Lessons Not Learned

In my previous blog entry, Irrationality Must Be Repudiated, I discussed the debates regarding the planned new mosque near the site of former World Trade Center in New York.

People need to be reminded that it was a group of radicals who flew two passenger jets into the World Trade Center, not being sanctioned by entire Muslim people, therefore the opposition to the plan is misguided. This reminded me of the internment of Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese Air Force. It seems that the historical lessons have yet to be learned.

Mus I, a Chinese American, run to Canada for protection, if a war breaks out between China and the US?

Yesterday, I heard Margaret Atwood on radio and I remembered that when the attack on World Trade Center happened, I was reading her "The Handmaid's Tale" and was chilled by my prediction that the US was poised to become the country she described in that book. In the past decade, I observed the marches or inching over towards that apocalyptic end. It seems that we have become a nation with only one resolve, which is undermining all values we have held dear.

Naïveté, Arrogance, Stupidity

It is reported by New York Times, that "The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, who irritated fellow Democrats recently by saying Republicans might reclaim control of the House in November, is once again in hot water with his own party, after lambasting President Obama’s critics on what he called 'the professional left.'

In an interview with The Hill newspaper, published Tuesday, Mr. Gibbs unloaded his frustration with liberals who are themselves frustrated with the president.

'I hear these people saying he's like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested – I mean, it’s crazy,' Mr. Gibbs was quoted in the newspaper as saying.

He went on to condemn the 'professional left,' saying: 'They will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.'"

The left have many reasons to be upset with Obama's administration. However, to give Obama credit, that he never claimed to be a progressive candidate. His many now disappointed supports, simply read too much between words, and deliberated ignored many warning signs and the obvious that Obama was much less progressive then Clinton and Edwards. Yet, they believe that Obama was a closeted liberal and winked and winked, believing that Obama would should true colors once occupied the White House. Obama did not change. People who are disappointed had no cause.

But this does not excuse Obama of his certain failures. Going to a negotiation with true faith is one thing, while showing all your cards and bottom lines before negotiations started is another. He had conceded so much and in exchange for almost nothing. His firm standing in the middle dose not deter his opponents calling him a liberal. Politics as usual. Nothing changed. He is not a transforming president he believes to be.

Was it naïveté, arrogance, or stupidity? You decide.

Irrationality Must Be Repudiated

The planned new mosque near the site of former World Trade Center in New York has generated a lot debates yet the most controversial aspects of this whole debate is the fact that Anti-Defamation League came out to oppose the project.

CNN reported that Anti-Defamation League's opposition to ground zero mosque sparks debate:

A proposal to build a mosque near the site of Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center's twin towers were destroyed by Islamist hijackers on September 11, 2001, has triggered debates for the past two months.

Critics said building a mosque near Ground Zero would insult the victims of 9/11.

Supporters, like CNN Belief Blog contributor Stephen Prothero, said accepting the mosque would demonstrate religious tolerance and send a message that the U.S. is not at war with Islam.

Here's Anti-Defamation League's rationale:

The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.

At the same time, the ADL condemned those who opposed the proposed mosque out of religious bigotry:

Proponents of the Islamic Center may have every right to build at this site, and may even have chosen the site to send a positive message about Islam. The bigotry some have expressed in attacking them is unfair, and wrong. But ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right. In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain – unnecessarily – and that is not right.

On Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked the ADL to retract its Wednesday statement:

"It is shocking that a group claiming to seek 'justice and fair treatment for all' would side with those engaged in one of the most egregious Islamophobic smear campaigns in recent memory," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "We ask the ADL to reconsider and retract this ill-considered and divisive statement. With its shameful statement, the ADL is exploiting and fueling the rising level of anti-Islam sentiment in our society."

New York Time's article Debate Heats Up About Mosque Near Ground Zero mentioned that when asked why the opposition of the families was so pivotal in the decision, Mr. Abraham Foxman, the national director of Anti-Defamation League and a Holocaust survivor, said they were entitled to their emotions.

“Survivors of the Holocaust are entitled to feelings that are irrational,” he said. Referring to the loved ones of Sept. 11 victims, he said, “Their anguish entitles them to positions that others would categorize as irrational or bigoted.”

This is very upsetting indeed. Irrationality is what has been driven people to mad behaviors in the long history. The fear of Jews in the Christian world in the medieval time which culmulated in the Holocaust was the manifestation of such irrationality.

Irrational behaviors from different corners generated the attack on World Trade Center, created Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, and ensured the miserable conditions in West Bank.

An enlightened era must repudiate irrationality of any kind. For an organization like Anti-Defamation League to make excuse for irrational behavior, it is shameful and hurtful.

To be fair and complete, I also include the Statement On Islamic Community Center Near Ground Zero by Anti-Defamation League, which is not without merit:

We regard freedom of religion as a cornerstone of the American democracy, and that freedom must include the right of all Americans – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths – to build community centers and houses of worship.

We categorically reject appeals to bigotry on the basis of religion, and condemn those whose opposition to this proposed Islamic Center is a manifestation of such bigotry.

However, there are understandably strong passions and keen sensitivities surrounding the World Trade Center site. We are ever mindful of the tragedy which befell our nation there, the pain we all still feel – and especially the anguish of the families and friends of those who were killed on September 11, 2001.

The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.

In recommending that a different location be found for the Islamic Center, we are mindful that some legitimate questions have been raised about who is providing the funding to build it, and what connections, if any, its leaders might have with groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values. These questions deserve a response, and we hope those backing the project will be transparent and forthcoming. But regardless of how they respond, the issue at stake is a broader one.

Proponents of the Islamic Center may have every right to build at this site, and may even have chosen the site to send a positive message about Islam. The bigotry some have expressed in attacking them is unfair, and wrong. But ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right. In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain – unnecessarily – and that is not right.

According the footnotes of this statement on Anti-Defamation League's web site, "The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry."



Century's Greeting © Matthew Felix Sun

Socialist Seedlings and Capitalist Weeds

During Chinese Great Culture Revolution time, there was a well-known slogan: "Rather have the socialist weeds, does not want the capitalist seedlings". The slogan was mostly used in late 1970s through early 1980s. Since 1980s, Chinese people realized the idiocy of this slogan and largely abandoned from that ideological rigidity and embraced many elements, both with socialism and capitalism characteristics, beneficial to the economic development.

Here in the US, it seems that a large section of the society has adopted that cast away slogan, with a sole difference of turning it up-side-down.

Now, they shout: "Rather have the capitalist weeds, does not want the socialist seedlings". Idiocy also has market.

Can we stop asking the question if its family name is capitalist or socialist?

Controversal late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping has expressed vividly before: "It doesn't matter if the cat is white or black. As long as it catches mice, it is a good cat."


Tree Trunks in Gray Landscape © Matthew Felix Sun

End Game?

There are a lot of frets and hand wringing lately, over US's losing jobs to the rising economic powerhouses such as China and India. The crying bringing jobs back is loud and louder with mid-term election's fast approaching.

I have serious reservations on such notion. Even if it can be done, which is highly doubtful, I strongly believe that morally the US should not attempt it, rather adjust our lifestyle to face up the new world.

In the later half of the twentieth century, the US enjoyed an unprecedented economic boom, largely due to globalization which was highly beneficial to the US, on the burden of many other countries. It was a world order wearily accepted by other nations and eventually they eagerly embraced to play catching up. Now, the table turned and we found that globalization is not so benign after all and suddenly the advantageous years we enjoyed it were utterly forgotten and we demand a change of rules!

We are becoming a nation of crying babies.

World changes. Nothing will stay static forever. The US had a great run as the most economically advanced nation for a long stretch and those days are over and we must accept it as stoically as other nations endured their economical hardship.

The best President Obama and his successors could do is ministering the decline as gracefully as they can and usher us into second tier nation with least pain as possible. A second tier nation is not bad at all - there are many nations would die to be included in this rank. All feast will come to an end. End it with style, please.

Falling © Matthew Felix Sun

Professionalization of Children's Games

Football, or Soccer, World Cup ended with a thrilling match. More and more Americans tuned in for this global sans one phenomena. Yet, the future of football in the US is not as rosy as this new passion displayed during World Cup period predicted.

The future of football in the US might be doomed by its staunchest supporters - Soccer Moms.

The football has a long tradition and a glorious past and future in South America and Europe, and African and Asian countries are trying hard to catch up. But the terms of Soccer Mom or Football Mom is a uniquely American phenomenon.

In other part of the world, kids play football with casual attires and casually organized. It's fun and spontaneous, easily accessed and relatively cheap. Here, minor leagues are equipped and organized like professional organizations and players were pampered or yelled at as if their moms's lives depend on the results of the matches. The young players were organized according to their skills, and covertly, their family wealth. Such effort not only tinted kids games with pre-mature commercialism, it also created a divide separated well-offs and the poor, deliberated or not. This can only hinder the progress of this sport in the US and the progress of the society.

Hands off, moms!

Online Education

San Francisco Chronicle in their article UC online degree proposal rattles academics reported that "University of California wants to jump into online education for undergraduates, hoping to become the nation's first top-tier research institution to offer a bachelor's degree over the Internet comparable in quality to its prestigious campus program."

"'We want to do a highly selective, fully online, credit-bearing program on a large scale - and that has not been done,' said UC Berkeley law school Dean Christopher Edley, who is leading the effort."

This proposal is controversial not only in doubt of the validity of the claim that by teaching online, it will save money, more important, many people, students and faculty included, don't believe that face-to-face interaction is dispensable, even for the courses lab hours are not needed.

At this very moment, a minor academic scandal is raging in China. A former Microsoft executive turned entrepreneur, Mr TANG Jun, was confronted with the unpleasant fact that his doctorate degree in Electronic Engineering was issued by an uncredited Pacific Western University ("PWU"), which was established in 1988 and closed in 2006.

In 1994, Louisiana's Board of Regents closed PWU's office in that state, because PWU gave theses too many credits, had too few lecturers and did not provide enough courses, amongst other reasons.

One has to shudder to think that the glorious Cal will be mentioned in a single sentence of other uncredited diploma factories.

Even with better monitoring and administration from the universities, what can they do to prevent someone else other then the enrolled students "take" and courses and exams? Are we to dispatch monitors to the remotest part of the world to guarantee that the online education is just as good as they sit in the classrooms with stimulating discussions with peers and professors?




Interaction by Matthew Felix Sun on Flickr

PS:

According to Wikipedia,

Pacific Western University in Hawaii and Pacific Western University in California were once owned and operated by the same party. According to Inside Higher Ed, the association ended in 2004 when Pacific Western University in California) was sold and began operating under new ownership, administration, and faculty.

Pacific Western University in California has subsequently changed its name to California Miramar University. On June 6, 2009, California Miramar University received accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council.