I Hear You — The World Hears . . . Eh, Probably Not So Much When You Think About It

That’s Columbia the university, not the country:

President Lee Bollinger of Columbia, in a dramatic speech broadcast around the globe yesterday from Morningside Heights, delivered an oratorical haymaker to President Ahmadinejad, attacking his record on human rights, Israel, and terrorism in remarks that will likely overshadow anything the Iranian might say during his diplomatic rounds in America.

In systematic fashion, Mr. Bollinger, who was being closely watched in New York and beyond because of criticism that he had blundered by inviting Mr. Ahmadinejad in the first place, rebuked the Iranian president for calling for the destruction of Israel, for funding terrorism, for fighting a proxy war against America within the borders of Iraq, for persecuting women and homosexuals, and for flaunting the international community in the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Mr. Bollinger called Mr. Ahmadinejad’s stated denial of the Holocaust “brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.” His remarks were made all the more dramatic by the fact that the Iranian leader was seated only yards away, in a corner of the stage where he listened as an interpreter translated Mr. Bollinger’s words.

“Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Mr. Bollinger said, after challenging the Iranian to admit a delegation from Columbia to speak at an Iranian University.

Mr. Bollinger’s remarks were met with a rant from Mr. Ahmadinejad, who called his remarks “an insult to the knowledge of the audience here” and a “vaccination” of the event.

And is this really a surprise?

Many audience members expressed some disappointment, if not surprise, that Mr. Ahmadinejad evaded answering almost every question posed to him by the dean of Columbia’s School of Public and International Affairs, John Coatsworth, who read questions from index cards that were filled out by students and faculty members in the audience.

Oh No, The Sting Of Your Public Rebuke Is Much Too Much, And Causes This Beautiful Wreath To Wither!

Politicians snag cheap and easy low-hanging fruit by rebuking (publicly, no less!) Columbia’s decision to invite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to campus:

The speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn, today urged Columbia’s president, Lee Bollinger, to withdraw the university’s invitation.

“The idea of Ahmadinejad as an honored guest anywhere in our city is offensive to all New Yorkers,” Ms. Quinn said in a statement. “He can say whatever he wants on any street corner, but should not be given center stage at one of New York’s most prestigious centers of higher education.”

. . .

“A man who is directing the maiming and killing of American troops should not be given an invitation to speak at an American university,” [Senator John] McCain said in a statement. “Rather than rolling out the red carpet for the leader of a terrorist-sponsoring regime, Columbia should be welcoming the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps back on campus to honor the men and women who put their lives on the line every day defending our freedom.”

“Cheap and easy” because who exactly would they offend? People at Columbia? Nah — they only care about one thing anyway:

All 600 tickets to see Mr. Ahmadinejad speak were distributed online in less than an hour to students and faculty yesterday on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Some immediately started selling their tickets on Craigslist.org.

“It’s the president’s only speaking engagement in America (outside the UN General Assembly)!” said one posting on the Web site. Bidding would start at $100, and the winner would be notified Sunday morning, the post said.

Can A Steamroller Really Stop 1.7 Inches Of Rain From Falling In One Hour Just Before Rush Hour?

The Governor fully intends to give the weather the full Sandy Weill treatment:

After a heavy rainstorm crippled the subway system in September 2004, an investigation laid the blame on New York City Transit, saying that the agency had neglected basic maintenance of its drainage system, and that once the tunnels started to fill with water, the response was haphazard and ineffective.

The agency promised major changes.

But yesterday, the subway was paralyzed again, when a strikingly similar storm dropped 1.7 inches of rain on Central Park between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., just before the morning rush.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, with the transportation authority facing an angry public and accusations of incompetence, said yesterday that the measures it had put in place were not enough.

Governor Spitzer gave the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 30 days to come up with a plan to address the chronic flooding problems.

But more importantly, can a steamroller fix the National Weather Service? And can it actually stop global warming?

Elliot G. Sander, the chief executive of the transportation authority, who appeared at a Midtown press conference with the governor, said the torrential rainfall had overwhelmed pumps that routinely move water out of the subway system and had also backed up city sewers, meaning that water pumped out of the subway had nowhere to go.

“The timing and intensity of the storm took us by surprise because it was not predicted by the National Weather Service,” Mr. Sander said.

What happened yesterday was remarkably similar to the events of Sept. 8, 2004, when 1.76 inches of rain fell in Central Park between 6:51 a.m. and 7:51 a.m., according to a report issued by the transportation authority’s inspector general’s office.

The report, issued 18 months after the storm, found that, as in yesterday’s flooding, weather forecasters had not predicted such a heavy rainfall, and that the transit agency had been caught off guard. Authority officials at the time provided the same types of explanations they were offering yesterday, blaming overwhelmed pumps and a city sewer system that could not handle such a large quantity of water.

. . .

In 2004, transit officials referred to the unusually heavy rain that brought the subway system to a halt as “an act of God.” Yesterday, Mr. Sander seemed to hint at a more contemporary, although perhaps no less celestial explanation: climate change.

“We may be dealing with meteorological conditions that are unprecedented,” Mr. Sander said.

If It’s Tuesday It Must Be The Food Pantry Photo-Op

And one more thing — oranges aren’t even in season:

The food stamp diet left City Councilman Eric Gioia so hungry he wolfed down his week’s rations in only five days — and was forced to go to a Queens food pantry.

The Queens Democrat lined up at the Queensbridge center for emergency supplies yesterday after being left with only a few English muffins.

“The food stamps have run out, the cupboards are bare, but the hunger pangs don’t go away,” he said outside the Center of Hope International.

“People on food stamps in that position have no other option but to go to the food pantry.”

Yesterday’s visit — at which he paid a $100 donation — topped up the sparse diet Gioia has been living on since Thursday. In an effort to bring attention to the plight of thousands of New Yorkers trying to survive on food stamps, he pledged to try it for a week. Shopping with $28 — the average food-stamp allotment for a single recipient — he bought cheap staples.

Celebrating Mother’s Day was particularly hard, Gioia said. “I went and celebrated it,” he said. “But I didn’t have dinner. I went for dessert, and brought an orange with me.”

Previously: FreshDirect Doesn’t Take Food Stamps?, Eric, You’re Not Helping!

Eric, You’re Not Helping!

Eric Gioia’s blood sugar spikes, and he feels hungry:

Less than one full day into his new diet, Queens Councilman Eric Gioia was riding the No. 4 train on his way home from City Hall when he stared across the aisle and spotted something tempting.

A fellow straphanger was eating Cheetos.

“I wanted her snack in the worst way,” said Gioia, who has pledged to live for one week on $28 in groceries — the average food stamp allotment for an individual.

The hungry Democratic councilman had only eaten an orange and some buttered toast for breakfast, and then two bananas as a snack.

Citing figures that one in eight New Yorkers live on food stamps, Gioia suspected he wasn’t the only person going hungry on the train.

“You look around a subway car with 30 or 40 people in it, and do that math,” he said yesterday.

“The experiment that I am living this week is their life. It changes the way you think.”

Gioia returned home about 4 p.m. and enjoyed another orange (he’s down to three for the rest of the week) and a sandwich of Key Food white bread and American Accent processed sandwich slices.

“I ate the cheese sandwich like it was the best meal I had in my life, because I was so hungry,” he said.

Dinner wasn’t any more appealing.

Surrounded by family and several office staffers, Gioia heated tomato sauce from a jar and mixed it with pasta and a few cucumber slices.

“I’m actually concerned I used too much sauce, so I’m putting some back in the jar,” he said after feeding infant formula and two jars of baby food to his daughter, Amelia, who is not living on food stamps.

Councilman, not to be too much of a smart ass, but here’s some stuff we found — on FreshDirect, no less! — that may sate you a little better than processed cheese and Ragu (p.s. several items are even organic!):

• 1 Stonyfield Farm Nonfat French Vanilla Yogurt (32oz) ($3.49/ea) $3.49
• 1 Cascadian Farm Organic Sliced Peaches (10oz) ($3.69/ea) $3.69
• 1 Lundberg Organic Short-Grain Brown Rice (2lb) ($3.69/ea) $3.69
• 1 Nature’s Best Organic Dry Black Beans (1lb) ($2.49/ea) $2.49
• 2 Jumbo Broccoli (Farm Fresh) ($1.75/ea) $3.50
• 1 Organic Collard Greens (bunch) (Organic) ($2.59/ea) $2.59
• 2 Romaine Lettuce (Farm Fresh) ($1.99/ea) $3.98
• 1 Russet Potato, Bag (Farm Fresh, 5lb bag) ($2.99/ea) $2.99
• 1 Carrots, Bag (Farm Fresh, 1.0lb bag) ($0.99/ea) $0.99

That totals $27.41, by the way. Not that you need any advice on how to eat, of course.

Hey, you too can play “Feed Eric Gioia For Less Than $28 A Week”. Maybe FreshDirect should have a contest.