Tuesday, January 31, 2017

BIG HUNGRY!


Have you signed the petition opposing the president's immigration-ban executive order?

A.  No, because I disagree with it.
B.  No, because I've been too busy trying to earn a living.
C.  No, because I'm afraid the administrators at my school will notice and punish me.
D.  No, because I'm afraid Trump will put me on his "Enemies List."
E.  No, because I'm afraid my students might publicly criticize me for being liberal.
F.   No, because I haven't been sober enough to sign anything during the last few days.
G.  No, because _________________________.
H.  Yes.

12 comments:

  1. H.

    And the site appears to be down... I wonder if the Russians have been helping again?

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    1. I think they've got a new process set up now, and have updated instructions (for the second or third time). It sounds like they're doing their best under heavy demand (and are verifying signatures carefully, which is reassuring).

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  2. Yes. But I was hesitant to respond to this Hungry because of some disturbing CM political discussions that happened prior to the election. I'm not expecting all academics to be left leaning, but I would have thought more of the community could see what a corrupt, despicable person he is. I was totally taken aback when I saw unapologetic Trump support on the previous incarnation of this blog. I'm quite frankly afraid I won't be a welcome member of this community anymore, but I guess some things are more important.

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    1. Fred Rogers is reputed to have said, "“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.”

      He probably would have been able to find something good in our current U.S. President.

      You're right that there are risks involved, but you have "mentioned" it. So we'll see.

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    2. While I'm very happy to envision Fred Rogers peacefully enjoying his eternal reward, if I ever *were* to wish that someone return to earth to haunt a particular venue, I can see some value in his materializing in the White House now and then over the next four years (I don't know whether it's a requirement for such things, but I strongly suspect he visited it at least once in life). He was, after all, a Presbyterian minister, and Trump self-identifies as Presbyterian (though more a follower of Norman Vincent Peale than Fred Rogers, I believe. Trump is a decade or two too old to have watched Mr. Rogers as a child. Too bad; he , and we, might have benefited.)

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    3. Wombat! Please feel comfortable here! Trump is the devil!

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  3. H (at least I've tried; when I checked a day or two after using the google form, my name hadn't shown up yet. It looks like they've got a new process; if it hasn't shown up yet, I'll try again).

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    1. Leaving aside the moral issues, both research and teaching at my school are very much intertwined with regular movement of people between/among countries, including some of the named ones.

      I might worry a bit about signing using my university email (though I realize how that speeds verification), except that my university president has already made a very public statement saying more or less the same thing.

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  4. I just the opportunity to do this a second time, and honestly. This is because I got an automatic e-mail message from the Mail Delivery System with the subject header "Delivery Status Notification (Failure)". The body of the e-mail message said:

    The following message to was undeliverable.
    The reason for the problem:
    5.4.7 - Delivery expired (message too old) [Outgoing] 450-'4.2.1 The user you are trying to contact is receiving mail at a rate that\n4.2.1 prevents additional messages from being delivered. Please resend your\n4.2.1 message at a later time. If the user is able to receive mail at that\n4.2.1 time, your message will be delivered. For more information, please\n4.2.1 visit\n4.2.1 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=ReceivingRate f127si12922280ite.15 - gsmtp'


    So, I sent my e-mail message in again. The way I see it, it is my duty as an American citizen to protest this clearly unlawful behavior on the part of the president, while I still can, before he does set himself up as a dictator (with or without the "tator" part). If he does, it won't be because I stayed silent about it.

    My congrats to those who also did this. As Benjamin Franklyn observed, "We must all hang together, because most assuredly we shall hang separately."

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