Acts Of War, Acts Of Inertia

The latest Sanity Squad podcast is up.

Despite technical difficulties (and the rumor that we deliberately help back release of this week's podcast so as to create a national groundswell and demand for our brilliance. Notwithstanding the request of global artistic community and after much debate and discussion, the Sanity Squad members have decided not to be the opening act for the Stones on their next world tour), we are in our usual fine form. We discuss Iran's kidnapping of 15 British soldiers, the outrageous manipulation of those hostages for PR purposes and the incredibly tepid response of the British government.

This weeks' podcast offers up the insight and analysis you need to comprehend the drama as it unfolds.

Karma

Life has a way of coming full circle.

Hat tip: The one and only Alice.

Friday Facts

Religion, democracy and fundamentalism

Religion and democracy work. In fact, the two nations where religious values and democracy are ‘at peace,’ Israel and the United States, are two of the most open, progressive and successful on the face of the earth, each with high standards of living.

Nations where religious values are imposed and democratic principles of equality and freedoms for the individual are rejected, are among the most backward and failed nations on the face of the earth.

Jewish and Christian expressions of fundamentalism are predicated on free will and behavior. Islamic fundamentalism is predicated on Sharia Law. Jewish and Christian fundamentalists can practice their faith anywhere. Islamist expressions of fundamentalism cannot be satisfied until the demand that Sharia Law is imposed, even on non-Muslims, is met.

With very few exceptions, Jewish and Christian fundamentalists do not advocate, preach or justify violence. With very few exceptions, Muslim fundamentalists do advocate, and justify violence.

The majority of Jewish and Christian fundamentalists are motivated in their religiosity in terms of elevation- that is, they believe gentle and kind behavior will ‘find favor in God’s eyes,’ and thus, they will find both earthly and Heavenly rewards. Muslim fundamentalists are motivated by ‘humiliations,’ heaped upon them not by their own behaviors, but by the behavior of others. They believe they can find redemption and salvation through violence directed at others. The fundamentalists speak not only for God and take actions on His behalf, but they also insist that their logic is His logic and that their politics is His politics.

Fundamentalism, Jewish, Christian or Muslim, is in fact a political ideology, not a religious one. Jewish and Christian fundamentalists understand that God universal, given to all mankind. That they choose a fundamentalist lifestyle does not lessen God’s attachment to others. Their expressions of faith are a personal choice, or calling. Jewish and Christian fundamentalism is not to imposed.

Islamist fundamentalism are various ideologies that are meant to be imposed on all believers (and non believers). Not accepting imposed fundamentalism can lead to being labeled an ‘apostate,’ and being subject to all manner of punishment, including death. Islamist fundamentalists also believe that they and they alone, are God’s ‘gatekeepers.

Think about it.

Moral Rejctionism

It's supposed to be the war in Iraq that has been at the root cause of the latest round of Islamic fundamentalism. We're told it is American foreign policy that has been the growing medium for Al Qaeda and we are told that Israel is the cause of the failures of Arab Muslim societies and cultures. We are actually going through the charade of a debate on whether or not we should take on the mad mullahs of the Iranian regime, as they develop a nuclear program. We sidestep the issue out of fear of an undesirable Islamic response.

The incongruity is spectacular. If Saddam Hussein had an nuclear program identical to that of Iran, the entire Iraq war debate would be moot. Nevertheless, here we are, pretending to go through a 'debate' of sorts, over how to handle the Iran situation- as if an Iran with an unfettered nuclear program is a realistic option. Does anyone really believe that a nuclear armed Iran would shut down production of nuclear materials and give up WMD's, even if Israel were obliterated? Does anyone believe that a regime that amputates limbs, stones women to death and executes children, will ever find itself in accordance with the literati in the salons in Paris or on English polo fields?

The Danish cartoon incident caused greater outrage on the Muslim 'street' than did the invasion of Iraq. Those cartoons (distasteful as they were) proved one truth now beyond argument- that for many Muslim clerics and 'leaders,' Islam has now dispensed with debate and discussion in favor of violence as an immediate response. Violence is now an act of first resort.' In carefully crafted manipulation and deceit, a 21^st century 'iron curtain,' with all the darkness that implies, is descending upon the Muslim world.

The vast majority of Muslims are not that much different than anyone else. They work, want the best for their families and would be more than happy to just blend in and participate in our society. Just as clearly, those who speak loudest for Islam and in the name of Islam, are violent. They are the face of Islam today. It is also true those voices are not challenged by individuals. It is also true that most, if not all Muslim mosques and organizations have been co opted by radicals or those who passively support a more radical agenda.

Like most Germans in prewar Germany, most Muslims aren't looking for a confrontation or violence. Like the Germans in the prewar period, many have succumbed to the barrage of racial propaganda and hatred, but for the most part, they aren't ready for outright violence, absurd 'Muslim street' outrage.

None of that matters of course, because those who spoke for Germany were not peaceful and no amount of appeasement would change that. Notwithstanding Hitler's pronouncements of, 'All we want is this or that, and no more,' the wiser amongst the Europeans knew differently. It was only the dreamers and fools that were surprised by the evil that was to come. We wrote in Speaking In Tongues And Other Political Realities, that

An enemy is someone with whom we, as individuals and as a community, have fundamental differences. An enemy has values and beliefs, that are very different than out own. An enemy wants to deprive us of our beliefs and values, because that enemy finds our beliefs repulsive or threatening to their own. Enemies will fight to the death, should they choose to engage us or we choose to engage them.

There are people who believe that enemies are opponents- that is, they can reasoned with and rationalized with and common ground can be had. Believing that an enemy can be an opponent is what led much of Europe to appease Hitler, in the beginning. Herr Hitler, it was believed, was after all a European. Surely he could be reasoned with. Surely he would respond to the rational idea that war was catastrophic.

There is one reality that must be dealt with. In dealing with the Islamists, we are not dealing with opponents- they do not share our values and morality. For an Islamist, violence and the threat of violence, plays a leading role in reacting to a provocation and in attempting to extract a desired response. The mere threat of violence unleashed, it is understood, is a blatant attempt to cow civilized society into submission. It worked for Genghis Khan and it is working for the Islamists. One only has to look at the violent responses to the publication of cartoons, to understand the implications.

In western culture and civilization, violence is the option of last resort. The United Nations was predicated on that premise (contrast that with the Arab League's Khartoum Declaration, announced that only violence was to be used in dealing with Israel. No negotiation, no recognition and secure borders. To this day, Arab violence is the Sword of Damocles hanging over the Jewish state. That hatred is taught in schools and preached from the pulpit). In the Arab and Islamic world, hate, rejectionism and violence are part of every school curriculum.

Iraq was invaded because Saddam ignored international law for over a decade. He invaded two neighboring countries and butchered well over a million people (the final number has yet to be tallied). Had western sensibilities and repulsion to violence not been so great, it is safe to say that many of those million plus victims of Saddam would be alive today. The same applied to Darfur. If westerners were of one voice and really believed that the lives of the Rwandans and Darfurese were more important than 'diplomacy,' many of the two million butchered in Sudanese and the million plus Rwandans slaughtered, would be alive today. It is clear that for many, who is doing the slaughtering often determines involvement of indifference. For the darlings of the left, there are no crimes against humanity. Ever.

Dr Sanity, in "Perfect" Totalitarianism, Imperfect Freedom And Biological Fantasies:

...biological fantasies of the leftist utopians; and the delusional fantasies of communists and socialists and all their 21st century heirs, have lead to incalculable levels of human suffering all over the world, as the proponents of these theories have tried to force humans to evolve into some sort of "ideal" state. All such systems have failed the real-world tests in the last century; and all current versions of these ideologies will also eventually fail and fade away. To the extent that they attempt to incorporate some aspects of "human nature" into their failing system, they may last a bit longer as they slowly chip away at the human spirit and work to extinguish it; but it is actually much more likely that human nature will transform the perverse ideology than that the reverse will happen.

What we see in the Middle East today is the re-assertion of human nature after years of being crushed under the oppression of yet another social system that has attempted to rebuild humans along the lines of a religious "ideal", spiked with totalitarian fantasizing. For all the opposition to giving democracy and freedom a chance in Iraq in Afghanistan, the seeds have been planted and there is little doubt that those seeds will grow as healthy human nature reasserts itself after decades of oppression.

Ask yourself how many deaths will it take before despots like Kim Jung Il with his theory of pine needle tea will be wholly and unequivocally discredited in the minds of those pathetic socialist teachers/oppressors at Hilltop Children's Center in Seattle? Oh, they would be so shocked!shocked! at the idea that their little exercise in "social justice" lays the moral foundation for a social system quite indistinguishable from Kim's paradise, where all structures belong to everyone and no one; where the individual means nothing and his desires and needs are subservient to the state; and where nothing is special and everything is "standard" (except of course for Dear Leader who looms rather large).

How much human misery and oppressive injustice will it take before the social engineers of today's neo-fascist left abandon their attempts to force human beings to adapt to their fantasies? When will their "moral awakening" occur?...

"Utopias cannot be created without imposing tyranny.

More often than not, who is doing the slaughtering determines involvement or indifference.

Muslims have every right to be offended at cartoons they find repulsive and outrageous. Nevertheless, they do not have the right to claim violence as a legitimate response to that offense. They claim to stand for higher ideals, even as Islamic newspapers and media portray other faith in the most obscene and obnoxious ways.

Today, when Christians or Jews respond to provocations with violence, we all understand that to be an aberration. When we see radical Muslims reacting violently in the streets, we see that as expected behavior.

When Hamas refuses to renounce violence toward Israelis or racist and bigoted ideologies directed at Jews and Christians, we aren't surprised. When we hear that Islamic 'leaders' threaten cartoonists or writers they don't like with beheading, no one is really surprised. The fatwas calling for the death of those cartoonists Muslims found offensive, were threats we took seriously, as well we should. Call for violence are acted upon. The Japanese translator of Salman Rushdie's book was murdered.

In the Judeo-Christian ethic, violence is tolerated (and even mandated) for self defense only. That's it. There is no other reason to kill or threaten another human being.

If violence were an acceptable response to blasphemy or religious insults, the US would have bombed the anti religious Soviet Union to smithereens. If violence were an acceptable response to blasphemy or religious insults, bigotry and hatred, then Israel would have been well within her rights to blow the Arab world into oblivion.

That in turn highlights another reason why present day Iran, under the tyranny of the Ayatollah Khomeini's heirs, must be precluded from developing and having nuclear weapons. As long as violence and the threat of violence remains an acceptable part of Islamic expression, that cannot be allowed to happen.

To be clear- violence is not a part of the average Muslim believer's experience. The reality is that the religion has morphed into something very dangerous- and another reality is that the vast majority of believers have remained silent, and that silence is the true desecration of Islam- not the publication of a few cartoons or opinions that are not shared.

When the Israelis build a fence to protect themselves from suicide bombers and those who choose to celebrate such events, it can be referred to as an 'Apartheid' barrier, because it is a barrier built to keep the institutionalized hate and violence that define apartheid, out of their society.

Like the Israelis, all of western culture rejects the apartheid of radical Islamists that calls for death, destruction and hate. Israeli and western rejectionism is a reaction to events foisted upon them. It has never been about a particular ideology, bigotry or hate.

Radical Islam, left unchallenged, is the perfect petri dish from which a plague no less dangerous than the Black Death or smallpox will emerge. The world is a living organism, and at some point, when under attack, organisms fight back.

Unimpeded violence will never be assimilated into the organism that is human society and culture of today. That kind of society died out a long time ago and will not return. Humankind has come to far to accept barbaric and Neanderthal, jungle like behavior as part of our reality. Progress, not regress, is the yardstick. Societies, cultures and religions are judged on what they build and create, not by what they destroy.

Rejectionism is an ethical response, when what is rejected is antithetical to the morality and values that celebrate and ensures the dignity of freedom democratic expression for all.

Influence, Knowledge And Truth

Imagine you were put in a position to exert permanent influence on mankind. What your message be?

What does 'influence' really mean, anyway? Is 'influence' determined by the quality of content, or is 'influence' measured by how many people hear and absorb the message?

Do ideas become great only after they are accepted by masses of people?

Sometimes, masses of people are what it takes to make a difference. Other times, only a handful of decent people can make a difference.

The Biblical tale of Abraham his negotiations with God to save Sodom and Gomorrah is instructive. God agrees to save the cities from destruction if only 10 good men are found.

Of course, real influence isn't determined by the numbers. Real influence is determined by the quality of the message.

There are no shortage in history of examples of deliberate attempts to impose influence and ideas. Those examples include Nazi, socialist, communist and even radical Islamic ideologies. In the end however, great and influential ideas, like great and influential art, survive the test of time. Citizen Kane and Gone with the Wind remain great cinematic art- Terms of Endearment and The Sting, Academy award winners each, will not fare as well.

An influential message may take years, even centuries, to realize full potential. Real influence endures. Shallow influence is fleeting. Religions endure because the messages and lessons they endorse are meaningful and are meant to uplift spirits. Religions that demean and marginalize people or are predicated on hate, in the end, prove to be hollow and repressive..

In fact, the most influence any individual can have is the influence he or she exerts on him or herself. Will we challenge ourselves to reach our potential or, will we submit to our baser selves?We all ask ourselves the same question: Do we matter? Do we really matter? We noted, In A World Without You In It, that

On the face of it, we are part of a dispensable and disposable world. Whole populations are killed and are seemingly forgotten. As events around us fly by at the speed of light, there is no real sense that our lives- or anyone else's for that matter, are of significant or meaningful merit in the great scheme of things.

In fact, we suffer a kind of debilitating malaise- “Nothing I do or say really matters.” There is the belief that whether or not we contribute anything to the the world and those around us, the world would be no different. It is the 'my vote doesn't really count' school of thought. No matter our efforts, nothing will ever really change.

If you truly believe that your efforts and contributions are meaningless, can you really know and have passion? What can you truly look forward to, what will truly excite you? To what can you truly be committed? Will you ever know that 'fire in the belly'?

In fact, we each have the capacity to influence mankind, with our actions, dreams and beliefs. How we behave, the goals we set for ourselves and the nature of our beliefs is ours alone. We are each uniquely qualified to make a difference.

There are those who will argue that they are 'wounded' or carry 'too much baggage.' They 'depersonalize' their own value or worth. Those individuals question their own worth and indispensability- and then demand attention and sympathy. "Value me because I am worthless," is their plea (They do not see the incongruity of their own self perceptions).

The best therapists reinforce the inherent value of their patients- because it is from within that inherent value that the therapists patients find the strength to overcome the obstacles that weigh them down and preclude them from achieving the greatness- big or small- that they are capable.

Influence is not determined by sheer strength or by Darwinian survival skills. Influence is determined by how well we realize what our capabilities and capacities are- and how best to reach those capacities. Recognizing and understanding those capacities is the most personal and intimate expression of self knowledge.

Mass communications, mass production, mass depersonalization and the massive amounts of statistics threaten to become the source of our identities and worth. We are increasingly defined, measured and valued by our banks accounts, credit card limits, looks, clothes, homes, and the like, threaten to turn us into commodities rather than individuals, our worth determined by our association with certain agendas. Clarence Thomas isn't a story of success- depersonalized, he has become an 'Uncle Tom' or a 'House Nigger.' Condi Rice is referred to in even more vile terms. That's what happens when people become commodities- no more than statistical and demographic 'blips.'

Is it any wonder then, that people feel insignificant? Here's something to ponder. Can people, 'commoditized,' experience real love? Can parents really parent if their own sense of worth is defined by a cold and impersonal materialism? Will relationships become no more than expressions of selfishness? These are real possibilities. Both Dr Sanity (here) and Shrinkwrapped (here) have written extensively on ever growing narcissism and the effects that narcissism has on our culture, society and families.

What can be extrapolated from their discussions is clear. The tsunami of narcissism is an almost reflexive expression of a clear dysfunction. When 'You don’t matter; your feelings don’t matter; your function and purpose here is to serve my needs,' are considered a form of healthy and acceptable 'expression,' is it really a surprise that deep and real interpersonal relationships and happiness, elude so many?

In a world where technology and deliberate depersonalization threatens to tame us, instead of the other way around, the need to recognize our own capacity and potential for good is more important than ever. We must recognize, reflect and react to the deliberate attempt to dehumanize and belittle our significance- the three 'R's' of our own redemption.

There are those people who believe that that influence is brought about by creation- that is, to have enduring influence comes about as the result of creating a physical manifestation or expression of their ideas or beliefs, be that in art or politics are any other field of endeavor.

These people wrongly believe that to create is to have influence, whereas in reality, it is influence that creates.

Making an object or having an idea that is separate and distinct from myself, separates me from that object or idea. I am not a part of that object. If on the other hand, by way of ideas and insight, I influence the world around me, then I have truly created something meaningful.

For example, if you influence your child in way that results in that child growing up to be a productive, decent and caring citizen, you have wielded real influence. In A Tale Of Two Peoples, we noted Nobel Prize winner Robert Aumann cried as recalled his wife who had passed away from cancer, seven years earlier, in his award acceptance speech:

"....You Scientists can write endless article, but most of them will be forgotten over the years. I influence the education of my children, and I too will be forgotten in another 150 years- but my influence will exist and dozens and hundreds of children will walk around who were influenced by me." This is actually what we scientists want- to influence and change. The prize for me is not the main issue. Of course I am not sorry to win, it represents the fact that I have reached a certain point, but the prize is not the point...

Objects and ideas only assume real value when their qualities exert a positive influence. Food is important because food is life sustaining and thus allows us to exert positive and productive influences. Ideas and education assume real value when their qualities exert a positive influence and we use those ideas and education to empower ourselves and others. Books assume real value when their qualities exert the kind of influence that makes us think. Just because the Bible and pornography are both printed and bound, does not make them equal in value, any more than achieving nationhood status makes the Israelis and Palestinians equal in status. Assuming the garb or uniform does not bestow equality.

There is big difference between truth and knowledge, and that difference also measures what it means to have influence and our search for meaning.

Seeking knowledge is a human endeavor and as such, is both never ending and limited at the same time. Seeking truth is very different- we can find truth and be satisfied and sated, even if we do not completely understand or comprehend that truth. We can work to increase our understanding of truth, but the essential truth never changes.

Our search for meaning and truth cannot be found through our quest for knowledge.

Salvation is not achieved through the search for knowledge. Salvation and meaning come about as the result of the search for truth. It is in the search for truth that truth is found.

The distinctions between truth and knowledge has become blurred because we have blurred the line between 'identity' and 'idea.' We have come to believe (mistakenly) that ideas are in perfect union with reality. "I have an idea or belief and therefore, you must agree and afford that idea or belief respect and credibility, no matter how irrelevant, offensive, silly, etc., it may be."

The search for knowledge without the search for truth is a pathology, an intellectual obsession. It is a fixation on the exterior of things that precludes real intimacy. Anyone can learn the mechanics of anything, without getting close. The mind consumes rather than luxuriates. The mind devours, rather than contemplates. The mind inhales, rather than loves.

The accumulation of knowledge becomes a mechanical process of method, protocol and system. The search for truth is has always been defined as dialogue, contact, acceptance a and communion.

In the the search for truth, rational thinking and questioning are forms of redemptive knowledge. The difference is that in the search for truth, rational thinking and questioning become a foundation stone of positive influence. The search for truth acknowledges our humility and not our hubris.

While not everyone believes in God, much can be learned for the search for truth in the way some seek faith:

In our humanness, we are clothed with finite attire- we cannot divine the mind of God. When we demand absolutely certain truth, we are attempting to play God. We may believe that there are absolute truths, but in fact, we are bound by our understanding at the moment. Scientific truths alter as our understanding alters.

If we presume we can understand the ‘absolute truth’ about God, we are destined to fail in our desire to know God and to accept God as God. The ‘absolute truth’ about God changes as we come to understand ourselves, our world and even others.

That ‘absolute truth’ can never be corralled or understood because only God is ‘absolute.’ As humans, we are the opposite of absolute. We can be ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ we can be ‘more’ or ‘less.’ For us to exist as God’s creations, we must know joy and we must know suffering. We need to succeed and we also need to fail. We are meant to be less than perfect, because it is through our imperfections that we find ourselves and our potential.

God treasures our spiritual achievements. He treasures our failures along the way even more, because in facing and overcoming our failures, we have shown that we are indeed worthy of the humanity He bestowed upon us. We are not meant to become perfect in our struggle and search for meaning and faith- we are meant to overcome the limitations, imperfections and obstacles along the way.

Relating to God is about relating to that most human side of ourselves.

More On Education, More From Mamacita

We sent Mamacita this essay. We asked her to respond because a) unlike most of you, we are not experts at everything, and b) we know and respect Mamacita's experience in that minefield that is education (it is amazing to SC&A that so many parents that have managed to teach their kids how to use a toilet are convinced they understand education. It never occurs to most parents they are far more suited to discussing feces- but that is another post).

The essay is about social inclusion (that means special ed kids get taught and promoted from grade to grade, among other things), a controversial and not universally loved concept. If your child's teacher is a 'touchy-feely,' can't we all get along type, well, chances are he/she is of the age that social inclusion is as important as educational achievement (at least until that teacher flies on an airliner or needs a neuro-surgeon).

In any event, we realize that some of you may not actually read the above mentioned post- which says a lot about you. SC&A know who you are.

Here are some of Mamacita's remarks:

Inclusion is a topic that either freezes teachers stiff and silent, or hypers them into a frenzy. I've never met a teacher who liked inclusion, even spec ed teachers don't approve. It is almost universally hated. Even the PARENTS of spec ed kids don't usually like it, and that's saying something.

Many people believe inclusion is merely a cheap trick that allows school systems to NOT hire sufficient special ed teachers.

I've had a few spec ed students who thrived in a regular classroom with only a little extra help, but for the most part, a student who badly needs one-on-one help, who is tossed into the general student population and expected to achieve anything in a classroom with 35 other students, is going to fail, and is going to feel even dumber than he probably already felt, and it just doesn't work, folks. It's not fair to either the special students or the regular students.

A teacher can not ignore 35 students so that five special ed students can be tutored. Inclusion classrooms are supposed to have an aide but that often doesn't happen. I never had one. Well, I was SUPPOSED to have one but she seldom showed up; she either had a migraine or she was plunked down into another classroom so the office wouldn't have to hire a sub. Besides, the aides are mostly people who don't know how to do the math either. (That was our experience, anyway.) And the talking out loud bothers the other kids. (I've had hearing-impaired kids included.)

With all the government emphasis on high scores, inclusion almost seems like a deliberate attempt to keep a school's average low, which therefore forces that school to purchase more and more tests, devote more and more time to review instead of progress, and defeat the purpose of an IEP for a special ed students. It's as though the government doesn't WANT our kids to make a lot of progress, and become educated and smart. It's like one of those sci fi stories from the
fifties, where the government executed anyone whose IQ was too high. Or like "Harrison Bergeron," one of my favorite short stories, even though it scares the hell out of me with its politically correct futurama. We're headed that way, folks.

It's just not possible to properly follow an IEP when the student is intermingled with so many other students. Not without seriously neglecting all the others.

We are often forced to do that.

My sister is a music teacher. She used to take her choirs all over the place, to sing with visiting celebrities, to perform on stages in the CITY, etc. With inclusion she can no longer do that. She was already handling over a hundred kids in her choir at a time, and the inclusion kids were not able to follow directions, balance on risers, etc. That program is gone now, and hundreds of kids are missing out.

If a student can do the work with a minimum of extra help, then I'm all for it. But a student who can barely function socially or mentally with the material has no business holding back a roomful of other kids who are sick to death of reviewing and would love to move forward for a change.

I don't mean to be cruel, and I hope you don't think I don't like the slower kids, but we send our kids to school to learn, and to move forward, and anything or anyone who holds them back has got to be redirected elsewhere.

Inclusion is a dirty word in most schools. It's nothing but a euphemism for 'cheapskate administration.'

I'm sure it's true that included children will learn a lot from being around the other children. That's wonderful.

When are we going to let the other children learn something, other than putting up with the slowness of an included classroom?

When inclusion was first being introduced to our system, a woman from the State came down to give us suggestions. Here's a sample:

"When you teach your class about measuring the angles of a triangle, you can, at the same time, be teaching the included students what a triangle IS."

Give me strength.

Ironically enough, I am now teaching mostly remedial classes at the college level. I love it. I mean to say, I LOVE it. It's so easy to do when you don't have the struggle to do so many different levels in one room.

Inclusion is just another word for "YeeHAW, now we don't have to hire more special ed teachers; we'll just pack 'em all in a regular room with a minimum-wage aide, and then we'll even have an extra adult to sub so we can save money there, too."

My own kids spent most of their elementary school years out in the hall tutoring the slow kids. They were taught basically nothing, themselves. It's not the teacher's fault, either. His/her time is taken up with these slow kids. And then, there just isn't time for anybody else.

It's not right.

P.S. Sorry to write a dissertation, but this subject infuriates me no
end. Can you tell?

Mamacita knows what she is talking about. What she doesn't do (mostly because it would be an exercise in futility) is lay the blame where it ought to be placed- at our own doorsteps.

We are consumers of education for our kids, and we are allowing our kids- special ed or otherwise- to be fed a diet of junk food- empty calories- and it is beginning to show. It's that simple. Schools are babysitters and most people don't care about the education. Many parents now want school to add entertainment into the mix, as well. It is the Mamacitas of this world that want to actually educate your kids, despite the disinterest most of you have.

Many of you will no doubt blame the 'government.' Such protestations amuse us because it seems the 'government' is always to blame, regardless of who controls Congress (That said, the government has never gotten education right, for any number of reasons). Some of you will blame 'class size' as if that were a real issue. It is a matter of concern here because teachers now have to manage unruly classes filled with unruly kids that have not been taught anything about respect and coutesy. No such problems exist in South Korea, where class sizes are larger than they are here (and test scores are higher as well). The fact is, the idea of inclusion only complicates an already overburdened classroom. All the 'Can't we all get alongs' can not change that.

When TV and computer time are used in lieu of actual parenting, what do you expect? There are a lot of parents that would do well to look in the mirror and see what

Further, there are no parental voices heard in the debate on teacher competency (it is amazing that there even is a debate). For some odd reason, lots of teachers do not want to be tested for competency in the area they teach. Now let's look at that for a minute- professionals (teacher want to be referred to as professionals) are refusing to be tested for competency. Your doctors, lawyers, accountants, nurses, pharmacists, airline pilots and engineers are telling the consumers of their services, 'screw you. It's none of your damn business how qualified we are. Mind your own damn business. Teacher are adding to that, 'We know what we are doing. Send your kids to school, to be educated, shaped and molded- and shut up- we know what is best for you and your child.'

Mamacita wasn't done. Consider the following a Mother's Day gift:

Ouch, you hit me right on a nerve with this one.

I think part of it, and only part, mind you, is that nowadays teachers are forced to teach using approved textbooks, workbooks, handbooks, tests, etc, pre-made by a money-making profit-oriented company. Teachers are discouraged from using their own materials, and GREATLY discouraged from inviting opinions, points of view, and discussion.

We are the first generation of adults who view their children's schooling with paranoid suspicion.

Pioneer or immigrant parents took great pride in their children's bringing home information and knowledge not already known by the parents. Free education was a miraculous and wonderful thing, a thing not even imagined back in the old country where only the rich went to school.

Illiterate parents looked at their children's school books and dreamed of a better life for their kids.

Sure, there was some suspicion; any time a family is forced to deal with something new, there's going to be suspicion. But mostly there was tremendous pride.

In the novel "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn," the illiterate grandmother lifted her new granddaughter and said, simply, "This child has been born of parents who can read and write. This, to me, is a great miracle."

The cycle of education had started, you see.

It doesn't take a lot of money to educate people. It does, however, take a great deal of money to purchase the bland paper trails that teachers are forced to use, lest someone be insulted or offended or discriminated against.

Make sure the building is safe and secure, be able to easily remove any dangers or obstacles (human or otherwise), pay the teachers a good wage, and turn them loose and let them TEACH.

A family whose ideals are easily replaced should perhaps look closely at those original ideals.

A family whose religion is easily rebuked or mocked should perhaps look closely at that original religion.

A family that does not welcome diversity or discussion or changes should possibly be investigated.

When school and family work together, miraculous things can happen for our children.

It's not necessary to agree all of the time.

Throwing money at something does not constitute a cure. Although, if anyone wants to throw some at me. . . .

Our kids need to be taught. So they can learn. And they don't need a State-prescribed set of 'these-only' standards to do so. They need a teacher who knows the subject backwards and forwards and who is still learning about it, and isn't afraid to explore it and to involve the family in it, and a building that keeps out the rain. And a comprehensive test at the end of the year to make sure they learned something.

And families who believe in true and diverse education. Even when it sometimes means that a child will question Uncle Bill's opinions about life.

Consolidation destroyed our schools, because it destroyed the sense of community that a school once symbolized. It's been downhill ever since.

This post was originally published in May, 2005. You needed to read it again.

The Wednesday Weekly Whacky Award Goes To….

The SC&A Academy of Extremely Peculiar Pathologies, is pleased to announce the winners of the Weekly Wednesday Whackjob Awards, commonly referred to as the ‘Whacky’s.’

First, some fine print: nominations will open each week until 10:00 PM, EST (After the broadcast of House, M.D.).

That's it for the fine print.

The Judging Committee at the SC&A Institute are pleased to announce that just as spring is presenting herself in full bloom, this week's in this weeks garden of fool are an excellent of assortment of whackjobs, nutjobs and idiots popping out as well.

OK, on with this week's show, broadcast from the over sized Olanzapine Gymnasium on the grounds of the SC&A Institute.

A ‘Whacky‘ has been been awarded this week in each of the following categories:

The Thorazine Shuffle and Dance Award, presented each week to the politician who dances and shuffles without actually addressing reality or answering a question, goes to House Leader Nancy Pelosi. She unashamedly adding tons of pork to a House Bill that would set a time line for US troop withdrawal and limit funding for our troops. To make matters worse, the Senate is planning to add even more pork provisions to a bill that will not have enough votes to overturn a presidential veto.

...as chronicled by Citizens Against Government Waste, is $21 billion in pork to buy the votes of some members. Among items offered in exchange for votes was $283 million for the Milk Income Loss Contract program; $74 million for peanut storage costs; $60.4 million for salmon fisheries; $50 million for asbestos mitigation at the U.S. Capitol Plant; and $25 million for spinach growers...

The Senate is waiting to lard on to the emergency war supplemental bill multiple pounds of its own pork. CAGW reports that among the outrages in the Senate measure are $24 million for sugar beet producers; $20 million for reimbursements to Nevada for “insect damage”; $3.5 million for guided tours of the Capitol (don't most people expect to buy tickets for such things?); and $3 million for sugar cane and the transfer of funds from holiday ornament sales in the Senate gift shop.

Seeking to justify the unjustifiable, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said nonmilitary items in the spending bill were necessary because those stingy Republicans who held the majority for 12 years neglected important needs. If that's true, rather than attach these items to an appropriations bill, why not introduce a measure that would fund such projects and then debate whether the federal government should spend our money on them?

This is the kind of politics many people, regardless of party, have grown to hate. Democrats promised to “clean up” the way Congress operated when they became the majority in January. They are rapidly becoming much like those they replaced, as Republicans mimicked the Democrats they replaced with their misspending and grabs for power for its own sake. The influence of lobbyists and the temptations that come with power are truly bipartisan.

The Thomas Szasz Psychotherapy Award, presented each week to the biggest idiot therapist we can find, goes to the therapists that have made Margaret Singer and Janja Lalich authors of a book, Crazy Therapies, What Are They? Do They Work? that belongs on your bookshelf.

Besides noting the obvious (like avoiding the therapists who suggest sex, or ask you to move in and then do their housework, or demands that you cut off relations with everyone you know), the authors highlight the insane therapists who promote 'past-life regression, alien abduction, primal screaming and other unverified cathartic therapies, reparenting, rebirthing, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), facilitated communication (FC), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Neural Organization Technique (NOT)' and a host of others.

The one common factor that binds these 'therapies' together is the lack of any scientific proof whatsoever that they work. In other words, the crazier the better.

The Valium Award, presented to the dullard of the week goes to Bern, Switzerland parking officials. The bureaucrats of that exciting, 24 hour a day sin city have been working day and night to come up with a solution to men parking in womens parking spaces (don't ask):

Traffic officials in the Swiss city of Bern are hoping to stop men grabbing the extra large parking spaces reserved for women drivers by painting them pink, and adding flowers and other feminine symbols.

It should be noted that Swiss women have only been allowed to vote since 1971.

The Trojan Award is presented each week to the person we wish had never been born. This week's winner, is Briceson Bryan, a fellow who stole a statue of Mary from a cemetery. If a complete lack of taste and class weren't enough, can stupidity be far behind?

A man has pleaded guilty to stealing a statue of the Virgin Mary and painting it to make it look like a clown.

The impressively unorthodox crime took place in Austin, Minnesota, where 20-year-old Briceson Bryan nicked the virgin statue from a cemetery last July.

Having knocked the 5ft statue over and taken it home, he then proceeded to the second part of his plan – painting it in clown get-up.

However, it was after this that his otherwise flawlessly executed masterplan came unstuck, as he and his girlfriend posed for picture with the statue. That picture then made its way onto MySpace, that downfall of so many criminal geniuses.

The cemetery's caretaker was then alerted by an anonymous tip-off from a woman who said she knew where the statue was – and he eventually tracked down the MySpace page. Police subsequently found the Clown Virgin Mary resting in Bryan's girlfriend's closet.

The things we do for love.

The NutriSystem “I’m Not So disgusting to My Spouse Anymore” Award, given to the biggest loser of the week, is awarded to Lawrence Roach, a guy who doesn't understand the concept of not throwing fuel onto a fire:

Lawrence Roach agreed to pay alimony to the woman he divorced, not the man she became after a sex change, his lawyers argued in a Florida court Tuesday in an effort to end the payments...

Roach and his wife, Julia, divorced in 2004 after 18 years of marriage. The 48-year-old utility worker agreed to pay her $1,250 a month in alimony. Since then, Julia Roach, 55, has had a sex change and legally changed her name to Julio Roberto Silverwolf.

"It's illegal for a man to marry a man, and it should likewise be illegal for a man to pay alimony to a man," said Roach's attorney, John McGuire. "When she changed to a man, I believe she terminated that alimony."

Sometimes, quietly riding into the sunset is the best course of action.

The Haldol Honor, awarded each week to the person or persons most out of touch with reality, either on or off medication goes to the owner of Holy Drinking Water and the dreams of making a killing in the water business.

"The initial idea behind this product is to provide people with a daily reminder that they can and should do good in life and that they may not be as bad a person as they think."

In yet another unmistakable tribute to PT Barnum, they have actually found buyers.

Is America a great country, or what?

The Methamphetamine Medal, awarded each week to the most hyper, histrionic, hysterical, spaced out documented behavior goes to the author of Tiny Cat Pants. OK, well maybe she's not so hyper and histrionic, but does appear overly concerned about foundation garments. From I Hate My Bra:

In a perfect world, I would have a person on either side of me, reaching over and gently holding my boobs up in a way that makes my shirts look nice and keeps me from getting all swampy beneath them.

But I do not have such helpers.

I have this bra. Which is a fine bra in that it holds my boobs up and fits reasonably well as far as that goes.

But I’m getting an itchy red yucky spot from where the underwire lace rubs against me.

Please, consult the following diagram...

Could I have one evil boob and one good one?

Evil boobs. OK, run with that.

The Viagra Statuette, awarded to the wimpiest metro sexual goes to any guy who signs up for a 'Cuddle Party.'

What a Cuddle Party Is: A structured, safe workshop on boundaries, communication, intimacy and affection. A drug and alcohol-free way to meet fascinating people in a relaxing environment. A laboratory where you can experiment with what makes you feel safe and feel good.

This playful, fun workshop has been a place for people to rediscover non-sexual touch and affection, a space to reframe assumptions about men and women, and a great networking event to meet new friends, roommates, business partners and significant others...

If that weren't bad, there is even Cuddle Party Facilitator Training, where you can learn to

• create safe, non-sexual space to explore intimacy on both on a personal and professional level
  


• lead workshops that leave your participants feeling touched, open, valued and nurtured
  


• generate an environment where women and men communicate more authentically
  


• listen profoundly
  


• create a powerful relatedness with strangers quickly and easily
  


• be more open to others and able to give and receive comfortably
  


• create strong boundaries for yourself without shutting others down
  

• tools for building a strong, intimate community
  


• advanced tools for handling rejection
  


• communication techniques that open people up to discuss intimacy, desires, fears and needs
  

After the weekend is over, the certification program begins, with six months of structure, support, and coaching, as you further develop your skills in becoming a Cuddle Party Facilitator.

Yeah, sign up to meet women in baggy flannel pajamas with no prospects for a good time. Good thinking.

The ECT Battery Award, presented to the most shocking news story of the week, goes to Thai zoo officials who believe that low carb diets and porn are the answers to prayers:

A Thai zoo has put a young but sexually inactive male giant panda on an intensive mating course that includes daily pornographic videos and a low-carb diet, a zoo official says...

Ms Kannikar says the latest attempt was an intensive sex course in which Chuang Chuang had to watch the 15-minute porn videos every day during the past week.

The panda's keepers hope to warm him up before next week, when his partner will be fertile and could be impregnated.

"We had to educate Chuang Chuang about how to mate," Ms Kannikar said.

"He showed some interest in the sounds of the video, but not really the footage."

Steak and porn. That'll work for pretty much every guy (except the 'cuddle puddle' brigade of tofutarians).

Finally, The HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) Prize awarded weekly to the loudest and most inconsequential feminist drivel the SC&A jury can find. This week's award is presented to Mamita Mala.

An example:

No seriously. I need a drink and a smoke. Being knocked up has reminded me of how yummy coquito and a camel light would taste in my mouth right about now. Being knocked up has also reminded me that most people when drunk are really obnoxious and annoying unless you are drunk too. Drunk people are especially obnoxious when they are in your apartment and it’s after midnight and they are friends or lovers and you are the sober one. Pero I’ve been good. I’ve had the occasional glass of wine with dinner and despite a cough that has followed me around for the past 9 plus months, I haven’t had a cigarette since my partner and I decided we were gonna be parents.

2006 has been an insane year. Only in my life would I have one lover in January then in December have that same (no-longer)lover congratulating me on having someone else’s kid while his current girlfriend (quien adoro also joins in the happiness). I started out the year living in my familial apartment and am ending it in a new space living with a man. What started out with cigarettes and drinks in the lower east side ended up in Corona, Queens with nightly leg cramps.

So now the New Year comes with waiting, waiting for the gender unknown child to arrive. My clients are praying my uterus holds on until after the 11th , when their children have finished their state-wide high stakes test (forget the fact that I have been up their asses telling them to study and working with them since the summer but it’s omly two weeks before that everyone decides to do any damn fucking work). I am praying that the baby will come out as soon as possible and on a day that’s not too cold or raining but after the bed we ordered for the apartment is delivered. I would also love tp be able to get a haircut, mani/pedi and put some pink in my hair before child #2 comes. I still need to buy diapers, a sling and get internet in the apartment. That’s all……then I’ll worry about the enormous pressure from my beloved to run off to Chile and put a ring on my finger. I don’t mind the running off to Chile part, it’s the sign on the dotted line, use my hetero privilage and become Mrs. Mala de Pololo, kwim? But that’s a whole different post.

Empowering, you know?

Now while we're on the topic of crazy, be sure to visit Dr Sanity's Carnival Of The Insanities for more bizarre, arcane, insane and incredible examples of what can be found in the whackosphere, blogosphere, MSM and NASA.

‘Shame on us for allowing this to happen’

Read the The Anchoress, “Truthy” SAT’s And “Teaching To The Test,” for a look into the fantasy world and alternate universes that our schools have become.

In her post, The Anchoress discusses an excellent post by Betsy Newmark (link from The Anchoress), in which an MIT professor illustrates how the essay portion of the SAT’s can be gamed. She notes

Good writing skills go hand-in-hand with good reading skills, and with critical thinking. These skills are not really taught any more. Rather, students are being taught “to the test,” and for that, neither thinking nor information need be clear. Like so much of post-modernist bunk, students can meet the trick if they simply learn “the form” of a thing without learning its function or substance.

The Anchoress then goes on to recount an astonishing story told to her by a teacher ‘in the trenches.’

…a teacher pal of mine shared this story with me. While grading a regents exam for Global History she came across one student essay that had her both amused and horrified. “Because essays are subjective, we’re not supposed to consider content in the grading,” she said, “and that’s really correct because you don’t want some teacher grading down an essay simply because she disagrees with, for instance, the religious or political outlook of the student…but this essay! The student began with a standard opening paragraph: ‘throughout global history, da-dah-da-dah-yadda-yadda,’ and she ended with a proper concluding paragraph, ‘in consideration blah, blah, throughout global history, blah, blah…’ but the middle paragraph began: ‘the *** are a filthy, disgusting people and I don’t understand why we had to learn about them…’

The student’s middle was basically a run-down of all the ethnic and religious groups on whom she felt her attention wasted while studying Global History, but with appropriate words here and there tossed in, “indigenous,” “culturally advanced” etc…

Read the rest to see how the story plays out.

In Mamacita On The PC Of Dumbing Down And Why This May Be The Most Important Post You’ll Read All Year, the author of Weekly Scheiss, an accomplished educator sheds light on reality.

Where did it begin, this ‘dumbing down’ of American education? Because, whether you want to admit it or not, our schools are set up to serve the lowest common denominator, and that is NOT a good thing…

Mamacita alludes to an article by William J Benneta and ends addresses the realities The Anchoress and Besty Newmark highlight. She goes on to pen some of the most extraordinary, frank and insightful words about schools, teachers, parents and students that we have ever read:

We’re heading down a really scary path, and we’re going of our own free will, and we’re being guided by people who want us to remain at the lowest common denominator. Doesn’t that frighten anyone? I think it should.

Our educational system is a national disgrace.

I was forced to dumb down the curriculum and pass failing students when I was in the public school systems, and now I am dealing with the results of that at the college level. And I still maintain that while it is of course, ultimately the lazy spoiled self esteem students’ fault, They were enabled along the way by their ferocious red-shirting parents, who demanded, and generally got, exceptions for any rule, all along the way.

Shame on us for allowing this to happen. Shame on us for catering to the demanding. Shame on us for permitting our kids to be whiny and empty-headed. Shame on us for putting NASCAR on a pedestal and basketball on a throne and letting academics fall by the wayside. Shame on us for sanctioning plagiarism, and hiring lawyers to make sure our kids get the grades we want them to get, whether it’s the grades they’ve earned or not. Shame on us for not making students EARN every single grade they get. EARN. It’s a concept many people don’t even understand. Shame on us for becoming an entitlement culture. Shame on every parent who ever went to school and demanded mercy instead of justice. Or, rather, ‘favors’ instead of justice. Shame on every kid who fudged an assignment and told his parents he was being picked on and THAT’S why his grades are low. And shame on every parent who believed it.

As long as Americans believe they are entitled to good grades and scholarships, and as long as foreigners EARN good grades and scholarships, we’re going to get our asses kicked in academic competition, and we will have EARNED that big bruise and that big “NO” on the admissions form. And once out in the business world, who wants to give their money to a company that can’t even spell the words right on their billboard? Not me, that’s for sure. Misspelling in business? Count your change very, very carefully. They probably can’t do that, either, unless they’ve hired a foreigner to do it right, for them. ‘m sick of it. I’m a loyal American, but I’m not deaf and blind, and we’re going down the tubes, and it all boils down to stupid parents, sissy administrations, ignorant government decisions, feelings of entitlement instead of requirements for hard work, the myth of unearned self esteem and excuses instead of expectations.

Nobody, but nobody, says it better than Mamacita. Read it all here and be sure to read her other guest posts on SC&A.

This marvelous post, was published on Weekly Scheiss is another must read.

The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia

Last week, Rusty Shackleford wrote about an anti semitic, terror supporter academic that teaches at Dalton State College in Georgia. Dr Shackleford, author of the Jawa Report, notes that Dr. Hassan A. El-Najjar.

...runs the website Aljazeerah.info, which is not associated with Arabic satellite television station from Qatar, which is the al Jazeera, or with aljazeera.com, a British Islamists website. No, Dr. El-Najjar's al Jazeerah is an antisemitic conspiracy website---much worse than the al Jazeera, if that is imaginable. Needless to say, they are pro-terrorism. Oh, they claim they are against "terrorism", but, like so many Muslims in the world, define "terrorism" in such a way as to exclude, you know, real terrorists.

Dr Shackleford goes on to describe some of Dr. El-Najjar's more repugnant and malodorous published beliefs. In a subsequent and follow up post, he publishes the predictable and canned response of Dalton State College president, Jim Burran, that states in part

The web site to which you refer is the product of Dr. Elnajjar's own time and effort, and is in no way supported by Dalton State College. As a public institution, we cannot abridge the constitutional rights of any individual, including freedom of expression, even when we do not agree with it. Dr. Elnajjar's viewpoints, as expressed in his web site, are his personal opinions alone and in no way reflect the position of Dalton State College. And once again, no college equipment or other resources have been constructing or maintaining Dr. Elnajjar's web site.

Dalton State College is not being asked to 'abridge the constitutional rights of any individual, including freedom of expression, even when we do not agree with it,' but rather, to consider whether having Dr. Elnajjar on their staff and as such, representative of Dalton State College is in the best interest of the Dalston State College students and the University System of Georgia. We would ask Dalton State College president Dr. Jim Burran and others who have used similar nonsensical arguments if they would afford similar courtesies to a professor who called for the genocide of blacks or other minorities, or if they thought that having faculty that openly espoused those very beliefs are in the best interests of students. We question whether or not the parents of students who attend Dalton State College and taxpayers in the great state of Georgia would find Dr. Elnajjar's appointment to that college and Dr. Burran's vigorous defense of that appointment an appropriate expenditure of public dollars.

Why Dr. Elnajjar publishes what he does is of no surprise, really. He is from a society and culture led by dysfunctional tyrants that has known nothing but failure for the past one thousand years. It is not surprising that Dr. Elnajjar doesn't like what he sees in the mirror and it is not surprising that he seeks to place the blame for his failure on others- especially those that have succeeded. For the Arab world, their cousins, the westernized Jews are the perfect foil. They are a minority and thus they can assault western values and successes via a proxy, the Jews.

In many Arab minds, the Jews can be hated, despised and denigrated, because, well, they are Jews- as if that pronouncement alone were a sufficient argument. What goes unanswered is a simple question: If the tiny number of the 'sons of monkeys and pigs' are of so little worth, how is it the mighty ummah, in all their glory and magnificence, cannot overcome their influence?

Dr Sanity noted in When Karl Met Sigmund, when speaking of regimes or individuals with a totalitarian mindset, that

...from the left or the right…whether religious or secular…actively promote the most negative, primitive, and immature aspects of human nature. In fact, they give a societal/institutional blessing to such behavior; and thrive on the resulting projection, paranoia, distortion, and denial of reality. [emp-SC&A]

This is the world in which Dr. Elnajjar lives. He believes- needs to believe- in the fantasies and mythologies that place the blame for Arab cultural and societal failures on others. If does not do that, he must look in the mirror of reality and place the blame where it belongs. He would have to admit that everything he was taught, stands for and believes in, is a lie. He would have to concede that his life has been wasted apologizing and defending the dysfunctional societies that taught him the values he so cherishes.

He is no different than the cannibal that cannot give up his way of life.

The child of abuse grows up and learns (subconsciously) to equate abuse with love. When confronted with even the most vile kinds of abuse, that now grown up individual will always perceive the abuse as love. When confronted and victimized by abuse, that individual will frame and preserve every kind of abuse as an expression of love. They will insist they were deserving of the punishment. They will say that the abuse is yet more proof that that the victimizer cares and loves them.

That is the psychological milieu and petri dish in which the Arab world lives. They believe that loyalty to the failed ideologies and dysfunctionality that has repressed them, failed them and abused them and claims to speak on their behalf, is an expression of 'love'- and they want to identify with their abusers.

Of course, Dr. Elnajjar will not ever achieve that level of psychological insight. That is one reason why he struggles so hard fight to construct a fantasy that dysfunctional, totalitarian and failed Arab world regimes are moral equivalents to western democracies. He desperately wants to believe that western values are compatible with Arab world ideologies that espouse the notion of Itbach al Yahud!- Slaughter the Jew! is an acceptable political, moral and political expression.

(Another motivating factor for the kind of racism and bigotry espoused by Elnajjar is an elevated social standing within his equally dysfunctional community. The more you can demonstrate you hate Jews, the more prominent your position and status. Elnajjar is a kind of an 'Exalted Grand Wizard')

In point of fact, Dr. Elnajjar and his ilk cannot be sated with demise of Israel and Jews. In order for they and their beliefs to be validated, they would have to eliminate the western ideologies and moralities of freedom and democracy that allowed Israel and Jews to flourish. In the Arab mind, equality is not an acceptable value. They and they alone, are entitled to be privileged.

One of the accepted hallmarks of civilized society is an accepted code of moral behavior. No matter one’s prejudices, biases or beliefs, we are all expected to behave in a certain way. We are all expected to treat others, regardless of their religion, culture or creed, in the same way we ourselves expect to be treated. If that accepted code of moral behavior is not present in a particular society, that society cannot be counted as civilized. As long as Dr. Elnajjar and his ilk continue to demand a privileged status for themselves and a reduced status for others, they cannot be counted as a credible members of a civilized society any more than can members of the Ku Klux Klan claim moral credibility.

It is not uncommon to see NBA or NFL players- some not having completed college, some with a year or two of college and some just out of high school- dress like corporate CEO’s. They wear tailor made suits and shirts that can cost in the thousands. They wear one thousand dollar shoes and have only the finest of accessories. Why have so many athletes adopted a corporate and professional uniform? Because they believe if we see them dressed like CEO’s or other professionals, we will accord them more respect and even take their utterances more seriously. Wearing those kind of clothes, they believe, will camouflage the reality that their entire worth is valued predicated on how well they handle a ball.

Dr. Elnajjar is deluded by the serenades that equate terror and slaughter to dignity. He believes that if he wear clothes that make him sound ‘reasonable’ or identify him as victim or as representing victims, no one will notice the bigotry, racism or hate and his deliberate disconnect from reality and when confronted.

Those are the ‘clothes that make the man’ in much of the Arab psyche. Like the athletes that desperately need to be valued for something other than what is no more than a pastime for most, the Arab world desperately wants to be valued for something other than how the behavior in which they engage, tolerate or promote. They desperately want to be seen as something other than hate filled, desperate and dismissive of the western world and western values of freedom. As time goes by, the fantasy becomes more grotesque. They become the victims.

The fantasy envisioned by Dr. Elnajjar is a romantic return to Arab greatness. Imagine if the Greeks, or Italians too, wanted the restoration of former glory- and decided to do so by replicating the military conquests of the Greek and Roman Empires. There are few, if any, voices that call for and demand great academies of learning that once categorized the Arab culture. There are even fewer calls and demands for jobs or functioning economies, another feature of once great Arab Empires. The fantasy is ratcheted up with the dream that Israel will be destroyed and her inhabitants slaughtered, and that the west will bow before Arab greatness and will willingly serve their Arab superiors.

Never mind Arab world failures, Arab world dysfunctions and Arab world backwardness. They are so deserving of winning the lottery of life that they won't even consider working for a living. The Arab world and Arab communities in the west influenced by the dysfunctional Arab societies, have proved themselves incapable of producing good and decent citizens.

Of course, in Dr. Elnajjar's mind, the Jews that have somehow 'fixed' the lottery. That explains their commitment to education, work and successes. That explains their demonstrated charity and commitment to their families and community. Dr. Elnajjar's vitriol directed at Jews will inevitably invite a comparison between Jews and Arabs.

Earlier immigrants came here understanding that they were to be included in the melting pot we know as America. They understood they were free to practice their religion, maintain their customs and keep their traditions. They wanted to be a part of that melting pot and contribute to it. It was understood that the fruits of their labor and their standing in the community would determine their credibility in the community at large. In other words, they understood that they had to contribute to the well being and ethos of America.

How did they do it? Well, there are community hospitals built by Catholic and Lutheran charities. There are hospitals built by Presbyterian and Jewish charities. There are community food kitchens sponsored by virtually every ethnic group in this country, from Croats and Bulgarians to Swedes and the Hare Krishna. These groups contribute. It didn't take long for these groups and others to get involved.

The Arab community is different. There are virtually no ongoing charities that service the community at large. There are some exceptions, of course. However, they are all event based and all geared toward media recognition, such as disaster relief drives and so on. There are very few if any, ongoing projects, and those projects nowhere nearly reflect the population and income realities of this group of highly educated and successful group of immigrants. The Saudis fund billions of dollars to schools and mosques that teach their 'values' and nothing to the community at large.

Simply walking upright does not make the Arab world moral equivalents to the rest of western society.

Why? Because free and civilized people demand free and civilized societies. They identify with and demand solidarity with similar free and civilized societies. Those in free and civilized society who demand otherwise are themselves living in a fantasy.

Arab apologists and ideologues see confrontation and subjugation, rather than negotiation, as the vehicle for addressing grievances. As the last few years have shown us, violence and the threat of violence can only reinforce those notions.

The Arab world today is recognized for it’s hate and belligerence and not the enlightenment, science, art and literature that contributed to the progress of humankind.

These issues have nothing to do with America, Israel or Jews- and never have.

Arab political and religious leaders say that Arab ‘humiliation’ is predicated on the fact that Israel exists. It is not due to Israeli actions or inactions, but rather, to her very existence.

Israel and the success and contributions of Jews to western civilization as opposed to their own failures are in the mirror the Arab world has to look at daily. Those truths are almost intolerable to most Arabs. To be sure there are many progressive, intellectual Arabs that understand that Israel is a reality and that the successes of Jews in the west are a model that should be emulated, but for most, Israel and the success of the Jewish community integration into the American and western mosaic, remains a cruel violation of Allah’s promise to them. The fact that Allah seems to have abandoned them to live in such squalor and hopelessness is of no concern- it is the non Muslims that remain the obsession. It is the non-Muslims that have upset the ‘natural’ Islamic order.

The Arab world is not humiliated by the lack of decent schools. The Arab world is not humiliated by their scientific backwardness and book burnings. In a smaller, interconnected world, they cannot be unaware of their own medievalism. The Arab world is not humiliated by collapsed economies. There are car manufacturers in China and Africa, yet there are only 'plans' for an auto industry in the Arab world.

To put it all in context- how is it possible that the humiliations of centuries of Arab failures are trumped by the political ‘humiliations of today? What powerful agenda can pull a whole society away from reality? How is it that the Arab nations, blessed with wealth that is obscene, are not humiliated that by the fact that as a group, they are among the poorest people on the face of the planet? How is it that there is no humiliation that in the Arab world, female illiteracy tops 50%? How is it that there is no humiliation that of all the thousands of children born in the Arab world today, few, if any, will ever experience freedom and democracy? How is it possible that a vibrant, democratic and free Israel, or the sight of American soldiers rebuilding schools and power plants causes more offense and outrage than Arab failure? How is it possible that the only endeavor in which the Arab world has managed to excel is religious hate?

Many in the Arab world defiantly declare their ‘Arab pride,’ but of course, that really isn’t true. That is a kind of projection. If there really was Arab pride, they would be digging holes for the foundation of schools and factories, and not digging holes to bury IED’s. If the Palestinians wanted to reflect Arab pride, they would build hospitals and not rockets and missiles.

The Arab world is not fighting for freedom and democracy. They are fighting to retain the values of oppression, tyranny and dysfunction. There is so much self hatred of what they have come to stand for, that they are willing to blow themselves up in the process. Subconsciously, they must know what they are fighting to preserve and how they are fighting, is repulsive to any decent, civilized and religious adherent of any faith.

In truth, the Arab world cannot be proud of itself. The Islamic and Arab cultures that contributed mightily to the progress of mankind, have willingly become the poster children for religious intolerance, hate, violence and even genocide. There is very little the Arab world has to be proud of- and pointing to past glory only serves to highlight how far they have fallen. All the phony ‘Arab pride’ in the world has not motivated them to build. All they have done is destroy- and that destruction is a symptom of self hatred. People who hate themselves, destroy everything around them. People that believe in their higher selves, build. The same is true for nations.

Nations, societies and cultures are not remembered for what they destroy or allow to be destroyed. They are remembered for what they have built.

In Shame Culture And The Arab Psyche, Dr Sanity states a universal truth:

When a culture determines that the avoidance of shame is necessary no matter what the cost, the result is a culture of fanaticism, bizarre behavior in the name of “honor”…

The Arab world so revered by Dr. Hassan A. El-Najjar have come to hate themselves, because under the leadership of corrupt, dysfunctional and immoral political and religious leaders, they have become corrupt and immoral. We have noted many times that

When nations that are that are led by or are under the influence of tyrants or dictators, attempt to justify those actions, we can rightly assume that justification is false. Tyrants and dictators do not make moral choices, because moral choices can only lead to the demise of the tyranny.

Anyone that comes to the defense of tyrannical regimes and their leaders, have themselves made a conscious choice to defend and stand by what is immoral. They themselves consciously adopt an immoral posture.

The tragedy and cost to the Arab world has been enormous and will continue to grow, until Arabs find within themselves the courage to do what they must.