This is the picture that has been circulated around emails since this morning. It’s U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barrack Obama dressed in traditional Kenyan robe and turban. This comes after a chain email has been running around claiming that Obama is a Muslim (which he has always said he is not).
Parts of the email:Who is Barack Obama?
Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHIEST from Wichita, Kansas.
Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii . When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia. Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta. He also spent two years in a Catholic school.
Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school."
[...]
THIS DEFINITELY WARRANTS LOOKING INTO. THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED, "ONE NATION UNDER GOD". ALMIGHTY GOD, NOT THE GOD OF THE KORAN.
The Obama campaign says this is all fear-mongering from the Clinton group. The Clinton campaign denies they had anything to do with this, though some sources (like Matt Drudge) claim at least someone inside the Clinton campaign has been sending this around.
Who’s really being straight with us? Who knows, really… what is true, and I say this as a young person interested in politics of any kind, is that this is the kind of nonsense that turns me off politics… and public life. Someone (or everyone) is lying in a way, first of all, but just as importantly whoever started this knows that they’re tapping into some deep seeded fears in the American public… strong reservations against the religion of Islam, Arab culture or anything else that is commonly associated with terrorism.
What if Obama is Muslim (and had always been clear about that)? It makes him unelectable, doesn’t it? In a year where the world’s longest running democracy might see a woman or a racial minority become president for the first time, perhaps it’s also prudent to reflect on the prejudices that still remain to be overcome… imagine an openly atheist or an unambiguously LGBT president?
I guess this mess reflects poorly on two aspects of our democracies (because these tactics aren’t unique to the U.S.): on the electorate, who yes can be swayed by such prejudices (not to mention misinformation), and on our politicians, who know to exploit it.
Monday, February 25, 2008
But It’s Still Dirty, Dirty, Dirty
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Making Politics Interesting again
As funny as this is (I hope no one is offended), I think this video conveys a deeper message.
This video comes from a group called Barely Political. You may indirectly know them from such great work as the "I got a crush on Obama" video. As funny as many of their videos are, I think there is something to be said about what this indicates about our culture. Politics is becoming more accessible and understandable to younger and younger generations. And not just accessible, but interesting. The abundance of sites such as Barelypolitical.com and the popularity of shows such as the Daily Show and the Colbert Report illustrate how much people are beginning to care about the ethics and machinations of politics. The average man no longer has to feel excluded from the political system.
As ineloquent as this post may be, something must be said for the fact that politics in the U.S. has become entertainment. The days when politics were just for the politicians, and one blindly cast their vote for democrat or republican are quickly becoming a thing of the past.
On another note...
The writers of this blog apologize for sporadic nature of posts as of late. We know that many of our readers check once or twice everyday, and we promise to get better soon. There have been some technical difficulties that are being ironed out as we speak.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The Art of Argument and Blogging Debate
(Image taken from XKCD.com)
Okay, so this post is not going to be as inciteful as the title implies(I have copyrighted the title though, so you can not steal it). However, it seems that the art of debate is quickly being lost, and with it, the skills required to share your views in an open forum without unnecessary attack.
Like in the comic above, I believe the mentality of debate has shifted to proving you are right, rather than a comparison of views. Too often people of opposing views decide the other person is wrong. I am not saying that it is wrong to not believe in the same ideals as another person. That is what makes us all unique. However, this type of debate often leads to both parties focusing more on how the other person is wrong, instead of proving their point with facts.
Now, you may be able to guess that this post is brought about by the current U.S. election season. After trolling through the myriad of forums dedicated to the primaries, you may see a trend of rants more than debates; bloggers and posters have decided to spew more rhetoric and propaganda than actually doing the research, effectively combating their blogging "foes," and maybe spreading good ideas and new knowledge to a person who is using unreliable hearsay to make their decision.
In any event, we can not let the art of debate die. As Al Gore (yes it's true) once said, "When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither, holler."
It seems we have taken to hollering, even with facts and law all around us.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Clown Opera
This piece is full of so much soul and feeling. You can't help but be moved... even if you don't understand a word of what they're saying. It's also such a well referenced piece in pop culture and you shouldn't be surprised if you've heard it before. I've included another video below that shows some of these references.
According to Wikipedia: Vesti la Giubba (Put on the costume) is a famous tenor aria performed as part of the opera Pagliacci, written and composed by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, and first performed in 1892. Vesti la Giubba is the conclusion of the first act, when Canio (Pagliaccio) discovers his wife's infidelity, but must prepare for performance as the 'show must go on'. It is often incorrectly referred to as "Ridi, Pagliaccio", the first words of the chorus, which is the most famous part of the aria.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
In honor of Valentine's Day
For Valentine's Day, I thought I would do something a little different with the blog. Just some quotes:
"You may conquer with the sword, But you are conquered by a kiss" ~Daniel Heinsius
"Where there is great love , there are always miracles" ~Willa Cather
"Love is like a butterfly. It goes where it pleases and it pleases where it goes."~unknown
"The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know."~Pascal
"To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven"~Karen Sunde
Petals
Life is a stream
On which we strew
Petal by petal the flower of our heart;
The end lost in dream,
They float past our view,
We only watch their glad, early start.
Freighted with hope,
Crimsoned with joy,
We scatter the leaves of our opening rose;
Their widening scope,
Their distant employ,
We never shall know. And the stream as it flows
Sweeps them away,
Each one is gone
Ever beyond into infinite ways.
We alone stay
While years hurry on,
The flower fared forth, though its fragrance still stays.
Amy Lowell
Happy Valentine's day, to all our readers. Your love of the blog is the only reason we keep going.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Minding the Gap
(First, I think we'd all stop using TED lectures on this blog... if they weren't so damn good.)
According to Hans Rosling, the problem isn’t ignorance; it’s preconceived notions. Preconceived notions of the state of the world, of Us and Them, Developed and Third World. That’s why Rosling’s team has made its Gapminder program available to anyone with internet access.
Play around with it for a while. Follow your country’s development since 1975 in relation to the rest of the world. How has mortality rate in the Dominican Republic changed, along with its physicians per 1000 people? Perhaps more significantly, how has this changed compared to its neighbors Haiti, Cuba, and in Central America? Or in relation to African countries?
But is that last question even valid? For me, the most interesting part of his presentation is when he divides up three countries in Africa by 20% percentiles. The wealthiest 40% of Ugandans (a substantial portion of the population) live in roughly the same conditions and the poorest 40% of South Africans. Context changes everything.
Rosling admits that his program runs the risk of oversimplifying the world, using means and averages to describe millions of people at a time. The program isn’t perfect, of course, but if anything we already oversimplify the world ourselves. The Gapminder name is meant to remind us that the Gap between Us and Them isn’t so vast anymore, but the Gap between our conception of the world and its reality still is.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
In Honor of Black History Month...
http://www.uky.edu/StudentOrgs/AWARE/archives/lynch.html
Today at work, we had a series of presentations for Black History Month. There were various presentations ranging from the birth of the black sorority and fraternity, to talks about African culture and African games. The presentation my coworker and I (but mostly him...actually completely him) gave was on the infamous Willie Lynch speech of 1712. Above is a link to the speech, and some quick background can be found on Wikipedia, but I encourage you to read the speech before continuing, as you will not get the full impact of what I am talking about otherwise.
There is much debate as to whether the story is contrived or real, but regardless it still sends a powerful message to generations past and present. As the speech goes, Lynch devised a plan on how to control slaves more effectively than with hangings. He told the slave owners to cause division among slaves based on age, "'Color' or shade, intelligence, size, sex, size of plantations, status on plantation, attitude of owners, whether the slave live in the valley, on hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, coarse hair, or is tall or short." He asserts that distrust and envy will be greater among the slaves than admiration and trust, and that the slaves must love and trust only the owners. Finally, he claims that if this method is used rigorously, it will create a cycle for generations.
And he was right. You could go through each category he listed and find correlations in today's black community. For instance, some of you may have heard arguments about whether lighter skinned black people are more stuck up, or better looking, than darker skinned black people. Some of the mentality can be attributed to the fact that the fair skinned black people were given house jobs as opposed to field jobs, as well as better clothes and over all treatment. Another correlation you see is between where a person lives. Today's communities as a whole claim West Coast, East Coast, "Dirty South", and "Killadelphia", just to name a few. And even within those, several more microcosms will form till neighborhoods are split into "territories". Finally, fine hair versus coarse hair, or as you may have heard, good hair versus bad hair. There is no such thing as good hair or bad hair, however these are just a few of the mentalities and stereotypes that are perpetuated in our society.
Of course, this is not completely due to the actions taken by slave owners, but the remnants of the mentality instilled in slaves remains. To shed more light on this, consider this theoretical experiment. Five gorillas (and if you do not believe gorillas would act this way, substitute the animal at your leisure) are placed in a room with a banana on the ceiling and a ladder leading to it. Every time one of the gorillas reaches for the banana, they are all sprayed with ice cold water. Eventually the gorillas start to restrain one another if any gorilla tries to go after the banana so soon no gorillas go after it. When this happens, one gorilla is replaced by a new gorilla and when this gorilla tries to go after the banana, it is restrained by the others. Eventually, it learns not to go after the banana, and when this happens a new gorilla is substituted for an older one, till there is a total of five new gorillas. However, none of them go after the banana, even though they do not know why. It has become a characteristic passed on from one generation to the next to not reach for the banana, even though the new generation doesn't know why.
To bring this to a close, it is important for not only the black community, but all minority communities to understand their history and the attitudes and mentalities upon which our society was formed. In all communities, there is division based on shade, sex, and where you live among other things. Furthermore, even if you do not identify with your historical motherland, it is important to know where you come from. Knowing where you came from helps you decide where you are going and it is still part of your history. Understanding the stereotypes and mentalities that have made us who we are as a people today is the first step to breaking them and succeeding.
Black History is not something long past to be forgiven and forgotten. Black History is struggle that we must remember, embrace, and use as an impetus to change.
Black History is Our History. Black History is Our Story.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Why I Fired My Secretary
Last week was my birthday
and I didn't feel very well
waking up on that morning.
I went downstairs for breakfast
hoping my wife would be pleasant and say,
'Happy Birthday!',
and possibly have a small present for me.
As it turned out,
she barely said good morning,
let alone
' Happy Birthday.'
I thought...
Well, that's marriage for you,
but the kids...
They will remember.
My kids came bounding down stairs to breakfast
and didn't say a word.
So when I left for the office,
I felt pretty low
and somewhat despondent.
As I walked into my office,
my secretary Jane said,
'Good Morning Boss,
and by the way,
Happy Birthday ! '
It felt a little better
that at least someone had remembered.
I worked until one o'clock ,
when Jane knocked on my door
and said, 'You know,
It's such a beautiful day outside,
and it is your Birthday,
what do you say we go out to lunch,
just you and me.'
I said, 'Thanks, Jane,
that's the greatest thing
I've heard all day.
Let's go !'
We went to lunch.
But we didn't go
where we normally would go.
She chose instead at a quiet bistro
with a private table.
We had two martinis each
and I enjoyed the meal tremendously.
On the way back to the office,
Jane said, 'You know,
It's such a beautiful day...
We don't need to go straight back to the office,
Do We ?'
I responded,
'I guess not.
What do you have in mind ?'
She said,
'Let's drop by my apartment,
it's just around the corner.'
After arriving at her apartment,
Jane turned to me and said,
' Boss, if you don't mind,
I'm going to step into the bedroom
for just a moment.
I'll be right back.'
'Ok.' I nervously replied.
She went into the bedroom and,
after a couple of minutes,
she came out
carrying a huge birthday cake ...
Followed
by my wife,
my kids,
and dozens of my friends
and co-workers,
all singing 'Happy Birthday'.
And I just sat there...
On the couch...
Naked.
Sacralicious
Sacrilegious + delicious = title of this post. (Simpsons)
I didn't find much funny about this trailer until I heard Samuel L. Jackson's final outburst. Is it me or will there be a trend in portraying god as a famous black actor... Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty, now Samuel L in this weirdo film hehe.
Either way, I am a huge fan of religious parodying because I believe people sometimes take religion too seriously. This may result in the occasional embarrassing conversation or, at the other extreme, a holy war - which is an oxymoron that demeans both the "holy" and the "war" aspect of the phrase. I feel that one can get a better understanding of their faith if they were to take it less seriously. Does that make sense? I really don't think I'm saying what I'm thinking... Ok, enough preaching, I really just wanted to show that stupid trailer.
Religion is easy. Math is hard.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Beauty of Organic Interaction
Medical animator David Bolinsky creates a movie to bolster student's understanding of biological processes in the cell. Even though this movie is just a glimpse of intracellular interaction, it nourishes and enriches the sophistication of such knowledge by portraying the cell as a ballet of organic interactions and an elegant continuum of complexity. I hope such visual aesthetics instills an ebullient experience for erudites and dilettantes alike.
