Seen on the same day - rights for some but not others

Below I have put three items that I happened to see yesterday. The first is from the Toronto Star and is written by a journalist who should know something about the public interest (improper use of Government equipment and time, potential for blackmail and conflict of interest). The second two comments are about UBC's  Professor Berdahl who made some speculative comments on her blog based on her personal experience and her professional expertise.


OTTAWA–Hundreds of federal employees’ email addresses are included in leaked membership data for hookup site Ashley Madison, released publicly by hackers who demanded the adultery-promoting service shut down.

The email addresses in no way confirm public servants’ participation on the site, nor do they indicate any wrongdoing — anyone could sign up someone else’s email address, and the site promoted single connections in addition to extra-marital affairs.............

The Star is not naming anyone included in the membership data, public employees or not. The data cannot be verified, and members are consenting adults.  

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/08/19/ashley-madison-hack-includes-hundreds-of-govt-email-addresses.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/Pete+McMartin+Attack+ivory+tower+under+siege/11302413/story.html

Comment 1.Blogs aren't personal diaries. As soon as they hit the public domain, blogs are freely enjoyed, forgotten, criticized, blown out of proportion, etc. by anyone interested enough in reading them. We have the right to express ourselves, but the ideas which we express should always be open for debate. If you make a provocative statement in public, the academic approach would be to defend your statement by providing a reasoned argument. Berdahl has not provided any defence in the face of debate, which unfortunately leaves her opinion (which she is free to express) rather empty. Her blog comments should never have been taken as seriously as they were to begin with, in my worthless opinion.

Comment 2. In today's age, the internet is not a "personal" media. This professor should be discliplined or even fired for writing such unfounded drivel. 

As an aside, if she were my professor, I would be ashamed to take her class. Any educator who spits out her personal beliefs the way she decided to without considering the ultimate consequences to her educational institution, her students, and/or the administration is wholly disconnected from the real world. This is a prime case study to illustrate how pedagogy categorically fails to provide tacit knowledge.

She should be ashamed of herself.