I am getting some questions with regard to the results of Tuesday, November 2’s elections. Many can be answered in Bret Stephens piece in The New York Times on November 4.
The two races of major consequence, the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, were most revealing as this blog had said they might be.
What I Think Happened And Why Read More »
On October 25 I wrote about a professor at the University of Chicago who was cancelled by MIT from delivering a talk there. His name is Dorian Abbot and he has an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal on October 30. He explains the position that got him into difficulty.
Essentially it can be summed up in a single phrase, the respect of the individual in all aspects of human endeavors, but especially in academia.
Follow Up On Cancel Culture Read More »
As Michelle Cottle notes in The New York Times on October 29, the Virginia governor’s race is giving us a preview of what to expect in 2022 and 2024 when it comes to electoral politics. In that race, former Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe is running against a Trump clone named Glenn Youngkin. McAuliffe was not allowed to succeed himself by Virginia law so this is his second run, but not in a row.
Virginia has become a reliably blue state of late, but the polls show the two candidates running neck and neck. Why?
A long-form front page article in The New York Times on October 26 by Patrick Kingsley describes a ten-day automobile journey from the top to the bottom of Israel with many stops in between including Tel Aviv and the West Bank. It was the Israel I have come to know over my four trips. It is a place as complex as the United States and for largely the same reason. It’s complicated. It’s diverse. Things are contentious, especially the people although I do love Israelis and enjoyed spending time with the few Palestinian Arabs I was able to meet.
An Israel I Recognize Read More »
As someone who spent many years enforcing “the rules” of research, particularly clinical research, I appreciate the importance of having rules in most walks of life. That was certainly true of human subjects research, animal care and use, and biosafety when I was the designated inmate for research administration at MD Anderson from 1995-2007. The rules surrounding conflicts of interest, as this blog has noted on many occasions, are still being written. Until they truly eliminate conflicts, those rules will be wanting and those the rules are aimed to protect will still be vulnerable if they break their fiduciary responsibility to academic integrity and patient care by pledging dual allegiance to science and their wallets.
Another place that rules seem to apply is on a movie set. Who knew?
One of the many things I do not understand is cancel culture. Why is it so important to demean another person for his or her stating an opinion, even if it vehemently disagrees with yours? I know I write a blog that tends to vilify Donald Trump, but he’s uncancellable
Standing Up To Cancel Culture Read More »
If nothing else has shaken you Trump voters from your insane belief that there is anything good to be said about Donald Trump, this should do it. Trump was actively working to reverse the results of a legitimate election right up to his last days in office. And he was trying to use the Department of Justice to do it. Now I know most of you who voted for Trump did so because you hate the Democrats and you want to protect your pocketbook, but please consider the fact that Mr. Trump tried on nine separate occasions to get the election tossed out by using the power of the federal government. That, my friends, is a true insurrection. In fact, it’s treason.
Why Trump Voters Ought To Be Looking For Another Choice Read More »
What is going on in Congress right now with Democrats fighting over two infrastructure bills and Republicans relishing them doing so is nothing short of moronic.
First, as Michelle Goldberg points out in The New York Times on October 5, Arizona Democratic Senator Krysten Sinema has tied the debate up in knots simply because no one knows what it will take to get her to vote for anything in the social welfare package, if she will. Considering her past as a progressive activist, that’s pretty humorous. I think she became enamored of money—hers and her campaign’s.
When I got to MD Anderson in 1984 and began collaborating with members of a then-fractionated department previously called Developmental Therapeutics led by the legendary J Freireich, I was told about “Eli.” I had recently left the NCI where we had our own Eli (Glatstein) and I wondered who the local Eli was. I soon found out.
The attached commemoration of the late-Eli Estey, MD written by his friend Vinay Prasad appeared in MedPage Today on October 13, five days after Eli’s sudden and unexpected death.
I enjoy watching Kyrie Irving play basketball. I have ever since he was a one-and-done at Duke and then went to the NBA and brought the Cleveland Cavaliers a championship alongside LeBron James. Mr. Irving is a gifted basketball talent and a dedicated spokesman for Black Lives Matter and has made major contributions to worthy causes. He’s a good citizen. BUT—he’s not vaccinated and this is going to cost him about $380,000 per home game plus several road games because New York where he plays for the Brooklyn Nets and San Francisco have vaccine mandates to allow entry into athletic stadiums. It could cost the Nets the NBA championship as well.
