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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: February 4, 2003
Latest Update: February 4, 2003
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Our Government, Trust, and Truth Telling

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, February 2003.
"Fair use" encouraged.

On Monday, February 3, 2003, Shaheen Brown (CSUDH) wrote:

Hi Jeanne glad to be in your class for another semester. Last semester was my first time as a student in your class.

Glad to have you back, Shaheen.

I've implemented illocutionary discourse as a part of my daily interaction with other students and co-workers. I believe the only way to truly learn anything is by being open enough to LISTEN to anothers' point of view.

Good brief definition of illocutionary discourse, Shaheen. Helps me see that you've grasped the concept correctly. You might want to add that the objective is just one of human understanding, not the instrumental objective of getting the Other to agree with you. more like agreeing to disagree, and just trying to uderstand the issue from all perspectives.

Need a title here: Gangs and Protecting Neighborhoods:

I am disappointed in our appointed government officials who have not yet mastered the ability to settle their differences without resorting to violence. How dare they lock up gang members who seek to protect their neighborhoods from rival gangs when they are doing the same thing. How can they judge them when they are guilty of the same crimes?

Give an example of what you mean. Who are the government officials with whom you are displeased, and what precisely are they doing that looks like what the gangs themselves are doing?

Need a new Advance Organizer or Flag:
Gang Violence Translates in Later Years and Brroader Territories to Terrorism

Talk about a drive by shooting, what about a fly by bombing? I'm confused.

And now the Jump from Afghanistan and Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein

How did we get from Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein? What game is being played and what type of distorted reality are we dealing with?

Humungous questions. What game being played? From whose perspective? What are the possibilities? What are the moral and spiritual rules? What are the game rules?

And now Trust and Truthtelling

It's very difficult to trust a government that is hiding the truth.

And now here's a whole new subject:

I would also like to know what ever happened to John Muhammad, the alleged "sniper". Did he really commit those murders or was that just a distraction from the war our government was planning? I'll drop by your office on Thursday.

* * * * *

Instead of a whole sheet of butterflies, where I am just faced with a blur of their beauty, take them out one by one, and let me admire each thought in its entirety before we move on to the next one. If I tried to fill in all the gaps here, you'd have a ten page paper. I don't assign ten page papers just for that reason. I'd rather have you focus on one issue and be clear about applying your learning to that issue.

Good start, Shaheen. Start editing.