GOOD NEWS:

My dear Americans, it seems El Presidente is an "avid reader". How wonderful. What a relief. Not only that, but it seems he is also a history buff (just read the article, will you?)...

Does any of his reading include a world atlas (a little difficult to be a history buff without some basic geography knowledge, no?), or a dictionary, or just plain good old literature though? He could certainly use it. Or a good grammar/syntax book to help him with verbs and pronouns agreement...? You know, something substantial. Something with lots of words, hopefully. Not only illustrations and colorful charts.

Sorry - couldn't resist.

AND IT GOES ON!!

After all my verbosity on the technological reality of our world and iPods etc, I came across this article on the New York Times about the man who won a long battle against Sony over the patent of the Walkman, iPod's grandpa. The man, Andreas Pavel, is my compatriot...

How incredible. As I read the article, I was stunned by the naïveté of it all. Basically, he likes music, and he simply wanted to have a device that would allow him to take it with him wherever he went.

And the rest is history, I suppose.

iPod WORLD

‘Tis the season. I feel lyrical. So the following text is a direct result of this feeling.

Today on the bus it suddenly caught my eye. We are all brought together, rolled into one, thanks to the advent of the… iPod.

I kid you not. Nowadays, everybody has one. They have it in their pockets, purses, armbands, belts, connected to their computers, to their stereos, in their cars – everywhere. The iPod is all-pervasive, and it works its magic across creed, age, color, nationality, even socio-economic boundaries. Unbelievable. Who would have thought that a tiny little device, androgynous almost in shape and color, and costly, would be all that it is? It symbolizes so many things, it allows for inferences and assumptions and parallels – the beauty of uniformity.

Before any of you out there start thinking that I lost my mind (for real this time) and that this is, purely and simply, an ode to the iPod, let me establish a few things.

Firstly, I am the proud owner of an iPod. Yes, that’s right. After years of living in denial and refusing to succumb to Apple’s magnificent marketing campaign, I finally gave in and got myself a Nano. My love of music, coupled with the increasingly bothersome aspects of international flights (in my case, about 15, 16 hours including layover), recently did the trick. And it worked. I had an excellent time when I flew to Brazil to see my parents this last Thanksgiving, and suddenly the $200+ I paid for the little gadget seemed… nothing (that’s when you know you’ve lost it, by the way).

Secondly, that being said – it is an absurd proposition. Same as with cell phones, by the way. The fact that iPods (and cell phones) are becoming part of our lives in such intrinsic ways denotes maybe a lack of culture, I should say. At the very least, a corruption of culture.

See, this is more than passing fashion, more than a trend. This is serious. At work, those few who have opted for mp3 players other than the Apple progeny have a list of explanations for their decision. We laugh (they as well), because no matter how hard they try, they always sound as if they were defending some radical premise (think Copernicus' heliocentric theory back in the day etc) that no one else can even begin to understand.

The truth is, slowly but surely iPods became the norm. And then, exactly as with cell phones, once they became the norm new ways were created so that they could be personalized. So there you go – first stage, homogenize. Second stage, individualize. Colorful covers, clips, special headphones etc – it is a whole parallel universe that only those who belong to the seemingly exclusive iPod club (but in fact, one which only admittance requirement is the price of the device itself) can experience… Isn’t it interesting? I find it fascinating.

And then the sense of togetherness – that happens when you see a 15-year-old with his iPod on his skateboard on one side of the street, while a 55-year-old is taking his morning walk on the other side. Just think – the 15-year-old grew up in a world of PCs and knows his way around them. The same can hardly be said about the majority of the older population. It is truly remarkable.

This is the world now: a world where language, family roots, tradition, education, religion and ethnicity are increasingly less determinant, increasingly less effective in bringing people together (or apart, depending on the perspective). Access to technology, however, is key. It creates insiders and outsiders (democracy for some, exclusion for others), and is quickly becoming the main shaping factor in our lives.

Well, this is me being lyrical during the holiday season...

NO SURPRISE HERE

I believe this one by El Presidente is a fair complement to the literacy topic:

"I mean, I read the newspaper. I mean, I can tell you what the headlines are. I must confess, if I think the story is, like, not a fair appraisal, I'll move on. But I know what the story's about." —Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 2005

Gotta love the man!!

THE BEST GIFT THIS HOLIDAY SEASON...

...Was, by far, the ruling of the Dover, PA judge against the inclusion of intelligent design in high school biology courses. In his words - intelligent design is unconstitutional because it advances a "particular version of Christianity."

Those who have seen me lose my temper countless times over this insanity of a debate - as I see it, a complete "non-debate" - know that I am extremely happy with the outcome. This decision discredits intelligent design advocates at the same time it promotes the merits of science education which is independent of religious beliefs.

Judge John E. Jones III (coincidentally, a Republican appointed by El Presidente) went straight to the point: by tracing intelligent design's roots to Christian fundamentalism, he made it clear that he was not convinced by the movement's efforts to dissociate itself from creationism - its, how shall we put it, less marketable predecessor...

As a side note: back in Brazil this last time, I had the opportunity to have a very interesting, long conversation with someone I admire very much - a much respected journalist, a senior editor at the biggest Brazilian newspaper. A friend of the family; a man of great intellect, and even greater heart. And, as I've always known, deeply religious - Roman Catholic - as well.

I told him about the intelligent design debate and my disgust with the notion that the Christian fundamentalists are targeting children and teenagers in their desire to reshape the country's culture and politics. He was appalled. Although he himself believes in the existence of a designer (he cited St. Thomas Aquinas, who back in the 1200s was probably the first advocate of intelligent design when he concluded that because nature was too complex, it must be the work of a designer), he also believes that religion is a personal and private thing, with no place in science classes of any kind.

I wish the teachers, professors and scientists behind intelligent design displayed the same sense and wisdom as this friend of mine. It would save them the unnecessary shame of this defeat and preserve their careers. It would save me a lot of angst too...

LITERALLY ILLITERATE??

The New York Times today published an article about the significant decline of literacy among college graduates over the past 10 years. How depressing is that?

First thing that comes to mind is, how is that at all possible - college graduates, illiterate? And what exactly does that mean? Well, the report - put together by the Department of Education based on the outcome of their National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) - gauges the ability of those graduates to read "lengthy, complex English texts and draw complicated inferences".

For the sake of fairness, I decided to check this test on my own. Who knows, maybe they are using something out of James Joyce for text analysis and that could explain why the average college graduate could not really excel at reading comprehension (although I would love them to, in my obvious naïveté). So here is what I found: a sample question from the 1992 NAAL test which basically asked those tested to identify three food sources, named in the text below, that contain vitamin E:

"Vitamin E (tocopherol): helps protect red blood cells. May aid the circulatory system and counteract the aging process. Best sources: wheat germ, whole grains, eggs, peanuts, organ meats, margarine, vegetable oils, green leafy vegetables..."

Very sad indeed that a fairly high percentage of college graduates in this country were not be able to get that one right...

But can't say that I am surprised - everyday at work and elsewhere I am confronted with the sheer inability of people to spell, form accurate sentences, talk, comprehend text and follow conversation of any variety. And I wonder if the problem goes deeper than literacy itself: it seems to me that what's lacking here is some basic grasp of logical reasoning and interest in learning and knowledge in general. After all, it is a tough competition - between TV reality shows, video games and MTV, young Americans have little time for reading. And reading is the basis for literacy.

And yet another scary thought: college graduates with poor-to-average literacy becoming teachers one day, leading more young people into the vicious cycle of mediocrity.

The article also points out that a very harsh decline was observed for Hispanics, which could be attributed to the shift in immigration patterns during the last decade. It appears that these immigrants are arriving at a later age than the group previously tested, and since their numbers grew so much over the years, they also remain enclosed in Spanish-speaking areas and speak English only when absolutely necessary.

In contrast, the black population seems to be emerging from its underdog status in educational terms, and Asians also showed significant improvement in their literacy levels. However, Hispanics face different obstacles - for starters, language and cultural barrier, and legality issues. And unless the Hispanic community, the Deparment of Education and the American government work together to address these issues and more, chances are literacy among college graduates in another 10 years will be even lower than it is right now.

I AM BACK

Yes - the vacation was soooo good. Now I need to update this blog, otherwise I will lose the few visitors I have...

More to come - it's a promise.