Discourse

I don't want to specifically discuss the horror of what happened in Arizona on the 8th. Already people are pretending that this should be a knee jerk of one side defending itself against (justified) charges that it has embraced polarizing discourse.

Instead, I want to think aloud about the state of public discourse.

A few days ago I posted some thoughts on the New Year and one of those thoughts was that I needed to remove certain people and attitudes from my atmosphere. I talked about how individuals, empowered through the internet, were increasingly using ad hominem attacks and how glad I was that the bullying could not become physical because I live in a civilized society.

I spoke too soon. Or the USA is not civilized. At least here in Germany the likelihood of someone attacking me with a gun is vanishingly small and my odds of surviving other physical attacks is much greater. The verbal attacks are, to a certain extent, forbidden by law. And those in the internet which I find intemperate or uncivil, I have removed from my view.

But the question is why individuals feel entitled to act in such a manner? So I'm going to look at three specific examples in the past year that have either silenced me or forced me to curtail my activity and active exchange of thought.

The first was earlier this year. Another expat blogger posted an ad campaign that she found amusing. It was a British campaign and I found it sexist and as such, a bit misogynistic. Some other commenters saw my point and some thought it was funny in spite of that and some did not see my issue.
That's not the point: what happened as the result of my comment was. Another blogger attacked me, took a post from my blog to say that I myself was sexist, posted it on his blog with commentary and without telling me or permission. Then another of his friends told me that I had no sense of humor, suggested that I needed to have sex more frequently to give me a sense of humor and used common misogynist language to belittle me. His wife told me that being told I "needed to get laid" was neither an insult to me nor to my husband (whom they had both met). She assured me that she had taken feminist studies and therefore knew that this language was not sexist or misogynist. I didn't point out to her at the time, but will now: I understand that we all tell ourselves stories to live with the unbearable. Telling a woman that she has no sense of humor about sexism and misogynism, that she needs to have sex enacted against her, that her ideas and opinions are formed by her hormone levels: this is indeed the heart of misogyny. Let me direct you to Feminism 101 and more specifically to this.

I removed these people from my blog reader.

The next issue that arose came in the context of the removal of Elizabeth Moon from the Guest of Honor position at Wiscon 35. Wiscon is a science fiction convention concentrating on issues of feminism. This is their statement of intention:

Wiscon is the world's leading feminist science fiction convention. WisCon encourages discussion and debate of ideas relating to feminism, gender, race and class.

Moon was "dis-invited" as the result of an interview that she gave wherein she stated that Muslims in the US have the same responsibilities as all Americans.

This is a small quote:

...I can easily imagine how Muslims would react to my excusing the Crusades on the basis of Islamic aggression from 600 to 1000 C.E....(for instance, excusing the building of a church on the site of a mosque in Cordoba after the Reconquista by reminding them of the mosque built on the site of an important early Christian church in Antioch.) So I don't give that lecture to the innocent Muslims I come in contact with. I would appreciate the same courtesy in return (and don't get it.) The same with other points of Islam that I find appalling (especially as a free woman) and totally against those basic principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution...I feel that I personally (and many others) lean over backwards to put up with these things, to let Muslims believe stuff that unfits them for citizenship, on the grounds of their personal freedom. It would be helpful to have them understand what they're demanding of me and others--how much more they're asking than giving. It would be helpful for them to show more understanding of the responsibilities of citizenship in a non-Muslim country. (And the same is true for many others, of course. Libertarians, survivalists, Tea-Partyers, fundamentalist Christians, anyone else whose goals benefit only their own group. There's been a huge decline in the understanding of good citizenship overall.)...

Leaving aside whether one disagrees with what Moon said, I see nothing against feminism here: in fact, it stands up for women against a religion which when followed as Islamists do, is misognistic. This ( from Reclusive Leftist) is a good discussion of that aspect.

However, I personally agree with what she said. I am a member of a religious minority and I want the country I live in to protect me from other religious groups. I am a woman and I want my country to protect me from groups and individuals that seek to curtail my freedom as a tenet of their religious faiths. I am afraid of Islamists and I have every right to be so, as I pass through gates guarded by policemen with machine guns on a daily basis and know that in India, people just like myself were sought out by Islamists, to be murdered, for no other reason than their religion or their visiting of a place associated with my religion.

When I said that, I was attacked personally for my beliefs. No one explained why my fear was wrong, but I was told that I was racist (it's tough to not have a word for fear of religious extremism or one for hatred of a specific religion or cult, I know– that's why Jew haters are called antisemites although they really only hate Jews). Someone who I had been corresponding with for years told me that she was "afraid of me".

Here we see the concept of the Big Lie. Here are some specific words of Hitler from Mein Kampf, where the phrase originally arose (and was used specifically against Jews) and was then used by Göbbels:

All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true within itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.

Was my acquaintance afraid of me? No. We go to conventions together– does she feel in any danger from me? No. Does she feel that any of my actions will damage anyone's freedom or speak negatively against a single individual? No. But when I say that I am afraid, she says that she fears me. Now the emphasis seems to show that my saying that I am afraid (we won't discuss lack of action) has engendered a sense of danger in her.

That's the same type of lie where Sarah Palin says that when the world looks at her "attack map" with gun sights and says it helped to create an atmosphere of rancor and acceptance of violence, that: it's a blood libel. Does she even understand the Jew hating context of that phrase? This type of appropriation is often part of the big lie, as when the above blogger takes my fear for her own and dismissed mine in its entirety.

Lastly is the reason for my New Year's post, after which I determined to continue to rid my environment of people who think that attack is a replacement (or synonym) for debate or discussion. Another blogger had posted a list of posts that had the most viewers this year and one was a discussion of the way some parents fear allowing their children to go to school alone, in relation to commuting. I mentioned that the same morning I had heard, on the BBC, the statistic that 2000 children in the US go missing every day.

The same expat blogger from my first example told me I was wrong. Now, he didn't say the BBC was wrong, so the implication was that I lied. In a few seconds, I looked up and supplied the link from the interview where the pertinent information can be seen: "An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing each year – more than 2,000 children every day." This information is sourced from the FBI and the Department of Justice.

But the blogger told me that I was wrong, that statistics lie, that my unwarranted fears and these lies were responsible for the atmosphere of fear in which people live. He also said that the organization lied and made up a bunch of statistics to prove that the numbers were not possible.

Here we see misdirection: he was shown the source for what he called a lie, and now has no direct response (because he won't apologize). Another commenter posted that many of these missing children would have been taken by parents: absolutely. With a little Google-fu one can discover within moments (also from the FBI and DOJ) that many kidnappings are guardian or non-custodial parent(although that certainly does not make them less tragic to the child or parent/guardian, although one could at least hope that in those cases the children were not being harmed). This same magic of research comes up with 7000 children "permanently" disappearing a year: still quite a lot, but not 800,000. Not pertinent to my original comment of having heard an interview, but would have been useful if mentioned later by someone commenting.

I do look forward to seeing the FBI and the Department of Justice change their statistics in response to the blogger's off the cuff analysis.

I didn't respond, because responding to individuals who attack in this unreasoning way leads one to be attacked by them and their friends but as I understand (and do not know because I don't read this person's blog) he has discussed this at length on his blog and once again attached a link to mine: I see this because individuals I don't know are coming to my blog through his. That's what stats view allows. These individuals are attacking and I have moved to comments moderation as a result.

And that's what silencing is about. (Or as wikipedia calls it, suppression of dissent.)

What's been happening in the US is remendous stridency and usage of terms of violence and hunting terminology from the Right, but whenever anyone mentions this atmosphere, the right responds that the left does it as well.

Well, they really don't. But many normal individuals just can't deal with the violent rhetoric and in your face behavior of the new normalized wacky Right, and we give up.

Here's a look at the Insurrectionism Timeline put together by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (which one would have hoped was non-partisan, even if it isn't to the wackos).

That's sad and that's dangerous.

The Neues Museum

Entry to the Musem Isle

Continuing with this year's resolution to see more of Berlin (and by that I don't just mean walking by the architecture), I grabbed my Museum Pass on Monday and off we went. I would have preferred to see one of the National Galleries, but, having learned my lesson as to checking open days, I knew that Monday was closed for the majority of museums that I was interested in. However the Pergamon and the Neues Museum were available.

The Neues has only recently (2009) reopened after being closed for 70 years, since the beginning of World War II in 1939. It is an absolutely fascinating museum architecturally and one of the finest that I think I have ever seen. Please do read the above link which describes some of the controversy over David Chipperfield's design (some protesters attempted to have UNESCO place the Museum on its list of endangered World Heritage sites due to the redesign). To the right you see the view down the long hall to the famous bust of Nefertiti (shown below), which was discovered by Ludwig Borchardt in 1912. Believed to have been crafted in 1345 BC by the sculptor Thutmose, the paint you see is original. It is amazing to see this in person and no photos are allowed (therefore my shot from where photos are allowed) but the bust is even more incredible than the official picture I have included.
As we entered through the center staircase, I turned to the German and said how amazing I found the design, with the integration of recycled bricks and classic elements with stark modernity. That's when he told me how controversial the redesign had been. I wandered the halls in amazement at how perfectly the architect had incorporated the elements that were salvageable. I was so fascinated that I actually went to the gift shop and bought a "coffee table" style book on the design and rebuilding of the museum with essays by architects and I expect that I will read it slowly, chapter by chapter, over the next year. There's also a very good architectural visual tour on the web site of the museum.
On the right you see the south cupola in 1984, on the left you see it as it is today.


We spent a few hours wandering around, looking at the architecture and some of the exhibition highlights (like the Schliemann exhibit discussing the excavation and display of items from Troy–those that were not stolen by the Soviet Union during the occupation of Berlin). But we didn't see (or hear, using the once again wonderful and included audio guide) the quarter of it and I will visit again this year.

When deciding to see the Neues Museum, the most important thing to remember is that one needs to buy a timed admission ticket in addition to the regular ticket (or use of the museum pass). The ticket is free and can be purchase on-line or on-site, but it defines the time one will be allowed to enter (one can stay as long as one wishes) within a 30 minute period. Don't show up without one during busy periods or special exhibits, or one may wind up disappointed.

Couscous

I have been making couscous for ages using a recipe that had me, after expansion, wringing the water out of the grains.

That's darned annoying (and the heat of the water is also painful)!

Today I thought, why don't I just add less water instead? D'oh!

The answer:

• One part couscous
• 1 1/2 part boiling water

Stir, cover with a cloth, wait 10 minutes, stir again and serve. This may vary a fit based on your type of couscous, but not a lot. What's even more embrassing is that if you read that Wikipedia link, this direction is right in the article. To be fair to me, if there are cooking directions on the couscous I buy, they are in Turkish.

I wonder what other "of course" moments await me?

Mom's Waffles

Hmm. I'm getting a little tired of pancakes every Sunday, so here's my mother's waffle recipe.

I'm posting it today, but I'll be making it this week and I may need to do some ingredient shuffling to make it work with what can find.
In particular, I know that I won't stock buttermilk, so I will try it with regular milk and with milk that has been curdled with lemon juice to see if one is better than the other.
Additionally, most shortenings here are made with animal fat and even though I have found a plant fat one, I'm not certain how I feel cooking with shortening again now that I have gone without it for three years. So I will try it with shortening (and weigh it because weight is so much easier) and then with olive oil and see which we prefer.--- Nope, used oil and just fine with it.

Waffles:

• 2 eggs
• 2C buttermilk (use whole if you can't find)
• 2C Gold Medal Flour (405 Flour)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 C shortening

Heat waffle iron. Beat eggs, beat in remaining ingredients with rotary beater until smooth. (spoon doesn't do it- I use my immersion blender).
Pour batter from cup into center of hot waffle iron. Bake until steaming stops or you have a whistle on your machine.

Richer Waffles

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 C buttermilk
• 1 1/2 C Gold Medal Flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 C shortening (oil).

Treat same as above.

Okay- I like them better with the buttermilk and I stint the oil by about 50%.

Picasso and Matisse and Klee, oh my

Museum Berggruen Berlin-Charlottenburg, Schlossstr. 1 © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Foto: SMB

Following up on my "resolution" to see more of what Berlin has to offer, I met a friend on Friday and we went to the Berggruen Museum.
I have been looking at this museum almost every day for the last three years (I passed it on the way to dropping the children at kita and on the way to one of my classes) and the only time I attempted to visit, it was closed (memo to self- many museums are closed on Monday in Berlin).

This time, I did some research and my friend and I chose an open day. We chose this museum because it was close to both of us and we had been thinking about it for a while and I really enjoyed the visit: I normally look at earlier periods but I have been trying to expand my understanding of art since visiting the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice last year.

This museum and collection were left to Berlin by Heinz Berggruen, a German Jew who fled the Nazis to the US and, while in Paris after WWII became an extremely influential gallery owner and friend of many artists, especially Picasso.

Berggruen left the art collection in a generous gesture of a low price to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. For this he was awarded the honorary citizenship of Berlin and the Federal Cross of Merit (Grand Cross 2nd Class) of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz, Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband). (cf Wiki above)

The museum has a collection of 85 works from Picasso, across his lifetime, as well as other artists that Berggruen collected personally) and I found it exciting and enlightening to look at Picasso's work across 80 years: I have never really liked the works that I saw, but now I see that there are many periods of Picasso that I do like. One of the most confusing points of the work that I have seen is that although Picasso painted in many periods, he did so whenever he wanted to, so one doesn't necessarily look at hos work and see a progression: in fact, his more classic works can be seen throughout his oeuvre and his technical virtuosity is seen from a very early age: when he chose to paint in less technical styles, it was a choice, not a lack of skill.

Salvador Dali said of Picasso that he was a great painter with no originality, that he was a master of copying styles, and I think it might be true as I looked through this collection which has masters of the different styles next to his paintings (which were not copies in the classical sense, but simply used the style of the period, such as Cubism or Fauvism– did he help create these styles or did he run with the thoughts of other artists?).

This looks amazingly like a Botero,
or does a Botero look amazingly like it?

He outlasted the originators and he had amazing technical skill, though.

While this is an amazing homage to Cranach the Younger

There is an entire section of Klee which I also found fascinating.Klee lost his post at the university of Düsseldorf because he was Jewish and fled to Switzerland, where he died while awaiting naturalization (although his mother was Swiss, at that time, as in Germany, nationality passed through the male bloodline).

(Although nothing at all is mentioned in the exhibition about Klee's religion or its effect on his painting and life.)

Well worth visiting and the audio guide (which is included with admission) is extremely well done and includes some introductions by Heinz Berggruen to his collection and some specific paintings,a s well as some interesting interviews with contemporaries of Picasso.

This is a Berlin State Museum, and if one purchases the annual pass for 40€ one can go to them all (lots of them!) on the pass (80€ includes special exhibits): so far, all the museums have included a free audio guide with entry and I am very glad: they lend quite a bit to an understanding of the material.

Sunday

Another Sunday. another double batch of pancakes.

Vaccination and Autism continued

Quite a while ago I pointed out how ridiculous the anti-vax movement was.

Since, there have been many articles pointing out that the people promulgating this movement are either unsophisticated or making a profit off it.

Last year, the Doctor who published all the studies on which this movement was based (and made a huge amount off it) was stricken off.

Now all his studies are shown to be not only falsified but created.

What a terrible way to both exploit the deep sorrow and unwarranted guilt of those affected but to prevent research that might actually explain and help to prevent the tremendous increase in diagnosed autism cases that have been seen in the last decades.

Thoughts on the New Year, general and specific

Pondering on the last year as it moves into the present, I find that I am still amazed at how adults can be childish and can be bullies. I'm grateful every day that I live in a society where the most that people can do is to run their mouths. They can do so more thoroughly, of course, on the Web. But I am protected from the average physical bullying that I would be subjected to in other societies and as an adult myself, I can remove people who aren't reasonable from my world view: another benefit of the web is how easy it is to not look at irrationality.
I hope that every year I learn more completely how to remove such people from my society and so increase my happiness, in much the same way that I do not feel any need to watch FOX to know that it is full of lies.
One of the important new pieces of knowledge that I gained last year is that even individuals that I thought would and should be on the same side of certain issues may not be: that being persecuted doesn't prevent some individuals and groups from feeling an increased sense of power through persecuting and maligning other minority groups. These are things I knew theoretically, but it is always useful to have knowledge reinforced in reality.

For this year, I hope to continue examining my interactions with others, to determine whether it is worth responding to ad hominem attacks from those for whom I have no respect or to note that these attacks have no power to affect me and thus should be ignored. I expect to choose my battles and confining them to general statements of my beliefs and to actual discussions with those I care enough about to attempt to persuade and inform.

On the less global and more specific front, we will consider again this year whether to stay in Berlin, go to München or consider the US, Switzerland and Austria, all of which are current opportunities: sometimes choices can be overwhelming

I'm going to take a break in my German slog and pull back to a grammar class and take the opportunity to enjoy a bit more of Berlin: in that effort I spent the day at a museum today. I'd hate to leave the city without having seen more of it and with having the children by myself in the week I feel like I haven't explored nearly enough.

I've also taken some of that time I have used working through the Integrationskurse and signed up for various one day and two day cooking classes, as well as a Yoga class once a week and a DSLR class in April: all the things that I could have been doing if I hadn't been going every day to language course. I'm feeling a bit guilty but I'm also feeling a huge sensation of relief.

The children are settled in their new Schwimmverein and T1 has expanded to drawing class in addition to ceramics. We will to add ice skating for them since we probably won't get skiing started this year.
I'm also thinking about a Girl Guides or Girl Scouts group for them and I plan on moving the search up my to-do list.
The last activity that we really need is music: I need to follow through with arranging lessons for them this month.

That should give us enough to do through this school year at least!

Starting the New Year

The last month has been a whirl of activity and running, like the Red Queen, just to stay in place. So what starts the New Year better than getting rid of clutter? What I want to know is how, after getting rid of so many documents, there seem to be more still in the filing cabinet that can go? We get a good workout with the cross-cut shredder that we brought with us from the States for paperwork that needs shredding and the rest goes into paper recycling. We did this gather and shred while sipping champagne and listening to the firecarchers and fireworks going off outside, but we did stop before midnight to watch the Hoff at the Berlin Wall :-) and to see some episodes of the new (to us) series Being Human.

For those who hadn't noticed...

I'm never certain who actually reads this blog on a reader, who goes to the blog itself and who gets some other type of feed. But for those who actually go there, 1. How's the new look? I'm afraid it might be a bit too wide and bright and 2. I finally finished all the December posts and they come before the list of books read in the month.
And feel free to say "hi": sometimes I am amazed to see who swings by but doesn't say hello.