The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Quote from: spork on May 18, 2024, 11:27:12 AM

Quote from: Langue_doc on May 18, 2024, 06:37:15 AM[. . .]

You should be protesting outside the offices of our law makers (the governor and the NYS Senator) as well as the Israeli embassies (country and UN) in the city.

[. . .]

But that would require taxi/bus fare.

From the NYT article "It's Not Just Gaza" linked above: "she connects the suffering of Gazans to the plight of other oppressed people worldwide." This person seems to be very badly educated, and I'd like to see whether she can locate Gaza or any other part of the Middle East on a map. It's highly ignorant to believe that every situation in the world that one disagrees with has the same identical cause. The attitude reminds me of an Al Jazeera program host's interview with three Americans that I saw a few months ago. One of the guests said "Revolution is the highest form of culture." Dude, you are completely clueless about what both of those words really mean.

I saw a recent NYT column by Ross Douthat which suggested that part of the problem was that students at these elite schools have essentially been taught that everything evil in the world comes down to settler colonialism and the like, and so they can only see world events that can be made to fit into that paradigm.  Hence their lack of concern about what's happening in Sudan, etc.

Good morning!

QB. QB yesterday.

Off to the physical therapist. It's been a rough four weeks, but now that I have an appointment, the problems have miraculously disappeared. The last pain pill I took was around 3 AM Sunday morning. Until then, it's been anywhere between two to three a day.

Happy solving!

Not sure whether to be amused or outraged at the extravagance.  Or maybe a combination of the two.

Now I want some (garden variety) pineapple....

Yesterday was a beautiful summer day.  Today looks like a repeat. 

Morning!

QBwG, last word oleo. LB needed a nudge to try vilifying-growth because while I saw it, I thought it had 2 Ls.

Genius with pangram but nowhere on Letterboxed so far.

 

Quote from: ab_grp on May 19, 2024, 02:29:45 PM

Quote from: secundem_artem on May 15, 2024, 02:39:21 PMSaw American Fiction last night.  Deserved the Oscar buzz and awards.  I'd be curious if Black forumites have a different take on it.  Certainly, white people in the movie were portrayed mostly as none-too-bright virtue signaling fools.

We saw this last night.  I don't have that frame of reference that you are asking about, but I agree it was worth the awards and other recognition.  It kind of reminded me of The Holdovers in a general sense of feel.  Not that the feeling was the same.  Maybe it's a movie type? A movie about life.  I knew what the main plot point was and completely forgot about it after getting wrapped up in a different part of the story (about his family).  Wright and the other actors brought a lot to this one for me.  My husband and I were both surprised afterward that so much of what we had heard was that the movie was good overall but that the ending wasn't? We both thought it fit pretty perfectly.  I think there was a lot that was really smart about this movie.  Some points were made a little more subtly, and some more overtly, but thumbs up from us.

I saw American Fiction on the flight back from Europe. Really liked it! And frankly, some white people can be clueless and virtue-signaling. I loved the scene where they were voting for the literary awards.

Also watched A Star is Born with Lady Gaga on the same flight. Now I want to go back and watch the original versions to see how they updated and adapted the plots.

Quote from: Wahoo Redux on May 19, 2024, 08:51:24 PM

Quote from: secundem_artem on May 19, 2024, 06:40:07 PMIt's been politically very quiet at Artem U.  Today was commencement.  No organized protests or storming the stage, but a fair few unapproved Palestine themed stoles.  Very few of which were on students who were observant Muslims and wearing hijab.  But Megan, Morgan, Becki, and Caitlin made their point.  The only outcome they achieved was making a number of our Jewish graduating students hurt and uncomfortable. 

There will never be a protest which does not upset someone.  That is why people protest.  I wasn't there, of course, but I would never have students, Jewish or otherwise, feel hurt and uncomfortable at any point, certainly not commencement.  Nevertheless, Israel has some actions and beliefs they need to be held accountable for.  Palestine deserves some support even while Hamas needs to be quashed. It sounds to me that Megan, Morgan, Becki, and Caitlin were fairly responsible protestors while making their point.

As long as certain Jewish people continue to insist on conflating concerns about the action of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism, well, maybe they should reflect on why they feel "hurt and uncomfortable."

I'm Jewish and have no problem separating my mixed feeling about how Zionism was implemented with compassion for the Palestinian people.

There might be one or two I wouldn't mind speaking with. Same with teachers. I found out recently that one of my older teachers from the early 80's is still living and celebrating his 90's. However, generally speaking, I avoided my 25th, and really haven't paid any attention to whether there was anything after that.

I more or less feel the same about college reunions, and I don't want to constantly hit up for money, so I don't go to those either.

Finished an additional 500 words on a long-gestating article, destined to be part of Future Monograph.

You're responding as though this is an actual doctorate, rather than a feel-good story. Take a deep breath and smile!