U2 Live from the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles

Watch it LIVE on youtube RIGHT NOW.

http://www.youtube.com/u2

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein

I came to learn of a new documentary that has recently come out entitled, American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein.  It chronicles the life of American political scientist Dr. Norman Finkelstein, the son of parents who survived the holocaust.

For those that are not familiar with Dr. Finkelstein, he used to be a professor at DePaul University before he was denied tenure in 2007.  Through his academic work, he is best known as one of the greatest opponents to the occupation of Palestine and a fervent critic of Israel and the United States vis a vis Palestine.  It is speculated that because of his critique of the Israeli and US body politic through his academic work and a famous debate with himself and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz on Democracy now that DePaul regarded Finkelstein as being ultimately a liability to the University.  Dr. Finkelstein has written 5 books, all of which have gained a significant amount of notoriety.  Finkelstein, a Jew himself, was banned from entering Israel in May of 2008, citing Finkelstein as being a security threat which landed him a ban from Israel for ten years.

I have not yet seen the film but based on the trailer, it seems to offer a fascinating look into the life of one of America’s foremost scholars.  The film shows clips of various confrontations with anti-Palestinian protesters during his talks, chronicles the whole DePaul University debacle and interviews people close to him and even those that are enemies of Dr. Finkelstein, including Professor Dershowitz, who many claim is the primary reason why Dr. Finkelstein was overlooked for tenure.

The film first premiered at the Chicago Underground Film Festival on September 17 , 2009 and is slated to premier in Europe at the Scheffield Doc Fest on November 4, 2009.  The film has also been chosen to premiere at the Montreal International documentary Festival on November 11, 2009.

Have a look at the trailer and if you get a chance, go and see the film.

On This Cloudy Day

The past 48 hours or so have been quite interesting to say the least.  I had two midterms yesterday and of course and inevitably, I fell behind in my readings.  So I began studying some time Wednesday evening, in through thursday until 4am, went home slept for four hours, woke up at 8am, almost slept through my first midterm, got to class at 9.05 am (five minutes late), and began writing my midterm for geog…*takes a deep breath*  ten minutes into the midterm (which is in essay format) I take a few seconds to actually read the instructions and realise I only have to answer two out of the three questions that are given.  I quickly realise I’m writing on the hardest question.  So I scratch that out and start working on the two easier questions.  After that exam was over with, I skipped my next class to review for my midterm which was in two hours.   Studied, went to the class, wrote the midterm, ran out of time and wasn’t able to really complete the last question on the exam but felt good nonetheless.  Thankful that my ordeal was finally over, I went to Friday Prayers, went home and slept from 2-8pm, took two hours to get ready, went to Tim Hortons, grabbed a steep tea, and spent the night at university, getting home at 6am in the morning, having only studied for one out of the seven hours I was there for.   Went to bed at 7, woke up at 11 and now, at 2.45pm, I am planning on getting ready for what I hope to be a more productive night of studying.

Even though I got four hours of sleep, I feel good right now.  I feel happy and positive.  I absolutely love cloudy days and today is one cloudy day.  The plan is to feed off this positive energy that Im feeling by the clouds and use it as motivation to get my assignments and labs done before Monday morning.

Speaking of feeding off positive energy, Im totally feeling the positive vibes by these two: