AT MY SUBSTACK: Claudine Gay Has Gone Away: Is this the dawn of a new day?

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WARM UP THE LEARJET, WE’RE GOING TO NOVA SCOTIA! Total solar eclipse April 2024: 10 of the biggest cities within in the path of totality.

Now where’s my apricot scarf?

OLD AND BUSTED: “That’s not writing; that’s just typing.”

The new hotness? CNN’s Matt Egan: Harvard Pres. Claudine Gay Didn’t Steal Ideas, Was Simply ‘Copying Other People’s Writings.’

ELISE STEFANIK AS BOND SUPERVILLAIN:

Flashback:

No, Dr. Gay.

You were given an opportunity to speak your truth. And you did.

Not once.
Not twice
Not 5x.
Not 10x

I asked you 17x(!!!) in the hearing about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates @Harvard code of conduct.

You spoke your truth under oath 17x. And…

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) December 8, 2023

And then — I know this will be shocking to a New York Times staffer — journalism began to occur:

The President of Harvard has resigned after being exposed as a serial plagiarist and unethical charlatan by @realChrisBrunet, @realchrisrufo, and @aaronsibarium among others.

Job well done!

— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) January 2, 2024

Exit quote:

Republicans claim victory for Harvard president's resignation https://t.co/uGLveRKhwf

— POLITICO (@politico) January 2, 2024

Their source was the New York Times, to coin a phrase.

UPDATE:

New York Times thinks asking university leaders to condemn calls for genocide against Jews is a "prosecutorial trap" pic.twitter.com/gXeUSsZMRT

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 2, 2024

Mitchell and Webb should update their “Are we the baddies?” sketch, with the other Nazi replying, “Well Fritz, to be honest, it depends on the context.”

(Updated and bumped.)

MICROBIOME NEWS: Microbes May Be The Secret Behind Keto Diet’s Protection Against Epileptic Seizures.

IF YOU CAN’T FIRE A BLACK WOMAN FOR PLAGIARISM AND INCOMPETENCE WITHOUT IT BEING BLAMED ON RACISM, YOU SHOULDN’T HIRE A BLACK WOMAN: Claudine Gay Resigns As Harvard President, Claims ‘Racial Animus’ Fueled Criticism.

LOL:

Tragic: Hamas Loses Two Leaders In One Day https://t.co/mmjR2RTo5x pic.twitter.com/jvyNRkPxVk

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 2, 2024

IT’S NOT CLEAR THAT THE NEW MODELS PRODUCE BETTER LAWYERS THAN THE OLD ONE. Hard questions about experiential learning and legal education.

And the move to experiential learning drives up costs and tuition and student loans. Say what you will about Professor Kingsfield, but one professor’s salary for 200 students is a lot more efficient than one for eight.

I HAVE A BROWNING 12 GA. OVER-UNDER: Of note, if you don’t think terrorists will use this capability here soon, you’re not thinking.

Pull!

MICROBIOME NEWS: Experimental drug that alters gut microbiome shows promise for long COVID relief.

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: Texas Agrees To Two-State Solution With Austin.

As area resident Iowahawk likes to say, “Keep Austin weird, but keep Austin surrounded.”

GRUMPY ECONOMIST:  I should have posted this a few days ago (before Gay resigned at Harvard), but I forgot:  Fire Gay for the right reasons.

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Why aren’t more people buying over-the-counter hearing aids?

BUT IT WILL COME FOR HOLLYWOOD: AI disruption will happen, but it won’t be as quick as many think.

WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE HAVE GOT THE MAXIM GUN, AND THEY HAVE NOT: Memes about animal resistance are everywhere — here’s why you shouldn’t laugh off rebellious orcas and sea otters too quickly.

READER FAVORITE: DMoose Forearm Exerciser – Hand, Wrist, and Forearm Strengthener. #CommissionEarned

IMMIGRATION: Are Hispanics Following the Path of the Irish?

I’LL BE OUT THE REST OF THE DAY MAYBE POSTING LESS OFTEN THIS WEEK: A Murder in the Family.

HMM: Tesla Multiple 4680 Production Lines Ramp in 2024.

WELL, BYE: HARVARD PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY RESIGNS, SHORTEST TENURE IN UNIVERSITY HISTORY.

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment on Gay’s decision to step down.

Gay’s resignation — just six months and two days into the presidency — comes amid growing allegations of plagiarism and lasting doubts over her ability to respond to antisemitism on campus after her disastrous congressional testimony Dec. 5.

Gay weathered scandal after scandal over her brief tenure, facing national backlash for her administration’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and allegations of plagiarism in her scholarly work.

So that’s Penn and Harvard. MIT’s President Sally Kornbluth must be worried.

IT’S A GYP: Why fitness trackers may not give you all the ‘credit’ you hoped for.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: US Congress recommends placing assets at Lagrange points to counter China: “We’re in another space race back to the Moon, and this time it’s with China.”

Way back in the first edition of Outer Space: Problems of Law & Policy, Rob Merges and I noted that the peaceful O’Neill-colony plans for the Lagrange points were at odds with their military usefulness, which stems from the fundamental orbital dynamics of the Earth-Moon system. In essence the Lagrange points are the highest of orbital high ground.

DEM NJ MAYOR: We Turned Away Migrant Bus Because It’s ‘Major Security Risk’ — Don’t Know If They’re Armed.

While speaking to New York ABC affiliate WABC on Monday, Edison, New Jersey Mayor Sam Joshi (D) stated that he turned a bus full of migrants sent to the city back because local police “did not know if any of those 40 individuals were carrying weapons, they couldn’t be identified.” And this is “a major security risk. It’s a health risk. And we’re just not going to tolerate that.” Joshi, who plans to send migrants back to the border, also stated that he doesn’t want to pawn problems off on other mayors.

WABC New Jersey Reporter Toni Yates stated, “The town of Edison, however, has its own answer: A charter bus to send migrants back to the southern border. The bus that arrived the other night was simply ordered to leave.”

She then played a clip of Joshi saying, “Edison Township Police officers did not know if any of those 40 individuals were carrying weapons, they couldn’t be identified. And that is a major problem. That’s a major security risk. It’s a health risk. And we’re just not going to tolerate that.”

Indeed. Or as Iowahawk noted on Thursday:

I think we can all agree that El Paso is the only American city with the resources to deal with this https://t.co/4OSUB54yFt

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) December 28, 2023

Texas Gov. Abbott should keep Joshi’s statement in mind and reuse it whenever pushing back against Biden’s border incursions.

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Ex-Biden Energy Official Sam Brinton A Free Man Despite Facing Charges for Allegedly Stealing Luggage.

TRUE: Virginia Should Refuse to Subsidize the Construction of a New Stadium for the Capitals and Wizards. “The proposed deal could be the largest-ever government subsidy for a sports stadium. Studies consistently show such handouts don’t benefit communities.”