While a Florida university tries to terminate 1 faculty member with ties to terrorism, his brother-in-law is finally gone from the US after fighting deportation for 7 years. What an unlucky family, to have their academic freedoms so shamelessly attacked. The AP Wire report, mirrored at Tampa Bay On-Line, discusses the plight of the University of South Florida faculty member Sami Al-Arian and his newly deported brother-in-law Mazen Al-Najjar.
The Tampa Bay Online article that describes the deportation of Al-Najjar helpfully provides a link to a website for an organization called the Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace. The website, when opened, shows the embattled Sami Al-Arian pictured before a large American flag, with scrolling quotes by Mahatma Ghandi, Mark Twain, Louis Brandeis and a host of other dignitaries wafting above his head. But wait, did we mention that Professor Sami Al-Arian is a faculty member in the computer sciences department at the University of South Florida? Wouldn't setting up a self-glorifying website be well within his capabilities? Well, a tool known as WHOIS can help us find out the answer to that vexing little question........
Record expires on 10-Jan-2003. Record created on 10-Jan-2002. Database last updated on 22-Aug-2002 23:41:37 EDT.
Hmmmmmm. Now, Sami Al-Arian is certainly welcome to set up any website he chooses. But, shouldn't Tampa Bay Online paper (and the AP newswire) at least TRY and determine if they are being spammed before they automatically include a link to WWW.ACADEMICFREESPEECH.COM?
10:32:31 PM
Moon Shot
Another image taken with my Meade LX200. I am using a Pictor 416 CCD camera, but really want to upgrade to one of the SBIG cameras. I have my eye on the LISAA cameras as well, but Revision2 has not yet been released.
If you live in/around Baton Rouge, be on the lookout for this/these guys. Just don't call it profiling so as not to offend any multicultural sensitivities.
9:48:53 PM
F#cked Leb Style
This story is fairly disturbing. Not just because it shows people feeling sorry for the Lebanese gang rapers and their "harsh" sentence, but because it also reveals a mindset, expressed by Australians, that the Aussie female victems were somehow to blame. Or, the policies of Australia towards these immigrants were somehow to blame. For the curious, being "f#cked Leb style" apparently entails being sodomized while a dozen or so of your attacker's best friends watch and wait their turn.
Greatest truism in the article:
"What we've seen since September 11th is that multiculturalism trumps everything."
Yep, that about sums it up.
8:48:45 PM
Academic Freedom is SO Important to Terrorist Sympathizers
Here is the story of a tenured professor at a Florida University with alleged links to terrorist organizations. This guy is crying about his academic freedoms being infringed upon for saying things like "death to Israel" during some protests with rather shady sponsorship. The good professor maintains that his words, uttered in Arabic on American TV (what a surprise that we have interpreters here in America, eh Professor) were merely "a statement against Israeli Occupation".
The best bits:
>>>>>>>
Those comments are noted in his pending termination letter, along with an allegation that Al-Arian used the school's name in booking a 1991 conference where "money was raised for causes later associated with terrorist activities."
Al-Arian said that he has never advocated violence against others and that his words were a statement against Israeli occupation.
"This is an issue of the ability of a professor to speak their mind without being threatened because of his political views," Al-Arian said.
The university also alleges that in 1995 Al-Arian wrote a letter seeking funds so that suicide bomber missions could continue. Al-Arian said that letter was never sent; the university refused to release the letter, saying it was now part of the investigation and confidential.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Gee, I wonder what would happen if I went to Mecca and uttered "Death to the House of Saud" in English. Think I would get a chance to have a fair hearing, or just get stoned to death on the spot. Oh, that's right, its really a moot point, we infidels aren't even allowed to set foot in the holy city, much less profane the kind and benevolent backers of state supported suicide bombings.
8:35:21 PM
FishFeet?
Since I'm busy having a rant about "Creationists" interfering with what is taught in public schools, I thought I'd provide you with this link. Head on over and pick up a few items to stick on YOUR mini-van.
A few of my favorites include:
and
and
and my most favorite from the site is
4:31:37 PM
Evolution needs to be critically evaluated?
Usually, I am ranting about the causes the ACLU chooses to fight. But this cause I can support 100%.
The text of the stickers is apparently vague, but does state that:
"evolution is a theory, not fact, and should be critically considered"
So, evolution needs to be critically considered next to WHAT? Sure, you should read and interpret everything critically, failure to do so is why things like Arming America, as discussed below, get published to rave reviews.
People interfering with the curricula at public schools based on religious grounds are the worst kind of meddlers. I guarantee you that none of these people, all undoubtedly with little fishes stuck to the back of their mini-vans, have even the smallest inkling what they are supposed to be upset about. They haven't studied evolutionary theory and find it wanting. They just knee-jerk dismiss it because it isn't creationism. And, since "creationists" are so concerned that evolutionary theory be critically evaluated, perhaps they could provide us with the body of scientific evidence in support of the literal interpretation of Genesis.
3:59:00 PM
Arming America Conclusion
This report says Emory University has reached a decision, and an announcement is expected tomorrow. It should be interesting to see what will happen to Bellesiles. As a tenured professor, he has a LOT of protections in place. That is one of the things that upsets me the most about the entire debacle; Bellesiles is TENURED. That means the errors in Arming America are either there because he is a terrible scholar and researcher, or because he wanted them to be there and to be perceived as fact. I could sort of understand, although not condone, his actions if he was under tremendous pressure to get tenure and thought he had to fudge the data to make an impression. My money is on some wimpy statement about "poor schlarship, not up to Emory's high standards, etc, etc", followed by a slap on the wrist and then back to business as usual.
3:36:16 PM
This is kind of cool. Taken with my very own telescope (a Meade LX200) and post-processed with Maxim DL software.
3:08:12 PM
Hurting or Helping?
I just really don't understand this lady at all. She seems ultraconservative and extreme to me, but her book has been on the best seller list since its debut in July. I do think her rhetoric frequently goes over the top, which just makes it difficult to have a meaningful dialogue. Of course, the far-left hasn't really been all the keen on dialogue; if you disagree with them, you are either a sheep, a Nazi, or a fascist.
1:09:37 PM
Radio Userland Rocks
I mentioned below that customizing Radio templates is sort of tough if you are a remedial HTML/XML user. However, the Radio interface itself is really cool. Even propagating your blog to another site via FTP is a piece of cake.
12:43:57 PM
Gotta love the Onion. This is one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Except I guess its not that funny if you are a Palestinian living in squalor and starving while your "government" steals most of the foreign aid provided, and spends the rest on weapons and suicide bomber honoraria. But of course, the plight of the Palestinians has been caused solely by the West and the Jews. Ever notice how Osama never even mentioned the Paleastinian conflict until he got his ass handed to him in Afghanistan? Then, all of a sudden, the mid-east conflict became his rallying cry and reason for flying passenger planes into buildings. And the anti-war groups and far-left just jumped right in there and bought it - hook, line, and sinker.
12:39:11 PM
Thank you Al Gore!
Proof that Al Gore's internet carries significant clout can be found here. Just shows you the power that sites such as GoodbyeCynthia.com really have. Interesting that McKinney played the anti-semitism card to the end, with her father even getting into the act (note the "Jews bought everybody" comment captured on tape by a local news team). Also interesting is that most of McKinney's money came from out of state, while her opponent Denise Majette, was supported overwhelmingly by in-state funds. Even decidely dirty and possibly illegal scare tactics couldn't win the day for poor, freedom fighting Cynthia.
