Zorral

O yes, here we go again with that tired old canard. Stupid lazy ignorant dumb corrupt mayor all in with real estate, finance and cops insists its all outside agitators on the city's campuses. There is no way these students could actually care about, in their hearts, about the issues about which they are protesting the schools which are profiting directly from them in the millions and millions of dollars.

Ya, that what the reviewers say.* But for me, even if that was what it was supposed to be, it was a hard fail, which is not how they would have wanted to their viewers to see it. *

Of course the author knows. She was making a different point -- that despite all of the praised, including by yrs truly, the centering of Japanese figures not European ones, this show is still centering a European fantasy Japan, particularly of that period.

The stinkin' pile is now whining outrage at the amount of security around 100 Centre Street -- insisting THIS is why there aren't millions of his supporters there to demand his freedom of speech and movement, but instead, only about 5 people standing around chatting and enjoying the sunshine. Another political persecution of martyr to freedum him.

I don't get my news from such venues. But I feel I'm just about the only one who waits until more consistently fact checking and reporting venues go up with 'information' instead of just rushing hither thither to tell and believe whatever the xtit etc. say and pass it on. That doesn't mean blindly believing what those venues say either -- re NYT and Yellow Cake, for a single instance, not to mention some of ridiculous stuff its put up more lately. More and more, in fact, lately. Of course they do try to cover it by pretending it's opinion in very small fonts.

Before the students got busted up by cops, they'd held a seder, last night. At the moment, Washington Square Park is packed with protesters of the bombing of Gaza and NYU's participation in the military and other industries of aid and assistance to that war. It's almost like a time capsule, as this afternoon's WNYC's 1A program featured the 60's, particularly the music and its connections with political protests and other movements of the time, particularly focusing on ... The Jefferson Airplane. Ha! One quite thinks that very people in any capacity at NYU right now were even born in 1967. https://the1a.org/segments/the-sounds-of-america-surrealistic-pillow/

A perspective, some of which shares what I commented on the show in the Watch thread. Shōgun Has a Japanese-Superiority Complex By Ryu Spaeth, a features editor at New York https://www.vulture.com/article/shgun-what-the-hit-series-gets-wrong-about-japan.html?

FYI -- The research deskers are listening to the call-in section of the NPR affiliated public radio program right now about the topic of NYU and Columbia protests in particular and the push back from the vast majority of the callers at the idea that Jewish students on the campuses are in danger and that the campuses are antisemitic is exceedingly coherent and cogent. Many of the callers are not only Jewish residents of the city, but were part of the protests in the Vietnam era, who lay out the culpability of the universities in the programs to develop weapons to more accurately target Vietnamese villages, toxic chemicals to deforest Vietnam and so on. The protests were pointed at the universities to stop that, and divest -- just as the protests are targeting presently. Very interesting!

Liked this take on another current event taking place in my general neighborhood right now: On trial, Trump is a shadow of the superhero his supporters crave Sidney Blumenthal He wants his devotees to see the court case as trial by combat, with him as warrior. But the truth is more pathetic https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/23/trump-trial-superhero-shadow

Meaning of course the opposite.

They all have schools and property in Israel. Remember, these universities aren't about education but are real estate megacorporations. But not only Israel, but everywhere, including Dubai and Havana and Brasil. Overseas programs are some of their most lucrative boondoggles programs ever. One can participate in these programs organized by the NYU programs out of the main office of NYC without being enrolled in any program at NYC. Partner has taught quite a few of these in Havana.

I dunno. Partner's teaching this semester at NYU, and I'm doing research assistance duty, and I have not and am not seeing the Jewish or Israeli students behaving or talking as though they think they are unsafe. The ones who feel that way are not students, it seems, but the always omnipresent associates of these people -- https://www.torahtruck.com/about/ -- who are around the school, inquiring of one and all passing by if one is Jewish and getting them to donate, sign petitions, join Torah trips to Israel and so on. Mostly everyone ignores them, but they can get very annoying and in your face, even hostile and aggressive. So, at times the school has banned them from operating here -- and recall, the home 'campus' of NYU is not a campus at all. The closest to a campus is Washington Square Park, which is a public park, open to all. Even when NYU is holding graduation ceremonies in a big part of it.

In Ukraine, New American Technology Won the Day. Until It Was Overwhelmed. Project Maven was meant to revolutionize modern warfare. But the conflict in Ukraine has underscored how difficult it is to get 21st-century data into 19th-century trenches. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/us/politics/ukraine-new-american-technology.html

Like the media you are refusing to report that these are far in the minority, and most often howled by people who are paid to do this or are simply maliciously doing so. And often, as you are so undie wodged about STUDENTS daring to create unrest on their campuses, not even on the campuses themselves, but outside. Why you refuse to look at the multitude of stories that explain this, who knows, unless you get all your information from television and outlets like fox. Though the Big Legacy Blob Media runs these stories that way too, ignoring the facts, stated even over our public radio media by spokesmouths for bibi etc. that Israel has budgeted literally 3 billion dollars for a global propaganda war to change the perception that Israel is the bad guy here, and to wash away the very idea that Israel, the 'settler movement' etc., have always and are now engaged in a horrible oppression and plunder to take all the land from River to Sea for Israel as the Zionist always planned at least since the 1940's. The students know it though, both Jewish and Muslim, and have for about two generations, while you haven't bothered to pay any attention. Also, I am here, you are not. And here is the most Jewish city outside of Israel.

Silly rabbit. Very large numbers of the particularly elite campuses have students from All the Countries, and students of the heritage of All the Countries, enrolled. Very many of them are paying the full whack as their parents or their countries are able to afford that bill, which so many of the Not Them cannot, so must take out massive loans.

Damn betcha -- and both Columbia and NYU have loads invested. This was also the case with apartheid South Africa, which also provoked many student protests, which, ultimately, were successful in their demands.

Could Trump Go to Prison? If He Does, the Secret Service Goes, Too Officials have had preliminary discussions about how to protect the former president in the unlikely event that he is jailed for contempt during the trial. April 23, 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/nyregion/trump-trial-hush-money-prison.html But, if ----

About 2 hours ago the cops moved in on NYU. Lordessa the whacking of the helicopters.

Not news. So many have known this for so long. No one buys books Everything we learned about the publishing industry from Penguin vs. DOJ. https://www.elysian.press/p/no-one-buys-books? What I can't figure out is why we still get royalties. The only thing I can figure is we did our books before digital entirely ate everything. However this is why we aren't writing new books. This has happened with the music biz too. Indeed, self publishing is the only way to go, but you gotta have something going already to make it possible for enough buyers to know or care. Just like with music.

Helicopters scouring like mad over us. Not for the rapist from last night, not for the calls by we know who for massive protests to stop the trials of him for whom laws are not a factor, but because of some tents in front of the Stern business school at NYU set up by the protestors of the I/P war.

There has been some chatter about this very thing showing up as of yesterday and today. But that's all it is so far, speculating how far SS can extend to someone even kept out of prison by a hung jury of a criminal case.

This is how it has been turning out concerning so much.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/22/israel-unrwa-staff-terrorist-links-yet-to-provide-evidence-colonna-report

That's when I said, "Self, stop now," and Self did stop. Also because they had levitated flatbed trailer to put stuff on, but were doing everything else by hand, all to a sound track of music that must have its roots thousands of years ago. Film and tv sf just cannot conceive of future agriculture in any remotely believeable manner, but shove in some fantasy recreation of some fantasy European/US farming of the late 18th > 19th century, including how farmers dress. Firefly was particularly ridiculous with that.