Could BBC-style ‘news tax’ save U.S. press?

Amid growing economic distress at newspapers and magazines, a number of folks have suggested imposing a BBC-style tax on American households to rescue the struggling print media.Could the idea work? Potentially. Would it help? Possibly. Could it really happen? You be the judge.Although the idea of a news tax raises a host of troubling questions, it has one powerful argument going for it: It

No local without us, says start-up web newsman

Working for free and doing just about everything at his bootstrap local website, veteran journalist David Boraks has become the sole source of news for his community in Davidson, NC. In this guest post, he describes life at what one of his readers calls the “21st Century replacement for the local newspaper.”By David BoraksA funny thing happened as I covered Davidson College's graduation on Sunday

Car dealer closings will crunch local ad sales

The shutdown by Chrysler and General Motors of roughly 10% of the surviving auto dealers in the United States could cost newspapers and local broadcasters millions in annual revenues they can ill afford to lose.The forced closing of a combined 1,889 dealerships ordered last week by Chrysler and GM will more than double the estimated number of dealers who went out of business in 2008 when the

Mixed reactions from the crowd, shoes and toast welcome former president


By Katy Anderson
Published: March 19, 2009

Perhaps the most powerful man in the world for the last eight years, former president of the United States George W. Bush, gave his first speech since leaving office in Calgary on Tuesday.

The setting outside the Telus Convention Centre was intense as approximately 200 shoe-baring protestors rallied outside-- four of whom were arrested-- and at least two snipers were visible on the rooftop of a neighboring building.

The Calgary Police Service separated the activists from the 1,500 guests who had paid $400 to hear the Texan speak. Guests included members of Calgary's economic elite-- one protestor suggested to a friend that these were the real capitalists, "all they were missing was a monocle"-- to two of Calgary's aldermen, John Mar and Ric McIvor, and former-Alberta premier Ralph Klein.



The lunch not only garnered front pages in the city, but across the continent. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann featured the event on his Countdown program, bringing Canadian Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against the War onto his program.

Davidson led the fight in calling for Stephen Harper, who declined to comment on Bush's visit, to bar the former American president from Canada.

Davidson told Olbermann (alternate link to YouTube clip) and his viewers that Canada has a legal obligation under the Convention Against Torture to either prosecute him or extradite him to a country that is willing and able to do so.

"The fact of the matter is, if we're going to look at stamping out torture, the torture created and administered by the Bush administration has to be remedied and one of the principal remedies is criminal prosecutions of those people that are responsible," she said. . . . --NewsHammer 3/27/2009

Continue reading the March 19, 2008 article from the University of Calgary's Gauntlet.

Read the Bush satire in NewsHammer, "Shoes For Bush World Tour" . . .



*****UPDATE

Lawyer: Ex-US officials must face torture charges

Associated Press / Boston Herald
Published: March 30, 2009

. . . The case against the American officials — including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith — was brought by human rights lawyers before Spain’s investigative judge Baltasar Garzon, who has sent it on to prosecutors to see if the charges merit a full investigation.

It alleges the men gave legal cover to the torture of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by claiming that the U.S. president could ignore the Geneva Conventions . . .

Continue reading the March 30, 2009 AP article from the Boston Herald.


More Related News And Video

Torture Prosecutions Greenlit [by Obama], April 22, 2009 CBS News video

U.N. rep.: Bush lawyers must be prosecuted, April 25, 2009 AP article from MSNBC

John Bolton replies: Spain's illegitimate torture prosecution, May 7, 2009, The Guardian UK


More Student News And Comment On Bush Policies On Torture




If I don't see you, you don't exist: America the torturous

By Andrew Mendes
Published April 27, 2009

I came across an article this week entitled “Obama Stands Nuremberg on Its Head,” by Mike Farrell, a contributor for the progressive web magazine Truthdig. His opening paragraph:

“President Obama’s decision to spare CIA torturers from prosecution stands the Nuremberg principles on their head. ‘Good Germans who were only following orders’ are not exempt from the bar of justice. Individuals must be held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Last week, United States President Barak Obama released four memos outlining the interrogation techniques authorised by the Bush Administration. Techniques included waterboarding, sleep deprivation, stress positions, slapping, and covering a prisoner’s body in insects, Fear Factor style.

Just for some background information, waterboarding was among the torture methods used by the Japanese against American prisoners of war in World War II. I know people whose grandfathers were awoken in the night from nightmares of when they were prisoners of Japan.

Although President Obama has put a stop to the practices outlined in these memos, he said that he would not be prosecuting CIA agents who did the torturing. At Nuremberg, making sure that the Holocaust trains ran on time was found to be a crime. How flimsy the rule of law seems these days. . . .

Continue reading the April 27, 2009 article from Victoria University of Wellington's Salient.


"The only approach I stand against is doing nothing."

By Andrew Mendes
Published April 30, 2009

I received an email update this morning from my Representative, Congressman Robert Wexler from Floirda’s 19th congressional district. The subject line: Wexler Calls for Special Prosecutor on Torture

I wanted to share it with you to prove that some people on the Hill are trying to bring these offenses to light and attempt to begin repairing the many criminal and heinous acts form what history will remember as one of the darkest times in America’s history. Or perhaps I just want to prove it to myself.

I hope this catches on like a house on fire. If this initiative is blocked, it will happen at the Executive level, in which case I’ll have all faith in “change.” Still, this is a step in the right direction. The email begins below.

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, I signed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the Bush Administration and Justice Department’s role in authorizing torture. With the release of the so-called “Torture Memos” last week, and the instrumental role that Bush Administration Justice Department and Executive Branch officials had in orchestrating and approving these techniques, it is evident to me that we need an independent investigation into this troubling series of events that have damaged our national security and diminished our nation before the eyes of the world.

Click here to view the text of the letter I sent to Attorney General Holder. . . .

Continue reading the April 30, 2009 article from Salient.




Dispatches from the Ministry of Love

What at first appears to be a relatively innocuous memo lifted from the pages of George Orwell’s 1984 is in fact an accurate account of the treatment by US forces of two detainees


By Sebastian Henderson
Published May 12, 2009

Take a journey down into the depths of the Ministry of Truth’s Records Department and fact check history. Change the names of Julia and Winston to Khalid Sheikh Muhammad and Abu Zubaydah. Replace the names Ministry of Love to Joint Task Force Guantánamo, the Ministry of Peace with the Department of Defense and Emmanual Goldstein with Osama bin Laden. When life begins imitating literature in strange and dangerously coincidental ways, we must put the plagiarists on trial. . . .

Continue reading the May 12, 2009 article from Salient.

Mixed reactions from the crowd, shoes and toast welcome former president


By Katy Anderson
Published: March 19, 2009

Perhaps the most powerful man in the world for the last eight years, former president of the United States George W. Bush, gave his first speech since leaving office in Calgary on Tuesday.

The setting outside the Telus Convention Centre was intense as approximately 200 shoe-baring protestors rallied outside-- four of whom were arrested-- and at least two snipers were visible on the rooftop of a neighboring building.

The Calgary Police Service separated the activists from the 1,500 guests who had paid $400 to hear the Texan speak. Guests included members of Calgary's economic elite-- one protestor suggested to a friend that these were the real capitalists, "all they were missing was a monocle"-- to two of Calgary's aldermen, John Mar and Ric McIvor, and former-Alberta premier Ralph Klein.



The lunch not only garnered front pages in the city, but across the continent. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann featured the event on his Countdown program, bringing Canadian Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against the War onto his program.

Davidson led the fight in calling for Stephen Harper, who declined to comment on Bush's visit, to bar the former American president from Canada.

Davidson told Olbermann (alternate link to YouTube clip) and his viewers that Canada has a legal obligation under the Convention Against Torture to either prosecute him or extradite him to a country that is willing and able to do so.

"The fact of the matter is, if we're going to look at stamping out torture, the torture created and administered by the Bush administration has to be remedied and one of the principal remedies is criminal prosecutions of those people that are responsible," she said. . . . --NewsHammer 3/27/2009

Continue reading the March 19, 2008 article from the University of Calgary's Gauntlet.

Read the Bush satire in NewsHammer, "Shoes For Bush World Tour" . . .



*****UPDATE

Lawyer: Ex-US officials must face torture charges

Associated Press / Boston Herald
Published: March 30, 2009

. . . The case against the American officials — including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith — was brought by human rights lawyers before Spain’s investigative judge Baltasar Garzon, who has sent it on to prosecutors to see if the charges merit a full investigation.

It alleges the men gave legal cover to the torture of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by claiming that the U.S. president could ignore the Geneva Conventions . . .

Continue reading the March 30, 2009 AP article from the Boston Herald.


More Related News And Video

Torture Prosecutions Greenlit [by Obama], April 22, 2009 CBS News video

U.N. rep.: Bush lawyers must be prosecuted, April 25, 2009 AP article from MSNBC

John Bolton replies: Spain's illegitimate torture prosecution, May 7, 2009, The Guardian UK


More Student News And Comment On Bush Policies On Torture




If I don't see you, you don't exist: America the torturous

By Andrew Mendes
Published April 27, 2009

I came across an article this week entitled “Obama Stands Nuremberg on Its Head,” by Mike Farrell, a contributor for the progressive web magazine Truthdig. His opening paragraph:

“President Obama’s decision to spare CIA torturers from prosecution stands the Nuremberg principles on their head. ‘Good Germans who were only following orders’ are not exempt from the bar of justice. Individuals must be held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Last week, United States President Barak Obama released four memos outlining the interrogation techniques authorised by the Bush Administration. Techniques included waterboarding, sleep deprivation, stress positions, slapping, and covering a prisoner’s body in insects, Fear Factor style.

Just for some background information, waterboarding was among the torture methods used by the Japanese against American prisoners of war in World War II. I know people whose grandfathers were awoken in the night from nightmares of when they were prisoners of Japan.

Although President Obama has put a stop to the practices outlined in these memos, he said that he would not be prosecuting CIA agents who did the torturing. At Nuremberg, making sure that the Holocaust trains ran on time was found to be a crime. How flimsy the rule of law seems these days. . . .

Continue reading the April 27, 2009 article from Victoria University of Wellington's Salient.


"The only approach I stand against is doing nothing."

By Andrew Mendes
Published April 30, 2009

I received an email update this morning from my Representative, Congressman Robert Wexler from Floirda’s 19th congressional district. The subject line: Wexler Calls for Special Prosecutor on Torture

I wanted to share it with you to prove that some people on the Hill are trying to bring these offenses to light and attempt to begin repairing the many criminal and heinous acts form what history will remember as one of the darkest times in America’s history. Or perhaps I just want to prove it to myself.

I hope this catches on like a house on fire. If this initiative is blocked, it will happen at the Executive level, in which case I’ll have all faith in “change.” Still, this is a step in the right direction. The email begins below.

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, I signed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the Bush Administration and Justice Department’s role in authorizing torture. With the release of the so-called “Torture Memos” last week, and the instrumental role that Bush Administration Justice Department and Executive Branch officials had in orchestrating and approving these techniques, it is evident to me that we need an independent investigation into this troubling series of events that have damaged our national security and diminished our nation before the eyes of the world.

Click here to view the text of the letter I sent to Attorney General Holder. . . .

Continue reading the April 30, 2009 article from Salient.




Dispatches from the Ministry of Love

What at first appears to be a relatively innocuous memo lifted from the pages of George Orwell’s 1984 is in fact an accurate account of the treatment by US forces of two detainees


By Sebastian Henderson
Published May 12, 2009

Take a journey down into the depths of the Ministry of Truth’s Records Department and fact check history. Change the names of Julia and Winston to Khalid Sheikh Muhammad and Abu Zubaydah. Replace the names Ministry of Love to Joint Task Force Guantánamo, the Ministry of Peace with the Department of Defense and Emmanual Goldstein with Osama bin Laden. When life begins imitating literature in strange and dangerously coincidental ways, we must put the plagiarists on trial. . . .

Continue reading the May 12, 2009 article from Salient.

Free condoms, sex education games and raffles for free sex toys are just a few of the aspects of the Rutgers University Programming Association’s Latex Luau Tuesday evening


By Ariel Nagi
Published: March 11, 2009

The RUPA Latex Luau Spring Break: Sun, Sand and STDs was designed to promote safe sex and drug abuse awareness in a fun way through a Hawaiian-style luau with food, music, games and prizes, said Mayank Patel, vice president of RUPA’s Arts and Issues Committee.

“It’s especially important before people go on spring break to know about safe-sex facts,” said Bayruns, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.

The event held in the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus featured a raffle to win prizes such as playing cards and whistles in the shape of a penis, lubricants, various sex toys, fishnet stockings and spring break beach gear like flip-flops, a beach umbrella, towels, sunscreen and candy.

“It’s usually always really popular,” said Castillo, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.

About 40 people attended the event, where even the food table had a glass sculpture of a woman’s breast and torso and bowls filled with free condoms.

Games included “Pin the Macho on the Man” and “Pin the Boobs on the Babe,” where a person was blindfolded, spun around to get dizzy and then asked to pin the breasts and penis on photos of a man and woman with bull’s-eye targets.

Another game highlighted the consequences of being intoxicated while having sex. Participants had to put on vision-impairment goggles and try to put a condom on a rubber penis to show how difficult it is to practice safe sex while intoxicated.

But it was not all fun and games.

Tables around the Multipurpose Room such as the “Guess the Disease” game table featured real-life pictures of symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea and chlamydia. . . . --NewsHammer 3/24/2009

Continue reading this article from Rutgers University's The Daily Targum.

Free condoms, sex education games and raffles for free sex toys are just a few of the aspects of the Rutgers University Programming Association’s Latex Luau Tuesday evening


By Ariel Nagi
Published: March 11, 2009

The RUPA Latex Luau Spring Break: Sun, Sand and STDs was designed to promote safe sex and drug abuse awareness in a fun way through a Hawaiian-style luau with food, music, games and prizes, said Mayank Patel, vice president of RUPA’s Arts and Issues Committee.

“It’s especially important before people go on spring break to know about safe-sex facts,” said Bayruns, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.

The event held in the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus featured a raffle to win prizes such as playing cards and whistles in the shape of a penis, lubricants, various sex toys, fishnet stockings and spring break beach gear like flip-flops, a beach umbrella, towels, sunscreen and candy.

“It’s usually always really popular,” said Castillo, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.

About 40 people attended the event, where even the food table had a glass sculpture of a woman’s breast and torso and bowls filled with free condoms.

Games included “Pin the Macho on the Man” and “Pin the Boobs on the Babe,” where a person was blindfolded, spun around to get dizzy and then asked to pin the breasts and penis on photos of a man and woman with bull’s-eye targets.

Another game highlighted the consequences of being intoxicated while having sex. Participants had to put on vision-impairment goggles and try to put a condom on a rubber penis to show how difficult it is to practice safe sex while intoxicated.

But it was not all fun and games.

Tables around the Multipurpose Room such as the “Guess the Disease” game table featured real-life pictures of symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea and chlamydia. . . . --NewsHammer 3/24/2009

Continue reading this article from Rutgers University's The Daily Targum.

Washington papers paid dearly for tax cut

Newspapers sacrificed their moral authority and compromised their credibility in exchange for the gift of a token tax break from the governor and legislature in Washington State.While the 40% tax reduction in the state’s main business signed into law on Tuesday sounds impressive, it will save the jobs of perhaps 15 reporters across all of the state’s ailing newspapers.This calculation is based on

Campus groups address one another, York admin via press release


By Ryan Buchanan
Published: March 18, 2009

The recent sanctions York imposed on the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York were not enough to silence the groups. Less than a week after the conclusion of the controversial Israel Apartheid Week, the opposing organizations issued press releases condemning the other of harassment, intimidation and actions contrary to the sanctions recently imposed against them. On March 13, Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York issued a press release to ask the York administration why they continued to allow SAIA to operate on campus, despite the sanctions imposed against them.

“It is outrageous for York University to issue a news release announcing disciplinary actions while refusing to take action itself against a suspended group operating contrary to the sanctions against it,” stated Daniel Ferman, president of Hillel at York, in the March 13 press release. York University vice-president students Rob Tiffin said there is a difference between representing a group and sharing the group’s views. “I think what they [Hillel and Hasbara] might be referring to is Vari Hall, where we have a very liberal policy for people who come in to set up,” Tiffin said. “My understanding is that the people coming to set up are not members of SAIA per se, but may certainly be supportive of SAIA’s views.”. . .

Continue reading the March 18, 2009 article from York University's Excalibur.


Related Articles On Pro/Anti-Israel Student Clashes At York U From Excalibur

Shoukri’s task force

Students and admin work to improve York University

By Scott McLean
Published March 18, 2009

In an effort to prevent intimidation and harassment on campus, York University president Mamdouh Shoukri announced that he would set up a task force to review concerns about the student environment on campus.
He, however, stopped short of potentially setting restrictions on the use of Vari Hall. The York president said he would be surprised if the task force resulted in tightened restrictions on the use of Vari Hall since he was proud of easing the restrictions last year when he saw peaceful demonstrations. He explained that there were only a few incidents where he “thought the dialogue was not at the level that one should expect.”

Shoukri didn’t cite a specific event that sparked the need for a task force but spoke in general terms about the environment on campus in recent weeks. “With all of these events, I feel that it is really important that we look at what we are doing, and we look at our current policies, whether they improve the learning environment or actually are creating hurdles for our students to learn,” he said. Shoukri released the names of seven faculty members of the task force. Among them were Patrick Monahan, the dean of Osgoode Law School and newly appointed vice-president academic, and Rob Tiffin, York vice-president students. The task force will also consist of seven students chosen through an application process.

Adonis El-Jamal, a spokesperson for the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) – one of the groups recently fined by the university for recent events in Vari Hall – said he didn’t think the task force was independent. “We would be better served if this was an independent task force, absent from individuals such as Rob Tiffin, who just recently arbitrarily suspended and fined groups for participating in a political protest,” he said. . . .

Continue reading this article . . .



Apartheid Week quiet

York University began the winter term in a controversial fashion. Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) arrived on York’s Keele Campus, stirring the emotions of an often-divided student body.

By Ryan Buchanan
Published: March 11, 2009

IAW is a controversial event; its goal is to raise awareness about the alleged Israeli apartheid system. [Alternate Video Link to Israel awareness at York University, above] “The overall goal of IAW is to raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinians and the state of Israeli apartheid,” said Adonis El-Jamal, SAIA media spokesperson. The protests were tamer this year compared to recent years. This is likely due to the sanctions that the university issued against SAIA and two of York’s Jewish student organizations – Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York – for disrupting classes in Vari Hall during protests last month.

Hillel at York president Daniel Ferman disagreed with the sanctions but said he wanted to see the university impose them more equally. “I think the university needs to take a closer look at how it’s applying the Student Code of Conduct,” he said. “What we are looking for is for it to be applied fairly to every incident and not just in isolated cases.” Aaron Rosenberg, president of Hasbara Fellowships at York, disagreed with the distribution of the sanctions to an even greater degree. “It’s obvious that these sanctions are not fair because they gave different sanctions to different groups,” he said. “It’s never fair when sanctions are handed out unevenly.” El-Jamal condemned the sanctions as oppressive.

“We condemn the use of the Student Code of Conduct and think it’s an illegitimate code used to repress student activity and political debates on campus,” said El-Jamal. . . .

Continue reading this article . . .



Middle-Eastern conflict affects students at York

Pro-Israeli students say university failed to properly defend their rights

By Alexandra Birukova
Published: March 4, 2009

Over the past month, York University’s Keele Campus has seen a number of clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students, leading some groups to accuse the university of not doing enough to protect students from intimidation. The events that took place on Feb. 11, [Alternate Link to Excalibur Video, above] specifically the impromptu protest outside Hillel’s office in the Student Centre, have raised concern from some students. Daniel Ferman, the president of Hillel at York, said that the heated atmosphere on campus has left some students feeling intimidated. “I think the university should take its Code of Conduct and enforce it on a regular basis. [They should] apply it equally to all parties involved and ensure that it’s applied equally and fairly,” Ferman said.

Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) spokesperson Adrianna Boni said none of the events of the past few weeks have been ethnically or religiously directed toward the Jewish community. . . .

Continue reading this article . . .

Related News On Censorship Of Canadian Student Activists:

"Jewish Canadians": Criticism of Israeli Apartheid Week like McCarthyism!

Judeopundit
Published: March 20, 2009

Daily Muslims [full text with 150 signatories] is undoubtedly delighted to print this:

Statement: Jewish Canadians Concerned about Suppression of Criticism of Israel

We are Jewish Canadians concerned about all expressions of racism, anti-Semitism, and social injustice. We believe that the Holocaust legacy "Never again" means never again for all peoples. It is a tragic turn of history that the State of Israel, with its ideals of democracy and its dream of being a safe haven for Jewish people, causes immeasurable suffering and injustice to the Palestinian people.

We are appalled by recent attempts of prominent Jewish organizations and leading Canadian politicians to silence protest against the State of Israel. We are alarmed by the escalation of fear tactics. Charges that those organizing Israel Apartheid Week or supporting an academic boycott of Israel are anti-Semites promoting hatred bring the anti-Communist terror of the 1950s vividly to mind. We believe this serves to deflect attention from Israel's flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.

B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress have pressured university presidents and administrations to silence debate and discussion specifically regarding Palestine/Israel. In a full-page ad in a national newspaper, B'nai Brith urged donors to withhold funds from universities because "anti-Semitic hate fests" were being allowed on campuses.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff have echoed these arguments. While university administrators have resisted demands to shut down Israel Apartheid week, some Ontario university presidents have bowed to this disinformation campaign by suspending and fining students, confiscating posters, and infringing on free speech. . . . --NewsHammer 3/21/2009

Continue reading this article in Judeopundit . . .

Related Middle-East News

UN demands Israel compensation for stikes on Gaza facilities, accuses government of lying, AP, May 5, 2009

Israeli soldiers say army rabbis framed Gaza as religious war, McClatchyDC, March 20, 2009

Palestinian reconciliation talks break up, no deal [Hamas/Fatah] AP, March 19, 2009

ANALYSIS / Why isn't Netanyahu backing two-state solution?, Haaretz, March 3, 2009

More student coverage of Israel-Palestine in NewsHammer On Campus . . .

More coverage of Israel-Palestine in NewsHammer . . .

Campus groups address one another, York admin via press release


By Ryan Buchanan
Published: March 18, 2009

The recent sanctions York imposed on the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York were not enough to silence the groups. Less than a week after the conclusion of the controversial Israel Apartheid Week, the opposing organizations issued press releases condemning the other of harassment, intimidation and actions contrary to the sanctions recently imposed against them. On March 13, Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York issued a press release to ask the York administration why they continued to allow SAIA to operate on campus, despite the sanctions imposed against them.

“It is outrageous for York University to issue a news release announcing disciplinary actions while refusing to take action itself against a suspended group operating contrary to the sanctions against it,” stated Daniel Ferman, president of Hillel at York, in the March 13 press release. York University vice-president students Rob Tiffin said there is a difference between representing a group and sharing the group’s views. “I think what they [Hillel and Hasbara] might be referring to is Vari Hall, where we have a very liberal policy for people who come in to set up,” Tiffin said. “My understanding is that the people coming to set up are not members of SAIA per se, but may certainly be supportive of SAIA’s views.”. . .

Continue reading the March 18, 2009 article from York University's Excalibur.


Related Articles On Pro/Anti-Israel Student Clashes At York U From Excalibur

Shoukri’s task force

Students and admin work to improve York University

By Scott McLean
Published March 18, 2009

In an effort to prevent intimidation and harassment on campus, York University president Mamdouh Shoukri announced that he would set up a task force to review concerns about the student environment on campus.
He, however, stopped short of potentially setting restrictions on the use of Vari Hall. The York president said he would be surprised if the task force resulted in tightened restrictions on the use of Vari Hall since he was proud of easing the restrictions last year when he saw peaceful demonstrations. He explained that there were only a few incidents where he “thought the dialogue was not at the level that one should expect.”

Shoukri didn’t cite a specific event that sparked the need for a task force but spoke in general terms about the environment on campus in recent weeks. “With all of these events, I feel that it is really important that we look at what we are doing, and we look at our current policies, whether they improve the learning environment or actually are creating hurdles for our students to learn,” he said. Shoukri released the names of seven faculty members of the task force. Among them were Patrick Monahan, the dean of Osgoode Law School and newly appointed vice-president academic, and Rob Tiffin, York vice-president students. The task force will also consist of seven students chosen through an application process.

Adonis El-Jamal, a spokesperson for the Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) – one of the groups recently fined by the university for recent events in Vari Hall – said he didn’t think the task force was independent. “We would be better served if this was an independent task force, absent from individuals such as Rob Tiffin, who just recently arbitrarily suspended and fined groups for participating in a political protest,” he said. . . .

Continue reading this article . . .



Apartheid Week quiet

York University began the winter term in a controversial fashion. Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) arrived on York’s Keele Campus, stirring the emotions of an often-divided student body.

By Ryan Buchanan
Published: March 11, 2009

IAW is a controversial event; its goal is to raise awareness about the alleged Israeli apartheid system. [Alternate Video Link to Israel awareness at York University, above] “The overall goal of IAW is to raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinians and the state of Israeli apartheid,” said Adonis El-Jamal, SAIA media spokesperson. The protests were tamer this year compared to recent years. This is likely due to the sanctions that the university issued against SAIA and two of York’s Jewish student organizations – Hillel at York and Hasbara Fellowships at York – for disrupting classes in Vari Hall during protests last month.

Hillel at York president Daniel Ferman disagreed with the sanctions but said he wanted to see the university impose them more equally. “I think the university needs to take a closer look at how it’s applying the Student Code of Conduct,” he said. “What we are looking for is for it to be applied fairly to every incident and not just in isolated cases.” Aaron Rosenberg, president of Hasbara Fellowships at York, disagreed with the distribution of the sanctions to an even greater degree. “It’s obvious that these sanctions are not fair because they gave different sanctions to different groups,” he said. “It’s never fair when sanctions are handed out unevenly.” El-Jamal condemned the sanctions as oppressive.

“We condemn the use of the Student Code of Conduct and think it’s an illegitimate code used to repress student activity and political debates on campus,” said El-Jamal. . . .

Continue reading this article . . .



Middle-Eastern conflict affects students at York

Pro-Israeli students say university failed to properly defend their rights

By Alexandra Birukova
Published: March 4, 2009

Over the past month, York University’s Keele Campus has seen a number of clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students, leading some groups to accuse the university of not doing enough to protect students from intimidation. The events that took place on Feb. 11, [Alternate Link to Excalibur Video, above] specifically the impromptu protest outside Hillel’s office in the Student Centre, have raised concern from some students. Daniel Ferman, the president of Hillel at York, said that the heated atmosphere on campus has left some students feeling intimidated. “I think the university should take its Code of Conduct and enforce it on a regular basis. [They should] apply it equally to all parties involved and ensure that it’s applied equally and fairly,” Ferman said.

Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) spokesperson Adrianna Boni said none of the events of the past few weeks have been ethnically or religiously directed toward the Jewish community. . . .

Continue reading this article . . .

Related News On Censorship Of Canadian Student Activists:

"Jewish Canadians": Criticism of Israeli Apartheid Week like McCarthyism!

Judeopundit
Published: March 20, 2009

Daily Muslims [full text with 150 signatories] is undoubtedly delighted to print this:

Statement: Jewish Canadians Concerned about Suppression of Criticism of Israel

We are Jewish Canadians concerned about all expressions of racism, anti-Semitism, and social injustice. We believe that the Holocaust legacy "Never again" means never again for all peoples. It is a tragic turn of history that the State of Israel, with its ideals of democracy and its dream of being a safe haven for Jewish people, causes immeasurable suffering and injustice to the Palestinian people.

We are appalled by recent attempts of prominent Jewish organizations and leading Canadian politicians to silence protest against the State of Israel. We are alarmed by the escalation of fear tactics. Charges that those organizing Israel Apartheid Week or supporting an academic boycott of Israel are anti-Semites promoting hatred bring the anti-Communist terror of the 1950s vividly to mind. We believe this serves to deflect attention from Israel's flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.

B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress have pressured university presidents and administrations to silence debate and discussion specifically regarding Palestine/Israel. In a full-page ad in a national newspaper, B'nai Brith urged donors to withhold funds from universities because "anti-Semitic hate fests" were being allowed on campuses.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff have echoed these arguments. While university administrators have resisted demands to shut down Israel Apartheid week, some Ontario university presidents have bowed to this disinformation campaign by suspending and fining students, confiscating posters, and infringing on free speech. . . . --NewsHammer 3/21/2009

Continue reading this article in Judeopundit . . .

Related Middle-East News

UN demands Israel compensation for stikes on Gaza facilities, accuses government of lying, AP, May 5, 2009

Israeli soldiers say army rabbis framed Gaza as religious war, McClatchyDC, March 20, 2009

Palestinian reconciliation talks break up, no deal [Hamas/Fatah] AP, March 19, 2009

ANALYSIS / Why isn't Netanyahu backing two-state solution?, Haaretz, March 3, 2009

More student coverage of Israel-Palestine in NewsHammer On Campus . . .

More coverage of Israel-Palestine in NewsHammer . . .

Don’t forget Laura Ling and Euna Lee

As we celebrate the liberation of journalist Roxana Saberi from prison in Iran, don’t forget that two other innocent American newswomen are being held on similarly trumped-up charges in North Korea.Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two correspondents for San Francisco-based Current TV, have been detained in North Korea since March 17, when they were arrested while filming a story at the border between

The best man won in Berkeley j-dean search

They looked high and low for two years for a new dean for the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley but it turns out the best man was there all the time: Professor Neil Henry.As a member of the adjunct faculty recently recruited by Neil, I have not only an obvious conflict of interest but also an insider’s view on the goings-on at fabled North Gate Hall, where

What would Google do about newspapers?

This guest commentary comes from Bill Grueskin, the academic dean of the School of Journalism at Columbia University and former managing editor of WSJ.Com. For an alternative look at Google’s role in the emerging news ecosystem, see this prior post, Don’t Blame Google for Newspaper Woes. By Bill GrueskinMarissa Mayer is the Google executive whose rigid adherence to improving the user experience

Why feds can’t – and shouldn’t – rescue press

Apart from whatever modest cathartic effect it may have provided participants and observers, the qvetch-in over the fate of the newspaper industry hosted by Sen. John Kerry was pointless.Two days before the opening gavel struck Wednesday at the hearing called by the failed Democratic presidential candidate from Massachusetts, the outcome was presaged by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who

Kindle-ing while newspapers burn

Why do newspaper publishers think they can be saved by a clunky, electronic distraction like the double-wide Kindle DX introduced today?Do they really think anyone wants to spend $489 to lug around a clunky 10.4- by 7.2-inch tablet to read a static (that is to say non-interactive) version of the paper?In announcing the new jumbo Kindle today, Amazon.Com said pilot programs would be launched by

Newsosaur’s Top Ten media blogs

Blogs.Com, a guide assembled by humans for humans, asked me to name the 10 blogs I turn to most often for information and inspiration about how technology is changing the media business.It was exceedingly tough boiling the list down to only 10, but here it is, with apologies in advance to the many worthy contenders who almost made the cut:Buzzmachine – A ready and reliable source of quick-draw

Why not use research to edit the paper?

Despite the recent uproar at the Chicago Tribune over road-testing stories with consumers prior to publication, there is nothing wrong with editors using market research to shape their publications.More of them should do it. And it’s pretty easy, too, as I’ll discuss in a moment.Well-executed research is a valuable tool for the managers of any consumer-oriented business. The long-running plunge

Pulling Boston Globe back from the brink

A simple compromise on lifetime job guarantees is the right answer to breaking the impasse between the Boston Globe and its largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild.The compromise would be for the union to abandon the archaic concept of preserving lifetime jobs for its most senior members – and for the Globe to agree to fund an enriched severance payment to any “lifetime” employee who is laid

Three months ago, I eagerly anticipated my grades as I sought to boost my CGPA so that I might participate in the co-op program this fall


By Sarshar Hosseinnia
Published: March 16, 2009

I was pleased with the outcome of three of my courses, but intrigued as to why it was taking so long to get a mark for Philosophy 241: Philosophy in Literature.

To be fair, I think the course was a joke; the professor barely showed up, and when he did, his teaching was questionable, to say the least.

A course that was supposed to be about literary icons such as Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, et cetera, soon turned into piffle about whether or not we should kill ourselves, and the role of apes in Early-Modern society.

Fair enough; the reason for debate about where humans originated is parallel to numerous theories regarding man’s existence. But really, the title of the course is, “in literature.”

As if the communication breakdown didn’t cause the class enough confusion, we were also subjected to films that most students were shown in high school.

Again, I agree that Lord of the Flies and The Lives of Others are key films in any argument of morality, but did it really need to take up 12 of our lectures? . . . --NewsHammer 3/19/2009

Continue reading the March 16, 2009 article from Simon Fraser University's The Peak.

Three months ago, I eagerly anticipated my grades as I sought to boost my CGPA so that I might participate in the co-op program this fall


By Sarshar Hosseinnia
Published: March 16, 2009

I was pleased with the outcome of three of my courses, but intrigued as to why it was taking so long to get a mark for Philosophy 241: Philosophy in Literature.

To be fair, I think the course was a joke; the professor barely showed up, and when he did, his teaching was questionable, to say the least.

A course that was supposed to be about literary icons such as Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, et cetera, soon turned into piffle about whether or not we should kill ourselves, and the role of apes in Early-Modern society.

Fair enough; the reason for debate about where humans originated is parallel to numerous theories regarding man’s existence. But really, the title of the course is, “in literature.”

As if the communication breakdown didn’t cause the class enough confusion, we were also subjected to films that most students were shown in high school.

Again, I agree that Lord of the Flies and The Lives of Others are key films in any argument of morality, but did it really need to take up 12 of our lectures? . . . --NewsHammer 3/19/2009

Continue reading the March 16, 2009 article from Simon Fraser University's The Peak.

Bronwyn Cowell gets a check up with Dr Tim Green, director of the Emergency Department at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital


By Bronwyn Cowell
Published monthly: February 25, 2009

. . . Do you [Dr Green] or workers in your department notice a spike in student admissions on Wednesday nights (the traditional college party night) or on the night of big events, like college formals?

It’s funny you mention Wednesday night. Until recently I worked every Wednesday evening for many years and I couldn’t figure out why it was always me who was trying to hail a cab surrounded by people in togas or tennis outfits… I didn’t realize Wednesday was the college party night.

But to answer your question no significant spike of attendances, although I do recall a few ankle injuries following formals when the combination of a few drinks and high stiletto heels caused a few problems… I don’t know if that counts as a spike of admissions.

. . . How have you seen drug and alcohol related admissions change over time? For example, has the RPA ED seen the ugly end of the so called ice ‘epidemic’? Or are other party drugs like cocaine and pills still more prevalent?

There’s been a lot of changes. When people take too much ice they can get very aggressive, violent, even psychotic. They may hurt themselves, others and unfortunately we’ve had a run of nurses and doctors getting hit.

The other thing is that many young people think that using so called “party drugs” is pretty safe…The trouble is that you never know what you are taking and we’ve seen some pretty sick people. The worst offender is GBH. The margin of error with that drug is so small. We get a few cases every weekend of people who stop breathing. I’d hate to know how many people don’t make it to hospital. . . . --NewsHammer 3/04/2009

Continue reading this article from the Feb 25, 2009 O Week Edition of the University of Sydney's Honi Soit.

Link to the current monthly issue of Honi Soit.

Bronwyn Cowell gets a check up with Dr Tim Green, director of the Emergency Department at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital


By Bronwyn Cowell
Published monthly: February 25, 2009

. . . Do you [Dr Green] or workers in your department notice a spike in student admissions on Wednesday nights (the traditional college party night) or on the night of big events, like college formals?

It’s funny you mention Wednesday night. Until recently I worked every Wednesday evening for many years and I couldn’t figure out why it was always me who was trying to hail a cab surrounded by people in togas or tennis outfits… I didn’t realize Wednesday was the college party night.

But to answer your question no significant spike of attendances, although I do recall a few ankle injuries following formals when the combination of a few drinks and high stiletto heels caused a few problems… I don’t know if that counts as a spike of admissions.

. . . How have you seen drug and alcohol related admissions change over time? For example, has the RPA ED seen the ugly end of the so called ice ‘epidemic’? Or are other party drugs like cocaine and pills still more prevalent?

There’s been a lot of changes. When people take too much ice they can get very aggressive, violent, even psychotic. They may hurt themselves, others and unfortunately we’ve had a run of nurses and doctors getting hit.

The other thing is that many young people think that using so called “party drugs” is pretty safe…The trouble is that you never know what you are taking and we’ve seen some pretty sick people. The worst offender is GBH. The margin of error with that drug is so small. We get a few cases every weekend of people who stop breathing. I’d hate to know how many people don’t make it to hospital. . . . --NewsHammer 3/04/2009

Continue reading this article from the Feb 25, 2009 O Week Edition of the University of Sydney's Honi Soit.

Link to the current monthly issue of Honi Soit.

The whole capitalist system that controls the world is going through a mass extinction, and just like biological mass extinctions, something totally new will emerge


By Angus Miller
Published monthly: February 9, 2009

The neo-liberal dream of a world run by the free market is as dead now as the socialist dream of a world run without any markets at all. China and India might just become real rivals to the power of the US. The power of governments everywhere will increase compared to the power of big corporations. Basic economic theory will be reassessed. So, you’re probably not as interested in that as me (an economics student), and in the meantime with this mass extinction, it’s our jobs, our opportunities and ultimately our lifestyle that could be on the line.

First there was the subprime crisis, which then became the credit crunch and now that is just referred to as the economic crisis, which has more recently become the recession. The scary truth is that no one knows when things will get better.

Debt has become quite a big thing over the last twenty years. Many large companies have been boosting their profits by operating with very high levels of debt. In other words they borrow lots of money, invest it and hope that what they earn is more than their interest costs. This is called leveraging. . . . --NewsHammer 3/01/2009

Continue reading the Feb 9, 2009 article from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's Catalyst.

Link to current issue of Catalyst monthly magazine.

The whole capitalist system that controls the world is going through a mass extinction, and just like biological mass extinctions, something totally new will emerge


By Angus Miller
Published monthly: February 9, 2009

The neo-liberal dream of a world run by the free market is as dead now as the socialist dream of a world run without any markets at all. China and India might just become real rivals to the power of the US. The power of governments everywhere will increase compared to the power of big corporations. Basic economic theory will be reassessed. So, you’re probably not as interested in that as me (an economics student), and in the meantime with this mass extinction, it’s our jobs, our opportunities and ultimately our lifestyle that could be on the line.

First there was the subprime crisis, which then became the credit crunch and now that is just referred to as the economic crisis, which has more recently become the recession. The scary truth is that no one knows when things will get better.

Debt has become quite a big thing over the last twenty years. Many large companies have been boosting their profits by operating with very high levels of debt. In other words they borrow lots of money, invest it and hope that what they earn is more than their interest costs. This is called leveraging. . . . --NewsHammer 3/01/2009

Continue reading the Feb 9, 2009 article from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's Catalyst.

Link to current issue of Catalyst monthly magazine.

Finally, someone makes hyperlocal pay

Richard M. Anderson, a publisher serving four Maine communities, has found a way to generate as much as a fifth of his ad revenue through hyperlocal websites featuring, among other things, blogs that are sponsored and maintained by local merchants. He tells how he does it in this guest commentary.By Richard M. AndersonIs the newspaper business sustainable? Not any more. Is the community network

You’ve had your power shower, you’ve been drinking under the nose of your RA, you’re all dolled up and ready for your first big night on the town in Wellington…the only question remains: where to go? Never fear newbie first years! Mistress Mayhem and her merry mob of mischief makers did the hard yards in ‘08 to make sure that you wouldn’t have to


By Mistress Mayhem
Published: February 23, 2009

We’ve compiled a list of options, depending on what your goal for the night is. Read on, little kiddies and soon you too can be flashing your ID at the kind and genteel gatekeepers of some of the most fun you’ll ever have…in first year.

Where to get crunk

A certain group (okay, all) of you will have one aim and one aim only (even if it looks like you’re stumbling towards three or four) and that is to get drunk. While Mistress Mayhem doesn’t condone the overconsumption of liquor, she understands that some of you will have only just severed the apron strings and are looking to cut loose a little bit more. So, in the interests of full disclosure, the best places to consume the most booze in the least amount of time for the least amount of student loan dollars are . . . --NewsHammer 2/28/2009

Continue reading the Feb 23, 2009 article from Victoria University of Wellington's Salient.

You’ve had your power shower, you’ve been drinking under the nose of your RA, you’re all dolled up and ready for your first big night on the town in Wellington…the only question remains: where to go? Never fear newbie first years! Mistress Mayhem and her merry mob of mischief makers did the hard yards in ‘08 to make sure that you wouldn’t have to


By Mistress Mayhem
Published: February 23, 2009

We’ve compiled a list of options, depending on what your goal for the night is. Read on, little kiddies and soon you too can be flashing your ID at the kind and genteel gatekeepers of some of the most fun you’ll ever have…in first year.

Where to get crunk

A certain group (okay, all) of you will have one aim and one aim only (even if it looks like you’re stumbling towards three or four) and that is to get drunk. While Mistress Mayhem doesn’t condone the overconsumption of liquor, she understands that some of you will have only just severed the apron strings and are looking to cut loose a little bit more. So, in the interests of full disclosure, the best places to consume the most booze in the least amount of time for the least amount of student loan dollars are . . . --NewsHammer 2/28/2009

Continue reading the Feb 23, 2009 article from Victoria University of Wellington's Salient.

Columnist Geraint Anderson, the undercover scourge of London bankers, talks to Victoria Morrison


By Victoria Morrison
Published: February 26, 2009

Geraint Anderson, city analyst turned rogue, knows the high life. His recently published book, Cityboy: Beer And Loathing in the Square Mile, exposes the high-flying life of those working in the Square Mile, from £1,000 meals to insider trading—via drugs and a lot of drinks. . .

At a time when high-level bonuses have become infamous and symbolic of all that is wrong with the City, Anderson confirmed the notion that the bonus culture is the primary cause of the credit crunch.

‘The City and Wall Street became wild west casinos with everyone trying to make as much money as quickly as possible, thinking that the whole shebang, caboodle, whatever, was going to be falling down at any minute. The whole emphasis is to make money.’ Even since the publication of Liar’s Poker in the 1980’s, the original exposé of city life at Salomon Bros., Anderson thinks the city has developed a dangerous ‘get rich quick, anything goes’ attitude. He believes that the asymmetrical risk of the bonuses is to blame for much of the current economic situation—if you make money you keep some of it, if you lose it there’s little by way of a penalty. But the main problem is too short-term an outlook. . . . --NewsHammer 2/27/2009

Continue reading the Feb 26, 2009 article from Oxford University's Cherwell.

Columnist Geraint Anderson, the undercover scourge of London bankers, talks to Victoria Morrison


By Victoria Morrison
Published: February 26, 2009

Geraint Anderson, city analyst turned rogue, knows the high life. His recently published book, Cityboy: Beer And Loathing in the Square Mile, exposes the high-flying life of those working in the Square Mile, from £1,000 meals to insider trading—via drugs and a lot of drinks. . .

At a time when high-level bonuses have become infamous and symbolic of all that is wrong with the City, Anderson confirmed the notion that the bonus culture is the primary cause of the credit crunch.

‘The City and Wall Street became wild west casinos with everyone trying to make as much money as quickly as possible, thinking that the whole shebang, caboodle, whatever, was going to be falling down at any minute. The whole emphasis is to make money.’ Even since the publication of Liar’s Poker in the 1980’s, the original exposé of city life at Salomon Bros., Anderson thinks the city has developed a dangerous ‘get rich quick, anything goes’ attitude. He believes that the asymmetrical risk of the bonuses is to blame for much of the current economic situation—if you make money you keep some of it, if you lose it there’s little by way of a penalty. But the main problem is too short-term an outlook. . . . --NewsHammer 2/27/2009

Continue reading the Feb 26, 2009 article from Oxford University's Cherwell.