Another blue professor at Davis!

 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Goodbye, calabazas: We hated to see Halloween go. It takes with it the start of the end to the daily pleasure we've taken from our neighborhood's displays of winter squash.

As we noted yesterday, we're especially indebted to those cultivars which are "extremely variable in size, shape, and color," which may be the calabazas. They seem to exist to provide visual pleasure and to do little else. Here's the quote from Atticus Finch which those cultivars call to mind:

Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy...They don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

So too with the cultivars of winter squash which aren't orange and round. They don't do one thing but create visual surprises for us to enjoy. In our view, it's a sin to walk by such cultivars without stopping to admire their work.

On the other hand, this:

We've been listening to many deeply counterproductive discussions of events in Israel and the Gaza Strip. We're thinking now of discussions we've watched on Morning Joe and on Deadline: White House, right there on our own tribe's channel.

We expect to focus on those discussions in our dispatches next week. For today, we'll direct you to a tragic column by the Washington Post's Charles Lane.

Like the Atlantic's Graeme Wood, Lane watched the IDF's presentation concerning the savagery of the October 7 killings. Headline included, here's Lane's account of what he saw:

What I saw when I watched videos of the Hamas attack

[...]

What was revelatory—what you really do have to see and hear to believe—is the attitude of the terrorists. They are having the time of their lives. Some whoop with delight over dead civilians lying on a highway. A team of gunmen brings a dead Israeli soldier back to Gaza and stands triumphantly over his body, as a crowd spontaneously rushes forward to kick and stomp the corpse. Young, heavily armed members of Hamas’s elite Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades pose for a video selfie, shouting in Arabic, “that’s how it’s done.” (The embassy provided translations.)

Surely, the most chilling part of the film is an audio-only clip: a terrorist calling home to tell his parents that he is in Israel and killing Jews—10, he boasts, including a woman whose phone he is using. “Their blood is on my hands,” he cries, joyously. “Your son’s a hero.”

Sadly, tragically, this sort of behavior is a familiar part of human behavior down through the annals of time. Even in modern times, murderous behavior of this type isn't unique to Hamas.

Beyond that, people may tend to respond in predictable ways to behavior of that type. Here was Michelle Goldberg, just last week, with this account of the behavior of another professor at Cal Davis:

With War in Israel, the Cancel Culture Debate Comes Full Circle

[...]

Part of me shudders to view the unfolding catastrophe in Israel and Gaza through the provincial lens of America’s cancel culture debate. In some ways, that debate has now come full circle, because pro-Palestinian voices were being censored long before the phrase “cancel culture” existed, one reason the left was unwise in recent years to prevaricate about the value of free speech. But if someone as evenhanded as Thrall now finds his talks being dropped, we’re in an especially repressive period. And in a time of war, particularly a war shrouded in fiercely competing narratives, free speech is more important than ever.

I don’t like the fact that the statement Nguyen signed gestured only vaguely at Hamas’s slaughter of Israeli civilians. In calling off his Friday evening appearance, 92NY, a Jewish organization, was playing by rules much of the left established, privileging sensitivity to traumatized communities ahead of the robust exchange of ideas. And supporters of Israel are hardly alone in creating a censorious atmosphere; particularly on college campuses, it is Zionists who feel silenced and intimidated. A professor at the University of California, Davis, is facing investigation by the university for a social media post calling for the targeting of “Zionist journalists,” which said, “They have houses with addresses, kids in school,” and included emojis of a knife, an ax and three drops of blood.

If you want to get the full context, you'll have to read the full column. The highlighted passage follows on yesterday's post about another professor at Cal Davis—the one who said that a good way to get rid of police is to shoot them in the back.

Concerning the behavior of this second professor, we read the column to which Goldberg linked. As it turns out, the professor in question "received her PhD in the history of consciousness program at UC Santa Cruz." 

At times like these, we humans are wired to identify the Others and to seek war with such beasts. Along the way, our blue tribe can be quite unwise too. It seems to us that we blues should try to get a bit more clear about that tragic fact. 

Blue pumpkins are there to bring us joy. Blue professors can go off the tracks! 


51 comments:

  1. "Sadly, tragically, this sort of behavior is a familiar part of human behavior down through the annals of time."

    Yes, this kind of behavior has happened throughout time, but it is not common, much less familiar. It shocks us because it is aberrant, far from normal human behavior.

    It irritates me whenever Somerby makes this claim that brutality is normal for humans, because that is not statistically true, not socially acceptable, not culturally true and not what human beings are like as a species.

    Why does Somerby keep pushing the idea that people in general are awful? THAT strikes me as a form of mental disorder, perhaps depression, or perhaps it is motivated in order to make liberals feel bad about our humanity. Whatever Somerby's motives in continually emphasizing depravity, he is spreading disinformation and I cannot see any advantage to anyone hearing this crap. Even among mentally ill people (those with major disorders), less than than 5% are violent. Those who actually study humanity do not agree with what Somerby is saying today, or on the other occasions when he revisits this theme.

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    1. "Why does Somerby keep pushing the idea that people in general are awful?"

      Because of his experiences as a standup comedian and comedy-club impresario. Also, his teaching experience might have contributed to his "bitter crank" persona.

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    2. Maybe he has bitter crank DNA.

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    3. Maybe he has bitter squash syndrome?

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  2. “As it turns out, the professor in question "received her PhD in the history of consciousness program at UC Santa Cruz.”’

    That explains it.

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    1. Although History of Consciousness does not have formal tracks, it does emphasize a variety of topics and approaches in its seminars and research pursuits. Reflecting a serious concern for social, historical, and cultural theories, these areas of research can be most succinctly identified as studies at the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender; global capitalism and cultural process; psychoanalytic and semiotic theories of the image; science and technology studies; theories and histories of religion; and social movements.

      https://histcon.ucsc.edu/graduate/grad-about.html

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    2. UC Santa Cruz has been interdisciplinary and non-traditional in its programs since it opened in the 1960s. Cecelia’s comment is an example of right wing hippie bashing. She says she likes what Somerby says but then she widens the partisan gulf by mocking legitimate studies in the same manner as Fox and right wingers. Is that hypocrisy or double-teaming?

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    3. Anonymouse 8:26pm, you don’t speak for all liberals. Actually, you don’t speak for most of them because the majority of liberals would snicker over that course of study and they would certainly disapprove of Jemma Decristo.

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    4. Can you be any more small minded?

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    5. Anonymouse 11:13pm, I’m positive I could not sink to being part of a cabal of trolls who accuse and insult a blogger night and day.

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    6. I’m a troll, but I don’t insult Bob. I impersonate Corby.

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    7. “ I could not sink to being part of a cabal of trolls who accuse and insult a blogger night and day.”

      The nerve…insulting a blogger. And this from someone who sank lower than the Marianas trench to vote for a mentally ill sociopath (courtesy of the much maligned blogger) who tried to corruptly overturn an election and whose re-election might end democracy as we know it (again, courtesy of our Bob). You cannot sink any lower, Cecelia.

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    8. Anonymouse 12:50am, so people voted for Trump courtesy of Bob Somerby?

      You are the sociopath under your bed at night and behind your tea kettle every morning.

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    9. I don’t have any tea kettle.

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    10. Cecelia,
      What are you going to do about it? Make a god faith argument? I'll take that risk.

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  3. What the hell is "history of consciousness"? Not to mention "PhD in the history of consciousness".

    Instead of studying "history of consciousness", why wouldn't they go and work on a farm for a few years? Or on a construction site, hauling bricks. Perform socially-useful work.

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    1. Or they could start media-criticism blogs.

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    2. Anonymouse 5:08pm, you absolutely should.

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    3. I can't blog. Trolling is as far as I can go.

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    4. History of consciousness is what atheists call finding God

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  4. Pumpkin pie is good. Pecan pie is good, too.

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  5. Kevin Drum looks at discontent with the economy:

    https://jabberwocking.com/economic-gloom-is-all-about-republicans/

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  6. Kevin Drum consumed too much lead at a young age. And even more glue vapors.

    His history of consciousness is a sad, sad history.

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    Replies
    1. Kevin is an above-average public intellectual.

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  7. If Americans don't want to be stereotyped as dumb brutes who can't read past a 4th grade level they should stop demanding everyone think exactly the same things.

    If you want to be seen as an individual who uses wise intentions then don't paint yourselves with a broad bush.

    Pretty easy to see how this applies to Palestine and US leaders.

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    Replies
    1. But how does it apply to warty winter squash and pumpkins? Are pumpkins the blue tribe or the red one? And if diversity in squash is good why is it bad to get a doctorate in History of Consciousness?

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  8. It’s interesting to see how quickly Bob leaves the subject of the quality of the coverage and the commentary of this new round of Middle East horror and flees to the more comfortable territory of bashing left intellectuals. How representative is this Professor of the historians in Schools across our nation? Well, one example is good enough for Fox, and Bob.
    I’d give the balance in the coverage I’ve seen a fairly good job. Both sides falter at times, in putting their best foot forward. But I don’t feel the strained bothsiderism one often feels on other subjects.
    Once again this calls for the obvious need for quality debate programming, which never seems to occur to Bob.

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  9. I don't disagree with Bob's point, but I can't get excited about it. What's much more important to me is that Jews are being killed in horrible ways, tortured, and kidnapped just because they're Jews. As a Jew, I would like to see the strongest possible condemnation, but I don't see it everywhere. The fact that a not insignificant subset of liberals expressed strong support horrifies me. In fact, even a lukewarm condemnation horrifies me.

    There are certainly anti-semites on the far right of Conservatives, but there are a lot more anti-semites on the left, as far more acceptance of anti-semites on the left. E.g., if there was a group of conservatives equally as anti-semitic as "The Squad", I they would be forced out of Congress.

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    1. They couldn’t even expell George Santos, so the right won’t do anything about its anti-semites. Strong feelings about Israel’s actions complicate the so-called anti-semitism on the left. I don’t consider opposition to Israel as a nation to be equivalent to hatred of Jews as a religion and culture. You seem to conflate the two.

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    2. Smarmy commentary of anti-semitism by The Squad:
      No one in Congress works harder to drum up Jew-baiting at home and abroad than AOC, yet her Democratic colleague Ilhan Omar gets all the credit. It’s unjust! Sure, Omar has specifically said that Jewish money buys members of Congress and that American Jews are disloyal citizens. But Ocasio-Cortez responded as any true competitor would and got creative. After all, no one else in Congress had thought to suggest U.S. testing of chemical weapons in Puerto Rico was “practice” for Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. That was impressive one-ups-persons-ship!

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    3. You raise an interesting point, @8:36. Yes, in principle anti-Israel could be separate form anti-semitism. but I do regard them as the same. Here are some reasons why
      1. Many anti-Israel folks are also explicitly anti-semitic. Hamas is publicly committed to destroying Israle AND killing as many Jews as possible Anyone who supports Hamas is supporting anti-semitism.

      2. There have been anti-Israel demonstrations at several universities that included attacks on Jews. These attackers obviously consider anti-Israel to include antisemitism in general.

      3. Many people who claim to be only anti-israel and not anti-semitic are applying a double standard. They're judging Israel much more harshly than other countries. E.g., those supporting the Israel BDS ban do not ban countries with worse civil liberties practices, such as China's horrible mistreatment of the Uyghurs. When one applies a harsher standard to the Jewish state than other countries, that sure looks like anti-semitism.

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    4. I’m not a fan of AOC and the Squad but I doubt they hate Jews in general.

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    5. Jewish student was surrounded and harassed by an anti-Israel mob yelling “shame!” at Harvard University, a video that surfaced online Tuesday shows.

      For this mob being anti-Israel made them anti-Jewish

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    6. Here is some data as a respite from the uninformed and unsupported nonsense posted above:
      Jewish members of congress :
      Senate: 8 Democrats
      1 Independent (caucuses with democrats)
      0 Republicans
      House: 26 Democrats
      2 Republicans
      Republicans are so pro Jewish that they almost never elect Jews into Congress.
      Marjorie Taylor Green's commentary about Jewish lasers causing California wildfires was widely refuted by her Republican colleagues, no? Well, no.
      Supporting Hamas is antisemitic? Funny, I recall some guy in 2019 advocating the financial support of Hamas. That was none other than Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to members of his Likud party.
      It is entirely possible to be critical of Zionist policy without being antisemitic, as occurs within the Jewish population in Israel. Unattributed, unsupported commentaries about AOC are the product of a lazy intellect.

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    7. There is absolutely no data to support the blathering about the left being more antisemitic than the right.

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    8. It is almost amusing how DinC can just blithely brush past the neo-nazis and white supremacists and racist southern evangelicals Jew haters who form a core part of the base of his party. The cognitive dissonance is remarkable. David is the guy who hid the fact that he was Jewish in order to get his start in the insurance business.

      Senate: 8 Democrats
      1 Independent (caucuses with democrats)
      0 Republicans
      House: 26 Democrats


      Those must be the bad Jews, while David represents the Good Jews.

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    9. David,
      The Left is more anti-semitic, because they criticize Netanyahu's policies. Similarly, the Right is obviously anti-American, because they criticize Biden's policies.

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  10. Why is Somerby rebroadcasting anti-professor stories from Fox News?

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  11. Erecting a Jewish state in Palestine was a very bad idea.

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    1. So was the centuries-long occupation of Ireland by the British, but if the Irish can get over it, so can the Palestinians, who were occupied by the Ottoman Turks before the British.

      Where do you think a Jewish state should have been created, keeping in mind their historic roots in what is now Israel?

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    2. I suspect that any non Islamic democratic state in that area would have been strongly resisted by the local dictators

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    3. What local dictators?

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    4. The Emirs, Kings, etc. who run the various MIddle Eastern countries.. Having a successful democrtic country nearby could encourage their subjects to seek something better.

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    5. David, have you read Death Benefits by Thomas Perry? I think you might enjoy it because one of the characters is a statistician/actuary in an insurance co in San Francisco.

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  12. Biden's popularity is waning especially among minority groups and the young. The only people who like him are a small sliver of aging whites who still read irrelevant 2002-2003 era blogs.

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    1. Donny Junior is ready to commit perjury again today, to be followed by Eric, Ivanka and finally the orange abomination.

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    2. You can turn to an irrelevant 2002-2003 era blog run by an aging, dorky, mediocre partisan hack and read all about it!

      As the rest of the world moves further past you.

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    3. 7:30,
      No worry about the minority groups defecting. The Right will suppress enough of their votes it won't really matter.

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  13. Bobby Knight is dead.

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  14. Google paid for all online work from home from $ 16,000 to $ 32,000 a month. (Q)The younger brother was out of work for three months and a month ago her check was $ 32475, working at home for 4 hours a day, and earning could be even bigger….
    So I started__________> > Www.Smartcareer1.com

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