Car-Free Week! By Choice?

Image: Vincent Fung via StreetsBlog Network

It’s now the second day of Car-Free Week!  I used the car today for one appointment it is impossible to get to any other way.  I have another like that on Wednesday, but for the rest of the week, barring terrible weather, I can get everywhere on my bike or by mass transit.

Car-Free Week is an expansion of World Car-Free Day, celebrated on September 22, which began in in Europe in the 1990s. Now communities all around the world are offering incentives to encourage people to walk, bike, use public transportation or carpool this week.  You may just discover it’s easier and more pleasant than you thought.  Personally, I like getting  my exercise during my commute when I bike.  If I take mass transit, I can actually do a bit of reading or even some work.  Driving is, at best, an opportunity to think and maybe make a couple calls.  It’s also generally cheaper.

Here’s some links about Car-Free Week in general and here in Massachusetts. There may be specific activities in your city, so do a local search in your area, as well.
Thankfully, with the continuous research and development in the field of Broadband and telecommunication: 6.6 million mobile broadband subscribers are the target of Telecommunication by the end of your day? What do levitra without prescription you want to manifest by this time next year? Imagine all the details in a smart way and driving will become easy. It is a drug levitra prices that is highly capable of improving blood flow near the organ. Paul Pasko used industry standard heritageihc.com viagra pills for women software tools and followed W3C standards for the creation and management of the website, including Dreamweaver, Contribute, Photoshop, and several other web-authoring tools. It could lead to low self esteem, poor performance in bed and viagra overnight canada low sexual satisfaction. World Carefree Network
Massachusetts Car-Free Week – Commute car-free in MA and earn prizes at this site.
Car-Free Days blog
European Mobility Week
Strive Not to Drive

Thoughts on Remembrances of September 11

It is fitting that we pause today to remember the events of September 11, 2001 in New York, NY and Washington, DC.  It was a day in which a small group of terrorists once again reminded us just how much ideology and religious fervor can so blind the eyes of men to right and wrong to the point that they will turn aircraft loaded with innocent people into missiles to be used to commit deliberate acts of barbaric, cold-blooded murder against thousands of other innocent civilians.

It was also a day in which firefighters, police, rescue workers and even ordinary citizens committed selfless acts that taught us the meaning of heroism.  Through the coverage of 9-11 memorials and tributes, the media has done a good job of reminding us of all of this.  It has also reminded us of the deep sense of loss and the threat we face.  We’ve been called on to remember the soldiers who volunteered to fight against the terrorist threat and did not come home.  Nearly 4500 coalition forces have been killed in Iraq, and 1800 in Afghanistan (source).  The number that have been maimed or psychologically scarred is even larger.

As Americans, however, we must realize that 9-11 was a global tragedy and we were not the only ones affected…

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SAR Academic Freedom Media Review – September 3-9, 2011

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

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Brazil invests to expand tropic of learning into rural areas…
Paul Jump, Times Higher Ed, 9/8

Revolutions Yet to Happen
André Elias Mazawi, Inside Higher Ed, 9/8

A Dissenter Is Fired
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 9/8

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Academic Freedom Media Review – August 13 -19 2011

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

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Professor’s Memo Blasting Dept. Chair Was Protected Speech, California Court Holds /
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 8/18

Italian Embassy Revokes Belarusian University Rector’s Visa
Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, 8/18

The Kampala declaration on intellectual freedom
Ndala Machika, The Nation, 8/17

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Academic Freedom Media Review – August 6-12, 2011

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

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TOGO: Government yields to student pressure
Tunde Fatunde, University World News, 8/12

Conditions of Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei’s Detention Emerge
Keith Bradsher, The New York Times, 8/12

Ccasu Says not yet contacted by Commission
Frank Namangale, The Nation, 8/12

AAUP Says U. of Virginia Is Giving Group Too Much Access to Climate Researchers’ Documents
Peter Schmidt, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 8/11

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Who’s Dependent on Whom?

I was recently forwarded yet another “joke” about all the “freeloaders that the decent taxpayers of our society are forced to support.” I’ve edited punctuation, syntax and grammar for clarity.

In the joke a Texas man is filling out his tax form and,

In answer to the question, ‘Do you have any dependents?’, I wrote in: “Yes, I have lots of dependent’s. I’m supporting: illegal immigrants; crack heads; unemployable bastards; seemingly the cast of The Jerry Springer Show; 80,000 people in our 133 penal establishments in Texas; leftovers in Texas from Katrina; half of Mexico; some of the Congress and most of the Senate; a super-bloated bureaucracy at every level; and a foreign-born President”

Gosh, apparently this wasn’t an acceptable answer.

Now this guy is clearly an ass without a lot of sympathy for his fellow Americans in need. With the exception of illegal immigrants, the people he lists are all victims of circumstance: people addicted to drugs, who can’t find work (not the same as unemployable), who have been displaced by a natural disaster, and the like. And he’s clearly someone who can’t accept reality, still insisting that the legitimately elected President of the United States is “foreign-born” even though Hawaii (even though it’s in the Pacific, it is a State.) has produced his birth certificate.

But what is particularly annoying is

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Scholars at Risk Anniversary Celebration and Academic Freedom Media Review

Along with the Academic Freedom Media Review this week, Scholars at Risk announced registration is open for their 10th anniversary celebration and meeting in New York.

Registration open!  October 3-4: Scholars at Risk will mark our 10th anniversary with a celebration and network meeting in New York.  Click here for program, registration and travel information.

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Academic Freedom Media Review
July 30 – August 5, 2011

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The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available on the SAR site. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Libyan students call for help, 8/4
Geoff Maslen, University World News

Iranian Academic Charged As ‘Enemy Of God’ Brands Court Illegal
Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, 8/4.

Waging intellectual war on repression and class divides
John Morgan, Times Higher Education, 8/4

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SAR Academic Freedom Media Review–July 23-29, 2011

Compiled by Scholars at Risk

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Iranian scientist’s death ‘probably the work of western security agencies
The Guardian, 7/28

Unruly humanities scholars threaten the discipline, event hears
Matthew Reisz, Times Higher Education, 7/28

Scholars at Risk calls for letters: Vietnamese professor to face trial
Scholars at Risk, 7/27

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The Rhetoric of Hate v. Forgiveness

A short, but respectable analysis of an aspect of conservative media’s responses the tragic bombing and shootings in Norway came across my screen today.  In “Norway’s Sorrow: Why Is It So Hard For The Religious Right To Denounce Evil?,” Kurt Ostrow argues that a certain segment of the media is unable to simply denounce the attacks and leave it there. They condemn the actions of Anders Behring Breivik, who claimed responsibility for the attack, but then go on to ask if there aren’t real causes for concern that set him off. Ostrow points out that is is part of a very real trend, and provides some excellent examples to support his case, both from Europe and the United States.

He then goes on to make an excellent point.

Right-wing politicians and pundits everywhere have decided it politically prudent to conflate Islamic (of or relating to Islam) with Islamist (of or relating to Islamic militancy or fundamentalism). Or worse: they actually believe this misdirected, misinformed hate.

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Academic Freedom Media Review-July 2 – July 8, 2011

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

From where I sit – Digging deep to survive terrorism
Ruth Young, Times Higher Education, 7/7

Oral History, Unprotected
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 7/5

Throwing Out a State Vote
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 7/5

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