Reflexivity

As I walked slowly through Yad Vashem, taking in – yet again – the history of humanity’s immense cooperation in the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people, I could not help but draw connections between the strategies of the past and similar strategies adapted for the present. The Shoah (Hebrew for holocaust) is unique in its massive coordination of industrial, civic, cultural, and institutional means for the purpose of mass murder. The build-up to Germany’s expansionist military and comprehensive campaign of dehumanization is strikingly parallel to the build-up in the U.S. prior to the invasion of Iraq, and alarmingly similar to the rhetoric now laying the groundwork for bombing Iran.

Young conscripts for the Isreali Army also happened to be touring the museum at the same time. My spine chilled to witness this part of their indoctrination as much as my heart sank at the documentation of sheer brutality. We humans can yet do no better?

Remember only that I was innocent
and, just like you,
mortal on that day,
I, too, had had a face
marked by rage,
by pity and joy,
quite simpy, a human face!

I was inspired by the Jewish Youth Organizations: Almanac of the Defiant Ones – Ha’-Ma’apilim (1944), Irgun Brit Zion, Akiva(h) Youth Movement, the Hahulutz Halohem – “The Fighting Jewish Pioneer Youth Organization, and Drov. Will it remain the burden of youth to save us from adult folly? The Righteous Among the Nations are also a source of optimism. Despite their relative small numbers, that they existed then allows the possibility that more of this breed of human being could exist today. Bulgaria (did you know?) saved most of the their Jewish community, as did Denmark, the LeChambon-sur-LIgnon region of France, Italy saved 80% of their Jewish community, and an organization in Poland, Zegota, also saved Jews.

The Nuremberg Trials, which I’ve studied somewhat for their use of live interpretation, decreed three particular and distinctive types of crimes:
1) crimes against humanity
2) war crimes
3) crimes against peace.



Despite all the musuems, remembrances, memorials, and daily current events, few of us seem willing to do the work necessary to make peace. Are we all so satisfied with “the breaks between pain…..[that somewhat resemble] happiness”? (Imre Keresz, Fateless).

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We will see who – if any – of the students in my classes are ready to converse….I am trying to facilitate a dialogue without leading them too much by the nose. I know full well that it could be that the reality of their lives, like most of us, are dictated by what they have the time for instead of what they wish to do.

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Oh dear. :-/
The “ideal” acupuncture treatment is ONE needle. The idea being that a) the person being treated has clarity about what they need and b) the person providing treatment knows precisely where to tweak the need.
My average is three-four. I’ve one includes the treatments with a combination of brief pokes and static insertions over time, I may have reached or even (?) exceeded six of those minute stabs during one go. But I’ve never been privy to the grand total of SIX (!) needles: both sides of the neck, both feet, and both hands. “I decided to treat both sides today,” said the Intuitive Acupuncturist, “I don’t usually do that.” My issue of the day was r-e-g-u-l-a-r-i-t-y. Seems this matter must be broached from many angles. Simultaneously.
That, or I have no freaking idea what I “ought” to be focusing on for these treatments. Yikes! The upcoming trip to Jerusalem was on my mind (along with various associated potential consequences), my dad’s health (mild stroke last week), family shenanigans in general….oh yes, teaching, writing, researching, staying sane in systems that become more obviously insane the more I learn how to perceive functions, effects, consequences….
Balanced with excitement over the conference presentation, progress in the discourse/dialogue of my students (despite their disgust with the wiki), visions of how to improve both the technical and pedagogical aims of teaching through this combo of online-and-face-to-face, not to mention a possible theme for the spring’s ENG112:

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I made a faux paux the other day, responding to Martí Cabré. S/he (as I plunge headlong into another one!) copied a photo I took of an art installation in Istanbul last summer. I was curious. The photo is evocative and in fact reminded me of the struggle some of my juniors are having letting go of being told in order to risk reaching out on their own terms. When I clicked through to see Martí’s post, I discovered text in a foreign language and – for some reason – assumed the language was French. I am not sure why, as I do have a passing familiarity with Spanish; had I looked I would probably have made that (just as egregious an) error. At least, my good friend the Wanokip tells me, French and Catalan are both Latin languages.
What I realized, heart-in-mouth, was that I did not “look.” My eyes glanced over the unfamiliar script and bounced off, catching no friction. What would have held me was not (in this instance) any quality inherent to the language or the medium (internet computer screen). I was in a hurry. My mind was multitasking, not inattentive but distracted, cast in multiple directions.
Martí kindly provided a synopsis in English:

I was frustrated because my server could not access the blogs area. Everything was fine but the blogs. And I had things to say. I had a need.
So this made me thought about the fragility of communication (the title). We are used to communication in one way (like in TV) where the bond with the viewer is based on the constant stimuli. This is similar to some Internet contents and specifically blogs, where the voidness of the contents is concealed by the amounts of smalltalk.
I try to write things with some sense so some feedback is needed with the readers, to keep learning myself about what I write. It is too complex to be one-way. I need the other side. And if I write sporadically this bond is weak. And if my server does not allow me access to writing, a frustration arises.
This is the content of the text. And, of course, it relates as a metaphor of human communication and your image was perfect.

When I first clicked through to Martí ’s site, I was guilty of my own dependence upon “communication in one way”: I needed English. (Is this similar to my students expressing the need for oral – not written – instruction?) Certainly I appreciate the desire for feedback, for interaction, for engagement with the complexity of learning ourselves and learning more about subjects of interest. Just this morning, Jose and I discussed leadership as feedback that helps a person adapt…good teachers invest in giving feedback that enables students to adapt.
Martí included links to information about Catalan. Another commenter just provided some sources concerning Esperanto in response to a recent post: No Mother Tongue? Is this an example of (quantum level) relative synchronicity?!
Catalan, language: wikipedia entry
Catalan, people of: wikipedia entry
famous Catalans: wikipedia list
Esperanto, university program website: Esperanto

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Christi imagined a piece of Alec’s spirit in each balloon, including the parts of him held by and given to each person present. I thought of the pace of their departure, the wind picked them up so fast! I imagined their speed parallel with the way Alec lived, not that he was always in a rush, but once that boy had decided there was no hesitation.
The weekend passed quickly, wedged between hectic work weeks for all of us. Yet the picnic at Alec’s gravesite flowed leisurely. The steady stream of arrivals began at one pm and continued until the release an hour-and-a-half later.
The mood was at turns festive, contemplative, sad, and peaceful. The day itself was beautiful. Uncle Dick, all the way from Port Angeles, WA, offered some remarks. Many in the crowd were probably unaware that his daughter, our cousin Saundra, died of leukemia when she was twenty. (Her memory is celebrated annually by the Peninsula Tennis Club.)
Uncle Dick shared some thoughts with us from an article by Mark A. Lorenson, You Can Not Lose the Ones You Love, which challenges the “conventional wisdom” that “we miss the ones we love” (47). Applying the philosophy that “we, through our current beliefs, are actually creating our experience of ‘missing’” (48), Lorenson proposes a reframing which Uncle Dick exhorted us all to try:

I love you and feel your presence.

In all ways, from everyone gathered and those whose thoughts were with us, a fitting tribute.

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We had in time in College Writing (first year writing) on Thursday to do a round of check-ins, “What’s best about this class, What’s worst about this class, and something random.” I had not thought about participating (duh) and felt as on-the-spot as some of the students may have when it came to the end and – as a few students insisted – my turn. Alec and this trip to Kansas City was high on my mind, but I was thinking to myself, “No, that’s too personal; telling them might compromise the teacher/student boundary.” The students are interacting well, there was teasing and a fair number of comments and teasing about some of the things people shared. A minute or two before my turn, two of the boys had an exchange and one of them said, “Oh Snap.”
That was my sign to let them know.

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A few results of interest on the survey Association of Internet Researchers listserv members: definitions of lurker and troll, influence of the searchability (i.e., findability) of member postings on the Internet, assessment of a community sensibility and norms for communication (topics, style of discussion).
I need to review their Ethical decision-making and Internet research closely for a project I want to propose for this upcoming academic year. I should also spend some time checking out The Center for Internet Research more closely, too.

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Downtown Amherst, Sunday night. GQ haircut, spiffy duds, trademark banter (Beyonce’s backup band members, Hermit Island, show production, and party locations. Did he tease about the blog? Hmmmmm….
Smart guy: defended his thesis a year ago (Trophy Children Don’t Smile) and keeps up a very sharp website. Worth knowing.

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The Communication Department has a few excellent multimedia presentations available for online viewing, including Sut Jhally on television’s exploitation of audience, Lisa Henderson on Queer Visibility and Social Class, and Mark Crispin Miller on electoral fraud and political manipulation.

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