Notes....

Just a few facts I forgot to mention in my last post: traffic led to the crash of the house.gov website, $1.2 trillion were squeezed out of the US economy.

Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act 2008

Several factors combined to create the financial disaster that was today. I hope this summary provides you the basic overview to satisfy your curiosity. If it does not, links will follow.

The troubles were mounting in the US as Congress was to take up HR 3997 on Monday. HR 3997 was a companion bill to S.3604, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). HR 3997, sponsored by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep Charles Rangel (D-NY) came to a vote on third reading today. The bill failed to pass with ayes to the right, 205, noes to the left, 228, and one abstention. By party, 140 Democrats supported the bill whilst 95 opposed it. On the GOP side, 65 Republicans supported the bill whilst 133 opposed it. One Republican abstained from voting.
From a local aspect, Missouri’s nine Representatives voted 4-5 against the bill. Those in support were Democrats Russ Carnahan (MO-3) and Ike Skelton (MO-4) and Republicans Jo Ann Emerson (MO-8) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (MO-7), who voted with the party leadership. Those opposed were Democrats Lacy Clay (MO-1) and the Rev Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5) and Republicans Todd Akin (MO-2), Sam Graves (MO-6) and Kenny Hulshof (MO-9). Rep Hulshof is the Republican candidate in the Missouri gubernatorial race. The latest poll, dating from 24 September puts Hulshof 14 points behind current Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon. Nixon has not commented officially on the bill, but both his campaign and the Missouri Democratic Party have been critical of Hulshof’s voting record, especially when it comes to the economy.
After the bill’s stunning defeat, global markets tumbled. European markets had a rough day, even though they closed before the House vote. Benelux bank and insurance giant Fortis received a $16 million injection from the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. British bank Bradford & Bingley was nationalised today with the $40 billion savings department sold to Spanish retail bank Santander Group. Earlier today, Wachovia was saved by a buy-out from cash-strapped Citigroup. After the news of the House vote around 15h00 EST, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average fell 777.68 points (6.98%) to 10,365.45. This sell-off set the record for the largest one day sell-off in the market’s history. Likewise, the Nasdaq fell 9.14%, the S&P 500 8.81% and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) fell 840.93 points (6.9%), also setting the record for largest sell-off in Canadian history. In commodities trading, light crude fell to $95 a barrel whilst gold rose $5.40 to $894.40 per ounce. In the last hours of trading, the dollar fell to €0,70 (euro), 55p (GBP) and C$1.03 (CAD).
Markets worldwide are expected to suffer. The Australian banking authorities have banned short-selling for 30 days to fight the panic, but in the first 30 minutes of trading, the S&P/ASX200 fell 254.7 points. The Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 57.71 in the same time and the Hang Seng Index (Hong Kong) fell 801.41 points.


Sources
bbc.co.uk, cbc.ca, cnn.com, wikipedia.org, house.org, senate.org, abc.net.au, missouridems.org, jaynixon.org, finance.google.com, x-rates.com, djindexes.com, mogop.org, kenny08.org, hkex.com.hk, tse.or.jp, asx.com.au

"...and then they made me their chief"

Every August, I spend a week with my Grandma. This is the same week that her church - Lake Creek United Methodist thank-you-very-much - hosts an annul campmeeting.

At this point in the story, most people ten to picture a bunch of radials under a tent with some screechy pastor calling down fire and brimstone. Indeed, we used to have one of those, but we saw to it that he got uninvited. My point: we're Methodists. We are very calm and sedate people who only get riled up or clan infighting.

As you might expect, it is the part of Missouri where everybody has known everybody else their entire life and is related to most. In the little community of Smithton, MO, there are a few clans to get straight: Monsees', Page's, and Cook's. Each group, of course, contains dozens of family names handed down through the ages. My mother's name was Gieschen and her mother's name was Monsees, making us a good deal more central than some other cousins. As a matter of reference, it is common to include up to 8th cousins in family gatherings unless the matriarch or patriarch has caused a rift; otherwise, some family in the name is expected as a placeholder. The Monsees's ten to see themselves above the other because we're of French origin, not German (Monsees = Monsées), though it can't matter much since we're from Alsace-Lorraine and would have spoken German anyway.

Family history aside, every August, I attend the oldest campmeeting west of the Mississippi. So do all my cousins. It is not a matter of personal preference. You go. It is as simple as that. Who else, for instance, at my age, can say that they have been a part of something for 18 years? Whilst that may sound like a long time to keep coming back, 18 years is just a drop in the bucket. This year's winner was 78. Due to the death of her step-mother's brother a few months ago, my grandma won the prize this year for the first time in her life. That says something about a congregation. It also says something for the traditions and expectations the younger generations are expected to maintain.

When we were young, we didn't want to go, but were forced anyway. Now that we're older, we can hardly wait. With the advent of facebook, its easier to stay in touch with long-distance cousins, but how many Missourians can say that one of their best friends is their 4th cousin who attends university in Texas. This, too, is an important note: our grandparents were of the sort you think of as squires, not bumpkins. The bumpkins exist, but they tend, more often, to be baptists. Our parents, children of the squires, craftsmen and townsfolk, are professionals. From JaCoMo to JoCo and Elon to San Diego, we ply our trades, secretly plotting our annual return to my Grandmother's table.

The particular year in question, I was rather young, fifth or sixth grade. My particular friends were the 4th cousins mentioned earlier: Austin, three years older; Alex, my age; and Reid, a few years younger. Reid was known for not getting along and making sure we all knew he only came because he had to. It was the Friday night of the children's programme at church. My group had already performed and I was in the congregation with my parents. Reid's class was lined up on the risers to sing. When the song started, Reid developed a rather cross look and firmly placed his balled-up fists in his pockets. Every so often, he would make a brief editorial comment, and things went on. We were used to this Reid: Reid the weed. As the songs progressed, Reid's neighbour, a little Demand girl (of the Page clan) tried her best to convince Reid to sing and do the motions. Thoroughly annoyed, he altered his editorial comments to address her, and we went on. At last, Reid reached a breaking point. He took his right fist out of his pocket, opened his hand and slapped the girl on the cheek, mid-sentence. The girl began crying and ran for her grandma in the front row; Reid bent down to tie his shoelace. ALL the Page's turned and looked back with fury at the section where we Monsees's sat. Those in charge knew there would be trouble, but most couldn't help but roll with the punches.

"What do you 'know' ? "

I have dabbles of knowledge in various areas. I know the most about history and politics (aka - the history of now). I am a musician and probably more about music, theory and music history than many. I am a connoisseur of literature and know quite a bit about my 'faves'. I know a bit of several languages and their cultures: French, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Italian, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Irish, Romanian, Greek, Turkish, Arabic and Russian. I like to explain things in nature. I like to reason; I like to argue.

I liked Zinsser's section about the interview best. It seemed to be what he really enjoyed and obviously knew. Furthermore, he got to incorporate several stories from 'the business' that were truly fascinating. I think, however, as helpful as it might be, it would be best to tell some of this info via human. Generally, the humour is already there, you just have to put things in the right order to make them riotous.

"Gertrude Stein, Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa, Carmina Burana..."

There you've gone and done it again! The words simply fly to the fast-paced revelry of the music: "German wine, turpentine, Gertrude Stein, Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa, Carmina Burana...". You picture yourself as your favourite character: perhaps you always had a little bit of Mimi in you...or a strong disposition to Mark. Instantly, your world is transformed as what was once an ordinary, banal, blasé day is now a significant work - a day in a life.

The musical RENT has been a positive force in the lives of not only thousands - even millions - of HIV/AIDS sufferers, but a magnificent tool in the life of the awareness movement itself. Jonathan Larson, fed up with the world, wrote a masterpiece so that the world could do something about it.

In the song "La Vie Bohème" from RENT, Gertrude Stein is celebrated by the bohèmie because she represented a stab against the system, a crack in the proverbial 'glass ceiling'. Gertrude Stein had her reasons. I fully support them whether or not I whole-heartedly agree. She did a service to literature - her and her 'school'. It's quite the romantic ideal - the expatriates en Paris. They chose not to believe the lie. That is my problem: I have no idea what the lie is. I don't believe the lie either, but I need to define it if I am to oppose it. Like Gertrude Stein, RENT has multiple hierarchies. Whether or not you like the musical or the movie is irrelevant because, you have to respect the idea and the movement that is RENT. Even if you don't cry at Angel's funeral, you can still take part in a movement to right a wrong.

Gertrude Stein says that literature is beyond identity. Beyond identity, everything has a double meaning. In the same way Animal Farm is more than a barnyard fable, RENT and the life of Gertrude Stein have significant double meanings. RENT is not just about the plight of one small family, but an entire culture. The sole reason this culture exists is that society has shunned it and put it under the rug. In the deep, dark places of the city that even I, a passionate NYC-philiac, admit frightening, whole communities were left to fester. In this sense, RENT is more than the liberation of society in homosexual, bi-sexual or openness terms. RENT is the total abolition of stereotype and label. The point is not that it's OK to be gay. The point is that 'gay' has no meaning. It is a word, nothing more. All the words used to 'identify', class, 'hate' people are simply words; they have no power. The important thing is - you guessed it - love. Love is the essence of humanity. Where humans congregate, love is bound to flourish. Gertrude Stein realised the same thing. She realised that you can't let people use words to make you less human; language has no real attack value against people. To quote the new-age cliché, there really is no day but today. It should be our motto. Take it or leave it, just care.

"Protest Waka"

"What It Cannot Show”

computer

symmetrical type

universal | equal | emphasis

blog | moodle

education?

Calligraphy

written word

rise, assert, fall

ebb | flow

wasteful?

I

human being

tête-à-tête

pious, hopeless, possibilities, heretical

wish, hope, know

love, hate

be

riddle

banana how

can apple this

scheme, orange

enigma,

coffee bavardé

espresso café cappuccino

potiné mocha

work

Paulo Freire, the 'Banking' Concept of Education, and 'Authentic Thinking'

Freire uses the term 'authentic thinking' to refer to thoughts stemming from biophily. The term biophily is adapted by Freire to mean the living growth of education and its progression. When Freire considers biophily, he believes this term to most accurately represent the nature of true education - correlating life experiences with education, creating a cohesive understanding, in the student, of reality and its nature.
Building upon this concept, Freire terms 'authentic thinking' as realistic, grounded, and critical thought. Such thought, according to Freire, may only occur if and when the student is relieved of the burthen of the 'banking' concept of education. When such repression is removed and the student is not compelled to daily learning by regurgitation, critical, or 'authentic', thinking may occur. This thinking stems not from daily memory by rote, but from actual, purposeful learning and experiences. These thoughts are the foundation of what Freire believed was a meaningful life, and the result of a successful education. From this 'thinking' stems other results. Perhaps the most important to Freire was what may be termed intention, or "consciousness of consciousness of consciousness."

As problem-posing education requires critical thought and enquiry, the 'banking' concept of education does not function in this realm. 'Banking' education provides its own answers, but problem-posing education necessitates inventiveness on the part of the pupil. To solve the queries of problem-posing education, the student must rely upon all education (including life experiences) to address the matters at hand. This critical thought and enquiry outside the bailiwick of 'banking' education is termed by Freire as 'authentic thinking'. According to Freire, this sort of thinking should be the aim of education.

The 'banking' concept of education is a system of routine questions and standard, limited responses. Just like a build-it-yourself desk chair, students in this system are expected to insert answer 'b' into question 'a' and so forth. There is no room for individuality, personalised life experiences, or critical thought and enquiry. Since the student has no use for 'authentic thinking', any potential in this area is slowly asphyxiated by the humdrum equation of matching, fill in the blank, and short answer.
There are two primary causes for this problem in education. The first is the state's desire to create a nation of homogenous, innocuous automatons. In a nation without cultural, linguistic, or otherwise difference, the consolidation and maintenance of power is a relatively simple task. Take, for example, the Dominion of Canada. Canada is officially a confederation of provinces and territories. Most provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island, are predominantly Anglophone, but even in these provinces, a significant distinction exists between Atlantic Canada and the western provinces. On the other hand, the provinces of Ontario, Québec, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia have a significant Francophone population. Again, a significant difference exists between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador in Atlantic Canada with a sizeable Anglophone majority, Ontario on the prairies with the same ratio, New Brunswick with an almost equal split, and Québec, which is the only province with a Francophone majority and is the home of a considerable separatist movement. Furthermore, Québec and the Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut Territories have a large population of First Nations (Canadian term for Native Americans). The First Nations still hold their lands based on centuries-old treaties with the British Crown. The First Nations have constitutions, languages, cultures all their own. For the sake of the example, Canada is an incredible pinnacle of wide-ranging diversity living in harmony. The 'banking' concept of education would aim to destroy all of this rich heritage and replace it with a bureaucratic definition of 'Canadianism' that has nothing to do with Canada and Canadians.
Likewise, institutions in the United States and in many nations throughout the world have gone out of their way to impose such a ridiculous definition on their constituent parts. Children and minority groups have suffered as the new-age guinea pigs of modern day equivalents of Bonar Law. The second reason for the provenance of 'banking' education is the phenomena known as 'teaching to the test'. The first instance mentioned above causes institutions to impose standardised tests on all levels of education. Soon enough, these arbitrary test results are tied to funding and other drastic penalties. Properly threatened, teachers respond by 'teaching' the standardised test. They are bound to the unimaginative curriculum-dictates of a pencil-pushing mandarin by a pay cheque. Thus are the imaginative and creative abilities of students the world-over crushed; they didn't even have a chance.

Letter of Introduction

Dr Johnson,

My name is Rex Ryan. I am from the small town of Wellington, Missouri. Although the Wellington community is an agrarian society, I am most thoroughly a 'city boy'. Rural Missouri identifies closely with its ethnic roots - most commonly Low German. This means I am a proud descendant of Irish emigrants. On St-Patrick's Day, I proudly wear my verdant garb and remember when my name would have been Ó Mulriáin. I probably don't need to explain that my favourite colours are green and orange.

I am a political junkie. On their 18th birthdays, my friends obtained new licenses and bought lotto tickets; I joined the Democratic Party. I was a pledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention representing Missouri's 4th District. As Representative Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5) would say, 'colour me a hard-line liberal.' I also follow politics in several countries, including the UK, Commonwealth and EU nations.

I am a musician. I play the piano, bassoon, saxophone, flute and clarinet. I work on Sundays because I am a church organist. My favourite composers are Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Gershwin.

As I mentioned earlier, I am from a small town. My first-year class at Jewell is as large as my entire high school. The goal of most of my high school English teachers was to avoid grading papers. Nonetheless, we managed to write a few. Owing to my position in the class, I was regularly called upon to write papers twice to thrice the requisite length. I have done the traditional research papers and literary critiques. I have also tried my hand at various styles of sonnets. My favourite aspect of sonnets is their ability to draw upon ancient imagery of Greek and Roman gods and hero's and remain entirely within prospective.

I think I can write well when put to the task, but in general, I don't think highly of my writing skills. I know that I tend to punctuate my writing as if delivered in a speech (using excess punctuation), and I have a feeling that my usage of 'Briticisms' will prove out-of-place in an American composition class.

My favourite writers are Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Frost, Washington Irving, Willa Cather, Sylvia Plath, e e cummings, William Carlos Williams, Gabriela Mistral, Chinua Achebe and Simon Schama.

I hope this information proves useful. I look forward to this semester, and as I said in my meagre poem, I am ready to write, read and learn afresh.

Sincerely,

Rex B Ryan

"Ianua"

O door of the two faces,
immersed in grace;
door of the two faces,
come face to face.

O door of the two faces,
my admittance bear;
door of the two faces,
my shoulders square.

O door of the two faces,
suffer me to pass;
door of the two faces,
stifle not the past.

O door of the two faces-
swing wide and open;
door of the two faces-
please let hope in.

O door of the two faces,
I'm glad that you ask;
door of the two faces,
I come with the past.

O door of the two faces,
even though I am of the light;
door of the two faces,
I come with the night.

O door of the two faces,
erase my cares, my worries;
door of the two faces,
I still my hurries and scurries.

O door of the two faces,
permit me to say:
'door of the two faces,
I hope you're here to stay.'

O door of the two faces,
I hope to emerge still sane;
door of the two faces,
I'm ready to learn again.

Just a Note

Dear Glaucon,

I hope you will not be offended by my admission to your intimate grouping. I come highly recommended and will do my utmost to be worthy of inclusion.

Most Reverently,

Anasophios