I’ll be damned if I’ll call them “insurrections.”
1. Free the Peshawar tree! Here is a flagrant example of unethical treatment of vegetation. 125 years ago, an inebriated British officer, James Squid, was staggering toward a tree in Landi Kotal, a town near the Torkhan border of Pakistan. Convinced that it was the tree that was moving rather than him as he tried to lean on it for support, Squid declared the tree under arrest. It was then duly chained to the ground, and the chains remain to this day. This plaque tells the tragic tale:
2. Moving on to humans, Greta Thunberg, who just turned 21 and no longer can claim the credulity of extreme youth to excuse her demagoguery, quietly took down her tweet from 2018 quoting a distinguished scientist’s conclusion that the human race was doomed if global warming wasn’t shut down in five years.
3. Is THIS a frivolous law suit? Jonathan Turley thinks so, but I have my doubts. Frustrated New York City Major Eric Adams, beside himself over his charge actually having to live up to its proud status as a “sanctuary city,” announced this week that he is suing bus companies, seeking $700 million in damages for their carrying illegal immigrants into the Big Apple. Turley reminds us that the Biden Administration is flying the same scofflaws to New York.
There is an obscure law supporting the action: New York Social Services Law § 149 requires that “[a]ny person who knowingly brings, or causes to be brought, a needy person from out of state into this state for the purpose of making him a public charge…shall be obligated to convey such person out of state or support him at his own expense.” The problem with the suit is that the law shouldn’t apply to bus companies, which are paid to carry the illegals. Turley writes, “It is doubtful that anyone in New York seriously believes that they can force bus or airline companies to pay for migrants coming to a self-proclaimed sanctuary city. It is a cynical effort to impose litigation costs on companies to get them to refuse to accept such contracts. Yet, how is a company supposed to determine if someone purchasing a ticket is a potential “public charge?” Does that apply to anyone who is impoverished? What proof of support is needed from the passenger? Such inquiries could themselves violate legal and constitutional protections.”
Turley sees the the lawsuit as hopeless because of the vagueness of the statute, the potential burden on interstate travel, and “a host of other glaring problems.” Still, ya never know! And that’s why “Hail Mary” lawsuits like this almost never cause the lawyers bringing them to be disciplined.
4. Ethics Hero: this unidentified dog…
My question: why didn’t the human taking the video rescue the poor cat instead of filming the incident and waiting to see what happened?
5. Oh-oh. My cultural literacy obligation is lagging…an op-ed in the Times declares that this flag…
…” has become a potent statement in its own right”…turning “policing into a tribal affiliation….the thin blue line flag fits so comfortably alongside the other symbols borne by the coalition of the far right that gathered in Charlottesville, Va., for the deadly Unite the Right rally in 2017: the alt-right’s faux-ironic Nazi homage, the flag of Kekistan; an updated version of the cluttered mash-up of the Nazi Party and American flags that is the banner of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement; the teal and white Dragon’s Eye of the white nationalists of Identity Evropa; swastikas and Sonnenrads; Confederate battle flags.” The headline to the column says this is a flag that “divides America.”
I was not aware of its existence. Were you?
6. Saving the updates on the Harvard President Ethics Train Wreck for last:
- Here’s a proud Ethics Dunce: D. Stephen Voss, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky,was a co-author of a 1996 paper that was among the works that ousted Harvard president Claudine Gay copied from. Apparently trying to burnish his woke credentials, Volk used this analogy in the New Yorke to dismiss the accusations against Gay, a former colleague. Yes, he agrees, it was “technically” plagiarism, but…”I use the analogy of speeding. If you’re driving fifty-seven miles per hour on a fifty-five-mile-per-hour highway, that’s technically speeding. But we don’t expect law enforcement to crack down any time behavior crosses over the line. The plagiarism in question here did not take an idea of any significance from my work. It didn’t steal my thunder. It didn’t stop me from publishing. And the bit she used from us was not in any way a major component of what made her research important or valuable. From my perspective, what she did was trivial—wholly inconsequential. That’s the reason I’ve so actively tried to defend her.”
In other words, “no harm, no foul.” With professors teaching with ethics standards like that, no wonder our rising generations have faulty ethics alarms.
- Meanwhile, the most vocal of the scholars Gay lifted passages from, Dr. Carol M. Swain, has had her lawyers write to the Harvard Corporation demanding answers about what Swain, a former political science professor at Vanderbilt, claims was significant plagiarism of her work by Gay. The former Harvard president plagiarized material from Swain’s work for Gay’s 1997 Ph.D. thesis. The lawyers ask Harvard to explain the difference between “duplicative language”—as the Harvard Corporation termed Gay’s “mistake”— and “verbatim copying” without attribution; whether the Harvard standards require quotation marks to be used for “the identical replication of another author’s language,” and when it is appropriate to retroactively edit an academic text to erase a misuse of sources. Swain’s letter also asks Harvard to clarify whether Gay’s dissertation, which used uncredited material plagiarized from Swain’s book Black Faces, Black Interests, meets the Harvard University Guidelines for PhD Dissertation from 1997, and whether “the discovery of plagiarism in a dissertation after a Harvard degree has been awarded” would “impact the status or validity of the degree conferred?”
Yes, Dr. Swain is ticked off.
The letter gave the Harvard Corporation until January 8, 2024 to respond.
7. Petition update: My Change.Org petition to draft Barack Obama to ride his white horse into Harvard’ Yard and take over the University’s presidency has 61 signatures so far. Come on: it has to break a thousand before there will be any buzz.
Ethics Alarms 
#1 might warrant a habeas corpus petition, except that producing the body might kill the tree.
#2 Quietly? Is she required to noisily take down her tweet. Her tweet only quoted an expert. The expert is the one with ‘splaining to do. That she was duped and a minor when she put up the tweet somewhat mitigates her obligation to declare a mea culpa. Also, considering that many of us knew her claim was ridiculous, it feels like piling on to run her nose in it.
#3 it would seem that the Governor of Texas would be the one to violate the law, not the bus company. Also, as a common carrier, I doubt the bus company could legally adopt a policy that only citizens can ride.
#4 Nothing to add.
#5 yes, I am familiar with that flag. Divisive? Yes, I suppose if you hate the police, it would be divisive. Then again, I bet that a significant portion of the people who find this flag divisive also find the actual flag divisive as well.
#6. Voss misses the point with his analogy. The issue is hypocrisy (when I speed, there is nothing that is hypocritical about my behavior). As a teacher, he cannot condone plagiarism by his students. To absolve Gay is to engage in hypocritical reasoning; even if he wants to minimize the significance of her error, he should be clear that it is a serious matter. I am not sure why Harvard would owe Swain an answer. Also, once a degree is conferred, I don’t believe it should be taken back. Her degree is now tarnished, whether it is taken back (and I am not sure Harvard should get off that easily either).
#7 Signed (based in large part on your argument that Harvard’s vitality is a matter of public concern). Not sure I would choose Obama, but, all things considered, he maybe exactly what Harvard needs at this time.
-Jut
#2 If one makes predictions like that, one is ethically obligated to say “Well, THAT was completely wrong! I guess we better re-evaluate!” rather than “Prediction? What prediction?”
#6: Bingo.
#7. Thank-you.
“#2 If one makes predictions like that, one is ethically obligated to say “Well, THAT was completely wrong! I guess we better re-evaluate!” rather than “Prediction? What prediction?”
Agreed. It’s bad enough this person is considered an authority on climate change and that so many people follow her, particularly the young, naive and easily duped. When you have that much influence over others, you don’t get to delete a tweet without an explanation. She’s not a child anymore. She needs to exercise her great power more responsibly.
5. The original “thin blue line” flag was a solid black flag with a single blue horizontal stripe across the middle. It has been affiliated with law enforcement since at least the mid-1970s when I began my career, perhaps longer. To the best of my recollection, the blue line versions of national (and state) flags began to be seen shortly after 9/11.
I have never displayed the thin blue line flag or logo based on our national flag, because I have a distaste for any alteration to our national flag by anyone. I don’t read any evil intent into that version of the flag, it’s just a personal idiosyncrasy.
The original purpose of the thin blue line flags was to show solidarity with and respect for law enforcement officers, to share encouragement and gratitude for the men and women who dedicate their lives to keeping the public safe, and to honor the law enforcement officers whose lives are lost in the line of duty.
If the flag is being flown for any other purpose, it is being misused -not that anything can be done about that.
This seems to me to be yet another example of the “usual suspects” actively looking for offense, finding it everywhere, and exercising their self-assumed moral superiority to denounce anyone associated with their chosen symbol of offense. Those who hate police want to tar anyone who supports the police as being a racist, fascist, or whatever “-ist” is in vogue at the moment. It is guilt by association pushed to the max.
The thin blue line flag would seem to be a poor choice to symbolize white supremacy, white nationalism or any other segment of violent extremism.
I have received as gifts from former colleagues a few hat pins and lapel pins with the plain “blue on black” thin blue line emblem, including retired deputy sheriff pins, a police negotiator pin, and one pin that is a black outline of my state with a horizontal blue stripe. I wear those pins with pride, and anyone who doesn’t like it can bite me.
#4: They could tell the dog had it covered!
But seriously, if the human approached, the dog might’ve run from the stranger, and the cat might’ve been even more scared and hostile to a large human than to the dog, and would’ve put up more of a fight. I would’ve waited too, and intervened only if the cat was clearly not getting out by itself or with canine assistance.
#2. So if a person relocated to NY on their own accord, they’re then responsible to support themselves?… If only.
#3. Are retroactive deletions unethical? … it’s very easy and common in the digital world. No other publisher of a prediction throughout history could do so before. Nostradamus would be even more reveared if he could take back every prediction that didn’t pan out.
#5. Yes, have seen several examples of this flag. One on my brother in law’s truck, one on a 50-foot flagpole in the back yard of a nearby residential property visible from the highway. I share Jim’s view that it’s a from of disrespect of the flag code… But then again note he’s also not flying the _current_ official flag in his gravatar icon either…
Hi Jack,
The thin blue line flag where I live (Atlanta) is so common, I was quite surprised to read your post. In fact, it is on official Sandy Springs (incorporated City almost indistinguishable from ATL) police, and maybe even APD as well, vehicles, uniforms, etc.
There is no controversy about this flag or its sister flag the thin red line flag (fire). Atlanta’s racial makeup is minority majority. There is no racial animus associated with that flag, and many if not most of the officers here are black.
It is extremely common to see it also as a yard sign, bumper sticker or other similar items throughout Georgia.
#4: Suspiciously edited and incomplete, maybe to support a false narrative. Looks to me like the cat could have climbed/jumped out on its own, if it had wanted to. It seems more likely it was there trying to get away from the dog, and the dog was still harassing it. We don’t see what happened immediately after, except for a brief view of second dog starting to chase the cat. Likely the first one did, also.
Dog and cat skeptic alert! Cats, as you may know, are not known for the affinity to water or swimming ability. A dog who is hostile to a cat is unlikely to allow a wet cat to jump on its head. Wait…you’re the one who took the video, right?
The cat could have tried to jump to those crates, or whatever they are (…again, we don’t see how this one came to be there), and slipped. the dog was just trying to get out after he slipped in, and the cat took advantage of the platform. People set up and/or edit, and title Youtube vids to create a narrative that gets lots of clicks and upvotes. Thee ARE real “animal hero” videos, like one of a German Shepherd pulling a sheep out of a stream, and a cat chasing away a bear.
Cat’s can swim; most don’t like to, but some do. We had one that would chase the stream of water from a hose (like chasing a cord) until it was soaked. Have a grandcat that loves to get into the tub, if the water isn’t too cold.
“Cat’s”? Where did that ‘ come from?
#3:
Since any and everything has come to be dubbed a Federal issue because “Interstate Commerce”, how can this possibly NOT be?
On 3; I have the impression, although I’ve been wrong before, that this is probably frivolous.
My understanding is that the law referenced is probably unconstitutional – The right to movement is protected: The Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects components of the right to travel, and Article 4, section 2 of the Constitution gives the right to be treated equally to residents of each state.
I’ve seen chatter that people believe that those rights aren’t absolute, the most common example being the Mann Act of 1910, which made interstate trafficking of females for “immoral purposes” “immoral purposes” was later clarified into sex work and “females” was expanded to be gender neutral and have specific language for children. But that’s a Federal Law, and the base acts of sex work and child rape are illegal. I don’t know that a State can actually prevent people from coming to a state to participate in a legal activity.
Even if the law doesn’t fail on constitutional grounds, I’m not sure that New York City has standing. Even if it does, I’m not sure that the bus lines are the correct party to sue.
And frankly… Neither is the DA. As opposed to a Hail Mary that might work, it seems like an attempt to threaten the bus companies into not accepting the charters. We see this constantly up here in Canada: Laws are passed that have no chance of passing judicial scrutiny, not because the government expects the law to pass, but because they are counting on at least the temporary compliance of Canadians who don’t want to fall afoul of the law that they don’t know is doomed to fail.