Opinion: Best of the Web Today: Revenge of the Nerds

(Best of the tube tonight: Catch us on "Lou Dobbs Tonight," 7 p.m. ET on Fox Business, with repeat showings at 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.) "Have you ever had a group of men sitting right behind you making joke [sic] that caused you to feel uncomfortable?" wrote blogress Adria Richards Monday. "Well, that just happened this week but instead of shrinking down in my seat, I did something about it an [sic] here's my story�.�.�."

A richly entertaining story it is. It seems that Richards, a "developer evangelist" for a company called SendGrid, was at a conference called PyCon, which describes itself as "the largest annual gathering for the community using and developing the open-source Python programming language." That is, it was a convocation of computer nerds.

Sunday night she tweeted a photograph of two young men in the audience, with the comment: "Not cool. Jokes about forking repo's in a sexual way and 'big' dongles. Right behind me."

She wasn't done. Two minutes later she tweeted: "Can someone talk to these guys about their conduct?" and indicated where she was sitting. Six minutes after that, she tweeted a link to the PyCon Code of Conduct, which explains that the conference "is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone" and that "sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue."

The PyCon twitter account responded 24 minutes after that: "Thank you @adriarichards for bringing the inappropriate comments to our attention. We've dealt with the situation." The conference later reported on its website: "Both parties were met with, in private. The comments that were made were in poor taste, and individuals involved agreed, apologized and no further actions were taken by the staff of PyCon 2013. No individuals were removed from the conference, no sanctions were levied."

Richards wrote nearly 2,000 words about this tempest-in-a-teapot. She explained that the jokers were emboldened by "deindividuation" and quoted the Wikipedia definition: "a concept in social psychology that is generally thought of as the losing of self-awareness in groups." Added Richards: "It very much reminded me of Lord of the Flies. I decided to put out the fire at the base."

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She further complained that "the stuff about the dongles wasn't even logical and as a self professed nerd, that bothered me. Dongles are intended to be small and unobtrusive. They're intended for network connectivity and to service as physical licence keys for software."

Our guess is that the boys were making a pun based on the word's similarity to the name of Vietnam's currency. But that got us to brainstorming logical dongle jokes. So far we've come up with two:

"Is that a dongle in your pocket, or are you not especially happy to see me?"

How many feminists does it take to plug in a dongle? That's NOT funny.

As for "forking repos," here's what the term means, according to Atlassian.com: "Forking is a way for you to clone a repository at a specific point, and to modify it from there. To fork is just another way of saying clone." Surprisingly, it escaped Richards's notice that sexual jokes about forking are illogical too, since cloning is an asexual means of reproduction.

According to ArsTechnica.com, however, one of the guys involved, who goes by "the Hacker News name 'mr-hank,'�" denied the forking-joke allegation: "The developers were discussing the process of forking code bases, not making sexual jokes, he said. 'While I did make a big dongle joke about a fictional piece [of] hardware that identified as male, no sexual jokes were made about forking,' he wrote."

It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. And mr-hank, according to ArsTechnica, did get hurt: He was "fired by his employer, PlayHaven, which said the inappropriate comments were contrary to the company's dedication to gender equality. .�.�. The other developer making jokes, Alex Reid, was not fired."

But mr-hank wasn't the only one to lose a job to the dongle kerfuffle. In a Facebook post (since deleted) SendGrid announced it had given Richards the ax. CEO Jim Franklin later explained in a blog post: "SendGrid supports the right to report inappropriate behavior, whenever and wherever it occurs. What we do not support was how she reported the conduct. Her decision to tweet the comments and photographs of the people who made the comments crossed the line."

Our sympathies lie with Reid and mr-hank. Their jokes, while juvenile, were innocuous, whereas Richards displayed a self-importance verging on grandiosity. "Yesterday the future of programming was on the line and I made myself heard," she wrote at the close of her blog post.

But there is an argument to be made on the other side: The jokes while innocuous, were juvenile, and inappropriate for a professional setting in which some people--particularly including women--may have more delicate sensibilities.

Keep that argument in mind as you read this March�7 story from TheCollegeFix.com:

Nearly a dozen billboard-sized photos of vaginas in various states � including shaved ones, others that are blemished, and still some with tampons inserted--are slated for display today and tomorrow at the University of Cincinnati as part of a student-sponsored "Re-Envisioning the Female Body" exhibit.The female genitalia photos are in direct retaliation to an anti-abortion display hosted by prolife students at the university last May that included graphic images of aborted fetuses, its organizers state.�.�.�."Re-Envisioning the Female Body" is hosted by the university's LGBTQ Alliance and UC Feminists student groups and showcased at the school's McMicken Commons, an outdoor "free speech" area at the center of campus with grassy knolls and several student walkways.

That display undoubtedly was protected by the First Amendment; its political content would shield it from an obscenity prosecution. But it was in atrocious taste, and it was designed to be. No one should accept feminists in the role of taste police, at least until they set up a robust internal affairs division.

Who'll Check the Checkers? The "assault weapons" ban having failed, antigun Democrats are still hoping to enact legislation requiring all gun purchasers to pass a background check. Currently, federally licensed dealers are required to check prospective purchasers, but individuals selling guns privately have no such burden.

"There's no coherent policy argument against expanding background checks," argues Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent. "That's why opponents continually resort to the false claim that expanding background checks will create a 'national gun registry,' when the law explicitly prohibits that outcome."

What about privacy? Currently access to the FBI's background check system is limited to licensed firearms dealers, who have an incentive not to abuse it lest they lose their license. If it's opened up to all prospective sellers of guns--that is, to everybody--what's to prevent someone from abusing it, say by requesting a background check on Greg Sargent, who presumably has no interest in acquiring a gun?

The system only gives a yes-or-no answer as to whether the putative buyer is eligible to own firearms under federal law. But if you're looking to dig up dirt on someone, a "no" answer on a firearms background check would give you a nice clump of it.

Attainder? I Barely Knew Her! "A group of House Democrats on Wednesday introduced a bill that would prevent the term 'Redskins' from being trademarked, a move intended to put pressure on the Washington football club to change its name," TheHill.com reports:

The Non-Disparagement of American Indians in Trademark Registrations Act of 2013 is co-sponsored by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), and comes days after a federal trademark panel heard arguments over whether the team name was a slur. The panel could potentially overturn the team's trademark, which would erode profits by allowing other businesses to sell apparel and goods featuring the Redskins name.

It's one thing if that panel, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, holds that the Redskins trademark violates generally applicable law. It's quite another for Congress to enact legislation stripping a trademark from a particular holder.

Remember when Congress banned federal funding for Acorn and the group, along with media lefties like Rachel Maddow, argued it was a bill of attainder, a law designed to punish a particular wrong, properly a judicial function?

Acorn lost the argument in court, on the grounds that Congress had to have the authority to refuse to fund an organization with a record of bad management, and that the withholding of appropriations is not a traditional form of punishment. But how can anyone argue that a law punishing the Redskins for giving offense by stripping a trademark would be anything other than a bill of attainder?

We Blame George W. Bush "1 in 10 U.S. Deaths Blamed on Salt"--headline, ABCNews.com, March�21

We Blame Global Warming "Plywood Becomes Hot Item in Housing Recovery"--headline, The Wall Street Journal, March�22

What Would We Do Without Experts? "Expert: Malfunction Caused Outage"--headline, Associated Press, March�21

'Zionist Occupiers Stole Our Shoes!' "Obama to Israelis: Put Yourselves in the Palestinians' Shoes"--headline, HotAir.com, March�21

Somebody Alert Mayor Bloomberg "Universe as an Infant: Fatter Than Expected and Kind of Lumpy"--headline, New York Times, March�22

Life Imitates the Onion

• "Punxsutawney Phil Beheaded for Inaccurate Prediction on Annual Groundhog Slaughtering Day"--headline, Onion, March�18
• "Ohio Prosecutor Seeks Death Penalty for Punxsutawney Phil After Bad Forecast"--headline, Washington Post website, March�21

The Police Advised Her of Her Right to Remain Silent "UGA Student Assaulted by Woman Dressed Like Mime"--headline, Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, March�21

Who Squealed? "New Yorkers Boldly Flout Law to Keep Pigs"--headline, Associated Press, March�22

Hey, Kids! What Time Is It?

• "Time to Banish Perpetually Offended Elements in Society"--headline, Belfast Telegraph, March�21
• "Susan J. Demas: It's Time to Start Talking About Poverty and Income Inequality"--headline, MLive.com (Michigan), March�21

Questions Nobody Is Asking

• "Bibi and Obama in Love?"--headline, TheDailyBeast.com, March�22
• "John Kerry to the Rescue?"--headline, TheDailyBeast.com, March�21
• "Will the U.S. Senate Stand Up for Our Future?"--headline, Puffington Host, March�22

Question and Answer--I

• "Where's Luca Brasi When You Need Him?"--headline, AnnCoulter.com, March�20
• "Fish Stocks Rebound Under Federal Plan"--headline, StarNews (Wilmington, N.C.), March�22

Question and Answer--II "WhyLeaveAstoria.com Founder Leaves Astoria"--headline, Daily News (New York), March�21

It's Always in the Last Place You Look "Guns, Dope, Naked Women Allegedly Found During Club Raid"--headline, KVUE-TV website (Austin, Texas), March�20

Someone Set Up Us the Bomb "Is Google Keep Better Than a Post-It?"--headline, TechnologyReview.com, March�21

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control "MSNBC Panel Praises O'Reilly for Slamming Michelle Bachmann, Highlight Network's Own Timidity"--headline, Mediaite.com, March�21

News of the Oxymoronic "Ashton Kutcher: People Underestimate My Intellect"--headline, Yahoo! TV, March�22

News You Can Use "Penn Research: Quitting Marshmallow Test Can Be a Rational Decision"--headline, University of Pennsylvania press release, March�20

Bottom Story of the Day "On the Moon, NASA Probe Sees Where Sun Never Shines"--headline, Space.com, March�21

Please Passover the Whiskey The New York Times reports on a meshugas in Brooklyn that started with a hortatory announcement from the Prospect Park Alliance:

The message included a not-too-subtle hint that it was aimed for a narrower audience: "As Passover approaches, Prospect Park is reaching out to the public regarding the removal of chametz (e.g. bread and other leavened products) from the home."That language--and the implication that observant Jews were the ones causing problems by feeding the geese--has provoked an unexpected confusion and outrage from some Jewish leaders, including one who called the message "an affront" and "a disgrace." Several rabbis said they were simply puzzled by why such a release was necessary, since throwing bread into the water is not a pre-Passover custom and only a few Jews might have individually chosen to do so."It disrespects an entire community," said Gary Schlesinger, director of United Jewish Community Advocacy Relations and Enrichment, a social service organization for the Satmar Hasidim in Williamsburg. "It's not even permitted that way. You have to burn it, or give it away. You don't put it into a lake."

But PPA head Paul Nelson said that hundreds of Brooklynites had in fact been observed throwing bread in the water in the days before Passover: "When asked, they said they were disposing of their bread products in preparation for Passover and thought they were doing a good thing by feeding it to the waterfowl."

Of course spirits distilled from grain are also considered chametz and thus prohibited during Passover. So a good test of the the bread-throwers' sincerity is whether any of them are also giving the Prospect Park geese whiskey.

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(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Tom Jackson, Rick Wiesehan, Sham Singh, Donald Walker, Howard Portnoy, Todd Lemmon, Eric Jensen, Michele Schiesser, William Thode, T. Young, Joe Clancy, James Benenson, Doug Helferich, David Hallstrom, Brian Dawson, Shawn Turk, Zack Russ, Bob Acker, John Sanders, Jarrett Skorup, Irene DeBlasio, Ethel Fenig, Richard Wong, John Bobek, Mark Van Der Molen, Miguel Rakiewicz and Patrick Harrigan. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)