Commenter Archive

I am a STEM graduate. Graduation was in 1984, back in the dark ages.

At the time I did study with some people that could have matched the unfit-for-college moniker, struggling with math and physics and most everything. Failing courses or barely scratching a pass.

30 years later, all of those I have kept track of, have had great and successful careers in our field.

I wonder how much of their struggles were a matter of maturity, or even brain development (I found myself more able to handle abstract technical issues in my 30s and 49s than when I was in college)

But in any case, they forced themselves to get their degree, eventually, and ended so much better than if they had given up and gone to vocational school.

On the other side, I've been several times to China. Traffic lights there are "gleen"

I'm quite sure trafic lights in Japan are "brue"

There's a weekly March in Dresden against Muslims. Apparently every week more and more people attend it. Do you have a view about it. Should the European Muslims go?

There was a referendum in Switzerland some years ago trying to minimize or stop the building of new mosques. Should Swiss Muslims immigrate to the U. S. as religiously persecuted?

Do you know who Lassana Bathily is?

He is the Muslim that saved six people's lives in the kosher deli attack in Paris.

I acknowledge that it's been many years since my family lived in Paris, but I feel your post lacks details.

In general, a BIG general, (Western) European (*) Jews are as integrated in society as they are in the US. There are no policies whatsoever that directly or indirectly disenfranchise European Jews.

There are, on the other side, two problems

1. A minority of a different minority (see Lassana Bathly) blame the state of Israel for the plights of some or all Middle East Muslims. This minority of the minority is taking advantage of (Western) Europe's liberal environment to engage in terrorists acts, some of which directed towards the Jewish community. On the other side, let us not forget that this minority is not as well integrated into society as the Jews are. Part of the reason for it not being integrated lies on the minority itself, a lot of whose members have been reluctant to embrace the surrounding cultural patterns. And the other reason is that the majority of Europeans have not been welcoming to this minority, looking at it with suspicion and resent way before 9/11, and has resisted the minority's integration to society in ways similar to their forefathers resisting the integration of Jews..

Besides, we must remember that Europe is no stranger to terrorism. Many European countries are hit by terrorist attacks of one sort or other. The most recent ones have been orchestrated by the minority of the minority, but there used to be plenty of majority terrorists (ETA, IRA, Red Army Faction (baeder-meinhof), Red Brigades) and Zander's Breivik is still a fresh memory. Europeans are used to see terrorism as a criminal and a political issue, solved by law enforcement and political action, when needed. In general this approach was worked, albeit through the long term, by tackling the root of the terrorist issues while prosecuting the acts of violence themselves.

We also must remember that the minority of the minority terrorist acts have not traditionally been against Jewish targets. The kosher deli is an exception. The Madrid train bombings is more the rule. Charlie Hebdo is more the rule. Should we grant asylum to all reporters that might be afraid of fatwas? What about all commuters afraid of trains blowing up?

2. The second issue is more troublesome. A minority of the majority in Europe has (again) risen against the Other. The Other is a lot of people: Muslims, Africans, Eastern Europeans, Southern Europeans, Latin Americans. And, because they have been the Other for hundreds of years, Jews. This minority of the majority's arguments would not be out of place on some tea party rallies. The Other are taking our jobs. The Other are mooching on our social benefits. The Other do not integrate in society. Freedom of movement across Europe had exacerbated the issue. There are so many new Other around. Albanians in the UK? Unheard of (go ask a working class Londoner what he thinks of Albanians or Poles. It's not pretty. Being blind don't make them part of the In crowd).

And this minority of the majority is turning violent. And Jews might get in the crossfire, I won't be surprised.

Should Jews emigrate from Europe? I hope they don't. I can understand if they want to. They always have the Israel option.

But no, the European governments are not pushing Jews out. Pushing them out of France, or Europe is not what the minority of the minority terrorists are looking for, so it won't be part of any political solution to that issue. And about the minority of the majority, as much as Jews are probably the most traditional Other, and thus get a lot of airtime in their discussions, Jews are not the Other this minority of the majority is the most concerned about.

Sleep-away camps are so much a Northeastern thing that my boss and some other people I know here in Houston TX send their kids away basically to upstate Ny and NJ. Never heard of anybody's kid going to. TX sleep-away camp.

My boss starts his kids camping arrangements by February. I get pulled in into that planning because I'm the offices flight routes wizkid and my opinion is asked about the best travel arrangements for drop off, parents weekend and pick up, since he always adds a bit of tourism to at least one of the trips.

@murali

But where does the line go is not only the difficult part. Is also the important, nay, the critical, part.

I find it too dangerous for society that anyone might claim that their faith excepts them from their common civic duties, whatever those might be at any time. I am agreeable to certain pre defined carve outs agreed by political consensus. But absent those I'd rather that no such claims are allowed.

Because, once you agree that claims of religious duty are a valid get out of jail card for some things I do not see the logic of disallowing such claims ever in any case. I read you as saying that their religious claims have to be balanced with the harm claims of others but that doesn't work for me. As a judge or a jury I can see, measure and balance competing claims of harm. I cannot see or measure claims of "sincerity", "belief" or "religious duty".

I understand that dropping a pig carcass in the floor will, according to many Jews -but not all- permanently defile a kosher restaurant. But I cannot measure the defile. Like Kazzy says, I can take out 100% of the pig from the floor and return it to the way it was before. But if you say it doesn't make it pure in your eyes there is nothing more I can say but go eat somewhere else if you prefer.

In other words, I think good will (and politeness) towards our fellow human beings requires a modicum of respect to their mores and traditions. I agree to cover my head in synagogues, I agree to not walk in shorts in churches. Even though I am not religious I stand up in respect in al the appropriate segments of the Mass. And I think I deserve the same politeness and respect towards my customs and ways as I am willing to give. Even from people that might think me impure

@murali

But this is just a get out of jail card. I don't have to obey any law as long as I claim that sincerely believe that my religion requires me to. And, by the way, no one can scrutinize whether my religion really requires that, or whether I sincerely believe what I claim I do.

So, if I shoot you on the street and I say I did it because I hate you, or because you stole one million dollars from me, well, that's a no; and I go to jail. But if I claim it's my sincere believe my religion teaches Singaporeans are abominations then is all good. After all, restricting me from shooting Singaporeans is a violation of my sincere religious beliefs.

What? That I can't shoot you? What do you mean it's too large a trespass on the harm value? But what about keeping the world pure from abominations? Not good?

Ok, so shooting is too much. I don't get a free pass for killing if I claim my sincere religious beliefs? But I do get a pass from the public accommodation laws.

So what other laws should be waived if they infringe my claimed sincere beliefs? I could agree that some public accommodation laws might be waived (I think it wrong, but it's a reasonable compromise). But I cannot accept an open ended principle that laws might be waived in the abstract if someone claims they violate their religion.

What I mean is that -as part as the political process-the specific waivers must be put forward and approved by the body politic. And there are no penumbras. Whatever waiver was not specifically approved does not exist.

Several of the (blue) states that passed legislation approving SSM did so including specific protections for a handful of situations involving religious institutions and people. However, conservatives put their efforts instead in constitutionalizing a discrimination scheme that not only forbade SSM, but any possible similar alternative.

When those constitutional provisions fell, the religious people found themselves without any prenegotiated waivers.

At one time they didn't want to give anything. Later they found themselves with nothing.

PS. For what it's worth. I have never been to Singapore but I have to take my mother's word that is the most extraordinary place she has ever visited. My mum would never lie to me about that.

i was in the UK in the summer of 2008, and one of those discussion panels came in on BBC. This one was about the US election.

Midway through the discussion, one of the panelists made the following comment

"I'm mildly surprised that so far no one has even thought worth pointing out that a year from now the U.S. Will have its first woman president or its first black president" (no one gave the slimmest chance to McCain in the UK in those days)

And I thought, he's right, I hadn't thought it being remarkable, either

there is at least one, in Hell Kitchen, really fun, but no line dancing (unless you count that each bartender has to dance on the bar itself every 10 minutes or so)

Kyle: "The first precept of the natural law, classically understood, is that good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided"

This first precept is tautological. Anyone, except perhaps psycopaths, would disagree. But it doesn't say yet what is good and what is evil.

Kyle: "To believe that there are knowable absolutes of good and evil does not imply absolute certainty that you have the last word on what they are. Saying such absolutes are knowable means simply that they can be apprehended by reason and can therefore serve as a guide to reason"

This where natural law loses me. Everyone seems to say""absolute good and evil can be known. Mind you, I don't claim I particularly know them, but I believe they can be known"

So if you, and you, and Tod, and Kyle, particularly, don't know what absolute good and absolute evil are, who does? If no one, them perhaps, just perhaps, it is really not knowable. Ít can only be experienced particularly. This particular thing in these particular circimstances is good, this other particular thing in these other circumstances is evil.

And from there on, we can try to build by analogy. If that particular thing was good in those circumstances, it might be good in these Let's try it and see what happens (like "marriage is in general good for families headed by opposite sex couples, it might be good for families headed by same sex couples, let's give it a try").

Kyle: "The good is that which all things seek after—the end to which they are naturally inclined" Sowhat are quasars inclined to? Are quasars not things? tornadoes? penguins? rhinoviruses? doors? Do quasars and penguins and rhinoviruses and doors seek the same thing? And do we know what they seek?

Kyle: " In my favor, the natural law leaves a lot of room for diversity of judgment and doubt about natural ends" If it does (and yes, I belive this is in your favour, Kyle), then natural law it is of very little use, because it can't go beyound the tautology of good is good and evil is evil, but we are not sure, nor can ever be, exactly what is teh boundary.

And taht brings as to Aragorn: Yes, you have to judge as you always did: you look at the thing, and the circumstances of the thing, and rule it good and evil as best you can, without a proclamation about what is end -the telos- of the thing, because that end, Iluvatar has not yet revealed , neither to the Maiar, nor to His children.

For what is worth, this is what happened to me, in my school in the early 70s (I was in 3rd or 4th grade, can't remember - I am going on 51 now)

I do not know from where, the school got hold of the lung of a smoker that had died of lung cancer. It was in a sealed plastic bag filled with some of those preserving liquids

There was no discussion about the morality of smoking

There was a very -pun intended- black and white discussion about the tar black lung, and the huge half-dollar sized white tumor creeping in the middle. About what colour a lung is supposed to be, and how it just looked like a charred piece of meat, with the ominous white spot creeping inside

After it was shown to all the students, it was kept in a shelf in the principals office, where you would not fail to see it

I wonder how would that play now, 40 years later?

AS it happens, I had a female primary physician for many years (and I am a guy). As years went by (I just turn 50), and my primary care involved more and more concerns about my prostate, my T-levels, my ability to raise the pole (why is it better in the mornings that the evenings and what not)etc., I finally switched to a male primary doctor last year. Silly as it is, I really couldn't face discussing my prostate or my sexual life with her.

I read a lot the site on my BlackBerry, and the changes have not been good:

1. When you read the new site in the Blackberry (same with the previous iteration) the indented comments don't scroll right, they just get shuffled to the far until all you have is a column of single letters (or long stretches of blank space when even the single letters get further intended)

2. It is not possible to adjust the font in the BB (it used to be possible in the Old Site), and the default font is actually quite big, which means only a few words per line, making it more cumbersome to read (more frequent scrolling)

A separate complaint that I always had (also in the Old Site) is the nested comments, which makes it difficult to go back to a post and see the new comments w/o starting again from the first comments.

Thanks

For what is worth, I also think the poet meant "cour" as in courtyard, and not "coeur" (heart), though I think the wordplay with coeur is intentional. When I read it thinking "heart" the metaphor looked clumsy to me. I hadn't picked up the rhyme with amour, but that only confirms it.

I loved the poem (i can read the french version), and I am surprised by how open and daring (and erotic) it is. I knew always that the tuared is far from a typical muslim culture, but do es this poem reflect the tuareg' s ideas or is it westernized?

I've lived in Houston since 1998, and I would cry if i had to leave. I totally confirm all of the above.

This is the third or fourth best city in the US in terms of live theater and music. Alas, all Christmasy right now

Fantastic restaurants, hip bars and cafes. Too many to count. And as said above, I also think about the Flying Saucer primarily because of the beers. You were lucky about Bombay Pizza 9i was there yesterday). I was rated Best Pizza in the Best of Houston survey in 2011. i haven't seen any other Indian Pizza place ever.

World class Museum of Fine Arts too. Next week an exhibit of masterpieces from Madrid's Padro Museum will open, and I was shocked to see in London's National Gallery not one, but two, traveling exhibitions at least six months after they were shown in the MFAH

And we are having the warmest December in record, with temperaures in the high 70s, at least 15 degrees above the average for the season.

Yes, Houston is not very pretty to look at, but it's a great place to live in.

Enjoy

rare commenter, avid reader

INTJ, with the T and J always "slightly", and the I and N lnways "strongly", no matter how many sites I go and take the test.

In the Eneagram, I am all over the place. it's easier to say what I am not:

Type 8: zero
Type 2: one

Types 3 and 6: six
Types 4, 5 and 9: five
Types 1 and 7: four

which I take to mean taht I am a total mismatch of anything that is not 8 or 2.

I find the M-B quite accurate, including the almost being an F and a P, but I don't find myself being really a not 8-not 2. It must be my strong N that has a problem with the Eneagram :-)

That, or being a Scorpio, with Aquarius rising, and a Water Tiger, both of which, I am scared to say, are quit accurate descriptions of my personality

But the are "really married". They might not be allowed to move into the US, but there is no doubt that if they are to end the marriage of convenience, they will need a real divorce

For what is worth, I travel about 50% of my time, and I still like it. Whenever I am home for like 3 weeks I miss the excitement of the plane, of getting to see different places (even if I have been there ten times already), of having different food, of taking hundreds of pics (not a metaphor, literally 100s) with my phone, of squeezing the odd extra day here and there to explore.

I applied to my second job, in 1986, because they ran an add in the paper that asked for an electrical power engineer, and that heavy travel would be involved. I never regretted it (25 years and going). I hope I never loose the wonder of it. Probably the coolest trip (at least to describe in cocktail parties) i've had was Houston to Shaghai to London to Buenos aires to Lima and back to Houston. Two weeks altogether

I find the possibility of doing in hours what it might have taken months not 100 years ago to be amazing and exhilarating. I guess I am a 49 yeras old child. .It's a big planet and I want to have as much as possible of it

And refineries are cool places. I don't go to many, but when I do, I also take pics galore with my phone. I am based inHhouston and I take visitors to see the refineries at night from the highway. Boy, do I need a life

 

I’ll note that Meryl Streep probably deserves to have her name carved into every Oscar for best Lead actress from now on for her performance in Iron Lady

I would say exactly the same thing about Michelle Williams and A Week with Marilyn

200 years ago the vast majority of Europeans were dirt poor. 100 years ago most still were. Today, very few Western Europeans are poor, and almost none are dirt poor. A lot of that is attributable to policy changes that are as old or even predate Bismark's (i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck#Bismarck.27s_social_legislation)

So I would think empirically policy changes can impact poverty in a massive way. However, those changes aacxcumulate through generations before they become as meaningful as what we see today in, for instance, Western Europe.

It is said that when T. roosvelt was advised taht certain project will take 100 nyears to be completed, his response was: "we then need to start immediately"

But state taxes are taxes, so if it is bad to use state taxes to support welfare services it is wrong to use them to support manger scenes

If you really want to nitpick, it is Andalucia

Is there anyplace in the web where I can find Sapho 31, or someother of her poens, read aloud? It's all greek to me, but I would love to hear the rythms, and see what it feels like.

See if it sounds as beautiful as Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible movie, where the Russian language (which i don't understand either) is part of the esthetic experience.