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17 May 2010 22:32

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Politics: Israel treats political scholar Noam Chomsky like a new iPad

  • The funny part is that he totally seems good natured about the whole thing. Chomsky, a lefty through and through who’s also Jewish, was blocked from entering the country with his daughter. He was supposed to give a speech at Bir Zeit University in the occupied West Bank. This guy has a lot of controversial opinions, sure, but we’re guessing Israel’s miffed that he’s not going to speak at one of their universities. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2009 09:15

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U.S.: When not discussing health care, Obama jumped head-first into race

  • … the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home …
  • President Barack Obama • Discussing last week’s arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. during last night’s prime-time press conference. (BTW, in case you’re wondering – we’d quote the whole sentence, but the sentence was particularly massive, and this was the important part.) Obama’s stance on the Gates issue stands out because it may be the furthest he’s stuck his neck out on any one race issue since going into office. It was the moment – even beyond all of the health care gobbledygook – which will stand out from this press conference. Last week, his statement on role models also stood out for similar reasons. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2009 23:08

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U.S.: Note to Cambridge cops: Don’t arrest black Harvard professors

  • My colleagues and I have asked the question of whether this kind of egregious act would have happened had Professor Gates been a white professor. We think that it has to be investigated, and we are deeply saddened by what happened.
  • Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. S. Allen Counter • Regarding the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard’s top African-American scholar. Gates was arrested after attempting to get inside his home, only to find the door jammed. A neighbor spotted him and his cab driver, thinking it was a break-in, and called the police. Gates, who had gotten inside by the time police came, was harassed by an officer and ultimately put in custody for a number of hours. So let this be a lesson to you: If you’re a cop in Cambridge, ten to one, a black guy trying to get into a house in a nice neighborhood is probably doing nothing wrong and someone notable enough that the New York Times will report on it. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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