THOUGHTS About The News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

GMA: “Cambridge professor resigns amid plagiarism and 'academic qualification' allegations.” I read a number of posts about this news story on Facebook, mostly in defense of Jason Arday, the professor, as though they are part of the investigating team. Mr Arday is black so this issue easily turned into a racially-fueled placard. The fact is, there have been a lot of firings and controversies about professors and students using AI. Meanwhile, shrinks and writers/journalists, surgeons and IT people (yes!) use AI, too. It really depends on whether your employment allows the e-crap or not. So if Jason was found to violate that job SOP, then he had to go. 

       Anyhow, months ago: <>A history professor at Alcorn State University, Jason Gibson, went viral on TikTok after posting a video explaining how 32 of his 35 students failed a portion of the midterm after they used AI to write their discussion post response. <>Northeastern University senior Ella Stapleton demanded an $8,000 tuition refund after catching her business professor, Rick Arrowood, secretly using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to create course notes and slides. <>BTW, Mr Gibson is black, but Mr Arrowood is white. You dig? Now, you may issue your insight, LOL! 🤨😞🤨

Rolling Stone: “Elliot Page explains why Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' felt so unforgettable.” Not commenting on Elliot (although I can talk about her exemplary performance in 2007’s "Juno") but responding to current cinema’s obsession with “reimagining” classics to fit their side in this annoying “culture war” caterwaul. We are not talking about Homer’s work’s philosophical wisdom anymore or the way he wrote it. We are talking about the “correctness” of Odyssey's supposed political extremity this time, based on how Hollywood prefers it.

      Meanwhile, whatever Ian Fleming or Mary Shelley or Jane Austen or William Shakespeare wrote has lost its bite, in favor of how their masterpieces are now “rewritten” to fit our Left or our Right. 🎥📹📽

Yahoo News: “Senate committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt over COVID hearing.” True, anybody cannot be punished or criminally charged simply for refusing to answer police (or government inquiry) questions. The Fifth Amendment protects people from self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and loss of life, liberty, or property without due process. Given. But in the case of Mr Fauci, it is a bit tricky. The people want to know the lowdown. 

       You see, during the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid emergency spending and broken supply chains triggered widespread corruption, including billions of dollars in mismanaged public contracts and international price-fixing cartels. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the POTUS in those years, knows stuff. Of course. But he refuses to talk. 🏛🗽🏛

CNN: “Iran's Hormuz plan is taking shape — but it clashes with Trump's vision.” What is the plan? That Iran "controls" the Strait of Hormuz? That’s always been the case. Along with Oman, Iran exerts territorial power over this vital energy chokepoint, where roughly 20 percent of global petroleum liquids consumption and a massive share of liquefied natural gas pass through its narrow shipping lanes daily. What is the media telling us now that we already know? 

       And what is Mr Trump's vision, which was shaken after his (military) hand was forced by the IRGC? No brainer, I must say. Trade. Economics. A playbook that coincides with the Arab League and China/BRICS, but not with Israel or those in Washington who use Bibi Netanyahu’s Israel as “bogeyman” for obvious reasons (don't we know?) ☮️☮️☮️

Washington Post: “Trump challenged Hegseth after learning of depleted weapons stockpiles, sources say.” / CNN: “The Navy's $275 billion battleship plan faces skepticism from military experts.” Depleted weapons stockpiles? Hard to believe this. Why? Pentagon's 2026 base discretionary budget is $838.7 billion; total allocated defense funding for FY 2026 reached $1 trillion. That is around 5x more than what China allocates to “defense.” In America, all I see/read is lotsa money for arms and stuff. Or billions$ sent continually to Ukraine and Israel. Yet no money to improve U.S. warfare? So $275 billion for a Navy battleship is such a big deal? (My sarcastic eyebrows, arching.) 🏛🗽🏛