Here's a wacky one--at least to me. Perhaps you Minnesota readers are up on this story, but thanks to the Dallas Morning News blog I just read the Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages story about the University of St. Thomas rescinding an invitation to Nobel laureate and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu because of remarks he has made criticizing Israel policies on the Palestinians.

Desmond Tutu as Anne Lamott? Hmmm...This does not sound like a reaction to some groundswell movement by the Jewish community.

From what I have read, my thoughts would coincide with those of Marv Davidov, an adjunct professor within the Justice and Peace Studies program at St. Thomas, who told the paper:

"This is pure bullshit," says Davidov. "As far as fighting for civil rights, I consider Tutu to be my brother. And I consider Cris Toffolo to be my sister. They're messing with my family here. If Columbia permits a Holocaust denier [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] to speak at their university, why are St. Thomas officials refusing to let Tutu, an apostle of nonviolence, speak at ours?"

Only alt-weeklies can get away with such descriptive language, alas.