The Big Easy

Post questions or suggestions here.
MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:45 am

Oops. I said for the good of the planet. I need to change that. How 'bout -- just because you can.

Faizi

User avatar
Blair
Posts: 1527
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:47 pm

Post by Blair » Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:22 pm

Woman, so quick to degenerate to the petty and savage.

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:42 am

Well, I reckon that is the last note on this thread. I never realized that proposing the death of human beings could be considered either petty or savage. I mean, the planet is better off without them, as you said. The less human life, the better, you said. So, what's wrong with you leading some people into suicide or something? How is that different from thousands of poor people dying every day? Why discriminate?

Faizi

avidaloca
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2001 6:24 pm
Contact:

Post by avidaloca » Sun Sep 18, 2005 12:02 am

What's President Bush's position on Roe vs. Wade?

He doesn't care how people get out of New Orleans.

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:08 am

I heard that joke a couple of days ago and I told it to my mother. She figured Bush had really said it.

Pretty funny.

Faizi

User avatar
DHodges
Posts: 1531
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2002 8:20 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

... and now, Rita

Post by DHodges » Fri Sep 23, 2005 11:25 pm

Rita has already caused some deaths, and quite a bit of confusion, and hasn't actually hit the coast yet. It remains to be seen what the impact will be on gas prices over the next few weeks, but I expect it to be dramatic.

Damage from Katrina, maybe $100B; the figure for Rita should be comparable. And the period of heightened hurricane activity is expected to last for another 20 or 30 years (by some).

Katrina, and now Rita, have much greater economic impacts than any terrorist action against the US has had. But the impact does point to some weaknesses (e.g., the New Orleans levees) that terrorists could have exploited, had they put their minds to it.

So, naturally, the Lex Luthor side of my mind turns it into a game: what other weaknesses could terrorist exploit to leverage great damage from a relatively small attack?

I thought about this at a recent actuarial conference. This is something terrorists would never think of, I'm sure, but this sort of event has very low security. Anyone could attend.

At the reception, there were hundreds of experts in a pretty limited field (insurance reserving). What would be the economic cost of a bomb going off there, taking out these few hundred people?

Hard to calculate - and certainly not as dramatic as flying a plane into a building - but the economic impact would surely be in the billions of dollars, at least.

There must be similar events in other industries that are very low security.

One or two such terrorist attacks, besides the immediate damage, would have additional economic impact as similar meetings are cancelled, or heavy security measures are implemented. Heavy security would be a constant reminder of the threat of terrorism, which would certainly be an additional benefit for terrorists.

Anyway, if terrorists were to turn to thinking deeply about how to cause a lot of damage, rather than just making a spectacular media event, we could seriously be in a lot of trouble.

And that is my Cheerful Thought for the Day!

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:39 am

I have thought of one idea but I hate to say it.

Faizi

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Wed Oct 12, 2005 2:08 pm

For the record, I want to say that I am just as disturbed by the earthquake in Pakistan as I was about the hurricane in New Orleans. More than twenty thousand deaths.

To put things in perspective, I will say again what disturbed me about New Orleans was not the hurricane but the lack of response to the people in desperate straits. Not because those people were Americans. I could not care less. What bothered me was the lack of response by the US government on all levels when this disaster occurred in the US.

Pathetic.

The US has responded quicker to the earthquake in Pakistan than to the plight of the people in New Orleans.

God knows, I am not given to conspiracy. But I do think the recent subway hoax in New York is highly suspicious. Personally, I am sick and tired of the whole terror thing. Of course, a subway attack could happen here as it did in Britain.

But I think that recent alarm was contrived.

Faizi

User avatar
DHodges
Posts: 1531
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2002 8:20 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

New Orleans 1927

Post by DHodges » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:53 am


MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:05 pm

I have been aware of the history you posted.

Many people see no point in studying history and I am certainly nothing near a historical scholar but at least I have some clue.

It is disheartening to talk with some Americans. Here is my most recent example. I work with a young woman who is nineteen years old. Bright enough but, for someone who has graduated high school, very ignorant. We talk often and she told me that when the terrorist attack occured in NYC in 2001, she had never heard of the World Trade Towers. She was a sophomore in high school in 2001.

Not bragging in the least but my kids have known where the WTC towers were located since they were practically babies. Not because they are so smart. The only reason I can think of that they knew even where the location of New York City is because I told them.

School has become very tough for kids these days -- much tougher than when I was in school. Elementary school is pure hell. I could not make it getting a kid through elementary school again. It would kill me. They have all these horrible projects to do -- like building three foot tall replicas of the White House in fifth grade. I am not a carpenter so I could not handle it. Until my father helped out, my idea was to paint a carrot white and stick it on some cardboard and call it the Washington Monument -- that was the easiest option.

Anyway, despite supposedly having the capability of a finish carpenter at the age of ten, the expectations seem very low to my thinking.

When I spoke with this young woman at work -- certainly young enough to be my daughter -- nearly young enough to be my granddaughter -- we compared notes on growing up. When I was a kid, the family generally ate supper together and we all watched the evening news together. I was terrified growing up but I definitely knew a lot about the Cuban Missle Crisis and Vietnam. I usually went to bed each night frightened out of my wits that the war was going to escalate and somebody was going to drop a nuke and I might die from the fallout. I also was very aware of the civil rights movement in this country during the sixties. I mean, I watched this stuff on television every single day of my life and I formed ideas about it and I listened to my parents talk and there was always, at least, the local newspaper in my house and news magazines that I read from an early age. I also grew up listening to news radio and any news program on television that came along.

By comparison, my young friend said that her parents never watched the evening news. By the time she was a young kid, there were multiple stations available on cable. She grew up with a steady diet of Nickelodeon and Cartoon network. Her parents did not read newspapers and there were no news magazines in her house. For whatever reason, she did not get lessons in current events in school or she did not pay attention, despite always making good grades. She was forced to study various kinds of history and had to take geography to graduate and, again, she made decent grades but she be ignorant.

How come?

I am not convinced that it is because I had a better upbringing than she did. I don't think that it is a generational difference. I don't think it is because I am smarter.

What is it? I can say that my own kids are more aware politically and historically -- my son just made F in history for this six weeks -- than their peers because they have heard it all their lives. But I am not convinced that would be the case if they were not somehow predisposed to it. Their father was a Pakistani journalist who was politically active in his own country and very aware of politics and history in this country.

Well, I can't pin it down. All I can say is that I cannot imagine being aware of geography and of history and politics and how the world is impacted.

To me, I cannot imagine living in the world without having some knowledge of it -- its geography, history, cultures.

There are no Huey Longs. I am not sure that there can be any Huey Longs. Maybe. Clearly, there ain't one in Louisiana now.

I do feel that there may be a time for a big change in the general bullshit of US politics. We have been doing this neoconservative thing for nearly twenty years. In the wake of the New Orleans crap, I do think that people may be ready for an awakening of sorts. I don't think many Americans were aware that there are so many poor people in the US and, of course, New Orleans has always been a poor city. Baltimore and other cities are just as poor.

As I have said here many times, the US is becoming a third world country. I am not a socialist but the rampant capitalism -- that looks something like communism -- needs to be curbed.

Faizi

Ras866
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2005 4:08 pm
Location: Virginia

Post by Ras866 » Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:41 pm

Eye-opening and funny video-clip:

http://www.digg.com/links/Americans_app ... ia_is_Iran...

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Thu Oct 13, 2005 3:10 pm

Thanks for that. I made my daughter watch and I will get my son to see it, also.

You made my point very well.

Naturally, I would like to think that other people in the world are that ignorant. I reckon some poor bushman out in the bush might be that ignorant but he has no resources. There is no excuse for Americans not being able to identify Australia on a map or to differentiate Australia from North Korea, even if it is falsely labled as North Korea.

Disgusting.

My daughter and I agreed that at least the one dude could name a lot of countries. He was ready to invade just about anywhere without discrimination. Given that, he probably could locate most of the countries he named on a map.

I would bet that the blonde woman who said that the US should invade Saudi Arabia could not identify it on the map. The older man who said something like the US should blow the Middle East into a crater probably did have a clue about the Middle East's location.

I liked the girl who said the US should invade Iran because a revolution might be happening there soon. The one who said "Chi lanka."

Very sad. As I said above, school is much harder now than when I was in school. I never excelled in classes. But I do know where Australia is whether or not it may be labled North korea. I can differentiate Pakistan from Afghanistan and Iraq and Iran.

Pretty easy to understand how the US was duped into invading Iraq when we were really supposed to be going after bin Laden. All towel heads are the same.

Can most average Australians and Britains and French do considerably better with a map? Probably.

Do you think the problem is one of isolation? Isolation and arrogance?

Anyway, thanks for that post. It should be shown in US high schools.

Faizi

User avatar
DHodges
Posts: 1531
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2002 8:20 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

New Orleans 1927 -2005

Post by DHodges » Thu Oct 13, 2005 10:14 pm

MKFaizi wrote:I have been aware of the history you posted.
I wasn't. History is not my strong point. That's why I posted it.

But I do know where Australia is, roughly.

Americans are nearly as ignorant of their own country. I think your average American could name maybe ten or twelve states at best.

However, ask about which movie star is dating who, or the statistics of various baseball teams, and you may find a level of detailed knowledge that is startling in comparison.

That is American culture.

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:51 pm

I have read mostly twentieth century US political history. An interest in politics has long been a hobby -- like gardening. Lately more interested in reading about various pyschopaths who commit murder. I am sure there is a common denominator there somewhere.

But I am afraid you are right. Most Americans are not even very aware of their own country.

Then, how do people get out of high school? As I already posted, school is much tougher than when I was in school. I never had to build a replica of the White House or anything. I did have to memorize all the states and all the capitols of the states. I had to know what states were in what regions.

Last night, my daughter had a friend here and I quizzed them. They both did pretty well. Both have GEDs.

There used to be a site -- probably still exists -- called something like, "Can you pass sixth grade?" It showed a map of the US with the states blocked in but no names. You were given a short time to identify them. It was a good exercise and I certainly admit I got a couple of those square western ones confused -- Wyoming and Montana. I know the shape of Illinois and Kentucky and Tennessee and Maine and Idaho and the other many obvious ones. After doing that exercise, I know the square ones, too.

My son is still in high school -- sophomore. I would like to see him graduate the old fashioned way -- like you get a diploma. But, sometimes, I think he would be better off if I let him get a GED. Buster loves the study of history but he made a failing grade in the subject this past six weeks. Even with the failing grade, he says he still loves reading history. He says that he likes the class because it is the study of the causes of wars. He got a F because the teacher says he did not turn in assignments. He says that he did turn in assignments.

Who do you believe?

One thing that I think may be wrong with education is that it is education filtered through teachers trained to be mediocre. The educational system is geared toward mediocrity.

Would I feel that way if my kids were A students? Probably.

What I have tried -- and failed -- to instill into my kids is that school is like prison. You can do hard time and you can do easy time. Doing easy time is to realize the bullshit of it and do what you have to do until your time is up. Hard time is fighting against it.

I did hard time so I reckon I cannot expect more of my kids. Real education is self education born of love. You are not going to get that from making good grades in high school. Making good grades is doing easy time. Hating teachers and hating the system and fighting against it is doing hard time. Easy time is smooth. No one hassles you and you are free to study what is truly interesting to you.

For instance, if you make straight A's in high school and have a side interest in running a meth lab, you can probably get away with it because everyone thinks you are so great.

Well, that is an extreme example. My point is that high school is so much crap. If you have a love for reading history -- philosophy, music -- you can easily do the bullshit involved to make good grades while seeking knowledge on a higher level on your own.

But kids can't see that very clearly and despite all that I have said I understand that. Young people have such potential that I think many of them feel at the age of fifteen or sixteen that is a bitch finding themselves subjected to mediocre education majors.

There are a few teachers who are gifted at reaching something that is not mediocre in their students. Just not many.

I sincerely wish that my son had not made a F in history. He is a very intelligent kid and he should do better. On the other hand, given his love of history and the lessons of history that is his intrinsic love, it could be that he will be a better human being for his lack of conformity than if he either conformed to the demands of the teacher or did easy time.

Brings me back to my nineteen year old friend at work. She did well in high school and graduated with no problems but she never heard of the World Trade Centers until 9/11. In the last election, she voted for Bush because her parents told her she needed to vote for Bush. She had no idea of the issues of the election. Her parents told her how to vote and she did what they told her to do. She has no clue why the kids are in Iraq. She just did what her parents told her to do.

Both of my kids will vote in the next election. I want them to be aware that they can vote in the primaries, too. I want them to be aware that it is important to vote for senators and governors. I am not going to tell them who to vote for but I expect them for vote with a worldy conscience, not just idiotic regionalism or jingoism. I expect them to be aware of how American politics has an impact and of how and why the US is perceived as a villian.

Personally, I am sick and tired of the perception of Americans as ignorant, fat subjects of a bullying government. I think that perception needs to change.

Obviously, that change can only come through education. How do we change education or how do we educate less toward isolation?

Watching CNN, I think it is somewhat amazing that even Pakistani villagers can speak good English. The world is geared toward "us." We need to be more geared toward the world.

Personally, when I look at the cover of People Magazine at the grocery store, short of Tom Cruise, I cannot identify the celebreties.

Faizi

MKFaizi

Post by MKFaizi » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:00 pm

Dave,

As you have pointed out, history is important for the understanding of the current. That idea can be carried too far -- you just become a stupid historian citing events -- but history can provide circumspection.

Amazing how people forget Vietnam. Prior to entering the war in Iraq, I could not believe the complicity of the press. Duped.

The people of the United States were duped because they had no idea of what happened just thirty years ago.

Yapping dogs.

Faizi

Post Reply