December 2004 Archives

Charles Taylor 1991, via Gerard Hauser 1999:

"The metaphor of moving together through conversational space can be sustained only if that space accommodates the appearance of the individual's I as a source of contribution. The presence of the I, however, invites us to understand the space and the we it contains from our own stance. The conversational partners qua individuals, or relata, must not be subsumed by the relationship or the relationship itself is lost. Their separateness is mutually necessary for differentiation. The relata and relationship, the separate I's and the we, are mutually constitutive of each other's identity within the space they create through conversation. But the I must continually grasp the intersubjective meaning that is always and exclusively a part of the we. Although personal and intersubjective meanings are always matters of perspective, mutual understanding requires that these independent points of view be linked. The we perspective is jeopardized when discourse partners jointly cease to grasp their common space of norms."

"A key action in the controversy over possible electoral fraud in the U.S. is about to happen -- and you can have your voice heard in it, if you wish. Rep John Conyers, who has held extensive House Judiciary Committee hearings on voting irregularities, is organizing a challenge to Ohio's Electoral College votes -- which will happen on January 6 when the Senate and House come together to open and count the electoral votes from all states. Serious irregularities were found in Ohio and important Ohio election officials did not cooperate with research by Conyers and others. Rep Conyers needs support from other Representatives and at least one Senator in order for his challenge to be effective. The information is below, and you can find out your Representative's and Senators' names and contact information from http://www.vote-smart.org (upper left corner of the home page) - or you can use the quick method given in the P.S. below my note.

"As most of you know, I do not consider this a partisan issue. Although normally I consider voting a minimalist form of democracy (compared to all the dialogue and deliberation that is possible and desperately needed), it IS a bedrock fundamental of modern democracies and, when it seriously breaks down -- as it seems to have done in a number of places two months ago -- it needs to be investigated and corrected with all possible speed. Having it openly discussed and the real situation clarified is at least as important (in my eyes) as which candidate ultimately wins the election. Whether or not this airing of the truth occurs has profound implications for future elections in the U.S.

Coheartedly,

Tom

P.S. - QUICK: For a fast email note to your representative(s), here's a one click page that looks up your senators and house representative and sends your personal message to them and the minority House Judiciary Committee, all at once. http://www.thepen.us/contest.html

P.P.S. - BACKGROUND: If you want more background information about this controversy, you can read an interview with Rep. Conyers at
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/12/21/conyers/print.html
and his statement of unanswered questions at
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ conyers electionstmt121304.pdf
For observed irregularities with the recently-completed Ohio recount, see
http://www.votecobb.org/recount/ohio_reports/index.php
There are also a number of articles at http://www.thepen.us/contest.html if you click the line that says "Click here for arguments" - which includes a defense of Ohio's electoral process by the Ohio Secretary of State, so you can make up your own mind.

from

Tom Atlee * The Co-Intelligence Institute * PO Box 493 * Eugene, OR 97440
http://www.co-intelligence.org * http://www.democracyinnovations.org Read THE TAO OF DEMOCRACY * http://www.taoofdemocracy.com

I need me some metis.

Stephen told us last spring about the fox and the hedgehog; then David got into it a few weeks ago. Seems the fairytales have the fox ultimately always losing. If such is true, (I'm in deep doo!) The intellectuals would try to have it otherwise.

I'm really psyched about my paper for Democracy, Rhetoric, and Performance. It's gonna be one long sucker, but fascinating (hopefully not only in a solipsistic way).

I should read this book:

Theory in an Uneven World

"What I know about writing has to do with where you put your heart."

"if I knew exactly what I was doing I have no doubt I would not be doing it."

"Why....?" "It adds something to that which is missing, a wholeness, an acceptance that there is more here than what we see."

I have to give credit to Scott and David (which you may feel free to interpellate as blame). :-)

Scott, for telling me a month or so ago that Bickford's book is amazing. It is. :-)

And David, for asking me just over a week (!) ago if I was going to write about the blog for my paper. Duh! Truth is, it hadn't even crossed my mind. Was trying to do something uncharacteristic ("very different than your previous work", so said Stephen back in the day), but which was gonna faciltate another project.

and we won't mention how hard Stephen's been riding my butt about making groups relevant to democracy.... ;-)

These notes are from the first week in December. Sam said,

"I remember as a child, growing up, I was going to the local church. During the war (WWII) we had somebody smash watermelons in the foyer of the church. It was a German church in Longmont, Colorado."

I've always known Sam was of German stock - how could one not, with a last name like Achziger? :-) What I didn't until this story, was that his parents were actually born and raised in Russia!!

I received an email from my friend Esther about the shutting down of online Hamas sites. Honestly, I have mixed feelings. Freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech. I deplore what they're about ... and ... maybe them doing it "in plain sight" is better than doing it in places harder to see?

These folks are usually up to some good stuff.

So, I've been pondering these distinctions:

group
community
group-that-becomes-community
"natural" group
organization (coalition, alliance, network, thinktank)
public
counterpublic

Here's my question, isn't a public just a very large group? A public is constituted how? by virtue of being an audience? because they engage in the same behavior (such as voting)? because they have a shared/common goal (elect a certain person)? what makes a public so special?

I've been enjoying talking with my mom more and more. She says her brain is slow, but I think she's figuring stuff out left and right, and facing it. Makes me feel optimistic about my own chances. :-)

"It was a mistake to assume that my cousin's universe was a tenuous universe of silence or emptiness. In fact it was a fluid universe of movement, affinity, alliances, sublime extravagances, evanescent pleasures, rendezvous with first-blush auroras, mornings, voyages, mercurial vagrancies, and a momentum forged in rampant elevation, up, up, standing on my shoulders in the water, vaulting circumfusion bubbled forth, embodied in a gulp of waves. His feet slipping from my shoulders and we both fell. It was a mistake to assume his silence was a heaviness, when in fact his silence was a gravity balanced light against the ballast of the world."

Nasdijj, the blood runs like rivers through my dreams, p.170

"You can never have enough biryani." Yes! Just finished my dinner. Leftovers rule! :-)

Lynn was right about that pan; I soaked it for three days! This one might need the same treatment, but I'm not complaining. Luckily, I'm the only one in the house. Clean-up from the big party has been going s-l-o-w-l-y.

:-)

Happy Holidays everyone! Sam sends his love and best wishes to you all. And hey - some folk who read this don't know who Sam is - maybe we could do a little something about that, and generate something nice for Sam too? If you could post a comment explaining "who Sam is to you"...? Too much like homework? Oh well. It was a thought. :-)

His room is full a gazillion cards (all from women, he noted, and he said "that door can't stand anymore cards on it" to which I replied, "you're too damn popular." He grinned.) He also has plants galore, candy out the wazoo, stuffed animals, xmas lights and a neon palm tree (gift from Jennifer, an aide). Not to mention all the presents!

I had lunch today with an old dear friend - over a decade by golly! Who at one point (after I made some nonsensical polite "filler" type of comment) laughed heartily at my cultural non-deaf-ness. :-) Then, she said I really am "deaf" though, in the sense of being estranged from family. She was referring to my family of origin, with whom my ties are tighter now than in many, many years, but which never nurtured a deep sense of belonging. She likened this to the experience of that vast majority of deaf individuals born into non-deaf families, and the seemingly inevitable distances that arise because of language acquisition issues and a range of phenomenological differences.

I am liking this guy: his philosophizing; reviews of his books: The boy and the dog are sleeping, The blood runs like a river through my dreams; even his rants.

this memoir is intense. No doubt some of it is timing (reading it now) but it would be powerful anytime, for anyone who's paying attention. So, I suspect, is his other stuff.

not quite the last supper, but then again....there were...how many of us in the class?

Bryan started us with his dream, starring himself as American Speechwriter: the Notetaking, The Nuances, The NOUNS!

He was accused of having an hyperactive imagination. But Stephen was reminded of a book on dreaming by some linguistic anthropologists, surveying anthropological approaches to dreaming. Intriguing! What I found:

The New Anthropology of Dreaming
Dreaming and the Impossible Art of Translation
a blogpost: questioning dreaming which led me to the book that I think (?) might be the one Stephen meant? Although it's not "new" - recently republished though:

Dreaming: Anthropological and Psychological Interpretations

I'm gonna need every minute of the 5 hours remaining until the deadline for Paula's paper. I just went to snag the last of the holiday treats that have sustained me over the past several days (thanks Erin!!) and wondered how my compatriots are doing. Anyone placing bets on who's gonna be the last one under the wire? :-) We could have claimed internet trouble, but then Paula sent that sly email out today - not about the deadline! Oh no, she's too slick for that! Just a little "something" so we'd all know she's "there." ;-)

My emergency remedy is to set my clock back an hour or two, then I can send it late but the time will still show before the deadline. Whaddaya think? %-0

I wonder if it was the same point in time when Lynn and I both looked around the room and realized we were the only two "americans"? North Americans, that is, and dang it all if I didn't just wake up thinking about Garnet :-( The self-identified "probably only monolingual" - Elizabeth of thanksgiving dinner fame - had already left. Arturo (the "strategy guy") and Fernando (of the "strong personality") may be on to something, although with this crowd, we might need more intrigue. :-) There was speculation that mariachi would be a great venue to confront heteronormativity, but only (probably?) in a society where the custom is already common, some places are probably ruled out, as tagged by their own, Viera and Yasser. Maria (and Company) argued persuasively, however, that the custom of serenading actually provides some balance of power for women in heterosexual gender politics. ! And then, once you take timing, personality, and other variables into account....no doubt we are talking art. :-)

"When we have done all the work we were sent to Earth to do, we are allowed to shed our body, which imprisons our soul like a cocoon encloses the future butterfly. And when the time is right, we can let go of it and we will be free of pain, free of fears and worries-free as a very beautiful butterfly, returning home to God."

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Overly religious? Nah...the kind of lucidy described by Balibar: "optimism of the will, pessimism of the intellect."

"It is Solstice, the longest night, the veil of the year worn thin. It is the night of the universal goddess in her solitary labor; the birth of eternal return, time revolving forward and back."

~ Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath, by Kate Moses (p. 213)

This site, Ancient Origins of Solstice, has a bunch of neat tidbits and links to more info on sacred sites. There's a bit about a Romanian fertility (!) tradition, turta; the architetural site of Maeshowe in Scotland, and lyrics from a song performed by Nowell Sing We Clear. (A tradition I missed :-( this year.)

The Winter Solstice will occur at 7:42 am (EST) Tuesday, December 21st.

One of my favorite memories of this place is the day after the election, when - in despair - a pal and I snuck off in the middle of the day to down a beer and commiserate. Last night, we returned with the better half (!), catching up on the rest of the semester and family politics and shamanism.

How about Ariel? ;-)

Twas a mellow evening: four of us engaged in three hours of talk, a scrumptious meal, a wee bit of kvetching, some spirited discussion regarding the merits of leech and maggot therapy, the importance of learning about "the other side", and various, historical shifts in residence, including someone's exciting upcoming move. All of this over (and against?) a bit of strategizing for getting done.

How did Paralichthys dentatus come to stand in for luck?

Described as "a flatfish noted for its fighting ability and flavor...[which] has both eyes on one side of its head and rests on the ocean floor on its side....Summer flounder are called the chameleons of the sea because of their ability to change color to match the bottom on which they are found....[They grow up to be] very active predators, often chasing schools of small fish to the surface and leaping out of the water in pursuit of them. This behavior clearly distinguishes the summer flounder from the other more sluggish species of inshore flatfish."

~ excerpted from recent email:

SL - SB needs you for chopping, peeling, etc. Please coordinate.

if no one has any better ideas for dessert, I can try my hand at khubani ka meetha (apricots and malai).

I think Sarbjeet forgot daal.

If someone can help me get paneer and a blender that I do not possess, I'll appreciate it:)Ö Never done both but there is a first time for everything!

if u've got it all covered, i won't make anything, and i'll EAT!

i am ready to help with aloo anything.

We can't have a meal without potatoes no? we can always have more biryani... since there's no such thing as too much biryani :-)

Spoken like a true Andhraite! we should have a movie too like the new released Flavors

i can also do just a paneer curry with aloo (also seems easier!) if spinach is needed elsewhere!

Steph said you were going to bring something

why is someone talking about frying allooos?

Donna observes: these sorts of attacks from Fox and the right-wing media are far more common this year than last...how do moderates and believers in separation of church and state compete with this onslaught of hate speech?

The Grinch who saved Christmas
Battling the homosexuals, liberals and Jews, Bill O'Reilly and friends are making America safe for Christmas.

Riva Kastoryano argues that the 9-11 attacks were pulled off by transnational actors in her piece, The Reach of Transnationalism.

Oh how I long for something like this!

"Visible Evidence, in addition to its interdisciplinarity and intense collegial ambience among academics, students and practitioners, is notable for its "manageable" single-stream program, in which all panels are followed by all conference participants in a cumulative process of dialogue."

~ thanks, Sreela, for passing on the call. I'm not into visual media that much (maybe I should be, with the Deaf connection), but the conference set-up itself is intriguing. :-)

Yesterday was a mixed day. The highlight was a breakthrough for a mental health patient who's treatment sessions I've been interpreting for over five years. WOW! The department party was enjoyable, but severely tainted by my memories of last year, when I was accompanied by my family. Alas.

~ from David. :-) Sound required.

http://studiointernos.interfree.it/bahianese.htm

http://svt.se/hogafflahage/hogafflaHage_site/Kor/hestekor.swf

That's

*"Butts to the gangway!"*

Seems a bit more apt (?) than "Back to the grindstone!" Don't you think? Not only are we working very hard, but there's this life/death/future career element to it all....

~ credit for the rephrase goes to an *anonymous* commgrad...lest I be blasted for sharing more "secrets"!

ìíinterpublic discursive interactioní. Craig Calhoun (1995, 242) has suggested that we therefore think in terms of ëspheres of publics,í conceptualizing these as ëmultiple intersections among heterogeneous publics, not only as the privileging of a single overarching publicíî (37). Except the blog is currently only one siteÖsuppose, a blog per class plus A Place in Space as the central heterogenous point? Experiment! ìConflictî independent study with Leda, Joanna, +? Raz? He could run an ìinternationalî blog while I run a domestic one? We could hide the URLs, keep the names private, not have the two groups read each otherís stuffÖ.until later, a point in time to be determinedÖ = ìpublic life in late-capitalist democracies involve a plurality of discourses competing for position in national spaceî (37).

Paula rules! This book is excellent AND her identification of relevant chapters is On The Nose.

~ so asks Donna:

On Dec 12, 2004, at 8:59 PM, Donna Halper wrote:

According to Adam Werbach, former president of the Sierra Club, yes it is. "[He] argues that the moral and intellectual framework underpinning Democratic politics has become irrelevant. It's time to craft a new progressive vision of fulfillment..." I'd be interested in your thoughts on his vision of what Democrats, liberals, and progressives ought to do next: http://www.alternet.org/election04/20689/

Li interviewd me on Friday for the department "oral history project" that Leda is spearheading this semester (mentioned in the comments to "Ghetto Talk"). I'm not sure where it's going, what the plans for it are, but it was an opportunity for me to reflect on what I perceive in terms of present department dynamics and speculate with Li about possible meaning(s).

In my abnormal way, I woke up this morning thinking about it. :-)

I feel a bit woozy. Let me see.....someone, like, came up with um, like a potential prospectus topic and also ripped a plant out of its pot, someone was harassed for disgusting personal habits while ruminating a form of coming out, social etiquette was a topic with somebody, a fantasy junkie mulled the lure of science fiction, debates ensued about prospective committee members and what makes a good match...someone's favorite movie is The Cutting Edge, Xena trumped for someone else, and somebody's Britney Spears fandom was irrevocably revealed.

Top complaint of department graduate students? Lack of resources.

Anyone care to confirm or comment? For instance, what is most relevant to your course of study that is not readily available within the department and/or for which you have to go some effort to acquire? (Effort that could be better spent directly on your studies.)

I learned this morning that Mary Frances Platt died in a hospital on September 15. The explanation provided was "complications from disability." Many may remember her for the anger that drove her to fight tirelessly for justice, yet that passion was infectious and transformative. Nonetheless, the moments of gentleness and affection that came after we'd duked out a solution to some seemingly intractable problem are what I remember best. I always thought we'd bump into each other again and find another project on which to work...

A memorial is apparently being planned for this spring in Northampton...

Ok, I'll try it Stpeh. Here's a speech Bill Moyers gave recently, "On Receiving Harvard Medical School's Global Environment Citizen Award."

It's been on my mind lately how hard it is to take in critical feedback.

Camille, thanks so much for taking on the "grand narrative" bit and reminding us that's passe! The term that came to mind as an alternative is scaffolding. We need some kind of networked structure of tropes and metaphors that complement each other but can be deployed variously and flexibly in myriad situations.

In Class Cultures, we're reading Lisa Duggan's Twilight of Equality and it fills a gap that's been missing from the democracy class - redistribution as the unifying theme of all left politics.

Here's the text of the poem that Shannon created from our emails. :-)

I'm thinking I might tinker with it to show how it was actually read (I took notes). Whaddaya think?

Finally! Stephen asks, "how interesting do you think your personal turmoil is?" Answer: Not Very! But it is "what I'm left with" (group relations perspective) when other engagement isn't forthcoming. Not an accusation, just an observation. Not having done any in-depth study into the tragic/comic frames (I've been missing Li in this discussion, and the class overall this semester), it strikes me that the tragic frame is more individualistically (narcissistically?) based, and the comic frame requires (?) participation of others...or is that just where I go with it? :-) Maybe I can't find a comic basis on my own, or, at least, I can't generate a comic frame without some visceral sense of relational connectedness. Can't say I enjoy that aspect of my subjectivity, and wouldn't it be nice to change it! But, Stephen, you're the one who told me I can't interpellate myself, so who, I ask is interpellating me, in which ways?! Where's the "audience" for the comedy I also try to perform here? Do I suck so badly at it? ;-)

I got an email from Aleta Carpenter, with a recent story. I've got permission to post it here, and will add more soon. fyi - my students just watched and debriefed a "problematic moment" that came up in the original fishbowl discussion. They totally rock (!) and I had a few revelations, which I'll be sharing...

Last night's democracy class was a rollercoaster, to say the least! We started on the floor in the hall, got sucked into Iris' latest crisis and her protests of not wanting to disturb us. "They're all disturbed," said Stephen. "Some of us more than others," said I. "You've gone over the edge," said someone to somebody.

Ukraine media rebel against official line

By Steven Lee Myers

KIEV, Ukraine -- The most striking, and potentially significant,
public rebellion against President Leonid D. Kuchma and his chosen
successor in Nov. 21's contested election began silently.

On the morning of Nov. 25, Natalia Dimitruk, an interpreter for the
deaf on Ukraine's official state UT-1 television, disregarded the
anchor's report on Prime Minister Viktor F. Yanukovych's victory and,
in her small inset on the screen, began to sign something else
altogether.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Stephen, that you read my tortured story on human nature as about the aftermath of the election and not as a reflection of my current whole life situation. 'Cuz in academia, that's what we do, and you're fulfilling your "function" in the DRP course as our instructor. Or, perhaps you elided that part "on purpose" out of some ethic of propriety - a boundary that shouldn't be crossed in polite company (i.e., publicly)?

I'm struck by the incredible energy on the DRP email list right now - getting religion back in schools, campaigning for school boards, all the great things we can read, and other "debates to be had" (Scott). No Doubt there is tremendous Education occurring at this very moment! And I don't mean to impugn it, although for some reason I keep getting pissed off when I start to write about this. Apologies for any misdirected stray rage.

thanks David - how did you know I'm "not getting enough email"?!! %-/

EU anti-discrimination database

from Mosnews.com, reported last Friday:

"Natalia Dmitruk, a sign language presenter with the Ukrainian TV channel UT-1 has ignored the text read by the news presenter and instead transmitted the message that the results of the elections were rigged, Russiaís NTV television reports."

She's concerned that the station might drop sign language interpreting altogether, but explained (in Ukrainian Sign Language as part of her protest): " I am very disappointed by the fact that I had to interpret lies." She then joined a strike called by journalists of the TV station.

A site

http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/sociosite/topics/theory.html#ETHNOMETH