Professor Timothy L. Jackson Wins $725,000 Settlement

          Facing the Music

   Professor Jackson will receive $725,000 from the University of North Texas. Five years ago he was accused of being a racist by some of his fellow faculty members and students at the UNT. Jackson was removed as editor of  the journal he produced at North Texas and its publication suspended. He will now continue to teach there, and  have his course load reduced and resume his editorship of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies and have a half-time Research Assistant to support the journal and receive the $725,000. Not bad. In addition, someone suggests that “We all owe Professor Jackson thanks for showing universities what will happen if they give in to woke mobs.”
   You likely are reading this post because of the mention of $725,000. It is highly unlikely that you read my earlier post, The Journal of Schenkerian Studies.  In it you will find a full account of the situation which led to the lawsuit, so you can have a look at that post for additional background.
   When I wrote it, the case was not settled and Professor Jackson did not yet have his own Wikipedia page which he now does. If you click on, Timothy L. Jackson, and go directly to the section, "Journal of Schenkerian Studies issue 12", you can avoid my longer account and feel more confident about the information provided.
  And, here is some CANCON, you will learn from the Wikipedia entry that Jackson was born in Ottawa and went to McGill!
 Sources:
      You are unlikely to need more, other than those already provided. If you do, you will find additional articles about the subject since many were written after the settlement in July, 2025. A sample is provided below and it is the source for the photo above. Professor Jackson also was able to keep his library privileges.

 "University Music Theory Professor Wins $725,000 in Settlement," Josh Guab, North Texas Daily, July 25, 2025.

   "Timothy Jackson, a 66-year-old distinguished university music theory research professor, continues to teach after settling a five-year-long lawsuit against the university and facing backlash over a controversial article....
 Jackson wrote an article about the controversy surrounding the historical Jewish music theorist, Heinrich Schenker, in which he compared Schenker’s work to that of theoretical physicist Albert Einstein in the field of classical music theory. 

   Jackson’s lawsuit began in 2020 after Philip Ewell, a music theorist at Hunter College, labeled Schenker as a lead influencer in the “white racial frame” of music theory. The professor included Schenkerian scholars as contributors to the “racist” framework. In response, Jackson defended Schenker in an article in the Journal of Schenkerian Studies and received national backlash from music theorists and students. 

   In Jackson’s response, he said Ewell’s claim “scapegoats Schenker and Schenkerians and paucity of African Americans” in music theory and was anti-Semitic. In the article, his argument focused on Schenker being Jewish and Schenker's predominantly Jewish student base being anti-Nazi and warned of academic ideological justification for a second Holocaust of Israeli Jews. 

  “All but one of my doctoral students dropped studying with me,” Jackson said. “In some ways, I really don’t blame them because they felt that they would be tainted by me.”

   University graduate students and faculty endorsed a statement that called to dissolve the Journal of Schenkerian Studies and apologized for Jackson’s “racist attacks.” Jackson said the university decided to close the journal, which was the primary incentive of the Center of Schenkerian Studies. Jackson said the journal’s elimination caused the center to close. 

“One of the things about this cancel culture that really, really hurt me and upset me was that I’ve always treated students with love and kindness,” Jackson said. “I was shocked and still am to this day, about how some students behaved towards me.”

   Jackson sued the university after the Journal of Schenkerian Studies closed. The university settled in early July, paying Jackson $725,000 on counts of defamation and violating his freedom of speech. 

   According to the Denton Record-Chronicle, $400,000 will be allocated to Jackson, and the remaining $325,000 will cover the initial legal fees in the case. The agreement stated the university was not admitting any fault by settling and Jackson must drop his first amendment and defamation claims against colleagues and the administration. 

   “The agreement ensures that journals published by the UNT Press, including the Journal of Schenkerian Studies, will apply the academic rigor and ethical practices expected of peer-reviewed journals within top-tier research universities,” Kelley Reese, the senior associate vice president of University Brand Strategy and Communications, said in an email to the North Texas Daily.

   Michael Lively, a music theory senior lecturer at SMU and Jackson’s former student, said people observed correctly that Schenker made racist comments, but the university dealt with the situation wrongfully. 

   “Under the interests of intellectual freedom, scholars are supposed to be able to express a wide range of ideas,” Lively said. “If other scholars disagree with them, then they should do that through the normal process of debate and discussion, instead of the sort of condemnation and ad hominem attacks, which were unfortunately part of the controversy.”

   Jackson said he will continue teaching at the university because he wants to rebuild the Center of Schenkerian Studies and teach students not what to think, but how to think. 

    “We need to be teaching students at UNT and all across this country to look at problems dialectically, how to argue one position in a different position,” Jackson said. “We’ll never get the absolute truth, but we’ll get closer and closer, like an asymptote of the truth by just persisting in this dialectical thinking.”

   Lively wrote a research article that suggests renaming Schenkerian Analysis instead of disregarding Schenker’s contributions, which will be published in the Music Theory Spectrum journal in 2027. He wants to rename the discipline to Katzian Analytical Theory, after Adele T. Katz, an early female Schenkerian theorist. Lively said this values diverse scholarly perspectives. 

   On July 9, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council recognized Jackson in his fight to affirm academic freedom and viewpoint diversity with the Columbia University Academic Freedom Prize. 

   “Academia is in a very difficult place right now in the country and it was important for me to fight the battle that I fought,” Jackson said. “I’m glad this very distinguished group of scholars has deemed that I should be among the first recipients of this award.”

   Jackson also founded the Lost Composers and Theorists Project in the Center of Schenkerian Studies during his 28 years of being a tenured professor. The project recovers music and research from composers who concealed their work during World War II under the Nazi regime. One recovered piece was performed by late university professor, Joseph Banowetz, who was Grammy-nominated in 2011. 

The Lost Composers and Theorists Project had 10 composers, including Schenker and Reinhard Oppel, a friend and colleague of Schenker. Jackson introduced Oppel’s work with help from his son, Kurt Oppel. Jackson said he lost contact after the controversy and is trying to reconnect with the Oppel family without success and the family was “profoundly dismayed by UNT’s behavior.” 

   “We’re in a situation where academic freedom has basically been thrown out the window because people are routinely threatened by extremists on both sides of the political perspective,” Lively said."

Serving The Ridiculously Rich

 

Olivia Ferney - Western, BMOS'22 Grad
  I wrote recently about Nadeen Ayoub, Miss Palestine, who may become Miss Universe, because she is in the news and Western University is mentioned (see, Miss Universe.) Another Western woman is in the "breaking news" and here are some of the stories in case you missed them. 
   The rather fetching Ms. Ferney is now in Miami working for Top Tier Travel, where she cares for the needs of very wealthy people who are used to having them met. Some of the requests are extremely extravagant and outlandish, but apparently requestors don't mind that they are exposed on, travelwithlivii, Olivia Ferney's Instagram account. Click on that link to learn more, or have a look at the articles below, where some of the more egregious examples of the demands of the rich and famous are provided.
    I will begin with the interview in The Times (the one in London, the other London) from which the illustration above is taken. It is from an article done by Paula Froelich on July 18 and it does not appear to be behind The TIme's rather high paywall, so read it at the link just provided. Other, rather lower-tiered British papers also offered stories including examples of the type of demands Ms. Ferney deals with daily. See, for example:
"Meet the Luxury Travel ‘fixer’ Whose Calls with Demanding Mega-rich Clients Have Made Her a Social Media Star," The Independent, Aug. 10, 2025.
  "Olivia Ferney has fast become one of the world's most sought-after luxury travel organizers, with Instagram videos of her staying cool in the face of absurd requests from ultra-high-net-worth clients earning her nearly 300,000 followers. She revealed her clients’ wildest demands to US Travel Editor Ted Thornhill." 

   On this side of the Atlantic, The New York Times has this story and I had to look up the sports car mentioned, since it has never been mentioned by anyone in my rather pedestrian group of friends: "They’re Rich, They Travel and They Love to Complain: A Birkin Bag Overnighted to Capri. A Pink Brabus Sports car for a Gen Z Birthday Party. Olivia Ferney, a Travel Agent to the Ultrawealthy, Has Heard it all," Guy Trebay, Aug. 21, 2025. Here are some examples from behind the NYT wall:

   “We work with many billionaires and hundred-millionaires,” Ms. Ferney said, referring to her employer, Top Tier Travel. “The main word I use is ‘particular.’ Rich people like very particular things.”
   Just how particular? There was the client who authorized $100,000 charged to his credit card for his daughter’s vacation, provided she agree not to contact him. Another client demanded a last-minute doctor’s consult before boarding a private jet, fearful that her new breast implants might rupture.
   And then there was the woman who insisted on being extracted from a charter boat when rough seas prevented her from reaching a Greek party island. She complained that the waves were not even that high, adding that the captain was no longer speaking to her....
   Raised in Dundas, Ontario, population 20,000, Ms. Ferney grew up in a middle-class family that was as incredulous as her online fans were about the stories she posted.
   After attending the University of Western Ontario, she lit out for Miami, where she met Troy Arnold, the founder of Top Tier Travel. She joined the company as a fixer for those who pay $2,500 to $8,500 a month for above-and-beyond services.
   And what are those services? A custom pink Brabus 800 for a 22-year-old’s birthday party. Spring water shipped to a Caribbean island for a client annoyed that shampooing with the local tap water gave her an itchy scalp. A $75,000 Shadow Birkin from Hermes overnighted to Capri, Italy."

   We shouldn't feel too badly for Ms. Ferney since she has to travel to the top tier places and, as the article indicates, "Her therapeutic neutrality in the face of outlandish behavior may be rooted in the fact that she takes many of her calls poolside."
   If you would like to listen to more information about Ms. Ferney, she can be heard on the CBC where she was interviewed on "Afternoon Drive", with Matt Allen on Aug. 26 - "Dundas Woman Who Serves Ultra-wealthy Shares Stories of Clients in Viral Videos." 

   If you would like to take a vacation of this type and talk to Ms. Ferney, here is the website of Top Tier Travel.

The Pretty Work of Mary Petty

    

   The New Yorker has been celebrating its centenary year for most of this year and the single issue for Sept. 1&8 comes with two covers. Inside there is a short piece about Mary Petty who "contributed a series of thirty-eight vividly colored, magnificently detailed, and flawlessly composed covers, which, at least in this New Yorker cover artist's opinion, have never been surpassed in their complexity, their richness, and, most of all, their humanity." The author adds, "they're brilliant watercolors of exquisite construction, set pieces with the charm and detail of a doll's house." Petty also published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker.
   The author of the article about Perry and the covers she produced notes in the first sentence that "In the pantheon of New Yorker artists, the name Mary Petty hardly registers." Given that she is relatively unknown and given the beauty of her work (which should not be judged by my poor photo above), I thought it worth calling your attention to her.
   During almost 40 years as a contributor to the magazine, she produced 273 drawings and 38 pen-and-watercolor covers. A collection of her drawings is found in This Pretty Pace which, a reviewer notes, we should all have a look at if we are interested in "sheer perfection." The book also includes an essay by James Thurber, "Mary Petty and Her Drawings" and on the dust jacket, she is compared to Hogarth and Daumier. Harold Ross, The New Yorker publisher gave her cartoons his highest rating of "AAA" one "A" more than the cartoons of Thurber.
   Apart from producing covers and cartoons, she also provided illustrations for books by others. Her last cover for The New Yorker was on Mother's Day, May 19,1966. It is the one on the bottom right above and if the image was better you would see an older woman in an elegant room pulling a cord which breaks. 
   Apparently Petty quit abruptly when two of her cover submissions were rejected. She had lived a rather reclusive life with her husband, Alan Dunn, who also was a New Yorker cartoonist. It ended tragically. 
   "In early December, 1971 she disappeared, and was found by Dunn in a hospital, having been badly beaten in a violent assault. Permanently brain-damaged, she lived the remainder of her life in a nursing home, dying five years after the attack, alone." 

Sources: 
   I can assure you that a search for her art work is worth the effort. The article referred to above is: "The Mysterious Cover Artist Who Captured the Decline of the Rich: Mary Petty was Reclusive, Uncompromising, but She Peered into a Fading World With Unmatched Warmth and Brilliance, Chris Ware, The New Yorker, Aug. 25, 2025.
  The Wikipedia entry is helpful as usual. In it there is mention of the fact that she was assaulted, but I did not find any evidence of it in the New York papers. The American National Biography entry does provide additional information: 
  "Petty's career was tragically cut short when on 1 December 1971 she was assaulted and badly beaten by a mugger. She was found on Ward's Island three days afterward, bruised and incoherent, and never wholly recovered. She died five years later at the Pine Rest Nursing Home in Paramus, New Jersey."
  The book review of This Pretty Pace is here: "The Art of Mary Petty", Russell Maloney, NYT, Nov. 11, 1945. Her obituary: "Mary Petty, Cartoonist, Dead; Chided Wealthy in New Yorker," Barbara Campbell, NYT, Mar. 11, 1976,
   A major source is found at Syracuse University. See: "The Alan Dunn and Mary Petty Papers", which provides additional biographical information. 

CANCON: 
 For New Yorker covers by a Canadian see: "Bruce McCall RIP-1935-2023".
 Another Canadian, Barry Blitt, has done some, and here you will find a couple that depict two recent American presidents: "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words." 

Back To Books

    

   To push the post about movies down the page, here is one about books, a frequent subject. The picture below is from a two page advertisement in The New Yorker, Sept. 1&8, 2025. It is typical of many ads these days, in that, for me at least, it is not clear what is being sold. I suppose, however, that more fashionable readers will recognize, right away, that "BRUNELLO CUCINELLI" is not a bookseller, but a purveyor of very expensive apparel. To shop, click here. 

   

   According to the BC website, the marketing campaign behind the books and other of their ads is that: "The images and words that over the years have accompanied our company’s communication are inspired by our philosophy and the ethical values that are most important to us: the principles of Humanistic Capitalism and Human Sustainability, living in harmony with nature and all its creatures, the preservation and transmission of culture, the commitment to always respect human dignity." There is more. 
  You might think that is mere marketing hype, but Mr. Cucinelli, is actually a lover of books. This is what I found in: "A Day In the Life of Brunello Cucinelli," by Lauren McCarthy, in Harper's BAZAAR, Sept. 27, 2016:

"I like to sit on the couch, surrounded by all of my books. I have 5,000 books in my home, 1,000 of which I feel are close to my heart. They have always shown me the way. Books are my great passion; I could not live without them. If I were to pick a couple out of the 1,000, I would choose Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. That really showed me the way ahead, as has Plato's Symposium, which is a dialogue on love that was written in the fourth century B.C. in Athens. When my older daughter got married, I gave her my 1,000 favorite books, and I've prepared the same thing for my younger daughter. And now I am preparing 1,000 books for my granddaughter."
  The image above also contains this caption: "Books showed me the way of life." Emperor Hadrian. It does not indicate, however, where such an array of books can be found. 

Go OUT To the Movies

 A BIG Screen
   We are fortunate to live one block away from an independent theatre - the Hyland Cinema. If you click on that link you can see what they have to offer and they will keep you informed via email. It was one of their messages that prompted this post, which is meant to encourage to go out to a movie, rather than stream one to your couch. Independent cinemas have had a difficult time since television was invented and the covid pandemic didn't help. 

For the Kids
   The message sent by the Hyland indicated that on the Saturday morning, they were going to provide cereal to the children who came to watch cartoons. 

For the Oldsters
   The Hyland has to try many things to continue to lure viewers and once you arrive you can donate a little extra to help pay for the new projection equipment required these days, or 'buy' one of their 400 seats and have a plaque with your name inscribed on it. On Mondays, older people can come for movies that are subtitled. 

   The Hyland tends to offer films not found at the major cinemas, which is a good thing since most of the movies shown in them appear to be made for very young customers. Here I will provide one link that will take you to five movie venues in London, where you can see what is available on the many screens. The Cineplex Odeon Westmount, for example has 8 cinemas with 3 VIP screens. See: London Showtimes. 
   By the way, if you have not gone out to a movie in a while, you may not know that the seats are now often very comfortable, with recliners and BarcaLoungers available to reserve. In some locations, wine is even served. If you prefer a solitary experience to a shared one because of the tendency of some in the audience to be talkative these days, the Hyland is still an option because during the previews it is announced that people are expected to be quiet and not use their phones. 

   

Drive-ins
  They still exist and the days are getting shorter so you don't have to wait, here in the north, until 10 for the feature to show up on the very big screen. Here are some options:

   The Mustang Drive-in is on Wilton Grove Road and is open seven days a week. 

The Oxford Drive-in is not far away, on Highway 2 on the way to Woodstock.

 You can go to The Boonies Drive-in Theatre in Tilbury and for an extra $10, camp overnight. They are open Thursday to Sunday, 

  If you are going to the cottage up Muskoka-way, you can go to The Muskoka Drive-in, which has two screens showing four movies each night.  According to this article, it opened in 1952 and is the longest continually operating drive-in in Canada. "Looking for a Unique Drive-in Movie Theatre Experience? Here are 15 Things to Know About the Muskoka Drive-in," Brent Cooper, Gravenhurst Banner, Aug. 14, 2025. 

The Bonus:

   There was recently a fine photo essay about drive-ins in The New York Times. I won't provide the photos, but here is some of the information from: "The Enduring Appeal of the American Drive-in: Has Anyting Really Changed at Drive-in Theatres Across the Country?" Janie Osborne, May 22, 1925.

   "It doesn’t take long to see that no two drive-ins are alike. The American Dream features original 1950s speakers, a vintage auto night and cheese fries. The Motor Vu touts an enormous movie screen (approximately 6,400 square feet), an expansive parking lot (470 spaces) and a packed community night with a bouncy house for kids. The Silver Bow has beautiful mountain views, twin screens and a longstanding place in the community (it opened in 1977).

   One commonality, it seems: Every drive-in claims to have the best popcorn. And all three of the theaters I visited are family owned and operated.

HISTORY

   Richard Hollingshead opened the first drive-in theater in New Jersey in 1933. By some accounts, he was inspired by an effort to accommodate his mother, who was uncomfortable in traditional theater seats. The invention — he patented the idea — gained popularity with the introduction of in-car speakers, and by the 1950s and ’60s there were more than 4,000 drive-ins throughout America.

   Today that number has dwindled to around 285 theaters, according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association."
                       Go out to a movie and help save a theatre.

Banning Burqas?

 

And Other Assorted Head Gear and Garments 
  In some places people are compelled to wear certain things, while in others they are sometimes forced to remove them. The question in more "liberal", secular  countries is whether the banning of, say the burqa can be reasonably justified. Such issues are usually avoided because they are controversial and perhaps, more so, because they are complex - and they are. It is easy to say that a hijab doesn't hurt anyone, but to admit that a kirpan could. Masks may not be menacing when worn by Zorro or the Lone Ranger, but they can be threatening when worn by a man entering a bank or an ICE man in the U.S. Keffiyehs don't cover faces, but they are now prohibited in some instances. The debate over such issues is real in both France and Quebec. The debate everywhere is generally more about politics and religion than the philosophical problems.
   The question - "Should a Liberal State Ban the Burqa?" has been examined by Brandon Robshaw and he provides a fine example of how philosophy can be applied in such instances. I will simply introduce you to his work and provide some suggestions about how it can be found. 
   He has written a book and you can find it at Bloomsbury Publishing or on Amazon, where there is this description of: Should a Liberal State Ban the Burqa?Reconciling Liberalism, Multiculturalism and European Politics:

   Debates about whether the Wahhabist practice of face-veiling for women should be banned in modern liberal states tend to generate more heat than light. This book brings clarity to what can be a confusing subject by disentangling the different strands of the problem and breaking through the accusations of misogyny and Islamophobia. 
   Explaining and expounding the ideas of giants of the liberal tradition including Locke, Mill, and Rawls as well as contemporary thinkers like Nussbaum, Kymlicka and Oshana, the book considers a variety of conceptions of liberalism and how they affect the response to the question. Directly addressing issues facing many of today's societies, it unpicks whether paternalism on grounds of welfare can be justified within liberalism, the value of personal autonomy and the problem of whether a socially influenced choice counts as a genuine preference. 
   Covering the role of multiculturalism, gender issues and feminism, this comprehensive philosophical study of a major political question gets to the heart of whether a ban could be justified in principle, and also questions whether any such ban could prove efficacious in achieving its end.

[as an editorial aside, close readers around London may recognize the name "Kymlicka", which in this case refers to a son of Kym, who was well-known on the Western campus.]

The TOC is helpful:

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Reflections on the French ban
3. The liberal position on habitual public face-covering per se
4. What kind of liberalism?
5. Paternalism considered
6. Personal autonomy and the burqa
7. Adaptive preferences and the burqa
8. The burqa and multicultural theory
9. Gender and the burqa
10. The effect of the burqa on others: Offence
11. The effect of the burqa on others: Harm
12. Conclusion
Bibliography

Unfortunately, the price is $272.57

Another Approach
  If you are not that interested in this subject, go to this article by Robshaw which reveals why he became interested in the subject and his rudimentary thoughts about it. The entire article is available for free at: Philosophy Now: A Magazine of Ideas (Issue 135 - "Should a Liberal State Ban the Burqa?".)
   Mr. Robshaw was so interested in the issue he decided to use it as a proposal for a PhD dissertation and that ultimately became the book and a review of it is found here: "Should a Liberal State Ban the Burqa?: Book Review," Andreas Matthias, Daily Philosophy: Making Sense of the World (nd)
"A very clear, instructive and carefully argued book that shows off applied philosophy at its best."

The Bonus: 
  If you don't have $272, I will hint that the entire dissertation (296pp) is available for free. Here is the abstract:

  "This thesis concerns the problem of whether a liberal state should – for liberal reasons – ban the wearing of the burqa in public. The core of the problem is that liberalism appears to pull in two opposed directions on this question. On the one hand, liberals strongly support religious tolerance and the burqa is seen by many, including most of those who wear it, as a religious commitment; and even if it is not a religious commitment it may still be a personal choice, and liberals strongly support enabling personal choice. On the other hand, liberals are committed to supporting equal rights and freedoms for both sexes, and the gender asymmetry of the burqa (women wear it, men don’t) combined with the fact that habitually covering one’s face in public is liable to cause disadvantages in personal, social and professional life, look like good reasons for opposing it; moreover liberals value personal autonomy, which may be compromised if the burqa is worn in response to cultural pressure. The issue thus exposes a tension within liberalism. A central element of my approach is the disentangling of a number of connected but separate strands of the problem. Thus I consider: different conceptions of liberalism and how they affect the response to the question; whether paternalism on grounds of welfare can be justified withinliberalism and if so whether it would justify intervention in the specific case of the burqa; the value of personal autonomy within liberalism and whether a concern to safeguard or promote it couldjustify a burqa ban; the problem of adaptive preference and whether a socially influenced choice counts as a genuine preference; the role of multiculturalism in liberalism and to what extent it could justify exemptions; gender issues and feminism; the problem of coerced wearing of the burqa; and the problem of how likely it would be that a ban, even if justified in principle, would prove efficacious in achieving its end. 
[the additional bonus]
  The conclusion to the thesis is that banning the burqa in a liberal state is unlikely to be justified. It could not be justified in terms of the welfare or autonomy of the individual who voluntarily wears it. It could only be justified on the grounds of harm to others. It might, for example, theoretically be justified if coerced wearing of the burqa were widespread. This would be regrettable, however, as it would override the free choice of those who wore it voluntarily. Empirical evidence that such coercion was occurring would be necessary; and such a ban could only be justified if there were no other, equally efficacious and better targeted means of preventing coercion. My aim is to bring some clarity to this often heated and confused debate, and to supply clear principles on which to base any decision."

                                     [How unique and refreshing.]

Miss Universe

   Miss Palestine 

   I generally make fun of the use of the phrase "breaking news", but will attempt to provide you with some now, under a title many will think devised only to attract readers. Although the news will soon be full of stories about the Miss Universe Contest, which will be held in Thailand in November, the breaking news is that one of the contestants apparently has a connection to both London, Ontario and Western University. Her name is Nadeen Ayoub. 
  I do not follow beauty pageants and this is the first mention of them in MM. I do, however, often present posts related to Western, since I live close to it and both studied and worked there. That is how I ran across Ms. Ayoub, not because I was looking at beauty pageant pictures. 
  This news has just broken and this is likely a "scoop" for London readers who no longer have a local newspaper. I am choosing not to investigate it further, but will leave it to reporters with more time, resources and talent. It is also the case, that I don't want to bother to access some of the newer social media sources, like Ms. Ayoub's Linkedin or Instagram accounts where surely some quality information will be found. It is also the case that the word "Palestine" is mentioned in the references I will now provide and I choose to avoid that controversial topic. I did take a quick look at some local sources and found no mention of Ms. Ayoub.

  Here are some of the "breaking news" stories:

"Canadian Living in Dubai Says She Will Represent Palestine at Miss Universe Pageant: Nadeen Ayoub, 27, Shared News on Social Media Earlier This Month While Wearing Miss Universe Palestine Sash, Denette Wilford, Toronto Sun, Aug. 26, 2025.
  "It is unclear how she was appointed to be the representative of a country that most nations don’t recognize, though no competition appears to have been held, according to the New York Post. Ayoub, however, is listed as founder and manager of the Miss Palestine Organization, the group behind her title, the outlet reported. The organization only registered its website in May and features black and white photos of Ayoub holding a crown."
   It is in The Post story cited above that I learned of the Western/London connection.
"The Mysterious Case of How a Canadian in Dubai Became ‘Miss Palestine’ — and Will Compete in the Miss Universe Pageant," Isabel Vincent, Aug. 26, 2025.
   "Remarkably, for a beauty queen, there is little official biographical information about Ayoub on her social media or the Miss Palestine Organisation website. The model and wellness coach reportedly grew up in Canada and studied English literature and psychology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. She also went to high school in the same area, according to her LinkedIn page....
She taught at the Friends School in Ramallah and has worked with United in Humanity, a Washington-state nonprofit that organized humanitarian missions in Gaza, according to public records....Ayoub also runs the Dubai-based Olive Green Academy, a company that offers workshops on how to become an influencer."

  The picture above appears in The Express Tribune on August 15, under this title:
"Nadeen Ayoub to Represent Palestine at Miss Universe for the First Time: Nadeen Ayoub Will Mark the Country’s Debut at the Global Competition Since it Began in 1952."
Ms. Ayoub in Person: "Nadeen Ayoub represents Palestine for the first time at Miss Universe."

Post Script:
   There was some real "breaking news" at Western earlier in the week when the London Police responded to a call about a man with a gun around Weldon Library. It turned out to be a hoax and "swatting cases" were reported at other universities: " "Swatting Hoaxes on College Campuses Spark Panice and an FBI Probe," The Washington Post, August 27, 2025. 
  My posts about Western are typically less sensational, like this one about trees:
Pawpaw Redux. 

The Bonus: (For younger readers)
Over 40 years ago, Karen Baldwin of London, Ontario was crowned Miss Universe.