argument #5342

In chemistry class, my friend and i had, what ended up turning into a large academic debate. Should effort calculate towards a final grade?
I argued absolutely not. Effort is not quantifiable and is therefore rendered irrelevant to the GPA. She responds that that is precisely what's wrong with the study of math [??? huh] there is no account for what it takes to get to the right answer.
What??
This is the reason why mathematics is statistically 50 years ahead of the social sciences. If effort could be quantified by some ratio of time to energy then it would be a justifiable component to a cumulative grade...
Intelligence is not proven to be fully inherent and knowledge most certainly isn't. Effort must manifest into academic achievement or there is some profound link missing in the chain of causation. Therefore making effort expendable and wholly useless!!! It's not that if you study you don't do well [because you're dumb or incapable], it means your methodology of doing so is somehow miscalculated.
ugh.
ugh.
whatever.
just kind of infuriating..
i despise the affirimative action argument.
gonna be late... ciao.

well, i guess we should share good news when we've got it... [well big good news anyway].
got accepted to a summer pre-PhD program in NYC. This doesn't mean all that much. Basically the 12 people in the program get a couple grand, free GRE testing, and a heads-up into Ivy level doctoral programs... this is all very swell, more like convenient actually... so despite the incredible rush in this all becoming a plausible reality, i am still taking it one major step at a time and trying hard not to jump the gun...
okay more less self-centered stuff later.
have a wonderful, beautiful, oh-my-goodness-gracious-its-really-spring- sort-of-day.

lovely rainy day today has turned into a lovely rainy night.... [my grandfather is sitting next to me confirming his and my grandmum's flight tomorrow- we've decided that talking to machines is similiar to talking to yourself...]
oh, i do love rainy soggy days in this odd sort of English way [grandpop is shouting 'help! help! to customer service recording]. finished up on some Virginia Woolf reading and also Michael Cunningham's The Hours [i'm trying to stay ahead for once]. I must say i liked the metaphor more than the words, i seem to have gravitated to the parody more than words that inspired it.... [grandpops has finally reached human personnel]. ... Dad also gave me a lovely snippet of an essay to read on Dinah- Leah and inherent female outgoingness.... its seems to have been a day of all things feminine, the rain accompaning it thoughout, a sort of lunar day, and so utterly modest in its own quietness... enough. i shan't disturb the gentle lull of the rain... not tonight.

to the one i met on this afternoon on that rainy street of squashed magnolias-

What matter if I live it all once more?
Endure that toil of growing up;
the ignominy of boyhood; the distress
the unfinished man and his pain
brought face to face with his own clumsiness;

the finished man among his enemies?-
how in the name of Heaven can he escape
That defiling and disfigured shape
the mirror of malicious eyes
casts upon his eyes until at last
he thinks that shape must be his shape?
and what's the good of an escape
if honour find him in the wintry blast?

i am content to live it all again
and yet again, if it be life to pitch
into the frog-spaw of a blind man's ditch,
a blind man battering blind men;
or into the most fecund ditch of all,
the folly that man does
or must suffer, if he woos
a proud woman not kindred of his soul.

I am content to follow its source
every event in action or in thought;
measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!
when such as i cast out remorse
so great a sweetness flows into the breast
we must laugh and we must sing,
we are blest by everything,
everything we look upon is blest.

Pesach has been going lovely in sorts. It is always a challenging holiday to see through and i do not pretend otherwise. i thoroughly enjoyed our sedarim. The first is always modeled after bubby's boarding house- with songs, laughter and spontaneous 'dayeinu' verses and originally composed 4 questions [always a game and always fun, and for those of you who do not know i am from a family of rhymers and poets]. the second- at the Krinsky contingent grandparents is usually a bit more intense. that day we sit and try to come up with questions, 'good' questions to pose at the seder. everyone does. it's a family mishegaas of sorts. we do this only the second night where there's no dessert deadline hanging over our heads. I look forward to these times and am currently being somewhat ousted by the family for holding up the festivities until the predawn hours....
so this year the conversation landed somewhere between Egypt, Haran, and Harvard. We were discussing for quite some time the concept of paraoh being 'priya' and lavan 'levan' representing amongst the highest spiritual levels- the concept that golus is essentially greater than redemption- the idea of not being conscious enough to obtain freedom, and what freedom means to those that actually succeed in obtaining it.
turns out my grandfather actually knows noam chomsky [as cousin Yirmie claimed]. he went to harvard [tho now he' s at MIT] to meet him on several occasions. my grandfather wanted to discuss the concept of letters or 'oysios' [chomsky's 'brilliance' is most highly recognized in his theory of abstract linguistics- aka that all languages share the same syntactical properties and fundamental principles]. my grandfather claimed that he kept changing the subject to the industrial revolution and "was just an nisht of a guy". we somehow connected this all to pesach. i told my grandfather that nisan is the month of communication- yehuda, hey, and the five parts of the mouth [ he's not overly into astrologically related things]. to which he responded that what was precisely what was wrong with chomsky. he knew everything about letters adn nothing beyond it.
here's the theory.
if the world was created through speech, as nisan is the first of the year [yes somewhat a jump] speech must reverberate in all creations, in all things, in men, plants, and space. there can be nothing besides words, words, words, the Word repeated over and over again... sustaining it, giving it life, giving it It. then does it not make sense that all languages share sameness? that they are fundamentally alike? that they are abstractedly related?
but what lies beyond The Word. my grandfather explained that pesach is the holiday that the child recognized his father. pre-speech, pre-communication, pre-love. it is when the child receives bread and recognizes father is father, and bread is life. it is the first stages of cognition before communication is acted upon. some call this faith. others call this belief. others, take it for granted and call this what just is...
i'm not sure how exactly to pinpoint this, but its i found it to be fascinating... something that has been playing in my mind as i write and write and write.... what am i saying? what are any of us saying? where are the great abysses of silence and what are they saying? this is a lot to think about thankfully the night is still young and the breeze is roaming the streets looking for company.... and then again, perhaps i am simply under the spell of incessant verbiage.... ;)
goodnight, good morning and peace to you all my friends.

please note:

this article is an assignment that is due for my poli-sci class on the work of Noam Chomsky [see comment below]. undoubtedly, it is hardly appropriate material for erev pesach [unless you are truly that bored].
kosher in freilichin pesach to all-
have fun pealing-
and please try somehow to find your own personal freedom this yom tov.

reading between the [head]lines: an outrage of corporate conspiracy

Every facet of life possesses inherent political value. Because all knowledge is ultimately socially constructed, ideology is of utmost and central importance. Taking on the role of traditional meaning-making, these theoretical institutions are intrinsicly part of media corporations and remain an essential component in the means of dominant production and shaping the framework of the social world. Ideologies are used to support and justify the foundations of power, injustices caused by representation. This centralization of American 'opinions' and world socio-economic 'views' are then solidified, forming a cohesive media plan to suit a higher corporate agenda. An agenda that is often based on and perpetuates cultural hegemony, a deteministic, technicaized, and hyperrationalized view of life. It rejects complexity and diversity in favor for a dichotomous or binary world perspective. As super genius Noam Chomsky elucidates in his landmark work Manufacturing Consent, "in normal times as well as in periods of Red scares, issues tend to be framed in terms of a dichotomized world of Communist and anti-Communist powers, with gains and losses allocated to contesting sides, and rooting for 'our side' considered an entirely legitimate news practice. It is the mass media that identify, create, and push into the limelight a Joe McCarthy, Arkady Shecchenko, and Claire Sterling and Robert Leiken, or an Annie Kriegel and Pierre Daix. The ideology and religion of anticommunism is a potent filter." And what is defined as communist? Anything and anyone that challenges policies that threaten "property interests or support accommodation with Communists states and radicalsim". This misrepresentation fragments the left and labor movements and is consistenly portrayed as 'anti-American'.

In this informaton thriving universe the media seeks to construct reality, to become reality without claiming to be subjective interperters of the life experience. Chomsky further states "The elite domination fo the media and marginalization of dissidnets that results from the operation of these [media] filters occurs to naturally that media news people, frequently operating with complete integrity and goodwill, are able to convince themselves that they choose and interpret the news "objectively" and on the basis of professional news values." Thus, social constructs being so utterly melded into the 'common experience', create consumer blindness and 'neutrally inclined' consciousness. This immersion is an American phenomenon and reproduces our moral handicap. Because we remain both victim and product of it, the public often fails or even desires to notice its terrifying affects.

There are twenty-four major corporations that deliver the world news. These media companies are large, profit-seeking businesses, owned and controlled by quite wealthy people. Many of the large media companies are fully integrated into the market, and others too, the pressures of stockholders, directors and bankers to focus on the bottom profit line are powerful. Media companies are inspired toward network profits and appealing to a broad range of advertisers. Because attracting consumers is both the main claim and goal of the media, news that discourages buying [such as the conditions of sweat shops in Pakistan etc.] are filtered or subverted to more 'consumer friendly' news. Media corporations seek to create distance between cataclysmic news events, especially those that tend to discourage domestic commerce. Media families like Murdoch, Turner, Newhouse, Bancroft-Cox, McGraw, Chandlers, Annenbergs, McCormick and Hearst are the executors of higher capitalistic ventures. They create and determine "news-worthy news", filtering in a propogandic model what is appropriate and what is not. There is a reason why Bill Clinton and George W. Bush flew to Australia to pay homage to Rupert Murdoch.

The relationship of media companies and the government are also of great significance. The media is dependent on the government for policy friendly regulations. As with all "good businesses" media corporations are interested in taxes, labor policies and interest rates. As Chomsky notes GE and Westinghouse [two of the largest media suppliers] "depend on the government to subsidize their nuclear power and military research and development, and to create a favorable climate for their overseas sales." In addition to this, as with all out-sourcing businesses, the media monster holds a special interest in international affairs, particularly "Third World" nations.

Because news is both imported, exported and manipulated for higher purposes, the media giants, advertising agencies and great multinational corporations hold vested interests in the consumerist [American] worldview [such as the belief that the Muslim world rejects the "American" way of life]. For this reason, media victims are chosen carefully. As in the case of Jerzy Popieluszko vs. the hundreds of murdered priests in Latin America, remarkably the face of Mr. Popieluszko, a murdered priest in then communist Poland appeared on the covers of the New York Times, Time and Newsweek several times, the murders of Archbishop Augusto Ramirex Romero, father superior of the Fraciscan order in Guetemala, and four American nuns did not appear once. America was too 'involved' in Central America [namely supporting the National Guard that perpetrated the crimes] to feign outrage. It is not without reason that only those that to do not interfere with the greater Agenda and deemed worthy of 'coverage', and those that selected recieve extremely structured 'sympathy' and generate carefully monitored public reactions.

News that does not support the corporate agenda is silenced. While listening to a news program it is pivotal to comprehend all that is not being said. Indeed, any nightly news watcher must remember that "political discrimination is structured into advertising allocations by the stress on people with mondy to buy. But many firms will always refuse to patronize ideological enemies and those whom they perceive as damaging their [economic] interests, and cases of overt discrimination add to the force of the voting system weighted by income." A recent example of this phenomenon can be see in Katie Couric's recent uprgrade to nightly news anchor. Ms. Couric, a popular morning show host, adds an entirely new audience-consumer block to the network. It is a corporate move that is highly expected to increase public ratings. Thus, it is absolutely crucial to realize that the ultimate purpose of television news programs, talk show radio shows and newspaper magazines is TO BUY SOMETHING and the listener/reader should not assume that they are obtaining a well-rounded, "objective" world view from multiple perspectives.

Tragically, the reciprocity of media-government- and advertising/business, creates a Bermuda Triangle that encapsulates the American public. Gone are the days of activism and social consciousness, the days of political awareness have been replaced with the rush to pursue a an economic vision of the American Empire. We are an apathetic, desensitized, and morally lethargic nation. And worse, we no longer care that we do not care. We no longer care that the issue of power politics go unchecked and that our modern identity is primarily forged by steel, labor and capital and not the grounds of true humanitarian rights [not the Iraqi claim], liberty and equality. We not longer care that we have no opinions, that we have no voice, that we are "neutral". As stated earlier, there is no such thing as "neutrality", silence merely accords, supports and perpetuates hegemony, it is the mechanism upon which the entire structure rests and relies upon. Today, we are able to efficiently prevent much of world sufferring, feed more hungry children, and help aide in the fight to end world poverty. Today we can infuse our democratic freedoms with a true equality, not masking a global seizure of human rights under the pretense of liberty. And yet, so many of us choose not too. So many of us have fallen prey to the indoctrination of consumerism, we have, unawarely, neglected our consciousness in pursuit of greater materialism. We are unconscious that we continuously make the choice to settle, to be 'neutral', to watch TV, or worse, go shopping.

I haven't fallen off the lunar plane or retreated into the folds of the lotus flower of time... i am experiencing life from a new angle, from a different premise of light and it is both enlightening as it is interesting.... no complaints finally picked my thesis topic [yeats' poetry influenced by magical cults] cut my hair [unbelievable but i actually like it] and took a nap this afternoon in my bathtub [it's really the most comfortable thing ever].... somewhere between being informed that a close friend of our family passed away this afternoon and going through my shelves of books sorting and cleaning i realized that despite all my new found 'freedoms' of health, focus and work, i feel no sense of absolute freedom... and i cannot help but wonder if perhaps the definition of freedom has simply escaped me.
I've always thought of freedom as the ability to be the greatest version of yourself, without obstruction, tension or struggle... but there are myriads of subleties involved when attempting to form some defintion of self, and there is no remarkable 'clarity' within the crystalized product....

The brutal sunlight of the desert
glitters
a golden promise
of golden chains-
glimmering upon
the road to
redemption.
At the city gates
I have seen you prostrate yourself
worshipping
illusioned freedom...
post-it notes
maps upon your mind
of all that is to do
in the liberation
of
tomorrow.
Even as slaves
you are humble
before the tyrant
of petty things
you praise the ordinary
the bland
the tasteless
the pathetic
the rotten
although it slays you
whips your soul
and withholds
your consciousness.
the best of you
lack conviction
while the worst
do not see
past
the passionate intensity
of single
vision.
In the grove of the holy temple
in the shadow of the citadel
I have seen the freest
among
you
on the street corner
of indecision
selling your freedom
as the handcuff of legends
as the fatal wrinkle
of truth.