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Early Sunday morning, Bwog was tipped video footage that depicts a white man standing in front of Butler Library and making several statements criticized by Twitter users as racist. The video is linked below, and according to Twitter user @blkgirlculture, the man was identified as Columbia sophomore Julian von Abele.
The video shows von Abele shouting lines such as, "Europeans built the modern world. We invented science and industry and you want to tell us to stop because oh my god, we're so bad. We saved billions of people from starvation." By the end of the video, he is also seen jumping closer towards Butler and yelling, "White people are the best thing that ever happened to the world. We're white men. We did everything."
As he speaks, von Abele is jeered at by a group of several other individuals, peppering him with shouts of "You […] degenerate!" and "Say that one more time. Say that here."
Disappointed, but not surprised. Twitter, do your thing@Columbia @CC_Columbia #ColumbiaWhiteExcellence pic.twitter.com/UCcyv4aII5
— Aala Nasir (@aalanasir) December 9, 2018
Columbia student Kwolanne Felix, who was present at the time of the video, told Bwog that the incident happened around 2:45 AM Sunday morning. According to Felix, a mostly-black group of underclassmen were returning from an event and crossing Butler Library when they encountered the man shouting statements such as, "I love white people, we are the best," and "Trump is a great president."
"He said those statements just to see if we would react. The group stops and starts to converse as we are confused as to who he's yelling at," Felix said. "As he yells, a large argument begins. This is the part caught on video."
After around five minutes of "heated engagement," Felix said that the group stopped engaging, as they believed the man was under the influence of alcohol, and left for JJ's Place. According to Felix, while at JJ's, the group of underclassmen encountered another group of black women, who also stated that they were harassed by the same white, male individual.
According to Felix, von Abele later entered JJ's place at around 3:30 AM. After he used the "same rhetoric" and was confronted by other students, a bystander reached out to a nearby public safety officer, who attempted to talk with the individual. "Ultimately the Public Safety officer lingers and when we ask for action, [the officer] replies, 'He is just saying how he feels," Felix said.
"This has deeply shaken our community, as he targets POC on multiple occasions," Felix said. "During the Supreme Court confirmation of Kavanaugh, [the student] went to a Casa Latina party and harassed party-goers and [incited] unrest."
Bwog has reached out to the student identified in the video, as well as Columbia Public Safety, for statements in regards to the incident; we will update this post with any statement received.
Update December 11th, 2018 7:32 PM: Edited to include the confirmed status of the white, male individual as Columbia sophomore Julian von Abele. Headline also edited in accordance to recent university statements.
Update December 9th, 2018 8:05 PM: Columbia has issued a statement about the incident via email. The full text can be found below.
Dear Undergraduate Students,
We write to you to unequivocally denounce a deeply disturbing racially charged incident involving Columbia undergraduates that took place in front of Butler Library and JJ's Place early this morning.
Many of you have heard about or seen the alarming footage online, which includes painful language directed toward students of color in our community. Although we cannot comment on the proceedings, this incident is already under investigation by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, and we want to assure you that it will be investigated thoroughly, beginning with interviews of witnesses.
We are alarmed at the rise of incidents of racism and hate speech in our world today. It is more important than ever that we continually demonstrate our core values and restate our commitment to a diverse, inclusive community on campus. At Columbia, we stand firmly against white supremacist language and violence. As we said last week, our community will not waver in its support for those of any faith, race, gender, sexual orientation, background or identity.
We understand this may be a difficult time for you and your classmates. Members of our on-call team began to provide individual support as soon as we learned of the incident. If you need support this evening, please reach out to your RA, who will connect you to additional resources as necessary.
All undergraduate students are invited to an open reflection space tomorrow night, Monday, December 10, 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Lerner Hall 505, hosted by Multicultural Affairs, for students to be in community with each other. Additional areas of support will be announced as we are able to plan.
Our collective work toward peace, respect and understanding must continue, both within our community and society at large.
Mary C. Boyce
Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science
Lisa Rosen-Metsch
Dean of the School of General Studies
James J. Valentini
Dean of Columbia College and
Vice President for Undergraduate Education
Photo via Bwog Archives
@Ursula Painter 1) Mr. von Abele can't handle his liquor and shouldn't even drink.
2) He has an intelligent, but toxic mind.
3) He should be called on the carpet by school authorities and disciplined for
his behavior, without losing educational or employment status.
4) He should be placed into appropriate community service to understand
how the other parts of society live.
5) As his behavior improves, hopefully, he can be re-accepted into society.
@Anonymous Bunch of none white students in 3 am "harassed" by single white genius, offended with the facts that came out his tipsy mouth…What he said that isn't the fact ? What white supremacy statement came out his mouth? Oh he's Trumpist and white!?! Then he's got to be. supremacist…And professors who stood against him…entire Columbia University don't deserve his intellect on their liberal socialist forth. They aren't worth of his intellect!! And whoever denies western attribution to the modern world, should leave all of western innovations since the 18th century till this very day…as well as all innovations based on electric power…and lets see how long it'll last!
@humabonofcebu His thesis that European, ie. White Men, created the modern world is pretty accurate though.
That's why America is Greco-Roman , whilst espousing Judeo-Christian principles. The New Testament was written in Greek. Much of our values came from Socrates and all those Greeks. Romans idealized the Greeks. And so on and so forth.
To test his thesis, we need to define modern world. He mentioned industry, etc. so I think he's referring to the 19th century onwards. And if you look at the evidence.
He's kinda right. Sure there's issues of Might Makes Right, and Right of Conquest, but for the most part the biggest discoveries and advances we enjoy today were indeed done by White Men, most from USA and Western Europe.
Google the "Hajnal Line". Because it's easy to explain the above base on race, ie. Nature vs. Nurture, but culturally the "Hajnal Line" does explain a lot.
As to this sophomore, all those other students shoulda asked him, okay you're correct White Men rock, but how about you yourself WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOURSELF? –"True Believer" by Eric Hoffer.
@ha! Yeah, he's correct, but who says the 'modern world' with its attendant massive racial injustice, is such a great thing for everyone? White men 'made the modern world' in ways that would benefit them and them alone – which is why this statement is both non-controversial at the surface level, and fundamentally white supremacist when aggressively shouted at a bunch of black students minding their own business.
Using 'Modernity' here to mean an entire cultural system and way of understanding the world (scientism, nationalism, race theory/eugenics, capitalism, colonialism) not the random household objects people in the comments keep fighting over.
@humabonincebu I'm glad we agree on that crucial first part. on "Modernity" you needn't twist yourself into knots w/ '-isms', just define it as technological progress, also include progress in law and medicine.
The second part of Julian von F'face's point was that everyone in the world benefited.
You say 'no', but I'd beg to differ, look at law and look at medicine. Both are trickling down to non-Whites, hell many non-Whites are in both the fields of law and medicine now (Asians and subcontinent Indians).
You look to Silicon Valley and along with Whites, you have Asians and Sub-continent Indians, and yes all three are driving home prices way up in the Bay Area, and other similar places in the US.
They are benefiting is my point here.
Sure Hispanics and Blacks are not reaping the windfall of Julian's first point, but if Asian and sub-continent Indians have, what's keeping them?
That's another separate discussion.
But they do enjoy the benefits of progress in law and medicine, no? Google dialysis centers and Medicare. There's a high likelihood that Julian (for his drunken tirade) will get kicked out, so
non-Whites have law and medicine on their side. Thanks to White men.
So Julian was correct on both counts. And no it is not as bad as you're making it out to be.
@humabonincebu I'd like to add that Hispanics (both legal and illegals) tend to move up after 2 generations (1 generation for Asians), look at the dairies and farms all across America, Hispanics are in there running things now.
Blacks though tend to regress even farther each generation, a lot of it has to do with not having families no support systems enjoyed by Hispanics and Asians (thanks to prison, but also their pimp culture). Though blacks from Africa tend to do well too, Nigerians and Ethiopians specifically.
Most non-Whites seem to be ascendant here, while Blacks not (American blacks, not African blacks). But they make up 10% of the USA population; the remainder lets say 20% are non-Whites; while Whites are at 70%.
That 20% (give or take) is ascendant, if you look at other English speaking nations, they are looking at 90% White, and their non-Whites is not on the rise economically (maybe Canada, but their non-Whites end up moving here too, too cold).
non-English speaking nations, forget about it, can you imagine being non-White in France right now? or Germany?
I'm not saying all's good, just that comparatively speaking non-Whites are benefiting.
Though I'll concede that Julian's "Modern World" is fast coming to an end.
That's a different subject all together, because TOO MUCH AT ONCE is also the definition of Modern.
@anon You can thank a white man for:
air conditioning
propane heat
light bulbs
etc., etc., etc., etc.
@Anonymous An outlier doesn't negate the fact that white people invented a vast majority of the technology we use on a day to day basis. Honestly, mentioning an outlier like that only furthers his point.
@Anonymous I wouldn't feel safe with him on campus. Maybe he'll shoot up the school? He certainly fits the profile.
@John More rats crawling out the woodwork. What you are up to is transparent – trying to bring down this guy that dared defy you and your machinations of control over this institution in the name of your "progressive" ideology. I hope the students watching take a good long look. These people walk among you. They are not your friend. They will lie, harass, blackmail and any every other dirty trick you can think of in order to place themselves on top as absolute arbiters of so called "social justice".
I hope you cut this cancer out, and soon. They will be the end of us all otherwise.
@huh? Ok chill buddy. We're trying to find middle ground here not demonize the other side. Progressives, centrists and conservatives all have productive things to say. It's about figuring what's most appropriate for when and what's the best general formula going forward.
Also, I find it ironic that you're going on about progressive "cancer" when you simultaneously show support for the Confederacy. The Confederacy was a cancer on America and humanity. Any reasonable human would agree.
@Ron McDonald Does anyone really want to have an honest conversation about the history of the modern world and the contributions of "white" European civilization to that world?
Yes, all of human history and development has been shaped from the beginning by a mix of civilizations interacting with each other, trading, diplomatically engaging, fighting, stealing information, each going forward and falling back, some succeeding to great achievement, some destroyed and lost forever.
For those in the United States and Western Europe this starts in Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. China, Japan, India, South America all developed their own great civilizations insulated from the "West". China had the largest ships in the world and amazing technological abilities while most of Europe was in stone huts.
But if you are HONEST, the MODERN, meaning the world as we know it, is a product of the diverse amalgamation of independent and tribal factions we collectively would call "White European" for the sake of classification.
While everything is intertwined, there are major important punctuating points in history from which things afterwards change forever. One of these would be the Roman Empire. As far as the modern world, they would be the Renaissance – in Europe, the Age on Enlightenment – in Europe, and the Industrial Revolution – in Europe. As a product of these epochal periods, European civilization surpassed all other civilizations on the planet in terms of economic output, technological development and military capability.
Which is why despite the great achievement of the Aztecs, they were living in a society that had stagnated and were overcome by the Spanish. Why the British Empire was able to reach every corner of the globe and colonize it and why industrialization brought us to the point of every major development of the 19th and 20th Centuries – from the railroad, to the telegraph, to the airplane, to electricity, to the automobile, to nitrogen fertilization that did in fact save billions from starvation, to the penicillin and polio vaccinations that stopped you from dying or becoming paralyzed when you were 5, to the MRI machine that lets you and your loved ones be screened for a cancer tumor, to the internet and smartphone you use to voice your opinion – was created within a global governance system created by "white europeans".
And many people suffered and died for that to happen. Many people suffered and died long before that and many people will suffer and die in the future. But the world as it is now is a miracle compared to what we have come from. This should be common knowledge, if you cannot accept that you must look within yourself and let go of your anger.
@humabonofcebu If you're talking about death and suffering, that's another discussion to progress and discoveries, no doubt both went hand in hand.
but are you saying because there's so much death and suffering, that any progress and discoveries must therefore be nullified?
Of course not, right.
You can't do much about death and sufferings of the past, but you can still stand on the shoulders of giants and still progress and discover stuff.
That at least is no longer just Whites, it's open to non-Whites now. China and India are on the rise.
@Ron McDonald Agreed. We have entered a new Era of global competition now.
And for what it's worth, those with distaste for "white supremacy" will see what Chinese expansion looks like at some point this century and it will make the European colonial period and American imperialism today look like Disneyworld.
@Anonymous Or maybe there is something to see here. I think it's problematic that we can dismiss having no friends as a casual state of things. I think it's problematic that this eruption was racially charged, and I think it may hint at things that other people feel but have too much self control to say. That's scary, and it's especially scary that I figure lots of people aren't having these conversations—they just let them fester and self-confirm, without ever being challenged because they're afraid of social repercussion if they express their views. I'm frankly disappointed by how hard it is to talk politics without fear of being ostracized—even on views that elsewhere are considered liberal.
@Tired of Stupid Excuses The question isn't the extent to which the things he shouted are true. It's irrelevant. If he had accosted a group of students, yelling that he has a giant member – the biggest in the world – no one would defend him even if it were true. Rude, demeaning, drunken, loutish behavior is unacceptable.
@CC18 I've been waiting for more people to make this point. The content of his rantings is inflammatory, but that shouldn't overshadow the fact that he accosted a random group of people at 2am while clearly intoxicated. Free speech means that you can publish and petition the government freely. Free speech does NOT prevent you from facing consequences from harassing your peers at a private university. And yeah, the white supremacist aspect of it doesn't help.
@Anonymous Then same standards should apply to SJP members and radicals like Rashid Khalidi. Their speech is far more inflammatory and their actions are just as disruptive. There's a clear double standard at Columbia. If you can't see it, then you've been indoctrinated.
@CC18 Nice false equivalency. You say this like Professor Rashid Khalidi gets loaded at 2:30am and then shouts his views at students outside Butler because they don't look Palestinian. His scholarly work, if you cared to read it, contains more nuanced views than "I LOVE WHITE PEEEEOOOPLEE." Expressing dissenting political views is different from grabbing and threatening students on their way to JJs. But hey, maybe I'm just indoctrinated.
@John You say that like you will not spray your brand of progressive vitriol at every white person in sight. You know the stuff – how we're solely responsible for all the evil in the world, how our history is oppressive and should be done away with, how we should be relegated to second class citizens if not made to die off entirely for the sins of our fathers but not before all our assets are transferred over to people of color. You know, the usual tripe.
Then in response this poor drunken sod has the gall to say "Fuck you I like being white". This sends you into a white hot rage – "HOW DARE HE NOT KNEEL!".
So now here you are. Trying to destroy him any way you can. I don't believe in karma, but if I did, you are due the motherload.
@Democracy is a Western Concept As much as I disagree with Professor Khalidi and your claim that Julian's speech was white supremacist, I have to side with you on this one. The kid was being an idiot and he shouldn't have been harassing students regardless of what he was saying to them. I don't believe he deserves anything more than a slap on the wrist though.
It's clear that we have major ideological differences, but I find it sad that *some* commenters on here are taking advantage of my more centrist viewpoints to express their racist views.
@Anonymous We dont know what happened before the recording started. But I highly doubt that a lone astrophysics student would randomly accost a group of blacks and sjws in the manner you describe. Its almost always the Leftie sjws that go around shouting their obnoxious beliefs in the street for everyone to hear and people only respond with the truth when they are driven made by the constant barrages of nonsense.
@Anonymous Video was posted by some Muslim woman. Why do they think they can criticise anyone else for being "hateful"? The horrible beliefs that Islam perpetuates are far worse than anything this kid said.
@Conservative Columbian who disagrees with the above comment I posted in support of Julian von Abele earlier and I'm responding to this comment because I completely disagree with it. It doesn't represent my views. This was probably posted by a leftist who wants to frame the dissenting opinions on here as racist. My views and those of others are not racist.
@Anonymous Do you really think that a religion that promotes throwing homosexual men off of the highest possible point you can find, and says that a woman is worth half of a man (which is no better than how the USA believed that a black man was worth a third of a white man), is less hateful that what the kid said? They quite literally worship a pedophile.
@Conservative Columbian who disagrees with the above comment Judaism promotes death to homosexuals as well. Christianity promotes slavery and the idea that women should essentially be servants to their husbands. Every religion has its extremist sects. I highly doubt the woman who posted the video holds such radical beliefs.
@Anonymous When was the last time Christians or Jews have done any of that? This still openly happens in public squares in Islamic countries. Public executions and beatings. A huge amount of Muslims hold radical beliefs. 99% (a genuine statistics, not hyperbole) of people in Afghanistan support Sharia Law.
Even in developed nations such as the UK, Muslims schools are teaching them that homosexuals deserve to be killed. There is a leaked video of a class you can find easily on Google.
And a recent poll in the UK showed that over half of all Musls there support completely outlawing homosexuality. Despite the fact that many Muslims there have had generations to integrate.
@Conservative Columbian who disagrees with the above comment @Anonymous
There are a multitude of reasons why Muslims in the Middle East are by-and-large more extremist than American Muslims. Firstly, Middle Eastern countries have been plagued by war and invasion for the better part of the last century. Extreme conditions breeds extremism. As for the UK, Muslims are extremely segregated from British society and live in poor condition. It's no wonder that it is fertile ground for the breeding of extremism. Islam needs a reformation, but it won't get there if Westerners keep framing Muslims as "the other".
And by the way there are Christian extremists and white extremist. In fact, America's biggest internal threat right now is Christian/white extremism.
@humabonofcebu There are 2 types of suras in the Qur'an. There are a total of 114 suras of varying lengths.
Makki suras are from Mecca; Madani suras from Median (after the prophet was booted out of Mecca).
Not surprisingly many of the violent suras are Madani suras, while Makki suras tend to be really chill.
There are Muslims in the Mid-East who are attempting to make which is Makki and which are Madani suras, that way it's clear.
Trump should stop sending billions of aid money, instead just focus on re-editing the Qur'an so more Muslims know which sura is which, if it's Makki or Madani.
@John That is the tu quoque fallacy. Just because you're a hypocrite does not necessarily mean you're wrong. For clarity, I in no way support her argument or her actions, I am simply pointing out your own bad argument.
@Logic We should have Harvard students expelled for claiming they are slightly better than Columbia students.
@Leftist using this to try and destabilize the Core Alfredo Dominguez and several other Columbia students are already trying to use this incident to "re-evaluate" the core. Let's be clear, Alfredo Dominguez is a leftist and he's using his position as University Senator to push leftist agendas on Columbia students.
Columbia students are *known* for being hyper-critical of Western Civilization. If the purpose of the core was to elevate Western Civilization than the Core has utterly failed among Columbia students. Reasonable Columbia students need to fight back against this identity politics nonsense.
@Anonymous Just curious, what is so bad about trying to make the core more broad? It seems to me that there is a lot of valuable history and literature and philosophy and art outside of "Western civilization". If the goal is to have students that are well-rounded, and know how to engage with our modern and very international world (I mean NYC is probably the most international city in the world!) what's wrong with that? Exposure to more and more varied influences seems like a good thing.
Note: "Western" seems like a rather arbitrary distinction. Is the Middle East in the West or not? Does it make *any* sense to draw a connection between ancient Greece and present-day USA, for example? The connection seems like a tenuous reclamation at best.
@Democracy is a Western Concept Because the moral and political foundation of democracy comes from the Western canon. Explain to me how well democracy turned out in Africa, Asia, and every part of the Middle East except Israel. Greco-Roman values paved the way for the best system of government known to humanity – democracy. We can embrace the democratic elements of the Western Canon while rejecting the racist/sexist elements of them. Frankly, Columbia students spend more time criticizing the racism/sexism in core texts than they do acknowledging the beautiful aspects of them.
@V Clearly you've never taken a core class. This is not what happens with most of them. Most professors guide the classes to think critically about the texts we read. That involves analyzing the messages, historical context and points of view from which they were written and considering and discussing these aspects thoroughly.
@John There is a difference between giving people due credit (it at least used to start with the Greeks, but they're probably too "problematic" today) and erasing my history because it makes people uncomfortable. The toppling of civil war era statues around the US and other "symbols of white oppression" shows that the agenda is the latter.
@Democracy is a Western Concept Can't say I agree with you on this point. "Civil War era statues" were erected on university campuses in the early 20th century well after the Civil War. Nothing good or beautiful came of the Confederacy – they fought the war in order to protect their right to own slaves and nothing more. We should not be erecting statues in recognition of that. Much of whats written in the Great Books was considered liberal for its time and contains morals and values that are actually useful and applicable to today's society. We simultaneously should reject the ugly parts of the texts.
@John The people that did erect them would disagree, and they are proud of their history and heroes. Who are you to deny them? You also seem to be suggesting that we should go through our libraries with a magic marker because your modern sensibilities are offended by what they contain. At the very least, they should be maintained for their historical context alone. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
@Democracy is a Western Concept @John
The people who erected them lived during the 20th century and didn't even participate in the Civil War. It's not like they were erected prior to the Civil War and had some deeper meaning to the South other than "The south will rise again" "The federal government had no right to impinge on our right to own slaves". That's literally all they stand for. Secondly, we are the United State of America, you're not going to erect military statues to an enemy state.
Would we erect a statue of King George II or British soldiers? Columbia used to be named King's College because it was founded by King George – it was renamed Columbia as a means to remove any association with the British crown. Further, should Austrians and Germans be allowed to erect statues of Hitler and Himmler on their campuses? No. Definitely not. Slavery is one of the most disgusting periods in our history – equivalent to the Holocaust in Europe. We shouldn't be praising that at all.
Confederate statues belong in museums not on university campuses.
@anon I dunno.. I'm just the parent of a CC student, so I have no first-hand knowledge of this young man's behavior, abilities etc… However, what I see here is a cry for help. Whether or not one agrees with his statements, it's clear that he was intoxicated and/or on some type of substance, and as such, was not in command of his faculties. My mom senses tell me that he needs someone to step in and guide him. Probably time to go home for a bit, get some counseling, and maybe consider a different university in the future.
@Anonymous I think white students are finally getting angry that minorities, black students, first gen, low income students, etc. are getting preferences and admissions ahead of them with lower stats, many who even make up stories of hardships. This has happened now since the 1960's and present day white students are paying the price. This system can only be sustained for so long. Some compromise needs to be made.
@Anonymous Why is the vitriol the black students said back to him also not published? How are they allowed to get away with their statements?
@ha! can't wait for this kid to take that mandatory global core class to graduate
what a moron truly. I thought physics was meant to be one of those liberal arts majors that makes you think about logic and truth claims and relativity, not just jack off to your portraits of newton and einstein every night
@Anonymous I know this person. He is bad at handling alcohol. At one party he got drunk and started yelling about how he is the Holy Roman Emperor, and had invented time travel. He's also in my Quantum Mechanics class (which is really uncommon for sophomores, so he's probably really good at physics) and is dressed like that basically every day. It's weird, and he's probably confused and somewhat lonely (I know him vaguely and I expect he doesn't have many friends), and considering he's doing physics, a field in which a good number of achievements were by white men, it makes sense that he could have an ignorant and myopic view, which is further from being blatantly untrue in the domain he probably spends most of his time on. His being loud and disruptive and bothering people is entirely unacceptable—especially since some black friends told me he was actively pursuing the engagement, and felt attacked by him. His views themselves are just ignorant, and I doubt they're really hateful in any kind of way.
I will also say that this is likely a response to feeling like he can't be proud of his race. He's obviously going stupidly far in the opposite direction, but it seems pretty clear to me that it's a reaction. I mean, one can certainly argue that the evils of oppression (in this case particularly that by the hands of white men) are infinitely worse than emotional turmoil this kid might have from not being allowed to positively identify with his race. But it might also makes sense (barring perhaps some inexcusable ignorance) to react like this, and I'm not sure that polarizing categorization and calling him a white supremacist is helpful. Props to BWOG for using pretty impartial language.
I mean I am white (shocker! and do pardon my insensitivity if my background is blindsiding me), but I am also Jewish, and being able to have pride in my Judaism has been really valuable to me. It becomes something I can bond with people over, and it connects me with other people on campus. I can't say the same about my being white. For someone who's probably struggling with socialization in the first place, having this kind of recess where many others of us have a cultural identity is probably tough. There are dozens of clubs on campus geared towards this kind of bonding over ethnicity or national origin. On a systemic level, a Caucasian Student Organization would be ridiculous, insulting, cringeworthy and a potential breeding grounds for all kinds of horrible supremacist views. On an individual level it's a little different. It makes sense that a drunk him, likely feeling denied and hidden would want to break out and express himself, and I'm honestly pretty glad that his breaking was relatively peaceful and not quite hateful (if still harassing, disruptive, and as before, totally unacceptable). But what does it say about our campus culture that we are making people keep suppress their feelings until they reach a breaking point?
It is certainly true that by any definition of the term he is espousing views of white supremacy ("white men built civilization")—but the term, at least for me, evokes more than that: it makes me think of Nazis and the KKK. Saying that there is a white supremacist on campus would make me legitimately afraid for my own safety and that of my friends—I'm still sort of shaken by the recent swastika incident. This kid being obnoxious isn't a threat to anyone. By singling him out, publicly shaming him, and whatever else the school will be doing, we only risk pushing him further towards extremism. All this kid needs is a history lesson and some friends. I don't think he'll be attacking anyone with a tiki torch any time soon. I think it brings up an interesting question, though. Can racial pride exist for white people in a way that is not inherently racist, or is the idea of white pride itself something so tarnished by its use by those with a clear agenda to oppress and exclude and attack and commit genocide that there is no simply way for white people to be proud of their heritage in a positive way?
Maybe it's just a semantic issue because of how the word's been used? Irish, or German, or French or Polish pride, seem perfectly reasonable and unracist to me. Not sure exactly what the connotation for American pride is, but it leans a little towards xenophobia and love of football more than anything.
Alternately there's the view that taking too strongly to pride in one's own (regardless of whether you're white or not) can and does breed hatred, it "otherizes" everyone else. It's especially problematic when white people do it because they're often in power and have much greater ability to act on that hatred.
Not really sure where I stand tbh, but I think it's always a good idea to be even handed, and not scream about things too much or too early. Rather than jumping to denunciation, categorizing and polarization, it's maybe a good idea to think about how to fix things—how can we change this attitude? If this guy is expressing this, I bet there's at least a handful of other people on campus with similar views and feelings, and they are being made to keep those in, remaining in ignorance and repression (good breeding conditions for hate, I'd say). And I figure there's nothing more emboldening to people with truly hateful agendas than us telling them that are more amongst than they even thought, even at places like Columbia. So while it's fun to yell about things (clearly this dude thinks so), let's not make white supremacists where there weren't before.
(Note, I don't mean to say we should hide the truth because it'll make us happier and sleep better at night. I'm saying that calling someone who doesn't think of themselves as a white supremacist such, will maybe convince them that they are one).
Sorry about the rant. Sometimes I go off.
@Anonymous I agree with some of the points you are making, but why is it not ok for Europeans to take pride in the achievement of their people? And is it not true that modern civilisation was almost entirely influenced by European values? Is it also not true that a vast majority of the technology we use on a daily basis was invented by Europeans?
@Anonymous You shouldn't take pride in someone's actions simply because you and he/she share the same skin pigmentation. That's dumb. You can take pride in your countrymen, your family, those who share your ideals, and so on. What do you, a Pole, an Italian, and a Icelander have in common? Very, very little. Your skin is the same, but that's a super unstable foundation on which to build your pride. Being white has nothing to do with their achievements—excepting contextual history where white people may have had access to unfair advantages.
The point being, nothing about whiteness is substantive enough to build a sense of identity around. Maybe in Europe, given how inherently racist they are (which is understandable, but bad, given their history and culture). But in America? Why take pride in something that has nothing to do with our national ideals? You can be proud of American achievements here and abroad, but limiting it to white people is so roundabout and flimsy. It's like if a South African were asked if he took pride in a Sudanese person's achievement because they were both black. Obviously it's a little different for black Americans, given hundreds of years of chattel slavery and subsequent racism.
That doesn't mean you should feel bad for being white, or should be picked on by leftists at places like Columbia, but rather that you should look for something a little more substantive in which to take pride. Be proud of America. Be proud of your ancestors and their fatherland. Be proud of your religious companions. Be proud of Irish/Italian/Black/Jewish/Chinese/whatever Americans, if you want to locate your pride in shared identity and struggle. Don't take pride in achievements by "white" people, as if they were shared because you have the same skin color, or as if whiteness is something which links everyone from Russia to California together. It doesn't. It's just a skin color.
@Anonymous I don't say it isn't ok for Europeans to be proud of their ancestors at all. I simply posit that the term "white pride", and any other similar ones, has a very, very negative connotation—perhaps so negative that our language makes it impossible for people to talk about white pride without invoking racism. I'm not even sure this is necessarily true; it's a kind of open question I put out. Maybe there's a way to be proud of whiteness that doesn't make people think of really horrible groups of people. The fact that this story is important at all makes me think that's probably hard to do.
I wouldn't feel ok saying that Europeans shouldn't value their heritage unless I said the same for every other group. If it is in fact true that an overvaluation of one's own group creates hatred, it is more dangerous for Europeans to be proud—in many cases they have more power.
Other person who posted here puts out an interesting idea. I'm not super sure how I feel about it. They say it doesn't make sense to be proud of race. I think that makes decent logical sense—looking like someone is hardly an important connection—but I'm also not sure it's actually true. Asian pride, native American pride, black pride, etc. are all certainly real, and not necessarily negative. I think dismissing them would also be potentially marginalizing. Some people mentioned that these prides are more about living specifically in an American context, being the "other" and surviving/fighting a history of oppression. I think that makes sense—but as in my long post, it leaves the people who don't have these kinds of identities feeling like they don't have an obvious group they can belong to. Columbia can be a very lonely place if you don't have something like that. Maybe our community, at large, doesn't think that's a particular important problem. I don't know whether I think it is.
As far as the role of Europeans and white people in modern history: it's certainly big. Europe began the industrial and capitalist revolution which have since taken over the world (regardless of whether you believe that's a good thing). Our "world wars" are European (and also Japanese/American, I guess?) wars. And yes, much of the important science and technology developed over past 200 years or so has been from Europeans/white people. But the world is changing and has been for a long time. Looking back, there are a lot very important non-European influences that allowed Europe to have it's Enlightenment, which I think it's fair to say is the reason that Europeans have had so much influence on modern developments. Looking to the present and future, the US isn't the economic or political powerhouse it used to be and China, for example, is becoming an increasingly important figure on the world stage. A lot of important science is starting to happen in other parts of the world. What I'm saying is that we're currently in the 1600s-2000s period during which Europeans and white people have been responsible for a lot of the science and technology we have. In the scope of human history, that's not so long, and there's no reason I can see to believe that will necessarily continue being the case.
Regarding modern values, it depends on what you mean by modern civilization. You're probably thinking about the world you know, which is probably geographically limited. Even I (having spent the first 18 years of my life in a "3rd world" country, and being no stranger to lots of travel abroad), struggle with reminding myself that the kind of lifestyle, with the kind of values, that I'm used to aren't uniform around the world. About half of the world lives in China or India, or in their spheres of influence, and my Chinese friends have made it pretty clear that they don't talk about Rousseau or Augustine in China. So it depends. If I had to guess, your values (and mine) have very strong European influences. If we're taking about the entire world, not so much.
@humabonofcebu ========================================
You don't take pride in other people's achievements precisely because they aren't yours.
Sure you can cheer for the Lakers if you're a fan, but to feel like a winner if they win or loser if they lose is delusional. Team and fans are not the same.
Be proud of your own achievements.
Having read the above i think this kid's on the spectrum. And if anyone's seen Cobra Kai, "I don't know what that is, but get off it" was what Johnny said.
This kids lucky it wasn't South Side Chicago or South Central L.A.
I also fault the other students for not engaging him in healthy debate, their default was 'I'm being abuse and harassed or both!!!' I'm a VICTIM, I'm being victimized all over again!!! waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
this kid seemed he was just itching for debate. is all.
His premise that White Men are best, they should've asked him WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOURSELF?
But having read that he's studying Physics, which I'm sure those other kids are probably studying sociology , fine arts, african-american chicano women's studies, i gotta feeling this kid will be fine.
I don't agree that he should be punished, he was polite and he was professional after all , maybe for being drunk on campus, but
certainly there was no racism in what he said, just insensitive, but if he's on the spectrum he's got a GET OUT OF JAIL FREE card all his life.
Kudos to him and hoping he does well in Physics. Live and learn.
@Dialogue? anybody else think the email from the university was a bit excessive? feel like it kind of shut down an interesting dialogue that was forming around the issue before it even began. the university blanket renounced the entire incident, even before beginning an investigation into the incident, by its own admission. I dunno, just seems like a rushed move on the part of the university. A bit troubling, to me, and I can't pin down exactly why. thoughts?
@Thomas Because if they had written anything else the ire would have been directed towards them for "enabling white supremacy" and then a bunch of annoying activists would write about how they arent safe on Columbias campus, etc etc. I don't blame the university for learning that its just easier to side with the hysterical activists than attempt to be objective.
I'm sure more mandatory diversity training will be forthcoming.
@Anonymous The university won't punish him for saying these generally inoffensive things. That's stupid. They'll punish him for accosting students repeatedly in a threatening manner while under the influence of something (if that's what occurred). If he actually grabbed at someone or followed a student in a (perceived to be) threatening manner, he'll be punished for that. If he were just sitting on the sundial with a sign that said "let's discuss if you can take pride in your race if you're white" and said what he did, it would be a much murkier situation and he probably wouldn't be punished (despite activists acting like he murdered somebody).
Of course they would always send out an email about people feeling unsafe, for all the reasons you stated. But don't correlate the measure of their response with the heavy handedness of his punishment. Columbia doesn't like bad press among the left, but they dislike lawsuits more.
Regardless, he was fucking dumb to do what he did. Maybe if it were NSOP it would be understandable. But if you come to Columbia for two years and think you can get away with doing something like this, it just makes me question how you're a part of the student body community. Not everything is a hill to die on. Save this type of dialogue for spaces with friends on/off campus in which it is safe to discuss non-leftist points of view. Taking a semester off to reflect on his time here and how he conducts himself would be a fitting punishment, as it's something which could positively help this kid.
@Anonymous Nobody wants to send their kid to a school that ignores the racist rants of their students. If you think the uni is doing this just to please "the libs" you're really dense. This institution has a reputation to protect, and to not say anything while major media outlets are reporting on the story makes them look really bad. People in the comments need to stop trying to blame liberal students on this campus for everything lol
@oh shut up No one wants to send their kid to a school where their entire investment is subject to the whims of thought police. By the way, his rant was not racist as it doesn't fit any of the definitions of racism. He even said he didn't dislike anyone. He just loved being white. Get over yourself and stop using this as an opportunity to cyber bully the kid. Any perceived "damage" his rant has done has been returned to him 10 fold. Let it go.
@Roger Gathmann I love the delusion that a drunk black man wandering around confronting white students and stalking them into restaurants to harangue them about how beautiful his black skin is would have faced no consequences. He would have faced tasering and likely being locked up for public intoxication. This man obviously has mental issues, but it is interesting that his mental issues resonate with the white supremacy crowd. I think he should be seeing a doctor, I mean, this is pretty obvious. In the meantime, Columbia can't just let POC be harassed on campus. Cause your skin is black or brown doesn't mean that you are calling out for a drunken debate on race. Obviously this guy has done this before.
@Anonymous There is literally a video of a black man, recorded by himself, chasing an Asian woman all the way to her home and then shouting at her for being afraid of him and asking if it is because of his skin colour. He faced no consequences and no one tried to expose his identity, or even gave a shit.
@Columbia student First off I want to tell everyone that I am very proud of the students that posted in this blog. I was starting to think that real conversations about politics were not possible at Columbia. But now I see that there is hope. I just want to remind everyone that it is our responsibility to fix this polarization because NOBODY IS OPPRESSED AT COLUMBIA so grow up and start acting like the future leaders you are. If we can't fix it here then how are we going to fix it when we are in positions of power?
With that said, my analysis of the real issue at hand is that left-leaning students do not know how to articulate themselves and successfully defend their beliefs. Instead, they rely on black truths to point out certain aspects of historical oppression. Well guess what, we can't change the past, so stop relying on past sins to form staw man arguments. Sure America had slaves and Yes Africa had a lot of successes as well, and yes even white people contributed to the modern world. But you are all missing the point. This identity politics game is cancer and I hope you recognize it (especially you liberals who mainly rely on race to form arguments).
The behavior of this student points out that the current conversation about race is a blame game for how we got to this point in society. Black people blame white people as racist and white people blame liberals for being hypocritical in their views on prejudice and on and on the conversation goes until we destroy ourselves and history repeats itself. This path we are on currently sucks, and we all need to recognize that it is not in our best interest to blame each other for the sins of history which we were not alive for. The only thing we can do now is blame ourselves and our current behavior. We can fix this but if we are going to claim that this kid cant say white people did good stuff too then we must denounce the same rhetoric when it is often said by POC.
I say this all with love. Please don't hunt me down because I offended you.
@Anonymous Crazy that you're using this to attack liberals. "This identity politics game is cancer and I hope you recognize it (especially you liberals who mainly rely on race to form arguments)." Guess who relied on race to form their argument? Julian. He wasn't saying that white people can do good stuff, he was saying that white men did the BEST stuff, putting his race above others and blatantly ignoring facts and the contributions of other races. Guess what that makes him? Racist.
@Anonymous Is he wrong? Most of modern medicine, and most of the technology you use every single day was invented by white people. How is saying this racist?
@The Ph is for Fenomenal Not that bizarre. These are your friends, classmates, acquaintances posting and liking this shit. They're just all too cowardly to ever express their points of view in the real world, which is why they'll continue to slip into obscurity.
@confused Well, thankfully most of the terrible comments aren't "crowned," meaning they're not on Columbia's network, for whatever that's worth.
@The Ph is for Fenomenal Woah, I just noticed that…
Yeah, looks like a lotta randos here then. In that case it's not quite so bad, although I guess some could still be students/alumni/etc. on other networks, and some of the crowned ones are still rough.
@petition or org for Julian Someone should set up a petition or group to defend this Julian kid. If they punish this kid in any way, all sanity will have been lost
@A New Columbia I think what's going on here is that Columbia men and women are sick and tired of lefty extremists peddling ridiculous ideologies and giving their university a bad name. Columbia is one of the world's great universities and the majority of its students are NOT radicals. It's about time we start calling out the regressive left.
@RoaringLion Not to worry. He is still early into his time here at Columbia and we will educate him successfully before he leaves. It's not clear where he got the idea that white people invented electricity, the printing press, the automobile, powered flight, or antibiotics, but proper historical training will surely disabuse him of these supremacist thoughts.
@anon I assume you're being sarcastic, but white people DIDN'T invent the printing press–or electricity, for that matter.
@Thomas Johannes Gutenberg wasn't white?
And white people certainly didn't "invent" electricity but they discovered it.
@Anonymous How is this an issue? All he did was claim that hes not ashamed of being white. He also claimed that Europeans are responsible for modern civilization which is true. If a person of color said the same about their own group nobody would care. This is an obvious case of anti-white hysteria. Nobody should be ashamed of their skin color.
@Radical Centrists at Columbia There's a macro-trend at the heart of this issue: Columbia is becoming a centrist university by leftist standards.
PoC, LGBT, and other leftist activists are being confronted for the tyranny of their beliefs.
As a Columbia undergrad. I stand by Julian von Abele. I don't agree with what's he's saying, but I stand with him on the basis of free speech.
@lol ok prezbo free speech means he can't be convicted of a crime, not that students he's harassing can't tell him to fuck off
@Anonymous So, does that mean students can lynch him. Are you going to be that facile to think a person is free to commit any act in response to words they dont like?
@The Ph is for Fenomenal This comment doesn't even make sense. You say you disagree with him, but stand by him because you think others shouldn't disagree with him?
At least have the balls to stand by your convictions like he did.
@John "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." – Evelyn Beatrice Hall, Friend of Voltaire.
@The Ph is for Fenomenal Yeah, and how is that right being impinged upon by other people calling him out?
All I see in this video are people using their right to free speech, unhindered. The original commenter here then made a deliberate choice to defend the use of it for one purpose (von Abele's) over the other (that of the people confronting him after being harassed).
@John You are trying to shut down certain viewpoints. Certain speech, facts, logic and topics are verboten. People go along with this to a point because they think you are making a point about politeness, but what is now not allowed to be said can be perfectly polite, but disagree with you politically.
The ferocity with which you go for the throat is also telling. This is about power. Power for you, over us.
@Common Sense It's not about agreeing or disagreeing. It's about giving everyone the right to express their beliefs. There are obviously exceptions – if someone is using expletives for example the n-word or the k-word, etc. However, if someone is saying "I love white people" "I think they're the best thing ever" that's not derogatory it's just excessive pride. I don't agree that white people are the greatest thing to happen to the world. That being said, I support his right to free speech.
@Anonymous Everyone who is jumping on the opportunity to get this incident on his record so it follows him around the rest of his life just think about the skeletons you all have in your own closet. I guarantee you that out of all of the people who openly and loudly proclaim that they are as pure as the driven snow have at least a few memories they would like to keep to themselves.
While it may be temporarily expedient for you to gain social credit points by attempting to throw the book at someone you think made an obvious transgression just remember that some day there will come a time when you hope someone looks the other way so you can chalk an embarrassing moment up to a learning experience and not let it follow you around for the rest of your life. Even the infamous SJW Chenk Uygur was haunted by some moments of his past that he wasn't entirely proud of.
More than anything though I just feel bad for this kid, for the state of mind he must have been in to feel the need to declare his heritage to have value. How many times was he beat over the head about his "white colonial ancestors" or "history of slavery and jim crow" without ever hearing a pleasant word about the positive contributions of his ancestors in the fields of science, art, and discovery.
This looks like a man who has been held hostage in a hostile landscape shrouded in darkness, but was given a glimpse into a world vastly different from the one he was caged in. Coming to a sudden realization of this magnitude is simply a failure of the modern educational system. I think Steven Pinker said it best when he argued that all facts should be in the open and debated publicly and openly so good arguments can be put forward.
@Anonymous I fully consent to have all of my past statements held against me. I can guarantee that I have nothing to be embarrassed of to that degree.
And besides, most "SJWs", unlike Cenk, haven't denied a genocide.
@The Ph is for Fenomenal We can just condemn both, while also acknowledging that they are given different meanings by their place in historical and modern contexts.
@A peaceful "white man" What this kid said was naïve, and being inebriated obviously didn't help his cause. But why is he being crucified for it? Why are so many people looking to ruin the guy's life and future over an ignorant comment whose basis can be dispelled in a simple, educational conversation?
Also, what he is claiming is inherently flawed, but under what definition can you deem this as "hate speech"? Where is the racial prejudice? The man's comments appear to stem from a lack of historical background, not a superiority complex. He even says he doesn't hate anyone–that he just has pride for what his race has historically accomplished. And if you really think everything white men have accomplished was done on the backs of others, maybe you should join the kid in a history class.
All I see this as is another instance of outrage culture that achieves nothing but further racial polarization. What is disgusting is that many think they will gain justice by demonizing "white men," by condemning an entire race of people the majority of whom have nothing to do with your living conditions. You are becoming the very people you despise.
@One big swing and a miss by internet "activists" All this does is make Columbia look stupid. If you replace the word "whites" with "Asians" or "Africans" or "Arabs" in his speech, no reasonable person would call him a racist. Nevertheless, factually, the statements would still be just as incorrect and brain dead. The only thing the kid is guilty of is watching too many Richard Spencer and Alex Jones videos, which rot the brain as fast as a class in postmodernism and intersectionality.
This "outrage" is going to backfire because outside of the small, radical bubble around Columbia, no one's really going to care. He'll probably be invited on Tucker Carlson's show, and the vast majority of people will say, "See look how dumb and triggered leftists are." All debates will be framed around suppression of speech instead of around real problems like criminal justice reform and unequal access to education and opportunities across different ethnic groups. There's a reason it's called "bait."
@The Ph is for Fenomenal I would 100% call a non-white person who gave this speech racist. But even then, you're ignoring hundreds of years of historical context that add completely different connotations to a white person in a Western, white-dominated society saying "white people are the greatest thing to happen to this world" that can't be carried in a black person saying the equivalent for their own race. Again, both are wrong, but we both know you are being willfully ignorant here.
@a peaceful "known isil sympathizer who is on bail for providing material support to a terrorist group" issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the terror group ISIL. i had a lack of historical background and i, in fact, should not have said they "did nothing wrong". i was not speaking from a position of prejudice.
@The Ph is for Fenomenal So if I'm in a room with 5 people and unironically say "I'm the greatest thing to ever happen to this room," I am clearly by proxy placing the others in the room below me. "Greatest" is a comparative adjective.
@John To then make the jump from that to "white supremacist" says a lot more about your own insecurities.
@Anonymous Only insecure and inferior people would react by lashing out like this though. If you knew you were in fact equal, or superior, why not just ignored them?
@the salty seaman This kid clearly couldn't handle his drugs or alcohol. Looks kinda like he came from an event with suits, or else he's a weirdo who wears suits as a sophomore undergrad on saturdays. Did he come from a fraternity initiation? Or is he just a jabroni? Where's the deeper story here?
Or maybe he's just a kid who got drunk, has no/few friends, and thought it was brilliant to announce these beliefs at a place like Columbia. Seems more like he was rolling or tripping or on cocaine or something. Again, would make sense if he were a pledge, just initiated, introduced to nose clams, ran out to go to JJs and started tweaking out. Oh well. I'm sure BWOG will investigate further haha.
@Anon Im in a class with him. He's the weirdo that wears suits everyday. No he wasn't coming from anything and he's done this before.
@Hypocrisy at its finest It's hilarious that you lurk around here pretending to stand up for what's good, just and respect … meanwhile you denigrate someone you've never met before as "the weirdo". From what I've heard he's a physics genius. To me geniuses are really fricken awesome and not weirdos.
@"Physics genius" His physics papers are not the work of a "physics genius". First of all, there are very few proofs. There's just lots of baseless speculation. For instance, he assumes that time is a complex variable and he uses that assumption to speculate about alternate universes; neither step is justified (and how would we even test the alternate universe theory anyway). Finally, his grasp of existing physics literature (and even Feynman's sum-over-paths integral formulation, upon which his work is based) is minimal. This is also evidenced by his responses to questions in a comment thread on one of his YouTube videos. Don't believe me? Read his papers yourself, which you should observe are not published in peer-reviewed journals.
TL;DR: he's a crank.
@John Replying to myself because f* me.
I mean it really is rich to call someone in a suit weird when the student body on a good day tend to look like they got dressed half doped up in the dark (and it's likely accurate). Have you seen the state of some of these clowns?
@Anonymous Yeah, there are people in econ/the humanities who dress nicely every day. There are people who dress in weird clothes. There are people who do both, depending on the situation/how they feel. I would wear a button down and sweater to a meeting with a professor, but I might wear beaten up track pants and a stained t shirt to a final.
Dressing up in a suit every day as a college sophomore in astrophysics is fucking weird. Doesn't mean it's bad. It's just weird. It hints that maybe he's not in tune (even in terms of protecting himself and his character from defamation/libel by not doing stupid political shit) with the rest of the student body, which was exactly the case.
Clearly I'm not responding to a Columbia student, and I don't know if these are really values you hold or if you're trolling, but if you can't see why wearing a suit every day without reason is strange as an underclassman in college, then you're just purposefully trolling.
@smh The comments of this article are being actively moderated to remove the individual's name. It's pointless to use it, as the comment will be removed. Bwog is likely concerned with reputational damage and the possibility of a libel suit from the student in question if it turns out that the article results in his expulsion from the university, and if the student could point to the article as being a cause of harm.
You got halfway there, Bwog.
@smh i mean that's how journalism works ….. what do you expect? there are laws that need to be followed so bwog can continue to exist?
@Anonymous Libel has to be false. Truth, or substantial truth, is a full defense against allegations of defamation.
Student said X racist thing. Bwog reports that student said X racism thing. Bwog reported on something that was true, and in their report, only reported on what was true. In reporting the truth, Bwog did not commit any defamation.
@lol tell that to abc news when they were prosecuted by meat companies for calling them out on making pink slime.
the us legal system doesn't always think things are as clear-cut as that. start donating to journalism, or better yet pay for all of bwog's legal dues. then lets talk
@smh This is a false equivalence, and not a good one. In that case you cite, the use of the phrase "pink slime" damaged the image of the company producing the food product – your use of the phrase to reference the case establishes that the damage through disparagement was done. The reporting that ABC did was factually accurate, but the use of the subjective phrase "pink slime" gave a negative impression that the food was unsafe, which was false. (It was safe, if just not appealing.)
In this instance, there is a video of someone saying X thing. Bwog can report and say "This student said X thing" without ever crossing a line into subjective statements that result in reputational damage, because it is substantially true that the student in the video said X thing.
@the salty seaman The primary concern isn't whether BWOG libels or defames the individual, it's whether the individual has enough standing/feels strong enough to file a lawsuit. Regardless of how said suit would turn out, it would probably cost BWOG thousands just to get a lawyer and appear in court. As in the comment above, it's far safer to say that this student, without naming him, said offensive things that people consider heavily racist rather than posting that this Julian kid is a white supremacist racist. One is objectively true. The other could lead to a possible lawsuit.
@Someone hasn't read the code of conduct. No grounds for expulsion or any disciplinary action here. You'll be stuck with him until graduation. There are stupid people in the world. Accept it and get over it.
@facts don't fit the elements of the "violation" Columbia University is committed to providing a learning, living, and working environment free from unlawful discrimination and harassment and to fostering a nurturing and vibrant community founded upon the fundamental dignity and worth of all of its members.
Consistent with this commitment, and with all applicable laws, it is the policy of the University not to tolerate unlawful discrimination or harassment in any form and to provide those who feel that they are victims of discrimination with mechanisms for seeking redress.
Also consistent with this commitment, Columbia University prohibits any form of discrimination against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence, citizenship or immigration status, creed, genetic predisposition or carrier status, unemployment status, partnership status, military status, or any other applicable legally protected status in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, employment, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other University-administered programs and functions.
Nothing in this policy shall abridge academic freedom or the University's educational mission. Prohibitions against discrimination and discriminatory harassment do not extend to actions, statements or written materials that are relevant and appropriately related to course subject matter or academic debate.
This policy governs the conduct of all Columbia University students, faculty, staff and visitors that occurs on the University's campuses or in connection with University-sponsored programs. This policy also governs conduct by Columbia University students, faculty, staff and visitors that creates, contributes to, or continues a hostile work, educational, or living environment for a member or members of the University community.
@anonymous All you white supremicts that do not see the issue with what he was saying, please realize that white men did not do everything. They oppressed cultures, usually tried to assimilate them and effectively prevented them from being able to properly develop. Africa for example had many accomplishments in architecture and literacy and medicine before colonization and had even mastered the ceasarean section before the west. Colonization is the main reason for Africa's underdevelopment as well as the neocolonization that continues today. Why do you think white men are portrayed as the hero in all of history? Because white men wrote it, left out or twisted the parts that didn't suit their Eurocentric perspective and then enforced it as the absolute truth. If you are clinging to the belief that the white race is superior then you are complacent in your ignorance and that makes you worse than any other. Realize your justifications for this toxic mindset are merely perceived and not actually real. White men will be our downfall if this continues, right now they are our embarrassment.
@Jim The one thing Europeans got wrong was trying to take over the world. In that they failed, and now the modern European is getting punished for their actions.
@not jim ah yes, modern europeans are being punished by *checks notes* occasionally being criticized when they're racist and experiencing levels of privilege enjoyed by no other racial or ethnic group in America
@Anonymous sir it says here that you are *looking at smeared ink on palm* insanely hilarious for writing in a funny joke style and its upsetting the other students ROfl keep it up "bimch"
@Historical fiction Stop spreading this garbage. European culture is no worse and no better than any other culture. Whites are not inherently evil, nor are they inherently virtuous. This is the type of ridiculous rhetoric that leads to confrontations like these. Kid has an anger problem and you have an anger problem.
@Anonymous A culture that values science and innovation isn't superior to one where women can't go outside without a male relative, and they still worship a 7th century pedophile?
@Anonymous "Africa for example had many accomplishments in architecture and literacy and medicine before colonization and had even mastered the ceasarean section before the west."
hah, yea i'm gonna need a source on that one.
@Yandere https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/part2.html
Ever heard of Timbuktu? Have you actually studied African History or do you just assume that Africans never accomplished anything of significance?
The reason this guy believes that Europeans are the only ones to contribute anything to the "modern world" is because that is all we are taught here in the United States (unless you are curious enough to learn the histories of other societies). The Industrial revolution was facilitated by the exchange of ideas and resources between many cultures.
@John Europe and more recently America too DID make the modern world. From the industrial revolution to the computer you are typing your bile on, it was white people. This is not to say that others are inherently inferior, it is but the simple truth. For his man to be harrassed, slandered and possibly expelled for starting it, in a university built by white people no less, is disgusting. You should be ashamed.
@Anonymous Africa was still in the stone age before colonization. The African countries most extensively colonized were the most prosperous, conversely the ones with the least colonization or no colonization at all, such as the congo, were the most impoverished. Then once the leadership was transferred from the colonizers in countries such as south Africa and earlier Zimbabwe the counties quickly fell back into ruin due to a lack of upkeep. Since apartheid ended in South Africa life expectancy has gone down. During apartheid the black population rose by 800%. Your hated of white men and the modern civilization they built and that you benefit from will be remembered as an embarrassing moment in history.
@Anonymous This is patently untrue.
For one, Africa is a big place, and it was definitely not all "in the stone age". Iron smelting has been around in sub-Saharan Africa for thousands of years.
The Congo was the most brutally imperialized, even by late 19th century European standards. It was a personal fiefdom of King Leopold II of Belgium, with forced labor – enforced by threatened and often carried out mutilation – being the norm in order to harvest as much rubber as possible. It's no surprise that a state founded on rubber plantations staffed by mutilated slaves would turn out to be a failed state post-colonization.
On the other hand, Botswana – the wealthiest, or one of the wealthiest countries in sub-Saharan Africa – was one of the least imperialized. For most of its history, Botswana was a poor and sparsely populated country, so without any clear natural resources to exploit, Britain just established a protectorate to stop Boer encroachment and called it a day. With its inclusive native institutions intact, Botswana is now a middle-income, successful democracy.
Before apartheid happened, there were successful black homesteaders in South Africa. In fact, a missionary even collected donations from these farmers to help the famine-stricken Irish. Apartheid, as a system, was created to destroy the native African generational wealth and create a large pool of cheap labor through stealing their land and stripping them of their rights. Black South African poverty was not accidental; it was by design.
Finally, life expectancy has declined in South Africa due to the AIDS epidemic. Correlation != causation.
In conclusion, know the fact before you comment, dumbass.
@Anonymous Take your sorry word salad and put it in the shredder. The fact is the modern world is a European world and trying to reconstruct long extinct or irreparably altered cultures as part of some nostalgia for a society that never existed is quite pathetic. To be upset at the reality as it exists is dangerous to human development and could lead to human downfall by elevating the barbaric, the fantastic, and superstitious over the civilized, the realistic, and the empirical.
@Justin Kase Colonised parts of Africa do better than places that were never colonised. Africans under apartheid had higher standards of living than other parts of Africa. There is no objective "superior" race because there is no objective definition of "superior". European people are proving to be pretty weak in defending their own nations and futures. However, it's clear that European people build a certain type of society that people seem to desire. They vote with their feet. Unfortunately when these people get there, they vote against the interests of the founding population in a manner that will destroy the western nations. Your grandchildren will see what a world without white nations look like, you should worry about that. The truth is that people should be among their own, unbothered. Allowed to be what they are naturally without the conflict of so-called "multiculturalism", a misnomer. Cultural conflict is a better term for it.
How long will non-white hold onto this racial hatred of whites for things that happened in the past? How oppressed must whites become before the thirst is quenched? We already implement anti-white policies in college admissions and hiring. Black women are well represented in university, not good enough? Once they lose control of their nations? Once they are not in positions of power? Once artificially equal outcomes are reached for POCs? God forbid we build societies for ourselves, societies that reflect our nation's European nature. We are not allowed that, it is not allowed for us to appreciate our own people and culture. To be proud of whites is to hate others, we are told. Certainly don't prefer your people, you must prefer others at every opportunity. European people are especially evil and thus deserve this special punishment.
No, the truth is that Europeans have not engaged in anything that others also did not engage in. The problem is that they were successful and altruistic in the long run, thus there is something to be gained by claiming to be their "victim". A good example is the slave trade, in which Americans played a very minor role. Yet they get 90% of the hate, African slavery is seen as an almost exclusively American phenomenon. The relatively small number of slaves in America were even treated better than is South America or pretty much anywhere else. Yes, it was wrong, as many things in history were. Yes it was followed by Jim Crow laws. Things are decidedly reversed now, but still the cries of victimhood. I get it, the black psyche is too affected to allow for us to ever adequately atone for our inherited sin in their eyes. This is one of many reasons why any hope of "multiculturalism" working out is foolish. The future looks bleak with people who do not care for whites poised to rule over them if trends continue. We will see then just how evil whites are in comparison. There will be no minority protections for whites, that much is obvious. Quite the opposite.
@Anonymous The accomplishments of Africa prior to colonization have been grissly exageratted by Leftist professors with a political agenda. Before colonization the population of Africa was under natural population control, which meant that women had 6-8 babies and the majority died through disease and famine and the population remained stable. Today Africans still have 6-8 children, but thanks to the introduction of European technologies in agriculture and medicine, African mothers dont have to see the majority of their children starving to death or dying of diseases, as a result the population of Africa is exploding.
@Anonymous Such a shame that brillant mind like him can be such a piece of shit. Probably never going to be able to go to top phd program.
@Anonymous Hello, Julian von Abele. Your future employers will hopefully see this video for a long, long time.
@Eh They're not going to care. Nothing he said was inherently hateful. He made 0 negative statements about blacks or nonwhites. The fact that you think employers will care says a lot more about your naïveté and lack of understanding of how the world works. I'd go so far as to say that he'll probably end up making a lot more money than you.
@Astrophysicist Actually, they will. The student is an astrophysics major, and as someone who has taught and worked in the field, I know that scientists absolutely care about the ideologies of those whom they employ. I would not hire him to work for me.
@You obviously aren't from the real world Sorry but is that really a precedent you want to set? Consider the cases of a black student leading a "black power" chant or an SJP member shouting anti Israel rhetoric or a feminist who talking about how toxic cis men are. Should they also be disqualified from ever earning a living a priori? Of course not. The cases are 100% equivalent. And remember, hiring policies like the one you advocate can easily be usurped for nefarious purposes in the future.
I agree with Eh. And FYI, I hire people too. Probably more than you have and for high paying jobs. If politics or ideologies ever come up, I tell everyone I'm not paying them for their radical views, I'm paying them to make the company money. In their private lives, they can do what they want. This conduct falls within the scope of this student's non professional life. College is a weird time. It shouldn't define people for the rest of their lives. Hopefully he learns from this.
@The Ph is for Fenomenal How are they equivalent? They are different situations with different historical and current contexts; literally tautologically inequivalent.
His statement and actions were inappropriate. He was inebriated and harassed multiple groups of students without provocation over the course of the night, going so far as to follow people them even as they disengaged.
He was looking for attention and got it. Future employers are under no obligation to accommodate someone who does not meet any reasonable mission statement that would preclude someone so tone deaf and self-centric.
@humabonofcebu ================================= =========== ==
You realize that "Von" in his name means he's monied right?
If you can't work for the gov't or a company, work for yourself, I'm sure Julian's gonna be fine whatever endeavor he decides.
He was published as a high school kid. Who does that?
If anything, this little incident will just put him on someone's radar, like I said, I've never heard of him because of this I've bought his books on Amazon.
I hope someone start a GoFundMe for him, he'll need lawyers.
========= = ================== ====================
@humabonofcebu =====================================
"I know this person. He is bad at handling alcohol. At one party he got drunk and started yelling about how he is the Holy Roman Emperor, and had invented time travel. He's also in my Quantum Mechanics class (which is really uncommon for sophomores, so he's probably really good at physics) and is dressed like that basically every day."
Isn't this the same class taught by Prof. Abe Weissman?
Good for Julian, I hope he too gets a spot at Bell Labs. ;-)
@humabonofcebu Based on what's available online, when you Google this kid, I would TOTALLY, totally , hire this kid.
He's passionate with the brains to boot. You can't train passion. You can't go the school for it. You either have it or you don't, period.
This kid has passion. I hope Colombia doesn't crucify him for this, if so, I hope MIT or CalTech, scoop him up. this kid's gonna go places.
@He could always work for the New York Times He and Sara Jeong would make good foils, though he'd need to learn to be a lot more hateful before he could be on her level.
@humabonofcebu 1. he was kinda right i mean if you read what he said to them.
2. maybe he was just trying to strike up conversation, debate, or maybe just trying to pick-up on some chiccas.
3. he wasn't being racist, he had a point of view and it is Colombia, the other students should've engage him a tit for tat and maybe got drinks afterwards.
4. the best retort by the other students there, should've been
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOURSELF??? I mean say we grant you your premise that White Men are best, what have you done to support your own premise?


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The Clinic Linear Accelerator is a high performance work-horse system that may incorporate a broad range of imaging and state-of-the-art radiotherapy procedures. It gives your radiation oncologist the opportunity to tailor your treatment and choose the method that is best for your particular case.
Many Clinac systems have integrated various imaging modalities to further enhance accuracy during treatment delivery.

subset: commoncrawl


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Rectal Prolapse
In rectal prolapse, one or more layers of the rectum protrude through the anus due to persistent tenesmus associated with intestinal, anorectal, or urogenital disease. Prolapse may be classified as incomplete, in which only the rectal mucosa is everted, or complete, in which all rectal layers are protruded.
Rectal prolapse is common in young animals in association with severe diarrhea and tenesmus. Causal factors include severe enteritis, endoparasitism, disorders of the rectum (eg, foreign bodies, lacerations, diverticula, or sacculation), neoplasia of the rectum or distal colon, urolithiasis, urethral obstruction, cystitis, dystocia, colitis, and prostatic disease. Perineal hernia, or other interruption of normal innervation of the external anal sphincter, may also produce prolapse.
Animals of any age, breed, or sex may be affected. Rectal prolapse is probably the most common GI problem in pigs due to diarrhea or weakness of the rectal support tissue within the pelvis. In cattle, it may be associated with coccidiosis, rabies, or vaginal or uterine prolapse; occasionally, excessive "riding" and associated traumatic injury may be causative in young bulls. It is common in sheep with short tail docking and especially in feedlot lambs, in which high-concentrate rations may be causative. The use of estrogens as growth promotants, or accidental exposure to estrogenic fungal toxins, may also predispose large animals to rectal prolapse.
Clinical Findings, Lesions, and Diagnosis:
An elongated, cylindrical mass protruding through the anal orifice is usually diagnostic. However, it must be differentiated from prolapsed ileocolic intussusception by passing a probe, blunt instrument, or finger between the prolapsed mass and the inner rectal wall. In rectal prolapse, the instrument cannot be inserted because of the presence of a fornix.
Ulceration, inflammation, and congestion of the rectal mucosa is common. Early, there is a short, nonulcerated, inflamed segment; later, the mucosal surface darkens and may become congested and necrotic.
In all animals, identifying and eliminating the cause of prolapse is of primary importance.
In small animals, treatment includes prompt replacement of viable prolapsed tissue to its proper anatomic location, or amputation if the segment is necrotic. Small or incomplete prolapses can be manually reduced under anesthesia by using a finger or bougie. Warm saline lavage and lubrication with a water-soluble gel should be applied to the prolapsed tissue before reduction. Alternatively, hypertonic sugar solution (50% dextrose or 70% mannitol) applied topically may be used to relieve edematous mucosa. The placement of a loose, anal purse-string suture for 5–7 days is indicated. Straining may be prevented by applying a topical anesthetic (1% dibucaine ointment) or by administering a narcotic epidural injection before or after reduction or correction. Postoperatively, a moistened diet and a fecal softener (eg, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate) are recommended. Diarrhea after surgery may require treatment.
When questionable viability of tissue prohibits manual reduction, rectal resection and anastomosis are required. When rectal tissue is viable but not amenable to manual reduction, celiotomy followed by colopexy is indicated to prevent recurrence. As in medical management, epidural anesthesia may be used to reduce straining.
In large animals, caudal epidural anesthesia is suggested to reduce straining, facilitate repositioning of the prolapse, and permit surgical manipulations. Reduction and retention with a purse-string suture is recommended. The suture should be loose enough to leave a one-finger opening into the rectum in pigs and sheep, and slightly larger in cattle and horses. Rectal prolapse in mares, if neglected, can lead to prolapse of the small colon. The blood supply to the small colon is easily disrupted. Replacement of a rectal prolapse with prolapse of the small colon followed by purse-string suture of the anus has a poor prognosis. More aggressive treatment of the prolapse is dictated by the condition of the rectum. In general, the prolapse may be salvaged by conservative measures, unless obvious deep necrosis or trauma to the tissue exists, or the everted tissue is firm, indurated, and cannot be reduced. Under these circumstances, submucosal resection or amputation should be considered. Amputation of the rectum should be reserved for severe cases. Complete amputation has a higher incidence of rectal stricture formation, especially in swine. A prolapse ring, syringe case, or plastic tubing may be used as an alternative to surgical amputation in pigs and sheep. Postoperatively, the animal should receive antibiotics. Fecal softeners may be used in horses. Usually, it is not economically feasible to repair rectal prolapses in lambs ready for market.


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Bakeware & Cookware
Featured categories
More Categories in Bakeware & Cookware
Cookware Sets, Nonstick Pans, Griddles & More
Your great cooking adventures start with the perfect pots and pans for your kitchen, and you'll have no problem at all finding them at Sams' Club. Sam's Club offers affordably priced 10, 14 and even 18 piece cooking sets which include saucepans, stockpots, sauté pans, omelet pans and more. You'll find quality materials like dishwasher safe stainless steel construction, non stick hard anodized cookware and chip resistant porcelain enamel.
Of course, cooking isn't just about pots and pans, which is why Sam's Club also has name brand griddles, roasters and more, all priced to fit within your budget. When you're ready for baking, Sam's Club comes to the rescue again with mixing bowl sets and baking pan sets with just about any size bowl or pan you need for your baking creations. You'll also find pasta bowls, pie plates and lots more.
Cooking and baking can be a lot of fun, whether you're preparing a feast for a big dinner party, making dinner for the family, or just treating yourself to some culinary delights. It can be a lot more fun, and easier too, when you cook and bake with the high quality bakeware and cookware products you'll find at Sam's Club. Be sure to check out our Magnalite Pots.
Before you turn on another burner or set that oven again, make sure to look through the Sam's Club bakeware and cookware products and find all the items you need at budget friendly prices today.


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Skybrook in Huntersville, NC is a new golf, swim and tennis community. It is located in Cabarrus County off exit 15 on I-77. Four new home builders are offered in the community, with single family homes beginning in the mid $190,000 range up to $500,000. Townhomes begin from $180,000 range. Skybrook features an 18-hole golf course designed by John Lafoy, with a golf clubhouse and Champion's Restaurant, that sits atop a hill overlooking the 9th green. Skybrook also has a Swim & Raquet Club , which includes a a tennis center with four clay courts and two hard courts, multiple swimming pools with clubhouses, and a fitness center.
The Skybrook community also features a lovely wooded Greenway and two large parks (with one park surrounding a 2-acre lake),
The terrain at Skybrook is rolling and wooded. Homes in Skybrook are transitional in style. Retail shops, grocery stores are close by to the North and South, and center city Charlotte is 20 minutes away.
Cabarrus County public schools in the area are considered excellent, and there are also private schools nearby.


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Etta James "I'd Rather Go Blind" (live 1992)
As part of the ongoing Amoeblog series honoring Women's History Month (Which ends today, March 31st), this blog is the second part of the two celebrating women blues artists. The first, earlier this week, focused on women from the classic blues era (circa 1920s), while this one takes a look/listen at women blues artists spanning the decades since.
Koko Taylor "Blues Never Die" (1975)
Big Mama Thornton "Bumble Bee Blues" (with Muddy Waters Band, 1966)
"When you in trouble blues is a girl's best friend" sings Koko Taylor on her 1975 recording of "Blues Never Die" (audio above). Taylor, like many of the longtime blues women here (including Big Mama Thornton, whose track "Bumble Bee Blues" with Muddy Waters Band is also above) have also been categorized over the years as rhythm and blues, rock & roll, and jazz. The late great Etta James, who we lost just two months ago, is an example of a blues artist who was also classified as jazz, rhythm & blues, rock n roll, and gospel too. A 1992 concert version of her singing "I'd Rather Go Blind" - written by Ellington Jordan and co-credited to Billy Foster but first recorded by Etta James in 1968 - appears above. As we know, the moving song has in the years since become a standard for countless artists to cover.


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Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade, non-profit store at Cotswold Village, closed last week. The store's last day of business was Friday.
The store opened in the Cotswold shopping center in 1997. Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit that works with local artisans in Third World countries to bring their goods here to be sold. The artisans are paid a fair wage, Ten Thousand Villages says, allowing them to increase their standard of living.
Ten Thousand Villages doesn't plan to open another shop in Charlotte, an employee at the store said. The non-profit retailer now has stores in Greenville, S.C. (updated), Montreat, Greensboro, and Asheville.
(Apologies for not getting this up in time to let people know about their store closing sale. I didn't hear about the closing until this weekend.)
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Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Ten Thousand Villages store in Cotswold closes
Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade, non-profit store at Cotswold Village, closed last week. The store's last day of business was Friday.
10 comments:
- Anonymous said...
- October 2, 2012 at 9:29 AM
- Anonymous said...
What a shame!! This was the best accessory and gift shop in town, with or without the altruistic component of the shop. I am truly saddened by this news.
- October 2, 2012 at 9:38 AM
- Toryn said...
That's too bad. I liked this store- it was unique and had so many interesting items.
- October 2, 2012 at 9:45 AM
- Jacko said...
Unfortunately, I never heard of the store and I go by Cotswald everyday...Sorry but a little more advertising would be beneficial
- October 2, 2012 at 11:25 AM
- Garth Vader said...
They should have changed their name to General Motors and asked for a bailout.
- October 2, 2012 at 12:21 PM
- Anonymous said...
You can still shop their online site, but I hate to see the local store close!
- October 2, 2012 at 1:59 PM
- Joisey said...
Why? Why did it close? Lease dispute? Poor sales? You all are supposed to be trained reporters....
...why don't you ever ask why?
- October 2, 2012 at 3:40 PM
- Ely Portillo said...
Hi Joisey. I have contacted Ten Thousand Villages corporate, and haven't heard back with the "why" yet. I wanted to get the information about the store being closed out there without waiting for every detail, since this is a blog about store openings closings. Thank you for reading.
- October 2, 2012 at 5:51 PM
- Jack said...
I know this is a blog, but it is no excuse to be lazy, as you are a Harvard-educated journalist. This blog is tied to a major newspaper; it is not a personal blog written by a 15-year-old. Don't throw out your journalistic integrity on the basis of "it's a blog," as you blotch many of your blog entries.
A simple check on the Ten Thousand Villages website would have told you that they do not have a store in Greenville, NC; instead they have locations in Chapel Hill, and Raleigh in addition to the Ashville, Montreat and Greensboro locations that you mentioned.
The Greenville location is in another state – South Carolina.
Regarding the closing of the Charlotte location, another simple check of their website would tell you that they are already searching for a new Charlotte location with the intent of opening in 2013.
"We are sorry to report that the Ten Thousand Villages Charlotte store in Cotswold Village location has closed. However, the Ten Thousand Villages home office is currently researching potential new locations with the goal to open a new store in the Charlotte retail market area in 2013."
- October 9, 2012 at 10:48 PM
- Ely Portillo said...
Hi Jack. That information on the website you reference was not there when this post was put up. Also, their PR department didn't return a message, so I talked to an employee at the actual store, who told me they didn't plan to open a new store. Since then, the company has confirmed they hope to open a new store in Charlotte. Thanks again for reading.
- October 10, 2012 at 1:06 PM


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Join us at the Forest this week, we've got cool events, great people and a lot of music, from female acoustic acts, to the very special Golden Hour and the VideoNoiseArtcore presented by the Plastick Fork!
Monday 22nd March
5-6.30 Water-Droplet
Emma's solo on cello and smooth voice
7-8.30 Melanie Platten
Solo female acoustic act
9-close Luz da Lua
Piano, violin and drums live set
Tuesday 23rd March
9-close Open Marmalade
Acoustic mash
Wednesday 24th March
7 -8pm Gramophone Hour
78's from 7 to 8
8-close The Golden Hour
Put on your listening hats & dancing shoes, you wouldn't want to miss this! Check out:
Thursday 25th March
7-close Jen Ewan Band & Support
Pop/ rock combo
Check out: jenewan.co.uk
Friday 26th March
7-close Plastick Fork
with Trainsets, Thank you Very Nice, Andy Brown & The Byrons.
Check out myspace.com/plastickfork
Saturday 27th March
Indie-folk, classical inspired band – cello, sax, guitar and vocals
9pm-close Lithium baby
The terrifying blend of mind-terror, abused-guitars, short-skirts and brightly coloured sweets.
Check out: youtube.com/watch?v=_wKVy28jfww
Sunday 28th March
7-close Pop Punk Night
Seafield Foxes & different bands
Check out: myspace.com/seafieldfoxes
All workshops are FREE and open to everybody. Share skills – create a workshop. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Mon, 11-12am: Chi Kung lesson (Hall)
Mon, 12am-1pm: Self Defense (beginners) (Hall)
Tue, 7-9pm: Forest Choir (Hall)
Tue, 7.30pm: Forest Drama Group (Hall)
Thu, 11-11.35am: Chi Kung for beginners (Hall)
Thu, 11-12am: Chi Kung lesson (Hall)
Thu, 8pm: Architecture does talk(s) (Front room)
Fri, 5-6pm: Self Defense for beginners (Hall)
Sun, 10am-7pm: New eyes for Seeing (Hall)
Sun, 7.30pm: Forest Drama Group (Hall)
Sun, 1-4pm: A Scrappage Salvage (Hall)
Installation by Heather Tweed.
from 1st till 28th March
Old Hat books
Wed 24th 6-8pm Reading Party
Altered Stars
Free Radical Book & Hat Library
Mondays - Wednesdays – Saturdays: 4pm – 8pm
Come and enjoy!
Weekly programme 22nd-28th March
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Summer is in the air, picnic baskets are brimming with grandma's favorite secret recipes and the Memorial Day celebration is at hand. Memorial Day reminds us about the price of freedom and those who serve us even today around the world. It's also a chance to remember all the loved ones who have gone before us and who still hold a tender place in our hearts.
This day of remembrance, once known as Decoration Day, was begun back in 1868 to honor those who had died in the American Civil War. It was determined then that it was important for us to never forget the cost of being a country divided.
In 1966 Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York the official birthplace of Memorial Day because the townspeople there made it special. They prepared picnics on the square and got together as neighbors and friends. They celebrated the joys of life in the midst of prevailing memories. In 1971, we finally made Memorial Day a national holiday, one to be honored and respected.
So this year, as we approach the unofficial beginning of summer, the day when you can wear white without batting an eye, and fill your picnic basket full of temptations, let's remember those who served us and gave us further opportunities for peace and pleasures. Let's bake our favorite dishes and barbecue with friends, send an eCard or two and remind people we care.
After all, the recipes for happiness are best when served with love, shared with joy, and handed down, like peace and freedom, from one generation to the next.
Now dig out that picnic basket and make some new memories! Try posting a BlueMountain.com Memorial Day postcard or Memorial Day eCard on a friend's facebook wall, or even your own.