From Best of the Web Today:
Academentia Watch--I
"Anti-Semitic leaflets appeared in publicly-accessible locations outside at least one upperclass House and several Yard dorms yesterday," reports the Harvard Crimson:
One of the fliers carries the name of National Vanguard, a Charlottesville, Va.-based organization that, in its own words, "stands up for the interests of White people." The flier claims that "Jewish interest groups have been at the forefront of nearly all the negative changes which have taken place in the White world during the last 100 years."
It also warns that "interracial sex is unsafe."
A second flier charges that the invasion of Iraq was "a war for
Israel," and it claims that U.S. policy toward Israel "is an expression of the Jewish-Zionist grip on America's political and cultural life."
We know where you think we're going with this, but you're wrong. It wouldn't be fair. After all, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer didn't say anything about interracial sex.
Academentia Watch--II
From London's Sunday Telegraph:
The London bombings were not acts of terrorism but "a demonstration," according to a senior academic.
Prof Ron Geaves has sparked controversy by claiming that the attacks on Tube trains and a bus that killed 52 innocent people in July were part of a long history of protests by British Muslims.
He also said that to refer to the attacks as terrorism risked
"demonising" those involved.
A British Muslim leader disagrees:
Sir Iqbal Sacranie, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, also insisted that the attacks were acts of "criminality" and "terrorism."
He said Prof Geaves's comments were unhelpful because they could actually be seized upon by people seeking reasons to target Muslims.
"For me, the definition of terrorism is when an innocent human life is lost. These bombings were an act of criminality and terrorism because that loss occurred.
"No motive can justify an act of terrorism. I think this kind of
speculation is unhelpful because it is taken seriously by some sections of the community who want to demonise Muslims."
There is something about academic life that seems to encourage a complete detachment from reality. Here's a very different example, from the New Hampshire, student newspaper of the University of New Hampshire:
In a light-hearted opening of the 14th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Allies (LGBTQIA) Pancake Breakfast, [Toni] Bisconti, Associate Professor of psychology and Master of Ceremonies, welcomed
guests with a karaoke rendition, along with a slide show, of Nelson's new, controversial, pro-gay rights song. . . .
In her closing speech, Bisconti ripped open her jacket and revealed an "I love lesbians" t-shirt. After this semester, Bisconti will be returning to her home state of Ohio, with her partner, to teach at the University of Akron and she told the crowd how hard it was going to be to go from a blue state to a
red one.
She told the crowd members, sitting at round tables surrounded by pink, purple, and blue balloons, that she is not afraid to wear the shirt around campus. Ohio, she says, will be a different story. When someone yelled from their seat, "Make it blue," Bisconti replied, "That's what we're going to do."
Does anyone believe there is a secular university in America where anyone would be "afraid" to wear a pro-gay T-shirt? A quick perusal of the University of Akron Web site turns up a page for the LGBTU. Granted, it's only a U and not a QIA, but still, Bisconti is suffering from delusions if she thinks she's going to be persecuted there.
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