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The U.S. District Court in Chicago has ruled that the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign had hired Steven Salaiita last year prior to a series tweets the scholar and author published prompted by the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict even though he had not begun teaching classes or received approval from the University's board of trustees.. Amid charges that the tweets were anti-Semitic, chancellor Phyllis Wise cancelled the classes Salaita was scheduled to begin teaching and rescinded his offer of employment. In language sharply critical of the University's action the Court cleared the way for a suit alleging breach of contract and violation of Salaita's First Amendment Rights. In the wake of the decision, the Wise has resigned and one observer of the case has speculated that the University will re-instate Salaita to avoid a judgement "for which the damages could easily amount to compensation for his entire career, i.e., 35 years of salary and benefits, plus additional damages for the constitutional claims."
comment posted at 1:23 PM on Aug-7-15
comment posted at 6:22 PM on Aug-7-15

Tonight (Thurs., Aug. 6, 2015) is the first official** televised debate for Republican presidential candidates, to be held in two separate events on Fox. First, there's the happy hour debate at 5 PM EST, with the seven candidates who didn't make the final cut*. At 9 PM EST, the Prime Time debate takes place with the top 10 candidates. You can watch online, if you have cable authentication, but you can also participate through Facebook, who are co-presenting the debates. Otherwise, wait until after the show for clips to start surfacing, or you can follow live-blogging a-plenty (NPR | New York Times | The State | Reason), and you can add your two bits with the Fox News Election HQ 2016 App.
comment posted at 7:35 PM on Aug-6-15

Healthy 75-year old dies by assisted suicide in Switzerland. Gill Pharaoh's last blog post is here. She has written two books about carers.
comment posted at 4:50 PM on Aug-2-15

"Gentrifiers are people with medium or high incomes moving into low-income neighborhoods, attracting new business but raising rents, and often contributing to tensions between new and long-term residents. Sociologists coined the term, which alludes to the European gentry—and which has only become more loaded at a time of skyrocketing rents and profound demographic changes in American cities. But are you a gentrifier?" [SLSlate]
comment posted at 11:40 AM on Aug-1-15
comment posted at 12:58 PM on Aug-1-15

The RISKS Digest Turns 30: In February 1985 Adele Goldberg, the President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), published a letter in the Communications of the ACM expressing concern with humanity’s “increasingly critical dependence on the use of computers” and the risks associated with complex computer and software systems. On August 1st 1985 Stanford Research Institute's Peter G. Neumann responded by creating RISKS@SRI-CRL.
comment posted at 6:27 AM on Aug-1-15
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comment posted at 7:56 AM on Aug-1-15

Double Genocide: Lithuania wants to erase its ugly history of Nazi collaboration - by accusing Jewish partisans who fought the Germans of war crimes.

"After Lithuanians got independence,” he told me, “we hoped that Lithuania would give us help.” But it was not to be. In one of its very first independent actions, before even fully breaking free of Moscow, Lithuania’s parliament formally exonerated several Lithuanian nationalists who had collaborated in the Holocaust and had been convicted by Soviet military courts after the war. The right-wing paramilitaries who had carried out the mass murder of Lithuania’s Jews were now hailed as national heroes on account of their anti-Soviet bona fides.

comment posted at 2:00 PM on Jul-30-15

The Role of Writers in a STEM Obsessed Society

“As writers, it’s easy to think of how we matter to literature classrooms, but what the appointment of writers-in-residence in hospitals, history classrooms, foreign language learning spaces, and cooking schools reminds us is that we are relevant wherever there is humanity—which is to say, wherever humans are with their stories. Writing is healing. Writing is art. Writing is learning. As such, writing across the disciplines matters. Many models of artist residencies depend upon the retreat model, wherein the artist sequesters herself away with a small community of other artists. While these models have value, especially when considering how solitude relates to the creative process, it’s heartening to me to see more models catch on that value the place of the writer in society, rather than hidden away from it.”

comment posted at 10:56 AM on Jul-30-15

"When we use the phrase, what we seem to be trying to say is that there should be a lot of room for intelligent disagreement around aesthetics – and that we don’t feel comfortable about asserting the superiority of any one style or approach over any other. It implies an acute sensitivity to conflict and a fear of being rude or mean to others. However, by resorting to the phrase, what we actually do is unleash a stranger and more reckless situation: what we’re in effect stating is that nothing is ever really more beautiful – or uglier – than anything else. This suggestion then has a way of implying that the whole subject is essentially trivial. After all, we’d never say that truths about the economy or justice were in the eyes of beholders only. We know that big things are at stake here – and over time, we’ve come to positions about the right and wrong way of approaching these topics, and are ready to discuss and defend our ideas. We wouldn’t ever say that ‘the treatment of the poor is just a subject best left entirely to the eyes of beholders’ or ‘the best way to raise children is in the eyes of beholders,’ or ‘the future of the environment is in the eyes of beholders.’ We accept that there are dangers to arguing in aggressive and unfruitful ways; but we are confident that there are sensible and polite ways to advance through these tricky yet vital debates. The same should feel true around beauty."
comment posted at 8:43 AM on Jul-30-15

Racist Readers Need Not Apply

Scott Vogel, editor-in-chief of Houstonia magazine, explains why he canceled the subscriptions of two readers who complained about an ad picturing an interracial family.
comment posted at 10:29 AM on Jul-27-15

As she's laid to rest, questions remain about whether her arrest was good policing, a bail system that is especially harsh on the poor, the stigma of marijuana use, treatment of depression and, of course, the long history of American racism, as seen in Waller County, Texas, were the initial incident occurred.
comment posted at 2:29 PM on Jul-26-15

"Democracy is not a game. It is not a means of getting our names on the front page or setting the world abuzz about our latest scoop."
comment posted at 9:36 AM on Jul-26-15

A never-before-released set of photos show the anxiety of the Bush administration as it reacted to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The documentarian Colette Neirouz Hanna, whose work with PBS has focused on the Bush administration, received the photos in response to a freedom of information request. They were taken by the vice-president’s staff photographer. The full set is on Flickr: 1, 2, 3, 4
comment posted at 2:14 PM on Jul-25-15

No Wave legend Lydia Lunch talks to the Grauniad.
comment posted at 12:35 PM on Jul-21-15

Lavanya Ramanathan in the Washington Post on why we need to do away with the "ethnic food" label "It's not the phrase itself, really. It's the way it's applied: selectively, to cuisines that seem the most foreign, often cooked by people with the brownest skin."
comment posted at 12:47 PM on Jul-21-15

"For almost 70 years, hot chicken was made and sold primarily in Nashville’s black neighborhoods. I started to suspect the story of hot chicken could tell me something powerful about race relations in Nashville, especially as the city tries to figure out what it will be in the future." Rachel L. Martin, "How Hot Chicken Really Happened," from The Bitter Southerner.
comment posted at 11:52 AM on Jul-21-15

Cartoonist Jack Ohman of the Sacramento Bee recently completed a four part series of cartoons titled "The Care Package" based on his experiences with his father in his final years: "Getting old ain’t for sissies", "The last time I went fishing with my dad", "What I wish my dad said before he died", "In my dad’s final weeks, I was still in denial".
comment posted at 12:58 PM on Jul-20-15

After intense negotiations, the Obama administration has started a new phase of defending the nuclear deal with Iran that could determine whether Congress will approve it after a 60-day review. Obama's deal with Iran could become his administration's foreign policy legacy. But is Iran’s nuclear capability the issue anyway?
comment posted at 11:24 AM on Jul-18-15

The Web We Have to Save. SLhoder: "The rich, diverse, free web that I loved — and spent years in an Iranian jail for — is dying. Why is nobody stopping it?" (h/t mkb, via ...uh... facebook.)
comment posted at 12:19 PM on Jul-14-15

An American Psychological Association report highlights how it allowed torture clinicians to operate in its ranks. The 542-page report raises questions about collaboration between A.P.A. psychologists and both the C.I.A. and the Pentagon. According to the report, leaders of the American Psychological Association weakened the association’s ethical guidelines to allow psychologists to take part in coercive interrogation programs after September 11, 2001.
comment posted at 12:50 PM on Jul-11-15

Actress Patti LuPone talks about the incident at Shows for Days at Lincoln Center on Wednesday night where she, without breaking character, Ms. LuPone walked into the audience and took an audience member's cell phone who had been texting during the play. Ms. LuPone is not a stranger to taking charge of similar incidents.
comment posted at 12:25 PM on Jul-10-15

Jon Chait, New York Magazine: The Party of Andrew Jackson vs. the Party of Obama

Downplaying or ignoring Jackson’s conservatism, while conjuring a liberal ideology on his behalf, served a partisan interest for 20th-century Democrats. But there are also honest reasons that may have led historians like Schlesinger astray. From the standpoint of the 20th century, the United States had evolved into a two-party system in which the more liberal of the two parties had its strongest base in the Deep South. As this felt to many to be the inevitable direction of American politics, it seemed natural to peer back at the 19th century and see those coalitions in protean form. Despite its conservative views on race and suspicion of Washington, the white South probably appeared like a plausible base for the development of a liberal party. From the standpoint of the 21st century, things look very different.

comment posted at 4:34 AM on Jul-10-15

Armed police in England and Wales only fired their weapons twice over the course of 14,864 operations that took place from 2013-2014.
comment posted at 12:00 PM on Jul-9-15

A federal judge has ordered the cancellation of the Washington NFL team's registered trademarks, upholding the United States Patent and Trademark Office's 2014 ruling that the trademarks are "disparaging" to Native Americans.
comment posted at 1:35 PM on Jul-8-15

Tucking his shapely legs underneath his curvaceous body in the dimly lit booth, Chris Hemsworth looks longingly at the bread basket the waiter places on the table in front of us. “Screw it — I could die tomorrow, right?” He smiles charmingly at me as he grabs a crisp roll and wraps his mouth around it, not even caring who’s watching. He closes his eyes and moans, savoring the carb-loaded moment like it could be his last. “If I die, bury me in a bread casket,” he says, displaying the kind of outrageous humor that doesn’t quite match his angelic looks.
comment posted at 9:18 AM on Jul-8-15

Dear People Who Live in Fancy Tiny Houses… "You look so freakin’ happy in that Dwell Magazine article or Buzzfeed post, but c’mon, you can’t tell me that you don’t lie awake at night, your face four inches from the ceiling because the only place your bed fits is above the kitchen sink which also acts as your shower, and think, I’ve made a terrible mistake."
comment posted at 8:43 AM on Jul-8-15
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comment posted at 9:38 AM on Jul-8-15

Eric Holder goes home.
comment posted at 9:34 AM on Jul-7-15

"Now all of us single people are pathetic, not just the straight ones. “Marriage responds to the universal fear that a lonely person might call out only to find no one there,” writes Justice Anthony M. Kennedy in the majority opinion of the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges. ...Isn’t it enough to be denied the “constellation of benefits that the States have linked to marriage”? A constellation my coupled queer sisters and brethren now can hold dearly if they just make it official? Once again, being single is the dreary, awful, mournful alternative to marriage. A condition to be pitied, and quickly corrected by a sprint to City Hall." (Spinsters previously)
comment posted at 12:50 PM on Jul-6-15

In this scenario, the publishers and journalists are the residents of the suburban street that has been turned into a cut-through: cars keep speeding past, ignoring them and their entreaties. Worse, the cars are driving too fast, and they pose a risk. But nobody can point to anything definite yet. And the car drivers certainly won’t – they’re too busy driving past.

Charles Arthur thinks adblocking is the internet equivalent of speeding.
comment posted at 8:25 AM on Jul-4-15
comment posted at 12:45 PM on Jul-4-15

Full text: The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2014. via
comment posted at 1:49 PM on Jun-30-15

Summer Reading Guide [LA Times]

Another summer, another chance to draw up the perfect reading list to see you through those languid, sun-drenched days. Whether you’re stretched out by the pool or nestled in a coffee shop, clutching a hardcover, paperback or e-book, we’ve got more than enough titles to keep you reading through Labor Day.

comment posted at 7:25 AM on Jun-27-15

“I have a love of ships. What can I say? They transport food around the planet.” That is a quote from “Grey,” the “Fifty Shades of Grey” book told from Christian’s perspective, but it could equally describe how New Hampshire came up with its state flag.

Every state flag is wrong, and here's why.
comment posted at 11:36 AM on Jun-24-15

"In keeping with James Joyce’s own love of lists, here’s a terribly subjective list of ten books published in this century that are in different ways as inventive as Ulysses was in 1922. These novels aren’t necessarily inspired by Ulysses, except insofar as it has affected every subsequent novel, but like Joyce’s masterpiece they challenge us in ways we never knew to expect. If nothing else, Bloomsday should remind us to pick up some books not despite their difficulty but because of it." (Electric Literature)
comment posted at 6:34 PM on Jun-22-15

One of my favourite Twitter accounts is the frustrating and important @AfAmHistFail, run by an anonymous (for obvious reasons) docent who gives slavery presentations at a historical plantation. She shares the ups and downs of her job, the struggles to keep composure in the face of racist questions and monologues, and the difficulty of puncturing the romanticization of the antebellum South. She was kind enough to answer some questions for us.
comment posted at 1:30 PM on Jun-22-15

Here is a list of selected readings that educators can use to broach conversations in the classroom about the horrendous events that unfolded in Charleston, South Carolina this week. These readings provide valuable information about the history of racial violence in this country and contextualize the history of race relations in South Carolina and the United States in general. They also offer insights on race, racial identities, global white supremacy and black resistance.
comment posted at 4:02 PM on Jun-20-15

Earlier this week, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that although medical marijuana is legal, employers have the power to fire workers if they fail company-sponsored drug tests. Monday’s ruling is the latest in a series of decisions around the country denying job protection to state-sanctioned medical marijuana users who medicate off-duty.
comment posted at 7:22 AM on Jun-20-15

Taming of the Fuckery is graduate design student Sneha Keshav's 100 day project to identify colorful alternatives to the formerly taboo but now all too ubiquitous 'F-Word' and display them creatively. If you don't like it, you can Go Hug a Porcupine, because I Don't Give a Tiny Rat's Buttcrack.
comment posted at 2:57 PM on Jun-19-15

This is an extract from Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si. Here are some of the early analyses.
comment posted at 10:03 AM on Jun-18-15

Real-estate mogul and reality-television star Donald Trump said Tuesday he will seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. [New York Times]

The garrulous real estate developer whose name has adorned apartment buildings, hotels, Trump-brand neckties and Trump-brand steaks, announced on Tuesday his entry into the 2016 presidential race, brandishing his wealth and fame as chief qualifications in an improbable quest for the Republican nomination.

comment posted at 12:54 PM on Jun-17-15

Stunning photos show why S. Korea is the plastic surgery capital of the world "During the consultation, I realized that all along, I was only thinking of plastic surgery as some kind of magic tool," she says. "From the media, and from my friends, not many people were talking about how plastic surgery was surgery."
comment posted at 3:58 PM on Jun-16-15

"Readiness has also become the slogan of the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Rather than a galvanizing declaration of devotion, the slogan is a queasy-making line in the sand. When the legitimacy of the system the president presides over is in question, as racial oppression, capitalism, and police brutality are discussed on a global scale, choosing a president isn’t a royal crowning. The conflation of being “Ready for Hillary” with feminist allegiance brings the worst problems of political fandom, racism, and poor civic awareness to the forefront. Secretary Clinton is portrayed as a fulfillment of a progressive checklist or schedule rather than an individual candidate."
comment posted at 2:52 PM on Jun-15-15

American Pharoah Wins Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown [New York Times]

American Pharoah is the 12th horse and first since Affirmed in 1978 to win three races on different tracks at varying distances over a five-week span. He won the Belmont Stakes by five and a half lengths, the Derby by one length on May 2 and then romped to a seven-length victory in the rainy Preakness two weeks later before demolishing his rivals Saturday. [via: CBC]

comment posted at 10:52 AM on Jun-7-15
comment posted at 1:30 PM on Jun-7-15

While the status of Obama's "American College Promise" initiative that proposes two free years of community college for "everybody who's willing to work for it" (announced back in January) is far from certain, The Washington Post identified seven countries -- Germany, Finland, France, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, and Brazil -- where Americans can study at universities, in English, for free (or almost free), and BBC's News Magazine recently detailed how this works in Germany, both from the side of a new student from outside of Germany, and what Germany gets out of the situation. But if you want to stay in the US, TIME identifies 25 colleges where you can get a tuition for free (with a number of caveats, of course).
comment posted at 12:11 PM on Jun-4-15