Category Archives: US News

Certainty, Politics and Faith

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(CNN)– On August 6, Texas Gov. Rick Perry wants you to drop the Texas BBQ, grab a moist towelette and fold your hands to pray. On Monday, Perry declared the date a “day of prayer and fasting for our nation’s challenges.”
“America is in crisis, ” the Republican governor says on a website promoting the event. “We have been besieged by financial debt terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters.”
Perry invited the 49 other governors in the U.S. to issue similar proclamations, “encouraging their constituents to pray that day for unity and righteousness for our states, nation and mankind.” He wants other governors to join him at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, home to the NFL’s Houston Texans, for an August 6 event called The Response, organized by a conservative Christian group.
—Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

More power to these people for organizing a spiritual event. It’s within their rights and if it achieves positive results so much the better. If the governor of Texas thinks it might help, he ought to attend, maybe even encourage family and friends, anyone he can. But he must do so in his capacity as a private citizen. This should be obvious. What is wrong with the governor? Does he not have any constituents who might be Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or any other religion? Does he not have any atheist or agnostic constituents? The United States of America does not have an established religion and it is not for the governor to advise people to go to any specific religious event. I passionately believe is a cornerstone of our system of government and thus of our greatness as a nation. But let’s leave that aside for now.
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SAR Academic Freedom Media Review, May 28-June, 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 here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Iraq: Protest Organizers Beaten, Detained
Human Rights Watch, 6/2

Sri Lanka’s army: In bigger barracks
The Economist, 6/2

Charge Against Professor Raises Questions About Academic Freedom in Thailand
Newley Purnell, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 6/1

Bahrain’s ‘progressive’ influence
Ali M. Latifi, Al Jazeera, 6/1

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Headlines from the President’s Middle East Policy Speech

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President Barack Obama meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Friday, May 20, 2011.

I always find it interesting to scan headlines after a major policy speech.  The startlingly reveal the biases of the sources, or at least the audiences they seek to attract.  Particularly interesting today are those concerning the meeting between President Obama met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.  I haven’t read all these articles, but here are the headlines with the sources and the links to the articles.  What might you speculate about the articles, the papers or their target audiences?

Netanyahu Tells Obama Israel Can’t Return to ‘Indefensible’ 1967 Borders
Bloomberg – Jonathan Ferziger

Netanyahu and Obama long way apart over Middle East peace plans
The Guardian

President Obama supports a two-state solution based on Israel’s 1967 borders …
Wall Street Journal

Bibi and Barack Meet: So Much for the Fireworks
TIME (blog) – Massimo Calabresi

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The Banker and the Maid

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There is much debate over the benefits of IMF policies in Africa. For both sides see http://tinyurl.com/IMFhardship and http://tinyurl.com/IMFbenefits

International Monetary Fund Managing Director and, before he was charged, likely candidate for the French Presidency, Dominique Strauss-Kahn now sits in a cell on Rikers Island charged with assaulting the maid in his $3,000 a night hotel suite.  How long do you think the maid has to work to earn that?  One BBC report I heard last night said he likely would have been charged a discounted rate of  $800/night.  Still, I pose the same question.

I checked out hotel maid’s salaries in New York City on PayScale.com.  I ran reports with a few different sets of variable.  don’t know how long she has worked at that hotel, whether she has a supervisory role or how that hotel’s pay scale compares with others.  It seems like she might have made something in the neighborhood of $20/hour.  That’s $800 per week, i.e. the reduced rate Strauss-Kahn would have paid for one night!  The per capita Gross Domestic Product of Guinea, the woman’s home country, is $1,000 annually!  Mull that over in your brain for a minute.  If I heard those figures correctly, the room that the Managing Director of the IMF occupies in NYC costs 3 times the Gross Domestic Product of Guinea at full rate.  Fortunately the IMF is fiscally responsible and they insist on a discount rate.  They pay only 80% of Guinea’s GDP for EACH and EVERY night!

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SAR Academic Freedom Media Review, May 7-13

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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 here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

 

Yemen: 20 teachers killed since protests began

Education International, 5/12

Uzbek Students From Kyrgyzstan Having Problems In Russia
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 5/12

Fundamental Disagreements
Kevin Kiley, Inside Higher Ed, 5/12

After the Review
Dan Berrett, Inside Higher Ed, 5/11

Chaos at Home Stalls Tuition Aid for Libyan Students in U.S.
Dan Frosch, New York Times, 5/10

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Is it Safe to Drive a Bus?

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Bus Drivers sustain more on the job injuries than any other workers.  They sustain 735 injuries per 10,000 workers according to Bureau of Labor Statistics as reported by Seth Fiegerman.  Not surprisingly, the Police are on the list, as are EMTs and Paramedics, but the police sustain only 603 injuries and EMTs/Paramedics 510 on the job injuries per 10,000 workers.  Surprisingly, it is more dangerous to be a Nurses Aide (4th most dangerous) than it is Corrections Officer (5th), or a Fire Fighter (6th).  And Garbage Collectors (7th) are more at risk than Truck Drivers (8th) , Laborers and Movers(9th) and Construction Workers (10th).

I was curious how this correlated with salaries, so I did a bit of research on SimplyHired.com.  This is by no means scientific, and I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the statistics on that site, but it’s interesting.  The average salary for most of the jobs I searched ranged from $38,000 to 45,000, hardly rolling in money, especially for the most dangerous professions.  The average salary for the police and fire fighters also varies a great deal according to rank.  The cop walking the beat is keeping that figure low.  He’s by no means rolling in money.

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Academic Freedom Media Review – April 16-22, 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 here.  The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

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Malawi: Political Science Professor Talks About Blogging Academic Freedom
Victor Kaonga, Global Voices Online, 4/22

DUBAI: Scholar’s detention threatens UAE’s reputation
Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 4/21

New crackdown on Iraqi academic elite
NEAR, 4/21

Bahrain’s Crackdown on Protest Extends to Academe, With Interrogations, Firings and Expulsions
David L. Wheeler, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/21

Anti-Israel, Anti-Semitic or Both?
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 4/21

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By the Numbers

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This is just some food for thought, numbers that that I find it difficult to get my head around, particularly how they relate to one another. How do you make sense of them?  Especially in light of the debate over current budget priorities?

Value of a Life:

  • The EPA estimates the value of life at $9.1 million.
  • The FDA estimates the value of life at $7.9 million.
  • For the Transportation Department the cost is only $6 million
  • Homeland Security say the cost of preventing death by terrorism may be 100 times higher than death by other means.

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(source: “As U.S. Agencies Put More Value on a Life, Businesses Fret,” by Binyamin Appelbaum. The New York Times, February, 16,2011.)

Profits, Taxes, Bailouts and Layoffs at one company:

  • Last week there were protests over the $885 million tax refund received by a Boston based company, State Street Corp.
  • The company reported $1.56 billion in profits last year.
  • It received a bailout of $2 billion in October 2008, though it repaid in in June 2009.
  • On Nov. 30 State Street announced that it is cutting 1,400 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce.
  • In 2010 Chief Executive Officer Joseph “Jay” Hooley received compensation valued at $12.9 million.

(source: “State Street’s $885 Million Tax Refund Sparks Boston Protest,” Christopher Condon. Bloomberg, April 15, 2011)

State budget deficits:

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SAR Academic Freedom Media Review, April 9-15

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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 here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Scholars at Risk calls for letters on behalf of Professor Nasser bin Ghaith of the UAE
Scholars at Risk, 4/15

12 Organizations Ask U. of Virginia to Safeguard Climate Researcher’s Academic Freedom
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/14

Hastings’ board pulls UC brand from rights meeting
Bob Egelko, The San Francisco Chronicle, 4/13

Top PEN Prize to Honor Nasrin Sotoudeh, Jailed Iranian Lawyer, Writer, Activist
PEN, 4/13

Iran: independent civil society organisations ignored over draft law on associations
Education International, 4/12

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Whose Reading Your Email?

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Imagine you wrote something expressing your opinion on a political issue, it was published in the newspaper, and following  that publication, you were forced to send all your email on that issue and anything related to it to a group of political activists that were opposed to your opinions.  Would you feel intimidated?  Would you be reluctant to do so?  Well, under the Freedom of Information Act and if you were an employee at a public university, you might have to, as the case of a University of Wisconsin professor demonstrates.  The Daily Cardinal at the university reports, in part:

With Wisconsin legislators between sessions and the budget repair bill temporarily tied up in the courts, state Republicans and Democrats have—relatively speaking—taken a welcome break from the political pettiness that’s become so standard this term.

That is, until March 17, when the Republican Party of Wisconsin—spear-headed in this particular case by Stephan Thompson—decided to take a run at UW-Madison’s revered history professor William Cronon.

Cronon posted a blog entry March 15 examining the influence the American Legislative Exchange Council may have on conservative policy making in the state. Two days later, the RPW submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for all of Cronon’s e-mails since Jan. 1, 2011, containing words including “Republican,” “union” and “recall,” acronyms like “WEAC” and “AFSCME” and names including Gov. Scott Walker, both Fitzgerald brothers and all eight Republican legislators subject to recall efforts.

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