Churchill spins

Slogging my way through part 2 (38 pages, 202 footnotes) of Ward's lies and obfuscations in his countercharges against the committee that investigated his scholarship, these concentrating on his assertion that there was "strong circumstantial evidence" that Captain John Smith intentionally introduced disease among the Wampanoag Indians. Amazingly, Churchill spends 11 pages on whether the epidemic[s] that nearly wiped the Wampanoags out 1616-1620 was smallpox or something else--a point rendered moot, the report notes (p. 34), because "there is no evidence that John Smith introduced any disease" in the first place.

Churchill does make a (strained, to say the least) attempt to conjure evidence that Smith might have done so even though he'd left New England in 1614: fomite (which expert-on-everything Churchill repeatedly calls "formite") transmission; Smith left crew behind with instructions to spread disease; the Indians killed another guy they might have suspected of spreading disease, and so on. All these, of course, completely contradicting his claim in the 2003 essay, "An American Holocaust," that an epidemic broke out "in the immediate aftermath of Smith's expedition."

Many typos, much sneering.

Update: PB notes Churchill's denial that he has ever written "an essay" on the 1837 Fort Clark epidemic among the Mandan, and asks Google if this is so.

Update II: Churchill does the same tap dance in discussing John Smith when he claims that committee member Michael Radelet relied on only a single sentence in the "An American Holocaust" essay, and on the separate essay "Nits Make Lice," for Churchill's contention that Smith intentionally spread smallpox. In fact, Churchill himself "invited" the committee (in "Submission G") to examine his treatment of Smith in the book, A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present.

Update III: Churchill directly quotes (p. 11) the report (i.e., Radelet) as saying, "Biard's estimate of 3000-3500 Micmacs living in 1611 represents, according to Dean Snow's estimate, about one-fourth of the population a century earlier." The quote is actually Salisbury in Manitou and Providence, whom Churchill's footnote claims Radelet was merely "citing," not quoting. Why?

Churchill also says Radelet made up a quote from Churchill that "there is no record of any disease epidemic occurring before 1614." Radelet is apparently referring, again, to the essay "Nits Make Lice." Can't find it on the interwebs, so don't know if he's directly quoting Churchill or not. [Update: according to PB, he's not. Probably not a good idea to put it in quotes then.] [Another update: I had a some crap here about Churchill's A Little Matter of Genocide which was, perhaps, wrong. I said that the book contained the "other" essay Churchill says doesn't exist, but which the committee examined for its claims about John Smith. It's confusing, as Churchill wants it to be.]

Update IV: As Noj points out over at PB, Churchill waits till the end of this section to compare the committee to the Nazis--but he does it. You lose, Ward.

Update V: Kos Kid "Hawksana" weighs in with informed analysis:

Although we are busy discussing Bush's ursupation of power and what this means for freedom and democracy and what can be done about it, it's worth taking note of what is happening to Professor Ward Churchill and academic freedom at the University of Colorado.

The right-wing has been calling for Professor Churchill's firing since 2001 for an Op-Ed he wrote after 9-11 that attributed Al-Qaeda's targeting of America and the Twin Towers to blowback from the Gulf War. It took them almost six years, but they hung on with pit bull ferocity and now seem to be about to achieve their aim. It's been pointed out to me that the "official" effort to fire him didn't begin until 2 years ago.

There is hope -- folks are organized, but it's a slim hope.

If Bush-Co has his way this will be the first of many such fights. Free-thinking academics have no place in the future the right-wing is preparing for America, so let's join the fight now!!

The comments are much more negative toward Churchill. Even moonbats gotta draw the line somewhere.

Update VI: Churchill's dog Benjie, on the almost uniformly anti-Churchill Kos commenters: "Who gives a shit?" Way to build support, Benjie!

Weird Bird Friday

Bird for Sale in Normandy

Another bird blatantly stolen from Ghostweather Blog by Lynn Cherny.

His-toe-ree (again)

CU schedule for the regents' meeting to vote on firing Ward Churchill:

WHO: University of Colorado Board of Regents, an elected nine-member board, has broad oversight of the university. One of the board’s responsibilities is to take action on recommendations for faculty dismissal. Regent policy provides that “the board shall take action, which may include adoption or modification of the president’s recommendation or dismissal of the action against the faculty member. The board’s action, which must be taken in public session, is final.”

WHY: CU-Boulder Professor Ward Churchill has requested a hearing in front of the Board of Regents based on CU President Hank Brown’s recommendation to dismiss him. Regent policy provides the faculty member an opportunity to request a hearing before the Board during executive session. The policy can be found at https://www.cu.edu/regents/Policies/Policy5I.htm

WHAT: The board has called a special meeting to provide Professor Churchill an opportunity for a hearing before to the board before it takes action on President Brown’s dismissal recommendation. Since this is a special meeting of the board, no public testimony will be taken as stated in Regent policy. https://www.cusys.edu/regents/Policies/Policy2L.htm. An open mike will be available after the event for anyone desiring to express their personal opinions on topics related to the events of the day.

Whatever you do, don't tell Shareef Aleem.

WHEN and WHERE: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. at CU-Boulder’s University Memorial Center (UMC)8:00-8:15 a.m. Board convenes in public to announce it will go into executive session, UMC Room 235 (audio stream will be
available at http://www.cu.edu/)

8:15 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (no earlier) Board will be in executive session, which includes three parts:

1. Briefing by the board’s counsel
2. Hearing - includes three parties involved in the case (Churchill/attorney, university counsel and faculty’s Privilege and Tenure Committee/counsel). Each party will have a set amount of time to present its case to the board. The board can ask questions, but no new evidence can be presented.
3.Regents deliberate No earlier than 4 p.m. Regents will resume public session in UMC’s Glenn Miller Ballroom to vote on the president’s recommendation (video stream will be available at http://www.cu.ed/. After regents meeting CU
President Brown and Board Chair Patricia Hayes will hold a press conference in UMC, Room 235. All media will need credentials from a recognized news agency to attend press conference, no exceptions. (video stream will be available at http://www.cu.edu/)

VIDEO AND AUDIO STREAM: http://www.cu.edu/. Audio stream of 8:00 a.m. public session and video stream of afternoon public session and press conference.

Update: More charges against the Churchill investigating committee! Why am I using an exclamation point!

Oh, these charges were filed by Wart himself. This is gettin' monotonous. Which, of course, is the point.

(via PB)

ACLU: Don't fire Ward

The News:

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to University of Colorado’s Board of Regents today, urging them not to fire professor Ward Churchill.

"I think that the protection of the First Amendment rights is vital in the university and in the general public," said Cathy Hazouri, executive director of ACLU of Colorado.

The letter, signed by Hazouri and Anthony Romero, ACLU executive director, was delivered to the regent’s office today. Calls for Churchill’s termination were the result of his expression of unpopular views, not because of the quality of his scholarship, the letter said.

"The investigation of professor Churchill’s scholarship cannot be separated from the indefensible lynch-mob furor that generated the initial calls for his termination," the letter said.

Today, CU spokeswoman Michele McKinney said she could not speak on behalf of the regents in regards to the ACLU letter. . . .

"More than 25 fully tenured faculty members from CU and other institutions served on three panels and unanimously determined that Professor Churchill engaged in acts of research misconduct," she said. "The university has an obligation to review such findings and determine what, if any, sanction is warranted."

Update: The Colorado ACLU publicly defended Ward early on, but I don't think the national organization has said anything up to now. Wonder if this means they're going to jump in and help David Lane with the case and Ward with the cost?

Update II: PB, who found the whole letter, naturally enough, at the Colorado ACLU site, in comments: "The ACLU is arguing from the DBAB position. Virtually verbatim." Yes, yes they are.

Gore Effect delayed

Algore spoke in Aspen yesterday. Predicted high temperature in Denver today: 88 degrees. Temp at 12:30: 73, with predicted severe thunderstorms and flash flooding.

The Man-like Object (h/t stumpy) says we're running out of time even quicker than we thought:

Former Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday that climate change is a "planetary emergency" and that many scientists believe there may be less than 10 years to moderate warming's destructive effects.

African proverbs will help:

"There's an African proverb that says if you want to go quick, go alone," said Gore, speaking at the Aspen Institute's Greentech Innovation Network summit. "If you want to go far, go together. We have to go far quickly."

Very far, very quickly:

It's going to take a 90 percent decrease in carbon emissions from fossil fuel guzzlers such as the U.S. and a 50 percent decrease worldwide to get a handle on the problem, he said. . . .

"These are not political problems," he said. "They are moral imperatives."

Sometimes you eat the b'ar . . . : "Former Vice President Al Gore speaks about global warming at the Aspen Institute's Greentech Innovation Network summit. 'If this was a football field, we would be fighting between the second and third yard lines right now, and the crisis is winning.'"

Update: Tim Blair notes the Gorepig's liking for poached Chilean sea bass.

Update II: Patagonian toothfish?

"HIGHLY RECOMMENDED LISTENING FOR WHITE PEOPLE"

PB has a fan's Amazon review of the audio CD of Ward Churchill's In a Pig's Eye. Informative!

Peter Kirstein shows his feelings about Churchill's prospective firing through (somebody else's) art (via Marathon Pundit):

Yeah, sure.

Ralph Luker at the History News Network blog Cliopatria sez:

The University of Colorado's Board of Regents will meet on 24 July to act on President Hank Brown's recommendation about whether it should fire Ward Churchill. The case has become a caricature of procedural restraint.

Tell us about it.

Update: A couple of pro-Churchill letters in the Silver & Gold Record this week. Representative phraseology:

If Ward Churchill is fired for the bogus reasons you have declared, then it is a complete and utter travesty of our supposed way of life. I am determined to see to it that Ward's name is not tarnished by such hypocrisy. Please be sure that if you do decide to make such a grievous move, you must know that you will be going up against forces for positive struggle that are determined more than ever to put a stop to such incredulous people as yourselves.

I'm incredible, you're incredulous. And, from another Californian . . .

The specific charges against Ward have been debunked. . . .

Strong, peaceful--and pointless

The spidery aliens of the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network are busy this evening. They've downgraded the morning Churchill-firing vigil on the 24th and decided everybody should attend a "main" rally in the afternoon before the regents vote and then "make our voices heard" afterwards.

D-Day [sic] in the struggle to defend free speech and Prof. Ward Churchill is Tuesday July 24.

On that day, the CU Regents will vote after an all-day meeting, most of which will be closed to the public. But the Regents must come out to face us when they make their vote and explain it.

So, be there with us at 3:30 pm for our main rally. We will observe their vote and make our voices heard.

If you can join us for more of the day, we will hold a small rally in the morning (7:30 am, UMC South Plaza) to show our presence and we will maintain a vigil while the fight goes on behind closed doors.

Here are 5 [count 'em!] reasons why you should join us on July 24th:

1) Our enemies are watching [bwahahahahaha!--ed.] — this attack on Prof. Churchill is a key rightwing “test case” for a much broader national assault. The easier [sic] they think it is to fire Ward Churchill on bogus charges of research misconduct, the more attacks we’ll see on professors, staff, and students, on ethnic studies and women’s studies programs, and on critical thinking.

2) Our friends and allies across the country and around the world are counting on us to represent them. In just the past month, 100’s of people have written to urge the Regents NOT to fire Prof. Churchill.

3) This is your last chance to weigh in—this is the final step in firing Prof. Churchill.

4) The University is counting on you not to come—why else schedule it during the summer [because Wart used every delay available?--ed.]?

5) It’s never too late to do what’s right, as Michael Meeropol, economist and son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg realized two weeks ago: “I have hesitated to voice my support for Professor Ward Churchill as his case was being adjudicated… These charges were (I thought) substantive and went to the heart of our profession’s integrity – relating to intellectual honesty. I have been moved, however, to finally raise my voice in protest after reading the detailed analysis by Professor Tom Mayer…. To be frank and blunt, the charges against Professor Churchill are bogus and represent a fig-leaf of cover for a politically motivated firing….”

The Regents may change their plans/location at the last minute, so, spread the word, stay tuned, and check out last minute developments at: http://www.wardchurchill.net/, where you can also find background and analysis.

Finally, we are students, faculty and staff at the CU-Boulder [sic] who have been carrying on the struggle here since the beginning. Please respect our gameplan of holding a strong, peaceful rally and vigil.

Update: Did Marx ever use the term "gameplan"?

Update II: Ernest and Julio Rosenberg were guilty, guilty, guilty!

All the way down

The palsied octogenarians of the Ward Churchill Solidarity Network have received a new letter of support for Ward:

James P. Sterba, Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame (excerpt from letter to University of Colorado Acting Chancellor DiStefano):

I have been familiar with Professor Churchill’s work for a number of years now. I have cited his work approvingly in an essay I wrote for the journal Ethics in 1995 published by the University of Chicago. This journal is probably the oldest and most prestigious journal in the field of ethics and political philosophy published in the the United States. Later, I revised and published a portion of this essay which included the parts that referred to Professor Churchill’s work in my book, Three Challenges to Ethics, published with Oxford University Press in 2001. At the time, I asked Professor Churchill to write a blurb for the back of this book which he graciously did. Both Oxford and myself were pleased to have his endorsement of my book. All of this is evidence of my belief, and the beliefs of the editors of Ethics and Oxford University Press in the excellence of Professor Churchill’s work. There is not even the hint of incompetence here. It is excellence all the way down.

He writes a book called Three Challenges to Ethics, and Ward isn't one of them.

Update: weird, the post hasn't shown up on the soiledarity.net main page. No date on it either.

Wednesday Night at the Radio!

Speaking of MIM's esteemed Security Minister (you know, I'm tired of calling him "Security Minister." Henceforth his cell name is "Comrade Darryl"), he was kind enough yesterday to mention my habit of playing episodes of the old radio show, I Was a Communist for the FBI:

Hey, if you don't really know the riddle of effeteness, the similar Korean War relic relevant to your "I spied on the communists series" and the mystery of "relocation services" from previous experience, then don't worry about the whole thing [Okay!]. Sometimes MIM presumes things are more centralized than they are, something like the parsimony principle.

Yeah, good spot on the FBI bureau chief's son [thanks! Please explain!]. But you know what else. You could drop this whole thing. Various intelligent people probably are paying attention, not a good thing. There are various cross-cutting agendas at work on this thing, and have been the past couple years.

Various intelligent people paying attention to this blog, Security Min--er, Comrade Darryl? Don't think you need to worry there, Sir!

Anyway, in your honor, Comrade Darryl, here's an episode of I Was a Communist for the FBiiiiiiii. This one is called "Pennies From the Dead" (1 October 1952).

Photos taken

My first titled photo. I call it "Too Late."



Finally crossed this species off my Colorado life-list.

MIMism

Security Minister takes only 11 paragraphs to explain why MIM doesn't have an e-mail address. Random graf:

One advantage of our current pattern of communication is that we see who has cryptic communication ability. For a long time, MIM noticed that a substantial portion of readers are spooks and those in their related fields. Some of our readers are much better in this area than anyone at MIM's etext cell. We might even hypothesize that those with cryptic communication ability have a much higher belief on average in MIM's ability to shape the world, its power.

Pause for derisive laughter.

Underlying that could be that people with cryptic communication ability have higher class background themselves on average. This points to a danger in serving only the lumpen, not to mention allowing ourselves be swamped by the petty-bourgeoisie. At the moment, we see some in MIM circles swamped into inaction by cryptic struggle. We see others swimming fine, better than us.

Amazingly, Swamped Into Inaction by Cryptic Struggle is the title of my ("forthcoming," as Natsu Elaine Taylor "Truthforce" Saito so felicitously phrases it) autobiography.

Update: PB notes the meet-ugly of Churchill's dog Benjie and MIM.

Update II: One of our most distinguished professors: "[T]he Maoist International Movement have used their weekly papers to advance some of the best analysis of my case and its implications yet published" (h/t Snapple).

Update III: Well, that didn't last long. Don't be hurt, Security Minister, but in comments to his own post Benjie says MIM spews shit. Takes one, as they say, to know one. (On the other hand, maybe this is just an example of Benjie's cryptic communication ability.)

Dissent presumptively crushed

Perfesser Peter Kirstein rallies the troops:

JOIN OUR VIGIL & OBSERVE REGENTS’ MEETING:

When: Tuesday July 24 at 7:30 a.m.

Where: meet up in the plaza in front of the UMC student center, Euclid Ave entrance just east of Broadway)

From there, we’ll walk over and attend the Regents’ meeting: 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

* We are using this meet-up plan because the location of Regents’ meeting has not yet been announced. The UMC is close to UMC parking and centrally located on campus.

Why Mobilize:

The Regents of the University of Colorado have scheduled a meeting on the CU-Boulder campus on July 24, 2007 to vote on the dismissal of Professor Ward Churchill.

The University is pretending to fire him for his scholarship, but it’s clearly in retaliation for his comments about 9/11. To see what’s wrong with the so-called research misconduct charges, visit www.wardchurchill.net or http://www.defendcriticalthinking.org/.

Students and Faculty for True Academic Freedom call upon all those who care about free speech and academic freedom to join us in protesting this charade.

The Regents will open with a “public” meeting at 8:00 am. They will go into a closed session to hear arguments from Prof. Churchill and his attorney, as well as the University’s lawyers. They say they will re-open for their public vote at 4:00 p.m.

As we know, a “public” meeting doesn’t mean that the public will have a chance to speak. (Witness the arrests at their February 2005 meeting.)

Actually, there was only one arrest: good old Shareef Aleem.

Our plan is to have observers at the meeting and hold a vigil outside. It is critical to be there to convey our message:* Don’t Fire Ward Churchill* Defend Critical Thinking* Preserve Academic Freedom.

We may not change the Regents’ vote, but the world is watching [recreate 68!]. This is a test case: The easier [sic] they think it is to fire Ward Churchill on bogus charges of research misconduct, the more attacks we’ll see on professors and students, on ethnic studies programs, and on critical thinking.

As usual, this decision will take place when most of the students and faculty are away from campus. And, of course, the Regents may change their plans at the last minute to avoid any real public input. So, spread the word, stay tuned, and check out last minute developments at: www.wardchurchill.net.

Kirstein, of course, is your basic all-round moonbat.

Update: Notice how Kirstein doesn't exactly say he's going to be in attendance.

Save it for the suit

In a piece oddly titled "We (heart) Ward," the Colorado Daily rehashes the argument that Ward Churchill's firing should be halted until the charges made against the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct by Churchill's supporters are investigated. CU sociology professor and Churchill lickspittle Tom Mayer is quoted:

“President Brown is violating our rights and privileges as faculty members by proceeding to recommend the dismissal of Churchill on the basis of conclusions reached by an investigative report while this same report is the subject of unresolved investigation,” writes CU Sociology Professor Thomas Mayer in a formal grievance to the Privilege and Tenure Committee July 5.

As is Eric "please don't record me" Cheyfitz:

“It appears they're ignoring the counter-charges, and have just moved ahead. That's their strategy,” Cheyfitz told the Colorado Daily Monday. . . .

Michele McKinney, CU system spokeswoman, said Tuesday Churchill participated in a seven-day hearing to bring deficiencies in the investigative report to the attention of the Privilege and Tenure Committee, which unanimously disagreed with his assertions, and that Brown made his recommendation to the regents upon a full investigation of the case.

In a press release dated July 6, CU Education Professor Marki LeCompte said, “Once we understood from Cheyfitz and Yellow Bird just how incredibly skewed the Churchill report is, we had to conclude that the whole effort to get rid of Churchill is fundamentally political rather than based on any reasonable notion of research misconduct.” . . .

“This is a national issue,” added Cheyfitz. “Most of Churchill's body of work was reviewed during his tenure. It's only when he wrote this piece on the Web after 9/11, when he raised questions on the U.S. Middle East policy that any of this came about. This seems to me, no more, than a way to attack him politically by other means. So I think it has national implications, for sure.”

For sure.

First?

The Moscow Times:

The Federal Registration Service has released its first blacklist of literature, film and music, which could result in a five-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of distributing them.

The list, published Saturday in the government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta, comprises 14 works that were banned from 2004 to 2006 for purportedly inciting racial, religious and political hatred. It includes newspapers and brochures, as well as a book, a film, and an album.

President Vladimir Putin charged the agency in May 2006 with drawing up the blacklist, which will be revised and reprinted each January and July. It includes the "Book of Monotheism" by Muhammad ibn Sulaiman al-Tamimi, described as doctrine for the Wahhabi form of Islam, which authorities blame for inciting separatist insurrection in Chechnya; the album "Music for Whites" by Omsk rock group Order; and [the] 1940 Nazi film "The Eternal Jew."

Nothing I'd much want to read, hear or see, but Pooty-poot could easily take this kind of thing too far.

Wasn't me

The News:

A man was shot and killed outside the governor's office at the State Capitol this afternoon.

Evan Dreyer, the governor's spokesman, said a man with a gun walked into Gov. Bill Ritter's office and yelled, "I am the emperor. I am here to take over state government." The governor is OK.

I worried that D-blog readers (if any) might jump to conclusions on reading that "I am the emperor" stuff.

Update: Not very ambitious for an emperor, was he? "I am here to take over state government." Got those counties and towns pretty well pacified now, do you, emp?

Update II: Interesting fact or figure from the News:

[Witness Rosa] Moreno said that when she first heard the shots, she thought it was staged for the tour.

Honey, it's the Capitol, not Tombstone, Arizona.

Why they hate us:

Two tourists from the Netherlands, Ineke Kooistra and her friend Berry Dors, decided to visit the Capitol on the next to last day of a three-week vacation.

"We wanted to visit the state Capitol and the lady said, ‘You can’t get in. There’s just been a shooting.’ At first I didn’t believe it."

Interesting fact or figure from the Post:

A group of people on a tour of the capitol building saw a man in a tuxedo kneeling in the hallway praying. A few minutes later, they heard someone yell "You're going to pay for this, you (expletive)."

The building is locked down, so for a few lucky tourists the Capitol will indeed be a Three-hour Tour.

Update III (17 July): Both papers of course have much, much more. The Rocky:

The first sign of trouble came around 10 a.m. Monday at Mister Neat's tuxedo shop in Northglenn. A man walked in the door and said he needed a tuxedo, right away.

Eclectic

Recently commie crap-rag Dissident Voice has been publishing pieces on the Churchill mess. PB links to the latest, an appeal to the CU regents not to fire Wart by an associate professor at some place called Oklahoma Panhandle State University ("the Sangamon State University of the Oklahoma Panhandle"). It's stupid and nearly illiterate (he says to the regents: "your decision will be reveled by some and reviled by others." Reveled?), but you already knew that.

Anyway, I just happened to look at the "about" page at DV and noticed this bioline for one of the co-editors: "Kim Petersen enjoys scuba diving, working out, and advancing the struggle for a world based on principles of peaceful and equitable sharing and respect for the environment and life."

In that order. It's been said many times, including by me, but: these people are beyond parody.

Organizing Committee Member speaks!

He doesn't actually say what he's organizing committee member of, but since the comment was appended to this post about Recreate68! and its plans for the Democratic Convention, it's probably them. Here it is:

Hey jgm, was wondering if you would have the courage to tell us who you are. We promise not to harrass you, just a little courious to who makes such ridiculous and unfounded statements about the group or about Glenn Spagnuolo, just one meber of the group, not the whole group.

Have the courage to tell you who I am? Hate to tell you, Organizing Member, but it's you who's anonymous, not me. (By the way, "Organizing Member" sounds a little lewd, so I'll just call you "Glenn.") If you're "courious" about me, Glenn, look around.

You also say I've made unfounded statements about you and R68!, Glenn, but for some reason don't quote any. So let me guess. Do you object to the charge that R68! doesn't really want peaceful protest? Unfortunately, a slight stroll through your website shows the truth of that one (though I can't decide if it's the section on "street tactics" or the one on shields and body armor that's most convincing).

Maybe it's the accusation that you, personally, Glenn, don't want peace? If so, that little fit you threw at last year's Columbus Day protest doesn't help your case:

A hundred years, next year [that Columbus Day has been a state holiday]! This is it! This is the last chance they have [to end the parade and/or the state holiday]! Next year, all bets are off!

That's a threat, Glenn. You also compared Columbus Day paraders to the KKK. That's not very peaceful, either.

Or maybe you don't like me pointing out your close connection to Columbus Day protest-mate and all-around-pal Ward Churchill? Completely understandable, since he frequently and explicitly calls for violence. But stll, everybody knows you and Ward are just like that, Glenn.

(Say, you must know Ward's little dog Benjie over at Try-Works, too. You've even been arrested with him, haven't you? Doesn't that make you revolutionary brothers or something? Maybe he'll vouch for your peaceful intent.)

One more thing, Glenn: you just told the somewhat, um, agitated "Jerry" that you'd love to have him in the org: "And by the way Jerry, you are more than welcomed to come to our meetings and get involved instead of wasteing your time on these folks."

He, too, made a threat, in case you didn't notice.

In short, Glenn, you and your organization lie when you say you want peace.

Happy to "rap" with you any time.

Update: You promise not to harass me? It is to laugh.

Update II: I'll make a $10 donation to R68! if you reply (in a full and coherent manner, of course) to this post, Glenn. Ten. Dollars.

Friday Night at the Radio!

In honor of Professor Derrick Bell's innocent hope that CU regents will vote to clear Ward Churchill and "bring quiet sighs of relief from those faculty whose careers and lives are founded on peace and order so necessary to live the life of the mind" (see previous post), here's an episode of The Halls of Ivy, with Ronald Colman as Dr. William Todhunter Hall, president of venerable (and peaceful and orderly) Ivy College. For extra fun, compare wise Dr. Hall with someone like, say (just off the top of my head), Elizabeth "Terms of Endearment" Hoffman, happily former president of the University of Colorado.

Yack yack yack. This one's called "The Chinese Student" (17 February 1950).

Update: Okay, that didn't work. The archive site is a little hinky sometimes. So here's another show from The Halls of Ivy: "Is Professor Gerhart Cheating?" (24 March 1950).

Update II: The link to "The Chinese Student" works again.

Old man, out of it, defends Churchill

NYU law professor and critical race theorist Derrick Bell implores CU regents to spare Ward Churchill:

I can imagine the tremendous political and perhaps financial pressures being exerted to get rid of Churchill, but such action will have precisely the opposite effect. I urge you to listen to the lawyers who know the law and not to those motivated by unthinking retaliation and perceived political advantage.

Even a conservative court will find it difficult to ignore that the charges brought against Churchill because of alleged academic failings are spurious and an all too obvious pretext for quite severe punishment because of statements about the 9/11 attacks made out of context to the lengthy study out of which they were made. And whatever the district court’s decision, this case will likely be taken on appeal, perhaps as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.

You read it here (or maybe there) first: Wart to the Supreme Court!

As I indicated at the outset, I am a supporter of Ward Churchill. His academic output speaks for itself [now that's begging the question] as does the range of students who loved his classes, gained from his writings, and support his retention. . . .

I predict that dismissing the charges against Professor Churchill will cause howls of protest from those outside the University, but will bring quiet sighs of relief from those faculty whose careers and lives are founded on peace and order so necessary to live the life of the mind.

Bell appeared by video at the laughable National Emergency Forum (aka Churchillpalooza) last April, saying more or less the same thing.

Before I forget

Story in the Post about a CU study on teaching people cognitive techniques to forget "traumatic" events:

There may yet be a way to erase that aching memory of the middle school snub, the deafening car crash - or the fiery explosion that killed your friend and took your leg.

Forget it - with practice.

"Individuals can learn to suppress emotional memories," said Brendan Depue, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder and lead author of a memory study published today in the journal Science.

Depue and two colleagues at CU and the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center coached 16 people to forget terrible images they'd been shown earlier - car crashes, the electric chair, a wounded soldier.

"We told them do not let the image come to consciousness, to actively clear their minds of it," Depue said.

With practice, people forgot the troubling image about half the time, he and his colleagues reported in their paper.

"This is very exciting work," said Mike Anderson, a University of Oregon psychologist and internationally recognized researcher in the suppression of intrusive memories.

Well he would say that, wouldn't he? Whatever, I just liked a phrase in this paragraph:

"There was a belief in the trauma community that things that are truly traumatic - and these pictures are - are difficult or impossible to forget," Anderson said. "But they did."

The trauma community.