unbelievable

in case you might be interested...
this is dr james watson's opinion on human intelligence... i'm amazed that someone could say these things in our day and age. read for yourself.

thoughts?

a song to go with today's post

Don't look in their eyes - Stabilo

Go now go get your guns
we'll all fight like cowboys and pray like nuns
then we'll dance around the open flames
if it gets too hot well we have no shame
no shame

they say we talk too much
cause nothing changes,nothing changes
and I say we don't talk enough
cause nothing changes, nothing changes
and oh, oh oh, oh oh

so we're here, sound the alarms
throw up your arms
we brought the entire army
and we're starving so don't try anything smart
theres plenty of ammunition and we've got our guards

look now he's on the run
i'm glad he tried its much more fun
if we chase him till the sun goes down
we can take him out with noone else around
no one else around, no one else around
no, no, oh no no

so we're here, sound the alarms
throw up your arms
we brought the entire army
and we're starving so don't try anything smart
theres plenty of ammunition and we've got our guards

stick around i got a hunch
we'll bomb this town and stop for lunch
and never,nevermind these awful cries
it's not as real if you don't look in their eyes

don't look in their eyes, don't look in their eyes, oh no
oh no no

so we're here, sound the alarms
throw up your arms
we brought the entire army
and we're starving so don't try anything smart
theres plenty of ammunition and we've got our guards

don't look in their eyes, don't look in their eyes, oh no
don't look in their eyes, don't look in their eyes, oh no



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Now playing: Stabilo - Don't Look In Their Eyes
via FoxyTunes

To whom it may concern

I just got out of a Native Studies seminar.  Today was especially interesting, as our seminar leader announced that many students were just barely passing the participating component, the result being that people are being forced to talk.  This is good; the discussion was much more lively!  Anyway, we had read an article about decolonizing schools, though it really didn't provide any method of decolonization or say that it was even necessary... In any case, regardless of how non-commital the article was, we started to discuss the school system.  Of course, my ideas are slightly radical, so I'm sure many students are now walking away going "man, does that kid piss me off". 

Here's the case: a country with a large, marginalized population that is everyday attacked on the basis of race, language and culture, and has been for over 100 years.  This population is now trying to empower itself, and is tired of being given solutions.  That being said, a portion of that population, namely its young people are unsure as to what exactly to believe.  The question comes up: should we even care about past wrongs?  Can we not just move the hell along?  Who am I talking about?  Why Canada and its Aboriginal population, who else? 

We look at a lot of stats in this course, and it all points to the need for transformation.  Not only for social transformation, but also personal transformation.  Of course, these are things that I cannot say in class.  I suggested that all students, not just Aboriginal ones should learn about Aboriginal culture.  So I got asked: why?  and what should they learn about Aboriginals and their culture?  I said in class that it's because of the racism that exists.  But I don't think that person understood.  Let me explain here. 

I am not Aboriginal.  I lived in an area of my city that is predominantly white-middle class.  My school was so white that my Chinese French teacher would often ask me for the Iranian perspective to balance out the opinions in class.  I think her intentions were in the right place, but really, it was racist, and I hated that class as a result.  But you get the picture.  That all being said, we did learn about Aboriginal people in History - but that's only because we had a French History class.  None of my Anglophone friends learnt much about this population, and if they did, it was minimal.  What I learnt, I have now come to realize, was Eurocentric and inaccurate.  You know, if school is where we learn about stuff we don't learn at home, like other cultures, and on the news we hear bad news about Aboriginal people, and the "Aboriginal section" of the curriculum hasn't existed for long - tell me, how exactly are people to be able to understand them?  Or anyone for that matter? 

Do you think if my French teacher had understood that I just wanted to be normal that she would have put me on the spot so much?  Did I ever have the guts to tell her off? 

The thing is that we cannot allow misconceptions about others to continue.  It doesn't matter who they are - prejudice, racism - you know, just plain old ignorance - it cannot go on.  Our society is falling apart, piece by piece.  Yes, maybe it is tough for people to hear that we have to learn about them, but you know, we have to learn about everyone.  And maybe it's not that every student should be able to recite the alphabet in Cree, but more that children will grow up realizing that every person is a  person in their own right, that they have a soul, that they are challenged and tested, just like I am or you are, and that we need to respect them, whether they live on the street or in a mansion or next door.  You know, right now, many different cultures live in my area.  No one knows zip about the person next door - they just know what's on the news, if that!  So now, if my neighbors saw Iranians on television and thought I was like them, do you think they'd talk to me? 

Next problem - how do we get there?  How do we cause a change in the system?  Is it possible?  Aren't there forces that are propelling us in an individualist, profit-driven direction?  If the answer to the last question is "yes", then isn't resistance futile? 

This is why I talk about personal and social transformation.  The idea is not my own - it is clearly written all over the Baha'i Writings, and that's where I've been learning about this from.  See, here's the thing - you can't transform either one on their own or "first".  Our world's systems are based on the fragmented idea that you can... quite frankly, that makes no sense.  Let me give you an example: UV radiation, it is widely acknowledged, can cause cancer.  What happens is that the radiation messes up our DNA - even just one tiny, infintesimal base in our DNA in one cell can result in a tumor forming.  When that mutation (the messing with the base) occurs, the entire system in the cell is affected, and that results in bad news - the cell either dies or it becomes immortal and divides, hence the cancer...  The tumor, in turn takes over the body, crushing organs, destroying blood vessels - it is so destructive that the interior of the tumor actually dies because nutrients can't get to it.  So we can see how small changes to an individual component of an environment can result in changes in the environment.  Similarly, we see how global warming, a change in our environment, is affecting plant and animal life, which is affecting how we live, which affects, etc etc etc.... So now, if we see so many examples in nature, how is it that we don't see that society and the individuals within it function in the same way?  How could we ever imagine that we could create a just and fair society if the individuals within it, even just a small segment, are corrupt?  How could you say "I am truthful" when the place you work in requires you to bend the truth, or even to lie?  You see, we have to change both society and individual at the same time...

And I'm running out of time, so I'll continue this later.  

today's funny

this is a conversation between my sister (farah) and i today - she happens to be 3 and a half years old.

me: farah, make sure you finish your food
farah: i already did (note the obvious inability to align her understanding with reality - her plate was full of food)
me: uh...
now, in many previous conversations i have explained to my sister that if she eats, she will get big and strong...
farah: taleleh, are you small?
me: no, i'm not little, farah
farah: are you big?
me: yes
farah: then why are you eating?
[at this point my father and i are dying with laughter]
farah: what's so funny?

solutions that people forget about

so i'm well into the school year now... it's only midway through the second full week of classes and if you asked me about summer holidays i'd probably reply with a confused stare... anyway, today, i went to a seminar in which the participants had a discussion about solutions for the problem of "the inner city".
we all basically agreed that yes, the people themselves have to build up their own community... the question then was: how. how do we get people motivated? do we, "the other" - should we - get involved? if yes, how do we get involved? what should we do? if no, then do we just wait? and what are we waiting for? what will an "improved" inner city look like? then the question comes to mind: how will the people themselves, whom we know are trapped in a state of hopelessness, act on their desire to improve their lives? and if we believe as a society that humans are basically animals, then should we even care about "improving the lives of others"?
see, here's the basic problem with any kind of discussion at this level. if we are to deny the existence of God, of spirituality and of the nobility of the human spirit - all three of which are inseparable, as the existence of one demands the existence of the other two - then why are we concerned about improving our lives? without God our lives become a matter of survival, and for the duration of my life, i bet the situation in my town's inner city will not get bad enough to affect me.
now, personally, i do not agree with this standpoint. God does exist. every human being is created by God and therefore is noble, and so spirituality is just a matter of fact. humanity is one - so what affects anyone else, affects me. i've never really understood how in the social sciences we can ignore the interaction of the individual and the environment with each other. how is it possible that we know that a snow storm affects our pattern of life, and yet we do not understand that when someone stabs someone in front of my face, i'm going to be in shock for the rest of the day? it doesn't make any sense. we live in a society that boasts freedom of expression, and yet everywhere i turn, people are suppressing their emotions - their desire to do better, to help others, to reflect the qualities and attributes of God - such as love, justice, kindness, generosity...
anyway, the discussion was fruitless, of course. these seminars are designed only to help give students insight into the topic, and not actual experience and understanding. now, you tell me, how are we going to learn about the current plight of the first nations peoples in any region, without actually seeing their plight?
and that, dear reader, is our cream-of-the-crop education system. future leaders - i command you: ARISE!

whoops... i forgot, that doesn't even work in the wizarding world. even voldemort when to school and practiced.

meet wilson

Hello, world. Meet the current love of my life, Wilson (above). Well, actually this isn't all of him, this is just his N-domain, and actually his name is longer than "Wilson", but I think Wilson will do for now... maybe even Willy might be funny.

For the next year, Wilson and I will be doing joint projects in the lab, enjoying each other's company and doing things like binding him to others and seeing what his 2d mnr - sorry, I mean, n-m-r - might just look like. Using my super duper x-ray glasses, also known commonly as "YHS reading specs", I will get to do cool things and maybe just create a formula to world peace. That's right, world peace from a bunch of red, blue and yellow squiggly lines. It's like Martha Stewart minus the jail time, and plus the biochemistry. :P

Anyway, that's all for now, folks. I'll be posting more as the year goes on... I think this year shall prove to be awesome... that, and my favorite joke buddy is off to grad school, so I'll be bored out of my mind, and will have to post my commentary here... no more passing doodles of ATP factories in class...

an awesome video about teaching children!

quotation of the day... too funny (and true)

If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play at it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf.
  - Bob Hope

coffee craziness

well, i got up this morning and decided (as usual) to grab some coffee and i found myself driving to the tim's close to my place - i figured i could drive-thru it up - and to my dismay, well, and alarm, i found the line up was actually causing traffic in the street! this is how much people are addicted to tim's coffee... i find it amazing.
so then i had to come to school and get coffee - which i did... and anyway, then i rolled up my rim (after having finished drinking cold, watered down coffee.. it was nasty....) and it said: please play again - so then a thought came to my mind... what if we could "roll up the rim" on exams? it'd be like a raffle to see if you could get an automatic pass or something.. i think that'd be pretty cool... and i imagine that students would go for it, and the university could make tons of money, and then maybe they can lower tuition and higher less angry librarians, and raise the entrance average so that we don't get idiot arts students watching movies loudly in the library... freaks!

anyway... those are my thoughts... coffee makes people crrraazy.