Dowbrigade

This story from today’s Globe highlights the lack of consistency in
resolution of legal conflicts, especially if one of the parties is a
citizen and the other is not. And extra-especially if one of the parties
is Harvard…

CAMBRIDGE — He had kissed her before. She never disputed that. He had
hugged her and bought her dinner. They had talked late into the night
over hot tea about their lives. He thought he was falling in love.

After winter break, when students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education
returned to their dormitories, she walked to his floor and said hello.
She entered his room, they kissed, and for a brief moment, Giorgi Zedginidze,
a 34-year-old visiting student from Eastern Europe, considered himself
a lucky man. Four hours later, he felt like his life was unraveling.

That night, Zedginidze was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He was
handcuffed, strip-searched, and jailed. Nearly two years later, he was
acquitted at trial, yet Harvard refuses to readmit him and has resisted
scheduling a tribunal to consider it. In the school’s eyes, Zedginidze
said, his status is limited to one word: rapist.

"It has been a nightmare," said Zedginidze, from the Republic
of Georgia. "They
think I am guilty no matter what."

A Middlesex jury acquitted Zedginidze of all six counts of sexual battery,
but he cannot finish his degree until the graduate school’s Committee on
Rights and Responsibilities clears him. The committee, however, has shown
no inclination to schedule a hearing on the matter.If a hearing does take
place, he has no right to a lawyer, to face his accuser, or to cross-examine
witnesses.

Zedginidze, meanwhile, has lost a full scholarship from the US State
Department, a stipend, and the right to stay in the country.

from the Boston Globe

"Don’t you think Jerry Falwell reminds you a lot more of the Pharisees
than he does of the teachings of Jesus? And don’t you think this campaign
ought to be about evicting the money changers from the temple?”

Howard Dean in Iowa yesterday, following up on his promise to inject
more religion into his campaign.  Careful what you wish for, Howard…

The Dowbrigade thought he was tracking the current Democratic campaign
pretty closely, but a
quiz in today’s NY Times reveals how inadequate
our best efforts were. Obviously, we need to spend at least a couple
of extra
hours a day boning up on the lives, positions and personal preferences
of the Magnificent Nine.  Here is a sample question and a link to
the whole quiz:

Match each of the nine candidates (Carol Moseley Braun
and Messrs. Clark, Dean,
Edwards,
Gephardt,
Kerry,
Kucinich,
Lieberman
and
Sharpton)
with a campaign slogan.

a) For an America That Will Inspire the World Once More
b) The Courage to Do What’s Right for America
c) Take the "Men Only" Sign Off the White House Door
d) Real Solutions for America
e) Take This Country Back
f) Integrity, Independence, Ideas
g) New American Patriotism
h) Fighting for Fundamental Human Rights
i) Stop George Bush and Fight for America’s Middle Class

Take the Quiz at the New York Times