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When plagiarism is not plagiarism: University of Peshawar allows 19% plagiarism to protect plagiarising Vice Chancellor

August 26, 2011

When plagiarism is not plagiarism

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peshawar,  Dr Azmat Hayat Khan was found guilty of plagiarism by a three-member committee of the Higher Education Commission that was constituted to probe the matter. The Higher Education Commission had submitted its report to the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa who is also the Chancellor of the university.

For apparently political reasons, no action has so far been taken against the Vice Chancellor. Instead the University went on the attack. First they attacked the complainant, Mohammad Zubair, an assistant professor at the UoP Law College. They  suspended him and have now dismissed him and are going through a paper exercise to strip him of his law degree. Now they have attacked the Higher Education Commission for finding their beloved Vice Chancellor guilty. The defence of the Vice Chancellor is ingenious. First they have objected to the procedures followed by the Commission in not interrogating the Vice Chancellor. Since they felt this argument was probably a little weak they then redefined plagiarism so that the Vice Chancellor’s plagiarism was no longer plagiarism!!

The University has effectively created a Cheaters Charter. It has reinvented and redefined a plagiarism “threshold” of allowable copying as being 19% for scholarly articles and 25% for theses. And since – they claim – the Vice Chancellor only cheated to the extent of copying 18% of his book from others – what he did was not plagiarism!!

From being a case of the Vice Chancellor’s plagiarism this has now escalated to become a case of blatant corruption at the highest levels of the University and not excluding the Chancellor – who is of course merely taking a political position as the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The ethical standards of the University of Peshawar are beginning to stink.

Pakistan Today reports:

The University of Peshawar issued a clarification on a news item pertaining to plagiarism stating certain elements from a political group were involved. …. 

The HEC thus already had jumped to conclusions without inquiring into the matter which shows a partial approach and mala fide intentions. This in fact was the only inquiry in history in which the author under investigation was not called before the committee. The plagiarism policy of HEC point number eight section“E“ clearly reads that the author under investigation must be provided opportunity to justify the originality of their concepts. …..

The HEC Plagiarism policy states plagiarism cases be dealt by respective universities and the threshold is setup by the concerned University in light of the Quality Assurance guidelines of HEC. The percentage of allowed threshold decided by meeting of the Advance Studies and Research Board of University of Peshawar in light of HEC Quality Assurance guidelines, in its meeting held on 25/11/2009 was 19% allowed matching (threshold) for published research articles and 25% for thesis.
The plagiarism allegations against the Vice Chancellor were looked in HEC recommended software and the result was shown to be 18%. This is the same software which is being used all over the country and by HEC. The same document was checked manually and the matching percentage of Kulwant Kaur Book “Pak Afghan relations” to that of Dr Azmat Hayat Khan book was 17%.  …….

The press release stated the case was in court and an unbiased decision would be issued because the author would get a chance to explain his point of view and the facts of the matter. It said the University of Peshawar considered the HEC’s recommendation of a penalty and the press conference organized by them as contempt of court (against PHC decision) and will take the case to legal corners. It claims that the victimizing campaign is spear-headed by Zubair Mehsud. The press release denied Zubair was being targeted, as claimed by a newsreport, for raising his voice against the VC.
The press release said ex-Law College faculty member Zubair had been terminated for engaging in political activities against the VC’s directives and the used of defamatory language when issued show cause notice to explain his position on the matter.

But the demands on the Governor to replace the tainted Vice Chancellor are continuing to grow.

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Posted in Corruption, Education, Ethics, Pakistan, Politics, scientific misconduct | 2 Comments »

What passes for science: Mindless number games show El Niño correlates with civil war!

August 25, 2011

Even making allowance for the fact that it is August when “silly season” stories come to the fore, this nonsense  does not bring much credit to the authors, Columbia University, Nature or the sponsors of the “study” who include the U.S. EPA, the brother of George Soros and the Environmental Defense Fund. Gullible journalists who are short of copy and create headlines from this kind of junk science are plentiful.

Civil conflicts are associated with the global climate Solomon M. Hsiang, Kyle C. Meng & Mark A. Cane, Nature 476, 438–441 (25 August 2011) doi:10.1038/nature10311 

pdf version here

 

The Guardian leads –

Climate cycles linked to civil war, analysis shows

Cyclical climatic changes double the risk of civil wars, with analysis showing that 50 of 250 conflicts between 1950 and 2004 were triggered by the El Niño cycle, according to scientists.

Researchers connected the climate phenomenon known as El Niño, which brings hot and dry conditions to tropical nations and cuts food production, to outbreaks of violence in countries from southern Sudan to Indonesia and Peru.

Solomon Hsiang, who led the research at Columbia University, New York, said: “We can speculate that a long-ago Egyptian dynasty was overthrown during a drought. This study shows a systematic pattern of global climate affecting conflict right now. We are still dependent on climate to a very large extent.”

JunkScience gives it short shrift:

Weather causes war, a new study claims. So should we limit CO2 emissions and give peace a chance? Make love not CO2?

The study published in this week’s Nature claims to correlate El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles with wars around the world during 1950-2009. The study’s intended implication, then, is that if only we can stop climate change (i.e., limit CO2 emissions), peace will be at hand.

The study’s major problem, however, is that even if there is a statistical correlation (pardon the redundancy) between ENSO events and wars, the study authors failed to examine any of the actual socio-political circumstances surrounding the wars. To insinuate weather cycles as a cause of or contributor to war simply because they can be correlated is to mindlessly exalt numerology over socio-political reality. 

Next ENSO cycles are real and result in actual weather phenomena. Extrapolating the actuality of ENSO to the dubious hypothesis of catastrophic manmade global warming, is yet another leap of faith. The goal of this research is to link CO2 emissions with national security. That is, we don’t just have to wish for world peace anymore; we can stop burning fossil fuels, cooling our homes, driving SUVs, eating meat, etc. It is merely a ploy to tug at the consciences of conservatives who, as a tribe, otherwise generally oppose Al Gore-ism.

 

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Posted in Climate, Environment, Media, Non-Science, Politics | 1 Comment »

David Cameron was “played” by News International

August 23, 2011

David Cameron’s judgement in employing Andy Coulson has already been brought into question. Apparently Coulson was also privy to confidential documents and meetings beyond his security clearance and that he was spared – or protected from – the highest level of security vetting. It has been suggested that his appointment may have been at the behest of Rupert Murdoch or Rebekah Brooks.

It now appears that Andy Coulson was working for two paymasters strengthening the impression that David Cameron was not just a “dupe” but that he was being “played” by News International. Presumably the real objective for News International was the acquisition of BSkyB.

The BBC breaks this story:

Coulson got hundreds of thousands of pounds from News Int

Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World who has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in phone hacking and bribing the police, received several hundred thousand pounds from News International after starting work as the Conservative Party’s Director of Communications in July 2007.

These payments were part of his severance package, under what is known as a “compromise agreement”.

According to sources, Mr Coulson’s contractual leaving pay was given to him in instalments until the end of 2007 – which means he continued to be financially linked to News International for several months of his tenure as David Cameron’s main media adviser. ….. Mr Coulson also continued to receive his News International work benefits, such as healthcare, for three years, and he kept his company car. ………

Related: Phone hacking: PM’s defence of Coulson over the years

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Posted in Business, Ethics, Politics, UK | 1 Comment »

End-game for Gadaffi no longer of his making

August 22, 2011

Update 2! Now even Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has appeared in Tripoli surrounded by his supporters and claiming that they are in control  and that his father is well. This could be a bitter end-game after the euphoria of yesterday.

Update! Mohammed Gaddafi – the older brother of Saif – has managed to escape from house arrest with the help of Gaddafi loyal troops!

He should have taken up the Chavez offer to move to Venezuela or have slunk away to his bolt-hole in Belarus. He should have used his friend Berlusconi’s travel agency to get away. Those options are no longer available to him. The earlier “negotiations” with French and EU contacts foundered on the riduculous demands made by his children.

Now it is reported that his youngest son Khamis has been killed.  In the last 2 days 2 or maybe 3 more of his sons have been captured by the rebels.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed that Saif al Islam and his older brother Mohammed have been detained.

CC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said: “It is very important to make clear there is an obligation to surrender Saif to the ICC in accordance with the Security Council resolution.”

Saif was reportedly captured in a western tourist village of Libya, while Mohammed surrendered to rebel forces and is under house arrest.

But Gaddafi himself  has not been seen in public since May. One of his last TV appearances was in mid-June when he was pictured playing chess with the World Chess Federation president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. He was heard on radio on Saturday saying that he was in Tripoli but this does not say much. Reports that he may be on his way to South Africa were denied by the Zuma government.  The BBC reports that he may no longer be in Tripoli:

One of the most persistent rumours is that he left Tripoli a while ago and may have gone to his birthplace of Sirte, on the western coast, or his ancestral home of Sabha in the south.

It is possible but unlikely that he has remained in his compound – with its bunker – in the Libyan capital. Fierce fighting is currently being reported around his Bab al-Azizia residence.

How the rebels will treat Gaddafi and his children will be quite telling about what we can expect in Libya. In 40 years of power as the “peoples leader” he has not built up any of the country’s institutions and “clan power” and clan politics may rule for some time.

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Posted in Libya, Politics | 1 Comment »

University of Utah fires tenured Bakhtiari for a “pattern of plagiarism”

August 20, 2011

I  just returned from a few days in Vienna and the Ruhr Valley – a region which is no stranger to political high intrigue and deception and I am just catching up with some of my backlog.

Salt Lake City has had its share of intrigue in the past but the latest is the firing of Utah University’s tenured Director of its Middle East Centre, Dr. Bahman Bakhthiari:

A faculty panel substantiated nine instances of plagiarism by former University of Utah political scientist Bahman Bakhtiari, who directed the Middle East Center from July 2009 until February 2011. The materials include five book chapters, his doctoral dissertation and three opinion commentaries. Bakhtiari says the plagiarism was due to carelessness. The U. administration terminated Bakhtiari against the recommendation of the panel, which proposed lesser sanctions.

Bahman Bakhtiari

Bahman Bakhtiari

The university interim President, Lorris Betz,  overruled the panel recommendations writing in a June 30th letter:

“Plagiarism — holding out the work of another as one’s own — strikes at the very core of academic integrity. …. The only appropriate sanction in this case is dismissal, which is necessary to preserve the academic integrity of the institution and to restore public confidence in the university.” 

I have always wondered why “political scientists” are so-called and the use of the word “artist” – as used in “con-artist” – may be much more appropriate for “scholars” dabbling in the black-arts.

Lorris Betz

Needless to say, Bakhtiari sees a certain level of political connivance against him says the Salt Lake Tribune

Bakhtiari, whose name also appears in print as “Baktiari,” maintains the overlap between his work and that of others was not intentional. He says his firing represents an unwarranted intrusion by administration into faculty governance. The Iranian-born scholar also alleges he is the victim of discrimination perpetrated by a “pro-Arabist faction” within the MEC.

 Bakhtiari defended his integrity, arguing that he has produced 3,500 pages of scholarly material with 14,000 footnotes over the course of his career and the panel found problems with only eight pages. Twelve diplomats and prominent scholars, including Gary Sick and Judith Yaphe, from around the world submitted letters vouching for his character.

“It is not a pattern when you have published 90 articles,” Bakhtiari said.

In a letter to Betz asking him to limit the sanction to a private reprimand, Bakhtiari’s lawyer Christopher Finley said no evidence was presented to suggest the political scientist’s mistakes were motivated by a desire to take credit for others’ original work or that these mistakes harmed the university. 

In fact he may well be right because the case of administrative “clerks” – even if holding high rank – over-ruling an academic finding is rare – but not unknown for political reasons (as with hospital administrators firing doctors from time to time). Nevertheless Bakhtiari was clearly not good enough at the game of political intrigue which – after all – should have been his speciality. He seems to have made elementary errors of money management and political judgement. Exhausting all the money available must have been a red rag to the administrative bulls.

The plagiarism probe focused mostly on materials Bakhtiari submitted to the U. when he applied for a tenured position two years ago, according to the U. documents. At that time he was director of the University of Maine’s School of Policy and International Affairs.

In his defense to the panel, Bakhtiari conceded he made “mistakes” and was “sloppy,” but denied he intentionally copied, despite “convincing evidence” that his work borrowed whole sentences and paragraphs from other sources with no attribution, according to the June 14 CHC report. His defense focused on the history of “internecine strife” plaguing the Middle East Center and the “derelictions” of his former U. colleagues, alleging one professor concealed his lack of a doctorate for decades but was not fired.

The faculty panel acknowledged Bakhtiari faced “extreme hardship” trying to right the center, but pointed out that much of the documented plagiarism occurred long before he arrived in Salt Lake City. Noting it reached its conclusions with “great sadness,” the panel by a 3-2 vote recommended a public reprimand, six-month suspension without pay, transfer out of the College of Humanities and “retraction” of the offending publications. ….

The case against Bakhtiari was based on a March 7 complaint filed by four professors and humanities dean Robert Newman, who hired Bakhtiari with the hope of revitalizing the Middle East Center in the wake of a leadership shake-up. This group was particularly incensed with Bakhtiari for inserting two paragraphs — taken verbatim from a speech delivered by National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Jim Leach — with no attribution into a conference proposal prepared by students. … 

In February, U. graduate students first uncovered passages in Bakhtiari’s published work, starting with an opinion piece in The Tribune that appeared to contain unattributed material from others’ work. Around that time, an audit revealed that the center had exhausted its financial resources under Bakhtiari’s leadership.

Newman placed Bakhtiari on paid administrative leave in February, took over the center’s fiscal affairs and initiated an investigation. This probe documented 11 instances of suspected plagiarism, including material used in his course syllabus, book chapters, the MEC newsletter and commentaries. It discovered eight pages of Bakhtiari’s 1984 dissertation at the University of Virginia, which awarded his doctorate, contained passages that had been pulled from five other sources without attribution.

The faculty panel substantiated nine of these instances, but concluded sanctions weren’t warranted for the copying apparent in the conference proposal and course syllabus.

Meanwhile, the University of Maine, where Bakhtiari taught when he wrote most of the material found to be plagiarized, will review his work according to spokesman Joseph Carr.

But still cases of tenured staff being fired from US Universities are exceptional and very rare. When it does happen a “resignation” is usually engineered (as in the case of Marc Hauser).

 

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Posted in Ethics, Politics, scientific misconduct, Universities | 1 Comment »

Peder Nøstvold Jensen admits to being Anders Behring Breivik’s hero “Fjordman”

August 5, 2011

A 36 year old Norwegian, Peder Nøstvold Jensen has  admitted to being the blogger “Fjordman” to the paper VG. The mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik refers 111 times to Fjordman in his manifesto. He has been questioned and police attorney Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby said to the media that they are confident it is the right person. 

UPDATE!! Tax records show that Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen was born in 1975 and is tax resident in the county of Møre and Romsdal and in the municipality of  Ålesund. His tax records (in Norwegian kronor) are remarkably (and a little incredibly)  modest:

Unsafe - I have warned my family about the case and will now go underground indefinitely for the sake of my own safety, says Peder Jensen. Photo: NILS Bjaaland, VG

Peder Nøstvold Jensen : image VG

“I have been obliged to issue a statement to the police, and I am going public because my name will be known to the public anyway and that there will be a witch hunt after me from the media”  says Jensen, who says that police seized his computer on Thursday.  “I will never blog under the pseudonym “Fjordman” again. I have lost the desire because it is linked to such a person”, he says.

Jensen has a master’s degree from the University of Oslo in culture and technology and studied Arabic at the University of Bergen  and at the American University in Cairo. In 2004 he completed his dissertation on Iranian relations, censorship and blogging. He states in the introduction that he has lived and worked in the Middle East for several years.  He has received money from abroad. It is known that in 2007 Jensen received  10 000 Norwegian kronor from Edward S. May who blogs inder the name Baron Bodissey and who runs the Islam-critical blog Gates of Vienna.  Jensen began to express himself online in the early 2000’s, under the name “Norwegian kafir” on various blogs. He started blogging under the name Fjordman in 2005. This blog was closed down later that year, and Jensen went under the pseudonym Fjordman writing for – among others – Gates of Vienna. Jensen also contributed to Document.no, Brussels Journal, Global Politician, FrontPageMag, Jihad Watch, Faith Freedom International, Little Green Footballs, Free Republic and Daily Pundit. Several sites last week removed all Fjordman’s contributions. Parts were deleted  from Little Green Footballs, but has been preserved by other bloggers.

“I’ve tried to think whether it’s something I have worded wrongly, but I’ve never had someone attack someone because of what I wrote”. 

It seems that Peder Jensen’s conscience is pricking him slightly – but only after his identity was discovered by the police. He may not be responsible for Breivik’s actions but he surely bears responsibility for his own words and  – to some extent – their consequences.

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Posted in Behaviour, Norway, Politics | 3 Comments »

US debt ceiling parasitism

August 2, 2011

After the high drama and late night sittings and doomsday rhetoric and slap-stick performances in the US congress over the last few weeks, I can’t help feeling that Vladimir Putin has a point. The agreement reached last night could – and should – have been reached 2 months ago but the Congressmen and Senators could not resist trying to show how tirelessly they work for the nation’s benefit. Sometimes they remind me of the players in a cheap musical farce where the terrible music is only topped by the dreadful actors.

Wall Street Journal

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called the U.S. “a parasite” because of its huge debt load. ….. 

In a speech Monday, Mr. Putin said Russia and other countries should seek new reserve currencies to hedge against “a systemic malfunction” in the U.S. Both Russia and China in the past have questioned the dollar’s pre-eminence as a reserve currency and its role in international trade and investment. Russia keeps almost half its reserves in dollar assets. “The country is living in debt,” Mr. Putin told a pro-Kremlin youth rally in central Russia. “It is not living within its means, shifting the weight of responsibility on other countries and in a way acting as a parasite.”

Kipper Williams US debt crisis: 02.08.2011

Kipper Williams US debt crisis: The Guardian 02.08.2011

The U.S. government’s debt will hit 100% of gross domestic product this year, up from 62% in 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund. Russia has low sovereign debt compared with the U.S. and other countries, with its state debt representing just over 10% of GDP. Still, when all the debt of its state-controlled companies is taken into account, the state is on the hook for an amount equal to 20% of GDP, according to a Deutsche Bank report. Russia’s state debt is expected to rise to 30% of GDP by 2020, according to Deutsche Bank.

The deal to raise the U.S. debt limit announced Sunday by President Barack Obama was a relief, Mr. Putin said, “but it simply delayed a more systemic solution.”

Uncertainties about the U.S. economy already have pushed Russia to seek alternatives such as gold and other sovereign debt. Russia curtailed its purchase of Treasurys in the past year, down from $176 billion last October to $125 billion in April, according to Treasury Department data.

 

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Posted in Economics, Economy, Politics, US | Comments Off on US debt ceiling parasitism

Politics of hate create strange bedfellows

July 31, 2011

The massacre in Norway by Anders Behring Brevik has created a dilemma for many of the extremist parties in Europe whose “ideology” he had adopted. They must now – at least publicly – distance themselves from his actions but without abandoning their politics which he ardently supported and which led to his actions. Many of the islamophobic, anti-immigration, nationalistic parties in Europe today have their roots in fascism or neo-nazism or racial hatred. Upto about 10 years ago their objects of hate were usually blacks, Jews, Asians, Turks, socialists, “big government” and communists. In the last decade or so all of these “hates” have been maintained but have manifested themselves increasingly under the convenient and opportunistic umbrella of islamophobism.

But for these so-called “right-wing, nationalist” parties, I think it is wrong to attribute anything other than “hate” as their ideology. As times change the object of their hate evolves and changes to whatever they consider is currently popular to fear and to hate. Their political strategy seems to be fundamentally based on the marshalling of the fears of the “common man” – by providing the objects of hate which can feed those fears.

Almost every country in Europe now has its version of a “hate” party: the Freedom Party (FPÖ) in Austria, the Vlaams Blok (VB) in Belgium, the Danish Peoples Party (DPP) in Denmark, True Finns (PS) in Finland, the National Front (FN) in France, the Republican party (REP), German People’s Union (DVU) and National Democratic party (NPD) all in Germany, the Hellenic Front (HF) in Greece, Liga Nord (LN) and the Futuro e Libertà (FLI) in Italy, Pim Fortuyn’s List (LPF) in the Netherlands, the Fremskrittspartiet (FrP) in Norway, Partido Popular (CDS-PP) in Portugal, Sweden Democrats (SD) in Sweden, Swiss Peoples Party (SVP) in Switzerland and the British National party (BNP) in the UK.

They are now finding common cause with some strange partners in Israel and India and the US. They include Likud and the settlers in Israel, the fanatics of the RSS and Hindutva nationalists and even the extreme right wing of the Tea Party movement in the US. It is only a short step to move onto the hate parties of Japan (the Uyoku dantai groups), in Australia (United Australia Party) and those that are forming in the Balkans and in eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia). The juxtaposition of ideologies can – on the surface – seem strange (neo-nazis together with Jewish settlers or anti-Asian together with Hindu nationalism) but the common factor is always that there is somebody in common to hate.

Der Spiegel:

The Likud Connection:

Islamophobic parties in Europe have established a tight network, stretching from Italy to Finland. But recently, they have extended their feelers to Israeli conservatives, enjoying a warm reception from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. Some in Israel believe that the populists are Europe’s future.

Anders Breivik’s 1,500-page manifesto is nothing if not thorough. Pages and pages of text outline in excruciating detail the ideological underpinnings of his worldview — one which led him to kill 76 people in two terrible attacks in Norway last week. 

It is a document which has led many to question Breivik’s sanity. But it has also, due to its myriad citations and significant borrowing from several anti-immigration, Islamophobic blogs, highlighted the deeply entwined network of right-wing populist groups and parties across Europe — from the Front National in France to Vlaams Belang in Belgium to the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ).

But recently it has become clear that Europe’s populist parties aren’t merely content to establish a network on the Continent. They are also looking further east. And have begun establishing tight relations with several conservative politicians in Israel — first and foremost with Ayoob Kara, a parliamentarian with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party who is also deputy minister for development of the Negev and Galilee districts.

The reason for the growing focus on Israel is not difficult to divine. “On the one hand,” Strache told SPIEGEL ONLINE in a recent interview, “we are seeing great revolutions taking place in the Middle East. But one can’t be totally sure that other interests aren’t behind them and that, in the end, we might see Islamist theocracies surrounding Israel and in Europe’s backyard.”

In other words, in the battle against what right-wing populists see as the creeping Islamization of Europe, Israel is on the front line. ….. 

At first glance, the European populists’ relationship with Israel would hardly appear to be a marriage built on love. Many see the FPÖ as being just one tiny step away from classic neo-Nazi groups and the same holds true for their partners throughout Europe.  …… And Kara was blasted in the Israeli press for a recent meeting in Berlin he held with Patrick Brinkmann, a German right-wing populist. “Deputy Minister Meets Neo-Nazi Millionaire,” read a headline in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth earlier this month, noting that Brinkmann, while now insistent that he is not anti-Semitic, once had close ties with the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). ….

Read article:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,777175,00.html

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Posted in Alarmism, Behaviour, Politics | 1 Comment »

Another plagiarist politician is now appointed Turkish Minister of Education

July 29, 2011

Political and electoral imperatives often lead to people being placed in the most inappropriate positions and being given authority in areas for which they are completely unsuitable.

In Germany, Sylvana Koch-Mehrin had her doctorate rescinded by the University of Heidelberg for containing over 30% plagiarism in May 2011, and shortly after, in June,  she was named EU Commissioner for Research!!

And now in Turkey,   a plagiarist – Ömer Dinçer – has been appointed Minister of Education in Prime Minister Erdogan’s new government!!

Nature News reports:

German politicians found guilty of plagiarism have seen their careers stumble. First came the forced resignation in March of the German defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg – the University of Bayreuth withdrew his PhD thesis after identifying extensive plagiarism. Other German politicians wielding doctor titles were then gleefully been targeted by plagiarism software users. Only last month, Silvana Koch-Mehrin of Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) was forced to withdraw from the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy after the University of Heidelberg had revoked her plagiarizing PhD. Her predecessor on the committee, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, had his own PhD revoked by the University of Bonn last week for plagiarism.

In Turkey, on the other hand, a controversial charge of plagiarism has not stopped Ömer Dinçer from being appointed minister of education in Prime Minister Erdogan’s new government. The new government was approved by parliament on 13 July.

Dinçer got his PhD from İstanbul University School of Business Administration in 1984. He went on to build up a high flying academic career in parallel with a political career, becoming chief undersecretary in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s first government in 2003, and minister of labour in Erdoğan’s second government after 2007 elections.

But he lost his title of professor in 2005 when the Turkish Council of Higher Education YÖK identified extensive plagiarism in his academic book Introduction to Business Administration. Dinçer appealed the charge, but it was upheld in court.

On 8 July newspapers reported that YÖK had quietly cleared him early this year to the dismay of many academics. YÖK confirmed to Nature that it had withdrawn the charge but did not provide reasons.

Dinçer has told newspapers that the charge of plagiarism was part of a smear campaign from a supposed network of people, known as Ergenekon, who favour a military coup.

Related:

The Guttenberg syndrome: Another German politician resigns over plagiarism

Plagiarism and the morphing of a Minister 

Widespread corruption within Turkish customs: Bribes pool of $125 million 


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Posted in Ethics, Politics, scientific misconduct, Turkey | Comments Off on Another plagiarist politician is now appointed Turkish Minister of Education

Seeking notoriety Paul Ray would now like to have been Breivik’s “Richard”

July 29, 2011

Paul Ray (Lionheart) from his safe haven in Malta is spending a lot of blog energy in insinuating that Alan Lake and not he is the “Richard” referred to in Anders Behring Breivik’s “manifesto”. Ray is or was a member of the English Defence League and was apparently expelled which he disputes.

But probably seeking all the notoriety he can get he has now admitted that he was in contact with the killer and concedes to The Telegraph that he may have been the inspiration for Breivik:

Paul Ray, a British blogger who calls himself “Lionheart” revealed that his opinions could have influenced Breivik’s Islamophobic diatribe, which the killer published online hours before he massacred 76 people.

Speaking from Malta, where he has fled fearing arrest for inciting racial hatred, Mr Ray conceded that he had been in direct contact with the 32-year-old gunman online.

In his manifesto Breivik described a character very similar to Mr Ray as a mentor, claiming to have met him at an event in London in 2002. Mr Ray said on Thursday: “I am being implicated as his mentor. I definitely could have been his inspiration.

“It looks like that. He has given me a platform and a profile. But what he did was pure evil. I could never use what he has done to further my own beliefs.”

The Daily Telegraph can also disclose that Mr Ray played host to Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair, former leader of the Ulster Freedom Fighters in Malta last February. … He is also known to be friends with Nick Greger, a German “known as Nazi Nick,” who describes himself as a “former neo-Nazi-leader, convicted terrorist, militiaman, artist, book writer and preacher”. ….. Mr Greger, who is banned from Britain, has traveled widely in Africa and currently lives in Malta, as does Mr Ray, who is originally from Luton, Bedfordshire. … Mr Ray was arrested in Britain in 2008 over blog postings allegedly inciting racial hatred but said he was never charged. He left the country the same year.

But he would love to be taken for being much more important than he is. He seems to be torn between avoiding any association with Breivik while at the same time he would be immensely gratified to have been the inspiration of anything to anybody. His incoherent ramblings would indicate that he is little more than a two-bit, publicity-seeking hoodlum skulking away in Malta – even if Breivik did take some inspiration from him.

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Posted in Behaviour, Politics, UK | 1 Comment »

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