The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Rain part of the morning and it's now stopped.

Good day!

Finally got to genius with the pangram.  Seems like a tough one today for some reason.  Yesterday got to QBABM with last word vivid, also husband's last word.

No luck on LB.  I just haven't had as much time to look at it lately but will try again today.

Happy solving!

Keystone's most famous alum is Christy Mathewson, an inaugural member of the MLB HoF. That's not sayin' much.

T1 and the report for real today. And hopefully a nap, too.

Quote from: spork on May 04, 2024, 05:07:40 PM

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on May 04, 2024, 02:34:20 PM[. . .]

enacting a paradigm that is rather self-serving.   

in the way described by the X tweet I posted upthread.

Yeah, she was brutal. 

Quote from: Parasaurolophus on May 04, 2024, 08:47:49 AMMore T1ing today. I'd like to start writing up that referee report, too.

Did a chunk. The report will have to wait for tomorrow.

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on May 04, 2024, 02:34:20 PM[. . .]

enacting a paradigm that is rather self-serving.   

in the way described by the X tweet I posted upthread.

Quote from: marshwiggle on May 04, 2024, 07:44:55 AM

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on May 03, 2024, 08:57:21 PMAnd for the record, I think one can be anti-occupation and anti-occupied Palestine without being antisemitic.  Israel has things to answer for and America should stop supporting her until she becomes a humane state.  Oh, and Hamas is a terrorist organization.

However, we have been marching, screaming, occupying, and fighting police for close to a hundred years if you count the Bonus Army of 1932.  MLK prevailed because of his maturity in the face of oppression.  Now we have kids occupying their very vulnerable college campuses, resisting when given lawful commands by the police, and then crying to the media when they are arrested.  And many people have a specific kneejerk reaction, "The students were peaceful," as if that gives them the right to break the law.

We need a new cultural imagination to meet our challenges.  I don't think the old system is working any more.

Well said. What I think many young people don't get is that MLK modelled his actions on Gandhi, and both of them saw that their protests were only a pointer to the social change that would inevitably happen in a basically moral society. No protest had to achieve specific, short term results. The impatience of protests now requires that they have concrete, immediate outcomes, so the disruption has to escalate until they win.

"Getting out the message" has been replaced by "getting in peoples' faces until they cave."

Well, to be fair, MLK and Gandhi led disruptive movements.  I mean, the point of protest is to make people uncomfortable and to make the news.  But they were also involved in a lifelong fight against institutionalized oppression and for their own and their peoples' civil rights, and they both paid the ultimate price.  I've never thought it right to point to the "entitled" or "rich" kids as if it's their fault that their parents are wealthy or to talk about "elite" students as if it is an accusation to be accomplished enough to get into an Ivy, or any college, for that matter.  But we also have to acknowledge that the price the students are paying is pretty cheap, even if they are arrested, and their chants such as "This is what democracy looks like" are cliche, a little facile, and not the ostensible point of their protest. No matter what happens in Palestine or their college campuses, these kids are going to be fine. Then I would be careful about martyring students or professors.  It is bad optics to see cops in riot gear----they look like your typical bad guys in video games or sci fi films----but the police don't want to get hurt, and who can blame them?  I'd armor-up too.  Then I read stories from professors who have no sympathy for a late paper or a missed exam but who are then outraged by police officers upholding the law, hypothetically speaking, of course.  And being a kindly professor is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

I just don't see the analogous situation between the great era of protest in the '50s through '70s that garnered so many ethical changes in our society and the situations now.  I think we have copycat kids who, while I agree with their stance, are enacting a paradigm that is rather self-serving.   

Quote from: Parasaurolophus on May 04, 2024, 08:47:22 AM

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on May 03, 2024, 08:57:21 PM

Quote from: Parasaurolophus on May 03, 2024, 05:48:38 PMFor my part, I would be curious to know how many especially among those most vocally dismissive or sneering of these protests--have ever participated in a protest of heir own. Because I see a lot of tarring with broad brushes going on.

Dude, I grew up on the west coast in the '80s. 

I observed my fair share of protests and participated in several.  That's part of the reason I think this style of protest has turned sour.

Nevertheless, I marched against the first Gulf War because at the time it seemed like a very scary prospect.  It did not (yet) lead to World War III, but I think we've seen a whole series of atrocities on all sides in part because of it (no facile answers to what we should have done exist, BTW).

So yeah, I've seen protests. 

And for the record, I think one can be anti-occupation and anti-occupied Palestine without being antisemitic.  Israel has things to answer for and America should stop supporting her until she becomes a humane state.  Oh, and Hamas is a terrorist organization.

However, we have been marching, screaming, occupying, and fighting police for close to a hundred years if you count the Bonus Army of 1932.  MLK prevailed because of his maturity in the face of oppression.  Now we have kids occupying their very vulnerable college campuses, resisting when given lawful commands by the police, and then crying to the media when they are arrested.  And many people have a specific kneejerk reaction, "The students were peaceful," as if that gives them the right to break the law.

We need a new cultural imagination to meet our challenges.  I don't think the old system is working any more.

FWIW, I didn't have you in mind.

Fair enough. 

I will concede that these protests have gotten a hella bunch of news.  I doubt that either Israel or Hamas care, but it certainly got the attention of the politicians.

Good day!

Whee, got to QBABM (just had to edit since I had one word left when I posted)! Husband got it early.  Congrats on getting there yesterday, cathwen! We had team QB.  I needed bacilli, flak.

No luck on LB again!

Thanks for the good health wishes, cathwen and Langue_doc! He has been having some electrical issues lately and had to wear a monitor all of the previous week, so this was the follow up with his cardiologist about those results.  Looks like he may either have a thyroid issue, so will be getting bloodwork to check that out and/or will be a good candidate for something called ablation.  It seems to be an outpatient procedure kind of like an angiogram or cath lab where they will see what's doing what or not doing what and do some cauterizing? It should help.  In the meantime, he is starting a different blood thinner.  One of the contraindications is apparently eating lime.  Glad I looked that up, because we have lime pretty much every night squeezed on fish and veggies or in ceviche.  I'm not sure that's enough to be a problem, but we are not taking chances until he can get ahold of the doctor on Monday.  So doctor is not super alarmed, but it is just hard dealing with medical issues that compound or cause other medical issues.  He's in a weird place of sometimes needing to take more of one heart medication when the arrhythmias start or his heart rate gets too high, but that makes his blood pressure too low, so he gets dizzy.  So he needs to exercise but may be pushing too hard or who knows what.  Anyway, at least there's some stuff to investigate and a path forward and it doesn't sound completely dire! I am gunshy about him going into the cath lab setting again since last time you may recall he was just getting an angiogram and found out he had to have open heart surgery. 

Cathwen, hah sorry to hear that about the elusive circuit breaker solution! I really wish they could just ask that on the phone.  Though I guess they are happy to make money or even after hours money not breaking a sweat.  I think it's hard these days as well because so many warranties state that you can't mess around with the unit at all and if a qualified service person doesn't make the repair the warranty is void, etc.  It's quite a racket.

Langue_doc, thanks! It was a nice video call.  I have only used that app once before, for a quick telemed visit.  Somehow child and partner were centered nicely, and no matter where we put the tablet we looked tiny.  That just made me think that I should see if there's some setting like autofocus that I can turn off.  Now that this kid lives full time in their university town with partner, I guess it's good to figure out video call technology.

Sorry for all the rambling!

Happy solving!