Notes 4/20/12

1. I grew up in a culture that didn’t speak about certain things. There was no mention of homosexuality openly – but there were jokes, whispered innuendos and smirks about “it”. It wasn’t until my adult life when I found myself working with openly gay and lesbian people that I had the opportunity to move beyond the shadowy ignorance of my early years. I discovered that gay and lesbian people could be creative, funny, supportive, and dependable to work with. I came to learn that the stereotypic behaviors and mannerisms that our culture associated with gay and lesbian people were largely myth.

Barrel cactus blossom this last week in my back yard

I can remember one or two people who demonstrated through the way they lived that gay and lesbian people could be just like the rest of us in what we want from life, except that they prefer partners of the same sex. Not a big deal! Our entire popular culture seems to be moving toward a wider acceptance, but still some myths are perpetuated. TV, talk show programming, the internet and books are exposing a wider population to the humanity of gay and lesbian folks.

Red tail hawk spotted overhead on my morning dog walk

 For me it has been a matter of overcoming the ignorance that came to me growing up in a society that didn’t understand, that feared, and sought to make disappear by repression what was perceived as "dangerous". … When you are surrounded by people with a particular attitude it is easy to pick up on that attitude and join in that belief. All it takes to break the power of ignorance is to get to know one or a few individuals who can prove by their lives that the old stereotype no longer holds water, 

Grey Heron

Now the idea of shunning of judging someone of a different sexual orientation than mine seems very hurtful and wrong. There is also a  growing body of research evidence that ones sexual preference is established very early in life – it may well be brought about a normal chemical variation found in certain humans...it is definitely not something that can be "reeducated" out of them... This matches what gay and lesbian people report – they “know” in their early childhood years that they were somehow different…

2. Ignorance is such a limiting factor. I spent my teen age years in the San Joaquin valley- where people made stereotypic jokes about “those Mexicans”…One of my uncles forbad his daughter to listen to Mexican music on the radio – “bad influence you know…“

Judy with indigenous Mixtec woman in Oaxaca that weaves at home and sell in the Market

 I grew up with joking images of lazy Mexicans asleep under their big sombreros leaning up against a big cactus. Movies generally tended to support the easy going but irresponsible Mexican. Many Mexican people lived in substandard housing – a sure sign of their inferiority (conveniently forgetting the effects of cultural suppression and huge handicap of trying to make it in America with the language gap and little opportunity for equal education).

Community self-help project - building a community center in a Mt. village near Oaxaca

Teaching, I had Latino students who were in fact motivated and creative , But It wasn’t until we started traveling in Mexico that I discovered the truth. We found the vast majority of Mexican people to he hard workers – creative in their business plans – and trying their best to make a good life for their families. We never found even one lazy Mexican. We also saw the realities of poverty and the effects of government policies that benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. We understood why a Mexican man would endanger his life to come to the US to earn money to send back to support his family there, even though he had to live miserably while here.

Worker in a tortilla factory grinding corn with a machine to make the "masa"

 We found the Mexican people to have a creative culture, a people who know their history and have dreams for a better future. 

The first permanent house of the Zlatnik family in the early years after immigration

 I have a special affinity for Latinos because only a few decades back my grandparents, father, and his siblings were in the same exact boat – they were the newly arrived immigrants who spoke a foreign language (Czech), had cultural ways that no one understood, had very little money and education… and they struggled like todays Latinos to “make it” in America. They didn't have to worry about such things as green cards, “papers”, and the danger of deportation back then.

A street merchant in the Oaxaco market offers grains and seeds for sale

3. The same pattern of overcoming cultural ignorance was true about my coming to better understand what it means to have black skin in America. Growing up in Kansas, we politely called them “Negro” or “Coloreds” – these terms were considered to be more progressive than the alternative terms used by many of our neighbors. I knew little about black people because I had no contact with any individuals except the stereotype figures seen in movies or in music. When we went in to the city of Topeka I would sometimes see black people, but they appeared as a different sort of exotic people… a curiosity to me.

Our friend and guide in Arusha Tanzania who led us on a day long hike into the mountains

My education in understanding began when I got to know black people who became part of my extended  family and also by  working closely with black people that I respected and enjoyed. Only then did I discover – surprise – they are just like me! Like any other people some are creative and funny, some are serious thinkers, some have a range of talents and abilities that I don't have... but most are very much like me.  

Young female student 

You probably know this, but modern Biologists do not recognize the term “race” – race is a political term but it is not a factor that can be measured in the bones, pigment, intelligence, or any other factor… You and I regardless of race have different amounts of identical melanin in our skin (the darkening agent), the same proteins in our hair, the same neuronal regions in our brain… race is a political myth that was made useful in subjugating groups of humans. 

Judy with Mama Lucy, the director of a new innovative school in Arusha

 People with very dark skin are found in all peoples who evolved in tropical conditions with exposure to continual sun – Southern India, South China, Tropical Latin America, Melanesia, as well as equatorial Africa and Australia …. Black skin is a survival mechanism for dealing with large amounts of ultraviolet light exposure.

Judy getting help crossing a stream

4. Ignorance stays in place because it is a sort of glue – a matrix- thrust on us by our society… Getting to know one, working with and becoming friends with a few people that belong to “the other” can  change our whole perception of " the others".

 I have known people who nurture their racial or ethnic superiority to give their own ego a boost...(the "I'm better than you syndrome")  That or an individual may feel that he or she will lose their identity in their social group or community if they start being open to people outside the group - and then they will be isolated.

I buy fresh hot Afghani bread from this baker in the "Little Kabul" part of Fremont

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Notes: 4/13/12

1. Fremont was built upon the alluvial delta of the Alameda Creek - Historically when the creek left Niles Canyon it meandered in wide ox bows on its way to the bay. Winter and spring storm floods caused the creek to frequently flood and to continually change channels. About 50 years ago the Army Corp of Engineers constructed a flood control channel from the mouth of Niles Canyon to the bay - eliminating the annual floods and saving Fremont residents the annual grief of flood clean up, plus eliminating a serious health concern associated with mosquito borne disease by eliminating sloughs filled with standing water. Note: such projects are only possible with the expenditure of public tax dollars!

This has been such a dry year - but the last 24 hours be have received 1.14 inches of rain - and look at Alameda Creek today:

Alameda Creek after an inch of rain

This morning the pups and I had a fine walk - even though the trail was a a bit muddy -

Quarry lakes Park is part of the East Bay park system, adjacent to Alameda Creek

2. George Santayana, an American born in Spain, said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".

When Europe was deep into what we now call the “Dark Ages”, ignorance reigned in Europe. It was a time of shortened life span, ignorance, brutality, and a time when knowledge from the great Greek and Roman writers of earlier years was lost in the western world. It was a time of barbarity.

A early university near Samarkand Tajikistan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarkand)

Little known in the west today, this same time period was a “Golden Age” for the world of Islam – stretching from the palaces of Samarkand to Bagdad, Tehran, Jerusalem, Damascus, Istanbul, Cairo, Alexandria, and on into Islamic Spain – Toledo, Seville.

Mosque complex Samarkand

Scholars in these lands were not only preserving the Greek and Roman knowledge of the past, but actively engaged in developing new understanding and methods in Astronomy, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, and writing significant works that endure to our time… Even today many terms that we use relating to the names of stars, geometry, algebra, anatomy bear Arabic names. To read more about the Golden age of Islam check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age

Hagia Sophia - Istanbul - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia

One of the great puzzles of history is to understand why the pursuit for knowledge in the Muslim world was substantially replaced by the strict theocracy that we find in many places today. In some places open universities have been replaced with madrasas – centers for indoctrination teaching fundamentalist, conservative Islam. Note there are today many active secular universities in Cairo, Tehran, Jakarta … and other progressive Muslim cities.

Interior of Hagia Sophia

The reasons for the decline of the Golden age are uncertain. During the height of the period a strong Islamic theology coexisting with secular society. It was a time noted for tolerance for Muslims and non muslims living in the region. Some say that it was Internal cultural decay and effect of regional/political uncertainty fear took the place of rational thought. Certainly in the last two centuries the effects of European imperialism in the Middle east and Asia have been leading factors in degradation of traditional cultures. The important thing for us to take from this time in history is to remember is that all civilizations are tenuous and can regress into ignorance. Decline can occur when vigilance to maintain the pursuit of knowledge is not supported. Empowerment of the people, a strong tax base, and a willingness to progress are marks of a growing civilization. When openness to developing and accepting knowledge is crushed by dogmatism ...it is a sign of cultural stagnation.

One of the trade route cities ( Palmira Syria ) build and maintained during the Golden Period

3. Some of the things that have been said in the recent primary give me great fear that there are many in this country who want to forget scientific discoveries and more complete understanding of natural phenomenon and cling to comfortable old ideas. Some with much to lose have been made to support the demands of the very rich – saying that they should get special treatment – lower taxes than the rest of us. It goes without saying that these top 1% in the economic heirarchy already have access to the best medical help and the best education for their children (money buys lots of good things.) For our society to turn against the common good in the name of lower taxes for the wealthy is deplorable and dangerous for our future as a nation. In this world economy it is smart well trained people who will create our future and get the jobs that lead us forward-

Hallway poster - Inner City school in Oakland CA.

What on earth are we thinking of as a nation when we make access to quality education more difficult to acquire? If we don’t have the smart well trained people there are plenty of other countries that are supporting education-for-all right now…It is “magic thinking” to think that we will somehow keep our position as a most powerful nation as we develop a more dumbed down work force… trained only to work in low skill jobs. I always think about the genius student who never has a chance to develop because his or her families can not afford to pay for a university education. What a sad loss to our nation.

One class building on the extensive grounds of the University of California - Berkeley

***Please take a minute to watch this brief video with some of the highlights of the primary thus far…

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/11/1082404/-Obama-campaign-introduces-Mitt-Romney-to-a-rock-and-a-hard-place

Now as we enter the campaign season I urge you to put a “book mark on this site – Note it is a product on the Annenberg Foundation – a highly respected neutral agency… their goal is to check the facts of all candidates of both parties – you will find that at times everyone gets a slap on the wrist…

http://www.factcheck.org/

I witnessed a great drama this morning on my walk - this red tail hawk was being bedeviled by a raven that took a dislike to the hawks presence in its feeding range. The raven repeated dove at the hawk making threatening sounds - and a moment later the hawk got the message and flew away.

Magical Thinking

You who are teachers know this situation – when you remind students to study for an exam, they say, “No, I just might be lucky and know all the answers”. This is an example of magical thinking… Believing that their own good luck will see them through. All too many people practice the same kind of hope in magic or good luck and do not buy care insurance, home insurance, or health insurance … and if they are lucky they come out the winner – but if not it is a personal disaster.

Santeria exhibit in Havana Cuba

We live in a society where many have a deep belief in magic or luck. The recent massive lottery reminds me that we have a better chance of being hit by a meteorite than winning the lottery – but people continue to plunk their money down and say – “ Just maybe I’ll get lucky.” They believe in lucky number combinations, lucky stores, lucky days of the week.

There are frequent examples of magical thinking to be seen during the election season. If I support this candidate "just maybe" things will return to the way I remember them being 50 years ago. Just maybe the candidate will come up with a health care plan, banking plan, plan for Israel/Iran, Womans health care (you name it)... that will take us back to "the good old days" when life was more simple.

Santeria dancers - Cuba

My first introduction to magic thinking was the case of one of our neighbors when I was a child – I was taught from an early age that superstitions were nonsense – but our neighbor would go back home if a black cat crossed his path… Many folks said they didn’t really believe “in that stuff” but still would avoid going under a ladder, stepping on unnecessary sidewalk cracks, throw a pinch of spilled salt over their left shoulder, and not be the 13^th person to sit down at a table… If questioned, they would laugh, and say, “ just to be on the safe side.” Every culture has its own forms of magic thinking – from wearing blue beads to ward off the evil eye, to following the feng sheu belief that tall trees in your yard attract evil (maybe true if the tree falls during a wind storm), that bad spirits don’t like to turn corners but in straight lines ( hence determining home design, and location of homes )

Santeria dancer in Havana Cuba

Lest we think this kind of thinking is all a thing of the past – do you know anyone who attributes personal qualities to their horoscope sign – or checks their daily readings? Astrology has been relegated to the back bench but it still part of the lives for many. Fortune teller “mystic” shops are never far away…

Santeria event in Havana Cuba

Living in this world, it’s easy to feel like we have no control over things that happen to us and the ones we love. We are fearful of negative results and hopeful for what we desire. Perhaps it is normal to try to control the outcome of events by taking certain magical actions. There are a lot of covert cases of people carrying a lucky key, card, photo, coin… something to which they attribute causing good things or preventing bad things from happening. Many of us have a bit of the compulsive in us, feeling that it is necessary to drive the same path to work, park in a certain parking lot, ring a bell, walk counterclockwise around the car before we get in, When we catch ourself doing 'the thing' we think ... "How silly – I don’t really need to do this…" But on an unconscious level we are attempting to bring order to a world that often seems chaotic.

Some people try to use prayer in a magical way – But I think prayer can be a time for growth and personal whole-making. ..Prayer can be misunderstood but it is not necessarily magical thinking… I like the concept that the only form of prayer we need to practice is the prayer to be open to the spirit of God, and prayers of thanksgiving to God… I find such prayer personally healing. I know a woman who uses prayer as a tool to tell God what needs to be done… To me this seems like trying to magically control the outcome of events by making a deal with God.

This whole train of thought came about from a New York Times article: “In defense of superstition” … Take a look…

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/in-defense-of-superstition.html?_r=2&hp

Resident Alley San Francisco Chinatown

The very poor, the very put-down people of this earth are probably the ones who feel the randomness of chance more than others. In the side streets of inner city neighborhoods across America it is possible to find Candle shops… I had a few minutes to kill before a classroom visit recently and strolled into such a shop… It was a center for Santeria candles and potions… Read about Santeria here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santer%C3%Ada…

For those with little hope, buying a magic candle to burn or a potion to rub on their body “might” attract luck or repel evil… There were candles and potions for all specific occasions – Break the power of a hex, attract love, attract money, candles for the Mayan god of the underworld… They were selling hope.

Slot Machine - Las Vegas - Designed to appeal to different interest groups

I am always struck by the difference between the happy young people that I see winning lots of money in the Gambling casino ads and the vast numbers of lonely looking folks that are to be seen in the casinos… It is a true con game – giving back to the occasional winner just enough to feel the possibility that “it might happen to me”…

Slot Machine - Las Vegas - designed to look like innocent games

Gambling casinos are a many multi million dollar industry because they skim vast amount of earnings from the money that customers “invest” in the gambling systems. Its said that the only conference in which a Las Vegas Hotel/Casino/Conference center lost money was the conference of mathematicians… they knew the rules of probability.

Random Cool Link of the week: http://www.googleartproject.com/collections/

Notes: 3/30/12

1. My lone back yard frog has now attracted several others to his choir. Every night, starting at twilight, they “sing” well into the night. This pattern raises questions for me. What – oh what – are these cloaks and chirrups communicating to other frogs? My guess is that they are saying – “We want some girl frogs to come join us here!” And maybe they are saying – “This is a good deep pond ideal for raising a family of tadpoles.” Since the females do not give a responding call, so I cant know if they have been successful in their attraction.

Pacific Tree Frog ( like mine )

Frogs are very much a bellwether to the health of environments. World wide there has been a dramatic decline in the numbers of frogs within the last few decades… For some species this may be related to climate changes. More likely it is due to the increased concentrations of chemicals in the waters where most frogs are found. Studies show that an accumulation of scrap plastic in the water releases a chemical that mimics the natural reproductive hormones found in frogs – thus altering their normal reproductive cycle. Given the decline I have all the more reason to be joyful for this happy chorus in my back yard.

Pacific Tree Frog

Imagine that fertilized egg (when it is produced) carries within it an incredible sequence of information of how to become a tadpole, enzymes for digesting algae, forming legs, developing into an adult frog, and then totally changing the digestive system and enzymes to be able to digest insects (no more algae as an adult)… This wonderful collection of DNA comes with natural genes that turn on and turn off the production of hormones, enzymes, and structural proteins needed for each stage of life in sequence.

Capital Building - Washington DC

2. Once again we get an insight into how Washington is influenced by big money. One man, one vote democracy as we have known it is under the spell of super PACs that do not have to identify donors, and can contribute unlimited amounts to the candidate of their choice.

Hallway in Senate Office Building - each door leads to a Senator suite

What is wrong with American voters that we are so susceptible to the powerful media campaigns to create our "opinions"? It is called “ social engineering”... skillful advertising folk who join forces with politicians to design “hit pieces” directed at a target audience – And who is this target audience? It is you and me being confronted over and over again with not only blatant advertisements, but planned appearances on shows, interviews by the candidates.

Social engineering link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(political_science)

Supreme CourtBuilding

Look at your self and your attitudes and opinions about each candidate. You don’t know these people, you probably have not done an in depth study of their legislative records... How then have we come to a conclusion about how we feel about each candidate? In this age, even the news we choose to listen to built around a predetermined bias – do you choose to be indoctrinated by Fox news or by MSNBC news? Have you noticed that the candidates repeat the same message lines and key words over and over again?

Frieze on wall of Supreme Court Bldg - signifies equal justice for all in America

Those phrases have been carefully designed to drill and kill the image, the ideas, that they want to place in our heads. I despair for the American voting public at times – Romney is saying over and over that Obama has made the economy worse, that unemployment is languishing, that Obama is responsible for increased the national debt – any examination of the actual data shows that all three claims are utterly false… Many people simply choose to believe the ideas that support their positions – the facts interfere with reality and are not being considered. One politician that I admire said that voters tend to elect the candidates that they deserve. Is that scary of what!

Fairness and Certainty of Justice