To me, this translates to "if you want to exercise your right to free speech, you have to be prepared to spend money to defend that right."
This is a confusion that seems common in these parts (i.e. Slashdot) and should be cleared up. Getting sued by someone else, be it a corporation or another person, is a civil matter, not a criminal matter. The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, specifically deal with criminal law.
The right to free speech means is that you can't be prosecuted for saying something, with the standard caveats of "yelling fire in a crowded theatre" or being Aldrich Ames. That has absolutely nothing to do with being sued by someone else, whether it be for defamation, revealing trade secrets, or whatever. Also note that you can't go to jail as the result of a civil proceeding.
Likewise, it's not an infringement of your right to free speech if a bulletin board operator decides to remove (censor) your posts. While we may not all agree with such actions when they happen, the fact is that your right to free speech does not require that anyone else provide the platform (the means) by which you may exercise that right. You can say anything you want, but you can't spray paint it on the side of my house.
The flip side of all this is that while you can't be subject to prosecution for speech, you can be subject to severe financial penalties as the result of something that you've said. To make matters worse, the average person need not even lose a lawsuit to be subject to financial harm; the lawyer fees alone for a defense attorney will be extremely damaging.
And ultimately, the result is the same; the stifling of freedom of expression.
For a good case that explores both sides of this debate, research the case of Proctor & Gamble vs. Amway Corp., and the countersuit which includes Amway Corp. vs. Sidney Schwartz. P&G sued Amway a few years back due to Amway's voice mail system being used to transmit a message among the "independent" Amway distributors concerning the old urban legend about P&G being involved with Satanism. Amway's countersuit revolved largely around Schartz's anti-Amway web site, and the fact that P&G had used Schwartz as a consultant in their battle with Amway.
According to Amway, P&G was funding Schwartz's site, which Schwartz denies. Due to the legal battle, Schwartz finally took his site down, although it is still mirrored heavily around the world. Despite the fact that Amway and their lawyers were never able to answer Schwartz's challenge to point out even one single incorrect statement on his site, he was effectively silenced by Amway's continued litigation. They didn't need to win in court.
This is a Really Bad Thing (TM), but it has nothing to do with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It simply doesn't apply here. What does apply here is the higher concept of freedom of expression that we believe in. And while I think it's slimy for Amway to shut down Schwartz's web site, what about P&G suing over a rumor? Sure Schwartz was right and the rumor was wrong, but...
Let's keep the focus in this battle; it's turning out to be a nasty one, but ultimately we're going to have to win it.
It probably doesn't help DC's case that Radio Shack's latest commercial (the one where Howie brags on their new in-store Microsoft center) mentions at the end that they'll give you a free cuecat scanner when you stop in and ask.
I'm waiting for the wording to be changed to "We'll loan you a cuecat scanner"...
..."By way of possible explanation, a colleague has compiled this handy list of entertainment industry contributions to Democrats.:)" While that's a clever jab, it hardly seems fair to lay the blame at the political party involved here.
It's extremely "fair", and even valuable. The Democratic party and their supporters would have us to believe that they represent the interests of "the people" while the evil Republicans represent the interests of "Big Money". While it's been a good line for pulling in suckers to vote for them, the simple fact is that they rely as much on "donations" from big business as the Republicans. It's nice to see the myth exposed.
It's also important to point out that the link also includes a list of Republican donors, although it's much smaller.
Seems more like a question of Establishmentarianism -- politicians in office like to remain there, and know about both corporate bread-buttering and the importance of appearing reassuringly normal.
That's all true, but according to the Democrats, that only applies to Republicans. It is important that light be shed on the double-standard.
"Free Practice Management" is a GPL'd physician practice management application written in Zope. I host their site, but don't know much about it beyond playing with the demo.
From their page:
FreePM is built on the Z Object Publishing Environment (ZOPE) engine. It is an open source document management system from Digital Creations, Inc.
FreePM is a template driven system that provides the physician with an easy to use, easy to modify medical record management tool. Customized forms can be constructed with only the knowledge required to edit standard html web pages and a few extra tags and commands.
The system consists of a series of templates that create the component parts of a patient medical record."
From what I've read lately, today's IC engines generally top out at around 30% efficiency. So far, fuel cells range from around 40 - 60% efficiency.
That's only part of the story. An IC engine "outputs" mechanical energy, a fuel cell outputs electrical energy that has to be converted to mechanical energy. Putting an electrical motor into the equation further reduces the efficiency.
But I'm not dumping on fuel cells. Their real advantage is in the low emissions, and I'm hoping that they can be made small and efficient enough to work well in cars. That is not the case yet.
And last year didnt Microsoft forget to pay for passport.com? That would have been interesting...
Major point: Microsoft did not forget to pay for passport.com. Network Solutions screwed up and sent the notifications to the old billing contact at Passport Radio, the company that had sold passport.com to Microsoft.
This brings up another good reason to not immediately put a domain name up for grabs: Network Solutions could end up in a world of hurt had they further screwed up and let someone else grab passport.com.
There needs to be a well-documented, fixed time period (90 days after the expiration date seems reasonable) after which a domain name is available.
Come back in 3yrs time after you've done some DBA work and you will cringe with embarassment at that comment.
Come back after you've read my resume and YOU'LL cringe with embarassment at that comment. Of the last 12 years of my life, about 8 have been spent DBA'ing almost full-time.
Jon says: Bove's particular issue is what he calls the industrialization of agriculture.
CNN says: Bove is being portrayed, and is portraying himself, as the champion of traditional French values; a true patriot standing up to that most unacceptable face of multiculturalism -- bad food. http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/06/30/bigmac. attack/
Jon seems to be forgetting that France is the country which has outlawed use of non-French words in most circumstances. Jose comes across as more of a right-wing nationalist.
Jon says:...whose international crusade began last year in protest against U.S. duties on Roquefort cheese.
CNN says: The food fight began when France refused to import hormone-laced U.S. beef unless it was labeled. Washington added a 100 percent tax to Roquefort, foie gras and other French delicacies. Bove's farm lobby group struck back. http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/06/29/bigmaca ttack.ap/index.html
Ah, wait, did I read "farm lobby group"? Let's be frank, Jose is worried about his group members, perhaps even himself, losing money because of a new tariff (one with which I don't agree, but that's beside the point) which will probably cost them money. Sounds like Jose does know a lot about America, specifically trying to use your influence with government to line your pocket, or to keep the lining there.
From CNN: Though Bove bills himself as a sheep farmer who produces milk for Roquefort...
I am so surprised.
Bove, a French farmer and union leader...
Wow, sounds like a simple guy. Does he live in a mud hut or something? Let's see...
Jon says: He's dubbed his town "Seattle-on-the-Tarn," a reference to the local river and to the protests he joined during the World Trade Organization's Seattle summit last year.
CNN says: Bove's book, "The World Is Not Merchandise," has sold 80,000 copies, and he jets from Seattle to the South Pacific to espouse his cause.
Nice to see he also comes over to the US to cause trouble now and then.
I don't particularly like McDonalds. But there is something that is far worse than McDonalds: the tyranny of an individual or small group of individuals who want to force their views on everybody else.
Rather than trashing a McDonalds or performing some other illegal act, I simply choose to not eat there. I won't deny anyone else the freedom to choose to do differently than I do. It's their right. If enough other people hold my view, then the offending restaurant will close due to lack of business. That's the correct way for change to occur.
Jose Bove is an attention seeking extremist who trashed a McDonalds simply as a publicity stunt. The sad part is, it worked. Rather than being hailed by Jon Katz as some sort of modern hero standing up against an international corporate bully, he should be ignored as a petty criminal.
One other question about Mr. Bove: If he's so damned worried about "globalization", why does he care if the US buys his cheese? Sounds like he's only concerned about it if he's not personally making money on it.
Jon, you should read a bit more about people before you decide that they're heros.
Oracle is a great company and microsoft is a horrible one...
And what is it that makes Oracle "good" while "Microsoft" is bad? Both sell proprietary software, both use embrace & extend tactics to tighten their grip (yet Oracle has yet to fully embrace the latest SQL standard; last I looked they were behind MS Access in terms of compliance), the biggest difference is that Oracle's software is far more expensive than that from Microsoft.
You have to wonder why Larry Ellison is so freakishly obsessed with Microsoft, anyway. Microsoft does make a rdbms that competes with Oracle on one platform, and is far cheaper yet considered less powerful. A broken up Microsoft will probably be more willing to port that server to Unix platforms and really compete with Oracle.
I really can't figure out what Ellison/Oracle is trying to accomplish here aside from making Microsoft look bad. (this coming from a person who has been widely accused of doing the same thing:) Microsoft is doing a fine job of that without anybody's help, though.
Larry, if you read this, drop me an email. I'm really curious, and I promise confidentiality. (hey, it's worth a shot)
-MC
Re:Checked out address via call to directory assis
on
Taking On A Spammer
·
· Score: 1
The USGS data for Cobblestone Lane in Clarksville doesn't have addresses with it, so mapping software cannot bring up the address.
on this page: http://belps.freewebsites.com/icq-chat-logs/Rodo na-Server-and-Dave-Gosse.txt
If this story is faked, he had to create this page (this first link at prcorp.com), too. Read the Rodona (Kim) Garst bio there, she's made a lot of money at spamming according to it.
Not to mention that I change hardware from time to time. A new video card here, a new disk controller there. Sometimes these require an OS-reinstall.
Makes me wonder if MS or other companies may, at some point, move the hardware check out of the install process and into the boot process. Buy a new motherboard, buy a new license. It seems to me to be the next logical step.
You ever seen the AARP (American Association of Retired People) screaming chants in the streets?
The AARP represents the wealthiest segment of the population, and generally the segment that has the best representation in government. That means that 1) they have the money to buy congressmen and 2) they have no qualms about screwing everybody else to get their way.
So the reason that you don't see the AARP marching around is that they prefer to send in their veritable army of lobbyists and go straight to the heart of the matter.
The interesting aspect of the AARP is that in their quest to get the best deals for the current crop of retired/elderly folks, they are screwing their future members. I'll never join unless they change drastically, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Of course, I can't join anytime soon:)
This reminds me (vaguely) of a robot cleverly named "Klaatu" (there's your obscure reference for the day, when you give up go here: http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~ntucs82/PEOPLE/b250601 7/sf/e.html) from the late 70's that was supposed to be able to cook, clean, do dishes, basically the robotic maid from the Jetsons. There was a picture of it in one of my school reader things, like the weekly reader or something.
It looked really cheesy, kind of humanoid with steel mitten hands and arms made of flexible clothes dryer vent hose (the arms were clearly modeled after the Lost In Space robot, the mittens seem far handier than the pinchers that thing had). To this day I wonder if some self-deluded scientist had actually put this thing together thinking that he could make a cooking/cleaning robot, or if it was a cruel joke played on some dim-witted reporter. Remember that this was the time that the Apple I was coming out, and computing power was measured in single-digit, oftentimes fractional, MIPS. There's simply no way it could have performed the tasks they claimed it could.
Of course, I was 10 years old, I had no idea until a few years later that it was bogus.
Odd how the RIAA isn't harrassing AOL/Netscape and Microsoft, both of whom make newsreaders (which are far more widely used than Pan) which seamlessly decode binary attachments. It's time for the FTC to start looking into the RIAA, and it's time for the rest of us to consider a class-action suit against them.
From: Alan Gay Newsgroups: ox.talk Subject: Re: Deep linking Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 13:14:54 +0100 Organization: Oxford University, England
So, you are saying that all this fuss is because I'm too bone-headed to actually review the contents of your page before removing it? The result of this is that the University has spent, and is still spending, a vast amount of administrative effort and lawyers' fees as a direct result of my abject incompetence, and that's probably nothing new.
I'll leave others to discuss the sense in the University not suspending me while deciding a suitable punishment, such as a written apology to you and partial- or full- compensation for the University's unnecessary legal fees in this matter.
Slashdot Mirror
To me, this translates to "if you want to exercise your right to free speech, you have to be prepared to spend money to defend that right."
This is a confusion that seems common in these parts (i.e. Slashdot) and should be cleared up. Getting sued by someone else, be it a corporation or another person, is a civil matter, not a criminal matter. The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, specifically deal with criminal law.
The right to free speech means is that you can't be prosecuted for saying something, with the standard caveats of "yelling fire in a crowded theatre" or being Aldrich Ames. That has absolutely nothing to do with being sued by someone else, whether it be for defamation, revealing trade secrets, or whatever. Also note that you can't go to jail as the result of a civil proceeding.
Likewise, it's not an infringement of your right to free speech if a bulletin board operator decides to remove (censor) your posts. While we may not all agree with such actions when they happen, the fact is that your right to free speech does not require that anyone else provide the platform (the means) by which you may exercise that right. You can say anything you want, but you can't spray paint it on the side of my house.
The flip side of all this is that while you can't be subject to prosecution for speech, you can be subject to severe financial penalties as the result of something that you've said. To make matters worse, the average person need not even lose a lawsuit to be subject to financial harm; the lawyer fees alone for a defense attorney will be extremely damaging.
And ultimately, the result is the same; the stifling of freedom of expression.
For a good case that explores both sides of this debate, research the case of Proctor & Gamble vs. Amway Corp., and the countersuit which includes Amway Corp. vs. Sidney Schwartz. P&G sued Amway a few years back due to Amway's voice mail system being used to transmit a message among the "independent" Amway distributors concerning the old urban legend about P&G being involved with Satanism. Amway's countersuit revolved largely around Schartz's anti-Amway web site, and the fact that P&G had used Schwartz as a consultant in their battle with Amway.
According to Amway, P&G was funding Schwartz's site, which Schwartz denies. Due to the legal battle, Schwartz finally took his site down, although it is still mirrored heavily around the world. Despite the fact that Amway and their lawyers were never able to answer Schwartz's challenge to point out even one single incorrect statement on his site, he was effectively silenced by Amway's continued litigation. They didn't need to win in court.
This is a Really Bad Thing (TM), but it has nothing to do with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It simply doesn't apply here. What does apply here is the higher concept of freedom of expression that we believe in. And while I think it's slimy for Amway to shut down Schwartz's web site, what about P&G suing over a rumor? Sure Schwartz was right and the rumor was wrong, but...
Let's keep the focus in this battle; it's turning out to be a nasty one, but ultimately we're going to have to win it.
Michael
It probably doesn't help DC's case that Radio Shack's latest commercial (the one where Howie brags on their new in-store Microsoft center) mentions at the end that they'll give you a free cuecat scanner when you stop in and ask.
I'm waiting for the wording to be changed to "We'll loan you a cuecat scanner"...
Michael
P.S. Too bad I didn't register.
It's extremely "fair", and even valuable. The Democratic party and their supporters would have us to believe that they represent the interests of "the people" while the evil Republicans represent the interests of "Big Money". While it's been a good line for pulling in suckers to vote for them, the simple fact is that they rely as much on "donations" from big business as the Republicans. It's nice to see the myth exposed.
It's also important to point out that the link also includes a list of Republican donors, although it's much smaller.
Seems more like a question of Establishmentarianism -- politicians in office like to remain there, and know about both corporate bread-buttering and the importance of appearing reassuringly normal.
That's all true, but according to the Democrats, that only applies to Republicans. It is important that light be shed on the double-standard.
By the way: I'm not a Republican. Don't bother.
Michael
Or do you think that the patent office would not grant such patent?
Let's see: one click shopping, international e-commerce... It's difficult to imagine a patent that the patent office wouldn't grant...
Michael
"Free Practice Management" is a GPL'd physician practice management application written in Zope. I host their site, but don't know much about it beyond playing with the demo.
From their page:
Check it out at freepm.org, more information from tim@freepm.org.
Michael
I thought Microsoft had only one application-Windows- with everything else being an integrated part of the OS.
Seriously, I wonder if Internet Explorer was counted in the 70,000...
MC
It was sarcasm...
From what I've read lately, today's IC engines generally top out at around 30% efficiency. So far, fuel cells range from around 40 - 60% efficiency.
That's only part of the story. An IC engine "outputs" mechanical energy, a fuel cell outputs electrical energy that has to be converted to mechanical energy. Putting an electrical motor into the equation further reduces the efficiency.
But I'm not dumping on fuel cells. Their real advantage is in the low emissions, and I'm hoping that they can be made small and efficient enough to work well in cars. That is not the case yet.
Hopefully they can use that new Microsoft ClearType technology to make the text look better.
And last year didnt Microsoft forget to pay for passport.com? That would have been interesting...
Major point: Microsoft did not forget to pay for passport.com. Network Solutions screwed up and sent the notifications to the old billing contact at Passport Radio, the company that had sold passport.com to Microsoft.
This brings up another good reason to not immediately put a domain name up for grabs: Network Solutions could end up in a world of hurt had they further screwed up and let someone else grab passport.com.
There needs to be a well-documented, fixed time period (90 days after the expiration date seems reasonable) after which a domain name is available.
Michael
Computers download information, he says. They do not teach children to think.
That sounds like a lot of my teachers when I was younger. Well, except for the "download information" part.
Michael
Am I the only one who finds the american flag with the monitor in the place of the stars really, really scary?
I think it would qualify as flag desecration under some of those proposed laws/amendments.
I'm just waiting to see if Microsoft's lawyers demand that Slashdot take down that copyrighted material.
MC
Didn't they also invent french fries, one of the four food groups at McDonalds?
Come to think of it, do they serve "american fries" in France?
Come back in 3yrs time after you've done some DBA work and you will cringe with embarassment at that comment.
Come back after you've read my resume and YOU'LL cringe with embarassment at that comment. Of the last 12 years of my life, about 8 have been spent DBA'ing almost full-time.
The bug, which was discovered last week during internal testing, prompts computers containing the chip to "lock up," said a Gateway spokesman.
I wonder if they're testing these with Windows installed...
MC
Jon says: Bove's particular issue is what he calls the industrialization of agriculture.
CNN says: Bove is being portrayed, and is portraying himself, as the champion of traditional French values; a true patriot standing up to that most unacceptable face of multiculturalism -- bad food. http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/06/30/bigmac. attack/
Jon seems to be forgetting that France is the country which has outlawed use of non-French words in most circumstances. Jose comes across as more of a right-wing nationalist.
Jon says: ...whose international crusade began last year in protest against U.S. duties on Roquefort cheese.
CNN says: The food fight began when France refused to import hormone-laced U.S. beef unless it was labeled. Washington added a 100 percent tax to Roquefort, foie gras and other French delicacies. Bove's farm lobby group struck back. http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/06/29/bigmaca ttack.ap/index.html
Ah, wait, did I read "farm lobby group"? Let's be frank, Jose is worried about his group members, perhaps even himself, losing money because of a new tariff (one with which I don't agree, but that's beside the point) which will probably cost them money. Sounds like Jose does know a lot about America, specifically trying to use your influence with government to line your pocket, or to keep the lining there.
From CNN: Though Bove bills himself as a sheep farmer who produces milk for Roquefort...
I am so surprised.
Bove, a French farmer and union leader...
Wow, sounds like a simple guy. Does he live in a mud hut or something? Let's see...
Jon says: He's dubbed his town "Seattle-on-the-Tarn," a reference to the local river and to the protests he joined during the World Trade Organization's Seattle summit last year.
CNN says: Bove's book, "The World Is Not Merchandise," has sold 80,000 copies, and he jets from Seattle to the South Pacific to espouse his cause.
Nice to see he also comes over to the US to cause trouble now and then.
I don't particularly like McDonalds. But there is something that is far worse than McDonalds: the tyranny of an individual or small group of individuals who want to force their views on everybody else.
Rather than trashing a McDonalds or performing some other illegal act, I simply choose to not eat there. I won't deny anyone else the freedom to choose to do differently than I do. It's their right. If enough other people hold my view, then the offending restaurant will close due to lack of business. That's the correct way for change to occur.
Jose Bove is an attention seeking extremist who trashed a McDonalds simply as a publicity stunt. The sad part is, it worked. Rather than being hailed by Jon Katz as some sort of modern hero standing up against an international corporate bully, he should be ignored as a petty criminal.
One other question about Mr. Bove: If he's so damned worried about "globalization", why does he care if the US buys his cheese? Sounds like he's only concerned about it if he's not personally making money on it.
Jon, you should read a bit more about people before you decide that they're heros.
Michael
Oracle is a great company and microsoft is a horrible one...
And what is it that makes Oracle "good" while "Microsoft" is bad? Both sell proprietary software, both use embrace & extend tactics to tighten their grip (yet Oracle has yet to fully embrace the latest SQL standard; last I looked they were behind MS Access in terms of compliance), the biggest difference is that Oracle's software is far more expensive than that from Microsoft.
You have to wonder why Larry Ellison is so freakishly obsessed with Microsoft, anyway. Microsoft does make a rdbms that competes with Oracle on one platform, and is far cheaper yet considered less powerful. A broken up Microsoft will probably be more willing to port that server to Unix platforms and really compete with Oracle.
I really can't figure out what Ellison/Oracle is trying to accomplish here aside from making Microsoft look bad. (this coming from a person who has been widely accused of doing the same thing :) Microsoft is doing a fine job of that without anybody's help, though.
Larry, if you read this, drop me an email. I'm really curious, and I promise confidentiality. (hey, it's worth a shot)
-MCThe USGS data for Cobblestone Lane in Clarksville doesn't have addresses with it, so mapping software cannot bring up the address.
Found this link:
o na-Server-and-Dave-Gosse.txt
http://www.prcorp.com/garst.htm
on this page:
http://belps.freewebsites.com/icq-chat-logs/Rod
If this story is faked, he had to create this page (this first link at prcorp.com), too. Read the Rodona (Kim) Garst bio there, she's made a lot of money at spamming according to it.
Michael
Not to mention that I change hardware from time to time. A new video card here, a new disk controller there. Sometimes these require an OS-reinstall.
Makes me wonder if MS or other companies may, at some point, move the hardware check out of the install process and into the boot process. Buy a new motherboard, buy a new license. It seems to me to be the next logical step.
Michael
If I'm in a crowded room and I yell offensive things about somebody -- even if they're untrue -- I can't get in trouble.
I'd bet Al Sharpton wishes you were correct. But you're not. Libel has a different name when it's verbalized: slander.
Read here for more info:
http://www.cnn.com/US/9 807/13/brawley.verdict.02/index.html
Michael
You ever seen the AARP (American Association of Retired People) screaming chants in the streets?
The AARP represents the wealthiest segment of the population, and generally the segment that has the best representation in government. That means that 1) they have the money to buy congressmen and 2) they have no qualms about screwing everybody else to get their way.
So the reason that you don't see the AARP marching around is that they prefer to send in their veritable army of lobbyists and go straight to the heart of the matter.
The interesting aspect of the AARP is that in their quest to get the best deals for the current crop of retired/elderly folks, they are screwing their future members. I'll never join unless they change drastically, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Of course, I can't join anytime soon :)
MC
This reminds me (vaguely) of a robot cleverly named "Klaatu" (there's your obscure reference for the day, when you give up go here: http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~ntucs82/PEOPLE/b250601 7/sf/e.html) from the late 70's that was supposed to be able to cook, clean, do dishes, basically the robotic maid from the Jetsons. There was a picture of it in one of my school reader things, like the weekly reader or something.
It looked really cheesy, kind of humanoid with steel mitten hands and arms made of flexible clothes dryer vent hose (the arms were clearly modeled after the Lost In Space robot, the mittens seem far handier than the pinchers that thing had). To this day I wonder if some self-deluded scientist had actually put this thing together thinking that he could make a cooking/cleaning robot, or if it was a cruel joke played on some dim-witted reporter. Remember that this was the time that the Apple I was coming out, and computing power was measured in single-digit, oftentimes fractional, MIPS. There's simply no way it could have performed the tasks they claimed it could.
Of course, I was 10 years old, I had no idea until a few years later that it was bogus.
MC
Odd how the RIAA isn't harrassing AOL/Netscape and Microsoft, both of whom make newsreaders (which are far more widely used than Pan) which seamlessly decode binary attachments. It's time for the FTC to start looking into the RIAA, and it's time for the rest of us to consider a class-action suit against them.
This harrassment with lawyers is too much.
-Michael
From: Alan Gay
Newsgroups: ox.talk
Subject: Re: Deep linking
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 13:14:54 +0100
Organization: Oxford University, England
So, you are saying that all this fuss is because I'm too bone-headed to actually review the contents of your page before removing it? The result of this is that the University has spent, and is still spending, a vast amount of administrative effort and lawyers' fees as a direct result of my abject incompetence, and that's probably nothing new.
I'll leave others to discuss the sense in the University not suspending me while deciding a suitable punishment, such as a written apology to you and partial- or full- compensation for the University's unnecessary legal fees in this matter.
That's more like it.
-Michael