A crisis of expectations

What is it that makes Israel different than other countries? Why do we (speaking from the American point of view) regard it so differently? And is that changing?

Considering the fact that very few people understand Israel’s origins (myself included; I cannot claim to have a total grasp of what happened, only a cursory understanding), it doesn’t seem likely to me that that’s the issue. That is, people probably aren’t inclined to treat Israel differently because of knowledge of how it came to be. Rather, the issue is ignorance, in that area and others. If someone understanding is limited to the concept that Israel was created as a Holocaust reparation, they’re not in a position to accurately understand the current position of that region. That being said, I, without having that detailed knowledge of Israeli history, am able to clearly distinguish unacceptable behavior on Israel’s part. What makes me able to do that and not others? I’m not smarter, not more aware, not more interested. Plenty of people are those things.

What I think it comes down to is essentially a question of expectations. We expect certain things of certain countries. We expect North Korea to be reserved and subtly hostile. We expect China to be oppressive and guarded. We expect England to be somewhat lofty but still friendly. And we expect Israel to be hostile and territorial. That’s because of our basic understanding of Israel’s existence is defined mostly by the measures it has had to take to preserve its existence, at least in its historical and current form. We’ve never seen an Israel that was open to any other kind of existence. That’s a result of internal politics, and the strong tie to the U.S. government, which is, again, not something that regular people really think about. So the real problem is that our view of Israel is defined by ideas and actions outside of our direct control. We only see the end result; Israel as it is now.

What do we do to change this? There’s a lot of responsibility and blame to go around in terms of meting out justice to those involved. But those of us who are fed that perception of Israel do need to step up and ask that we see the whole picture. We need to seek out media exposure, details, theories. Until the citizens demand that this become our concern, it’s not going to change. Israel’s government has shown itself remarkably resistant to political pressure, in a manner that is somewhat reminiscent of Iran. They can blame their problems on other factors, and use that to ignore other world leaders’ requests. Obama has made a start on breaking through re: settlements, but I question how much he can really do. This one’s on us.

I say we turn our attention from the leaders of Iran and the leaders of Israel to the people of Iran and the people of Israel. They’re the ones we can talk to. Apply that pressure effectively, and they’re powerless to stop us.

RIP Michael

How do you mourn for someone as complicated as Michael Jackson? The amount of ways in which he’s related to the world is huge. Beautiful dancer, child star, messed-up man, criminal, and so on. I’m hearing people say that he’s just a person, and that people die all the time, which is true, but he’s more than that. Before his long and slow fall, Michael Jackson was a beautiful man. And here’s the thing: I think the reason people are either so gossipy or apathetic about his death is precisely because of his long slow decline. Picture someone who was disgraced instantly, like OJ (I know he’s another black man, but that’s not the point). He’s almost canonized, despite how much people might loath what he got away with. Michael Jackson just faded.

And as a result, I would argue, the world doesn’t know what it’s lost. I’m mourning not for the Michael Jackson who was a screwed-up kid, not for the Michael Jackson who messed with his body so deeply, not for the Michael Jackson who came to represent the depravity of a dirty old man, but for the amazing, sexy, and beautiful man who danced with zombies and pioneered the moonwalk in front of a screaming crowd. After all he’s done and been through, and if he couldn’t in life, he deserves, in death, to finally rest in peace.

Up

If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend Pixar’s new film, Up. It is one of the best of recent memory. I continue to be impressed with Pixar, not only because of their technical prowess and writing skills, but because of their dedication to the art form of animation. Having seen Disney lose touch with this and degrade animation for so many years, it’s refreshing to find a company with as much respect for the style as Pixar.

Up’s plot is very original, which is probably the first reason that it’s intriguing. That said, originality isn’t enough; I found Ratatouille to be lacking in terms of how compelling the plot was, although original. There was no reason to care. Up avoids this neatly. The plot is funny, both juvenile and mature at the same time, and extremely compelling. The story speaks to many generations at once. The more childish element urges children to do what they love, and to live what they love. All of the characters embody this from minute one – young children hungry for adventure, idolizing famous explorers, and a Boy Scout with a complicated family past who seems to take pride in actually doing important things for other people for no other reason than it’s all has. But the movie is really about growing up. I found the first fifteen minutes, in which we meet the main character as a small child, are introduced to his future wife at the same age, and then experience a montage of their lives together, ending with her death, to be sweet, touching, and sometimes tragic. It sets up the rest of the movie elegantly; we understand this old geezer better than any other character like him. We know what he was like as a kid, we know how he grew up, and we feel the way he feels about Paradise Falls. The montage also allows the plot to pick up immediately, without lagging around waiting for the backstory to develop. Twenty minutes into the film, he’s already tied balloons to his house and is floating away. That’s a pretty good record, in terms of the amount of things that have to happen to get to that point. Pixar is to be credited with keeping the movie moving without sacrificing any important information.

As the movie progresses, we see the characters change. In my opinion, that’s really the most important part of a movie or play. Why should we care what these people go through? We need to empathize with them. Up is very good at this – because of our knowledge of the characters’ backgrounds, we empathize very strongly with them, and we see them change in a way that seems natural and almost personal.

The conclusion of the movie is heartwarming enough that it could be written off as canned or unoriginal, but I found it to be a perfect ending. This is because it doesn’t just end the plot, it ties it together. We see what it is that the characters have been missing, and they finally find it. Mr. Fredericksen’s house is finally at rest by the falls, and Russell and him form an somewhat familial bond. It’s sweet to have a movie remind you that being driven doesn’t mean ignoring others, that you can do good while still getting what you want. Up is a very good movie for right now, when, societally, people feel a lot of pressure to either prioritize themselves or others. We’re made to feel as though we either need to become more insular and care about ourselves only, or we need to be so selfless that we intimidate others by our virtue. Up strikes an ideal balance between these two extremes. We’d do well to mimic that philosophy of worldliness.

3G S & Cadence

The saga of my purchasing of the new iPhone 3G S began yesterday, when my mom asked why I hadn’t camped out for the new iPhone. I explained to her the upgrade eligibility requirements, which resulted in my being unable to buy an iPhone at the unsubsidized price until December 12th. She tried to find a way around it, and we spent a while on the phone, somewhat unsuccessfully. The result was that I went to the Apple Store in Holyoke today to try to badger them into giving me a phone for the cheap price. They couldn’t for any of the reasons we had thought of, but it turned out my father’s line (on the family plan) was eligible for an upgrade, so we bought the phone through that line, and then went to the AT&T store and had them switch it. This took two full trips back and forth, but it got done, and the result is that I have the new iPhone, which is awesome. I’m still working on a case for it, but the new features seem to be pretty great.

This evening I was in Natick seeing Cadence with two other members of 5-Alone. The show was excellent. They did a lot more jazz standard and barbershop type stuff than I was expecting. It was all good, but some of it felt a little recursive after a while. Except for the Cole Porter. Cole Porter is really the best. You just can’t beat him in terms of standards. Fabulous.

It has been an extremely successful day.

Reading list

I have four books that I need to read right now, five if I count one for Brown (summer work!). One is not in the library yet – Seeds of Terror, which is about the connection between Al Qaeda and the Afghan opium poppy trade. I saw the author being interviewed on The Daily Show, and she was one of the smartest people I had ever seen. So I reserved the book right then, and am waiting to read it. I have with me The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which I’ve been meaning to read for a while and I think will start tonight, The Cluetrain Manifesto, which is about the way the Internet is changing business, and a book by the Motley Fool about direct investing. I think I will write reviews of each after I finish.

Israel – Iran; why the connection?

We continually here that Iran is the biggest threat to Israel’s national security. Whenever we talk about Iran in the U.S., or whenever U.S. diplomats talk with Iran, Israel is always on the table? Why? Well, we’re told it’s because Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier (which he is), that a “nuclear Iran” would result in Israel’s annihilation (which it well might), etc. Here’s the problem: we’re ignoring what it is that keeps Iran in this position. Ahmadinejad is indeed a crazy dude, in my opinion unfit to lead a country, and has demonstrated his disrespect for the Iranian people in this last election. But there’s a larger pattern: crazy dictators have been fine with us for a long time. Israel’s hardline foreign policy stance and refusal to engage in meaningful diplomacy when it needs to has historically driven people away from it. Netanyahu’s denial of Arab’s right of return, and ignoring of their connection to the land, is, frankly, biblical and archaic. I’ve said this before, but I still think the issue is at the core of Israel’s identity; as a religious state, Israel is in a position to claim divine right to the land. No wonder people like Ahmadinejad adopt a polarizing stance against Israel. Israel maintains that it is the most legitimate entity in that region. That’s no way to approach peace, or even dialogue about peace. That’s something that Israel needs to stop if it wants to call for negotiations “without preconditions”.

Netanyahu’s speech shows that he’s capable of more of the same. Obama’s pressure on him is having an effect; Netanyah actually said the phrase “Palestinian state”. But there’s a long way to go. As citizens of the U.S., we need to demand that the Obama administration continue direct and tough diplomacy with Israel.

Denizen

A lot has happened recently. I’ve been involved in some very complicated issues at my school. It looks as though they are progressing favourably. I’ve also gotten a Facebook. I had been resisting this, but I think it had to happen. I suppose it will make my life easier and all, but I’m still skeptical.

Big

I have upgraded this site and the LC(A) to WordPress 2.8. 2.8 doesn’t have as many new features as 2.7, but it’s a bunch faster, and I like it already.

I’ve made a monumental shift in my desktop computing setup. For many many years, I have been using Namely as an application launcher. I’ve tried LaunchBar and Quicksilver, but neither was as fast or responsive as Namely. I have now, for the first time, found a better application. Google Quick Search Box for Mac can launch applications with the speed of Namely (which the other two apps couldn’t), and it has more functionality as well (similar to the other apps). It can search files on the computer, all sorts of application data, the internet (because it’s Google), and my Google account, including Gmail, Docs, Photos, Wikipedia, Google Finance, and more. It’s incredibly useful. It also has a somewhat under-documented and, as far as I can tell, under-utilized feature; Twitter updates. This alone could persuade me to start Twittering, which I’ve been holding off on. We’ll see. Either way, QSB (for that is what they are calling it in the inter-tubes) is going to be great.

Structureless

Lacking the motivating force of school as a timekeeper is making it difficult for me to coalesce my thoughts into an actual blog post. I still have plenty to write about, but it’s less natural to write about it. I think this will be responsible in part for some shifts in the way I approach this site in the coming months.

That being said, I do have some pretty interesting stuff to write about. Today me and my friend presented our honors project to the Rise and Fall of the Great Powers class back at high school (remember that place?). It was cool to be back there for the first time since graduation. I felt out-of-place already. I’ve moved on, and new people have taken my place. And that’s as it should be. People shouldn’t waste their time and effort hanging on to lingering memories. I want to be remembered, but I don’t want to be canonized (not that I expect to be) or overly retained. So I sort of felt as though I was injecting myself back into the lives and routines of people who I should be leaving alone. But it was nice to see them, and people were happy to see me, so I felt okay about it. Also, the presentation went really well. Originally, it was going to consist of a lecture by the two of us, and a simulation we designed to demonstrate some of the economic principles we dealt with in the project. However, we ended up doing the project later than we had expected, and we only had about an hour for the whole thing. So, last night we designed an extremely stripped-down version of the simulation with the intent of demonstrating Gresham’s Law, a simple but extremely important principle. The simulation worked PERFECTLY. We hadn’t had time to test it out on our own by playing it a couple times, but it went exactly as we had hoped. We created a small system for buying and selling commodities (corn and iron [represented by corn kernels (intended for burning for ethanol) and steel hex nuts]) and a system for switching between gold and silver bullion (raw metal). The commodities could be bought and sold in either gold or silver, creating a ratio between the two (simulating the effect a government-regulated currency would have), but the bullion exchange forum (representing goldsmiths, a historically accurate and important figure), operated on its own terms (historically speaking, according to the amounts of bullion available). This creates an imbalance, and allows people to make a profit by exchanging currencies. By manipulating the prices of the commodities and the bullion ratio available at the goldsmith station, we were able to force one currency entirely out of circulation. We did this both ways; we first started with silver being hoarded and gold spent, and within the span of about two turns, we turned it around entirely. We also employed paper currency for silver at the commodity stations, adding a twist, as it could be used to buy and sell, but not to exchange for bullion. Also historically accurately, the winner had an extremely wide margin, almost three times the amount of money as the loser. Our simulation elegantly proved Gresham’s Law, and also sort of proved capitalism too; that the more money you have the more you can make. So that was a great success.

Also speaking of money, now that I have a debit card, Mint.com, which I was already using, has become vastly more useful. I am starting to be able to track how much money I spend on what, and set budgets. Within the next few months, I think I’ll gain a lot of insight into where my money goes, and how to spend it more effectively. I also figured out that you can add your PayPal account to Mint, which is nifty.

I have been submerging myself in resources on investing. Right now, I’m leaning towards ShareBuilder for a brokerage, because of their low fees. Since I’m doing long-term investing, it doesn’t matter that they’re executing trades only once a week at maximum. However, I’ve realized that I should research direct investing before committing to a brokerage account. If I can do that effectively, I can avoid a lot of fees. I would then have to keep track of my own investments, but with the help of Google Finance that shouldn’t be too hard. I hope to have a substantial amount of money invested and in my planned Roth IRA within a few weeks.

Return

I’ve decided not to try and write about all the things I’ve been doing since I last wrote. There are too many, and I think it would become to much of just a laundry list. Instead, I have some stuff to say about what I’m up to now. I have graduated, and am done with school. Tomorrow, however, I’ll be back in my Rise and Fall of the Great Powers class, presenting my friend and me’s honors project. We’re doing a simulation to demonstrate the creation of the gold standard, which was first instituted in England in 1816/1821, depending on how you look at it. The next day, I’ll be back again working with the Holocaust Studies classes. The one-act I wrote for them is going to be performed that day, and I’ll spend the first forty-five minutes of each hour-and-a-half-long class working on the play before it’s performed. I am super excited for this; I think it’s going to be really fun and interesting.

I am SO behind on the Sonnet of the Week. I need to write two every week for FIVE weeks.

Current events things I am thinking about and may write about soon: Sonia Sotomayor, Dick Cheney, the Northampton bike trails projects, environmentalism (as always), and food ethics.

Check-in

It’s been over a week since I wrote, an uncharacteristically long time. I’m not going to attempt to write about all the things that have happened since then right now, because I’m still in the middle of tons of stuff. Graduation is tomorrow, and I am overloaded with stuff to do. Sometime in the next few days I hope to write about what I’ve been doing, as well as some pretty important political and current events topics that have gone down recently. Also, I’m pretty behind on the Sonnet of the Week (five weeks delinquent after this week). A couple weeks ago, as the end of school started to really come close, I decided I’d have to wait until after graduation to get back to the sonneteering.

This summer, I am planning to start blogging about current events much more regularly. I am going to have to do some serious thinking about what I want this blog to be like next year.

That’s all for now. More to follow.

Affluence

In the grand scheme of things, my family is pretty wealthy. We a own a house, and rent one floor out, my parents both have jobs, I am going to an expensive college, we have two cars, we eat well, we travel, etc. Compared even to some people in this immediate area, we are very wealthy.

Today I went to a friend’s graduation at NMH. Compared to the people there, I felt poor. There were exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of people there were incredibly wealth. They were underdressed in the way rich people are. And you could just tell from the way they conducted themselves. It gives you a chance to see how the other one-thousandth of a percent live, if you will.

It’s weird. Right now, the gap between the rich and poor in our nation is the biggest it’s ever been. It’s like the Gilded Age, or the Roaring Twenties. But I think that the societal shifts that are being brought about by the economic situation are going to change that. It really seems to me that the whole culture of American consumerism is changing. That wealth gap is going to start getting smaller as our education system improves, as urban infrastructure starts to improve, as clean energy begins to redistribute the population.

But for the moment, it’s still startling to consider how poor I am compared to some others. I’m not feeling sorry for myself; I’m acutely aware of how privileged I am, and I’m fortunate to have the opportunities I do. But I do think about people less fortunate than myself, and never less than when I’m staring the upper class elite right in the face.

Promenade

Prom was last night. I had a fabulous time. I have decided that whatever lies in my future, I want it to involve the regular donning of tails. They are pretty awesome.

In somewhat less personal and more important news, the Waxman-Markey bill is generating quite a splash in the House. The New York Times‘ blog Green Inc.has an excellent post detailing some of the reactions to the bill. I’m worried by its claim that the bill is going to meet opposition from the House Agriculture Committee. Special interests in Congress need to realize that they are going to be negatively affected by the effects of global warming no matter what. We’re talking about epic shifts in societal organization, from top to bottom. Geographically, the earth is going to change, and humans will be forced to deal with the effects of those changes. Whether or not we’re ready is what will, I believe, ultimately determine the long-term ability of our species to survive and prosper.

Pushing against serious and meaningful measures to counteract and deal with global warming is right now one of the least constructive things anyone can do. Once the public really comes to realize that, politicians are going to have to shape up. When a politician drags their feet on an issue that their constituents recognize as serious, they don’t last.

To boldly go where no man has gone before

I saw Star Trek last night. To cut straight to the chase, I loved. It was completely clear how much the writers and director loved the original stuff. I think people complain about remake movies of this kind way too much. They often don’t accept that people appreciate different things than they do, and make a different movie than they would. That being said, I didn’t think it was perfect. Parts of the plot didn’t seem to make sense to me, and some of the acting was a bit overdone. But I did not get the feeling that the movie was created with the sole purpose of extending the franchise. It stands on its own, and is a good piece of film even ignoring its predecessors.

Also, I really want to buy this and one of these (for when I get my laptop).

Tonight is my school’s prom. I am wearing tails.

Bibi+Barack

The media is calling it a big change in U.S.-Israeli relations. I like that, but I’m not sure how true it is. On the other hand, it’s too early to judge, whether optimistically or pessimistically, how U.S.-Israeli relations are going to evolve from here. I think it’s important that Obama’s called for an end to the settlements in strong terms. But I dislike that the Israel is trying to shift the focus entirely to Iran. Iran is definitely an issue, but Israel makes it sound as though they are the only thing that matters. Obviously, they are trying to shift the focus from their own problems, and I’ve had enough of that. I think Obama has too. One reason I appreciate the diplomatic work he’s doing is that he’s got priorities, but he doesn’t let them get in the way of actual diplomacy. He understands that you work towards a goal for the future using the tools of today. Those tools include by necessity diplomacy. We can’t ignore our problems any more.

I guess the upshot of this is that I’m hopeful we can set the stage for some real pressure on Israel to shape up. I’m not counting on it happening overnight, but I’m ready to hold the Obama administration to a high standard on its timely and effective accomplishment.

In a side note, I’m worried about the denial of funds for closing Guantanamo. I haven’t found out enough about it yet to know who to look to for an explanation, but it’s a big deal.

St. Johnsbury

I got back late last night (around ten-thirty) from the St. Johnsbury tournament. It was awesome. We started in the B division, and since we won all four of our games on Saturday, we moved into the A division. We lost to Four Rivers Sunday morning, but then won our final two games, putting us in fifth place in the A division, which is pretty impressive. I am exhausted and sick, but it was a great experience. I’m home from school today recuperating, and tomorrow we have two away games, one after the other, at Four Rivers, and then we are having a big party, which I think will be a lot of fun. Four Rivers, and the other school we’re playing, Compass, are both really fun teams to play, and just nice people in general.

The members of the Mock Trial team who are on the competing team for the AMTI(not me) are in New Jersey right now. I don’t know how they’re doing, but I’m hoping to here from them soon. They’ll be back very early in the morning tomorrow, and I will see them on Wednesday or Thursday at school. We have no school on Friday, and that night is the prom. I will be wearing tails.

Disc

We lost to Amherst JV A today on a universe point; it was 5-5, game to 6. It was a pretty awesome game.

Tomorrow, I am biking to school (as I did yesterday) with a ton of other people. It is Community Day, so we have no classes, and there are activities and free food (Chinese and Jamaican) all day. A friend and I are performing a Talking Heads song at the open mic later. Then the frisbee team leaves for the St. Johnsbury tournament after school. That I am really looking forward to. We’re in the B division, which means that some of our newer players should get to play a bunch more. It also means that I am planning to win the division, which would be pretty awesome. The tournament lasts through Sunday. I will be bringing my megaphone. Enough said.

Last night I finished the first draft of the one-act I’m writing. It’s a collaboration between my Playwriting class and my school’s Holocaust Studies class, which I took last year, and will be used, once completed, in the Holocaust Rescue unit. We read it in class today, and I got some very useful feedback on it. I am very excited to see how it plays out when completed. The Holocaust Studies class will do at least one reading of it, hopefully public. This will be the first time I’ve ever had any of my work read outside of class. WAHOO!

Pope

I’m actually quite impressed with how the Pope has been handling his tour of the Middle East so far. The fact that he’s declared support for a Palestinian state is pretty excellent. I still have some legitimate problems with him, like when he went to Africa and told them that condoms cause AIDS. Not true. Obviously. But he still said it. That’s not okay.

But I’m glad he’s willing to be a bit more humanitarian in this instance. Arguably, that’s because he has no vested interest in the opposite; in Africa, if people started using condoms, the Catholic church might lose sway. Or so they think, anyway. When their only priority is keeping people in the faith, messages get distorted or altogether falsified.

As the influential head of an influential group, the Pope has the potential to do great good. I think it’s up to us to be the voice of reason that doesn’t let him do anything else. We shouldn’t let our voices be drowned out by the leaders. We create leaders, and we follow them. We can change them.

Sin Nombre

We got fifth place at the Greenfield tournament yesterday. It was an awesome day. Very tiring, but very fun.

I just got back from Sin Nombreat Amherst Cinema. It was really good, but extremely scary. I would not recommend it to anyone who can’t stomach violence. That said, I didn’t find the violence to be gratuitous. I dislike movies where the violence is for no purpose other than to sell, and I didn’t feel that way at all about this one. It was a scary story, and one that needed to be told in the way it was. I think I will write a longer review of it soon when I have more time. Tonight I need to finish a paper for school tomorrow.

Also, I now am the owner of a megaphone. Very useful.

SUCCESS

Calvinball was AMAZING! There must have been forty people there. We spent the whole lunch running around, sometimes in a huge group, sometimes in a couple, sometimes with stragglers. We had people in every grade, and some teachers as well. We went inside, outside, all over the place.

People took lots of pictures, which will apparently be in the yearbook, or maybe next years’. The school’s executive director (the principal in normal public school terms) said that this was one of the most notable events in the HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL!

IT WAS AWESOME!

We are going to try to do it at least once more before the end of the year.