About the meaning of life: Shakespeare's take, from Macbeth

COMMENTS welcome

 

 

 

I forgot to mention.....

COMMENTS welcome



About the Central Park Five, the kids who were accused, tried and sentenced for attacking, raping and sodomizing a jogger in Central Park in 1989 (Ancient history? Not really, most NYers still remember the shock -- I certainly do):

There was "no conclusive" evidence that they were the culprits. The only "evidence" were "confessions" extracted after hours and hours and hours and hours of non-stop interrogation. Once the police got the youngest of the kids to "confess" ('confess and you will go home'), other kids "confessed" also.
 

They were sentenced, a sentence confirmed after an appeal, to 6 to 13 years in prison.

In 2002, a convicted rapist confessed he ALONE did it. DNA testing confirmed it.

The District Attorney then "vacated" the charge against the 5 kids.
"Vacating" means that the charges never happened. Just a huge whitewash on the history blackboard. No apology, no contrition, no "Oh my god what have we done."
The message was "Kid, you got lucky this time. Next time, you are toast." 

 

Even before the trial started, Donald Trump bought ad pages in the NY newspapers, NYTimes included, demanding the death penalty for all of them.

That's how you buy a reputation for being "though on crime." It's cheap and readily available. The only requirement is that the alleged crimes must come from "them darker people down there."

I don't hate racism -- it's too abstract. I hate racists.

Amen.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/opinion/the-white-rebellion.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

 

Discussion n. 29: Godfather (May 1)

And finally: novel or film?

COMMENT:
First: did you read the novel before watching the film or viceversa?

Skip a line: which of the two was more compelling in telling the story?

REPLY:  "I can see your point, but...."

Discussion n. 28 GROWING UP ITALIAN (May 1)

The walled garden on the mall in Godfather and the separation between Italians and "Mericans" in the video: two faces of the same coin?


(By the way, the video states that for the Italians, everybody else was just a "Merican," and it goes on to list several ethnic groups. Sorry, but this is some heavy-duty whitewashing: Black people were NOT "Mericans". There was another name for them.)


COMMENT: Does preserving your original culture IN AMERICA justify refusing to integrate and accept "the others?' How do you balance tradition, history, culture, language preservation and the ideology of the "melting pot" (which was the dominant social theory/ideology until 10-15 years ago.)

REPLY to a comment that made you think that maybe there is more to this issue that you ever considered.

Discussion n. 27: Godfather (May 1)

Reading The Godfather as an upside-down celebration of diversity and anti-establishment sentiments.

 

You will need to watch my lectures and read my notes to be able to comment adequately.

 

COMMENT: the establishment kept them out, so they found their own niche in society, followed their own rules, and created their own alternative society.

 

But is this really a form of protest and political separatism?

 

To look it another way, they are "in" society but not "of" society.

 

REPLY: find a good comment to reply to, preferably disagreeing with the point of view. 

 

 

Discussion n. 26: Belaboring the point about JUSTICE and INJUSTICE (due April 30)

The issue is: how much does it cost to buy decent justice?

 

Because, if you want ANY kind of justice, you have to be ready to fork out a lot of  bucks.

 

Criminal defense lawyer? $400 an hour minimum.

 

Are you suing for discrimination or harassment? Another $400 to $500 an hour.

When people say that "the system works," are they including these facts in their reasoning?

 

 

 

Discussion n. 25 : Justice and injustice DUE April 23

About discussion n. 24, most of you missed the mark in evaluating the 4 cases.

In 1, 2, 3, it was prejudices, bias and neglect that led to those tragic outcomes.

In 4, it was prejudice in reverse.

 

What those cases have in common, is MONEY: whether they had it or not. I hope you will care to expand on this thesis in your COMMENTS.

Discussion n. 24 SACCO & VANZETTI due April 15

Are you familiar at all with the real story of the "West Memphis Three?"

Are you familiar at all with the real story of the "Central Park Jogger?" (Yes, NY Central Park)

Are you familiar at all with the real story of Kalief Browder?

Are you familiar at all with the real story of  Ethan Couch?


COMMENT

1)   What do they have in common?

2) Which one of these stories is the most .........(you choose the adjective)? Explain the reason of your choice.

REPLY: Pick a reply that opened a new perspective to your understanding of the way "it" really works.

Discussion n. 23 FInal thoughts about "Christ" due April 15

COMMENT:

 

1) Did the linguistic difficulty get in the way of experiencing the content to the maximum?

 

2) Did the book leave some traces (not a permanent trauma, but some kind of scratches) on your psyche? Did you get depressed? Did you try to forget it as soon as possible and not to think about it on purpose?

 

3) OR: did you allow it to get to you?

 

 

REPLY to a comment that you found particularly insightful and self-revealing about the person who wrote it.

Discussion n. 22: the languages of immigrants (due after spring break)

From Haris's assignment:

 

Task 2

The New Language Invented by Italian Immigrants in America

The main thesis of the author was describing the formation of a new Italian American language that was an odd mixture of both Italian and English and how that 'interlingua' eventually disappeared. This new ‘interlingua’ did not have the same depth and richness as Italian.
I must say I understood this concept quite well and knew exactly what the author was talking about for I have seen it happen firsthand to my native language. The formation of such a language is only because of the necessity of communication. And the people who speak this language are often looked down upon by natives who take pride in their language because they consider it their main representation as a nation. I think that immigrants should always try to preserve their language while learning the new one. The forming of new words that never were is great but original words and their meanings shouldn’t be changed or lost. Immigrants should teach their mother tongue to their children and never let it die. Our native language is a part of our heritage and who we are and we should keep that part from fading away. Also, the more languages one knows the better, you can communicate with more people around the world.
The part where the author mentioned translating an idiom or phrase literally was quite interesting I've often heard a lot of strange phrases in English from immigrants from different countries and when I've said I've never heard them before I've often been told it's a saying in their native language. My mother also uses the phrase 'Stop eating my brain' which has been translated literally from our native language, Pushto, though the correct phrase for it in English would be 'You're getting on my nerves'.
All languages change from how they initially were, years ago but mass migrations to other countries can cause them to change drastically and lose their beauty and essence. Luckily for Italians the new 'interlingua' faded away eventually and the beautiful, original Italian came back.

 

 

 

COMMENT:  Are there any remnants of your heritage in the language you speak at home or in the neighborhood? Are there 'weird' expressions, idioms, either in English or in the original language, still present in your own surroundings? In New York, everybody speaks or at least understands a little bit of Yiddish, for instance: schlep, tchotchke, chutzpah, or AT LEAST, bagel. And everybody uses "bodega" (not from Yiddish, of course.)