Blog plagiarism (blogiarism) again

Last fall I stumbled on a couple of blogs which were rip-offs of other people's work. One (described here) quickly dissolved. The other (described here) did not. What both blogs had in common was shamelessly copying Betsy's Page without attribution. (Well, at least they had the taste to copy a first-rate blog.)

Today I decided to revisit the second--and less grevious--of the offenders: Lago in the morning. Old habits die hard. Seems Mr. Lago is still taking Betsy's work and still giving her no credit. Here are four examples from Lago today:

• Sample 1. Note that Lago faithfully copies even Betsy's capitalization typo:
  

  Lago today: "NRO blog - Bench Memos, reminds us that, in 1995, the Democrats actually tried to get rid of the filibuster altogether. THe [sic] author, Sean Rushton, also notes the limits that the Senate has already put on use of the filibuster."
  
  Betsy today: "...NRO blog, Bench Memos, reminds us that, in 1995, the Democrats actually tried to get rid of the filibuster altogether. THe [sic] author, Sean Rushton, also notes the limits that the Senate has already put on use of the filibuster."

• Sample 2. This time Lago moves the last sentence to the front, but the words are strictly stolen:

  Lago today: "Ain't technology grand - Eugene Volokh has some wise things to say about the question, which is better: blogs or the mainstream media? We're not going to have one or the other. The media serves its purpose. Bloggers enhance readers' understanding of the news."
  
  Betsy today: "Eugene Volokh has some wise things to say about the question, which is better: blogs or the mainstream media?... We're not going to have one or the other. The media serves its purpose. Bloggers enhance readers' understanding of the news... Ain't technology grand?"

• Sample 3. This one too is a verbatim rip-off, except that Lago chooses to omit the best part, Betsy's Jabberwocky reference in the first line.

  Lago today: "ABZ's - Spelling is making a comeback.
  
  "Mrs. Guerra offers daily spelling instruction, a sign of the subject's comeback after several decades of neglect. While schools still vary greatly in their approaches to spelling, a growing emphasis on basic skills in US classrooms has prompted more teachers to return to explicit spelling instruction - instead of simply assuming that it's a skill that kids will pick up as they go along."
  
  Betsy today: "Oh, Frabjous Day! Spelling is making a comeback.
  
  "Mrs. Guerra offers daily spelling instruction, a sign of the subject's comeback after several decades of neglect. While schools still vary greatly in their approaches to spelling, a growing emphasis on basic skills in US classrooms has prompted more teachers to return to explicit spelling instruction - instead of simply assuming that it's a skill that kids will pick up as they go along."

• Sample 4. Another one where Lago copies even a typo from Betsy:

  Lago today: "...Demcrats [sic] won't be able to block Bolton's nomination"
  
  Betsy today: "...Demcrats [sic] won't be able to block Bolton's nomination..."

I've now examined Lago's site on two days: today and last December 10. On both days, he shamelessly took Betsy's work without attribution. I'd venture a guess that he's done it other times as well.

Lago appears to be the host of a morning program on a right-leaning radio station. I do not know if he or his staff writes the blog.

I've considered and discounted several possible explanations:

• Perhaps Betsy is plagiarizing Lago, not the other way around. Not so, since on one occasion I e-mailed Betsy a link to an entry on my blog, she posted the link, and some time later Lago posted the same item.
• Perhaps Lago has permission from Betsy to use her work. I doubt it.
• Perhaps Lago gives Betsy's blog lots of credit on his radio show. Unlikely. And even if true, not a valid reason to refrain from crediting her on-line.

I'll e-mail Lago a copy of this post to see if he has any explanation. If he responds, I'll let you know. (I'm not holding my breath; when I e-mailed Lago my last post on the topic of his using Betsy's work, I never heard back.)

Update: Betsy writes an entry that I don't suppose Lago will rip off:

... Gosh, how lame. What is the point of blogging if you're just plagiarizing? The whole idea is to express your own thoughts or link to those who are expressing things you agree or disagree with. Why go to all the trouble to plagiarize someone else's thoughts and links? In high school, I would flunk students who just lifted something from the Internet and posted it into their paper. But blogs aren't term papers. You don't have to do one. And giving credit is so easy on a blog. You just put up the link. For shame, but thanks to David M. for his own research.

Where have standards gone. First, they plagiarize high school papers. Then blogs. What's next? Harvard Law School?