MattGinsberg's blog

On April 11th, while giving a speech at Butler University in Indiana, the notorious Academic Bill of Rights advocate David Horowitz had a chocolate creme pie smashed in his face by several Butler students who apparently disagreed with the liberal-turned-conservative Chairman of Students for Academic Freedom.

Despite the hilarity of this incident, Horowitz has actually profited from it. He has urged his supporters to donate to him and his organization CSPS (Center For The Study of Popular Culture) in light of the pie incident. "These students and their academic consorts are underscoring our point -- and they’ve taken to violence in response to the success of our National Campaign for Academic Freedom!"

Clearly there are more effective ways of countering Horowitz's campaign than throwing pies, but I do admit this did get more attention than writing a letter to the editor. Of course I'm not advocating pie throwing at public speakers, but I think Horowitz needs some sweets so he could wake up and stop trying to privatize the curricula of distinguished institutions of higher learning. I just feel sorry for the students at Butler whose tuition is destined to increased to pay Horowitz's dry cleaning bill.

I'm not sure if this connection I made today is apparent to you all, but I had an epiphany regarding a seemingly trivial issue. I had a conversation with a well-known conservative professor this morning (who's name will remain anonymous). He's a Westpoint grad and holds a Ph. D. in International Relations, and has proven to be a very outspoken realist. We were discussing views on global security issues from the realist perspective versus that of a liberal perspective. What he told me was this: that anytime a state has a weapon (either chemical, biological or nuclear) no matter the size, even if it is used for defensive purposes, in a realists eyes it is viewed as offensive.  Read More »

Luther Head's missed 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in this year's NCAA national basketball championship had me very distraught. For one, I grew up and went to high school in Illinois, thus a good majority of my friends attend the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. But beyond rooting for a sports team, the Illini loss brought an end to the remarkable streak of wins by blue states in major NCAA and professional sports.  Read More »

The Iraqi Government's choice of Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as the country's new president comes as a great surprise to me, as well as many people around the world. The Kurds, who suffered greatly under Saddam Hussein, now are the major force in the Iraqi government's coalition. This could be a potential sign that the Kurds will be granted more sovereignty, as well as even a state. Of course I am quite optimistic at this point, but I think this is a step in the right direction. They will most certainly gain more rights and influence in Iraq, where they comprise most of the population in the North. This could be very significant for the Middle East, as I argue that this issue of the Kurds in Turkey, Iran and Northern Iraq will affect the future of the geography of the middle east more significantly than any other conflict, namely the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Read More »