A Swede Appreciates Fourth of July

When I was a child visiting America, I remember my aunt having these square pans, deep, with chocolate cake, and upon it in the right colors, the American flag was drawn in enough sweetness to now make my teeth hurt.  That was the summer, too, she took me to a drive-through bank, and I recall…

The Creepy Invasion of Cengage in My Email Inbox

July 3 and I am minding my own business, just checking email before Independence Day, and I have an email from someone named Ashley Minton, Ashley.Minton@cengage.com, with a cc: to someone named Rachael Pigg-Wisner (Wisner) at rachael.wisner@cengage.com. Yes, the sender’s email contains two caps, and the carbon-copied recipient’s email is all lower-case. The email subject…

Reading the Situation at Northern New Mexico College from the Outside

I know nothing about the situation at Northern New Mexico College beyond what has been posted on this blog, but here is an open letter from the institution’s president in which she attempts to identify and to address the issues there. _________________________   A Letter from Dr. Nancy “Rusty” Barceló, President of Northern New Mexico…

MESA Condemns Raids on Universities

Below is the text of a June 30 letter signed by Nathan Brown, President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), and addressed to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  The letter protests recent Israeli incursions into Palestinian universities on the West Bank, which it calls…