Mentally Elementary-School-Aged Were Attacked, But Will Iran Come to Their Aid?

The brave journalist from the Finnish broadcasting company Yleisradio, Antti Kuronen—whom I hold in high regard—was harassed last night during a live broadcast, first by a group of young Lebanese and then shortly afterward by members of Hezbollah. The incident was, of course, unfortunate, but also quite telling.

This is because the confrontation illustrated more clearly than a thousand words what kind of people we are dealing with. First, the young adults who disrupted the broadcast behaved like kindergarteners—or at most, elementary school children—by trying to get their faces, and one particularly eager individual even their voice, onto the TV broadcast.

A moment later, after Kuronen mentioned the magic word "Hezbollah," the older Hamas terrorists attempted to steal Kuronen’s camera equipment—and managed to damage it somewhat in the process. In doing so, they demonstrated their opposition to impartial reporting from Lebanon, at a time when the entire Muslim world is spewing Hezbollah propaganda through every possible medium.

It remains to be seen how this group will fare against the attack launched by Israel. Will the soldiers of the Jewish state easily push Hezbollah further away from the border, or will the Shiite fighters—who are obviously mentally on the level of children—be able to mount effective resistance? And will the Israeli army succeed in its objective of stopping rocket fire from Lebanon into northern Israel?

The reaction of other states to Israel’s attack also remains to be seen. It’s clear that those stuck on an elementary school level are hoping for help from at least Iran.

One could also place bets on whether the ruling mullahs will dare to jeopardize their own position to help their terrorist allies. And if they do, will Israel take advantage of the situation to push Iran’s nuclear program into the history books?

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Hassan Nasrallah Has Been Killed, but Lebanon Is Unlikely
Hezbollah Uses Human Shields While the Green-Left Looks Away
How Will Israel Benefit on the Explosions of Hezbollah's Communication Devices?

Sexual harassment and bullying in working life

Bullying and sexual harassment have become major issues in working life including scientific realm. Therefore it was interesting to read fresh reports of recent developments on these issues.

In the first case archaeologist Nicole Boivin was removed from a director position in the famous Max Planck Institute. She was already removed from her position in October 2021 due to evidence of bullying and scientific misconduct, but a court reinstated her due to violated procedures. However, after a confidential report supporting the allegations justified her removal. She remains, however, a researcher at the institute. 

This case has drawn a lot of attention because recent demotions at Mat Planck Institute have disproportionately affected women. Also Boivin was accused of creating an abusive work environment that harmed young women scholars. Whatsoever, this case shows that - in working life - not only males are quilty of bullying, but also women may behave incorrectly.

In the second case it was reported that a high-profile biologist David Sabatini was forced out of the Whitehead Institute in 2021 after he had violated its sexual harassment policies. And now he has also resigned from his professorship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after three senior officials recommended revoking his tenure. Sabatini had violated intitute´s policy by having a consensual sexual relationship with a person, on whose career he could have been able to influence. 

The biologist commented that the situation is "out of all proportion to the actual, underlying facts. I look forward to setting the record straight and standing up for my integrity." 

A female emeritus professor of biology, however called his resignation "a milestone", because "a young woman had the courage to demand that the rules be enforced. And she was heard." 

Hopefully the decision was correct provided that - at least in my home country - women sometimes use untruthful accusations in cases where intimate relations have failed, and the former pair is fighting for sharing their property or child custody. Thus, I hope the recommendation on Sabatini was well based and the possibility of false accusations excluded. 

In the last case reported in Mexico, a government office dismissed allegations of sexual harassment against a plant geneticist Jean-Philippe Vielle Calzada. Four female scientists, three of them his students, had claimed accusations on him for touching without consent, pressing for a romantic relationship and professional retaliation after rejection.

The Internal Control Organ had previously noted "serious" misconduct by Caldeza, but later dismissed two of the complaints, one of them due to a procedural issue. That is in line with a previous Mexican practice highlighted by the fact that only 1% of the last 399 cases of sexual harassment reported in federal institutions have led to sanctions. Thus, although I am not in a position to evaluate the correctness of this very decision, it looks like a serious difficulty in punishing working life misbehavior continues in Mexico. 

Overall, these three cases highlight problems in creating and keeping decent working life culture even among the most highly educated humans, who also have - in addition to career-related ambitions - sexual and other emotions, that affect daily behavior. I have also seen such cases during my career, and can assure that there is often one word against another and the cases raise strong feelings even among outsiders, who eagerly choose their side. And therefore decision making is extremely difficult - and obviously prone to errors. 

Therefore I am afraid that two kinds of mistakes do happen. Either innocent people will be sanctioned or victims are left without justice. In both cases, the efficacy of the working community suffers considerably - including universities and research institutes. 

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A set of immigration-derived sexual crimes in a Finnish town