Swimming Down Ave J.

Eve Mosher, a fellow wordpress blogger, is very concerned about having to swim the next time she goes out for a burger in Flatbush. After learning about how global warming might result in flooding of NY’s five boroughs, she decided that people should know exactly what that means. As reported by AMNY, Mosher has outlined with chalk all parts of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan that could, one day, be covered by water.

As she is out on the streets marking the 10 foot above sea level mark, Mosher is able to engage people on the streets about what she is doing, and – more importantly – about the dangers of climate change.

The best part of the project was the interactions I had with people. I handed out information packets on combating global warming and had great conversations with people who really are aware of the dangers facing our city. In five whole months, I met only two people who didn’t believe global warming was real.

The project is called High Water Line, and in the course of her work, she will walk over 70 miles of coastline. This dedicated artist is intent on using her art to get her message across.

Freedon of Speech Iranian Style

This afternoon, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University’s World Forum. While there was much protest to a leading academic institution hosting a world leader who calls for the destruction of Israel and denies that the Holocaust happened, it said something for the American value of Freedom of Speech. [play by play commentary]

Ahmadinejad’s speech was beautifully preceded by a few words from Columbia’s President Lee C. Bollinger. He minced no words in criticizing the Iranian leader for his country’s poor Human Rights record, and his personal hateful beliefs. He expressed his belief in freedom of speech, and explained that this forum was important because “it should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore” implies an endorsement of those ideas or a naïveté about the potential dangers of those ideas.

“To those who believe that this event should never have happened, that it is inappropriate for the university to conduct such an event, I want to say that I understand your perspective and respect it as reasonable. “It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment. This is the right thing to do and indeed, it is required by the existing norms of free speech, of Columbia University.” He called for the “intellectual and emotional courage” to “confront the mind of evil.”

It was a powerful statement that Mr. Ahmadinejad could not ignore. He opened his speech by explaining that in Iran, a guest speaker is given more respect than to have such an attacking introduction.

What Mr. Ahmadinejad did ignore were the other questions presented by Mr. Bollinger. Ahmadinejad barely touched upon issues such as women’s rights, holocaust denial, freedom of speech for scholars, Israel’s right to existence, Iran’s nuclear program, and other questions that Bollinger raised.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s speech was not surprising at all, and as Mr. Bollinger pointed out, it was as important to note what was not said as much as what was said. That Mr. Ahmadinejad had no good answers on his stance towards Israel, his country’s Human Rights abuses, and their nuclear program.

All in all it was what could have been expected from the maniacal President of Iran.

So in the end of the day, did Columbia do much more than provide Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a stage large enough to draw the front page of the New York Times?