Tr1v14l Pursu1ts: What do you do when you open mouth and insert foot in NYC?

Maxims, rules of thumb and other observations on human cognition and sociocultural affectations

This will be added to on an irregular basis...

What is said to humans directly is received with skepticism and considered with dubiousness while that which is heard in passing, especially that which most conforms to their mentality or prejudices, is readily believed.
Humans have a certain cognitive latency between exposure to new information or experiences and the ability to think dispassionately and intellectually about it.
Humans have a certain cognitive spectrum starting with the moment of exposure to new information or experiences and ending with some point at which the thing is effectively "in the past" for them.
This cognitive spectrum is linked to the emotional process often referred to as shock, anger, denial and acceptance.
The more and faster information or experiences are presented to people and the closer the quarters and the lesser the distance between people, the more their early reactions in the passionate emotional stage are reflected back to them in the manner of responses to those reactions from others in light of those responses.
The more outrages which are suffered without sufficient time to allow emotional bleed-off, the farther the bar for subsequent reaction and outrage are pushed, and the more further events must progress before reaction and outrage.
It is possible for serious detriments to eventually sit below this threshold for long enough for their damaging effects to build and multiply until their entire society undergoes some reactive convulsion.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

What do you do when you open mouth and insert foot in NYC?

Obviously, you then shoot yourself in the foot.

A Jewish educator who can't utter a phrase of Arabic has been tapped to head the city's controversial Arabic-themed school, officials announced yesterday.

Why?

(...)who resigned under pressure last Friday because of her remarks to The Post defending "Intifada NYC" T-shirt.

Way to go. Intifada actually IS an Arabic word, herein spelled out in English and not Arabic script because, well, I don't speak a word of it either but have the good taste not to pretend otherwise nor give a display of really poor taste (not without there being serious heartfelt humor in it). Feel free to look it up.

I knew I felt a disturbance in the force. It was as if a great many souls, Jewish or not, slapped their foreheads all at once and went "Oy!".

The biggest threat to peace isn't the Prez or Israel... it's NYC government's lack of oxygen to their collective brain cells which by now must number less than rabid fans of the great works of Uwe Boll. As an added bonus, this Arabic language school is named for a Lebanese Christian who wrote some of the most beautiful and moving poetry of our times. The Prophet was one of the books on my bedside shelf.

Is it just me or does NYC have an obsession with incongruities that ultimately serve no purpose other than to perpetuate a total lack of progress on the part of humanity?