Archive for the ‘Uncomfortable Truths’ Category

Joe vs. Vlad

Posted: February 22, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncomfortable Truths
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By Christopher Harper 

If you want someone to blame for the current crisis in Ukraine, look no further than the White House. 

In his continuing bid to rank among the worst presidents in history, Joe Biden waived any roadblocks for a Russian pipeline, Nord Stream 2 AG, to provide natural gas to Germany. Later, he battled GOP-sponsored legislation to halt the pipeline.

Under Donald Trump, the United States stopped the massive pipeline because of the stranglehold it would have on European energy supplies.

It’s hardly a giant leap to argue that Biden sent a message to Vladimir Putin that he could do almost whatever he wanted in Eastern Europe.

That’s what has led to the current crisis in Ukraine, which opposed the pipeline.

Ukraine is the largest county in Europe, occupying more than 200,000 square miles, or roughly the size of Texas. 

Even so, Ukraine’s fellow Europeans don’t seem that interested in supporting its eastern brother. 

For example, Germany, arguably the most important power in Europe, sent 5,000 helmets in military aid to Ukraine. That’s right! Five thousand helmets. That’s it! 

In an article published by German newspaper Bild, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, decried “the non-assistance and betrayal of friends in a dramatic situation.” 

There’s a lot at stake. Here’s Putin’s shopping list:

–The United States should agree to block further NATO expansion–a step that would keep Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden out of the alliance if they wanted to join. 

–NATO forces should pull out of countries that joined NATO after 1997—which includes all those once in the Soviet orbit.

–U.S. nuclear weapons must be withdrawn from Europe. 

“The United States and NATO have begun the shameless development of the territory of Ukraine as a theater of military operations,” Putin said yesterday in a speech. “Ukraine for us is not just a neighboring country; it is an integral part of our own history, culture, and spiritual space.” 

As Yogi Berra put it: It’s déjà vu all over again. 

Unfortunately, the Biden Bunch aren’t exactly the group I’d like to see going toe to toe with Vlad’s Crew.

Student power and the end of reason

Posted: February 8, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncomfortable Truths
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By Christopher Harper

Although I know that colleges have been bending over backward to kowtow to students, I didn’t realize how far until recently.

In 27 years of teaching, I’ve never had a student officially challenge a grade. Until now.

A student, who was described as a “star” of the Department of Journalism at Temple, took my course in media law. She was a dreadful pain, consistently filing late assignments or asking for extensions.

By the end of the course, others followed suit, apparently driven by the less-than-stringent rules offered during the pandemic. In fact, I allowed for up to a grade of “C-” for assignments turned in within a week of the deadline.

By the end of the semester, I’d had my fill. Two days before the final assignment was due, I announced that no late submissions would be accepted.

The “star” was the only one who sent the material in late. I gave her a zero, earning her a “C” in the class.

In an email, I explained to her, “Over the course of the semester, you have asked for exemptions, extensions, and preferred treatment. On Saturday, I informed the class that no extensions would be granted. Deadlines in journalism are critical to its endeavor. It’s a truism you should learn. I will not accept your submission because it is past the deadline. It may be the most important lesson you learn from this class.”

Instead, the student learned how to work the system. She appealed the grade because I had changed the “contract” of the syllabus by eliminating late submissions.

Even more amazing is that my department chair ruled in the student’s favor.

“[T]he last-minute deadline change, in this case, goes against what is spelled out in the syllabus, which is a contract between a professor and students,” the chair wrote.

I didn’t change the deadline. I simply refused to accept late submissions.

What’s more important here is that a syllabus has somehow become a formal contract, which is unlikely to hold up in any court. Moreover, students have become consumers and teachers are products.

College is no longer a learning experience but akin to buying a car.

Thankfully, my time as a journalism professor comes to an end in June. If colleges are aiding and abetting such students and hiring administrators as consumer advocates, journalism and other professions will get even worse. Now that’s downright scary!

If you want info on the Texas Hostage Story You’d better get it now before DaTechGuy’s 3rd Law of Media Outrage Kicks in

Posted: January 16, 2022 by datechguy in Afghanistan war, media, News/opinion, Uncomfortable Truths
Tags: , , ,
Remember Molly Norris!

Yesterday I had friends over and did not go to my laptop until rather late in the day when I discovered this was going on:

 Colleyville, TX synagogue held hostage during livestreamed service; police negotiating with man. “A source on the scene told ABC News that an armed suspect took a rabbi and three others hostage and claims to have bombs in unknown locations. 

A little more:

An apparently armed man took a rabbi and his congregants hostage at a Texas synagogue Saturday, demanding US authorities release a convicted terrorist known as “Lady al-Qaeda” — and phoning a New York City rabbi in a bizarre bid for help, according to sources and reports.

So an armed man takes Jewish Hostages in a synagogue on the Sabbath and demands the release of an Al-Qaeda terrorist. Guess what the first reaction of the usual suspects was:

Because Islam of course is the victim here

News organizations played along with this business in their headlines with the BBC putting hostage in quotes and the telegraph describing the hostage taker in their lead as a: “man with English accent”

Maybe is was Cary Elwes

And the AP jumped right on the “Nothing to do with Islamic Terrorism vs Jews” with the help of an FBI whose capacity to throw what little credibility they still have left out the window has not yet reached its full potential.

Now I’m going to be there were a lot of other possible targets in a place as large as Texas that could have been targeted but he managed to find a Jewish Synagogue in the state for his crime.

Perhaps he figured that based on voting patterns in America it was the target in the state least likely to be populated by armed civilians.

But anyways it’s all over. The hostages have been freed the terrorist is dead and the Al Qaeda member in jail is still in jail (at least until her supporters discover the joys and investment potential of Hunter Biden’s artwork) and the story is done.

And when I say “done” I mean it? Why? Because of DaTechGuy’s 3rd law of Media Outrage:

The MSM’s elevation and continued classification of any story as Nationally Newsworthy rather than only of local interest is in direct correlation to said story’s current ability to affirm any current Democrat/Liberal/Media meme/talking point, particularly on the subject of race or sexuality.

If the hostage taker had been a Trump supporter or in DC on January 6th or had expressed a desire for Ron DeSantis in Florida or even had suggested that there had been the slightest possibility of fraud in the last election rest assured you would be able to find stories concerning this attack for days and weeks to come so if you were engrossed in the NFL’s wild card weekend you could catch up in a hurry once the games were done.

Alas it was an Islamist, targeting a Jewish Synagogue on the the Jewish Sabbath to release a member of Al Qaeda which means the story will be gone fast than you can say James T Hodgkinson, Terryous Jorelle Baker , Darrell Brooks or Molly Norris.

Unexpectedly of course.

Update; Told YA

A Democrat lie leaves 29 dead

Posted: January 11, 2022 by chrisharper in Uncomfortable Truths

By Christopher Harper

The Democrats’ pledge that they care about poor people should be forever put to rest after two fires left 29 people, including 17 kids, dead over the past week.

The fires in “affordable” housing in Philadelphia and New York should make everyone realize the lies told in Democrat-controlled cities.

The fire in Philadelphia happened in a building owned and run by the city’s Housing Authority. The two-unit row house in a generally gentrified section of Philadelphia had 26 people living in a space meant for half that many. 

At least four smoke detectors in the building were not working, and there were no fire escapes on the upper floors. 

Will Bunch, a leftist writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, asked some pertinent questions.

“If Philadelphia doesn’t change laws and find the dollars to change the culture around housing safety, then this city is even more dysfunctional than we thought. We almost never talk about how 40,000 people sit on a waiting list for public housing that was finally shut down for most applicants eight years ago, or about how PHA only accommodates about 12% of the estimated demand for affordable housing, or how the agency needs an estimated $1 billion to fix the units it does have. No wonder the plight of families like the two cramped inside that Fairmount row house remains largely invisible.” 

New York had its own wake-up call days after the Philadelphia fire when 19 people died there. Public records showed the building had multiple open violations for mouse and roach infestations, peeling lead paint, and water leaks. One open complaint with the city Housing Preservation and Development Department referenced defective fire retardant material in a first-floor ceiling.

“It was at a building that was built under federal guidelines way back when, so it’s not up to New York City fire codes,” said Andrew Ansbro, president of the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association union.

Democrats have controlled Philadelphia and New York for most of the past 50 years, promising the poor that life would get better. 

Life hasn’t been better, and it’s never going to get better unless people hold Democrats accountable for their fake promises and government makes buildings safe for people who live in them. 

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