Author Archives: Dana Pico

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A good news update: three #Antisemitic Columbia University deans permanently removed from their jobs

We reported, five days ago, on three Columbia University deans who were suspended for anti-Semitic texts during a panel discussion titled “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present, and Future,”. Now comes better news. From The Washington Post:

Columbia puts deans on leave after texts evoking ‘antisemitic tropes’

University leaders took action after learning of messages sent during a panel discussion on Jewish life on campus.

by Susan Svrluga | Monday, July 8, 2024 | 12:53 PM EDT | Updated: 4:07 PM EDT

Columbia University has permanently removed three administrators from their roles and placed them on indefinite leave for texts sent during an alumni weekend event about Jewish life on campus. Continue reading →

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A hospital, supposedly an institution of science, wants trained health care professionals to be ‘educated’ that girls can be boys and boys can be girls? There are some things which are just mutually exclusive

Sometimes it seems as though today’s political left think that the coed gang shower scene from Starship Troopers is the only important thing. That, of course, and the very-dear-to-the-left idea that ‘transwomen’ are real women, and absolutely Must Be Accepted as such.

Riley Gaines Barker is a former University of Kentucky swimmer who was required to share a locker room with Will Thomas, the male-who-claimed-to-be female swimmer named “Lia” for the University of Pennsylvania. Mrs Barker is married, to a man, so it isn’t as though she has never been seen naked by a man, but I am reminded of a scene in Blue Bloods, in which fictitious New York City Police Officer Edit Janko, who had previously been victimized by frathouse boys who stripped her and posted nude pictures of her, said that she’d never received any complaints about her nude body, because she previously had gotten to choose who got to see it. Mrs Barker obviously chooses to be seen nude by Louis Barker, because she married him. That doesn’t mean that she chooses to be naked in front of any other man.

Does your wife choose to walk around naked in front of other men? Continue reading →

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The part the media didn’t mention Sometimes kids notice things that adults think they don't..

I do spend too many hours on Twitter — sorry, Elon Musk, but I refuse to call it “X” — and occasionally use Facebook, though not for politics, but I’ve never created a TikTok account. One of the people I follow on Twitter is Chaya Raichik and her wildly popular Libs of TikTok, where she made a name for herself by checking through TikTok and reposting to Twitter the most inane and insane things that the left were posting there.

So, while I haven’t checked out any of these things, this story in The Philadelphia Inquirer greatly amused me:

Malvern middle schoolers created more than 20 TikTok accounts that impersonated teachers and posted inappropriate content

Great Valley Middle School students set them up to impersonate, and demean, staff members.

Continue reading →

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Philadelphia’s war on the city’s poor

Philadelphia is one of our nation’s oldest cities, founded by William Penn in 1682, and legally incorporated in 1701. An old city, built up rapidly before the rise of the automobile, it has a lot of residential areas built primarily for working class people. Now the city is cracking down on modern living in older neighborhoods.

PPA began cracking down on sidewalk parking and five other offenses. The results are in: There’s plenty of bad behavior.

Enforcement officers have been writing tickets in all neighborhoods in the city, though the violations are more prevalent in denser areas such as Fishtown, North Philadelphia, and South Philadelphia.

by Thomas Fitzgerald | Monday, July 1, 2024 | 5:00 AM EDT

Space is tight on the streets of Philadelphia, and some people seem to consider parking on the sidewalk or blocking an accessible curb cut as a necessity that harms nobody. Continue reading →

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Blaming other people for your failures

Caitlin Clark and Connor McCaffery. From her Instagram page.

Caitlyn Clark is the basketball phenom from the University of Iowa who topped Pete Maravich’s career NCAA scoring record, and has twice led her team to the NCAA’s women’s Final Four. The number one draft choice by the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, she is doing well, though not scoring at the same kind of pace as she did in college, because in the pros, all of the other players are good.

Miss Clark has had a rough rookie year, being greeted by the more physical play that all of the WNBA players encounter. The publicity she received has been celebrated by many, as well as trashed by many, frequently with the racist overtones that she only got the attention she did because she’s white, decent looking, and sexually normal. That overlooks the fact that other white, good-looking, and heterosexual WNBA players before her, such as Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu did not have the same popularity as Miss Clark; there must be some other factor involved. At any rate, Miss Clark is the rising tide that has lifted all WNBA boats, as league attendance and revenues have jumped, and, after Miss Clark’s shoe contract, a few other WNBA players got them as well.

But this is the silliest take of all:

UFL Blames Caitlin Clark For League’s Poor Attendance Numbers

Continue reading →

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#Antisemitism at Columbia University How can educated administrators be so calm and complacent about it?

My old Bible, using an Israeli ₪20 note as a bookmark.

Catholics the world over have just completed a series of liturgical readings from the Gospel of John, and Gospel readings at Sunday Mass now come from Mark. But the Gospel of John is disturbing in its language, with its frequent reference to “the Jews.” From the foreword to The Gospel According to John, The New American Catholic Bible:[1]© Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 1970. This has been the Bible I’ve had and used since the 1970s, purchased sometime between 1976 and 1978, and is the one pictured at the top of this … Continue reading

The polemic between the synagogue and the church[2]At the time. John is believed to be the last of the Gospels written, with editing into its final form being completed between 90 and 100 AD. influenced Johannine language toward harshness especially by reason of the hostility toward Jesus manifested by the authorities — Pharisees and Sadducees — who are referred to frequently as “the Jews”.

Yes, I wince at some of the readings from John, even though I know the real meanings of the language used.

I attribute a significant amount of anti-Semitism among Christians to just such language, and I hate that. Jews are our religious forebears, and the hostility of some, hopefully few, Christians toward Jews is simply wrong. Sadly, the tradition of anti-Semitism seems to be festering again. From The Times of Israel:

In newly revealed texts, Columbia deans discuss Jewish student ‘privilege’ and ‘$$$$’

US House panel probing antisemitism at universities publishes exchange between administrators who called Hillel official a ‘problem’ during May event on campus

Continue reading →

References

References
↑1 © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 1970. This has been the Bible I’ve had and used since the 1970s, purchased sometime between 1976 and 1978, and is the one pictured at the top of this article. It is a true hard-cover publication, but the spine is broken, and a couple of forward pages are missing. I broke down and bought a newer, larger-print Bible several months ago, because it’s easier for me to read.
↑2 At the time. John is believed to be the last of the Gospels written, with editing into its final form being completed between 90 and 100 AD.
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What about the right to a speedy trial?

George Aldridge, photo by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

On August 28, 2023, we noted the case of George Wayne Aldridge, previously accused of three sexual assaults in Lexington then being charged in a cold case from Louisville as well. Our August story concerned his bail reduction from $150,000 to $50,000.

The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution specifies that “Excessive bail shall not be required, but Mr Aldridge was unable to make the reduced bail amount, either. And that brings us to the present. From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Lexington survivor terrified, ‘disgusted’ that alleged ‘serial rapist’ could be released

Continue reading →

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Denial is not a river in Egypt

Last Thursday’s debate appearance by President Joe Biden finally brought reality home to millions of Democrats, from the Editorial Board at The New York Times to that of The Washington Post to private citizens everywhere. It seems that they were shocked, shocked! by the images of a President who appeared to be sinking into some stage of dementia.[1]The thoroughly consumed by #TrumpDerangementSyndrome Editorial Board of The Philadelphia Inquirer, seeing the Times’ editorial title of “To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave … Continue reading

This was no surprise to anyone who had been paying attention, but either the American left had not been paying attention, or were refusing to believe the evidence of their own eyes because they did not want to believe the evidence of their eyes. From The Wall Street Journal:

The World Saw Biden Deteriorating. Democrats Ignored the Warnings.

European officials expressed worries about Biden’s focus and stamina before Thursday’s debate

Continue reading →

References

References
↑1 The thoroughly consumed by #TrumpDerangementSyndrome Editorial Board of The Philadelphia Inquirer, seeing the Times’ editorial title of “To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race,” came up with “To serve his country, Donald Trump should leave the race.“
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Joltin’ Joe Biden is going to fight on!

Remember: Axios reported that unnamed White House staffers told them that Joe Biden is “dependably engaged” between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM! Of course, a google search to see if any of the other major credentialed media picked up on that claim, even just to refute it, turned up nothing. The media are going to resolutely ignore it for as long as possible.

From The New York Times:

Biden’s Family Tells Him to Keep Fighting as They Huddle at Camp David

President Biden is trying to figure out how to tamp down Democratic anxiety after last week’s disastrous debate performance.

By Katie Rogers and Peter Baker | Sunday, June 30, 2024 | 4:47 PM EDT

President Biden’s family is urging him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite last week’s disastrous debate performance, even as some members of his clan privately expressed exasperation at how he was prepared for the event by his staff, people close to the situation said on Sunday.

That’s right: blame the staffers! Continue reading →