PowerLine -> Harvey Time at the Oscars + Déjà Vu All Over Again at Cornell

PowerLine -> Harvey Time at the Oscars + Déjà Vu All Over Again at Cornell

Powerline image at HoaxAndChange
Daily Digest |
- Harvey Time at the Oscars
- Disrupt this
- Déjà Vu All Over Again at Cornell
- Sunday morning coming down
- Trump’s great call on UNESCO
Harvey Time at the Oscars
Posted: 15 Oct 2017 01:33 PM PDT (Steven Hayward)
The good people at Quartz have put together this wonderful montage of Hollywood falling all over themselves to slobber over Harvey Weinstein at the Oscars over the years, though I do have to say that Holly Hunter’s curious remark about Weinstein’s “uncensored passion”—and the expression on her face—perhaps betray that she is among the people who knew, and perhaps is another of Weinstein’s victims. I doubt Hollywood can escape taking a major hit to its reputation from their tolerance for this man for so long. (And wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall of that Arizona rehab facility the first time Weinstein gets served a salad with too much ranch dressing on it?) |
Disrupt this
Posted: 15 Oct 2017 08:07 AM PDT (Scott Johnson)
Tim Marshall is the provost of the university known as The New School. A friend forwards Marshall’s email on Curriculum Disruption Week with the assurance that “this is not a parody.” It’s not a parody, but it is almost funny! One might also say the descent to hell is easy. It turns out that we are in the middle of Curriculum Disruption Week. Provost Marshall announces:
Here are some suggestions from the linked page for disrupting the curriculum. Again, this is not a parody:
I love the Orwellian shout out for “diversity of perspectives.” As the man (if I may use that term) said, let your voice be heard, but it is probably best to whisper to yourself. |
Déjà Vu All Over Again at Cornell
Posted: 15 Oct 2017 08:06 AM PDT (Steven Hayward)
People versed in the campus upheavals of the 1960s will recall its nadir at Cornell University in 1969, when black students armed with shotguns occupied the president’s office and issued demands to which the university largely capitulated. (See Donald Alexander Downs’s copious account of this shameful episode in his book, Cornell ‘69: Liberalism and the Crisis of the American University.) Something of a sequel (minus the shotguns—for now) seems to be taking place at Cornell in recent weeks. William A. Jacobson of Cornell Law School, proprietor of the invaluable Legal Insurrection, reports that the Black Students Union at Cornell has issued a six-page list of demands that includes some predictable items, especially Maoist-style re-education camps for everyone:
But there was also this passage, which suggests that not all “people of color” are created equal, or at least not equally oppressed:
Talk about a crash at the four-way intersectionality! Cornell admits too many Africans! The backlash has been amusing to take in, to say the least. One student wrote in the Cornell Sun:
In a follow-up post, Jacobson notes in droll fashion: “I doubt the administration and the campus have the courage to seriously consider whether the quasi-religious obsession with diversity initiatives actually produces more harm than good.” I’m sure this current Cornell job listing, posted just last week, will help a lot:
How long before “green” becomes a protected class category of |
Sunday morning coming down
Posted: 15 Oct 2017 03:53 AM PDT (Scott Johnson)
Paul Simon turned 76 this past Friday. Simon has taken his place in the roster of songwriters in the pantheon of the Cosmic American Music. I’ve been a fan for a long time. Simon, of course, made up one-half of Simon & Garfunkel, the duo that became famous overnight when producer Tom Wilson grafted electric guitar, bass, and drums onto “The Sound of Silence” and rereleased it as a single. This is what it sounded like on their first album, which had gone roughly nowhere. This is also close to what it sounded like the first time I saw them perform live, in the auditorium of Dayton’s in downtown Minneapolis in August 1966. “Something So Right” is a love song at the crowded summit of Simon’s art. It’s a classic deep in the American grain. In the video below, Simon is joined by Stevie Wonder and the Dixie Hummingbirds for a moving rendition of Simon’s gospel rave-up, “Loves Me Like A Rock.” Pretty impressive for a Jewish kid from Queens. The clip is from the 2007 concert given in honor of Simon’s selection as the first recipient of The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The prize was given to Simon during an all-star gala concert on May 23 of that year at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. “Father and Daughter” is a latter-day song that is close to my heart. You can hear the lilting world-music touch he brings to bear on a personal statement: “There could never be a father loved his daughter more than I love you.” I last saw Simon & Garfunkel perform at St. Paul’s Xcel Center when they came through town on one of those reunion tours for love or money in 2003. They brought out the Everly Brothers for a brief appearance to pay tribute to their roots. I memorialized the set list and reflected on what it was all about in “The deep meaning of Simon and Garfunkel.” One of the highlights of the show that night was their performance of “Scarborough Fair.” The video below gives the breathtaking 1966 original that Mike Nichols used on the soundtrack of The Graduate. As Simon and Garfunkel studied up on the records of the Everly Brothers, duos since have studied up on Simon and Garfunkel. Jonatha Brooke and Jennifer Kimball certainly did when they teamed up as classmates at Amherst College. Jonatha contributed the Paul Simon tribute to the excellent out-of-print compilation Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the 60’s. She led off the compilation with a knockout version of Simon’s “Bleecker Street” (below), a song lifted from the first Simon & Garfunkel album. It’s a young man’s song; Simon was still finding his voice and perfecting his craft. “It’s a long road to Canaan on Bleecker Street…” A long road, indeed. |
Trump’s great call on UNESCO
Posted: 14 Oct 2017 09:20 PM PDT (Paul Mirengoff)
I don’t think we have commented on President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in protest of that outfit’s anti-Israel bias. My comment is: Great call. President Trump is following in the footsteps of President Reagan. He took the U.S. out of UNESCO in 1984 because it was too susceptible to Soviet influence and overly critical of Israel. There was also the matter of UNESCO’s legendary corruption. Under President George W. Bush, the U.S. rejoined in 2002, after UNESCO instituted some reforms. In 2011, we substantially cut funding to UNESCO after the organization granted the Palestinian Authority full membership. President Obama asked Congress to restore funding, but instead, we will now be pulling out. The editors of National Review document UNESCO’s anti-Israel bias:
At Power Line, we have called out UNESCO on similar grounds. The State Department says it hopes UNESCO will reform itself so the U.S. can rejoin. Reform of its stance on Israel is highly unlikely, though. As the National Review editors say, opposing Israel seems to be in the organization’s genes. |