Wednesday: Hili dialogue

April 24, 2024 • 6:45 am

Welcome to a Hump Day (“Giorno della gobba ” in Italian): Wednesday, April 24, 2024, and National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day, celebrating that beloved party food of the Fifties. Easy to make (and I liked them):

“pigs in a blanket” by plasticrevolver is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here

It’s also International Noise Awareness Day, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (yes, Cenk, it happened), Denim Day, International Guide Dog Day, Fashion Revolution Day, and World Day for Laboratory Animals.

Speaking of that, here’s a statue near the biology building at the University of St. Petersburg, Russia, dedicated to all the cats used in lab experiments (photo from 2011). I should not be smiling.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the April 24 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*Will Donald Trump go to jail if he’s convicted in his NYC trial for financial shenanigans? The NYT doesn’t think so.

But protecting a former president in prison? The prospect is unprecedented. That would be the challenge if Donald J. Trump — whom the agency is required by law to protect around the clock — is convicted at his criminal trial in Manhattan and sentenced to serve time.

Even before the trial’s opening statements, the Secret Service was in some measure planning for the extraordinary possibility of a former president behind bars. Prosecutors had asked the judge in the case to remind Mr. Trump that attacks on witnesses and jurors could land him in jail even before a verdict is rendered.

(The judge, who held a hearing Tuesday morning to determine whether Mr. Trump should be held in contempt for violating a gag order, is far more likely to issue a warning or impose a fine before taking the extreme step of jailing the 77-year-old former president. It was not immediately clear when he would issue his ruling.)

Last week, as a result of the prosecution’s request, officials with federal, state and city agencies had an impromptu meeting about how to handle the situation, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

That behind-the-scenes conversation — involving officials from the Secret Service and other relevant law enforcement agencies — focused only on how to move and protect Mr. Trump if the judge were to order him briefly jailed for contempt in a courthouse holding cell, the people said.

. . .The far more substantial challenge — how to safely incarcerate a former president if the jury convicts him and the judge sentences him to prison rather than home confinement or probation — has yet to be addressed directly, according to some of a dozen current and former city, state and federal officials interviewed for this article.

That’s at least in part because if Mr. Trump is ultimately convicted, a drawn-out and hard-fought series of appeals, possibly all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, is almost a certainty. That would most likely delay any sentence for months if not longer, said several of the people, who noted that a prison sentence was unlikely.

Things haven’t gone well for Trump, and they could even throw him in the pokey for contempt of court—for violating a judge’s gag order that he not intimidate witnesses. “Gag order” and “Trump” don’t belong in the same sentence:

Mr. Pecker’s testimony came after a bruising hearing for Mr. Trump and his legal team, as prosecutors argued that Mr. Trump’s attacks on witnesses and jurors pose a “threat” to the trial. They urged the judge to hold him in contempt of court over what they said were 11 violations of a gag order that bars the former president from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, jurors and court staff, as well as their relatives.

The man needs to learn to shut up, but I don’t think that’s in his DNA. Stay tuned.

*The Times of Israel has a long summary of the unrest that has spread across American campuses as pro-Palestinian students demand divestment. (See also this article in the NYT.) Now NYU is in turmoil:

Clashes broke out between NYPD officers and demonstrators at New York University after police moved in to clear out an anti-Israel “liberated zone” set up by pro-Palestinian protesters late Monday amid reports of antisemitic incidents, the latest violence as unrest over the Israel-Hamas war spreads to campuses across the US.

Officers in riot gear scuffled with demonstrators, after the police began getting rid of equipment and arresting protesters for violating an order to disperse. Some of the protesters appeared to act violently toward officers, with a masked man draped in a keffiyeh throwing a chair toward them.

One hundred and thirty-three protesters — including students and faculty — were arrested, police said on Tuesday, and all of them were released overnight.

. . .Students across the country said the Columbia arrests only further emboldened them to call for their universities to divest from Israel. Buoyed by the growing number of demonstrations, the national umbrella of Students for Justice in Palestine announced the launch of a cross-campus initiative called “Popular University for Gaza.”

“Over the last 72 hours, SJP chapters across the country have erupted in a fierce display of power targeted at their universities for their endless complicity and profiteering off the genocide in Gaza and colonization of Palestine,” the group posted on X, on Sunday afternoon.

The post was headlined, “CAMPUSES IN REVOLT FOR GAZA AND DIVEST.”

. . .Similar protests are springing up at a range of other schools. One student activist collective at the University of Michigan, the TAHRIR Coalition, said Monday that it, too, had set up an encampment on the Diag, the center of campus. One banner at the encampment reads, “Long Live the Intifada.”

. . . In addition to Michigan, pro-Palestinian protesters at several other schools have set up new encampments in solidarity with Columbia students, including at New York University and the New School in New York; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University and Emerson College in the Boston area. At some schools, including UNC, those encampments have already been dismantled after administrators intervened.

Harvard Yard is closed for the week to prevent demonstrations and encampments, and Columbia has been forced to offer “hybrid” classes (both live and virtual) until the end of the year. Further, graduation is coming, and that will be a great time to disrupt everything (USC has canceled all its graduation speakers, including  those receiving honorary degrees). From the NYT”:

At Columbia University, where the arrests of more than 100 protesters unleashed a flurry of national protests, students will have the option to attend their last week of classes remotely for safety reasons. Several schools across the Northeast closed parts of their campuses to the public, in an effort to conclude the year quietly.

The latest news from that beleaguered New York City school is that another deadline for arrest has passed without the appearance of cops, and the students, who have removed some tents, are IN TALKS with the Columbia administration. Seriously? Is the school going to accede to some of the thugs’ demands?  If so, then they should boot out President Shafik pronto.  She is not exercising any leadership.

*Israel’s attack on Rafah, supposedly the finishing blow in the war, appears imminent, at least to the WSJ:

As tensions with Iran ease, Israel’s military is gearing up to complete what it says is unfinished business: Uprooting Hamas from its last stronghold in the Gazan city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are taking shelter.

Israeli leaders say they intend to go ahead despite vocal opposition from the country’s most important ally, the U.S., which has warned that a full-scale move on the enclave could cause widespread civilian casualties and disrupt humanitarian-aid efforts aimed at preventing famine.

“In the coming days, we will increase the military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas because it’s the only way to release our hostages and achieve our victory,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday in a message to mark Judaism’s Passover holiday, which begins Monday evening.

Israel’s air force has been hitting targets in Rafah in recent days. Strikes on Sunday killed at least 16 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, according to Wafa, the official news and information agency of the Palestinian Authority. Israel’s military said in mid-April that it had called up two reserve brigades “for operational activities on the Gazan front.”

. . .Netanyahu has said that Israel plans to evacuate civilians ahead of operations. The military has said it plans to move Gazans to humanitarian enclaves to be constructed within the Gaza Strip, which would include food, water, shelter and medical services.

“One, it’s going to happen. Two, we’re going to have a very tight operational plan because it’s very complex there. Three, there’s a humanitarian response that’s happening at the same time,” said an Israeli security official.

Israel is preparing to move civilians from Rafah to nearby Khan Younis and other areas, where it plans to set up shelters with tents, food-distribution centers and medical facilities such as field hospitals, according to Egyptian officials briefed on the Israeli plans.

That evacuation operation would last two to three weeks and be done in coordination with the U.S., Egypt and other Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates, the Egyptian officials said. They said Israel plans to move troops into Rafah gradually, targeting areas where Israel believes Hamas leaders and fighters are hiding. The fighting is expected to last at least six weeks, they said.

Well, I predicted that the civilians would be moved to Khan Younis, but this was based on rumors. It now appears to be true, so there is a place for Gazans to go. Whether the attack on Rafah will be the death blow to Hamas is not clear to me, for Israel has resumed fighting Hamas in northern Gaza, where it was supposed to have cleared out terrorists. (I suspect that some of their persistence is due to Hamas taking a lot of food and fuel from the large amount of “humanitarian aid” sent to Gaza.) And Hamas is still firing rockets at Israel from northern Gaza.  This war is going to take a long time, and who knows what will happen afterwards (one inevitable result is that Netanyahu will be ditched).

*Well, The College Fix, a right-wing group that monitors activities of colleges and universities, got hold of my post on this site about the light punishments (or no punishments) of the Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Chicago, and wrote a piece on it. While I don’t like being in bed with a bunch of hyper-conservatives, there’s no chance that any other group would glom on to criticisms like mine,

The University of Chicago should punish Students for Justice in Palestine for disrupting campus events and effectively shutting down free speech, according to a longtime professor.

Jerry Coyne, professor emeritus of ecology and evolution, said he believes his school has betrayed its well-known commitment to free speech principles over the past six months by letting pro-Palestinian activists disrupt campus life and the rights of others.

In a recent phone interview with The College Fix, Coyne said the university is afraid of bad press if it punishes protesters who break rules.

That commitment is a key aspect of the school’s public identity, so it’s important. Furthermore, Coyne said “there is a climate of antisemitism building on campus, and the administration is not eager to stop it.” (The ADL gave UChicago an F for antisemitism in its report cards last week.)

Coyne, who writes the widely read blog “Why Evolution is True,” recently penned an essay headlined “J’Accuse!” arguing the school is now allowing the suppression of speech.

He wrote the school is “either not punishing those who engage in suppression or giving them ridiculously light punishments. The result is that there is no palpable deterrent to students who want to silence others or violate University policy by disrupting activities.”

“Because there are no serious sanctions for disrupting speech or academic activities, one organization has sworn to continue its illegal actions,” he wrote.

It goes on, but my website post has more information (the Fix is somewhat inaccurate). Well, at least they can’t fire me.

*Larry Nassar was the U.S. women’s gymnastics team’s official doctor but for years he sexually abused the young gymnasts, even after it was called to the FBI’s attention. That lack of care, combined with the abuse that many of the girls suffered, has led to the Justice Department settling with the victims for a large sum of money. As for Nassar, who’s 60, he will be in prison for the rest of his life.

The Justice Department announced Tuesday it has agreed to pay nearly $139 million to victims of former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, settling legal claims brought over the department’s failure to investigate allegations that could have brought the convicted child molester to justice sooner and prevented dozens of assaults.

The settlement brings to a close the last major legal case over Nassar’s prolific abuses, which occurred over a span of more than a decade at international sporting events including the Olympics, as well as at Michigan State University, where Nassar worked, and at local gymnastics centers in Michigan and around the country.

Nassar, 60, is serving an effective life sentence for federal convictions relating to possession of child pornography, as well as state convictions for sexual assaults of patients under his care.

A 2021 Justice Department inspector general’s report found that FBI agents in both the Indianapolis and Los Angeles field offices failed to adequately respond to allegations against Nassar raised in 2015 and 2016. More than 70 girls and women later alleged in court filings that Nassar assaulted them between 2015 and when he was arrested in November 2016.

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray publicly apologized to Nassar’s victims, and the bureau fired an agent in the Indianapolis office involved with the Nassar case.

In a news release Tuesday, the department said it had agreed to pay $138.7 million to resolve 139 legal claims over its handling of the Nassar case.

. . . . Tuesday’s announcement brings the total sum paid out by institutions to Nassar’s victims over his abuses to nearly $1 billion. In 2018, Michigan State agreed to pay $500 million to more than 330 victims. And in 2021, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee agreed to pay $380 million to hundreds of Nassar’s victims.

I’m not sure how many victims were involved in this restitution scheme, but they include Simone Biles and McKayla Maroney. Nasser has been assaulted twice in prison (that’s what happens to pedophiles), with one assault involving him being stabbed ten times.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is angling for her favorite drink:

Hili: Are you making coffee with milk or with cream?
A: With cream.
Hili: Leave some for me.
In Polish:
Hili: Kawę robisz sobie z mlekiem, czy ze śmietanką?
Ja: Ze śmietanką.
Hili: To zostaw trochę dla mnie.

*******************

From America’s Cultural Decline Into Idiocy:

From Jesus of the Day. Look at those blow-dried cows!

From Not Another Science Cat Page:

From Masih: This brave Iranian woman, whose sister was killed for burning her hijab, was also imprisoned for hijablessness. And right outside the prison she becomes a criminal again.

I swear to Ceiling Cat, Weinstein is either off the rails or in it for the clicks. I know a bit about speciation and I have no idea what he means. He’s also spouting that neo-Darwinism is “badly broken” too, something I criticized back in 2019.

From Luana. Students are goofing off too much these days. Only one-eighth of each day is spent on academic pursuits?

From Simon, who says “no comment needed”:

From Barry (second tweet). This is why males nearly always die younger than females:

From the Auschwitz Memorial, a 9-year-old German boy was gassed to death upon arriving at Auschwitz:

And two tweets from Matthew, who, as a space-o-phile, is delighted that the spacecraft Voyager 1, which kept going long after it was expected to die. In November it stopped sending data, but they fixed it with a patch!

The US space agency says its Voyager-1 probe is once again sending usable information back to Earth after months of spouting gibberish. 

The 46-year-old Nasa spacecraft is humanity’s most distant object.

A computer fault stopped it returning readable data in November but engineers have now fixed this.

For the moment, Voyager is sending back only health data about its onboard systems, but further work should get the scientific instruments back online.

Voyager-1 is more than 24 billion km (15 billion miles) away, so distant, its radio messages take fully 22.5 hours to reach us.

“Voyager-1 spacecraft is returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems,” Nasa said in a statement.

“The next step is to enable the spacecraft to begin returning science data again.”

Voyager-1 was launched from Earth in 1977 on a tour of the outer planets, but then just kept going.

https://twitter.com/gralefrit/status/1782675348573831387

And the celebration at NASA:

24 thoughts on “Wednesday: Hili dialogue”

    1. What I don’t understand from the bar graph is how students can graduate in about 4 years within their major if they spend so little time in class.

      1. Particularly in sciences or engineering with serious time on task in lab courses….if they still do those.

      2. University shouldn’t be about attending classes. It’s about learning. A degree confirms you’ve know things – ideally how to think, and how to validate your thoughts, and how to communicate both the thoughts and their validity.

        If you can complete the coursework and pass the exams without attending a class, you’ve earned your degree. Attendance has to be merely optional.

    2. The data Yglesias cites must be wrong. Assuming the figures are for a 7-day week while classes are in session, that’s 8.4 hours in class per week, which corresponds to a maximum of 10 credits (most classes are 50 minutes; 8.4*60/50=10.) For classes with labs, that would be even fewer credits. (A typical class with a lab meets for 5 hours per week.) So, the reported numbers are not full time, especially not for science students.

      GCM

  2. That’s great about Vger. Decreases the chance it will come back to eradicate biological infestations.

    1. I am just amazed anyone still knows anything about the assembly languages and FORTRAN that was used to program the things.

        1. Thank you.
          Your comment made me snort some beer out of my nose.

          Took the comment as a critique of the younger generation who seem disdainful of past knowledge to their detriment (I teach medical students and residents in pediatrics).
          Not sure if you meant it that way but I was amused none the less.

    2. Nice Star Trek: The Motion Picture reference! I’m glad I’m not the only one who always thinks about that when something unexpected happens with Voyager.

  4. “Gag order” and “Trump” don’t belong in the same sentence…”

    You’re right if you mean “gag” in the “shut up” sense.

    But if you mean “gag” as in “gag me with a spoon”…?

    L

  5. Dear Voyager 1 Spacecraft,
    Well, it has been awhile since we last communicated- but we shouldn’t allow a few changes in our respective circumstances to disrupt the status of our relationship. Since you always like to keep messages brief yet comprehensive, I’ll go ahead with a request here. Based on your latest trajectory, it has occurred to me you may soon cross paths with a set of car and house keys my wife hurled at me back in ’94. If you happen to see a bright, silvery medallion featuring the phrase “Love conquers all” with a few dull brass keys attached, let me know where they seem to be heading. And, as always, thank you for your service. From: Your bud, Effmeister.

  6. If Columbia’s President doesn’t get rid of those protestors, she needs to go away. According to this tweet by the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, Columbia has threatened to call in the National Guard or the NYPD. Considering this source of the tweet, I don’t know if the threats are real.

    https://twitter.com/ColumbiaSJP/status/1782986207892250850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1782986207892250850%7Ctwgr%5E42d82b096d93c342930955f7a0b346a10eb4ca14%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforward.com%2Fnews%2F605920%2Fcolumbia-protest-encampment-israel-palestinian%2F

    1. I know Jerry and others have tried to explain it to me — criminal trespass and all — but I still don’t see how a private landowner (the University) can “call in” the New York State National Guard, or even the NYPD, to do its bidding to eject its own no-longer wanted guests and customers off its premises…or even to make them use those premises according to its contracted code of conduct. “Get a Court injunction”, the cops could say. “Then we’ll enforce it. Otherwise we can’t determine that these people are breaking any public law just by being where you say they have no contractual right to be.”

      How is this protest-occupation different from a landlord-squatter dispute over who has the right to occupy a house or apartment that the owner has leased in writing to a tenant? The police won’t arrest or remove a squatter on the property owner’s say-so. They will arrest the property owner for attempting an illegal eviction. This is New York, buds.

      If I were the NYPD I’d be getting tired of being made to act as a force of bouncers for a very very exclusive private party of the upper classes, the likes of which a cop putting on his riot gear and risking injury will never ever be invited to.

      A university on private land is a community of scholars who agree to respect certain norms of behaviour — a social construct. Like any private club, it wants to regulate itself without outside interference. And that worked for a few hundred years. But the baby boomers upset these norms beginning in the 1960s and radicalized it. They eventually aged out of demonstrations as they went into corporate careers and made money and families. But the order was forever changed and now the radicals are back, again with an ugly agenda. Good luck.

  7. Dawkins and Weinstein appear in discussion in a Pangburn episode:
    RICHARD DAWKINS vs BRET WEINSTEIN for the FIRST TIME EVER! EVOLUTION, BIOLOGY, SCIENCE!

  8. Why is professional crank Bret Weinstein even a Thing anymore?
    Let’s forget this obvious nutjob.
    D.A.
    NYC

  9. Jerry, you are being unfair to the college fix. I have read many of their articles and they are dead-center.

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