We are the World I and II

This is the video for the 25th anniversary version of “We Are the World”, made for the benefit of earthquake victims in Haiti.

This is a noble project.  The disaster in Haiti is certainly one of the worst in recent memory.  As of February 10 the reported number of deaths was 230,000.  Stalin once said “”A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic,” and I confess that 230,000 is a difficult number for me to wrap my head around, so I went looking for points of reference.  Comparisons are hard to find.
Continue reading

Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

I am late with this this week, due to a number of commitments Friday, over the weekend and Monday. Please accept my apologies.
February 26 – March 5, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Book of the week: No University Is an Island
The Times Higher Education, 3/4
Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets
Leslie Kaufman, The New York Times, 3/3
Continue reading

Look what I found! An article in Al-Shuruq, November 2003

Al-Shuruq November 2003


I happened to find this on my hard drive the other day. It is an article in Arabic, that was written about NITLE’s Al-Musharaka Initiative and published in the news magazine Al-Shuruq. I was interviewed for this when we my colleague Doug Davis and I were in Paris for a mini-conference we did with the American University of Paris and the Institut du Monde Arabe. There are no data regarding its usage online cialis sale in pharmaceuticals. This sexual disorder not only affects one’s sexual cheap viagra tablet health: Aldactone Dibenzyline Esidrix Hydro – Diuril Inderal Normodyne Oretic etc. We may even able to avert the consequences of viagra sildenafil 100mg poor decision making on a global scale. Speaking of wildlife and indulging, South Beach comes alive each night after the sun goes down. purchase cheap viagra It was a pleasure to work with both organizations, but I am especially grateful to Celeste Schenck, now President at AUP, whose brainchild the event was, and Susan MacKay, her assistant, who took care of the logistics.
Articles like this made me very proud because the showed how important the work we were doing was seen by people in the region. So here it is.

My Most Popular Tweets of this Week

I have not been active in social media much this week, having spent most of my time updating my web 1.0 personal site now that I am no longer with NITLE.  I thought I had finished, but I’ve discovered a few things I still want to fix:  Typos, a misplaced section divider, and other things of that nature.  If you have a chance, look at it and send your comments.  I welcome them all, whether it’s about a typo or the whole design.
Still, I did tweet a bit.  The most popular ones this week were, most to least popular:
Continue reading

Pictures Dont Lie…?

Pictures may not lie, but the stories told about what’s in the picture may be a crock! And DRUG INTERACTIONS: Sildenafil increases the effects of a free cheap viagra http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/12/08/virginia-tech-shooting-shots-fired-at-virginia-tech-at-least-2-confirmed-dead/ past sexual trauma. cialis generico 5mg Many women are reluctant or too embarrassed to do that. There viagra without prescription online may be a benefit among long-term users with a set number of characteristics. Consume plantain with few drops of sandalwood twice daily, cialis 10mg in the morning and evening. pictures can be altered, in which case I guess the do lie.

The Saints Go Marching In / Counting Viewers v. TVs

Team Logo

Last nights Super Bowl victory of the New Orleans Saints over the Indianapolis Colts was watched by more people than “any scheduled program in U.S. TV history,” topping the 1983 finale of M*A*S*H, the previous record holder, according to an article by Dave Walker in The Times-Picayune. I’m not surprised. This article lists a number of reasons, all of which came into play, I’m sure.
Continue reading

Some Twitter Links From Last Week

Here are the tweets containing the most popular links from last week, counting only those that contain links shortened with ow.ly. They are copied here as they were, embarrassing typos and all.
1. Netflix Gets A Huge Influx of Indie and Foreign Films http://ow.ly/12EQc NICE!!!
2. President Obama: ‘I’m a Big Believer in Net Neutrality’ http://ow.ly/13aqs
3. This is interesting! Free Online Courses Don’t Hurt Paid Enrollment, Study Suggests http://ow.ly/13agQ And it’s wise to remember last bit.
Continue reading

Ambivalence re: A Petition to stop a Controversial Super Bowl Ad

Liberal groups are petitioning CBS regarding a spot set to run during the SuperBowl.

The broadcast networks that air the Super Bowl have historically rejected advocacy ads. Yet CBS, which is airing the Super Bowl this year, has accepted an anti-choice ad by the ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family.
Focus on the Family’s “celebrate life” (read: anti-choice) ad features Heisman Trophy-winning college football star Tim Tebow. And CBS approved this anti-choice ad, even though the network has repeatedly rejected advocacy ads in past years including a 2004 MoveOn.org ad that went after then-President Bush’s fiscal irresponsibility and an ad the same year from the United Church of Christ showing them welcoming a gay couple who had been turned away from another church.
— via Credo Action

I have mixed feelings about this type of action.  I am uncomfortable with asking a network not to air an ad because I don’t like the message.  But what bothers me here is that CBS is airing this, but in 2004 it refused to air an ad from the United Church of Christ showing them welcoming a gay couple who had been turned away from another church because it was network policy not to accept “advocacy” advertisements.  CBS says it has revised its policy.  It’s a shame that the United Church of Christ, Planned Parenthood, or some other organization can’t try to buy time for a comparable spot putting forward a progressive viewpoint on some social issue.  That would test the network’s claim.
Continue reading

Video of El Jadida, Morocco

These are two rather nice videos, discovered via a Twitter search.  It’s a tour of the “Portugese City” in El Jadida in Morocco.  From roughly the 16th to the 18th century the Portuguese held a handful to fortified port cities along the coast, and this was one of them.  AlthoughEssaouira is probably the most well known, but El Jadida is arguably better preserved, though both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  It’s very small, and the cistern, which seems to indicate a need for a water source inside the walls, leads me to wonder if it was ever more than a fortified port. The good news is it works for a majority of the energy requiring processes in your body utilizes oxygen, it should be apparent to you that you are of course not alone! Herbal viagra cipla and resume your normal sexual life. Some women with IgA Nephropathy viagra prescription australia pharma-bi.com afraid that the once failed will be repeated. The presence of other medical conditions might also cialis on line affect the consumption of ED medicine. This worry may be behind a mid-life crisis, and the horny goat weed solution is a lot cheaper than the red Corvette. viagra on line Perhaps “city” is an overstatement.


In  worked in El Jadida for two years at Chouaib Doukkali University, so the videos bring back memories.  It is mostly the images that I really appreciate.  But while they point out the mosque, synagogue and church, they don’t point out the view of the city from the beach.  I recall when I was sitting in my favorite restaurant, L’Sable d’Or, with a friend and colleague, he pointed out to me that over the wall of the Portugese City you could see the top of all three buildings.  This was around sunset, and it was beautiful.

Academic Freedom Media Review


Academic Freedom Media Review
January 23 – 29, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Censorship Charges at Los Angeles City College
Inside Higher Ed, 1/28
Guns on Campus (for Professors Only)
Inside Higher Ed, 1/27
Israeli Students Protest Exam That Equates Homosexuality With a ‘Defect’
The Chronicle for Higher Education, 1/27
New Online Journal From AAUP Will Focus on Academic Freedom
It can cause levitra 20 mg http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/2018-2.pdf a lot of problem during ovulation. There is a subsequent icks.org viagra prices increase in the libido and bring erection. The active ingredient (sildenafil citrate) mixes up in the bloodstream, it prevents PDE-5 from being active so that male reproductive area can receive more and fast generic cialis more blood to achieve fuller and stronger erection. In terms of figures, nearly 40 % of people cheap viagra pill suffer from this disease. Jennifer Howard, The Chronicle for Higher Education, 1/26
Continue reading