:: Political Paradigm 'Blog ::

:: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 ::

I'm helping to organize this. Come!

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Please join us on Wednesday, January 19 at 6:30 pm for a panel
discussion entitled "Genocide in Darfur: Human Rights, the
International Criminal Court, and the U.S. Response."

Wednesday, January 19 at 6:30 pm

Fordham Law School
140 W. 62nd Street, New York, NY
McNally Amphitheater

Panelists are:

Richard Dicker, Director, International Justice Program, Human Rights
Watch

Nicholas Rostow, General Counsel, United States Mission to the United
Nations

Olivier Bercault, Counsel, Human Rights Watch

Mr. Bercault will provide the historical background (including a slide
presentation), after which Messrs. Dicker and Rostow will examine the
moral, political, and legal issues surrounding intervention in Darfur.

A reception will follow.

Sponsored by:
Joseph R. Crowley Program in International Human Rights
Fordham University School of Law
Tel: (212) 636-6862
http://law.fordham.edu/htm/cr-home.htm

Co-sponsored by:
- Council for American Students in International Negotiations http://www.americanstudents.us
- Human Rights Watch Young Advocates http://www.hrw.org

:: WL 1/18/2005 02:53:00 AM [+]

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While the RNC is comming up soon, I wont be able to cover that, here is the commentary on the DNC I promised you guys :)

Arriving into Boston, a city I was very unfamiliar with along with the American political system I had largely ignored as a political science major, I wasn’t sure what I was to expect out of the entire convention. Fortunately for me, the first night in Boston was a laid back DNC Media welcome party at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. That is where I was thinking about getting a sense of what would be happening for the rest of the week and perhaps if I’m lucky get to talk to some real journalists to get an insiders perspective on what I should  be keeping my eye on during the convention. Entering into the Convention center, I was first of all amazed by size of the place and all the events going on there and to top that off, I must say that was the largest party I have ever been to. Most of that night at the party, I cruised checking out all the events going on around the place and sampling the food. It was exciting at one point to be near the presence of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and see the flock of reporters hounding him as he took every step forward. I don’t even recall hearing what the questions were or his answer partially due to the amount of questions being yelled at him. That for me was quite an interesting experience for the few moments I was actually a foot or two away from him. I suppose its quiet something to see somebody who you have heard so much being mentioned off about within in the news and especially pop culture. That night, I was just enjoying the sights having jus seen my perhaps most popular celebrity. I decided after that I was going to be very forward and just approach anyone I think is a journalist. I meet up with Pierce and put a strategy together that we would approach some journalists and start up a conversation with them. So the next conversation I knew I got myself into was with a Fox camerawoman and it was interesting for me and Pierce to speak to her because it happened that contrary to what I thought about the people working not the back scenes of the station, she was quite liberal. Likewise was her sister as well; both were Boston natives. It surprised me to an extent because I was under the impression that Fox News personal (those working behind the scenes as well) would all be right-wing as well because how else would one want to support such a news outlet. Unfortunately, I was unable to really meet and speak with a journalist that much for this night but I did happen to get some success when I ended up incidentally speaking with columnist of the National Review! It was good moment for me to ask him a very important question that I felt Michel Moore had raised regarding the media: why wasn’t the media critical enough for Bush Administration and its presented evidence as we let ourselves end up being in Iraq? I posed that same question to him and his reply happened to be, ‘ we felt we did a good job’. That was something I was not really looking forward to hearing and I don’t even think that he answered my question. I had meet him at a Progressive rally where Rep. Kucinich and Amb. Wilson had meet with others to discuss the update on the Iraq war. I felt that after reading York’s article, http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200407290903.asp , he had maligned the events coverage. Perhaps I was too caught up in the excitement of the event itself to base an objective perspective. On the last day, I did happen to meet one of my college friends who had graduated and was acting as a freelance columnist (more like an independent journalist/media correspondent) and it was interesting to meet up with him since he had been covering the convention and was more receptive to my questions. Speaking with him after the Kerry speech, he said that he was not really that impressed and considered the entire event as “part pep rally, part indoctrination, part carnival, and part high school reunion”, I guess he was more aware of the fact that the entire DNC was in some ways staged to every bit of detail. I suppose he was looking for more ‘real’ straight from the heart speeches but what can one do in an era where politicians are so concerned about their public image and rightly so too. I mean none of them want repeat a Dukakis in a tank stunt. I had read previously in the National Journal how that incident in many ways hurt his public image.  
 

:: Paradigm staff 8/29/2004 12:22:00 AM [+]

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I will be volunteering and reporting right here for the upcomming Democratic National Convention this upcomming week of July 26-29 in Boston, MA . Stay tuned, right here to get an insiders prespective into the 'back-door' politics of poltical parties!

Mohammad Saleem,
Independent Correspondant

:: Paradigm staff 7/22/2004 05:47:00 PM [+]

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City College psychology professor Bill Crain was arrested yesterday while trying to enter the "vertical campus" of Baruch College. He and a group of other CUNY affiliates (mostly professors) were testing whether Baruch truly adhered to the spirit of an "open" campus that is supposed to be the policy CUNY-wide. Apparently it didn't work out as planned.

You can follow the developments on the Senate-Forum discussion list. (free registration required)

On a side note, I have had similar experiences both at Baruch and Hunter where CUNY cops were a bit overzealous in enforcing ID policy - I was barred from entry to the Baruch "vertical campus" once and told to leave Hunter once, both times while showing valid Hunter ID. So much for one big happy CUNY family...

:: WL 6/23/2004 09:59:00 AM [+]

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You're a high school valedictorian in a suburban Long Island district. That should mean an easy ride into the Ivy Leagues right? Not if you're an illegal immigrant.

:: WL 6/21/2004 11:07:00 AM [+]

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Arianna Huffington has a verbal bitch-slap of a commencement address for the class of 2004.

:: WL 6/20/2004 06:35:00 PM [+]

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The Rev. Calvin Butts recently spoke at Hunter's spring commencement.

Here's a roundup of other keynote commencement speeches from colleges around the country.

:: WL 6/15/2004 01:38:00 PM [+]

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