The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Quote from: apl68 on April 23, 2024, 07:10:33 AMI've heard of the old poem "The Face on the Barroom Floor."  This kind of takes things to a new level.

Now we have the updated version:  The Mandible on the Bathroom Floor

Hummer feeder out today!

Politicians continue to meddle instead of mediating.

QuoteHouse Speaker Says White House Should Act as Campus Protests Spread
Speaker Mike Johnson faced boos at Columbia as he criticized protesters after meeting with Jewish students. He invoked the possibility of bringing in the National Guard and cutting funding to universities.

QuoteNew York governor tells Speaker Johnson to stay out of Columbia tumult

QuoteHochul said Johnson would be better off taking up the bipartisan border security bill that, she said, would help deal with the ongoing situation involving migrants in the state of New York.

"It seems to me there's a lot more responsibilities and crises to be dealt with in Washington," Hochul said. "I'd encourage the Speaker to go back and perhaps take up the migrant bill, the bill to deal with closing the borders, so we can deal with the real crisis that New York has."

Republicans have been blasting the presidents of several elite East Coast schools for months over their handling of protests and the protection of Jewish students.

New York's House delegation this week called for the resignation of Columbia's president.

Quote from: Ruralguy on Today at 01:05:53 PMI'm going to stick with my original statement.

That's okay, I don't need to pick a fight, least of all with you.


It seems to me that the better option, here, was for the administration to let the students have their protest but ultimately refuse to divest/halt plans for their Tel Aviv campus (because that's what the administration wants, not because I endorse that response). This draconian response serves only to build bad blood/reputation and invite lawsuits (from students and faculty alike). Sure, some donors would have been pissy. But some donors are always pissy.

I'm going to stick with my original statement.

Quote from: ab_grp on February 18, 2024, 12:25:08 PMHas anyone else signed up for this 1001 albums generator (https://1001albumsgenerator.com/)? There's a book of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1001_Albums_You_Must_Hear_Before_You_Die), and this site will generate one for you per day.  You can then rate it the following day (and add any listening notes) when the next album is revealed to you.  A friend posted about it, and I figured I could use some exposure to new-to-me music (I am not great at branching out).  I've done it for a few days and so far my assignments have been groups I've heard of but had not listened to or have heard different music from, and I have been pleasantly surprised.  Some I had just not had a particularly good impression of before.  I haven't bought any of the albums so far, but I have added a couple songs on Spotify. My husband is also doing this now and is getting different albums, so it's not just giving everyone the same one every day.  You can read everyone else's listening notes, too.  Not sure if I'm a fan of that because I (you probably know by now if you have read my book or movie reviews) am terrible at describing things.  I mostly note whether I like something or not and anything that stood out to me.  Sometimes nothing stands out.  There may be a setting to change that.  You can supposedly form listening groups as well, so we might try that.  I don't know if that syncs your album generation up or you just have an easier way to share your opinions with each other or what.  Each album I have received has had links to listen to it on several platforms, which makes it easy to port around with me (e.g., Spotify, Amazon music, Apple music, something else).  I'm new to this but thought it was a neat idea so figured I'd share it.

Very cool - thanks for sharing!

QuoteIs there a better word I should have used? Because it wasn't an accident, and it was a war crime (deliberately killing unarmed civilians and prisoners is forbidden by international law).

The war crimes continue unabated.

QuoteThe UN's human rights chief has said he is "horrified" by the destruction of Gaza's Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals and the reports of "mass graves" being found at the sites after Israeli raids.

Palestinian officials said they had exhumed 283 bodies at Nasser, some with their hands tied. It is not clear how they died or when they were buried.

QuoteU.N. Calls for Inquiry Into Mass Graves at 2 Gaza Hospitals
Palestinian officials said scores of bodies had been found, some shot in the head, at one hospital after Israeli forces withdrew. Israel said it had dug up and reburied some bodies in a search for hostages.

QuoteI will point out that, at least in the case of Columbia University, much of the incessant hullabaloo has been coming from non-Columbia-associated protesters on public streets adjacent to campus.

According to our local news, most of the disruptions are by students inside campus.

QuoteInside the Week That Shook Columbia University
In a Washington war room, Columbia's president, Nemat Shafik, decided to call police officers to arrest protesting students. The backlash now threatens her leadership.

Live Updates: Columbia Negotiates With Campus Protesters Ahead of House Speaker's Visit
Administrators let a deadline for demonstrators to disperse expire, saying there had been progress in discussions. In a radio interview before his visit with Jewish students, Speaker Mike Johnson called for the school's president to resign.

Shafik named names at the hearing, which seems to have angered faculty. The professors in question were under investigation, but had expectations of privacy as far as the investigations were concerned.

 

QuoteI can't think of any example where a superior military power was actually able to dislodge a rag tag militia that can hide among the populace, take a few pot shots, and disappear back into the crowd.

It is forgotten that the French military won the Battle of Algiers and, indeed, controlled Algeria. Algeria gained independence because of support from outside. This was called "the internationalization of the conflict". This strategy has been imitated by the PLO, and now Hamas. Placing armed fighters among the civilian population is intended to cause lots of civilian casualties, which are then thought to stimulate outside support.

I don't think it will be successful because the Battle for Gaza is being fought by a neighboring, independent country with an existential interest in complete victory, something that metropolitan France never had -- French soil was not seriously threatened by the NLF.

Less dramatic historical memory surrounds the Malayan Emergency [1948 - 1960] because the British defeated the insurgents.

Afternoon!

Pangram and above genius. Missed numbat, tantalum, and a couple more words. Surprised to note that ablaut wasn't accepted, even though umlaut was.

dustbowls/snivel

Happy solving!