. My wife and I receive a lot of calls requesting contributions to charities…my wife especially. We are starting to see a trend where – if we decline – the caller applies additional pressure to contribute. We hear things like, “Well, don’t you care about such-and-such charity?…Don’t you value your and your family’s safety?…I guess you don’t want this amenity available to your neighbors…” Stuff like that.
I believe that’s unethical pressure. The caller asked me a question for which either “yes” or “no” is a valid answer. If I give a valid answer of “no”, that should be enough.
But rather than go back and forth with the caller and risk getting angry…or fall into the guilt-trip trap and contribute just to get them off the phone, I have come up with my response. I say something like, “My wife and I do not have unlimited monies to contribute to every cause and problem in the world, so we pick those we can afford and assist with them. Someone else will have to financially help you with the solution to your problem. Thank you.”
The charities that call me — and I typically don’t donate — when I say “No, my charitable funds are already committed” (or something like that), will counter with “Well, can I count on you to just give us $35 a month. “No, sorry I am unable to donate”. “How about $25?”.
It can get tedious to persuade them that No really means No. I’m not haggling over the terms, I am really just saying no. Yes, sometimes I get tired of all that and just say “I’m unable to donate. Goodbye”.
In their defense, I know how calling campaigns work. They have a script and have to stick to it — it has contingencies for various things people will respond. But. Especially since most of these are cold calls, it is aggravating and doesn’t leave me with positive feelings towards that group.
I’ll put this here to bring it to EA attention.
King Arthur Baking Pitchfest 2024 – It appears this is open only to people of color (no whites)
Half mentorship, half competition, Baking Pitchfest is an accelerator program designed to foster greater inclusivity and creativity in the baking world by providing equitable opportunities for People of Color* entrepreneurs. Winners receive financial support, brand exposure, and mentorship to help accelerate their businesses.
*People of Color defined as Asian or Pacific Islander; Black or African America; Hispanic or Latinx; Indigenous or Native American; Middle Eastern or North African
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/pitchfest