Posts Tagged ‘discrimination’
What kind of “Democracy” in the Greater Middle East the colonial powers are planning to fool us with?
Posted by: adonis49 on: December 30, 2020
Is the Muslim World ripe of any kinds of popular vote? (Dec. 30, 2005)
Posted on September 30, 2008 and written in Dec. 30, 2005
Mind you that this article was written in 2005, way before most of Bush Jr. troops withdrew from Iraq, before the “Arab Spring” upheavals, before ISIS (Daesh) was created, before the global war on Syria…Before mass transfer of mercenaries to Syria, Libya, Azerbaijan, Somalia, Yemen…
Under the threatening banner of fighting terrorism in the Greater Middle East (GME) region and installing “democracy and freedom of speech” instead of extremist Islamic salafist religious’ dogmas the USA and its allies are encouraging civil wars among the people and splintering the region into smaller and smaller self governing state-nations.
Every killing civilian attempts, perpetrated every where in the World, are labeled a terrorist act and the perpetrators heaped on the Al Qaeda group which was supposed to have been wiped out in Afghanistan or in most instances blamed on other Islamic extremist offshoots.
Meanwhile, the Western Nations are enacting laws restricting freedom of speech in Media and publications, extracting war executive orders to detaining of suspects without due legal recourse, spying on their own citizens and listening on communication calls against the rules of law in the name of fighting terrorists’ plans and their organizational and financial resources and capabilities.
The political atmosphere in the USA and many European countries is heading toward applying Martial Laws and these restrictive and restraining climates against Liberty and Freedom could be viewed as training sessions for the coming open war.
What is this GME policy?
The USA was feeling comfortable after World War II as to its global strategic military superiority and its naval and land military bases throughout the five oceans. and continents
The absolute monarchies, oligarchic and dictatorial regimes in the “Arab World” were facilitating the USA policy of dominion, and Israel was its local heavy stick whenever any regime ventured to resist it by simply recovering lands captured by Israel or to exhibit independent tendencies with the support of the Soviet Union.
The advent of Worldwide organized “terrorist attacks” and the inability to contain that movement with classical military interventions, mainly after the failure of the USA to maintain peace and stability in Iraq, led to a smoke screen change in the tactical approach for preserving hegemony in the Arabic Islamic World.
The code name is to divert the attention of the Islamic masses by offering minimal political representations within the oligarchic regimes which might satisfy the disposition of the people to a first step democratic level of governance and more leeway for freedom of speech and publication.
It is interesting to study the small changes that the USA means to bring to the region through the electoral systems in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. At this pace these two countries might require a century before any meaningful democracy is established: For starter the female gender has still to be permitted to drive officially in Saudi Arabia.
It is also interesting to hear the howl of despair coming from the US administration every time the extremist Muslim political organizations are about to win any election.
For example, Hamas in Palestine is to be forbidden to participate in the Parliamentary election if any election is to take place, and the Muslim Brotherhoods in Egypt are detained and fraudulent election admitted as legitimate.
The election results in Iraq need more than 3 weeks to be officially declared while the wide sweeping victory of the Islamists in Algeria was militarily canceled and savagely contained a decade ago.
Not that the people in this region care to have Islamic salafist doctrinal political systems installed, but a reaction to the complete failure of the US and colonial powers to regard the people but merely modern slaves in an area flush in oil.
For more than 80 years, the people in every Arabic country have been trying to experiment with democratic systems and these attempts have been aborted by the tacit support of the US to monarchic, oligarchic and one party regime.
The war strategy is not concerned with the governments, already subjugated and controlled for decades, but targeting the Muslim people in Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain and the Arab Emirates.
The Muslim countries that are Not socially or culturally closely related to Arabic or Persian influence or having large Muslim minorities will be drastically contained through strict financial and economic constraints such as Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Malaysia in Asia, and Nigeria and the Northern non Arabic African people in Chad, Niger, Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Guinea.
What is being offered is basically a psychological “feeling good” attitude toward the prospect of fair representation without any substantial variations in the system of governance that suit grandly the interests of the US/colonial powers imperialists.
The policy of the GME striving for mega Media propaganda of “feeling good” attitude of forthwith democratic change is a sick chimerical gamble hoping that the average masses will be tamed into moderation or the regimes would have an opportunity to win a majority that would permit them to repress the extremist elements.
The Arabic people and Muslims in general have digested the smoke screen tactics of the US and Western World and their god fatherly dialogues that make their blood curl, and they cannot be fooled for long.
In the meanwhile, precious time is burned away mindlessly with no serious alternatives to genuine solutions.
So far, Iran has grasped the extent of that visible danger and has been feverishly acquiring military deterrence power, economic self sufficiency and utilizing the mass Medias to enlighten the Muslim World to the coming calamities.
The Iranian regime is diffusing the message of unity and integrity among the Muslim masses and projecting the image of confident defiance: it is steadfast on its Uranium enrichment program on its proper soil for nuclear deterrence, saving its oil production, negotiating with Russia, China and India for economic cooperation and openly casting Israel as a spearhead colony of the US in the region.
Iran is not about to relinquish its influence in Iraq or in Lebanon, through the powerful political party of Hezbollah or in Western Afghanistan where its Foreign minister is currently spending a few days there to keep strong links with its citizens.
Iran is heading to become the catalyst of the next world calamity with the tacit economic and military support of China and Russia.
The alternative to prevent this dangerous trend and revert to a rational and peaceful coexistence is a secular, democratic and national Arabic force to take control of its destiny.
Unfortunately, what is required is inexistent, not even in its embryo, because of the perennial foolish US policy in this region of squashing the spirit of secular and democratic nationalism for short term benefits.
The US cannot win the looming war in the long term in the Greater Middle East, unless the purpose is indeed to set this region ablaze and its populations impotent for centuries to come, because the masses consider the US policies as the master evil in the world in planning and execution.
The reaction of the Muslims, in face of the sustained heavy handed and total disrespect of the US policies to support our claims for human rights and fair representations, and abusing the United Nations to squeeze our survival capabilities through economic and financial embargoes and sanctions, is toward fundamentalism.
This process is typified by the successes of Hamas in Palestine and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the Parliamentary and municipality elections and the strong inroads of the Islamic Jihad political parties in Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Sudan in the societies’ fabrics.
It seems that the Muslims are reverting to staunch dogmatic principles reminiscent of a coming war with the infidel Crusaders and with valid rhetorical and logical reasoning.
There are a few baffling signs that this GME policy might not survive or a more viable alternative supercede the current policy of alienating the Arabs and Moslems.
For example the pressures on the Bush Jr. administration to rescind the restraining laws on private freedom and telephone and internet communication and acknowledging the flimsy basis for conquering Iraq and a popular waves of demonstrations against the all encompassing powers that the administration has snatched from Congress and concentrated in the executive branch under the prerogatives of war on terrorism.
I am leaning toward the option that by coining the term “terrorists” to connote Islamists and acknowledging that terrorism is stronger and far reaching than contemplated that the momentum for carrying the GME policy is becoming a bipartisan policy throughout the USA and the Western World.
The quagmires that the international forces are experiencing in Iraq are driving them out. Though it appears a tactical maneuver to regroup and figure out a strategy to crank the vise on the GME people and let them succumb under a wretched life of lack of freedom, democracy and poor economic and social development.
The European Union is about to give up on the application of human rights in the GME and is ready to adopt shortcuts to our difficulties and may temporary let us die slowly and vanish in the night.
Let us not fool ourselves.
Every time discrimination on the basis of religion or color or gender or nationality or custom is condoned inside or outside the boundaries of a nation, whenever human rights are baffled, people detained on flimsy charges and without due normal legal recourse, prisoners tortured to extract confessions and killed in their detention centers… then the spirit of extremism has indeed taken roots and the dictatorship system is deeply entrenched regardless of how developed a nation is or how loud they claim to have democracy and the rule of law and order among its citizens.
If we had to rely solely on the United Nations to temper the drive of the most powerful Nations, nations that have the tendency of bypassing genuine diplomatic procedures into direct military interventions toward the weaker nations, then we should be pessimistic about the coming war.
There are a few realities that might prevent outright declaration of war by the Western World to the Islamic Arabic and Persian World:
First, the European Union is a complex assembly of Nations that could not be easily ruled solely by France, Germany and Britain in matters of participating in wars with multiple interactions with other bordering Nations;
Second, the Latin American countries are leaning toward socialism and are verbally antagonistic to USA imperialism;
Thirdly, the Far East with a heavy concentration of Muslims is not about to endanger its economic cooperation by internal political struggles that do not enhance their survival as a viable economic and financial block; and
Fourthly, Russia is too aware of the importance of the stability of its former Islamic Nations bordering Iran, Turkey and Pakistan to gamble on a fruitless policy of discrimination against the Muslim people. (The decision of Russia of intervening strongly in Syria changed the done, Not only in Syria but also in Russia strategy in the entire region)
However, if war is declared and any powerful nation sides with the Islamic masses and support it militarily, then we might witness the prophetic vision of George Orwell for future social and political organizations based on Communist blueprints as he described in his book entitled “1984”.
An era of constant low level wars among three super blocks of nations.
One other thing, if another world war is declared against the “Muslims” our puppet regimes would collapse and, win or lose, Israel will cease to exist before an armistice is reached.
If the attack on the Twin Towers occurred during the invasion of Iraq, then the US would have declared war plainly and simply and the Muslim and Arabic people would have not vacillated for so long and remained manipulated, extorted and abused by the reactionary Arabic regimes holding on for dear life.
That would be far better than this tactics of low-level wars, targeted assassinations of key resistance leaders, massive economic and financial sanctions… that are reducing the people to a chaotic views of the long-term objectives of the colonial powers and a rapid descent to Underdeveloped States, totally reliant of colonial powers rescue missions.
Tidbits #50
Posted by: adonis49 on: June 30, 2020
Tidbits #50
A “Blob”, a marine heatwave, stretching from Alaska to California has invaded the fjords of British Columbia, which is heating up the glacier-fed waters at a rapid clip.
There is really no skill called reading. Reading is the meta-skill that results when you allow other skills together. You need to know the alphabet, how letter form words, how words have meaning, how words together have meaning, and so on. So often we focus on the meta-skill and not the sub-skills.
Women and “people of color” continue to earn lower wages than white men because employers require job applicants to reveal their previous salary in order to set their new one. This strips workers of bargaining power, and can lock in lower compensation.
I enjoy reading. Thus, I read slowly. I enjoy walking early morning. Thus I walk slowly.
I am in love with my confinement: Everyone is sharing in my confinement
“Allons mon petit. Fait tes prières.. Et l’enfant dit “Maman, je t’aime”. c’était suffisant et de beaucoup.
All the economic/financial pressures of Trump (Evangelical extremists) on Lebanon to trade with our existential enemy Israel No Passaran
“All that can save you now (US institutions) is your confrontation with your own history… which is not your past, but your present,” said author James Baldwin in 1968.
Since time immemorial, empires of occupation and annexation had to create forms of racism and discrimination. Black Color was reserved for the Evil of the darker skin people
“L’égalité” dans tous les pays (regardless of political systems) est réservé’ pour la grande masse dans la misère et le malheur
If we fails to construct a system of illusions, how could we resume the living at an advanced age?
Bless the youth who pulled off his decision to commit suicide: His high intelligence instinct proved to him the worthiness of his living.
Les Français hautement qualifiés et éduqués furent fauchés en première lignes pour satisfaire “L’égalité du feu“, chair á canon égalitaire. durant les premières années de WWI. Les ignorants furent charge’ de gouverner le Liban et la Syrie durant le mandat.
Israel was already in the planning 50 years before Balfour declaration in 1917. The extremist “Zionist” evangelical sect in USA demanded that the Jews return to Jerusalem in order for the Second Coming to materialize. This idea suited the colonial powers of France and England intent on dividing the Syrian Nation and disturbing the daily trade and communication among the same people in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Israel is a colonial implant, our existential enemy.
L ‘ heroisme s’entend de diverses facons selon les periods. C’ est le sacrifice même du dévouement qui est une réalité’. L’ objet pour lequel on se devout est généralement une illusion.
Allons les Libanais, allons d’echec en echec jusqu’à la victoire.
Alex Marshall is the author of Republic or Death! Travels in Search of National Anthems, a fascinating book about the politics of national anthems. He spoke with the Atlantic about traveling the world to discover the history of these songs, and why he hates “God Save the Queen.”
La joie de vivre est liée a un sentiment d’avoir réussi. Si on pouvait abaisser la barre de ce qu’on considère “Avoir Réussi”. I think Covid-19 gave humanity a chance to lower the level of what they consider “Having been successful” in order to discover happiness in life.
Après avoir accepté la lâcheté, la servitude, la bombe a hydrogen, les genocide… on comprend mal de quel droit on ferait les dégoûtés et les difficiles
Decision by design? Kind there exist a handful of skills that are learned but rarely taught in order to make effective decisions? Decision by design that can accelerate your progress and save you from costly trial and error? Why do you think you can learn without practice? Kind of effectively doing the wrong decision?
Tidbits and Notes. Part 258
Posted by: adonis49 on: January 19, 2019
Tidbits and Notes. Part 258
“What acts like apartheid, is run like apartheid & harasses like apartheid, is not a duck — it’s apartheid https://bit.ly/2RuTOz3
More than 200 Palestinian prisoners have died inside Israeli jails! . . . Israel arrested 337,000 Palestinians since 1987
100,000 British troops were dispatched to tame the first Intifada of 1936: The Palestinians demanded and were denied municipal elections
En Uttar Pradesh (India), le viol est une epidemie et une arme puissante: les soeurs de celui qui fraye avec une femme mariee’ sont violees, la femme de l’homme qui a des dettes est violee’, les soeurs de celui qui se marie avec une femme d’une caste superieur sont violee’….
In a world where media is global, social, ubiquitous and cheap, in a world of media where the former audience are now increasingly full participants, in that world, media is less and less often about crafting a single message to be consumed by individuals. It is more often a way of creating an environment for convening and supporting groups.
The question we all face now is, “How can we make best use of this social media? Even though it means changing the way we’ve always done it.”
“The mainstreaming of mysticism also overlaps with the broader interests of millennial—think yoga and meditation, mindfulness, and New Age spirituality. With that foundation, it might Not be a stretch to show up for pagan holidays or new moon gatherings, or begin to explore the more serious spiritual concepts at the root of these practices.” (Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz on witchcraft and “mysticore” in the age of Instagram)
The multilateral trading system “receives its inspiration from economists, is shaped primarily by lawyers, but must operate within the limits that the politicians set,” @PIIE‘s Anabel Gonzalez
Israel believed that it could kill and assassinate Palestinians without due judicial process: This wave of Palestinian reprisals will continue until some kind of basic common sense hit the Israeli society
Le plus souvent, on cesse d’aimer quand le partenaire refuse frequement de se battre pour une vie de qualitee’.
La Verite’ ne concerne pas les avocats, la Justice et les politiciens: Les interets cherchent une “verite'” plausible et logique.
People who perceive (separate) their work self from your home self identities are more likely to make unethical decisions.
Maggie Doyne (23 year-old) has a home with 50 orphan children
Une personne stigmatise’ est un individu afflige’ dont on a attache’ un attribut qui le differencie de la caser dans la catagorie “Normal”
Discrimination: Toute distinction operee’ entre les personnes en raison de leur origine, sex, situaton familiale, grossesse, apparence physique, patronyme, etat de sante’, handicap, orientation sexuelle, age, opinion publique, activites syndicales, ethnicite’, race, religion determinee’… No, there are No normal people, we are are all discriminated against.
The colonial powers managed to construct a minimum denominator splitting of the Muslim world in order to decide which countries to ally with. You have got the Shiaa of Iran, the Wahhabi movement of the Arabic peninsula and the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Turkey and Qatar sponsored the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, Egypt, Libya and Gaza.
The Carpenters (Karen and Richard), the Bee Gees ( The Gibbs) and Abba were critisized early on by music magazines as too honey. 30 years later, as their bands split and fade away, documented research demonstrated that most current bands have mined their works as the most perfect in voice harmony and lyrics and sensitivities matching early childhood.
Children imitate parents behaviors: Thus, keep reading instead of playing with smart devices
At the end of 2017, China shut its doors to imports of recycled material, citing environmental concerns. That has led to unprecedented disruption in a global industry and thrown the very purpose of recycling into question. (Question: Is China still importing carton and paper from USA for recycling?)
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant? It’s cropping up in all manner of products, including lattes, ice cream, and dog treats—even Coca-Cola is reportedly working on a CBD-infused beverage. and CBD is “about as poorly regulated and understood as a product this popular can possibly be.
Small successes fuel courage. You need to be initiated with the fear of failure and gradually overcome it.
Thousands of Venezuelans fleeing their country are expected to enter Peru today to make the cutoff for temporary residency cards.
India unveiled the world’s tallest statue. At 182 meters (600 feet), the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a leading independence figure who worked with Mahatma Gandhi, is twice the size of New York’s Statue of Liberty. The project was mired in controversy for years and cost $430 million.
“When he introduced the cryptocurrency just months after the 2008 global financial crisis, the Japanese Satoshi Nakamoto portrayed himself as a 36-year-old Japanese man angered by the irresponsibility of banks and governments. His currency would let people make financial transactions those institutions couldn’t touch. So it’s fitting, perhaps, that Satoshi ensured he’d be untouchable as well.” (With Trump financial transaction sanctions on many countries, cryptocurrency should enjoy a great future?)
Invariable positions that constitute the ideological structure must Not include abstract concepts like Freedom, Liberty, Democracy, Equality… any concept that are basically biased and controlled by the elite classes.
2,700 liters of water to produce a single T-shirt?
Apparently, catching cold frequently is the symptom of a transformed constitution that is getting allergic to many items and pathogens that it was previously immune to. Kind of the immune system got set on an old administrative routine and unable to cope with the exponential increase in polluters and human-made poisonous products
Un cadavre est une poche que le mort retourne et vide: Depouiller un cadavre, inextricable achevement.
Pourquoi les proches d’un mort ne le depouillent pas de ses colliers, bagues, bracelets, chevalieres, alliances, piercings et bijoux intime…si la derniere etape est le fumerarium?
Tant pis, les ambulanciers qui transferent la depuoille aux fumerarium ont le “droit de peage” de tout ce que le cadavre emporte de precieux. En ce temps moderne, on n’ensevelit pas les morts avec leurs objets, leurs escalves et leurs femmes. Les archeoogues n’ont qu’a se contenter des temps ancients.
Ce rire meprisant qui decompose le visage, surtout apres avoir affirme’: “J’ aime une autre personne”. Ce rire, qui veut sortir d’une situation trop encombrante, a tue’ beaucoup de jeunes (surtout des filles) et embarasse’ beaucoup de jeunes adolescents pour la vie.
What I say is plain mental conjecture: I didn’t Experience acute emotional or physical hardship. Except acute shortage of money to learn and practice luxury taste.
Trump is giving the Obama/Hillary le coup de grace: totally defeating ISIS, their creation, in Syria and Iraq. The entrance of Syria troops in Membej means that the task of crushing Daesh is transferred to Syria and Iraq 7ashed Sha3bi, the most battled experienced armies in finishing the job.
It is a victory, when an opportunity knocks and you learn something new. Mostly on emotions complexity
It is no longer that important that I fall in love: since I didn’t fall in love in my youth, whatever I dream of is irrelevant
Got to go back to school: set my mind to create a new knowledge discipline
Must apply the experimental mind in architecture: Beauty has to match health and safety
Don’t expect an apology from me: I have got to come to term with myself and forgive myself of all the successive failures in my life. Stay in line and just cross your fingers
Tidbits and Notes. Part 257
Posted by: adonis49 on: December 26, 2018
Tidbits and Notes. Part 257
“What acts like apartheid, is run like apartheid & harasses like apartheid, is not a duck — it’s apartheid https://bit.ly/2RuTOz3
More than 200 Palestinian prisoners have died inside Israeli jails! . . . Israel arrested 337,000 Palestinians since 1987
100,000 British troops were dispatched to tame the first Intifada of 1936: The Palestinians demanded and were denied municipal elections
En Uttar Pradesh (Inde), le viol est une epidemie et une arme puissante: les soeurs de celui qui fraye avec une femme mariee’ sont violees, la femme de l’homme qui a des dettes est violee’, les soeurs de celui qui se marie avec une femme d’une caste superieur sont violee’….
In a world where media is global, social, ubiquitous and cheap, in a world of media where the former audience are now increasingly full participants, in that world, media is less and less often about crafting a single message to be consumed by individuals. It is more and more often a way of creating an environment for convening and supporting groups.
The question we all face now is, “How can we make best use of this social media? Even though it means changing the way we’ve always done it.”
“The mainstreaming of mysticism also overlaps with the broader interests of millennial—think yoga and meditation, mindfulness, and New Age spirituality. With that foundation, it might not be a stretch to show up for pagan holidays or new moon gatherings, or begin to explore the more serious spiritual concepts at the root of these practices.” (Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz on witchcraft and “mysticore” in the age of Instagram)
The multilateral trading system “receives its inspiration from economists, is shaped primarily by lawyers, but must operate within the limits that the politicians set,” @PIIE‘s Anabel Gonzalez
Israel believed that it could kill and assassinate Palestinians without due judicial process: This wave of Palestinian reprisals will continue until some kind of basic common sense hit the Israeli society
Le plus souvent, on cesse d’aimer quand le partenaire refuse frequement de se battre pour une vie de qualitee’.
La Verite’ (truth) ne concerne pas les avocats, la Justice et les politiciens: Les interets cherchent une “verite'” plausible et logique.
Une personne stigmatise’ est un individu afflige’ dont on a attache’ un attribut qui le differencie de la caser dans la catagorie “Normal”
Discrimination: Toute distinction operee’ entre les personnes en raison de leur origine, sex, situaton familiale, grossesse, apparence physique, patronyme, etat de sante’, handicap, orientation sexuelle, age, opinion publique, activites syndicales, ethnicite’, race, religion determinee’… No, there are No normal people, we are all discriminated against.
The colonial powers managed to construct a minimum denominator splitting of the Muslim world in order to decide which countries to ally with. You have got the Shiaa of Iran, the Wahhabi movement of the Arabic peninsula and the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Turkey and Qatar sponsored the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, Egypt, Libya and Gaza.
The Carpenters (Karen and Richard), the Bee Gees ( The Gibbs) and Abba were criticised early on by music magazines as too honey. 30 years later, as their bands split and fade away, documented research demonstrated that most current bands have mined their works as the most perfect in voice harmony and lyrics and sensitivities matching early childhood.
Children imitate parents behaviors: Thus, keep reading instead of playing with smart devices
At the end of 2017, China shut its doors to imports of recycled material, citing environmental concerns. That has led to unprecedented disruption in a global industry and thrown the very purpose of recycling into question. (Question: Is China still importing carton and paper from USA for recycling?)
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant? It’s cropping up in all manner of products, including lattes, ice cream, and dog treats—even Coca-Cola is reportedly working on a CBD-infused beverage. and CBD is “about as poorly regulated and understood as a product this popular can possibly be.
Small successes fuel courage. You need to be initiated with the fear of failure and overcome it gradually.
Thousands of Venezuelans fleeing their country are expected to enter Peru today to make the cutoff for temporary residency cards.
Types of Bloggers: Global breed of authors?
Posted by: adonis49 on: July 18, 2014
Types of Bloggers: Global breed of authors?
There are two main categories of bloggers: Bloggers from the developed nations and those of the “developing” States (whether they form nations or incomplete UN recognized States)
The bloggers from developed nations have two critical advantages:
1. They can move freely withing their nation and outside their borders. All they need is landing a ticket to anywhere on earth: No humiliating lengthy visas requirement and no serious discrimination in the host countries they visit.
Contrary to “citizens” from developing countries who need to plan a year ahead of time to amass all the documents and requirements in order to “enjoy” a miserly 2 weeks vacation in a developed nation
2. They enjoy a wide range of opportunities for the subject of studies, continuing education, and facilities to improve their talents and performance.
I’ll focus on the types of bloggers in the developing countries, particularly in Lebanon:
1. One category is constituted of people who spent a couple of years abroad in their youth and attended schools before settling in their home country and are eeking out a living.
These bloggers claim to be “apolitical“: They refuse to keep up with “local politics” and cannot name the President of their country or know the difference among the political parties, as if refusing to admit their current condition.
Strangely, they are highly political on the global scene: gender discrimination, climate change, sustainable environment, equitable commerce, freedom of expression, life-style in food consumption and ever changing life-style as internet “research” suggest….and they are not aware that these issues are plainly political in nature.
2. A category who spent a few vacations abroad, not lasting a couple of months at a time, and are settled in their countries.
Two subcategories emerge:
Those well-off who attended private schools and university and managed to “learn” another language of either French or English, and not completely mastering any of the languages. These bloggers exhibit tendencies for cynicism in their abridged comments and share links pertaining to entertainment and outdoor events. Many join “cultural groups” as tribes.
And those who could not attend but public schools and barely comprehend another language to be used as medium of communication.
These bloggers are not able to expound on their opinion for lack of general knowledge and lack of reading.
3. A category who managed to settle in a developed nation and is earning its living in a “developed environment”.
These are valiant immigrants who made it against all kinds of barriers in discrimination and constricting laws and surmounted the nasty odds of earning a living in a foreign land.
Although they were apolitical before they immigrated, these bloggers become the main source of in-time follow up on the troubles facing their homeland. They are very active in sending links to articles, videos and pictures of foreign information related to their home state. And they do participate in organizing demonstrations and activities to unite their people abroad
4. A category who “know” the world from the imaginary reality of global inter-connectedness and formed a worldview that they have never experienced.
These bloggers resume their traditional life by attending religious social events and tending to stick so some kind of shallow customs. They are members of sectarian political parties and vote to their feudal leaders whether right or wrong.
Note: I am used to click on Top Posts at WordPress. In the last couple of months, I have the impression that I am disconnected with the subject matters of almost all selected top posts.
I am under the impression that a new “selection team” is focused on selecting local US topics and disregarding the rest of the world concerns.
If the team does its due diligence of writing a short “in context” message or asking the bloggers to add a few paragraphs “in context” in order to inform the general reader of “what’s going on” and why the post was selected in the first place, may be we can get used to clicking on a few of them for curiosity reasons.
Actually, during this horror preemptive war of Israel on the huge concentration camp of Gaza, I didn’t stumble on a selected article on this topic. It is as if the team is revolving in a dual world.
Introspection: Denver (#46)
Posted by: adonis49 on: February 17, 2009
Denver
During my stay in San Francisco I took the bus Greyhound to Boulder because my adviser sent me a letter that he was to deliver part of my dissertation to the convention of Human Factors Society and I wanted to attend it. It was a long trip of two days and we passed through Salt Lake City and I visited the temple of the Mormons. There was snow and the University of Boulder was lovely. During the second day of the convention my advisor failed to show up and I had no copy of my dissertation and I felt frustrated for not being prepared to deliver anything even though I was invited by the chair person of the session to do it. I had the opportunity to tour Denver by night and boarded the spacious and large bus that crosses Main Street.
The return trip was long. A week later I was to battle a discrimination case. There was this girl who claimed that I harassed her sexually and the case was dropped after weeks of hassles; she had no one to testify on her behalf. The girl was pissed off that I got the position of assistant to the manager. I had no hints of the power struggle that went on before I arrived to this hotel. I wanted to resign but the manager convinced me that when I finish the whole year then I would be eligible for unemployment benefits of around $450 a month. I finished the year and started to look for a steady job commensurate to my education. I thus joined an office on Van Ness Road and funded by the City that aided with unemployment cases, such as writing CVs and how to tailor make your resume, and checking on the latest openings for work.
The Worst Discriminators
Posted by: adonis49 on: February 10, 2009
Types of Misogyny in gender preferences (February 10, 2009)
I realized in a few of my articles that I have been stating “maybe societies should start to accept the fact that the majority of people of both genders are unable to taking the drastic decision and making the serious effort to comprehend the other sex: They prefer the community of their own gender”.
I was referring to social preferences of same sex relationship among genders as fundamentally a position or a statement that heterosexuality is temporary in its long term nature. As proof, kids, middle aged, and older people gather around same sex friends and acquaintances for relaxation and for having “good times”. Family seclusions are anathema to the spirit of freedom.
There are many books and movies of the genre “She said, he said” or “Males are from Mars and females from Venus”; they make us laugh simply because they exhibit the foibles and limitations of the other sex. Many authors have claimed that marriage institution was forced upon societies for procreation purposes and caring for offspring. The marriage institution was linked to the benediction of an Almighty in order to sustain the family structure that proved to be the most effective unit for social stability and cohesion.
Many authors tried to explain the “other sex” and Simone de Bauvoir was no exception. Quickly, the story turns to historical accounts on Patriarchal and Matriarchal structures of societies. We learn in no time that the whole exercise is a power struggle between genders. What else it could be? Power offer choices; among the choices is freedom to assemble and associate; among the choices is discovering varieties in pleasure, story telling, and themes for discussions and excuses to fight and shout and form enemies.
In adolescence, curiosity, social restrictions, and natural biological demands steer youth to discovering the “other” unknown. At such an early age, not many of us have the pre-requisite social and conversational skills to communicate with the other sex. It is basically a matter of trial and error techniques, offered opinions of same sex “supposed” comprehension of the psychology and behavior of the other sex.
This period of finding out can lengthen the period of frustration for our lack of comprehension and our obstinacy to discover what we undertook. Quick weddings and close co-habitation present an ideal setting for definite position on social gender preferences. The “heterosexuals” who manage to agree with a family life are mostly those who had frustrating early experience with their same sex companions.
I am still finding my way. One thing I know from experience; women in position of power are the worst and greatest discriminators; women in power are ruthless and unforgiving and their decisions are generally based on “intuition”, hunches, spite, and presumptions. Traditions are founded on harsh experiences.
“Peels of laughter” by Olivier Mongin, (January 24, 2009)
The French book “Eclats de rire” by Olivier Mongin is 325 pages long, divided in three parts and of 17 chapters in total. I will review what made sense to me. There are three chapters dedicated to women in the business of comical situations. The epilogue is a wonderful chapter that delves into questions of why we laugh, how we laugh, who laughs, and whom we are laughing at.
Laughter has undeniable qualities, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
We have to learn to laugh; otherwise the tragic stresses of everyday would force us to dive from buildings.
Charlie Chaplin had the art of transforming traumatic situations into heroic posturing. The loser in Chaplin ends up mutating into a savior. Thus, personal misfortunes are converted to shared happiness. When the character falls, and he frequently falls, he jumps back on his feet and endeavors to make others fall.
Buster Keaton prefers his main character to be subjected to the situations and never to voluntarily intervene. Keaton tries hard to escape, but situations always involuntarily catch up with him and he is condemned to be a victim or a runaway.
The French Jacque Tati created the character Mr. Hulo who is not necessarily a moral person, and who has no inclinations to offering moral lessons. Mr. Hulo happened to be just here, trying hard to stand tall and erect, using an umbrella for the appearance of equilibrium.
The character of Mr. Hulo feels to be in a precarious instability or physical disequilibrium, worried of succumbing to adversity or free-falling, but he never falls. Tati makes sure that his character feints immobility, but he is not to fall as was the tradition for generating laughter: For Tati, falling is not a typical human attribute that should generate laughter. Tati is “inventing what already exists, and that not many people had realize that a country (France) has started the modernization process“
Why we laugh?
People laughed when movies were silent, and thus, the body structure, gestures, and movements are the prime element in inducing laughter. Fundamentally, we laugh because we tend to discriminate in gender, social classes, profession, knowledge, abilities, attributes, tradition, culture, and all sorts of idiosyncrasies. We laugh because we have the impression of our “own superiority” toward the other characters. In a way, we laugh at the “expense of others”, until we feel that this fictitious superiority is fleeting and unfounded.
When we laugh we are exposing our hidden characters so that we try to link up with our group, friends, or community. We laugh the harder when we are amidst a “homogeneous group“, otherwise many of the spectators will refrain from sharing in the merriment.
Shakespeare said in Henry V something to this effect “To our inadequacies, supplemented by our thoughts: divide each man to a thousand for creating an imaginary army“
French author Stendhall offered four conditions for successful comical situations in order for the message not to deteriorate into a sign of superiority.
First, the comical situation should be exposed clearly so that we may keep a distance from the “stupid” character
Second, our reflection should come as a total surprise, lest we have time to reflect on our own condition.
Third condition pertains to avoiding us the feeling that the suffering of the comical character is not associated to a potential suffering, which we might experience later. Thus, the suffering of the character should be mild and bearable.
The fourth condition for a healthy laugh is that the comical character should be presented as endowed with estimable attributes, otherwise we might be encouraging “superiority complexes” among the masses that will turn “a good laugh” into very dangerous tendencies.
In summary, we laugh by comparing our “superiority” to the comical characters and consequently, in order to generate a healthy and inoffensive laughter, the laughing individual should not feel an overwhelming sense of “superiority”, or the perception that there is a high odd that the suffering of the character might eventually turn on him later.
Laughter is necessary, but we should not take comical situations and conditions lightly because they have potent political messages among the masses.
Occupational safety and health standards concern the Human Factors professionals
Posted by: adonis49 on: October 6, 2008
“Are occupational safety and health standards of any concern for the HF professionals?” (April 11, 2005)
Occupational safety and health is a topic related to the body of safety and health standards that modern States enforce on all industries and institutions which hire workers to mass produce objects or services on a full time or part time basis.
The main emphasis is to collect data of the impact of the working environment on the safety and health of workers and employees.
Harmful environmental factors in noise, lighting, indoor climate, temperature, heat or poisonous elements are studied, analyzed, draft standards proposed for comments and recommendations and then standards promulgated for enforcement by appropriate agencies with wide legal empowerment to prosecute and exact penalties on refractory industries.
Since the dawn of history, slavery or quasi slavery activities have been imposed on hapless souls. During the industrial revolution many political parties and union organizations for fair labor and adequate wages commensurate to the risks the jobs entail succeeded in gaining substantial legal rights to the workers but safety and health standards were not enacted and enforced until the late quarter of the 20th century.
Even in the modern and ultra developed States sweat shop factories are rampant in building basements with primitive modicum of safety and health concerns for the thousands of immigrants who came from wretched countries with dreams of a better life for freedom, liberty or economic well being.
Not only these immigrants are getting none of their dreams but they are cut off of the familiar environment and family support they may have enjoyed back home.
From time to time, articles in newspapers and social and political organizations expose these inhuman treatments of people, a few measures are taken by the local governments and then life goes on as usual with no serious follow ups or consistent willingness to eradicate these contagious diseases of unbridled greed to devalue human lives when laws and orders are relaxed for the despondent.
Many consensual safety standards from engineering institutions and industrial organizations such as chemical, petroleum, electrical and mechanical businesses have been accepted and joined to the package of safety and health standards.
These standards also deal in many respects with the organizational environment of workers such as shift work or discrimination in hiring based on age, race and gender basis.
Besides the military and aerospace conglomerates, it was the federal and State governments which realized the values of Human Factors professionals to administering the various safety and health agencies.
Human Factors graduates were employed to collect data on the hazardous situations in workplaces, analyze the data, set priorities, inspect the workplaces and enforce the standards.
Every year we have hundreds of major catastrophic fires in warehouses and industrial factories where many immigrants die because they live and cook their meals in dangerous environments. This page lacks space to mention the mega catastrophes in chemical plants, petroleum refineries, dams and construction civil activities.