deconstructing the headlines

Look at this headline. I just saw it on CNN's homepage moments ago. Answer, if you will, the following questions:

1. Who committed the crime? Based on the headline, do we know anything about this person's gender? Political affiliation? Motive? Age? Whether he/she represented a group or was simply a psychopathic individual?

2. Who is the victim here? Is the emphasis in the lead/headline placed on her nationality or her humanity? Is she treated as the representative of a group, or as an individual human?

3. If you were to make conclusions based on this headline, which would be the most "Iraqi": the perpetrator or the victim? Would we conclude that most Iraqis are more like the perpetrator or the victim, based exclusively on the rhetoric of this headline?

4. Do you see any connection with this type of labeling and the fact that I have students refer to all persons from the Middle East as "towel heads" and "terrorists"?

5. Why, of all the things going on in the world, is this the primary headline on CNN? Let it never be said that the news is ideologically neutral.

"like a fragile lover"

Yesterday, I heard an interview on NPR with Dan Gottlieb, a psychologist/author who also happens to be a quadriplegic. His health is failing him, and he clearly believes that the end is imminent. Regarding his body, he said:

"I treat my body like a fragile lover that I adore."

This wise man, though he has every reason to rage at his body, treats his body with compassion, as a "fragile lover."



I have a body that works, though it is not everything I wish it could be. I have none of his difficulty, and none of his wisdom. I cannot think what it would mean to be kind to my body in this way...

I would certainly not put it down for its stubby toenails or hundreds of moles.
I would kiss each imperfection gently, silently thanking God for each uniqueness.

I would not force it to eat too much chocolate or drink too much wine to quiet the tumult in my mind.
I would hug it fiercely around the ribs, being present with the fear or pain until it subsided.

I would not demand that it sit quietly in the room while I serve my job well into the evening.
I would listen to its shyly expressed wish for movement, and I would speak courage when it quailed at its lack of skill.



What patterns would you have to change if you were to treat your body as a "fragile lover"?

Re: new cities

All in due time, guys. I'll reveal all. For now, because there's always the outside chance someone from school could read this, I'll keep everything under wraps.