U.S. Society

Snow Day Ethics Warm-Up, 1/11/25

/ Jack Marshall / 6 Comments

It’s another snow day in Northern Virginia, but that isn’t stopping climate change hysterics and progressive public policy incompetence apologists from blaming California’s latest wildfire catastrophe on global warming—not L.A.’s incompetent mayor, not the inadequate fire department budget, not the arsonists who may have started the fires, and not LA’s DEI water head, who left a crucial reservoir disconnected, resulting in fire hydrants not functioning.

Department of Water and Power (LADWP) CEO Janisse Quiñones was hired at a $750,000 salary in May, double that of her predecessor. To be fair, she had a background in California fires: she was previously a top executive at electricity company PG&E, a senior vice president at Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) from 2021 to 2023. That’s the company with the power lines that sparked responsible for the second-largest wildfire in California history, Dixie, in 2021. Before that, the company’s involvement in the 2018 Camp Fire resulted in PG&E paying a $13.5 billion legal settlement, although its liability for causing fires was estimated at $30 billion when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2018. It exited bankruptcy in 2020, just in time to hire Quiñones. Hey, but it’s all climate change!….Meanwhile, the discussion over at the Friday Forum (again, sorry for posting it late) about pet peeves and my late wife’s particular objection to using “that” when “who” is correct reminded me of a brilliant limerick that I had almost forgotten.

My strange friends back in Arlington, Mass. used to play a limerick game in which one of us would come up with a first line, the next would add the second line, the third would complete the third and fourth lines that have to rhyme, and my dear, brilliant, witty friend Jay Sylva would always come up with the final line, because he was so good at it. I specialized in first lines, and this time offered, “The man who had eaten my face…” (it wouldn’t have scanned with “that’). The subsequent additions left us with…

The man who had eaten my face…”
Had the nerve to come back to my place.
I said, “Stay a while!
If you’ll cough up my smile…

To which Jay immediately added, to applause and his eternal glory,

I’ll forgive you for not saying grace!”

On to today’s early list…

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Late Friday Forum!

/ Jack Marshall / 28 Comments

Here’s a pet peeve: when I forget what day it is. Since I work every day of the week and most evenings and no longer have anyone living with me in this huge house, I frequently lose track. Today was an example.

Steven Mintz, “the Ethics Sage,” has a post on his blog listing his “pet peeves.” Boy, he isn’t annoyed by nearly as many things as I am, and all most none of them are particularly momentous. Here’s his list:

10. Leaving the toilet seat up [a shout out to women].

9. Turning without signaling. [what’s the turn signal for?].

8. Walking up a flight of stairs while using one’s cell phones; being oblivious to others [this can cause them to run into us].

7. Talking during movies or using one’s cell phones. [even though there is a message from the theater not to do so].

6. Looking at one’s cell phone while someone is talking [inconsiderate].

5. Cutting people off while driving [stupid; you can cause a serious accident],

4.  Failing to share the arm rest on an airplane [thoughtless]. Taking one’s shoes (and socks!) off in an airplane [yuck].

3. Taking one’s shoe’s (and socks!) off in an airplane.

2. Being interrupted by another person while talking [rude! rude! behavior].

1. Using the catchphrase “with all due respect” [a subtle disrespect].

He writes in part, “I’ve been thinking a lot about them lately because I have experienced that increasingly people are inconsiderate; they don’t seem to be cognizant that even the little things can annoy others. I decided to write a blog on this subject because of my commitment to ethical behavior in our personal as well as professional lives. Being considerate of others is an ethical value because it shows caring and concern for the well-being of others. It moves us away from the constant pursuit of self-interest regardless of how it affects others.”

I can top that list with ease, including his #1: My least favorite catch phrase is a tie between “Everything happens for a reason” and “There are no coincidences.”

Another pet peeve is not getting many contribution to the open forums, but I can hardly complain when I open one 8 hours late.

Ethics Dunces: Whoever Decided That “Imagine” Was An Appropriate Song To Sing At Jimmy Carter’s Funeral

/ Jack Marshall / 24 Comments

Ugh. Three friends, knowing my opinion of John Lennon’s most fatuous, annoying, stupid song (and he had others), called to tell me that Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood were singing “Imagine” at our 39th President’s funeral. My friends apparently like making my head explode.

The song has no business being played or sung anywhere except at a “Bad Pop Music” festival, and thinking that it is profound is, I am quite certain, signature significance for an idiot. Lennon once admitted in an interview that even he wasn’t sure what the song was saying. However, featuring this nihilistic, anarchist tripe at any President’s funeral (“Imagine there’s no countries”—it’s there ARE no countries, you illiterate dolt!) but especially one so overtly religious (“and no religion, too”) as Jimmy Carter is offensive.

I wonder if whoever was responsible actually read the lyrics. It’s also a dim-witted communist/world government screed: Imagine no possessions, nobody goes hungry, the world as one, all the people sharing in the world. Just bite me, John. Why didn’t you and Yoko just give all of your millions to the citizens of Chad or Haiti? I know why: you didn’t believe what you wrote for a second. John was, however, quite certain that were enough ignorant saps out there who would think his drivel was inspiring. There still are.

I suppose the plus side of today’s latest genuflection to this moronic anthem to imaginary idealism is that it’s the perfect musical accompaniment to the nation’s dawning realization that so much of progressivism is based on lies, posturing, fantasy and delusions. Maybe “Imagine” should be officially named the anthem of The Great Stupid. I can’t think of a better one.

Ethics Hero: VP Kamala Harris

/ Jack Marshall / 18 Comments

Harris has had, in my estimation, several opportunities to earn Ethics Hero status here in the past, and whiffed every time. Yesterday, she achieved that status by the easiest route imaginable: by simply doing her job, indeed one of the very few requirements of a job that has always been under-burdened by official duties.

Vice-President Harris officiated as the two houses of Congress met in joint session to formally count the Electoral College votes for President and certify the results. “The votes for president of the United States are as follows,” Harris declared, as she was bound to, after each state’s totals were read. “Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes.” When Republican members of Congress rose to their feet to applaud, Harris managed to look non-committal, even if she might have been thinking, “Fuck you all.”

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January 6 Should Live in Infamy, But Not For The Reasons Democrats and the News Media Are Telling Us Today [Updated!]

/ Jack Marshall / 11 Comments

The true significance of January 6 is that the response of the Biden Administration and the Democrats in Congress to a demonstration that turned into a riot was a virtual flare warning Americans that our government and one of its two major parties are flirting with totalitarianism. The aftermath also sent a clear, if distorted by, again, the news media, message that a double standard exists in law enforcement, encouraged and nourished by the the totalitarian-trending Left.

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Unethical Interview Exchange Of The Decade: “Meet the Press” and Senator Schumer

/ Jack Marshall / 14 Comments

And this kind of thing is why I stopped watching Sunday Morning public events shows more than a decade ago. The disgraceful exchange, on “Meet the Press,” which has fallen apart in chunks since its glory days with Tim Russert:

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States Are Running Unethical Numbers Rackets That Take From The Poor, Legalized Casino Gambling Is Spreading Gambling Addictions Across The Land, Legalized Online “Gaming” Threatens The Integrity Of Our Sports, And What Do Democrats Want To Ban?

/ Jack Marshall / 14 Comments

Betting on elections!

Brilliant.

U.S. Reps. Andrea Salinas (D-Oregon) and the reliably absurd Jamie Raskin, (D-Md), introduced a bill in Congress last month mirroring a bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), earlier in 2024, to prohibit election wagering. It’s called the “Ban Gambling on Elections Act.”

“Betting on elections degrades them from an investment in leadership to a profit-maximizing game,” Merkley said in a statement. “In addition, this practice is corrupt since those betting can influence the outcome by funding late-cycle smear campaigns. It’s like betting on a baseball game when you control the umpire. It’s a great step forward to have House leaders like Rep. Raskin and Congresswoman Salinas take on this fight.”

No, it’s moronic. One can hardly get addicted to election wagering: first, the pay-offs aren’t very big, and second, big elections only come along every two years. Unlike any other form of gambling, the election wagering actually conveys useful information: due to the “wisdom of crowds,” the betting tends to be more accurate in predicting outcomes than polls. The idea that anyone would spend money to fund a “smear campaign” to win an election bet is so bonkers it doesn’t even warrant a rebuttal.

In contrast, banning state lotteries would do some real good; finding ways to dial back casino gambling and online gambling would also save families and marriages from ruin. Slot machines are licenses to steal. So, of course, these three Democrats choose the least harmful and sinister of all gambling platforms to grandstand over. I can’t figure out what motivated this nonsense. Are the Democrats mad at the betting sites because they predicted Trump’s win?

I’m betting their bill rolls snake-eyes.

Happy First Open Forum of 2025!

/ Jack Marshall / 12 Comments

Terrorism? A zombie in the White House? More chaos from Republicans in Congress? A Presidential honor for…Liz Cheney? Stupid headlines like “Harris Heads To D.C. To Swear in Senators Who Won’t Evven Say Her Name Right” and “Why Murdering a CEO Won’t Fix Healthcare Costs…“?

And why is someone pissing on 2025 already? There are a lot of events and issues you can debate here so I can write about other things…

Ponder, Now: The Guy Who Issued This Rant Was the Top News Anchor For a Supposedly Legitimate News Organization And Made About 8 Million a Year

/ Jack Marshall / 3 Comments

Here was now “independent journalist” Don Lemon last night on Lemon LIVE at 5. …

“Now, let me just say this. I said something in reference to– I was responding to the MAGA folks who were being racist in relation in regards to the gentleman that Donald Trump nominated to be the head of AI. They were on the Internet. Look it up yourself, being very racist and very vitriolic about Donald Trump appointing this person. And Vivek Ramaswamy got involved and then he insulted, according to them, the MAGA people. Okay. So, as always, everybody gets all butthurt! I’m not referring to all Trump supporters. I’m talking to the MAGA-brained people who will say and do anything to make excuses for any behavior that Donald Trump does, any bad behavior that the MAGA movement does. So yes, I stand by my words! And if you don’t like what I said, then too F-ing bad, I don’t care! And let me just let me point the hypocrisy out to you, because you guys always say “We are not electing. We are not voting for what? A pastor in chief. I. Sometimes I have an issue with some of the things that he says. It’s true. I don’t like how he says it, but it’s true.”. So you have to have the same standards for other people that you have for your guy, some of you, the cult leader. You guys have a higher– this is this is how messed up you are. You have a higher expectation of me. An independent journalist, a former cable news host, than you do for the person who sits in the Oval Office. Because he. His mouth is worse than mine. He calls everybody dumb. He calls black women dumb. He’s called me dumb. He calls people stupid. He’s called Kamala Harris stupid. He’s called her names. And he’s used profanity against athletes. He called them sons of bitches. He calls people out of their names all the time. And you love it. But when someone says the truth about you, you get all butthurt! And you get all in your feelings! So what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. What’s good for the Donald is good for the Don.”

Well said, Cicero! One bit of clarification: when Donald Trump, or anyone, calls you dumb, it isn’t because you are black, it’s because you are dumb, and that attack of high school drop-out-caliber logorrhea that you apparently think is worth broadcasting in public proves it.

As for the fact that a news organization would pay millions to a news reporter whose level of thought and analysis results in emotional belches like that—Is this a great country or what?

Initial 2025 Ethics Musings…[Broken Link Fixed!]

/ Jack Marshall / 9 Comments

1. It will be in interesting to see if Scott Jennings, the articulate, gutsy token conservative who distinguished himself during the Presidential campaign by cutting through CNN propaganda and spin like a hot knife through Crisco, can make any progress in rehabilitating the corrupt and rotting shell of Ted Turner’s creating. Above is his timely take-down of the Jimmy Carter eulogists. The argument made by an opposing panel member that Carter’s work building houses and helping to end diseases in Africa out-balance his borderline treasonous efforts to undermine U.S. foreign policy and dissuade foreign nations from supporting the second Iraq war is truly head-exploding, and Jennings makes short work of it.

2. I wonder if the horrific truck slaughter on Bourban Street last night will prompt President Biden’s puppeteers to call for “commonsense” truck safety legislation. Probably not…

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