Archive for 2016

I THINK A LOT OF THESE “SPONTANEOUS” PROTESTS ARE GINNED UP BY ADMINISTRATORS WHO STAND TO BENEFIT: Clemson admin offers recusal after students questions relation to protest leader.

Members of another informal student group called WeRoar, which advocates for the elimination of unconstitutional speech policies at Clemson, became concerned early in the protest that the “banana banner” incident would be used as justification for further speech restrictions, and began seeking out information regarding the identity and motivations of the two individuals who confessed to placing the bananas on the banner. . . .

The students encountered Smith again several hours later when they showed up at Sikes Hall to hear Clements announce his response to the protesters’ demands, in the process discovering a surprising personal connection between Smith and the student protesters.

“During this announcement, one of the #Clemson5 approached a man who he identified as his father in an emotional moment,” Hall told Campus Reform. “This student was named DJ Smith, and the man he identified as his father was standing next to none other than Alesia Smith.”

The man, Bryant Smith, has been a vocal defender of the protesters according to WYFF, and recently called on the university to drop trespassing charges against his son and four other students who were arrested last week after refusing to vacate the building as ordered by university officials.

Inferring that Mrs. Smith might be related to Mr. Smith and his son, the students begin asking her whether DJ is her son, to which she would only reply that “he is a student.” After the students repeat the question several times, Mr. Smith interposes himself between the two sides and announces that he is DJ’s father, but refuses to say whether Mrs. Smith is related to either of them.

Video at the link. Plus:

Mr. Smith continued to insist on the illegality of recording him, despite South Carolina laws requiring the consent of only party.

“Oh, ok. I tell you what. I understand what this is. You can take your sunglasses and your camera and film the fact that I don’t care about you but you don’t have my permission to use my likeness,” Mr. Smith said.

The students told Campus Reform that they declined to press charges after reporting the altercation to campus police, but remain troubled by the implications.

“It is disturbing that a woman who is charged with the protection of Clemson students refused to do her duty as her husband assaulted a group of them, and that the incident which prompted this confrontation was the exposing of her own denial of a conflict of interest,” Hall remarked. “It is also disturbing that there is a possibility of her own involvement in preventing the investigation of the arrested #Clemson5 under the student code of conduct, which is her job, particularly since she was aware of the violations committed by her own son.”

“It is disgusting to see that the OCES director has clearly overlooked code of conduct violations of her own son, and has not opened up an investigation,” Brady concurred. “As a University official it is imperative that she investigate all students on violations that she is aware of, and not selectively bring charges up against student groups.”

Campus Reform reached out to Smith for comment after verifying her relationship to DJ and Bryant through social media, but she referred further inquiries to Dr. Miller, stating, “I have recused myself and am not involved in these matters.”

Sounds like a mess.

THE DANGERS OF “PolyPharmacy.” “Geriatricians and researchers have warned for years about the potential hazards of polypharmacy, usually defined as taking five or more drugs concurrently. Yet it continues to rise in all age groups, reaching disturbingly high levels among older adults. . . . Not all are imperiled by polypharmacy, of course. But some of those products, even those that sound natural and are available at health food stores, interact with others and can cause dangerous side effects. How often does that happen? The researchers, analyzing the drugs and supplements taken, calculated that more than 8 percent of older adults in 2005 and 2006 were at risk for a major drug interaction. Five years later, the proportion exceeded 15 percent.”

‘DEFYING DESCRIPTION’: ZZ TOP’S BILLY GIBBONS ON PRINCE THE ‘SENSATIONAL’ GUITARIST: “When I sat down with Prince that fateful evening in Manhattan, he was really touched by the fact that I knew quite a bit of his guitar playing … It was so funny because there was a legion of Brazilian carnival dancers that had invaded the club and they had taken over the bar. They were dancing on the bar … this was all going on in the background. Prince was unfettered. He just wanted to talk about playing.”

And don’t miss the video of the wild version of “Honky Tonky Women” Prince performed on guitar.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Wife of Tenn. high school football coach busted for sex with underage player. “Kelsey McCarter, 26, carried on a sexual relationship for nearly a year with a student at South-Doyle High School, according to a seven-count indictment handed down by a grand jury in Knox County. The boy was just a freshman when the sex began in February 2015, and was a sophomore football player by the time the affair was discovered in late December.”

SILENCING DISSENT IN SCIENCE.

THIS IS A BAD IDEA: The sound of your skull could soon replace your password – seriously. Biometrics suck. If someone steals your password, you can change it. If they steal a unique personal characteristic — and remember, whatever the characteristic is, to work it has to be digitized, which means it can be stolen — you’ve lost it for life.

IT’S JUST MSNBC WITH MORE EXCITING VISUALS: Andrew Klavan on Un-American ESPN.