Commons Gallery Grand Opening!

Posted by Bunny.

We've just opened a brand new area on our website called the Commons Gallery. There's not much in it at the moment but we'll keep adding content in the coming months. In the future we think this area will become a very important part of our Pinky Show project.

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Update (6/16): We just got word from the Arlington Arts Center exhibition curator that the title of the upcoming show will be Picturing Politics, 2008: Artists Speak to Power.

"The intersection of art and politics will be the subject of an exhibition organized by Washington artist, independent curator, and critic Rex Weil. The show will examine a wide array of strategies in contemporary visual arts for addressing controversial issues and promoting social change in a political landscape dominated by mass media." (from the AAC website)

If any of you are in the Washington, D.C. area and are able to go to the show, we'd be really grateful if you could take a snapshot of our work installed in the museum for us. This will be our first art show and it'd be really cool if we could post a picture of that to our website! Thanks, Bunny

My Problem with Loose Change

Posted by Bunny.

Pinky and I have been getting lots of e-mails asking us what we think of the video Loose Change. For those of you who don't know, Loose Change is a documentary that claims that 9-11 was an 'inside job', perpetrated by the U.S. government. I guess because we tend to be critical of the U.S. people automatically assume we're going to love the conclusions of this film.

Well, all you Loose Change fans can stop e-mailing now. Pinky and I finally sat down and watched it last night, and I had to summon every bit of my patience just to sit through the whole thing. Did not like. The saddest thing about this thing is how hard it tries to perform the “carefully-reasoned forensic inquiry” vibe. So embarrassing.

Just to be clear, I don’t know if the U.S. government is actually behind 9-11 or not. If somebody could produce a credible 'smoking gun' document or some other evidence that proves that a small group of crazy elites within the U.S. government planned, coordinated, and carried out the whole thing, of course I would be fascinated; I’d LOVE to study that evidence very carefully. But nothing like that is in this video.

[ watch Loose Change at YouTube ]

~B.

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Posted by Kim: Did Pinky like Loose Change?

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Posted by Bunny: No.

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Posted by Kim: Bunny, you know from studying history that the U.S. government has done lots of things like this before, especially in other countries, right? So why doesn't it seem possible to you that there might have been somebody in the U.S. government that wanted to organize such a thing? Or maybe they just created 'an opening' so that someone else (like terrorists) who really wanted to do something bad would then be able to carry it out?

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Posted by Bunny: I'm not saying it's impossible. In fact your second scenario has been one of our favorite 'regime change' stunts of the post-WWII era. But mainly I just wanted to point out that this documentary sucks. Because we've been getting so many e-mails about it.

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Posted by Pinky: Kim, when you mention terrorists in your question to Bunny, did you have anyone or any group in particular in mind?

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Posted by Kim: No. But aren’t terrorists anybody who uses terror as a way to get what they want? It's like Daisy was pointing out, we have entities like corporations or governmental agencies here in the U.S. that export terrorism to all over the planet all the time. So, why not?

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Posted by Bunny: Saying “why not?” is not the same as proving something with evidence.

My Memory Gets Worse

Posted by Pinky.

In one of our episodes (I think? no?) we credited Alex Carey for this neat quote:

"The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy."

I can't remember which episode that was. At any rate it's a nice quote so I'm going to park it here for the time being, so that others may enjoy it. Maybe I'll remember later.

Anyway I came across the above quote again today while doing some research on "democracy". Which led me to another gem, this one by Abbie Hoffman:

"You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists."

While I was washing dishes I was trying to think of who, in America right now, is speaking out and doing things in a way most similar to what Abbie Hoffman did in the 60's, 70's, and 80's?

I can't really think of anybody.

~pinky

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Posted by Bunny: I don't think we ever used that first quote in an episode. I did cite that quote in one of my entries last year though - maybe that's where you saw it... ?

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Posted by Bunny. (6/15): We just got an e-mail that claims Ron Paul is the new Abbie Hoffman. Seriously?? Is Oprah the new Bobby Seale?

Memorial Day

Posted by Pinky.

For the past three years, Bunny, Kim, Mimi, and I have been observing Memorial Day by spending the day in silence. But since writing doesn't require talking I think it's okay for me to make an entry in this diary.

For our international readers who aren't familiar with 'Memorial Day', it's a national holiday here in the U.S. that was created to remember and honor people who died while in military service to their country. When I was younger I used to get it confused with 'Veterans Day' because that one is also about people who served in the military (although for that one you don't have to have died in order to be honored). To add to my confusion, in practice both holidays are observed in similar ways: lots of USA flags, parades, day off from school and work, sporting events with U.S. Air Force jet plane fly-overs, big mattress and automobile sales events, backyard BBQ parties, etc. Anyway, USA culture is pretty complicated.

We (cats) first started observing Memorial Day by not talking after Kim had brought up the question, "How are we going to celebrate Memorial Day?" Considering the somber nature of the event the word "celebrate" struck me as not fitting so well. So we started talking about it and in the end we all decided to use the day as a day of reflection, to just be silent and think about its meaning.

This morning we got an e-mail from a soldier serving in Iraq asking if we are "anti-soldier", and if we "even celebrate Memorial Day at all". I wrote back saying no, we are not "anti-soldier", although it’s true that in general I don't support what the U.S. military actually ends up doing. Militaries tend to serve the interests of the ruling elite, not ordinary people.

As for Memorial Day, I think in general it represents War Culture. For example, why do we have a day to remember people who fought for 'peace & justice' as it's defined by The State, but we don't have a holiday for those who fought The State in the name of peace and justice? The absence of such a holiday is War Culture. And is it really honorable to memorialize the soldiers who fought and died in wars, without also acknowledging the millions of innocent civilians who died as a direct result of those same wars? The valuing of some people's lives and the dismissal of others' is also War Culture. These kinds of contradictions explain why Memorial Day is a national holiday, while, say, federal and state employees don't get a day off to celebrate 'LGBT Liberation Day'. Which, by the way, would be a wonderful holiday and I would be very happy to celebrate it.

Personally I know a lot of soldiers and former soldiers and at a personal level I respect them. But I also understand that they are part of a system that I oppose. The military industrial complex is a problem, not a solution.

Now back to silence. This keyboard is super noisy.

~pinky

Challenge Grant!

Posted by Pinky.

[ Please read this whole message - I promise it won't take you more than 3 minutes! ]

Hi! This is Pinky - I'm writing to tell you about some great news we just received!

The Pinky Show has been offered a challenge grant from the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation. What that means is that for a limited time, any donation that's made in support of The Pinky Show will be half-matched by their organization. For example, if you were to make a donation of $100, the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Fund would then donate $50 to us too. After so much struggling to keep The Pinky Show alive, this could really make a huge difference for us!

I just wrote a short appeal to put on our donations page, I'll include a bit of it here:

"...People often forget that we will not have a world-society defined by peace and justice unless we are willing to fight for it, one mind at a time. So far The Pinky Show has been successful in bringing our message of openness and compassion for all living beings to a fairly large international audience - over 5 million episode views from over 155 countries. But keeping our project alive has been extremely difficult. Only 1 out of approximately 10,000 viewers actually takes it upon themselves to support our work..."

5 million views is a lot! And that's not even counting all the people that use our videos offline - raising awareness in classrooms, workshops, teach-ins, community & adult education, public access television, and so on.

Since we started this project about three years ago, we've received thousands of expressions of solidarity and thanks via e-mail from people all over the world. But unfortunately, not too many donations. We sincerely appreciate the well-wishing, but we do need material support in order to create new episodes, pay our server fees, upkeep our equipment & software, and not die of starvation.

We're trying to do this project in what we consider to be "the right way" - no pay-per-view, no commercials in our videos, no advertisements plastered all over our website, no sweatshop t-shirts for sale in our store, no DRM, and so on. All of these decisions we've made represent a particular set of values we believe in - openness, justice, and compassion for others. By deciding to make direct donations from our viewers the foundation upon which we continue (or don't continue) our work, The Pinky Show project has also become for us an experiment. We are genuinely curious to know if people really do believe that a tiny, committed group of individuals can change the world for the better by taking on enormous challenges. We chose consciousness as the site of intervention and we're dedicating our lives to putting as large a dent as possible in Domination and Exploitation of all kinds.

So along with the great news, I'm also ending with an appeal. If you've ever thought that you'd like to support our work, there's never been a better time than right now. I sincerely hope you'll give it some serious consideration.

Thank you,
pinky

[ Make a Online Donation ]

[ Make a Donation by Mail ]

note: Your donations to The Pinky Show are tax deductible. The Pinky Show is a project of Associated Animals Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization.​

One Student Takes The Oath!

Posted by Pinky.

Yay! Two years after publishing our mini-episode Students Against Rice Eaters, we receive this e-mail:

message: I think the Hippocratic oath is a brilliant idea. Here is my draft of it:

"I will honor the gift of my life, and others by using my skills to manifest peace and end suffering. I will not use my education and skills to increase the suffering of mankind either directly or indirectly. I will act on this pledge above personal or national economic gains and ambitions."

Manifest Peace,
Linda
Dongguk University, Seoul, S. Korea

Judging by the e-mails we receive (or in this case, don't receive), this episode is probably one of our least popular episodes. Which is kind of sad because to me, I think this is actually one of our most important episodes. People write us e-mails all the time asking things like "Yes, I agree with your points but what can I do?" Well, when I feel like I'm in an advice-giving mood I often write back saying something like "Stop supporting unfair, oppressive, and violent practices." Which also implies that we'd have to start with an examination of all our relationships, know how our thoughts and actions are connected to the lives of others, etc., etc. - none of this is easy to do. But everything I know about history suggests this is a practical way to start bringing about change. Even the U.S. war machine - arguably the most powerful, violent institution the world has ever known - needs a regular somebody to go make toast in the morning.

~ pinky

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Posted by Bunny: For those of you who have never watched the video, here it is - all 1 minute 36 seconds of it…

"Let's Buy More Death"

Posted by Pinky.

Yesterday the U.S. Senate voted to spend an additional $165 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems almost unbelievable that the United States government - broke as it is - thinks wars of aggression are so important that we should borrow money from other countries in order to keep having them. Can you imagine this kind of logic operating at the personal level?

Bunny: Hey Pinky, can I borrow $12?

Pinky: What for?

Bunny: I want to buy a baseball bat.

Pinky: You don't play baseball.

Bunny: Yeah I know, I just wanted something to go hit dogs with.

Pinky: Where’s your priorities? You want money for a $12 bat when you don't even have enough money for food?!

Bunny: Think about it - if I kill enough dogs I'm sure at least some of them will have food or maybe something else of value in their homes that I’ll be able to take...

Pinky: Okay, sounds reasonable. Here's $12 dollars. Pay me back $18 next month (gotta pay interest, you know)...

Bunny: Probably not going to happen. But I give you permission to one day collect $100 from my kittens... if I ever have any.

I have zero respect for any of these politicians - Democrat or Republican - who voted for the war funding. This is something that members of both parties voted for, so maybe we can stop talking about them as if they were each other's mortal enemies. Obviously both parties believe in empire - they only disagree on the exact method and language used to maintain it.

~ pinky

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Posted by Bunny: Hey, why'd you make me clubbing dogs in your make-believe example? I haven't hit anyone in over a year.

Mole Gig

Posted by Bunny.

Looking for a little extra money? The F.B.I. will pay you to be their mole (if you have the right "look" and if the information you give them leads to an arrest). The targets: vegans, peace activists, street artists, and other degenerate-types:

"...[ The F.B.I. was looking for ] an informant—someone to show up at "vegan potlucks" throughout the Twin Cities and rub shoulders with RNC protestors, schmoozing his way into their inner circles, then reporting back to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. The effort's primary mission, according to the Minneapolis division's website, is to "investigate terrorist acts carried out by groups or organizations which fall within the definition of terrorist groups as set forth in the current United States Attorney General Guidelines."..." (Matt Snyders, Minneapolis/St.Paul City Pages, May 21, 2008)

Read the whole article here.

~Bunny.

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Posted by Kim: Since when are peace activists terrorists?

Hemo Wai Bros.

Posted by Bunny.

This is my current favorite TV show on the internet: The Hemo Wai Bros. (www.hemowai.tv). If everybody cared about their people and land as much as these guys do, state- and corporate-sponsored ecocide would be ancient history already. And they're hilarious.

Don’t know which of their videos to watch first? I recommend their episode about GMOs, Making Monstas.​ ~B.

Hawaii People's Fund on YouTube

Posted by Pinky.

The Hawaii People's Fund, along with the Hawaii Community Foundation, are the folks that gave us the grants that has allowed us to work on the Hawaii series. I just found out HPF has a video on YouTube - please check them out.

We've received a few e-mails from people asking when we'll be releasing the Hawaii: The Colony series. Well, the short answer is (not to be a smartass...): "When we're ready." Producing an interconnected series of episodes is a lot more complicated than making any of the individual, 'self-contained' videos we've done before. We've designed each episode to relate to the others in the series, but we're also hoping that each one will also be able to stand on its own to some extent. None of this is easy to do - capitalism, imperialism, and colonialism aren't exactly the stuff of dinner-table conversation here in the U.S., and explaining how they're all linked together is even more of a challenge. And doing it using easy-to-understand language is a challenge deluxe! (Seriously, I think if it were easy to do somebody else would have already done it.)

Personally, the best thing about working on this project has been how much it's forced me to rethink many of the assumptions and feelings I have about U.S. history, and actually the meaning of the United States itself. It's been profoundly clarifying for me, I hope some of you will find it useful too. (Uh, I mean, when it comes out... Sorry, I think because I can see the whole thing all finished in my head I keep on talking about it like it's already done...) There are some parts where the writing still needs to be fleshed out but I'd say it's about 80% done.

So please be patient - we are working very hard over here! ^__^

~pinky

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Posted by Bunny: I think I read somewhere the first Star Wars movie took something like four years to make…

Gay Marriage Day in California

Posted by Bunny.

Historic day here in California. Today the California State Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality and found that the current ban on marriage between same-sex couples is unconstitutional. Finally.

IMHO, U.S. courts have not been faring very well in regards to fairness, especially recently. So today's decision was a real victory for anybody who dislikes arbitrary attacks on logic or dignity. Hopefully the rest of the U.S. will get its act together and follow suit.

Newspapers have their place, but for anyone who wants to read the Supreme Court's actual opinion, it's here. Enjoy.

~B.

Cute Tote bags!

Posted by Bunny.

There is no such thing as a disposable plastic bag, so please stop using them. I printed up a small batch of these cute Pinky Show tote bags and we've been using them for everything - marketing, transporting books to and from the library, even carrying rocks.

Get your own Pinky Show tote bag! [ dead link ] Our tote bags are super cute, heavy 100% cotton canvas, very strong, and made in California. Support The Pinky Show and the oceans and landfills will thank you too.

Pointing Guns At Students For Their Own Good

Posted by Daisy.

I came across the Stratford High School incident a couple of years ago when I was doing some research on the so-called 'War on Drugs'. I mentioned the incident in passing conversation with Pinky this morning and she hadn't heard of it. I showed her some photos of the police raid and she was shocked; subsequently she asked me to mention it here.

In November 2003, Goose Creek (South Carolina) police conducted an armed raid at Stratford High School, ostensibly to find drugs and weapons. Guns were drawn and pointed at students as they were told to lie on the ground with their hands behind their heads. Police dogs were also used to search for drugs. No drugs or weapons were found.

Here is some school 'security' video, plus police video of the event:​

[ this video has been removed from the internet ]

There it is. ~Daisy.

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Posted by Bunny: Daisy, what was the reaction from the community - esp. the students and their families?

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Reply from Daisy: The response was mixed. The ACLU later brought a class action suit on behalf of some of students at the school against the City of Goose Creek and the police department. However, some students, staff, and parents defended the actions of the police and school principal:

Others can't say enough good things about [School Principal] McCrackin. The Stratford High Student Council sent a letter to the Berkeley County School Board in support of the principal. Describing him as a "dedicated, selfless individual," the students said he puts them first.

"When asked why, on his school walkie-talkie, his number was 2, he said that this was because his students were number one," the letter stated. "He would not do anything to endanger his students or do anything without probable cause."

On Friday, students and teachers held a rally outside the Crowfield Boulevard school. They held signs encouraging motorists to honk if they supported McCrackin.

Junior Lauren Shull, whose mother teaches at Stratford, said she stands behind the actions of the school and the police.

"They're trying to keep the school safe," the 16-year-old said.

(from The State (South Carolina), Answers elusive in school raid, November 16, 2003)

Actually, what was most remarkable to me, even more than the actual events depicted in video, was the inability or unwillingness of the above students to recognize state violence.

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Posted by Pinky: Thanks Daisy. Just in case some of our readers may not be familiar with the term 'state violence', can you please explain what you mean by that in a nutshell?

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Posted by Kim: And using small words?

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Reply from Daisy: The kind of state violence I was referring to here is when the state attacks its own citizenry. State violence can target its victims in various ways - physical harm, systematic violations of rights or freedoms, harassment, imprisonment, mental / psychic / symbolic punishments, etc. State violence serves the interests of the state, is coded as 'legitimate', and generally goes unpunished.

Mud Cookies

Posted by Pinky.

The desire to not suffer from hunger must be one of the most basic drives of all animals, human beings included. Which is probably why when I read the following passage yesterday I was literally stunned into silence. An excerpt:

"The Haitain [food shortage] crisis is so extreme it forces people to eat (non-food) mud cookies (called "pica") to relieve hunger. It's a desperate Haitian remedy made from dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau for those who can afford it. It's not free. In Cite Soleil's crowded slums, people use a combination of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening for a typical meal when it's all they can afford. A Port-au-Prince AP reporter sampled it. He said it had "a smooth consistency (but it) sucked all the moisture out of (my) mouth as soon as it touched (my) tongue. For hours (afterwards), an unpleasant taste of dirt lingered." Worse is how it harms human health. A mud cookie diet causes severe malnutrition, intestinal distress, and other deleterious effects from potentially deadly toxins and parasites.

Another problem is the cost. This stomach-filler isn't free. Haitians have to buy it, and "edible clay" prices are rising - by almost $1.50 in the past year. It now costs about $5 to make 100 cookies (about 5 cents each), it's cheaper than food, but many Haitians can't afford it..." (from Stephen Lendman's Hunger Plagues Haiti and the World; read the whole article here)

I realize there are many people who will say that hunger and starvation is inevitable. They tend to think that some people - either because of bad luck or perhaps their own ineptitude - are simply meant to perish due to a lack of food.

But as I've looked more carefully into the economy and politics of food, I keep coming to the opposite conclusion: that food shortages are not unavoidable, that they are usually man-made, and that malnutrition and starvation could be eradicated if first world human beings in positions of power had the will to do so. Which means that ordinary nobodies like us (you and me) will have to be the ones to force their hand. Please don't go to bed tonight without taking at least one action against starvation.

Here are links to a few organizations that are already fighting:

Oxfam [ www.oxfam.org; donation link here ]

UN World Food Programme [ www.wfp.org; donation link here ]

The Hunger Project [ www.thp.org; donation link here ]

Thank you,
pinky

note: Thank you to Brian Koontz for sending me the link to the Lendman article.​

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Posted by Drittens: Debbie from Foodymasters sent us a link to some data that’s both accessible and current (2022). Go here: https://www.deliveryrank.com/blog/world-hunger-facts-statistics

Some of the statistics are terrifying, but it’s clearly not the kind of information that we can turn away from just because it’s deeply disturbing. The article ends with some ideas on what’s being done and needs to be done in order to fight hunger. Please read it.

Can Language Corrupt Thought?

A mini-report by Daisy.

This is an excerpt from yesterday morning's House Judiciary Committee meeting on Capitol Hill. Here Congressman Robert Wexler questions FBI Director Robert Mueller about FBI inaction following reports that the CIA was torturing prisoners.

[ start transcript ]

Congressman Robert Wexler: Alright, Mr. Director. An L.A. Times article from October, 2007 quotes one senior federal enforcement official as saying quote "the CIA determined they were going to torture people, and we made the decision not to be involved" end quote. The article goes on to say that some FBI officials went to you and that you quote "pulled many of the agents back from playing even a supporting role in the investigations to avoid exposing them to legal jeopardy" end quote. My question Mr. Director, I congratulate you for pulling the FBI agents back, but why did you not take more substantial steps to stop the interrogation techniques that your own FBI agents were telling you were illegal? Why did you not initiate criminal investigations when your agents told you the CIA and the Department of Defense were engaging in illegal interrogation techniques, and rather than simply pulling your agents out, shouldn't you have directed them to prevent any illegal interrogations from taking place?

FBI Director Robert Mueller: I can go so far sir as to tell you that a protocol in the FBI is not to use coercion in any of our interrogations or our questioning and we have abided by our protocol.

Congressman Wexler: I appreciate that. What is the protocol say when the FBI knows that the CIA is engaging or the Department of Defense is engaging in an illegal technique? What does the protocol say in that circumstance?

Director Mueller: We would bring it up to appropriate authorities and determine whether the techniques were legal or illegal.

Congressman Wexler: Did you bring it up to appropriate authorities?

Director Mueller: All I can tell you is that we followed our own protocols.

Congressman Wexler: So you can't tell us whether you brought it; when your own FBI agents came to you and said the CIA is doing something illegal which caused you to say don't you get involved; you can't tell us whether you then went to whatever authority?

Director Mueller: I'll tell you we followed our own protocols.

Congressman Wexler: And what was the result?

Director Mueller: We followed our own protocols. We followed our protocols. We did not use coercion. We did not participate in any instance where coercion was used to my knowledge.

Congressman Wexler: Did the CIA use techniques that were illegal?

Director Mueller: I can't comment on what has been done by another agency and under what authorities the other agency may have taken actions.

Congressman Wexler: Why can't you comment on the actions of another agency?

Director Mueller: I leave that up to the other agency to answer questions with regard to the actions taken by that agency and the legal authorities that may apply to them.

Congressman Wexler: Are you the chief legal law enforcement agency in the United States?

Director Mueller: I am the Director of the FBI.

Congressman Wexler: And you do not have authority with respect to any other governmental agency in the United States? Is that what you're saying?

Director Mueller: My authority is given to me to investigate. Yes we do.

Congressman Wexler: Did somebody take away that authority with respect to the CIA?

Director Mueller: Nobody has taken away the authority. I can tell you what our protocol was, and how we followed that protocol.

Congressman Wexler: Did anybody take away the authority with respect to the Department of Defense?

Director Mueller: I'm not certain what you mean.

Congressman Wexler: Your authority to investigate an illegal torture technique.

Director Mueller: There has to be a legal basis for us to investigate, and generally that legal basis is given to us by the Department of Justice. Any interpretations of the laws given to us by the Department of Justice... [talking over each other]

Congressman Wexler: But apparently your own agents made a determination that the actions by the CIA and the Department of Defense were illegal, so much so that you authorized, ordered, your agents not to participate. But that's it.

Director Mueller: I've told you what our protocol was, and I've indicated that we've adhered to our protocol throughout.

Congressman Wexler: My time is up. Thank you very much Mr. Director.

[ end transcript ]

"Protocol." Apparently it is illegal or immoral to answer with a "yes" or "no" in Washington D.C. I believe it was George Bernard Shaw that once said something like, "All professions are conspiracies against the public."

A systematic study of how bureaucrats learn to speak like this would be very useful.

Daisy

Thursday, April 24, 2008

How To Teach Good Skeptical Thought Habits?

Posted by Kim.

I wouldn't call myself a bookworm but I do love popular science books by people like Stephen Jay Gould or Carl Sagan. By the way, here's a nice quote by Carl Sagan:

"The business of scepticism is to be dangerous. Scepticism challenges established institutions. If we teach everybody, including, say, high school students, habits of sceptical thought, they will probably not restrict their skepticism to UFOs, aspirin commercials, and 35,000-year-old channelees. Maybe they'll start asking awkward questions about economic, or social, or political, or religious institutions. Perhaps they'll challenge the opinions of those in power. Then where would we be?"

I thought about this for a while, and I wonder: Do you think high schools are spending enough time teaching young people how to use methodologies of skepticism? I never went to human beings school so I don't know for a fact if they do or they don't. But judging what I read in the op-ed sections of newspapers I am going to go out on a limb and guess that they're not doing a good job with this. ~Kim

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Posted by Bunny: I think you're misreading the quote. I think Sagan is implying that high schools were never intended to cultivate skepticism in students.

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Posted by Kim: Oh. Okay, I guess I can accept that reading. But don't you think it'd be great if high schools could be changed to do this?

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Posted by Daisy: Schools don't exist to teach people how to be "dangerous"; their primary function is to train young people to live their lives well within the limits of state policies. Anything beyond that is variously defined as failing, substandard, non-compliant, illegitimate, abnormal, deviant, degenerate, suspect, dangerous, at-risk, criminal. Take, for example, the recent (February 2008) ruling in California's Second Court of Appeals regarding home schooling. The court ruled that education is only valid when a child is being taught by a credentialed teacher. Parents, or any other persons for that matter, who attempt to teach children without a state-issued teaching credential, will be subject to prosecution. Most parents who home school their own children do not have teaching credentials - which means that under California law these children should be classified as truants and in some cases even removed from their parents' custody (under the guise of "educational neglect"). Some parents have been very vocal in protesting what they see as a violation of their right to home school their kids, but to me the implications are much more far-reaching. Basically the state is trying to claim that only they have the power to define what education is. Under this kind of logic, neither Einstein nor Jesus would have been qualified to teach children (I'm assuming neither ever held a California State teaching license). In fact, they would've been punished had they tried to impersonate "real teachers." ]

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Posted by Kim: O hai Daisy!

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Posted by Daisy: Hi.

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Posted by Bunny: Hey Daisy, two questions. Number one, how did the teachers union respond to the court ruling? Number two: Are you opposed to all forms of schooling?

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Posted by Daisy: The largest teachers union in California lauded the decision. Second question: No.

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Posted by Bunny: ...? Why 'no'? Can you elaborate?

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Posted by Daisy: I'm not anti-school. To me a school is just a building, a place. What I object to are unimaginative and limited conceptions of what constitutes schooling (i.e., 'formal education'). When most people say schooling, what they really mean is mind-numbing training. Dogs need training. Human beings and cats need intellectual, ethical, cultural, and spiritual development; none of which happens as a result of being trained. If schools could be remade into authentic places of learning rather than training-buildings, I would be supportive. But at that point, we might as well call them something other than "schools."

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Posted by Pinky: Hi you guys. Here's a quote from the judge that presided over the process, Justice H. Walter Croskey:

"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare."

So I think it's pretty clear that our conception of 'public welfare' and Justice Croskey's are built on fundamentally different values and assumptions... And just to be clear, Daisy, don't you think there are also many home schooling parents that are also guilty of confusing learning with training?

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Posted by Daisy: Most of them, yes.

Posted: Muhammad Yunus lecture

Posted by Bunny.

This is a great lecture that Pinky turned me on to late last night. I was sleepy but it was so good I ended up listening to the whole thing and going to bed at 4 a.m. You can listen to it here. It's audio only so I stuck a Wikipedia photo of Dr. Yunus on it.

After I listened to the lecture Pinky and I were looking up some microcredit info when we ran into the Kiva website (www.kiva.org). This is a website that allows anybody to make a tiny loan to somebody who really needs money to start up some kind of business or other life-sustaining project. Excellent idea, I think I can do this. My felt can wait.

~B.

Posted: The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

Posted by Bunny.

My friend Teacup recommended this video to us and we all thought it was an excellent presentation. It's a Creative Commons (3.0) video so I decided to post it in the Pinky Presents area. I hope lots of people watch it. If you find yourself moved by the analysis there's an excellent website at www.storyofstuff.com with a ton more great resources - an excellent blog (by Annie Leonard), an extensive NGO list, reading list, organizing materials, etc. ~B.

Video: Peace, Propaganda, & The Promised Land (2004)

Posted by Pinky.

Recently Bunny, Mimi, and I had watched Peace, Propaganda, & The Promised Land: The U.S. Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and thought that it was really excellent. Tonight as I was following up trying to learn a bit more about the Media Education Foundation (the people who produced this video) I found out that this documentary is actually available in its entirety (1 hr. 20 min.) via Google Video. The analysis provided in the film is extremely important - I sincerely hope everyone who reads this blog takes the time to watch the film and share it with others. Our mini-review of the film is here. ~ pinky

[ video no longer available on Google Video ]

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Posted by Bunny: One of the things I thought was extremely important in this film was how carefully it examines the use of language in creating consciousness and controlling opinions. We all 'use' language but generally don't spend much time thinking specifically about exactly how we are using it or how it is connected to specific configurations of power. The Media Education Foundation has a catalog of films that deal with the politics of representation - in television, music, video games, schools, etc. Check them out: www.mediaed.org.

PS: If Not Topical, Then What?

Posted by Pinky.

Tonight Bunny, Mimi, and I were sitting around talking about the difficulty we sometimes have in trying to describe what The Pinky Show is. "What is your show about?" is one of the more common questions we get. You'd think this should be easy to answer, but even now, I often find myself struggling to summarize our work in just a few words.

Part of the difficulty comes from the fact that since starting up this project approximately three years ago, we've consciously tried to resist becoming a 'single issue oriented' project, which is how most organizations are generally known to the public. Examples:

Greenpeace = environmentalism
CodePink = end the Iraq War
UNICEF = children.
etc.

I guess it's natural for people to want to pidgeon-hole an organization or project in terms of a single, specific issue. After all, it does help make things easier to grasp immediately. I'm guessing this is why we often have people saying things to us like, "So the Pinky Show is an anti-war program?", or "Oh I get it, you guys are environmentalists!" Well, we do oppose the war and occupation of Iraq. And yes, we also like trees more than pollution. But in spite of these kinds of statements of position, there's something about self-defining our project according to these kinds of labels that doesn't sit well with me. I think it's because, to me, the main reason why I want to learn things is not to promote any particular policy agenda. The point of learning is to transform my world view, my consciousness. I feel like if we (all of us) were somehow more conscious as to what's really going on around us and how the world works, we would all quite naturally start inching our way towards good and not evil. Of course we'd all have to fight it out as to exactly where we should go next, but that's a given. First I want to be awake. I think this is why I prefer that we (Bunny, Mimi, Kim, Daisy, myself) not focus on one or even just a few 'related' subjects to discuss. I'd rather we keep learning about all sorts of things, together with all the complicated connections that exist between them. I don't want to become an 'expert', as the word is commonly used nowadays.

I'm sure a lot of people will interpret the above as being 'unfocused' in a negative way, but probably this is unavoidable. What I really want to create is a good way of relating to the world and all the beings, things, and ideas in it. In the past I've described this as our obsession with trying to train ourselves to think and act with openness, honesty, and compassion. We are trying to guide ourselves according to these somewhat abstract principles, rather than always working within a specific issue or disciplinary boundary.

Now, it would be good if I could figure out how to say this clearly in one sentence.

~ pinky

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Posted by Bunny: I don't like the way you suggest it's possible to somehow 'wake up' first, then struggle towards good things second. I think we continually develop our consciousness as we struggle along.

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Posted by Pinky: Okay, good point. But either way I still can't find an elegant way to summarize our project in one or two sentences. The point is our project does not approach 'education' in a conventional manner, and unless Mimi has some catchy, clarifying blurbs to write in our grant applications, The Pinky Show won't be around for much longer.

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Posted by Bunny: Agreed.

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Posted by Kim: Some people think that the single unifying theme of The Pinky Show is that it is always anti-American.

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Posted by Bunny: Those people are idiots.

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Posted by Pinky: So much for the 'compassion' part!

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Posted by Bunny: Ch! I know you think they're idiots too...

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Posted by Pinky: I don't... I just think people are taught to believe that it's reasonable for 'good citizens' to be quiet and do as they're told…

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Posted by Bunny (4/11/2008): I've been thinking about this some more... Maybe it would be good to identify The Pinky Show not so much as an instructional program about various topics, but rather an ongoing project that uses the form of making educational materials as a way to explore our own minds. It's not a noun, it's more like a verb. To me this would be a more accurate description of what we are doing. Because think about it - if you describe The Pinky Show as a bunch of online videos, then of course it's natural for someone to ask "So what kind of things do the various episodes talk about?" But teaching others about certain topics is not the main reason why we're doing The Pinky Show, right? The main thing is for us to keep learning. Imagine if we had zero viewers - the activity of doing research, writing, distilling down the information, and making presentations would still be an excellent process to help us think clearly about how we're thinking. I for one would still enjoy making Pinky Shows (or Bunny Shows) even if no one ever watched our show.

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Posted by Kim: Yeah, I like Bunny's point. It's not like the point is to be critical of specific things - X, Y, and Z. It's more important to make critical consciousness so that we can be critical (not in a bad way) of anything and everything. This way we can know who we are and not always be getting lost.

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Posted by Pinky: Agreed! Although for me, I do like the idea that lots of people watch our show, because then I feel like we have company as we try to move towards good things.