Nonfiction – Page 3 – education and deconstruction.com

Somethin’ Stupid – BONUS POST

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In 2024, everyone who’s anyone knows who the main Democratic candidate for president will be. That candidate will want to debate Trump, who probably will avoid participating in any and all political debates the rest of his life.

For decades, it’s been a cliche for a candidate to debate against an empty podium, but in this case, it might be a hilarious comedy sketch, at which this little ditty could be sung by the Democrat to Trump:

SOMETHIN’ STUPID

sung to the tune of “Somethin’ Stupid” with apologies to Nancy Sinatra, the estate of Frank Sinatra, and whomever else the rights may concern.

I know your standard line
that you CANnot spare the time to spend an evening with me.
You’ll never take the chance that I will kick your ass
when you engage in a debate with me.
Then after you refuse,
I will put you in your place
on all substantive issues.

And then you go and prove it all by spewing somethin’ stupid like “I hate you.”

I know most voters are sick of
all the same old lies you’ve told for years and years now.
We know you’re just a has-been.
I know I’m true,
and we ignore your fears now.

I’ve practiced my whole life to propose ideas to share
to help our democracy pull through.
With my knowledge and experience,
I know it’s not too late,
and the hell with you.

My time is right.
I get inside your head,
then states of red become states of blue.

And then you go and prove it all by spewing somethin’ stupid like “I hate you.”

My time is right.
I get inside your head,
then states of red become states of blue.

And then you go and prove it all by spewing somethin’ stupid like “I hate you.”

“I hate you.”
“I hate you.”
“I hate you.”

My Race

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The Book of the Week is “My Race, A Jewish Girl Growing Up Under Apartheid in South Africa” by Lorraine Lotzof Abramson, published in 2010.

Born in March 1946, the author grew up in Orange Free State in South Africa. Her ancestors were originally from Latvia. Many other fair-skinned people (hereinafter called “whites”) were descended from British settlers. The Afrikaners (descended from Dutch settlers) were the country’s ruling majority. They imposed apartheid beginning in 1948. They interpreted the Christian Bible in a way that depicted dark-skinned Africans (called Africans; hereinafter called “blacks” but the derogatory term is Kaffirs) as servants. All white families had sufficient wealth to employ at least one (black) servant.

The black population way outnumbered that of the white. The Afrikaners felt extreme pressure to oppress the blacks unmercifully, lest they revolt against any and all whites. The Jews were thus largely left alone. The author was the only Jew in her elementary school. She showed natural running ability at an early age, and after collecting a bunch of victories in footraces, she became a source of local pride for the community. So she was tolerated, even though she was Jewish.

In August 1961, the author was chosen to represent her homeland of South Africa in the Maccabi Games, a competition for Jews held in Israel. She met athletes of all different nationalities, including surprisingly, an Indian Jew. Under apartheid in South Africa, simply having a conversation with an Indian (or any non-fair-skinned person) was a crime, in public or in private.

The South African government used a divide-and-conquer strategy, outlawing assembly of ten or more individuals of dark-skinned tribes. The government fomented hatred of one tribe against another. Signs saying, “Whites Only” or “Non-Whites” were posted in all public places to indicate who was allowed where and what they could do. Whites would be arrested for entering a place bearing the “Non-Whites” sign. The police kept photos of protest-marchers (troublemakers– including whites). A person of any skin color who criticized the government would be punished.

In 1991, after serving 27 years in prison, (black political activist) Nelson Mandela was elected leader of South Africa. The whites were deathly afraid the blacks would wreak revenge against all whites. Mandela was forgiving, and didn’t hold a grudge against his oppressors. But he could’ve– as happened in previous decades when various other African countries achieved independence and a black person became the top leader. The South African whites were relieved as hell.

Read the book to learn much more about the author’s life and times and places.

Crazy Like Us

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The Book of the Week is “Crazy Like Us, The Globalization of the American Psyche” by Ethan Watters, published in 2010.

After the December 2004 mega-tsunami hit the Sri-Lanka region, Western-trained mental health professionals from the United States, Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand rushed over there, with little understanding of the culture they were “trying to help.” They knew the populations would suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and therefore, would need psychotherapy. The arrogance and snobbishness of most of the counselors were versions of “white savior complex” and “white man’s burden.”

Few looked before they leaped. Most had no clue about the victims’ local languages, religious beliefs, mourning practices or tribal-warfare history. They were under the impression that the whole world thought the same way they themselves did, about how to recover from a traumatic event.

American-style capitalists that they were, “Within days, bitter rivalries broke out between counseling groups over which populations would receive which services.” Further, the Sri Lankans were a fresh crop of guinea pigs for trauma researchers.

Some explicitly corrupt researchers collected data unrelated to the PTSD presumed to be caused by the tsunami, such as data on domestic violence and sexual harassment. The Asians were unsophisticated, so they freely answered questions. They were eager to please their interviewers– wrongly thinking they’d receive disaster aid by doing so. There was bias galore in all the studies; especially confirmation bias. Unsurprisingly, all the different studies widely used by elitist, mostly American institutions (such as UCLA and Harvard) reported significant rates of PTSD in the selected populations of Thailand, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Indonesia and India. Never mind that there was so much lost in translation.

Interestingly, the aid workers offering medicine, food and shelter, cooperated with the local community to provide what was truly needed, doing it in a way that jived with the Asians’ culture.

Read the book to learn more about PTSD situations– other aspects of the counselors’ approach involving power of suggestion, self-fulfilling prophecy, social contagion, and profiteering in Hong Kong, Zanzibar and Japan.

Joy to MY World – BONUS POST

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If Donald Trump cheers up, this is what he’ll be singing:

JOY TO MY WORLD

sung to the tune of “Joy to the World” with apologies to Three Dog Night.

Giuliani was my bullhorn.
He was a good friend of mine.
I stood behind every word he said,
but our relationship changed over time.
Yeah, I HAD to draw the line.

Singin’ Joy to MY World.
It’s ALL me and rallies now.
Joy to my assistants E-RIC and Donnie.
Joy for my victory.

You know I am the King of the World.
I tell you what I’ll do:
I’ll take away the migrants and the Bidens and the laws
and I’ll get rid-of the states that are blue.

Joy to MY world.
It’s ALL me and rallies.
Joy to my assistants E-RIC and Donnie.
Joy for my victory.

You know I love the ladies.
With the media, I have such fun.
I’m never going to tire, I’m the top survivor,
and a witch-hunt victim but I won, a witch-hunt victim but I won.

Joy to MY World.
It’s ALL me and rallies.
Joy to my assistants E-RIC and Donnie.
Joy for my victory.

Joy to My world.
It’s ALL me and rallies.
Joy to MY World.
Joy to my MAGA rallies.
Joy to My world.
It’s ALL me and rallies.

Joy to IVAN-ka and Jared, too.
Joy to MY whole crew.

Joy to My world.
It’s ALL me and rallies.

Joy to MY world.
It’s ALL me and rallies.
Joy to my assistants E-RIC and Donnie.
Joy for my victory.

Joy to MY world.
It’s ALL me and rallies.
Joy to my assistants E-RIC and Donnie.
Joy for my victory…

Whistles From the Graveyard

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The Book of the Week is “Whistles From the Graveyard, My Time Behind the Camera on War, Rage, and Restless Youth in Afghanistan” by Miles Lagoze, published in 2023.

In 2009, the author joined the Combat Camera division of the U.S. Marines in the war in Afghanistan. Very few people will recall now, that in 2003 the George W. Bush administration aired an ABC-TV reality show (that was soon cancelled due to poor ratings) of his version of that war.

It seems U.S. presidents after Nixon have accepted the fact that they are in a fish bowl, so they have made legacy-oriented practices a point of pride, maximizing propaganda on projects for which they have wanted to be remembered, mostly through their privately-funded presidential libraries.

The most unethical presidents have kept materials to themselves, to be discovered after their deaths as a way to prove they were not just leaders of the free world– but king of the world (Nixon, George W. Bush, Trump).

After the Nixon tapes, the following wanted to be best known for:

Ford: the celebration of the United States’ bicentennial;
Carter: Camp David Accords– a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt;
Reagan: his bringing about the fall of the former Soviet Union (all by himself (!); never mind the heavy dose of his wilful ignorance and plausible denial of the CIA’s international adventures);
George H.W. Bush: America’s glory in winning the First Gulf War;
Bill Clinton: resuming the dialogue on national healthcare in a big way, and (the lies of) his administration’s giving rise to almost a decade of peace (except for a few terrorist attacks) and prosperity (including balancing the national budget);
George W. Bush: (the complete and utter nonsense of) his administration’s bringing democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq (good luck with accessing those classified documents);
Obama: pushing through national healthcare and getting rid of Osama Bin Laden (even he hired a videographer in order to make his entire administration a reality show, but king of the world? His political enemies accused him of going on an “around the world apology tour”);
Trump: building a wall (?) protecting the nation from a pandemic (?) However, he kept classified documents, and grabbed as much money and power as possible during his time in office, just in case a court rules that executive privilege would protect his every move only during his time in office.

Anyway, according to the book (which appeared to be credible although it lacked Notes, Sources, References, and a Bibliography), the author wrote that medical discharge from the U.S. military confers enormous monthly payments (compliments of American taxpayers) for the rest of one’s life. Some of the young men who volunteered to go to war, changed their minds about fighting, and wished injuries upon themselves in order to get medically discharged. Not the author.

Even so, the author was reluctant to use his gun during the few times when he was told to. Most of the time, he was a camera operator of footage containing frat-boy shenanigans; some of it cold-hearted, sadistic, disgusting, and always insane (mutilated bodies, cruelty to animals, etc.).

After he came home upon completing his four-year military contract, he and a friend decided to make a video of the war, which he posted on YouTube. He described his role as “The souvenir aspect of war tourism for the young and depraved of American society.”

Read the book to learn more about the author’s experiences, and how he and his military buddies fared after they came home.

Native

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The Book of the Week is “Native, Dispatches From the Israeli-Palestinian Life” by Sayed Kashua, published in 2016. The author compiled journal entries from 2006 through 2014 on his Arab family’s life and times in various residences in Israel whose political status was in dispute, in connection with Jews and Arabs.

The author and his wife, both of Arab origin, were raised in the central Israeli city of Tira, whose north and south regions are very different. At the book’s writing, the city did not have a library. The author, who was born in the mid-1970’s, entered a library for the first time in his life at fourteen years old, when he was sent to boarding school in Jerusalem.

Kashua spoke Arabic, Hebrew and English. In an unlikely move, he became a columnist for the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz. When he traveled internationally for work, he didn’t bring his computer because if he did, security at Ben Gurion airport would automatically assume he was a member of Hezbollah.

The author’s parents instilled in him a dogmatic belief that he must reside in his homeland his whole life, because that’s where his ancestors were from. His thinking was more flexible, as he wrote that he would allow his children to move elsewhere or study abroad if they wanted to.

The author and his wife adopted a Westernized lifestyle with electronic toys and modern cars; they were non-religious. They moved to a Jewish neighborhood in order to send their children to Israeli schools, which they perceived to be superior to those of their own ethnic group.

Kashua was pleasantly surprised by some of the cultural conditions he encountered in the United States– no water stoppages, delivery of food and mail right to his postal address (rather than having to pick up mail or food at a post office box or eatery), and having utility services turned on in a timely manner. He marveled at street signs, paved roads, sidewalks and greenery.

The author– who was made a “Palestinian citizen of Israel” regardless of whether he wanted to become one– did readings of his book on an international tour. He wrote, “Everyone wanted to talk about identity, about nationality, foreignness, about detachment, self-determination… language, the future…” He wrote that yelling at the opposition that they’re traitors wasn’t going to change anything.

Kashua applied for a visa that allowed him to move his family to the United States for a year. One form asked him his ethnic group but listed only “white, black, Hispanic or Asian.” Read the book to learn of many more of his trials, tribulations, and interesting factoids, through vignettes of his life.

When – BONUS POST

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The Bonus Book of the Week is “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing” by Daniel H. Pink, published in 2018.

The author cited various studies that focused on timing, rather than the contents of events. The results of one study he cited, indicate a counter-intuitive aspect of human nature.

The study asked different groups of subjects to evaluate the overall moral character of a fictional man who was hypothetically their boss. Different groups were given different scenarios describing his awful and good behaviors. “Indeed, they [the subjects] evaluated a life with 29 years of treachery and 6 months of goodness the same as a life with 29 years of goodness and 6 months of treachery.” When the last 6 months were good, the subjects were forgiving, and seemed to forget the character’s past sins.

Religion might account for some of the study’s results; some evil people find religion when they have a near-death experience– like surviving a plane crash, or surviving a bullet that should have killed them. They believe that when they are baptized, all their sins are washed away. So they empathize with the aforementioned fictional character– their past criminality doesn’t count.

That could be why people elect politicians who are serial criminals, and why men in sinful or controversial fields of work– have an attack of conscience and turn traitor at the ends of their careers. Here is a little ditty about the collective mood in this country, notwithstanding the fact that the people gets the government it deserves.

ANOTHER DAY

sung to the tune of “Another Day” with apologies to Paul McCartney and whomever else the rights may concern.

Every day the media incite wrath,
at the news we glare,
politicians-wrap LAWyers ’round them.
They’re teaming up with corporate chairs.

It’s just another day.

Sidling up to donors,
they know how to schmooze,
dipping in the pockets of the taxpayers.

It’s just another day.

At the office where their powers grow,
they’re one big herd.
Doling out the Kool-Aid.
And we find it hard to trust their words.

It’s just another day.

baa, baa, baa, baa, baa, baa

It’s just another day.

baa, baa, baa, baa, baa, baa

It’s just another day.

So sad, so sad. Sometimes we feel so sad.
Unheard and harmed we dwell
till a less bad leader
comes to give us, a better sell.

Ah, can’t-wait.
Don’t stand us up.
Vote against the-bums,
but some stay,
and we continue to pay.

So sad. Sometimes we feel so sad.

As they plant another story for their favorite cause.
Their colleagues rally ’round them.
We find they don’t obey their own laws.

It’s just another day.

baa, baa, baa, baa, baa, baa

It’s just another day.

baa, baa, baa, baa, baa, baa

It’s just another day.

So sad, so sad. Sometimes we feel so sad.
Unheard and harmed we dwell
till a less bad leader
comes to give us, a better sell.

Ah, can’t wait.
Don’t stand us up.
Vote against the-bums,
but some stay,
and we continue to pay.

So sad. Sometimes we feel so sad.

Every day the media incite wrath,
at the news we glare,
politicians-wrap LAWyers ’round them.
They’re teaming up with corporate chairs.

It’s just another day.

Sidling up to donors,
they know how to schmooze,
dipping in the pockets of the taxpayers.

It’s just another day.

baa, baa, baa, baa, baa, baa

It’s just another day.

baa, baa, baa, baa, baa, baa

It’s just another day.

***

Read the book to learn of additional studies that show how doing certain things at certain times can make a difference.

The Line Becomes A River

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The Book of the Week is “The Line Becomes A River, Dispatches From the Border” by Francisco Cantu, published in 2018. A border control agent wrote this account after personally experiencing the conditions in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. For anyone not sociopathic, the moral dilemmas that law enforcement face are traumatic.

The border between the United States and Mexico runs six hundred seventy-five miles from the Rio Grande to the Pacific coast. In the single-digit 2000’s, the U.S. government launched a campaign to try to increase the number of arrests and deportations or punishments it imposed on people crossing the border illegally. There are checkpoints where people can begin a process of legal immigration. Illegal border-crossing involves criminal law, but the processes of immigration and obtaining citizenship are civil law.

When politicians decided to get “tough on immigration” there was a surge in drug-smugglers and people-smugglers. Rival gangs are fighting. The result is more illegality than ever. The smugglers kidnap their customers who have relatives in the United States, corral them in temporary structures in southwestern cities and towns, and demand ransom money from the relatives.

After spending some time combing the desert for illegals, the author was transferred to a couple of different air-conditioned offices. He generated intelligence reports on drug traffickers, and watched video feeds from surveillance towers. If he saw, for instance, people cutting a hole in a pedestrian fence to go through, he notified officers via radio in the field to chase after them and arrest them. The officers might request help from tribal police, if the incident involved people from or on an Indian reservation.

Border patrol offices keep a database on all sorts of statistics on the nature of the border-crossers. The author surfed the Internet for “news” stories on kidnappings and was continually depressed by the steady stream of deaths of illegals from various countries in Central and South America. The language in the stories was slanted either to incite hatred against immigrants, or arouse sympathy for them.

The author befriended a Mexican-born man at a coffeehouse in the United States near the border. In a legal case that came to pass in connection therewith, the man’s boss claimed when she hired him, he filled in the paperwork properly, and he had a Social Security Number. But she gave him 1099 status (meaning, independent contractor– not a regular employee). She claimed she had no clue about his immigration status.

Read the book to learn the full story on the above, plus much more about the author’s experiences.

The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty

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The Book of the Week is “The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, How We Lie to Everyone– Especially Ourselves” by Dan Ariely, published in 2012.

The author presented one way human beings think about ethical behavior in a given situation: the Simple Model of Rational Crime (SMORC). It says someone would do a cost / benefit analysis in order to decide, for instance, whether to park illegally because they’re late for a meeting. Of course, a major factor in their decision-making includes how likely they are to get caught, and if they are caught, how willing they would be to bear the consequences.

The author wrote that SMORC doesn’t take emotion and trust into account, so most people wouldn’t engage in that kind of moral reasoning. With only reciprocity as the sole consideration, an individual using SMORC would require contracts for almost every ethical dilemma. He would spend most of his life in legal battles and litigation; like, Howard Hughes, Ted Turner, and Donald Trump.

Although the author failed to distinguish between guilt and shame, he cited numerous behavioral-economics studies he and other professors conducted (on mostly American subjects) to learn the causes of dishonest behavior, and ways it can be curbed.

The author realized that in a matter of weeks, even he was getting brainwashed by the propaganda of his bosses, because he was receiving generous compensation for serving as an expert witness.

Two ways to reduce cheating included:

Having people read or sign an honor-code document (such as the Ten Commandments, or an agreement not to cheat on an exam, or a set of rules, which, if broken, would give them an unfair advantage) before completing a particular task, taking a test, or competing.
Having people put their signature at the top of a document, and then fill in the info (such as on an application or tax return), rather than fill in the info and then sign at the bottom.

Read the book to learn of additional ways society can spread more ethical behavior (yes, it can be contagious!) so as to stave off the collapse of modern civilization just a little longer.

Courthouse Crock – BONUS POST

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The New York civil fraud case against Donald Trump and Trump Organization will be rearing its ugly head again soon. Here’s a recap of it thus far.

COURTHOUSE CROCK

sung to the tune of “Jailhouse Rock” with apologies to the estates of Elvis Presley and Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and to whomever else the rights may concern.

Went to watch a case in New York civil court.
Judge Engoron was there.
He’s a damn good sport.

Trump’s hate speech is distracting
and his intent is to sting.
He’s desperately trying to stay “still a thing.”

It’s crock. Everybody, it’s crock.
Everybody in the GOP bloc–
on the stand was courthouse crock.

Donald Senior played the Witch Hunt card.
Eric had amnesia. He hit back hard.
Don Junior’s emails went crash, boom, bang.
Such was the nature of the Trump Org gang.

It’s crock. Everybody, it’s crock.
Everybody in the GOP bloc–
on the stand was courthouse crock.

Don Junior said to the grilling at-torney:
“My daddy’s the best artist I ever did see.
I myself am delighted with our company.
Accountants shared nothing of the numbers with me.”

It’s crock. Everybody, it’s crock.
Everybody in the GOP bloc–
on the stand was courthouse crock.

The defendants put on an irrelevant show,
when the prosecutors asked, “Where’s this gonna go?”
Judge said, “Calm down, don’t inVITE a mistrial.
Just shut your mouth, ignore Trump’s bile.”

It’s crock. Everybody, it’s crock.
Everybody in the GOP bloc–
on the stand was courthouse crock.

The media tell us Trump’s act is a charade.
They give Trump due process. They give it in spades.
Trump thinks he’s being shifty and saying nix nix.
He wants a mistrial. He’s getting his kicks.

It’s crock. Everybody, it’s crock.
Everybody in the GOP bloc–
on the stand was courthouse crock.
on the stand was courthouse crock.
on the stand was courthouse crock.