Apparently, you should never ask me to housesit for you, because I'll just go on vacation right after you hand me the keys. (Cross-posted at Slublog)
I've thought about writing something about the "Muhammad Cartoons" thing, but since that's the only thing some people blog about lately, I decided against it. I would recommend Dafyyd ab Hugh of Big Lizards on the matter. He's offered a few unique thoughts on the entire thing that I've seen.
In more local news, it seems that some ire was stirred up here at Northwestern University by Dr. Arthur Butz. He's been known as a Holocaust denier for some time, but the recent controversy began when he made statements applauding Iran's President for also denying the Holocaust, which were then published by the Iranian press. The story can be found here.
I never heard anything about this until the University President sent us this message via email, denouncing Dr. Butz but saying there was nothing they could do about it.
And frankly, I'm glad. Dr. Butz works in the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His interest in the Holocaust is not work related. For the sake of free speech, I'm glad the University isn't telling him what he can or cannot say outside of his job. He does use a Northwestern webpage to promote his book and his statements, but Northwestern provides that space for personal use.
My Conclusion: Free speech at Northwestern survives (for now), but that doesn't excuse his idiocy. He joins the legion of academics out there who give intellectual credibility to horrible ideas and murderous regimes. Lord, hasten the day when their irrelevancy is complete.
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