Diversity // Current TV

Rick Santorum planned to end criticsm of Israel on college campuses while senator

In 2003, then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) cut a backroom deal with high-powered lobbyists to introduce legislation to limit freedom of speech on American college campuses. Proposing to rewrite the federal funding formula under Title IX of the Higher Education Act to include what was called “ideological diversity” as a prerequisite, Santorum’s intent was to cut federal funding for American universities that allowed professors, students and student organizations to criticize Israel in class or in other open campus forums.

A major recipient of campaign money from pro-Israel sources, Santorum said criticizing Israel was “anti-Semitism.” Initial details surrounding the senator’s Orwellian proposal came in an article of April 15,

2003 in a fanatically pro-Israel conservative daily, The New York Sun. The website of the pro-Israel student group, Hillel, also favorably reported the origins of Santorum’s plan Hillel said Santorum invited

Jewish organizations to a private meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss concerns about criticismof Israel on college campuses. Joining Hillel were the Anti-Defamation League, the Zionist Organization of

America and the American Jewish Committee. The New York Sun summarized Santorum’s conclave with the influential lobby groups:

“By the end of the meeting yesterday, Mr. Santorum was talking about introducing legislation that could cut federal funding to colleges where anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments are prevalent—or . . . where ‘ideological diversity’ is lacking.”

Hillel’sWayne Firestone said: “Everywhere I go, this is the lead topic. This is drawing a lot of interest.”However,the truth is that—outside the Jewish community—few knew of Santorum’s initiative, until

AMERICANFREE PRESS (AFP) reported the story, which concerned academics circulated widely on the Internet, Forced into a defensive mode, the Jewish lobby claimed AFP’s story was a lie—a “rumor . . . sweeping Arab and left-wing media,” as New York’s Jewish Week reported on May 9, 2003In 2003, then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) cut a backroom deal with high-powered... more

maasanova
added this
30 days ago
|
2 comments

Father Who Set Up Anti-Gay-Bullying Campaign after His Child's Suicide Has Been Found Dead

The Guardian UK... . Father who set up anti-gay-bullying campaign after... more

EthicalVegan
added this
2 months ago
|
14 comments

The Future of Facebook: Out with profile pages, in with the Timeline

We have come a long way from the days of Dicken’s Oliver Twist singing... more

joeeddy
added this
5 months ago
|
0 comments

Diversity is key to sustainable farming: So why is it so damn hard?

As Collin explored in his slideshow of permaculture principles, diversity has to be a central part of any approach to sustainability—especially one that models itself on natural ecosystems. From designing sustainable, integrated farms to utilizing a broad mix of energy sources, it just makes sense to not put all of our eggs in one basket. But in a culture that is more aligned with linear, industrial thinking, diversity also brings with it a level of complexity that many of us are not used to. So is there a way to embrace that complexity without blowing our minds?

Diversity and Resilience
We know for a fact that ecosystems rely on an astoundingly broad community of plants, animals, microorganisms and fungi to keep functioning. The more diverse the system, the better, because if one species gets hit by disease, famine or some other form of shock, there are other elements playing a similar role in the system that can pick up the slack. This is what is often referred to as resilience—the ability of a system to adapt and reorganize itself in the face of shocks.

Complex Networks of Relationships
But in reality it is not just the diversity of species, but also the diversity of useful relationships between those species, that builds resilience. You could have 10,000 different species of monkey in one rainforest, but if they all played the same—or very similar—roles within the ecosystem of that forest, the diversity would not contribute to resilience. It's not the individual points of diverse elements, but rather the network of complex interrelationships between those elements, that ultimately builds a web that is so hard to break.

I got to pondering this after an insightful conversation with a client about the importance of complexity in organizations and social structures. Because we live in a culture that is so invested in linear, reductionist and industrial thinking, it can be hard for any of us to wrap our heads around what it takes to live with, and even encourage, complexity.

When Is Complexity Too Complex?
To take a specific example, often when I've seen permaculture enthusiasts make plans for sustainable, working commercial farms using the permaculture model, they focus on the idea of developing as broad a range of crops and income streams as possible in an effort to build resilience. But, it seems to me (as a non-farmer, it must be said!) that unless we view this effort through the lens of complexity as well as diversity, we run the risk of spreading ourselves too thinly and coming away with nothing.

The fact is that a commercial farm will need to not just grow a broad range of crops, but to find a way to harvest, process, and eventually get those crops to market (a decidedly linear process). From an economic standpoint, unless you can establish a useful relationship between your crop and a potential market, your diversity of crops only leads to a harder system to manage without contributing to the resilience of your overall system. (There's a reason conventional farmers like crops that all ripen at the same time.)

Diversity & Complexity in Marketing
Many of the popular alternative methods of marketing are, of course, actually attempts at embracing complexity from economic standpoint. Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs) or other subscription models are a great way for farmers to make use of a diverse harvest without needing to market each crop separately. But there must always be a balance between building in enough diversity and complexity to promote resilience, and always keeping in mind the ability of the system—or more precisely the folks stewarding that system—to harvest and utilize the crops that are grown.

(Of course if you are developing perennial polycultures for food production alone, but not commercial food production, then this is less of a concern. You pick and eat whatever comes along.)

cont.As Collin explored in his slideshow of permaculture principles, diversity has to be a... more

JanforGore
added this
9 months ago
|
9 comments

Vin Diesel’s Multi-Facial: Not Too Light, Not Too Dark

“Multi-Facial” is a fascinating, emotionally moving 1995 short film that... more

disembedded
added this
9 months ago
|
0 comments

Ohio Gov. John Kasich tells Black lawmaker, 'I don't need your people'

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is off to quite a start, isn't he? We learned recently that Kasich, a former congressman, Wall Street executive, and Fox News personality, has picked 22 officials for his cabinet -- 17 white men and 5 white women.

Though he says he offered two posts to African Americans who declined the offers, the result is the first Ohio governor from either party to have a cabinet lacking any racial or ethnic diversity in a half-century.

A week later, Kasich refused to attend the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Gala -- despite being in town -- and his office issued a statement on Martin Luther King Day celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

This week, Kasich made matters just a little worse.

[Thursday], the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus held a press conference to express their waning patience with his dismissive attitude and "implore[] Kasich to make better strides to diversify his Cabinet." But according to State Senator Nina Turner (D-OH), this time Kasich's response was a bit more blunt. According to Turner, when the caucus offered him help in finding qualified minority applicants, Kasich told Turner, "I don't need your people."

Now, I can appreciate the need for caution on a line like this. "I don't need your people" is what Turner said Kasich said, and second-hand quotes can be tricky.

But Kasich's spokesperson confirmed that the governor said exactly that. "What he meant was, 'Your people are Democrats, we don't need them on our cabinet,'" the spokesperson said yesterday.

Maybe that's what Kasich meant; I wasn't there and I can't speak to his frame of mind. But there's room for skepticism -- he was meeting with a lawmaker who was urging him to expand the diversity of his team and offered to help by presenting lists of qualified Ohioans. Her point, obviously, had nothing to do with party and everything to do with the governor having a diverse team that reflected the makeup of a diverse state.

By responding, "I don't need your people," Kasich couldn't have come across much worse.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_01/027752.phpOhio Gov. John Kasich (R) is off to quite a start, isn't he? We learned recently... more