The Table: No Easy Day to Publish, Harvard Cheating, and No Money for Officer Walker's Funeral

roger4336International

You write what you know, unless you are a former navy seal. Then according to the Pentagon, you do not write at all. Mark Bissonnette’s, penname Mark Owen, accounts what went down in the raid that ended the reign of Osama Bin Laden is causing an uproar. No Easy Day reveals the planning, training, and executing of the famous and covert Pakistan raid. The Pentagon does not like the book one bit and are threatening the former soldier and Penguin Publishing. This book is already a best seller and is due out in September. The Pentagon wants to blacken some lines out. Go figure. Makes for some good book buzz.

Should former soldiers seek permission from the military to write books?

National

Harvard students caught cheating on mass scale. This would be a surprising story if it were not college kids, a government course, and/or a take home exam. Half of the 279 students cheated in Government 1310: Introduction to Congress on their final. These students will be the same pool of contestants who will run for Congress. In the 2010 Congress, Harvard University had the most graduates in Congress. The future of Congress looks as trustworthy as it is today.  This was the question that had our #1 academic institution’s students collaborating: Do interest groups make Congress more or less representative as an institution?”  Duh!

Did you ever cheat on an exam? Were you caught?

Local

Should the city pay for the funeral of Officer Walker? This is a tough one to decide. He was off duty when the attack took place and a common citizen. The slain policeman’s funeral cost $75,000 and the FOP said the city should cough up the money.  There has been 3 other cops killed off-duty this year and the city paid for only Brian Lorenzo, who was still wearing a uniform. Walker was not wearing a uniform but he did use his gun in defense.  It was the violence of the streets and the city’s gun culture that killed a good citizen; it was not his job. The cost tag of $75,000 dollars is excessive. In a city that wastes lots of money, I wish I never heard of this argument. Maybe the FOP, the family, and city can split the costs.

Should the city taxes  be paying for any funerals?

Comments

[Patrick Edmonds]

1. Yes, especially in this case. If someone is simply writing a memoir about events long ago with little effect on current procedures, then it's no problem, but according to reports, some of the information contained in the book is considered classified and could potentially endanger other soldiers' lives. Now I'm not sure how true that is, but I believe if there's any question of this possibility, it should be reviewed by the military first.
2. I cheated on a few. Nothing serious, just a glance at another student's scan tron, but it's cheating nonetheless. What's funny to me is the individuals who dedicate so much time to create a cheat sheet, writing so small they can barely read it, when if they spent half the time studying, they could have done just as well.
3. I agree with the idea that the cost should be split. Really, what should be done is following past practice. And yes, the city must cover the costs for officers and firemen killed in the line of duty. It's absurd and borderline offensive to think otherwise.

[Lady Godiva]

1. Yes, although I think that by the time the editing process was finished, the story itself would have only nuances of content remaining. And although there is danger in stories like this, I believe perhaps what we "don't" know might be more beneficial in the long run if we were better informed with less editing involved.
2. Yes, I too, have cheated. And no I was never caught. It only happened in Math class which was not only difficult for me, but a man of about 100 years of age, who resembled Papa smurf was my teacher, so it was pretty much my only option!
3. $75K is insane for a funeral, no matter who you are. But that aside, it is only fair to split. However, when you consider the amount of deaths (which are increasing drastically) the cost increases as well. Speaking of which, in this month's Philadelphia Magazine, Tom McGrath, Editor-in-Chief revealed that our great city has grown in violence so bad, that 18,000 have been gunned down over the past 11 years, and although we were "agast this summer when James Holmes shot 70 people in an Aurora, CO, movie theater, in Philadelphia, nearly TWICE that number are shot every single month" (McGrath, 10). It leaves me to believe that our finest and bravest FOP are in real danger every day, which adds to an ever increasing deficit if more and more are killed.