Picks of the Week: Fifty Four

The Argument Against: It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything under this heading. I must make an effort to do so more often. I came across this report by AP regarding a secretly shot video within a large poultry farm; the contents of which I can only describe as disturbing. It shows male chicks –yes, tiny yellow cute chicks- being killed because they don’t lay eggs and they don’t develop quickly enough to yield much meat. I’m embedding the video below. While it’s not extremely graphic, you may or may not find it disturbing. I would advise discretion when viewing it.

I’ve seen my share of animal cruelty videos in addition to documentaries detailing factory farming practices. I’ve read numerous articles and editorials explaining why we should turn into vegetarians. These are far too many to list in one blog post. But I will share this article written by the supremely intelligent Peter Singer. While he didn’t coin the term, Dr.Singer has been one of the most influential academics to speak out against speciesism, which is basically discrimination based on species. His article is a good starting point because he argues using both practical and philosophical positions, which makes the content very lucid and accessible.

However, I am not left without doubts as to his ultimate position. He argues midway through the article that we should not treat animals as mere objects, ignoring their interests in exchange for our benefit. There is more than a tinge of Kantian reasoning in this argument, in that we should not treat others as mere means but we should regard them as ends of themselves. But not more than a few lines later, when addressing the morality of consuming even any meat at all, he makes a consequentialist prescription: that we should act in a manner that would reduce or contribute the least to animal suffering. Most basic moral philosophy courses teach that Kantian ethics and consequentialist ethics such as utilitarianism are contradictory. Of course, there are notable exceptions –my professor thinks that Kant was actually a consequentialist and even wrote a book on it. But the disconnect lies therein –and I simplify the argument greatly: if all beings are to be treated equally as ends and never as means, how can it be that we should act in a manner that determines good based on an aggregate of utility; a system that clearly advocates the welfare of the many, at the expense of the few or even the individual. And more importantly, on a practical level, if we accept the Kantian conception of meat consumption, would it mean that in all circumstances it would be immoral to consume meat or meat products? I may have butchered Singer’s arguments. Let me know if so. Best if I get my hands on a copy of Animal Liberation.

Picks of the Week: Fifty Three

A Day in the Life: Exactly a year ago at approximately this time, I boarded a series of flights that would take me through Singapore, Japan, Chicago in the US and finally into Portland, Maine. Since then, I have not seen my home. I remember that night at the airport, not a tinge of fear inside of me. I was about to leave my home of twenty years for a country halfway across the globe but instead of fear, I felt excitement. As I walked into the departure hall, pass the security checkpoint, I didn't even turn back to glimpse my family for one last time. It was a single-mindedness that even I did not realize, but one that never escapes the attention of a mother. I wonder if my parents, watching from above as the back of my frame moved away further in distance, wished that I would turn and wave. But the farewells I wanted to say had been said and the ones that were unspoken would have a lifetime to explain themselves.

It's a been a full year since that night. Happy anniversary.

Picks of the Week: Fifty Two

A Day in the Life: So, a day after reading this groundbreaking expose by The Star regarding purchased paper qualifications –seriously, it’s an open secret that our dear friends at the daily only recently thought would merit their journalistic attentions- I stumble across this report on a similar degree for sale scheme in Germany. As with most dodgy degree boutiques, you can even get a doctoral degree for a price. This I find out a week after discovering that in Germany, it’s not illegal to masturbate or have sex while driving. Really gives rise to the notion that Germany is the coolest place on Earth.

Also, as a matter of detail, one of the degree mills mentioned in The Star’s report is the impressively named European Business School Cambridge of European Union. Who in their right mind would want a degree from a place with that name? Please take note, if you want to set up a degree selling scam, at least take some initiative and come up with properly good names –or at least ones that make sense grammatically.

Picks of the Week: Fifty One

A Day in the Life: School’s about to start in just over two weeks. I’m actually really nervous about the upcoming year. Worries, worries, worries…what’s a young boy to do.

One solution is to laugh. It’s actually my favorite solution. And with the advent of the Internet, it’s become easier and cheaper to finds laughs. For instance, this gem by Frank Barney during a town hall meeting. Seriously, the man is just saying what we’re all –well, most of us- thinking. Honesty is fucking hilarious sometimes.

Picks of the Week: Fifty

A Day in the Life: Doing the mundane causes the mind to wander. Inevitably the mind wanders to matters that cause longing and sadness: like home and lost opportunities. My summer parched lips tastes of anxiety and regret; flavors I'm all too eager to avoid. Half a century of posts and I return to where I've always been: a state of maudlin.

Picks of the Week: Forty Nine

A Day in the Life: I’ve decided to ditch the frumpy old skin and give the blog a cleaner look. Hope the aesthetics pleases all. Anyway, the background image on the header is a custom image, one that I altered substantially to achieve that look. First person to guess correctly what the original image is wins a free meal from me.

The summer is winding down and I am loathe to let it go. Most of all, I fear the upcoming academic semester. I just want to avoid the abject academic defeat that I experienced only months ago. The screw tightens and the structure threatens to give.

Been trying to follow the details of the Teoh inquiry back home. For interested parties with several hours worth of free time, you can access the court recordings here. One of the most memorable lines comes from Gobind Singh very early in the proceedings: “It [Guidelines] says that the inquest should be prompt. It does not say that the inquest has to be immediate”. Boom, he layeth the rhetorical smackdown. I really need to stop being such a dork.

Picks of the Week: Forty Eight

A Day in the Life: It’s 1.42 in the morning right now. Outside, the dark night is punctuated by a few streetlights and the urgent amber blinking above a cross walk. Tonight’s a cold night and a chilly breeze blows through the window. I’ve lost count of how many nights just like this one that I’ve been through this summer. Some of those nights have left me feeling lonely and confused. But tonight, I don’t feel that way. Tonight, I’m at peace with myself. I’m at peace with who I am and I’m at peace with where I am. Tonight, I’m comfortable.

It’s hard to believe that last weekend, at this time, I was asleep in the basement of some run-down house in the middle of Washington, DC. That trip was so special. It started off in an interesting enough manner too. The night before the morning I was due to fly down to DC, I decided it would be a good idea to drink with my friends. I got about 2 hours of sleep that night, on account of the throbbing headache that I went to bed with. At 4am, I woke up and spent the next hour or so brushing my teeth, showering, throwing up or any combination of the aforementioned. At the end of that hour, I began to have serious doubts regarding the feasibility of my trip. The inside of my head felt like tiny explosions going off, frying all of my nerve senses. At approximately 5.25am, I tried to throw up out of a moving vehicle. A certain portion along the I-95 may still bear evidence of Friday night’s drinks. By the time I cleared airport security, I had sworn repeatedly to commit myself to a life of teetotalism. And in an act of absolute desperation, I may have promised God that I would be a good Christian if he’d only take my hangover away.

The rest of the trip, thankfully, wasn’t as painful. Well except for the sore feet that both myself and Tim ended up every evening. We went to all the places that tourists would usually visit: National Archives, the White House (or at least the fence surrounding it), the US Congress, the US Supreme Court, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, several of the Smithsonian Museums, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and most of the Constitution Gardens. Along the way, I fell in love with the DC Metro system, made inappropriate but possibly accurate comments about Anifah Aman and pretended to be on friendly terms with Nicholas Cage. 

The highlight of the trip has to be when we got Senate Gallery passes to watch the Monday afternoon session. Sitting in that chamber, watching the Senate proceedings and listening to the speeches was pure awesomeness. It really gave me a sense that I was privy to some spectacular aspect of the American government machinery. Little did we know as we stood in line to enter the US Congress while joking about bumping into someone famous like John McCain that we would actually be privileged enough to sit maybe 70meters away from the once Presidential nominee that afternoon. He gave a speech on Sonya Sotomayor -or should I say, Justice Sotomayor- before launching into a long list of amendments on an agriculture bill that was being discussed. Something about federal earmarks on wild turkey research and noxious weeds in Nevada. The man is also really as short as he looks on TV. Besides him, we were also treated to speeches by a host of Senate veterans: Harry Reid, Sam Brownback (who was very unhappy about the idea of relocating Gitmo detainees to Fort Leavenworth) as well as some of the younger ones: Tom Udall and Mark Begich (who actually gave his maiden Senate speech on that day). My only regret is that we missed out on the Senate’s confirmation vote on Justice Sotomayor by 3 days. It would have been a rare privilege to watch history being made, but alas, c’est la vie.

The US Supreme Court tour was also brilliant. It was short but sweet. Sitting in the same courtroom in which nine Justices preside over the laws of the country is an experience one may never forget. I guess that’s what makes DC so special. I tried to explain it to my mother earlier this evening but my words are rarely able to communicate the feelings I have. Walking on such hallowed ground, keenly aware of the history and tradition that exist within those walks, watching and listening the people who are now the standard-bearers of such legacies, one gets the feeling that all is possible within this tiny enclave. It restores hope in the ideal that people, if they collect their efforts, can overcome any obstacle and that no hardship will ever equal the sum of human will. Perhaps I am young and naive, unaware of how the internal politics of DC is seldom glamorous and rarely inspiring. But even now, as I sit hundreds of miles away from DC, I still feel a deep admiration for those who find it in themselves to wake up in the morning with the unquestionable certitude that their vocation has meaning and that their work is worthwhile. If this is what it feels to be filled with the urge to create a more perfect union for our country, then I hope that everyone is blessed enough to hold on to this feeling and never let go.

I’m glad I went to DC for 4 days, if only for the things that place reminded me of.

Music that suits this evening: