Ethics Quote of the Month: “If you want to hate America, watch the news. If you want to love America, drive through it.” Unidentified German World Cup fan and first time U.S. visitor.
The conservative news media have been writing a lot about the positive reactions of foreign World Cup fans as they finally get to experience our country first hand. Because of our hopelessly biased and partisan journalism, in which one side holds that the U.S. can do no wrong and the other paints the U.S. as a racist, sexist, land-stealing hellhole ruled over by a mad orange king, I have no idea how accurate this “surprise” is. Bill Maher seems to believe it, but then who can trust Bill Maher?
“Freddy” is a young German soccer fan who has become an internet sensation as he joins Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and Alexis de Tocqueville as heavily-read foreign commentators who documented their first road trips across the United States. His viral social media posts have attracted tens of millions of readers as Freddy has raved about Americana like Waffle House , Taco Bell, Buc-ee’s, Bass Pro Shops, the size of American homes and more. Freddy the German is not the only one, however. World Cup visitors from Europe, Asia, Africa and South America have hit social media with similar shock and awe, full of wonder at Walmart and Costco, small town diners, Texas barbecue, the extravagant abundance in grocery stores and the stunning options and variety we take for granted in the most prosperous country in world history.
Writes the Jewish World Review,
“The average American rarely pauses to consider how extraordinary our country remains today. We gripe about suburban sprawl while living in homes that would be considered luxurious by the standards of much of the world. We roll our eyes at chain restaurants that millions of foreign tourists eagerly seek out. We treat abundance as ordinary because abundance is all most of us have ever known. That familiarity breeds a certain blindness.But the World Cup tourists are not blind. They see an America that remains dynamic, entrepreneurial and welcoming. They encounter strangers eager to offer travel advice. They find communities proud to share local traditions. They discover a country that is far friendlier than the caricatures would suggest.” The America they are experiencing bears little resemblance to the negative stereotypes they had long imbibed back home.”
Yeah, but that Reflecting Pool still isn’t right…
Meanwhile:
1. Somebody sent me the Google AI’s description of this blog. It reads,
“Ethics Alarms is a popular ethics and commentary blog founded by lawyer and ethicist Jack Marshall. It focuses on examining daily news, politics, and pop culture to analyze right from wrong. The site’s name originates from Marshall’s concept of “ethics alarms”—the gut feelings, twinges of conscience, and cautions that trigger when faced with an ethical dilemma. It evaluates current events, politics, pop culture, and sports through a traditional, often conservative-leaning ethical lens.
Criticism: Detractors sometimes find the author’s perspective dogmatic, combative, and inflexible.
The Tone: It is conversational yet highly opinionated, combative, and staunchly “no-nonsense”. The writer is quick to point out “Tales of the Great Stupid” and the perceived decline in cultural reasoning.
The Content: Marshall dissects everything from political bias and sportsmanship to the ethical implications of horror movies like It Follows.
Community & Rules: The site encourages open discussion. The creator has strict Rule Book criteria, often calling out “rationalizations” and logical fallacies used by both public figures and commenters. The sometimes polarizing blog is designed to help readers recognize, debate, and improve their ethical reasoning skills. It breaks down complex moral dilemmas and often features categories like “Ethics Quizzes” and “Ethics Heroes.”
Not bad! I never thought of Ethics Alarms as “popular,” however. And I had forgotten that I had written about “It Follows”!
2. Can “The View” be called a news program when it disseminates false information and rather than informing viewers, makes them less informed? Last week the ladies unanimously claimed that “no one wants voter ID laws.” In fact, a 2025 survey by Pew found that 83% of U.S. adults favor photo ID mandates. Even assuming error because polls are biased, inaccurate and generally suck, I think it’s fair to say that “no one” is untrue. And stupid. The ladies also claimed that “half” of America would be prevented from voting if the SAVE act was signed into law. Whoopi Goldberg led the discussion of the “SAVE America Act,” saying “He [Trump] torpedoed the [housing] bill because he wants another bill signed. And it seems to me no one wants to sign this bill.”
Whoopi never got out of high school, so she can perhaps be forgiven for not understanding how laws get made, but shouldn’t a host on a news show know that? Only the President signs the bills into law. It is unethical to criticize what you don’t understand. Am I being polarizing to say that?
3. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni recently published a report, “A Broadside for the Nation: Preparing College Students for Informed Citizenship,” calling for mandatory college civics courses. Teaching civics before college would seem to be a better idea, since 18-year-olds can vote and not everyone goes to college. The Council claims the requirement would help the nation’s future “schoolteachers, business leaders, professionals, and government leaders.” Gee, ya think?
Ethics Alarms 
I’ve made a very similar point in a recent blog post, I just presented it differently.
“I’ve made a very similar point in a recent blog post, I just presented it differently.”
The (IMO) REAL fun began when you poste it to neighborsnextdoor (THEY Report/YOU Decide!) where ideologically siloed, hive-minded Lefties were so comically triggered that they fell all over themselves trying to disprove your experiences.
‘Course, they’re the same ones saying “How Did Trump Win; I Don’t Know Anyone Who Voted For Him.”
PWS
“Kengor is correct that starting pitchers seldom pitch complete games any more. The season is almost half over, and there have been just 10.”
One (1) of those was by Milwaukee Brewer fireballer extraordinaire Jacob “Le Miz” Misiorowski, who tossed a one (1) hit 15K MADDUX against the Phillies on June 12th.
“In 2025, 86 pitchers threw at least one 100 mph pitch.”
Le Miz two (2) hit the Cubs Friday night AND threw the 3rd fastest pitch EVAH, a blistering 105.5 mph/169.8 kph heater, AND nine (9) 1st inning pitches >103 mph/165.8 kms!
MONEY QUOTE (Announcer, paraphrased): It Probably Sounds Like We’re Announcing F.M. Radio Station Frequencies.
PWS
#4. For someone who wants a world with no borders she sure works hard to establish a bordered Palestine for the select few. How can one complain about Jewish kibbuzes on the West Bank
Nice catch, Chris! She also doesn’t want any borders so Muslims and other West haters can move in and take over, turn the country into a shithole and then run out whomsoever they desire.
If the Jews left Israel (which might not be a bad idea) the Palestinians would turn it into a run-down mess like South Africa in a year.
2. “The View” is simply a morning talk show for women. None of those women are journalists, or even newsreaders. It’s just easy listening, background noise in the kitchen as the day gets started. the equivalent of the fluffy part of “Today” or “Good Morning America,” which are considered news programs only because they have news and weather segments.
You call that “easy listening”? For Helen Keller maybe…
“Half the world is below the fiftieth percentile, Bill.”
Actually, Jack, you’ve spent your entire life in rarified air, probably among the top three percent.
Oh, believe me, I know that. My father said to me and my sister, more than once, “The main lesson you need to learn as soon as possible is that you will go through life being obstructed and tormented by idiots.’
How can this be described as a popular blog when you only have 5 commenters?
-Jut
My thought exactly.
Heh, technically six, since that statement was made before Alizia returned.
Regarding Europeans’ love of things American, I remember driving past the Tuscan City around dinner time and passing the local McDonald’s. There was a sprawling parking lot that was absolutely overflowing with cars. It was as if the McDonald’s was the only restaurant in the ancient, super elegant town. It was probably the most crowded McDonald’s I’ve ever seen. Surprise!
Lucca.
Italian McDonald’s also sells beer.
I like that the World Cup is in Kansas City instead of the main costal area cities. It has that Midwest friendliness about it. A little trivia… apparently the World Cup visitors really want to take home ranch dressing. The confiscation bins are full of it. lol.
5. I did not know the “three times through the order” was a data driven thing and why pitchers are yanked around the sixth inning!
Money Ball
What is the effect of MLB teams making these sort of changes to pitching? Well, besides the dearth of complete games, right now there are exactly 3 batters in the AL with an average of .300 or higher. In 2010, there were 12 for the full season. In 2010 10 of the 15 AL teams had batting averages of .250 or higher. Right now there is one team.
Some of the changes that analytics prescribed have been banned by MLB basically as being too effective. The shift is one of the more notorious examples, although I have always faulted the hitters for not being professional enough to adapt to the defense.
Another change was to require relief pitchers to face at least three batters, which reduced the tedium of watching an endless parade of pitchers warming up. It’s changed the game some, altering the strategy that managers employ during the middle innings.
Interesting that runs scored don’t seem to have changed too much contrasting 2010 and 2025. Also, I took a look back at various decade years — 1990 and 1980 were similar to 2010 as far as BA. However 2000 had more than 25 players with averages over .300 — right in the midst of the steroid era, as I recall.
1. The ban on shifts hasn’t had any measurable difference on offense, which has surprised everyone.
2. In 1968, only one AL player hit over .300: Yaz, at .301.
3. Batting average has been eclipsed as a measure of batting value. Now it’s OPS, which adds power and on-base pct.to the evaluation. A lot of .300 hitters of the past weren’t really very effective at creating runs.
4. The big problem is strike-outs, because they are boring. Players will start learning to bunt, and also start choking up with two strikes like they did in the old days. It will just take the right hitting coach and a team that wins with more contact.
2)And after that year, as I recall, they lowered the mound to reduce pitcher’s advantage. That was probably another change that was heralded as the doom of baseball, but evidently it worked.
4)Yes, they should start learning to bunt again. But, look at how they reacted to the shift — defenses were giving a lot of players the opportunity to get easy hits. So what did the hitters do? They complained to the commissioner. They kept pulling the ball into the shift instead of making adjustments to hit the ball where the fielders weren’t.
3)I suspect the new focus on OPS — which I really have no argument with — is due to the fervor for home runs. The old adage that doubles are rally makers and home runs are rally enders is as true now as ever. Big innings, I think, are in a lot of cases the result of teams stringing together hits — singles and doubles mostly — even if they get capped off by a home run. I continue to be mystified by the fascination broadcasters have with ‘true outcomes’.
There is another baseball adage — good pitching will always beat good hitting. I think that is a lot of what we’re seeing, magnified by the analytics managers have of exactly how to use their good pitching against their opponents. Baseball’s always been a game of percentages, and I think getting those extra few percent makes a big difference.