"Take Out" and Illegal Immigration

I saw Take Out, and it really opened my eyes to the harsh life of the illegal immigrant. It's one thing to know of it, another to see it. There isn't a good solution to how to deal with the estimated 11 million (mostly Latino) illegal immigrants in the U.S. There is no legal obligation to citizenship owed to illegal immigrants. Many argue that they have become integral to the U.S. economy in shouldering many menial positions. Mass deportation is not feasible and for many who arrive by costly one-way tickets (smuggled), there aren't opportunities or means for return. The links between smuggling and organized crime further places such individuals in precarious financial debt. There is a level of desperation and dreaming in coming to the U.S.

If it is a matter of fairness then one might claim it is unfair to legal immigrants to automatically grant citizenship to or employ illegal immigrants. If it is a matter mercy then to whom should the nation grant rights and what level of support should be offered? As of now we have a system mixing fairness and mercy. Many fly under the radar and others gain entrance by seeking asylum or refugee a status which virtually guarantees legal entrance and residency in the country. Thus many illegal migrants circumvent the system by claiming asylum/refugee status or by document forgery. Is this fair to those who truly need asylum/refugee?

Mosque Debate

The religious freedoms that the Pilgrims sought and found in America translate over to the debate over the mosque to be built two blocks from Ground Zero. Legally we should allow the construction and I am inclined to agree with Mayor Bloomberg's speech. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a Sufi (of the mystical branch of Islam) who grew up in a family that worked to dialogue with different religions. I believe he continues in his father's work to represent a moderate Islam still willing to dialogue. Some American Muslims find this mosque debate characteristic of the umbrella of hatred that many Americans have towards them. Opponents of the structure find this offends what has become "sacred ground" of those who died at the hand of extremist Islam. I agree the victims should be honored. But does this dishonor them? I have to think more about this.

I doubt the opponents of the mosque would describe or recognize their stance as hatred; fear or distrust is more likely the emotion. We see in Europe the growing Muslim populations and unrest. We hear Muslim leaders speak of populating the West so as to eventually bring all under Sharia law. We read of sleeper cells training and plotting to bring the downfall of America. That is what this proposed building has come to represent in many American eyes. If we are to chose a representative or authority of Islam, Imam Rauf would be ideologically closer to American ideals, a counter to that extremism. As all atheists are not Pol Pot and Stalin, nor all Christians witch hunters and pedophiles, so also not all Muslims are terrorists. I want this to be a step in the right direction to allow free speech, assembly, freedom of religion. Am I misinformed?

Blast the Senses Until Nothing Tastes

Unexpectedly while reading WIRED magazine review of DC Comic's zombie epic, I came upon some interesting social commentary:

Blackest Night is one of our new millennium’s finest examples of humanity’s excessive thirst for fear, violence and consumption, as well as a stellar document of our continuing distraction. Unlike the Twilight franchise, the I Am Legend blockbuster film and other terribly boring undead apocalypses, it’s a steadily riveting experience shot through with mind-numbing artistry. But like other culturally revealing horror and torture-porn exercises of our still-new 21st century, it’s serious sound and fury signifying a great big hole where our souls used to be.

Let’s hope we can get them back before we all turn into the mindless undead in search of the next overkill.

Regarding the (intentional?) Sound and the Fury reference, William Faulkner's novel is described by Wikipedia as an "examination of the corrosion of traditional morality, only to be replaced by a modern helplessness." Perhaps this WIRED magazine contributor is expressing a realization that our continual existential and escapist pursuits are ultimately nihilistic. This may also be an example of Ravi Zacharias' observation on our culture's hunger for entertainment and fantasizing on what is in reality banal: evil.

MMR Autism Link Based on Conflicting Interests

Slate has a good article on Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield recently lost his medical license after pursuing various avenues to link the measles vaccine to various diseases, links which were either never found true or proven wrong. In addition his unscientific publications and campaigning were tied to actual or potential personal monetary gain (huge conflict of interest!). His efforts of preying on the fears of parents have led many U.S. and UK parents to refuse immunization for their children and, not surprising, caused an increase in the number of measles cases. What the lay population does not realize is that vaccination not only protects our own children but also the community immunity prevents the spread of viruses to the developing fetuses of pregnant mothers who cannot receive certain vaccines. Thus a refusal of vaccine is a lose lose option.

Bon Appetit

My friend gave me a free subscription to bon appetit. Here's some cheddar bacon biscuits, yum! Click on the picture for the large version.

Poem

Heard this poem on the RZIM Let My People Think.

In No Strange Land
(The kingdom of God is within you)

O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!

Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumor of thee there?

Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.

The angels keep their ancient places--
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estranged faces,
That miss the many-splendored thing.

But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.

Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry--clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!

Francis Thompson

Queen Cover

A good cover of a Queen song. Recording is not the best as the drums obscure the violin near the end. This is the song that Shen & Zhao skated to in the 2009 Vancouver Olympic pairs figure skating short program.

Marshmallow

This was a very amusing example of the famous marshmallow test.

Educating Ignorance and the Denial of AIDS

The article Beyond Critical Thinking, Michael S. Roth evaluates the current state of education in the humanities. He praises the efforts to teach critical thinking but decries the direction it has taken in fostering counterproductiveness (or counterproduction?). In the current climate of humanities:

A common way to show that one has sharpened one's critical thinking is to display an ability to see through or undermine statements made by (or beliefs held by) others. Thus, our best students are really good at one aspect of critical thinking­—being critical. For many students today, being smart means being critical...But this participation, being entirely negative, is not only seriously unsatisfying; it is ultimately counterproductive.

The skill at unmasking error, or simple intellectual one-upmanship, is not completely without value, but we should be wary of creating a class of self-satisfied debunkers or, to use a currently fashionable word on campuses, people who like to "trouble" ideas. In overdeveloping the capacity to show how texts, institutions, or people fail to accomplish what they set out to do, we may be depriving students of the capacity to learn as much as possible from what they study. In a humanities culture in which being smart often means being a critical unmasker, our students may become too good at showing how things don't make sense. That very skill may diminish their capacity to find or create meaning and direction in the books they read and the world in which they live.

This bring me to a terrifying and ridiculous example of this type of critical thinking and also the lack of critical thinking. A soon to be released "documentary" called House of Numbers (directed by Brent T. Leung) brings "evidence" towards proving that HIV/AIDS does not exist, or more specifically that HIV does not exist and AIDS is only an imaginary construct and conspiracy of the scientific and medical community used to gain more patients to treat. There is even suggestion that people with AIDS are being unnecessarily treated. This is the counterproductive critical thinking. Pair this anti-establishment "thinking" with those who lack critical thinking but trust media and you have a dangerous mix as reflected among video comments such as, "Oh so [this means] you can get exposed to it multiple times and not catch it." I say this is recklessness and verges on madness to subject the public to a mockery of a documentary with painful implications.

Here are example allegations used to discredit the scientific/medical community:

Allegation #1: HIV and AIDS are different.

Truth: it is true that HIV and AIDS are different and the scientific community agrees with this. HIV is the virus. AIDS is the syndrome that it causes.

Allegation #2: There are so many possible symptoms that can be associated with AIDS, it cannot be real.

Truth: The symptoms can be wide and varied because of how the particular virus operates. It debilitates your immune system, making it susceptible to other infections. Its like taking the roof off a house. The house is exposed to precipitation, but the lack of a roof does not dictate the type of precipitation that you will get.

Because I haven't seen this film yet I can only comment on what has been shown by the trailer and expressed by those who have seen it at film festivals and advanced screening.