More enjoyable than other Christie I've read. Will still go to bat for Arthur Conan Doyle ten times out of ten.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
foreign aid
Cross-posted from Facebook:
Yes, global poverty is the product of a grossly unequal, exploitative, and violent economic and political system. Yes, foreign aid is itself a product and, to some extent (although to a lesser extent than is sometimes claimed IMHBABO), agent of that system. The world would be a better place if wealth were distributed more equally, and if governments were less corrupt and more able to deliver essential services (not least our own, for that matter). The struggle for systemic change is necessary and good.
But people need light to read by and to not be inhaling smoke all winter right now. I'm glad to work for a foreign-aid-supported organization, born in Pakistan more than 100 years ago, that brings people light that they and the environment around them can afford, that engineers community-owned water infrastructure that lasts for decades, that founds universities, that preserves traditional music-making. In short, an organization that tries (and succeeds!) to improve people's quality of life right now, and next year, and the year after that, and the decade after that.
Yes, global poverty is the product of a grossly unequal, exploitative, and violent economic and political system. Yes, foreign aid is itself a product and, to some extent (although to a lesser extent than is sometimes claimed IMHBABO), agent of that system. The world would be a better place if wealth were distributed more equally, and if governments were less corrupt and more able to deliver essential services (not least our own, for that matter). The struggle for systemic change is necessary and good.
But people need light to read by and to not be inhaling smoke all winter right now. I'm glad to work for a foreign-aid-supported organization, born in Pakistan more than 100 years ago, that brings people light that they and the environment around them can afford, that engineers community-owned water infrastructure that lasts for decades, that founds universities, that preserves traditional music-making. In short, an organization that tries (and succeeds!) to improve people's quality of life right now, and next year, and the year after that, and the decade after that.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
lynching and the moab
My friend Timmy wrote the other day to ask what Pakistanis were saying about the gigantic bomb that the US just dropped on a few dozen Daesh fighters in eastern Afghanistan. Not an unreasonable question: Pakistan's fate is tied up with Afghanistan's and the target was pretty close to the border. But the answer is, Not much. An article about the hit was on the (online) front page of the big English-language papers, but nobody mentioned it at work except me, to a colleague who hadn't heard about it. By the afternoon, the story had moved down the front page in favor of stories about the lynching, late last week, of a student at a university about two hours from Islamabad.
That, people are talking about.
The attack was shocking: the young man, who had been accused of blasphemy, was attacked by a crowd of fellow-students, beaten, shot, and then beaten some more in death until the police were able to recover his body. The mob demanded the return of his body so they could burn it, but were not successful in getting it back. And there is video. Like the proliferation of videos of police assaults on black people in the US, the video seems to have snapped some otherwise complacent people to attention.
Pakistan has a fraught relationship with Islamic extremism. The government has long used extremist militias as a foreign-policy tool in its efforts to maintain power in the region, in particular with respect to Kashmir and to Afghanistan. Blasphemy is not just illegal here, it's punishable by death. But most Pakistanis I interact with -- devout Muslims no more or less than indifferent ones or proud atheists -- are horrified by mob violence and have no patience for extremism. People are cynical about the government's use of religion: an op/ed writer in one of the major papers, Dawn, observed that the initial government reaction to this recent lynching was to promise to root out blasphemers, in addition to arresting some suspects. To the op/ed writer, the message that sends is clear: Yeah, yeah, don't go around murdering each other in broad daylight, we'll make a big show of justice, but [wink, nudge] we all know who the real criminals are.
Now, a few days later, the head of the party that runs KPK, the province where the lynching happened, said, "Whoever planned his murder and whoever participated in it will be punished and made an example of for future generations. Even if the culprits are found to be from PTI [his party], they will be punished. We will not discriminate along party lines in pursuing this case. The entire country saw. Even animals don't behave this way. We will take this as a lesson and make sure no one ever misuses the blasphemy law again to murder people again."
That is a pretty revealing statement, sentence by sentence. It reveals a conceptualization of justice that's "medieval" in the European sense -- punishment as an example to others, rather than the modern concept of rehabilitation and imprisonment away from the public eye (basically the only theorist I've read on that subject is Foucault, so take that observation with a grain of salt). It clearly acknowledges that people believe political parties treat their own members differently when they are in power. It dehumanizes the attackers, drawing a line around them that separates/insulates the speaker from their actions. And it doesn't question the legitimacy of the blasphemy law at all, it accepts that such a thing should exist.
Lynching has become a hot topic in India, as well, with mobs killing mostly Muslim butchers who have been accused of slaughtering and selling cows.
No conclusion here, just observations.
That, people are talking about.
The attack was shocking: the young man, who had been accused of blasphemy, was attacked by a crowd of fellow-students, beaten, shot, and then beaten some more in death until the police were able to recover his body. The mob demanded the return of his body so they could burn it, but were not successful in getting it back. And there is video. Like the proliferation of videos of police assaults on black people in the US, the video seems to have snapped some otherwise complacent people to attention.
Pakistan has a fraught relationship with Islamic extremism. The government has long used extremist militias as a foreign-policy tool in its efforts to maintain power in the region, in particular with respect to Kashmir and to Afghanistan. Blasphemy is not just illegal here, it's punishable by death. But most Pakistanis I interact with -- devout Muslims no more or less than indifferent ones or proud atheists -- are horrified by mob violence and have no patience for extremism. People are cynical about the government's use of religion: an op/ed writer in one of the major papers, Dawn, observed that the initial government reaction to this recent lynching was to promise to root out blasphemers, in addition to arresting some suspects. To the op/ed writer, the message that sends is clear: Yeah, yeah, don't go around murdering each other in broad daylight, we'll make a big show of justice, but [wink, nudge] we all know who the real criminals are.
Now, a few days later, the head of the party that runs KPK, the province where the lynching happened, said, "Whoever planned his murder and whoever participated in it will be punished and made an example of for future generations. Even if the culprits are found to be from PTI [his party], they will be punished. We will not discriminate along party lines in pursuing this case. The entire country saw. Even animals don't behave this way. We will take this as a lesson and make sure no one ever misuses the blasphemy law again to murder people again."
That is a pretty revealing statement, sentence by sentence. It reveals a conceptualization of justice that's "medieval" in the European sense -- punishment as an example to others, rather than the modern concept of rehabilitation and imprisonment away from the public eye (basically the only theorist I've read on that subject is Foucault, so take that observation with a grain of salt). It clearly acknowledges that people believe political parties treat their own members differently when they are in power. It dehumanizes the attackers, drawing a line around them that separates/insulates the speaker from their actions. And it doesn't question the legitimacy of the blasphemy law at all, it accepts that such a thing should exist.
Lynching has become a hot topic in India, as well, with mobs killing mostly Muslim butchers who have been accused of slaughtering and selling cows.
No conclusion here, just observations.
neuromancer
Liked it just fine as a thriller. Made me curious to learn more about his vision and its impact; in the Kindle edition there's a postscript, written by another sci-fi author, about how influential Gibson was on the early development of the internet. Haven't finished that, partly because the author waxes a bit too rhapsodic for my taste. 35 years is long enough to make pretty much any kind of futurism seem quaint, but thinking about his vision of cyberspace as a metaphor is still compelling and relevant. Pretty amazing in that sense.
Monday, April 03, 2017
gymnastics and sleep
Made a pact with SRB last week to go to bed earlier, at least during the work week. We had terrible follow-through the first few days, not least because of working through some difficult conversations with each other about our relationship. But last night and the night before I slept extremely well and awoke feeling ready to get up. This morning I even woke up 25 minutes before my alarm, got back in bed to snooze because I'm so used to doing that, then realized I didn't need or want to lie down anymore. So instead I went downstairs and did my wrist, hip, and shoulder warm ups.
On that note, I think I've found what I want to dedicate myself to training-wise for the medium term. Jumping, sprinting, and dunking are not in the cards here because of lack of access to proper facilities. There is, as far as I know, no running track in Islamabad outside of the national stadium. That is hardly a practical place to train. In any event, I reached my main goal on that front last year, and explosive activities take a toll on my joints. My left hip is still janky from all the left-right planting I did for years and years. It'd be great to go back to it at some point in the future; I'd love to run a 12.0 100m, for example. And to have a 36" vertical jump at age 36!
But for now it's not practical. So I've been going through the motions, dabbling in this and that. Getting back into yoga through SRB's classes has been fun, and a nice challenge in terms of body organization and awareness. Lifting weights will always (knock wood) be satisfying. Jumping rope is great and actually yesterday I did some double under work and it was so smooth, transitions from singles to doubles and back effortless, and that felt amazing. But it all feels aimless.
So, back to those wrist, hip, and shoulder warm ups. They come from a company called GMB, which stands for Gold Medal Bodies. It's an online training resource with a mix of free and paid tutorials for all kinds of bodyweight movements, exercises, and feats. The free materials are terrific and their philosophy is really appealing: considered, deliberate, progressive, awareness- and injury-prevention focused. This morning I bought a set of training packages from them: two focused on progressively more advanced gymnastics exercises, starting with things like crow and 360-degree jumps that I can already do, to cartwheels and tumbling, to handstands and levers and eventually backflips and planches human flags.
Can't wait to get started, tonight after yoga, with a guided self-assessment of my mobility and movement. Followed by another reasonable bedtime.
On that note, I think I've found what I want to dedicate myself to training-wise for the medium term. Jumping, sprinting, and dunking are not in the cards here because of lack of access to proper facilities. There is, as far as I know, no running track in Islamabad outside of the national stadium. That is hardly a practical place to train. In any event, I reached my main goal on that front last year, and explosive activities take a toll on my joints. My left hip is still janky from all the left-right planting I did for years and years. It'd be great to go back to it at some point in the future; I'd love to run a 12.0 100m, for example. And to have a 36" vertical jump at age 36!
But for now it's not practical. So I've been going through the motions, dabbling in this and that. Getting back into yoga through SRB's classes has been fun, and a nice challenge in terms of body organization and awareness. Lifting weights will always (knock wood) be satisfying. Jumping rope is great and actually yesterday I did some double under work and it was so smooth, transitions from singles to doubles and back effortless, and that felt amazing. But it all feels aimless.
So, back to those wrist, hip, and shoulder warm ups. They come from a company called GMB, which stands for Gold Medal Bodies. It's an online training resource with a mix of free and paid tutorials for all kinds of bodyweight movements, exercises, and feats. The free materials are terrific and their philosophy is really appealing: considered, deliberate, progressive, awareness- and injury-prevention focused. This morning I bought a set of training packages from them: two focused on progressively more advanced gymnastics exercises, starting with things like crow and 360-degree jumps that I can already do, to cartwheels and tumbling, to handstands and levers and eventually backflips and planches human flags.
Can't wait to get started, tonight after yoga, with a guided self-assessment of my mobility and movement. Followed by another reasonable bedtime.
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