Continued from Part 1...
In order to effect comparisons and determine positions in a hierarchy, differences must be made commensurate, usually by the application of a universal category. If by definition universal (Encarta: "applicable to all situations or purposes") means there is nothing outside the universal, how do universals deal with difference? Partha Chatterjee shows that under colonialism claims of both universality and difference had a tendency to slip into a development narrative, as we saw in Hegel, which was a way of temporizing and therefore assimilating cultural and historical difference. Difference thus produced deferral, based on an expectation of education, improvement and progress. Through this not-yet, primitive India could be brought into the grand master narrative, though not equally with Europe. What Chatterjee calls the "Rule of Colonial Difference" meant a deferral of identity or sameness, possibly an eternal deferral: if Europe is still progressing and India is behind, can it ever catch up?
This is the situation inherited by nationalist movements. Fanon explains that colonialism, "not simply content to impose its rule upon the present and the future," also "distorts, disfigures, and destroys" the past of the colonized societies. To fortify and legitimize collective identity in the present, nationalism must rehabilitate the past. Fanon sees this as a response to colonialism's totalizing discourse. In the nationalist psyche, to recreate a pure and uncolonized past is to find and recover the national culture. But for Fanon the attempt to recover the glory of a past civilization is doomed. It makes culture, which should be in constant motion and full of vitality, into an artefact, preserved like a museum piece, dead. This kind of nativist history is, in Nietzsche's words, not serving life. It resembles antiquarian history, which "merely understands how to preserve life, not how to generate it." Mummified, decaying, this is the past sucking the vigour from the present. We can see exactly this tension in Nehru. Although he wants to rejuvenate the universals he finds in India's past (to make that past live), he is also searching for mythological origins of the nation's essence.
This search for origins and essential identities often has the purpose of buttressing boundaries, demarcating identities, making precise the inside and outside of "authentic" culture. Tradition is one familiar means for this, and its invention and preservation seem to have been a feature of nearly all decolonization struggles. This reproduction of the (imagined) past often involves enforcing custom and tradition, sometimes in a repressive manner: "the fact that something has become old now gives rise to the demand that it must be immortal." (Nietzsche) Obsession with tradition is yet another form of fetishism of the past, privileging it over the present. In opposition to the domination of the West, difference is privileged. In the name of emancipation, this nativist history reverses the binary, valorizing the past and rejecting the modern. Different problematic same thematic, it remains within the colonial logic, since it presupposes that the colonized are living in the past, while Europe is modern and more advanced on the unilinear historicist scale.
This is the general problem for Others trying to reconstitute their selves as subjects, because, as Fanon says, sealed in Otherness the only way to have a subject position is to accept being the voice of the Other, to fetishize themselves, reproducing the racialized logic of same and other. It also explains the performance of nativism by native intellectuals and elites who feel they must "go native" to "get away from the white culture." As if the only way to participate in politics and society is to take on these identities. However, identity politics is simply another form of mimesis: first determine the Indian way of doing things, and then follow that script. It is puppetry, following the black man script because that appears to be the only way to enact a subject position. But whiteness has constructed blackness, so this is playing someone else's part without authenticity or real agency; taking on the voice of the Other is about sheer instrumentality.
What is tricky, as Chakrabarty reminds us, is to take on a subject position of difference that does not repeat the racialized self-other logic. Fanon recognizes how difficult this is, and says it indeed produces a sort of melancholy because for this there's no script. We want a living culture, a community with national consciousness, but what the hegemonic order means by "culture" is a given political identity. If culture is that which cannot be captured, the living vanishing present, what Balibar calls everyday practices of meaning, "culture can also function like a nature, and it can in particular function as a way of locking individuals and groups into a genealogy, into a determination that is immutable and intangible in origin."
Part 3
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
(07.31.08) Recommends:
Starting Your Day With a Breakfast Burrito.
We regularly sustain oursevles throughout the day on nothing but nuts and Diet Dr. Pepper. We are also regularly early risers, but today woke up at an hour that was uncharacteristically early even for us -- we're noticing a case of Wednesday-onset insomnia and we think it's our immune system not being able to handle what has heretofore been a disappointing season of Project Runway -- so while driving around aimlessly before work (read: while sitting in traffic because there is traffic regardless of the time or day around these parts), we decided to finally stop in and give D/Los Burritos (not sure which one it actually is) a try, breakfast burrito style.
Well, it was an unmitigated success. We walked out of there with a bounce in our step ready to tackle another day in the world. It's gonna be a good Thursday. And we can't wait until the next case of Wednesday-onset insomnia.
We regularly sustain oursevles throughout the day on nothing but nuts and Diet Dr. Pepper. We are also regularly early risers, but today woke up at an hour that was uncharacteristically early even for us -- we're noticing a case of Wednesday-onset insomnia and we think it's our immune system not being able to handle what has heretofore been a disappointing season of Project Runway -- so while driving around aimlessly before work (read: while sitting in traffic because there is traffic regardless of the time or day around these parts), we decided to finally stop in and give D/Los Burritos (not sure which one it actually is) a try, breakfast burrito style.
Well, it was an unmitigated success. We walked out of there with a bounce in our step ready to tackle another day in the world. It's gonna be a good Thursday. And we can't wait until the next case of Wednesday-onset insomnia.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
July 30, 2008 - Woodpecker
This last week of my vacation, I'm relaxing up at our little house in the Adirondacks. The place has no lawn and is surrounded by woods, so just by looking out the windows we're sometimes treated to some up-close-and-personal wildlife. I've already seen deer outside the house several times, this trip.This afternoon I was attracted by some movement outside our living-room window. I was rewarded by the sight of two very large woodpeckers, who had just zoomed in and attached themselves to a couple of trees.
These birds were LARGE - bigger than I ever imagined a woodpecker would be (although I have to say, I've never seen one this close). One flew off pretty quickly, but the other hung around for a while, moving from tree trunk to tree trunk, looking for bugs no doubt.
I tried to get a picture, but by the time I got the camera into position, it had gone. I called Claire right away (she's the birdwatcher in our family). Based on my description - it looks like Woody Woodpecker, I told her - she said it was probably a Pileated Woodpecker. I checked it out on Wikipedia, here at the public library (where I now am), and found out she nailed the identification (kudos, Claire). Wikipedia says this bird was the model for ol' Woody.Pretty cool, to see a couple birds like that right outside the window.
The Creator has all kinds of free gifts to offer us, if only we have eyes to see.
Parliamentary Debate Workshop Underway
Faculty pose: Bojana Skrt from Slovenia, Nicole Colston from Vermont, Steve Llano from St John's in NY and Debbie Newman from the UK (coach of England World Schools team). Alfred Snider from Vermont not shown.The World Debate Institute's 2008 College Parliamentary Workshop is well underway. The intensive five day program is training students in the basics of parliamentary debating by using the WUDC or "worlds" format.
Each day features a mix of lectures, drills, elective classes (several different subjects offered at once) and two debates.
Steve Llano said of day 1:
The first day wasn't just housekeeping matters and such - we managed to get right into the material and had a very nice practice debate on the motion "This House would ban consumption of tobacco products." The round I saw was quite good even though it featured one team that was new to the format, and another that was totally new to debate.For those of you interested, today's schedule is:
WEDNESDAY
9-11:30 AM
9:00-9:45 AM Lecture: Proposition-Skrt
9:45-11:30 AM Coaches: Session 4
9:45-10:00 AM Prep for debate
10:00-11:30 AM Debate 4 with Critique
11:30-1:30 PM Lunch
1:30-4:30 PM
1:30-2:30 PM Elective 1
2:30-3:00 PM Prep for debate
3:00-4:30 PM Debate 4 with Critique
4:30 PM End of Day
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
July 29, 2008 – Some Cancer Poetry
Here’s another way some survivors respond to cancer: by writing poetry. I ran across this poem on a New York Times health-related blog.
It’s by a woman named Kyle Potvin, who’s just gotten over chemotherapy for breast cancer.
The backstory is, Kyle had just come back from a business trip to Texas, where she’d bought her sons terrariums to grow cactus plants. Working with them to plant the cacti, she was inspired to write a poem, “The New Normal”:
To grow a Texas cactus from the start,
You scatter tiny seeds on dirt and sand
(Your nail works well to nudge stuck ones apart).
Then sprinkle water with a steady hand.
Each day, my son asks, “Will it get real tall?”
He crowds his brother as they check for growth –
The way I’ve searched my hairless head since fall.
I pray young shoots will sprout up soon for both.
It happens all at once – soft spikes appear;
I rub my scalp while calling to the boys.
They peer in close to analyze each spear.
My bigger joy is lost to hooting noise.
The victory is all my own: Mom’s hair?
The news is that we grew a Prickly Pear.
(07.29.08) Recommends:
5.8 Reasons Why It's Acceptable To Drink A Beer Over Lunch Today.
More here about the earthquake that shook our office today in downtown los angeles.
UPDATE: The earthquake was lowered to 5.4. We are more than willing to give our extra 0.4 worth of beer to this person.
More here about the earthquake that shook our office today in downtown los angeles.
UPDATE: The earthquake was lowered to 5.4. We are more than willing to give our extra 0.4 worth of beer to this person.
Monday, July 28, 2008
(07.28.08) Recommends:
Quite The Sales Plug.
For a few months now, we've been kicking around the idea of purchasing a scooter. Large parts of LA are not covered by the metro line, large parts are not pedesterian-friendly, and oddly, at the same time, large parts aren't really car-friendly, either: the streets are too narrow; the stop lights rarely seem to be synched up; there are rarely turn signals, resulting in at least four drivers attempting to turn on every yellow/red light, at least two of whom with not use their turn signal; the main requirement to be a driver of a city bus is to be completely unreasonable; gas is $4.50 per gallon and on and on and on. As a result: we've become very interested in the idea of buying a scooter.
So on Friday we noticed this article in the Boston Globe for the Vectrix scooter. The numbers are insane. It's electric so it gives off zero emissions. It costs one cent per mile to run the thing. It gets the equivalent of 357 miles per gallon. The California Air Resource board will subsidize $1,500 of the purchase. Apparently the thing can even go on the highway.
Since we've read the article, all we notice are scooters around us; we've become like those women, desparate to become mothers, who break into tears at the sight of a baby. Next up in the due diligence process is learning about the Vespa.
Update: The Vespa LX. A very handsome looking scooter, yeah?
For a few months now, we've been kicking around the idea of purchasing a scooter. Large parts of LA are not covered by the metro line, large parts are not pedesterian-friendly, and oddly, at the same time, large parts aren't really car-friendly, either: the streets are too narrow; the stop lights rarely seem to be synched up; there are rarely turn signals, resulting in at least four drivers attempting to turn on every yellow/red light, at least two of whom with not use their turn signal; the main requirement to be a driver of a city bus is to be completely unreasonable; gas is $4.50 per gallon and on and on and on. As a result: we've become very interested in the idea of buying a scooter.
So on Friday we noticed this article in the Boston Globe for the Vectrix scooter. The numbers are insane. It's electric so it gives off zero emissions. It costs one cent per mile to run the thing. It gets the equivalent of 357 miles per gallon. The California Air Resource board will subsidize $1,500 of the purchase. Apparently the thing can even go on the highway.
Since we've read the article, all we notice are scooters around us; we've become like those women, desparate to become mothers, who break into tears at the sight of a baby. Next up in the due diligence process is learning about the Vespa.
Update: The Vespa LX. A very handsome looking scooter, yeah?
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Why Critical History in a Postcolonial World? Part 1
This is a follow-up to yesterday's post.
Let nothing be called natural
In an age of bloody confusion,
Ordered disorder, planned caprice,
And dehumanized humanity, lest all things
Be held unalterable!
Bertolt Brecht
The past has passed, meaning it is no more. By definition not present, it no longer exists. So why bother attending to it? Whether we attend to it or not, we cannot escape the past, since it produced our present – what exists is inherited from whatever came before. Perhaps we could just forget the past and be as happy as Nietzsche's cows. With no memory, they would be forgiven for taking themselves to be the general case. They might assume the whole world is an eternal pasture, and that a herd is the only natural way of being. But this is exactly the concern. Without attention to historicity we run the risk of naturalizing a particular kind of subject, society, culture, economic system, or set of power relations, universalizing the particular, making natural a product of history. Not only does this reduce anything (or anyone) different into an Other, an aberration, it leaves little room for change. The colonial order, racial hierarchies, gender inequality all appear natural and timeless.
A diachronic perspective, by contrast, can show us that things have not always been the way they are now, and therefore immunize us from assuming things will be thus forever. How we tell our past-narrative, our history, impacts how we imagine ourselves, our present, and our future. This is precisely the reason postcolonial thinkers have concerned themselves with the past. Of course, as Nietzsche points out, not just any attention to the past will do – history should serve life. Whatever falls outside of the grand universal narrative of historicism, akin to monumental history, is produced as an Other. Nativist history, a response to this othering, makes a fetish of the past (as does antiquarian history), but is unable to break free of the othering discourse. In contrast critical history and attention to historicity are concerned with the present and have the potential to go beyond the othering discourse.
The grand sweep of colonial history could be seen as an attempt to deal with difference met in the colonial encounter. In order to persevere, historicism had to find a way of fitting very different societies into its universal temporal narrative. Often seen as unhistorical, in stasis, outside of time, these colonized societies were only wrenched back into the stream of time by colonial rule. Although back in the narrative, they were then behind, backward. The colonies were seen as Europe's own past, like Europe but at the same time not like Europe. Historicism is then about both sameness and difference. It brings difference into sameness by temporizing. Nietzsche could have been writing about this when he wrote of monumental history: "how much that is different must be overlooked, how ruthlessly must the individuality of the past be forced into a general form …" Monumental history is inspirational. It advises us that greatness is once more possible if we imitate past greatness. Monumental history thus produces a script, forcing out all specificity. It is nothing but lifeless mimesis, producing "nothing but timidly disguised universal men."
Hegel exemplifies historicism. His juggernaut of a master narrative simply rolled right over alternative histories. He could subjugate them, bringing them all into the grand narrative, because of the totalizing progress of spirit (geist) through the ages. To be all-encompassing his system had to find ways to make these varied narratives commensurate, which is why the India we meet in Hegel's narrative is so distorted. Hegel's question of how to deal with discrepancy – India – was solved by the explanation that ancient India was once great but got stuck in stasis, while Europe kept on progressing. For Hegel, self-consciousness is produced dialectically through experience of the other: "those peoples therefore are alone capable of History... who have arrived at that period of development... at which individuals comprehend their own existence as independent, i.e. possess self-consciousness." But the Indians, steeped in spirituality, did not exercise their reason to separate Man from Nature and God. Without differentiating themselves from the universal, the dialectic could not function. The irrationality and lack of individuation of Indians ("In India we have only a division in masses..." explains Hegel) thus retarded the development of reason. And because reason, or Spirit, is the great mover of history, without it the Indians could have no history or progress. They were doomed to be stuck in the past – at least until Europe's convenient intervention; it was "the necessary fate of Asiatic Empires to be subjected to Europeans." In Hegel, India is othered, then the other is conquered by the same. As Chakrabarty explains this is a united world with an internally articulated hierarchy – the world is both one and unequal.
Part 2 here
In an age of bloody confusion,
Ordered disorder, planned caprice,
And dehumanized humanity, lest all things
Be held unalterable!
Bertolt Brecht
The past has passed, meaning it is no more. By definition not present, it no longer exists. So why bother attending to it? Whether we attend to it or not, we cannot escape the past, since it produced our present – what exists is inherited from whatever came before. Perhaps we could just forget the past and be as happy as Nietzsche's cows. With no memory, they would be forgiven for taking themselves to be the general case. They might assume the whole world is an eternal pasture, and that a herd is the only natural way of being. But this is exactly the concern. Without attention to historicity we run the risk of naturalizing a particular kind of subject, society, culture, economic system, or set of power relations, universalizing the particular, making natural a product of history. Not only does this reduce anything (or anyone) different into an Other, an aberration, it leaves little room for change. The colonial order, racial hierarchies, gender inequality all appear natural and timeless.
A diachronic perspective, by contrast, can show us that things have not always been the way they are now, and therefore immunize us from assuming things will be thus forever. How we tell our past-narrative, our history, impacts how we imagine ourselves, our present, and our future. This is precisely the reason postcolonial thinkers have concerned themselves with the past. Of course, as Nietzsche points out, not just any attention to the past will do – history should serve life. Whatever falls outside of the grand universal narrative of historicism, akin to monumental history, is produced as an Other. Nativist history, a response to this othering, makes a fetish of the past (as does antiquarian history), but is unable to break free of the othering discourse. In contrast critical history and attention to historicity are concerned with the present and have the potential to go beyond the othering discourse.
The grand sweep of colonial history could be seen as an attempt to deal with difference met in the colonial encounter. In order to persevere, historicism had to find a way of fitting very different societies into its universal temporal narrative. Often seen as unhistorical, in stasis, outside of time, these colonized societies were only wrenched back into the stream of time by colonial rule. Although back in the narrative, they were then behind, backward. The colonies were seen as Europe's own past, like Europe but at the same time not like Europe. Historicism is then about both sameness and difference. It brings difference into sameness by temporizing. Nietzsche could have been writing about this when he wrote of monumental history: "how much that is different must be overlooked, how ruthlessly must the individuality of the past be forced into a general form …" Monumental history is inspirational. It advises us that greatness is once more possible if we imitate past greatness. Monumental history thus produces a script, forcing out all specificity. It is nothing but lifeless mimesis, producing "nothing but timidly disguised universal men."
Hegel exemplifies historicism. His juggernaut of a master narrative simply rolled right over alternative histories. He could subjugate them, bringing them all into the grand narrative, because of the totalizing progress of spirit (geist) through the ages. To be all-encompassing his system had to find ways to make these varied narratives commensurate, which is why the India we meet in Hegel's narrative is so distorted. Hegel's question of how to deal with discrepancy – India – was solved by the explanation that ancient India was once great but got stuck in stasis, while Europe kept on progressing. For Hegel, self-consciousness is produced dialectically through experience of the other: "those peoples therefore are alone capable of History... who have arrived at that period of development... at which individuals comprehend their own existence as independent, i.e. possess self-consciousness." But the Indians, steeped in spirituality, did not exercise their reason to separate Man from Nature and God. Without differentiating themselves from the universal, the dialectic could not function. The irrationality and lack of individuation of Indians ("In India we have only a division in masses..." explains Hegel) thus retarded the development of reason. And because reason, or Spirit, is the great mover of history, without it the Indians could have no history or progress. They were doomed to be stuck in the past – at least until Europe's convenient intervention; it was "the necessary fate of Asiatic Empires to be subjected to Europeans." In Hegel, India is othered, then the other is conquered by the same. As Chakrabarty explains this is a united world with an internally articulated hierarchy – the world is both one and unequal.
Part 2 here
MOST BEST INVENTION IN THIS CENTURY - Eheh
*Slank Pundan*
*Salam* ..Tuan Tuan Dan Puan Puan .. ari ani dalam segmen DIY (DO IT YOURSELF).. me kan mengajar.. biskita dirumah cara2 mbuat "slipar jipun" yg sangat mudah gito loe.. hahaha~ CaIk Tu NUuu~
Awal2 skali.. mbli dulu Pampes Urg Tua Yakni Bini2 punya plg tu (Mudis)d pasaran atau kadai kaling yg berdekatan dan sewaktu dgn nya~ apa saja brand nya laa .. hahaha~
N den.. ambil sbuting ... Lipat ya mcm dlm gambar atu.. den sbuting lagi sama jua mcm atu.. (untuk meng hold batis ne banarnya)..
Seterus nya.. ambil lagi.. untuk kn buat tapak nya~.. ambil gam uhu.. rakat kn cia.. tarus.. mun nda kompiden pakai gam cap kanggaro , rakat tu lai..haha *BUKAN NDA RAKAT~~
Lastnya.. untuk kn mbri lawa.. kita dekorat or design sndri lah.. rakat cia sgala gmbar pikachu kh, mikey mous kh, naruto kh , awg budiman.. kh ikut cita rasa surang2 lah.. In My CaSe Me Suka yg bunga2 and bintang2 and Dapat jua me rasa me atu d Angkasa kn nda jaa..... ai.. Berachooon~ hahaha
Ane tah kesudahan nya... mun sudah ea Komplit (Complete) 100%.. lawa kn.. ehehe.. slamat mencubaaa~ n'y Oleh sbab slipar ane half cut (macam krita saja) paksa tah ME bgi KITEX kuku ME a2.. bgi be glitter bahapa..HAHAHAH~ MENYAMPAH~~.. :P~
Buatan Tulus Ikhlas From Me : Aji Kitty.. Mwah~ Meranchiiit~!
*Salam* ..Tuan Tuan Dan Puan Puan .. ari ani dalam segmen DIY (DO IT YOURSELF).. me kan mengajar.. biskita dirumah cara2 mbuat "slipar jipun" yg sangat mudah gito loe.. hahaha~ CaIk Tu NUuu~
Awal2 skali.. mbli dulu Pampes Urg Tua Yakni Bini2 punya plg tu (Mudis)d pasaran atau kadai kaling yg berdekatan dan sewaktu dgn nya~ apa saja brand nya laa .. hahaha~
N den.. ambil sbuting ... Lipat ya mcm dlm gambar atu.. den sbuting lagi sama jua mcm atu.. (untuk meng hold batis ne banarnya)..
Seterus nya.. ambil lagi.. untuk kn buat tapak nya~.. ambil gam uhu.. rakat kn cia.. tarus.. mun nda kompiden pakai gam cap kanggaro , rakat tu lai..haha *BUKAN NDA RAKAT~~
Lastnya.. untuk kn mbri lawa.. kita dekorat or design sndri lah.. rakat cia sgala gmbar pikachu kh, mikey mous kh, naruto kh , awg budiman.. kh ikut cita rasa surang2 lah.. In My CaSe Me Suka yg bunga2 and bintang2 and Dapat jua me rasa me atu d Angkasa kn nda jaa..... ai.. Berachooon~ hahaha
Ane tah kesudahan nya... mun sudah ea Komplit (Complete) 100%.. lawa kn.. ehehe.. slamat mencubaaa~ n'y Oleh sbab slipar ane half cut (macam krita saja) paksa tah ME bgi KITEX kuku ME a2.. bgi be glitter bahapa..HAHAHAH~ MENYAMPAH~~.. :P~
Buatan Tulus Ikhlas From Me : Aji Kitty.. Mwah~ Meranchiiit~!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Why I Study History
When I was younger (19 or so) I had an.. um... let's just call it a mind-expanding experience. It became so clear to me all of a sudden just how far we as a society are from our roots, or from our foundations. I mean this in a pretty concrete way. From a handful of extended family tribes living close to the earth, we built up these incredibly complex civilizations - technology, religion, bureaucracy, global transportation, trade, electronics, communications. We take it all for granted: cities, highrises, airplanes, universities, supermarkets. But most of it is pretty new.
Catastrophe is always lurking around the corner, as a potentiality. Climate change is one likely trigger for many potential catastrophes, and it is possible that our civilization will end with it. Think about Rome. It was around for a thousand years, and it fell. In post-Roman Britain, for instance, with nobody to maintain the infrastructure in the cities there was hunger and plague. People pretty much abandoned the cities and went back to barely scratching out a living, with small scale subsistence farming. These were what we know as the Dark Ages. If it could happen then, it can happen now. And eventually it will. That is certain; the time frame and causes are less so.
Humans have found and continue to find many solutions to the problems of survival. We must fulfill our needs for shelter, food, companionship, etc. But we have a lot of flexibility in exactly how we do this. The incredible variety and creativity of solutions that people have found become apparent when studying in a field like history (and probably anthropology, too). I love learning how different peoples have organized their societies: the religions and culture and social structures, the ethics and cuisine and mythologies.
In addition, if there are so many different ways we have organized our societies, than that tells me that this particular one is not the immutable reality. That means there is also hope for change. We can do things differently, because we have already done them differently in the past. I wrote a whole theoretical paper going into this in more detail - if anyone is interested, I can post it here (here, actually).
As some of you know, I'm currently working on an MA in History (and International Relations) and considering applying to do a PhD. Problem is, I am interested in everything and have such trouble deciding what to focus on. But I'm pretty sure at least that I want to stay in the field of history.
Catastrophe is always lurking around the corner, as a potentiality. Climate change is one likely trigger for many potential catastrophes, and it is possible that our civilization will end with it. Think about Rome. It was around for a thousand years, and it fell. In post-Roman Britain, for instance, with nobody to maintain the infrastructure in the cities there was hunger and plague. People pretty much abandoned the cities and went back to barely scratching out a living, with small scale subsistence farming. These were what we know as the Dark Ages. If it could happen then, it can happen now. And eventually it will. That is certain; the time frame and causes are less so.
Humans have found and continue to find many solutions to the problems of survival. We must fulfill our needs for shelter, food, companionship, etc. But we have a lot of flexibility in exactly how we do this. The incredible variety and creativity of solutions that people have found become apparent when studying in a field like history (and probably anthropology, too). I love learning how different peoples have organized their societies: the religions and culture and social structures, the ethics and cuisine and mythologies.
In addition, if there are so many different ways we have organized our societies, than that tells me that this particular one is not the immutable reality. That means there is also hope for change. We can do things differently, because we have already done them differently in the past. I wrote a whole theoretical paper going into this in more detail - if anyone is interested, I can post it here (here, actually).
As some of you know, I'm currently working on an MA in History (and International Relations) and considering applying to do a PhD. Problem is, I am interested in everything and have such trouble deciding what to focus on. But I'm pretty sure at least that I want to stay in the field of history.
South Asian Students at World Debate Institute Do Television
Islamophobia program
The US Department of State, the Study United States Institute and the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont have been working with 18 students from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan on debating skills and public communication this last week.
On Thursday afternoon the students composed, practiced, arranged and taped three television discussion programs for broadcast in Vermont and to offer online. The topics of the discussions were:
- Islamophobia
- Global Food Crisis
- World War Three Happening Now
All three can be seen starting later today at http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/
The first of the three programs is linked above.
Friday, July 25, 2008
July 25, 2008 - Insurance Company Rules
While I'm on a roll with embedding YouTube videos, this little TV commercial makes a satirical point about the way some medical insurance companies like to operate:
July 25, 2008 - Farewell to Randy Pausch
Sad news, but news we expected eventually. Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie-Mellon University has died of pancreatic cancer:
See my October 24, 2007 blog entry for more on this remarkable man, and his "Last Lecture" delivered at Carnegie-Mellon. It's become one of the most popular downloads on YouTube. Oprah also had him on her show, to give a Reader's Digest condensed version of the lecture.
Here's a link to a news article about his death.
Many of us are grateful to Randy for modeling what successful survivorship is all about.
Carl
See my October 24, 2007 blog entry for more on this remarkable man, and his "Last Lecture" delivered at Carnegie-Mellon. It's become one of the most popular downloads on YouTube. Oprah also had him on her show, to give a Reader's Digest condensed version of the lecture.
Here's a link to a news article about his death.
Many of us are grateful to Randy for modeling what successful survivorship is all about.
Carl
(07.25.08) Recommends:
A Blogger in the White House.
So yesterday we ranted about the old guard media. While we were hammering out that post, Barack Obama was, as you know, giving a speech in Berlin. There was a lot in there that we've heard before: skinny kid, funny name, goat herders, army cooks, coming to america, Kansas, Kenya, etc.
But near the end he slipped something new in there:
There's a blogger in his campaign who has his ear. And that's a very good sign. It also makes sense. Obama understands the power of networks. He started off as a community organizer. During the primary he leveraged the internet to reinvent campaign fianance (click on this very cool pdf for a graphical depiction of the reinvention). He knows that the power of this country lies in its citizens. As more and more of those citizens share their wisdom and talent with others through tools like blogging software, sources like CNN will be forced to change or die. Having a president with blogger advisors will not change the health care system or cure the economy or the environment. But we're convinced that having a strong blogging culture is a step in the right direction.
So yesterday we ranted about the old guard media. While we were hammering out that post, Barack Obama was, as you know, giving a speech in Berlin. There was a lot in there that we've heard before: skinny kid, funny name, goat herders, army cooks, coming to america, Kansas, Kenya, etc.
But near the end he slipped something new in there:
Now the world will watch and remember what we do here...Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe?
There's a blogger in his campaign who has his ear. And that's a very good sign. It also makes sense. Obama understands the power of networks. He started off as a community organizer. During the primary he leveraged the internet to reinvent campaign fianance (click on this very cool pdf for a graphical depiction of the reinvention). He knows that the power of this country lies in its citizens. As more and more of those citizens share their wisdom and talent with others through tools like blogging software, sources like CNN will be forced to change or die. Having a president with blogger advisors will not change the health care system or cure the economy or the environment. But we're convinced that having a strong blogging culture is a step in the right direction.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
(07.24.08) Recommends:
Understanding that if CNN Really Is The Most Trusted Name in News Then We Are All Really, Really Fucked.
So, we have this friend, Fellow Blogger. She's among the smartest people we know. Both book smart and current event smart and generally just smart at life. So once a week or so, she'll send us a ridiculous headline from CNN.com. A common example is something like "54% of Americans think we may be headed toward a recession." Or "George Bush doesn't think we are headed for a recession." Everytime they are Very Serious headlines from a Very Serious news source. And everytime they are completely and utterly useless.
We never check CNN.com unless we get these articles, but we always sort of figured Fellow Blogger was just cherry picking the worst articles.Umm , we now seriously doubt this. For this morning, we casually checked out CNN.com. And this is what greeted us (click for larger image):
Yikes. Where do we even start with this? First of all, the fact that there are Black people in America? Is this really a Live! Developing! Story! And not just that but do we really need Your! Reaction! to the fact that there are Black people in America? I mean, is this Turn Back The Clock To The 1800s Day on the Internet? Moving on to Latest! News! check out those stories.
Is marriage only for white people!
Black people not playing football!
Mississippi closed for the day!
Kids playing with sawdust and paper!
Helping whales help themselves!
Video sluts pissed off that people think they're slutty!
Kid Rock! At the Waffle House!
All this, plus super heroes and Salman Rushdie!
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Okay, my head just split in two; no more, please!
I guess this should not be too surprising. CNN, the television station, is pretty absurd. There's Lou Dobbs, a border-line xenophobe. Larry King, a border-line robot. Anderson Cooper, who used to be the host of reality game show The Mole, and who often produces Hard! Hitting! Journalism! a representative example of which is how the fact that prostitution is legal in parts of Mexico is evidence of international sex-trafficking. And, lest we forget, there's Wolf Blitzer. Who can forget Wolf Blitzer, just last week, on the Situation! Room! running around, mouth agape, eyes bulging out of head, convinced that No American could possibly understand that the New Yorker is a liberal magazine known for producing satirical cartoons (the same Americans who, before this morning, were unaware of the existance of Black Americans).
So here's what we're thinking about this morning: As newspapers continue with massive lay-offs and the unending tide continues toward the internet and 24-hour cable television for news, should we be concerned that CNN.com, presumably one of the most trafficed web properties, offers up almost nothing but steaming piles of horse shit?
We, unlike Wolf Blitzer, believe that the vast and overwhelming majority of reasonable Americans understand that the New Yorker is liberal and the cover was satire. To that end, we are hopeful that the vast and overwhelming majority of reasonable Americans understand that CNN is completely full of shit and offers, perhaps, 5% news and 95% foaming at the mouth nonsense.
Two questions we have this morning. Is this a reasonable hope? And, even if it is a reasonable hope, what pressures, if any, does the success of CNN.com (and CNN) put on sources who actually are trying to enlighten, educate, edify our society?
So, we have this friend, Fellow Blogger. She's among the smartest people we know. Both book smart and current event smart and generally just smart at life. So once a week or so, she'll send us a ridiculous headline from CNN.com. A common example is something like "54% of Americans think we may be headed toward a recession." Or "George Bush doesn't think we are headed for a recession." Everytime they are Very Serious headlines from a Very Serious news source. And everytime they are completely and utterly useless.
We never check CNN.com unless we get these articles, but we always sort of figured Fellow Blogger was just cherry picking the worst articles.Umm , we now seriously doubt this. For this morning, we casually checked out CNN.com. And this is what greeted us (click for larger image):
Yikes. Where do we even start with this? First of all, the fact that there are Black people in America? Is this really a Live! Developing! Story! And not just that but do we really need Your! Reaction! to the fact that there are Black people in America? I mean, is this Turn Back The Clock To The 1800s Day on the Internet? Moving on to Latest! News! check out those stories.
Is marriage only for white people!
Black people not playing football!
Mississippi closed for the day!
Kids playing with sawdust and paper!
Helping whales help themselves!
Video sluts pissed off that people think they're slutty!
Kid Rock! At the Waffle House!
All this, plus super heroes and Salman Rushdie!
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Huh?
Okay, my head just split in two; no more, please!
I guess this should not be too surprising. CNN, the television station, is pretty absurd. There's Lou Dobbs, a border-line xenophobe. Larry King, a border-line robot. Anderson Cooper, who used to be the host of reality game show The Mole, and who often produces Hard! Hitting! Journalism! a representative example of which is how the fact that prostitution is legal in parts of Mexico is evidence of international sex-trafficking. And, lest we forget, there's Wolf Blitzer. Who can forget Wolf Blitzer, just last week, on the Situation! Room! running around, mouth agape, eyes bulging out of head, convinced that No American could possibly understand that the New Yorker is a liberal magazine known for producing satirical cartoons (the same Americans who, before this morning, were unaware of the existance of Black Americans).
So here's what we're thinking about this morning: As newspapers continue with massive lay-offs and the unending tide continues toward the internet and 24-hour cable television for news, should we be concerned that CNN.com, presumably one of the most trafficed web properties, offers up almost nothing but steaming piles of horse shit?
We, unlike Wolf Blitzer, believe that the vast and overwhelming majority of reasonable Americans understand that the New Yorker is liberal and the cover was satire. To that end, we are hopeful that the vast and overwhelming majority of reasonable Americans understand that CNN is completely full of shit and offers, perhaps, 5% news and 95% foaming at the mouth nonsense.
Two questions we have this morning. Is this a reasonable hope? And, even if it is a reasonable hope, what pressures, if any, does the success of CNN.com (and CNN) put on sources who actually are trying to enlighten, educate, edify our society?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
"War on Terror" turns into war on charities
NGO "Blacklist" Unfair and Arbitrary, Groups Say
It seems the government can designate any organization as terrorist without proof, and can freeze assets without showing ties to terrorism or illegal acts. A report Collateral Damage: How the War on Terror Hurts Charities, Foundations, and the People They Serve estimates that since 9/11 it is estimated that over $6 Billion in assets, from charities and foundations labeled as terrorist organizations, have been frozen. A charity without access to its funds is often effectively shut down.
Many legitimate and effective organisations have suffered because of the undemocratic and heavy-handed application of these powers.
So, right-wingers are always promoting charity as the alternative to public programmes and social services... how can they be effective when they have to face these kinds of problems?
After the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., Congress gave the government sweeping new powers to crack down on not-for-profit organisations that were using their charitable status as cover for funneling funds to terrorist groups.
These powers include the authority to designate any charity as a material supporter of terrorism. This action demands virtually no due process from the government, denies the target to see the evidence against it, and can result in freezing of a charity's assets, effectively shutting it down. Since 9/11, the government has shut down dozens of charitable groups, but only three have ever been charged and brought to trial for supporting terrorist causes. None has been convicted.
It seems the government can designate any organization as terrorist without proof, and can freeze assets without showing ties to terrorism or illegal acts. A report Collateral Damage: How the War on Terror Hurts Charities, Foundations, and the People They Serve estimates that since 9/11 it is estimated that over $6 Billion in assets, from charities and foundations labeled as terrorist organizations, have been frozen. A charity without access to its funds is often effectively shut down.
It also asserts that the government has used its surveillance powers against charitable groups for political purposes. It charges, "In addition to providing aid and services to people in need, charitable and religious organisations help to facilitate a free exchange of information and ideas, fostering debate about public policy issues. The government has treated some of these activities as a terrorist threat. Since 9/11, there have been disturbing revelations about the use of counterterrorism resources to track and sometimes interfere with groups that publicly and vocally dissent from administration policies."
In 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) launched its Spy Files Project and uncovered an intricate system of domestic spying on U.S. non-profits largely condoned by expanded counterterrorism powers within the USA PATRIOT Act.
Many legitimate and effective organisations have suffered because of the undemocratic and heavy-handed application of these powers.
The report finds that "U.S. counterterrorism laws have made it increasingly difficult for U.S.-based organisations to operate overseas. For example, after the 2004 tsunami, U.S. organisations operating in areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers, a designated terrorist organisation, risked violating prohibitions against 'material support' when creating displaced persons' camps and hospitals, traveling, or distributing food and water."
For aid organisations like the International Red Cross, compliance with U.S. counterterrorism laws can force NGOs to violate standards of neutrality in their work. The Principles of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Response Programmes state, "The humanitarian imperative comes first. Aid is given regardless of the race, creed or nationality of the recipients and without adverse distinction of any kind. Aid priorities are calculated on the basis of need alone."
In some cases, the report declares, counterterrorism laws have caused nonprofits to pull out of programmes.
So, right-wingers are always promoting charity as the alternative to public programmes and social services... how can they be effective when they have to face these kinds of problems?
(07.23.08) Recommends:
The Track "Ten Dead Dogs" from Wild Sweet Orange's "We Have Cause To Be Uneasy" (Canvasback Music, forthcoming, July 29, 2008).
As we mentioned in our last update, we haven't been blogging here lately as much as usual, as we've been playing around lots on Twitter and we've been fumbling around on Tumblr -- one anonymous tumblr that if you're savvy enough and/or have too much time on your hands you can find by scrubbing this blog, and another double secret Tumblr that we can tell you right now you'll never, ever discover, so don't even bother asking.
In addition, we've been listening almost exclusively to this WSO track, Ten Dead Dogs. We first saw WSO back in March -- my goodness, has it really been over four months since that show?? -- and about a month ago their full-length debut showed up in our mail boxes.
Let's back up though. When we say we've been listening almost exclusively to this track, we actually mean we've been listening almost exclusively to the first forty-five seconds of this track. As we Twittered earlier, the first :45 might be our favorite music released this year. Not an understatement: on the rare occasions in which we drive to work, our commute takes up to forty five minutes, which means we regularly listen to this part of the song 60 times in a row. But it's not just us who are crazy: we introduced this song to Law School Friend -- one of the few humans whose picture has ever appeared on the blog here, here, here -- during her ridiculous July 4th cookout. Last weekend, when we hung out with her again, she informed us that she had not been able to stop listening to the song. We may or may not be exaggerating when she said she listened to it 45 times consecutively.
While that may sound quaintly amateurish compared to our devotion, it is still a sign, we think, that this song is like E. Coli: some people will come in contact with it and won't notice anything every happened; others will have their bodies completely overtaken for 5-7 days before returning to a normal state; large numbers will die. Okay, probably this song won't kill you, but it will vanquish any chances you have of being productive, because you'll find yourself having to stop to hit the "back" button to start the song over. You'll do this repeatedly -- so you can try to copy his enunciation on "apartment," so you can try to hit the high note on "omen," so you can do that little "buh da doom" part, so you try to match his voice on "I watched the sky turn from blue to black to red and yellow, too," they'll be others, trust us -- until you notice that it's an hour later and all you have to show for it is the sad realization that, despite your best protestations, it probably wasn't lack of time committment to singing in the shower that prevented you from being a rock star.
Okay. Enough talking. On to the music, maestro.
Wild Sweet Orange -- Ten Dead Dogs -- mp3.
As we mentioned in our last update, we haven't been blogging here lately as much as usual, as we've been playing around lots on Twitter and we've been fumbling around on Tumblr -- one anonymous tumblr that if you're savvy enough and/or have too much time on your hands you can find by scrubbing this blog, and another double secret Tumblr that we can tell you right now you'll never, ever discover, so don't even bother asking.
In addition, we've been listening almost exclusively to this WSO track, Ten Dead Dogs. We first saw WSO back in March -- my goodness, has it really been over four months since that show?? -- and about a month ago their full-length debut showed up in our mail boxes.
Let's back up though. When we say we've been listening almost exclusively to this track, we actually mean we've been listening almost exclusively to the first forty-five seconds of this track. As we Twittered earlier, the first :45 might be our favorite music released this year. Not an understatement: on the rare occasions in which we drive to work, our commute takes up to forty five minutes, which means we regularly listen to this part of the song 60 times in a row. But it's not just us who are crazy: we introduced this song to Law School Friend -- one of the few humans whose picture has ever appeared on the blog here, here, here -- during her ridiculous July 4th cookout. Last weekend, when we hung out with her again, she informed us that she had not been able to stop listening to the song. We may or may not be exaggerating when she said she listened to it 45 times consecutively.
While that may sound quaintly amateurish compared to our devotion, it is still a sign, we think, that this song is like E. Coli: some people will come in contact with it and won't notice anything every happened; others will have their bodies completely overtaken for 5-7 days before returning to a normal state; large numbers will die. Okay, probably this song won't kill you, but it will vanquish any chances you have of being productive, because you'll find yourself having to stop to hit the "back" button to start the song over. You'll do this repeatedly -- so you can try to copy his enunciation on "apartment," so you can try to hit the high note on "omen," so you can do that little "buh da doom" part, so you try to match his voice on "I watched the sky turn from blue to black to red and yellow, too," they'll be others, trust us -- until you notice that it's an hour later and all you have to show for it is the sad realization that, despite your best protestations, it probably wasn't lack of time committment to singing in the shower that prevented you from being a rock star.
Okay. Enough talking. On to the music, maestro.
Wild Sweet Orange -- Ten Dead Dogs -- mp3.
July 23, 2008 - Early Mid-Life Crisis?
The more I move through this journey of cancer survivorship, the more I’m coming to realize it’s a continuing process. Being a survivor is different one month after treatment ends than it is a year, or two years or more, afterwards. We continue to grow into this reality called survivorship.
I don’t imagine this is something a person who hasn’t been through it can easily understand. With most other medical situations – say, for example, an infection that’s successfully treated, or the hernia-repair surgery I had a few months ago – when it’s over, it’s over. Cancer is never over, not even if remission continues into the long term. There’s always the possibility it could return.
Here’s another quote from Glenna Halvorson-Boyd, from Dancing in Limbo: Making Sense of Life after Cancer (which I’ve now finished reading). Here, she shares a long-term survivor’s perspective – reflecting also the perspective of others, that she’s learned about through a number of interviews:
“At some point, those of us who have survived cancer stop wondering why it happened. We get over the posttreatment letdown. We tolerate our fears of recurrence in the full knowledge that there is no sure cure. Our relationships are renewed on current terms. Life goes on.
While our preoccupation with cancer fades, our awareness of mortality remains. That heightened awareness guides our lives, whether we recognize it or not. It creates anxiety, but it also reminds us that we are alive. Our time on earth is short and precious. This is the stuff of great art and trite greeting cards. Only a writer of Franz Kafka’s perverse gifts can get away with stating the obvious, ‘The meaning of life is that it stops.’ When we use a brush with death to refocus our lives in more authentic and meaningful ways, we are making the best of the situation, to be sure, but we are not romanticizing our misfortune. Cancer is not glamorous. Surviving cancer is neither romantic nor heroic. It is our good fortune, and it is forever a part of our lives. We may feel stronger for having endured the trials, or we may feel more vulnerable. Probably we feel both, on alternate days or even at the same time. Sometimes we know that ‘sadder but wiser’ is a cliché because it is true....
For some of us, having had cancer means that we don’t have time to waste; for others of us, it means that wasting time is our greatest luxury. For some, it means pushing to achieve our ambitions; for others, it means releasing ourselves from worldly ambition. As life goes on, we each sort out what it means to be a survivor.”
– Glenna Halvorson-Boyd and Lisa K. Hunter in Dancing in Limbo: Making Sense of Life After Cancer (Jossey-Bass, 1995)
At the time she was writing, Glenna was reflecting back on more than ten years’ experience as a mouth cancer survivor. She had surgery that removed a part of her tongue as well as other tissue inside her mouth, and she had to learn how to speak again. Unlike me, cancer has left Glenna with a continuing disability, but the change she’s talking about is deeper than the merely physical. It’s a matter of soul.
I’m especially struck by what she says in the last paragraph, above, with respect to ambition. Some survivors want to aggressively pursue some long-deferred dream. Others want to shed worldly cares and learn to live as slowly and deliberately as Thoreau did beside Walden Pond. I think I’m somewhere in between. Some days, I want to go seek a call to some tall-steeple church and write a bestselling book. Other days, I just want to settle in where I am, be as good a husband and father as I can be, and simply try to live as authentically as I can. At this stage in my survivorship, I’m experiencing major ambivalence.
Here at our little cabin in the woods, ever since Claire ran out of vacation days and had to return home, I’ve been feeling that tug in two different directions. I’ve got some major writing projects in the works – most urgently, an overdue third installment of a preachers’ commentary on Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary. CSS Publications is going to combine this manuscript with books I’ve already written on Cycle B and Cycle C, and bring them out as a single volume. This morning, I finished my draft of Cycle A, and – once I drive into Plattsburgh, to my favorite wireless hot spot in the Borders bookstore café – I’ll e-mail it off to my editor. I’ve still got a good bit of work yet to do, on some additions the publisher has requested for the previous two volumes. It will be a good feeling to finally finish that multi-year project, which I began before my cancer diagnosis. I just may be able to finish it before my vacation ends in a couple of weeks.
I have to admit, though, I don’t have quite the fire in my belly for this project as I did when I began it. It’s all part of that ambivalence I’m feeling. Do I want to be one of those survivors Glenna talks about, who’s eager to “achieve worldly ambitions”; or, would I rather “release myself from worldly ambitions?” I’m still trying to figure that one out.
Maybe I’m having an experience similar to that of a testicular cancer survivor named Neil, whose story Glenna tells:
“Another cancer survivor described his cancer experience as an ‘early midlife crisis.’ Neil was thirty-two when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer twenty years ago. Although the prospects for a cure are quite good today, back then he faced almost certain death. Neil fought for his chemotherapy and became one of the early successes in the treatment of testicular cancer. When faced with death, he took charge of his life. As he puts it, ‘At thirty-two, I woke up to the fact that I’m going to die, and... I don’t want to waste my time. So you recognize that your time is limited and precious, and that you... have some control over it.’” (p. 147)
Some people go out and buy a red sportscar to celebrate their mid-life crisis. I got lymphoma.
I should have bought the sportscar instead.
I don’t imagine this is something a person who hasn’t been through it can easily understand. With most other medical situations – say, for example, an infection that’s successfully treated, or the hernia-repair surgery I had a few months ago – when it’s over, it’s over. Cancer is never over, not even if remission continues into the long term. There’s always the possibility it could return.Here’s another quote from Glenna Halvorson-Boyd, from Dancing in Limbo: Making Sense of Life after Cancer (which I’ve now finished reading). Here, she shares a long-term survivor’s perspective – reflecting also the perspective of others, that she’s learned about through a number of interviews:
“At some point, those of us who have survived cancer stop wondering why it happened. We get over the posttreatment letdown. We tolerate our fears of recurrence in the full knowledge that there is no sure cure. Our relationships are renewed on current terms. Life goes on.
While our preoccupation with cancer fades, our awareness of mortality remains. That heightened awareness guides our lives, whether we recognize it or not. It creates anxiety, but it also reminds us that we are alive. Our time on earth is short and precious. This is the stuff of great art and trite greeting cards. Only a writer of Franz Kafka’s perverse gifts can get away with stating the obvious, ‘The meaning of life is that it stops.’ When we use a brush with death to refocus our lives in more authentic and meaningful ways, we are making the best of the situation, to be sure, but we are not romanticizing our misfortune. Cancer is not glamorous. Surviving cancer is neither romantic nor heroic. It is our good fortune, and it is forever a part of our lives. We may feel stronger for having endured the trials, or we may feel more vulnerable. Probably we feel both, on alternate days or even at the same time. Sometimes we know that ‘sadder but wiser’ is a cliché because it is true....
For some of us, having had cancer means that we don’t have time to waste; for others of us, it means that wasting time is our greatest luxury. For some, it means pushing to achieve our ambitions; for others, it means releasing ourselves from worldly ambition. As life goes on, we each sort out what it means to be a survivor.”– Glenna Halvorson-Boyd and Lisa K. Hunter in Dancing in Limbo: Making Sense of Life After Cancer (Jossey-Bass, 1995)
At the time she was writing, Glenna was reflecting back on more than ten years’ experience as a mouth cancer survivor. She had surgery that removed a part of her tongue as well as other tissue inside her mouth, and she had to learn how to speak again. Unlike me, cancer has left Glenna with a continuing disability, but the change she’s talking about is deeper than the merely physical. It’s a matter of soul.
I’m especially struck by what she says in the last paragraph, above, with respect to ambition. Some survivors want to aggressively pursue some long-deferred dream. Others want to shed worldly cares and learn to live as slowly and deliberately as Thoreau did beside Walden Pond. I think I’m somewhere in between. Some days, I want to go seek a call to some tall-steeple church and write a bestselling book. Other days, I just want to settle in where I am, be as good a husband and father as I can be, and simply try to live as authentically as I can. At this stage in my survivorship, I’m experiencing major ambivalence.
Here at our little cabin in the woods, ever since Claire ran out of vacation days and had to return home, I’ve been feeling that tug in two different directions. I’ve got some major writing projects in the works – most urgently, an overdue third installment of a preachers’ commentary on Cycle A of the Revised Common Lectionary. CSS Publications is going to combine this manuscript with books I’ve already written on Cycle B and Cycle C, and bring them out as a single volume. This morning, I finished my draft of Cycle A, and – once I drive into Plattsburgh, to my favorite wireless hot spot in the Borders bookstore café – I’ll e-mail it off to my editor. I’ve still got a good bit of work yet to do, on some additions the publisher has requested for the previous two volumes. It will be a good feeling to finally finish that multi-year project, which I began before my cancer diagnosis. I just may be able to finish it before my vacation ends in a couple of weeks.
I have to admit, though, I don’t have quite the fire in my belly for this project as I did when I began it. It’s all part of that ambivalence I’m feeling. Do I want to be one of those survivors Glenna talks about, who’s eager to “achieve worldly ambitions”; or, would I rather “release myself from worldly ambitions?” I’m still trying to figure that one out.Maybe I’m having an experience similar to that of a testicular cancer survivor named Neil, whose story Glenna tells:
“Another cancer survivor described his cancer experience as an ‘early midlife crisis.’ Neil was thirty-two when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer twenty years ago. Although the prospects for a cure are quite good today, back then he faced almost certain death. Neil fought for his chemotherapy and became one of the early successes in the treatment of testicular cancer. When faced with death, he took charge of his life. As he puts it, ‘At thirty-two, I woke up to the fact that I’m going to die, and... I don’t want to waste my time. So you recognize that your time is limited and precious, and that you... have some control over it.’” (p. 147)
Some people go out and buy a red sportscar to celebrate their mid-life crisis. I got lymphoma.
I should have bought the sportscar instead.
DIRECTOR - CUT [ DELETED SCENE ]
*Salam* Hi GuyS~ haahha ane scene2 yg kana cut leh~ director :P~.. hahaha UNRATED scene nya urg~ hahah nada dehz~.. sori late upload...sal nya kadai atu lambat nyuci wah yataa..~.. atu Ya Main becuci~ LAma Tu Bui bui~.. hahaha.. klah~ EnjOi gmbar2 manith ane aH~ MWahx Mwahx.. *MUNTAH* haha
Future South Asian Leaders Get WDI Debate Training
Eighteen students from South Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) are attending a one-week session at the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont as part of a US Department of State month-long program centering an the Study of US Institutions (SUSI for short).
The debate session involves public speaking training, argumentation and refutation drills, debating in the WUDC format and is then finished as students tape three television programs of discussions they have researched and implemented on selected topics. The taping will be Thursday, and the topics are: Islamophobia, 21st Century as a New Age of Conflict and the Crisis of Rising Food Prices.
The program is taught by Alfred Snider of Vermont and Rhydian Morgan of the UK. "These students are immensely talented," said Snider, "and I think it is a great idea to also help them sharpen their oral communication and critical thinking skills."
In other parts of the program students learned about US political institutions, worked with community groups to develop an appreciation for service learning, engaged in sporting events designed for the disabled, attended fireworks and a small-town 4th of July parade and will be visiting Boston and Washington DC.
For more WDI news go to http://worlddebateinstitute.blogspot.com/
World Schools Session Concludes
Top four speakers: Becker, Lee, Hayes and FuentesThe World Schools Debate workshop at the World Debate Institute at the University of Vermont came to a close on Monday and students departed on Tuesday. The session ended with a tournament, a final round, speaker awards and certificates presented to the attendees. The final night involved dinner downtown and a supervised taste of Burlington night life.
Students and faculty from six nations (Korea, Slovakia, Mexico, UK, Slovenia & USA) made the two week session intense from a debating perspective but also gave people an opportunity to make international contacts and learn from each other.
The final round was won by the team called "Slomerica" consisting of Jacob Klein, Sebastian Becker and Katarina Krasulova, although Katarina had to catch her plane for Europe and missed the final round itself. They triumphed in a 3-2 decision over the team called "Electric Pleasure Trio" consisting of In Hyok Lee, Andrew Hayes and Willis Danielson.
The top four speakers, pictured above, were:
- Andrew Hayes, USA
- In Hyok Lee, Korea
- Aurea Fuentes, Mexico
- Sebastian Becker, USA
The workshop was directed by Bojana Skrt of Slovenia, with the assistance of Rhydian Morgan of the UK. Other faculty involved were Jackie Massey of Oklahoma, Alfred Snider of Vermont and Mandy Frank of Vermont.
Monday, July 21, 2008
WDI 2008 Shirt is Unveiled
The WDI shirt has become fairly famous in the last 26 years. Ever since our very first one, with a huge red star ringed by "People's Republic of Burlington" we have produced a lot of collector's items.
Other shirts have included, "Brain Farm - we grow em big," "Turning Weapons Into Words," "Emancipate Yourself from Mental Slavery," "Logic & Love," to "Critical Thinking Creates a Better World." A few years ago the CEDA college national debate championship was won by two WDI graduates, and one wearing his WDI shirt.
This year we seem to have another winner. On the front it has a repeat of the "critical thinking" slogan, but the back has a comment balloon with "Where the future is born." We like to think about the amazing young people we are training and how they will make a difference in the future, hopefully for the good. Always optimistic is how we feel at WDI.
We also used navy blue as the color because we have not had a navy shirt ever, and we want to keep mixing it up.
They are not available for sale. You need to be here to get one.
Join us next year and get your own.
July 21, 2008 - Triple-Barreled Shotgun
A news release from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society directed me to an article in The Oncologist, which includes this conclusion:“Treatment options for patients with follicular lymphoma have significantly expanded. They include ‘wait and watch,’ radiotherapy alone for stage 1 or 2, rituximab alone, RIT alone, single- or multiple-agent chemotherapy combined with rituximab, and participation in many ongoing studies with a variety of different treatment combinations and intensity levels. Therapy might thus ultimately be adapted to the patient’s individual situation, depending on the aggressiveness of the particular patient’s disease while still relying on a continuously growing repertoire of salvage therapies.
Multiple studies in NHL indicate that chemotherapy combined with rituximab or RIT yields superior results compared with chemotherapy alone. We argue that chemotherapy combined with both RIT and full-dose biological treatment has an even higher efficacy potential. The tripletherapy approach employing upfront chemotherapy combined with optimized RIT and extended biologic treatment with antibodies may represent the best chance for prolonged disease-free survival, and potential cure, keeping in reserve the possibility of intensification with ASCT or allografting for relapsed patients.”
(Franz Buchegger, Oliver W. Press, Angelika Bischof Delaloye and Nicolas Ketterer, “Radiolabeled and Native Antibodies and the Prospect of Cure of Follicular Lymphoma,” The Oncologist, 2008;13:657–667.)
I plowed through the whole article, dense medical jargon and all, because it could very well describe the course of my next treatment.
Of the various treatment options described in the second sentence, I’ve already had “multiple-agent chemotherapy combined with rituximab” (the R-CHOP chemo cocktail I received in January-May, 2006). Ever since my relapse last spring or summer, my current “treatment” (if it can be called that) has been “wait and watch.”
I’ve known for some time about three other treatment options: autologous stem-cell transplant (ASCT), “extended” or maintenance treatment with rituximab, and radioimmunotherapy (RIT). RIT refers to one of two drugs, Bexxar and Zevalin, each of which attaches a radioactive tag to rituximab molecules, allowing tiny particles of radioactive material to piggyback on rituximab’s unerring ability to find and travel to lymphoma cells.
RIT is the treatment that came close to disappearing at the end of last year, when revised Medicare reimbursement guidelines threatened to price it out of existence (see my November 14 and November 30, 2007 blog entries). After a deluge of letters from cancer patients and their friends, Congress swooped in at the last minute and granted a temporary extension of the old reimbursement guidelines. Recently, the same thing nearly happened again. The President vetoed the latest Medicare bill that included sufficient funding to keep RIT alive, but Congress overrode his veto.
What’s new about this article is that it’s recommending that a triple combination of therapies – chemo, maintenance rituximab treatment and RIT – be undertaken before a relapsed NHL patient goes for a stem-cell transplant. Because of the dangers associated with stem-cell transplants, this new thinking pushes that option a little lower down the priority list.
My former treatment was like a double-barreled shotgun: go after the cancer with both barrels at once. Reserved for the future were two other promising possibilities: RIT (with or without a follow-up program of maintenance rituximab) and stem-cell transplant. There was also, of course, the possibility of simply reloading the shotgun and firing the same two barrels again (rituximab combined with a different chemo cocktail – since CHOP cannot be repeated). Now, the authors of this article are recommending that a third barrel be added to the shotgun, blasting the cancer with all three at once: chemo, RIT and maintenance rituximab.I wonder if this will become the new standard for treating relapsed follicular lymphoma? Or, if it will simply be one strategy out there, that continues to be debated?
I wonder, also, what the insurance companies will think of the new triple-barreled combination? It will surely be more expensive (although probably still not as pricey as a stem-cell transplant).
Last week I received a phone call from Dr. Lerner, letting me know that my July 1st CT scan indicated only slight growth in my abdominal mass. How slight? Two millimeters is what the doctor said – explaining that the growth is so small, some would consider it to be within the margin of error. Dr. Lerner confirmed that, when I meet with him in early August, continued watch-and-wait will be his recommendation.I think I’ll ask him what he thinks of the triple-barreled approach – just as a matter of interest. In any event, the slow pace at which my disease is progressing suggests it may be some considerable time before we’ll have to make any treatment decisions.
This is, of course, a good thing. By then, the “continuously growing repertoire of salvage therapies” may well have grown a little more, and that the ongoing debate about treatment options will have advanced that much further.
July 20, 2008 - Featured on Presbyterian Bloggers
Last Friday, this was the featured blog on the "Presbyterian Bloggers" blog. Check it out.Click HERE, then scroll down to Friday, July 18:
http://pcusablog.blogspot.com/
" APA ADA WEEKEND KU...?"
--BACA LU AH, SAL NYA ADA QUIZ NE LAPAS ANE--EHehehe
*Salam* HAHAHA~ .. weekend minggu ane...siuk.. Yoh~ tauke byk untung~~!!.. hahaha nda untung dimana... mun sudah kn $50 untung ku sapa membari hahaha ... "
" Eh eh Jangan salah anggap eh *bukan bejudi or be toi ah* ... actually i'm participating arah c Jat punya PES2008 tournament... and gue dapat tempat ke dua and tempat ke Jaguh (no.1) dalam SINGLE and TAG-TEAM respectively ... aku tag ma c Paul stidi kali ah kmi ah~ aishesheh... "
" HAHAha.. sasak ku and badluck lah sal kalah lwn c JAT (TUAN RUMAH).. 3 - 2 ku kalah... ea makai MAN U aku makai BARCA .. jarih ya udah.. banar nya aku mbgi chance tue.. mbri malu jua kn tuan rumah nda manang.. lagi pun tunang nya disiring nya mbgi smangat ah... apa lagi bekobar2 lah semangat nya tu cam bendera .. eh lurus kh.. ? *atu bekibar tu ah* ..ahah ngok ngek eh~..hahah "
" SHorten My Stori.. main punya main.. tau2 kul 3 udah~... gila ne.... mata ku alum plg kalat.. ikut kn ati.. mau ku lagi main pebaik sampai kul 3 pagi isuk nya lagi..ato ya.. kalang mata tue lai hahaha.. Then balik lah ku~.. odw balik atu.. tekanang ku kn boss ku.. nda ya nyuruh balik "lewat" (atu standard).. labih2 lagi boss laki~... Atu byk "imijin" ku.. ntah ntah boss laki sadang2 mengasah pemarang pakah~ ahahah.. nada deh.. Boss Laki .. ok eh.. sporting lagi handsome gito loh lyk father lyk son~ hahaha ... "
" Aher kata.. thx to my fren C Jat , CPon, C MeOn.. for organized and also invite aku.. tourney ane.. hahaha.. lain kali bawa g ramai.. biar sampai ke highway jua paking ahhaha ... and to all my colleagues.. and to tukang salai JLo .. bleh sdah ko mbuka garai d PADANG tu eh tym2 perayaan ane jua haahha ... thx for supporting jua to c aleng , c akim , c bule , c misur , c Lobo , c Moh , c BuKok , c PauL .. etc and wat so eva~.. daa~.. to be cont' BYE~ -end-"
--Pix.1) B4 main smua pemain2 d mesti kn makan sblum main.. minimum makan se ikung lauk Slungsong sebarat 5 kati labih , syarat dari pihak penganjur "
--Pix.2) Pihak Penganjur iaitu.. SEpon And MEOn Sedang sibuk mengatur acara tunjuk sana tunjuk sini(cam banar kamu ah) hahaha"
Pix.3)Buat2 menunggu giliran main.. biskal disediakn ntuk exercise.. Smpai mana dah Moh ko mengayuh ah? Bintulu? hahaha"
--Pix.4) Atu Ya Nah C JLO Punduk2 besila ah~.. hahaha lalah ku ngunjar kali ah , bah Lul bukan ya kn~ menyanang ada dua baldi lagi ayam alum besalai ah wawawa..
--Pix 5.) Eh Bule Muha... nda usah bekaras.. :P~ *diri sama jua* wawaawa...
--Pix 6.) Untuk membari smangat arah aku ma c paul dgn rela hati c Sepon pun belagu National Anthem Inter Milan .. dgn ada back up singer *tu kanak2 baju merah ah*
--Pix 7.) Bum Bum CHA!!!~~ ... *TRADEMARK EKUNG 7*... Bah kim... TUM BAAA~..
--Pix 8.)Semi Final TAG TEAM di antara PAUL AND BOBO vs LOBO AND BUKUK dgn di iringi oleh Peminat Setia kami eaitu c akim.... tu d blakang ah
--Pix 9.) Final Single antara b0b0 vs C jat & Tunangnya .. mbyuk eh drg dua aku sorang.. cnfirm ku kalah tu eh~.. hahaha
--Pix 10. C Jat as Penganjur menyampai kn Hadiah kpd Tag Team Champion In The World Snoop Dog And Billy Gun AlaMak Its Over Oredi!!~ wawawa gusti di bawa2.. hahaha lama tu bui bui..
--Pix 11.C Paul Menyampai kn Hadiah kepada Champion Single eaitu c JaT .. Eh Paul mcm kau plg penganjur ane tae pau banar eh hahaha... and to ijat.. Nda usah Bekaras Jat~ CaiK KAng!!~
--Pix 12. Last Skali -- MEmperkenal kn.. dari Left : Lobo ; Bukok ; C Moh ; C Bule Muha Karas ; c Akim yg Subuk2 ; C Sepon ; C Aling ; and Misur "
*Salam* HAHAHA~ .. weekend minggu ane...siuk.. Yoh~ tauke byk untung~~!!.. hahaha nda untung dimana... mun sudah kn $50 untung ku sapa membari hahaha ... "
" Eh eh Jangan salah anggap eh *bukan bejudi or be toi ah* ... actually i'm participating arah c Jat punya PES2008 tournament... and gue dapat tempat ke dua and tempat ke Jaguh (no.1) dalam SINGLE and TAG-TEAM respectively ... aku tag ma c Paul stidi kali ah kmi ah~ aishesheh... "
" HAHAha.. sasak ku and badluck lah sal kalah lwn c JAT (TUAN RUMAH).. 3 - 2 ku kalah... ea makai MAN U aku makai BARCA .. jarih ya udah.. banar nya aku mbgi chance tue.. mbri malu jua kn tuan rumah nda manang.. lagi pun tunang nya disiring nya mbgi smangat ah... apa lagi bekobar2 lah semangat nya tu cam bendera .. eh lurus kh.. ? *atu bekibar tu ah* ..ahah ngok ngek eh~..hahah "
" SHorten My Stori.. main punya main.. tau2 kul 3 udah~... gila ne.... mata ku alum plg kalat.. ikut kn ati.. mau ku lagi main pebaik sampai kul 3 pagi isuk nya lagi..ato ya.. kalang mata tue lai hahaha.. Then balik lah ku~.. odw balik atu.. tekanang ku kn boss ku.. nda ya nyuruh balik "lewat" (atu standard).. labih2 lagi boss laki~... Atu byk "imijin" ku.. ntah ntah boss laki sadang2 mengasah pemarang pakah~ ahahah.. nada deh.. Boss Laki .. ok eh.. sporting lagi handsome gito loh lyk father lyk son~ hahaha ... "
" Aher kata.. thx to my fren C Jat , CPon, C MeOn.. for organized and also invite aku.. tourney ane.. hahaha.. lain kali bawa g ramai.. biar sampai ke highway jua paking ahhaha ... and to all my colleagues.. and to tukang salai JLo .. bleh sdah ko mbuka garai d PADANG tu eh tym2 perayaan ane jua haahha ... thx for supporting jua to c aleng , c akim , c bule , c misur , c Lobo , c Moh , c BuKok , c PauL .. etc and wat so eva~.. daa~.. to be cont' BYE~ -end-"
--Pix.1) B4 main smua pemain2 d mesti kn makan sblum main.. minimum makan se ikung lauk Slungsong sebarat 5 kati labih , syarat dari pihak penganjur "
--Pix.2) Pihak Penganjur iaitu.. SEpon And MEOn Sedang sibuk mengatur acara tunjuk sana tunjuk sini(cam banar kamu ah) hahaha"
Pix.3)Buat2 menunggu giliran main.. biskal disediakn ntuk exercise.. Smpai mana dah Moh ko mengayuh ah? Bintulu? hahaha"
--Pix.4) Atu Ya Nah C JLO Punduk2 besila ah~.. hahaha lalah ku ngunjar kali ah , bah Lul bukan ya kn~ menyanang ada dua baldi lagi ayam alum besalai ah wawawa..
--Pix 5.) Eh Bule Muha... nda usah bekaras.. :P~ *diri sama jua* wawaawa...
--Pix 6.) Untuk membari smangat arah aku ma c paul dgn rela hati c Sepon pun belagu National Anthem Inter Milan .. dgn ada back up singer *tu kanak2 baju merah ah*
--Pix 7.) Bum Bum CHA!!!~~ ... *TRADEMARK EKUNG 7*... Bah kim... TUM BAAA~..
--Pix 8.)Semi Final TAG TEAM di antara PAUL AND BOBO vs LOBO AND BUKUK dgn di iringi oleh Peminat Setia kami eaitu c akim.... tu d blakang ah
--Pix 9.) Final Single antara b0b0 vs C jat & Tunangnya .. mbyuk eh drg dua aku sorang.. cnfirm ku kalah tu eh~.. hahaha
--Pix 10. C Jat as Penganjur menyampai kn Hadiah kpd Tag Team Champion In The World Snoop Dog And Billy Gun AlaMak Its Over Oredi!!~ wawawa gusti di bawa2.. hahaha lama tu bui bui..
--Pix 11.C Paul Menyampai kn Hadiah kepada Champion Single eaitu c JaT .. Eh Paul mcm kau plg penganjur ane tae pau banar eh hahaha... and to ijat.. Nda usah Bekaras Jat~ CaiK KAng!!~
--Pix 12. Last Skali -- MEmperkenal kn.. dari Left : Lobo ; Bukok ; C Moh ; C Bule Muha Karas ; c Akim yg Subuk2 ; C Sepon ; C Aling ; and Misur "
Sunday, July 20, 2008
He Really is Quite Savage
Who said this?
The same guy who said autism is a
I'd say I'm shocked, but sadly, I'm not.
From Media Matters
See for yourself:
[W]hy was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], "When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], "I don't know, the dust got me." See, everyone had asthma from the minority community.
The same guy who said autism is a
fraud, a racket. ... I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.'
I'd say I'm shocked, but sadly, I'm not.
From Media Matters
See for yourself:
WDI Instructor Heads for Serbia, But Will Return
Steve Llano, right, with Sam Nelson of Cornell and Bojana Skrt of SloveniaSteve Llano of St. John's University directed the Coach/Teacher workshop at WDI this year. He is now on his way to Serbia to do a debate workshop there before returning to WDI to teach at the College Parliamentary workshop. He leaves with fond memories of his stint at WDI so far.
Here are some passages from his own blog, found at
http://progymna.blogspot.com/2008/07/notes-from-wdi.html
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Notes from the WDI
There are a few things I expect to do every summer that I come to the University of Vermont to teach at the World Debate Institute.
One is that I'll eat Ben & Jerry's. Another is drinks at Red Square. A trip to the KKD is in order as well as Ali Baba's, the Red Onion Deli, and possibly a new place to eat as the turnover is pretty darn high around here.
Other things - I know I'll have to walk up that damn hill too many times. And I know I'll be tired, and I know that I'll meet a lot of people who will point out to me in a lot of ways how much learning I have left to do.
No disappointment this year. Even as an instructor I found the courses to make me think in new ways about teaching debate. Everything old is new again. This is exactly why I choose to teach at WDI in the summers when I could easily just stay home and relax. Already looking forward to next year.
In a couple of hours I'm off to Belgrade for more teaching and learning debate. This is a new workshop for me so I'm very interested to see how it goes. Then after that I will return to Vermont for WDI's World Style Debate institute. With over 30 students registered, it should be a really good workshop.
More from Belgrade tomorrow as I settle in and get a lay of the argumentative land.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
How Walkable is Your Neighbourhood?
To answer that question, you could go outside and try walking around and see how well it goes, or for those who prefer the virtual to the physical, go to Walkscore.com and type in your address. Based on things like density and proximity to shops and services, the software will give a ranking. It works for the US, Canada and the UK.
Of course, the really cool thing is seeing how walkable other cities and neighbourhoods are - you know, the ones you can't access by stepping outside your door. Unsurprisingly, San Francisco and New York City and Boston are the most walkable cities in the USA.
They don't have rankings of the most walkable cities in Canada, but you can search for addresses to get a score. Toronto didn't fare too badly, but it depends on where you live, really.
What does this all mean? They explain:
(Screenshot found here)
Walk Score admits there are many features currently overlooked by the software - like weather, design, safety, or topography, but it is still a pretty cool tool. Via Grist.
Of course, the really cool thing is seeing how walkable other cities and neighbourhoods are - you know, the ones you can't access by stepping outside your door. Unsurprisingly, San Francisco and New York City and Boston are the most walkable cities in the USA.
They don't have rankings of the most walkable cities in Canada, but you can search for addresses to get a score. Toronto didn't fare too badly, but it depends on where you live, really.
What does this all mean? They explain:
Picture a walkable neighborhood. You lose weight each time you walk to the grocery store. You stumble home from last call without waiting for a cab. You spend less money on your car—or you don't own a car. When you shop, you support your local economy. You talk to your neighbors.
(Screenshot found here)Walk Score admits there are many features currently overlooked by the software - like weather, design, safety, or topography, but it is still a pretty cool tool. Via Grist.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Coach/Teacher Workshop Draws to a Close
Steve Llano of St. John's University and Rhydian Morgan judge a debate
The five-day Coach/Teacher Workshop is drawing to a close here at the World Debate Institute. It has been an action packed week for them, and they have gotten even more than they bargained for. On Thursday, for example, each coach was presented with a huge pile of DVDs and CDs of instructional materials in every single debate format of interest. They have been introduced to Lincoln Douglas, policy, parliamentary and public forum debate. They are full of questions and anxious to learn.
Steve Llano of St. John's University has been directing the classes, but has had help from Jackie Massey, Rhydian Morgan, Alfred Snider and others. Steve is perfect for this position because he has been both a high school and a college coach and has experience in all of these formats, as well as having a doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
About the class, Steve said, "It was engaging, enlightening and practical. The teachers discussed everything from the basics of modern argumentation theory to the pragmatics of how to have the first meeting to start their debate teams off. Any teacher interested in improving the quality of critical thought at his or her school would have no trouble finding all the tools to do so in this workshop."
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