My neighbor, my countryman, and my fellow man [part 2]

This is the final in a two-post discussion on My neighbor, my countryman, and my fellow man. Yesterday’s post went into quite some detail regarding various facets of neighbor and countryman. I also addressed fellow man and said that I would leave the rest for today. So here goes . . .

In the age old problem of racism in America, between blacks and whites, it wasn’t only an issue of whites trying to leverage superiority over blacks in order to use them, but was also people identifying themselves as white in order to belong to the label appropriated such a position. So historically, when new groups came into the United States questions of association were raised. And, old issues of whom to identify as neighbors and countrymen were left aside in order to pursue a new, more comfortable life in the United States.

My neighbor, my countryman, and my fellow man [part 1]

My greetings are to those who are here for enjoyment and my apologies to those who might be disappointed.

In the [insert my age] years I have lived, I have had the opportunity to describe a variety of people as “my neighbor.” My countryman, of course, has remained a word used by me to refer to my fellow Americans; that is, citizens or residents of the United States of America. And, my fellow man is of course referring to humankind. [Mind you: countryman and man are both referring to a genderless concept unless specified otherwise.]

Human rights are discussed as universal rights afforded to all people falling under this category of fellow man. But, constitutional rights tend to be those afforded to all people under countryman. And, the last set is rights of the person–decided personally, to each his own; executed socially, based on social convention; and upheld privately, between and among the individuals involved–to be afforded to all people under neighbor.

News: Museum explores ‘hidden history’ of Muslim science

I received this a link to this BBC article in an e-mail a few days back. As the title of the article article suggests, there is a museum exploring ‘hidden history.’ It is sad that such an important tradition in the history of the world’s scientific development is often overlooked, sometimes ignored, and, in rare, unbelievable moments, belied.

Click this link to read the article at BBC (there’s a video too)

If you’re in London, check it out:
1001 Inventions

What came first, the chicken or his cousin?

In modern Western society, at least in the United States–haven’t heard this in Japan–there is a famous question on causality, specifically: What came first, the chicken or the egg? You can google this and find information on wikipedia if you’d like to know more. But, my focus is less causality and more a notion of history,  understanding of creation not in a Godly sense, and how we link together an abstract collection of events; that is, the chicken or his cousin and not the chicken or the egg.

Reading my blog every half a year to a year that I update it, you might have noticed that I have discussed the topics of history and history of science in earlier posts. When it comes to these areas, I am no scholar, but I’ve had the pleasure of hearing scholars and scholar-hopefuls speak on the subject. And, the chicken or his cousin is a discussion of coping with different histories. A modern equivalent of this would be a patent office deciding whose creation was first, since the invention is the same but its date of conception, design, creation–in this case, materialization–etc affect how one determines if it was the chicken or his cousin who invented ahead of the other. I invite those friends of mine who work in the patent office or have knowledge of their practice to share on its particular methodology here, since the 20th century has seen a standardization in documenting inventions.

Let me tell you:  I am no expert in chickens.

Jan 2010 Contentions

From Tokyo to New York, in both I find my pain and comfort.

The world is old and in it have existed differences,
so why can we not accept our clashes as isolated instances?

Why do we punish the innocent and motivate the wrong,
increasing our weakness and pretending we are strong?

Why does the heart falter in fear at rejection,
yet bask in its consequential dejection?

How can we stand together as a nation,
if individually we tiptoe in indignation?

Why do we ignore the value in what we have got,
only justly appraising that which was but now is not?

A lingering soul is not healed by revealing,
nor is a proud spirit maintained by concealing.

Archeological Find in Japan! Islamic Pottery.

Thanks to my friend (http://japan-saito.blogspot.com) I was informed of archeological finds in Japan which show Islamic pottery dating to 768CE.

An English article can be found at:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090705a9.html

Japanese articles can be found at:
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0703/OSK200907030157.html

http://jp.reuters.com/article/kyodoNationalNews/idJP2009070301000680

etc…

I will write more once I know more.

What I’ve been up to lately…

Why do I look like an oil tycoon who bought a Japanese company?

Yes, sometimes we even work weekends in Japan…

Eid Mubarak!

This is a day, or two, late depending on when and where you celebrated your Eid.

I have not updated this blog, but there are a lot of updates needed.

In any case, while Ramadan was not as spiritual as I would have hoped, I must say that it has by far been the month of this year.  In all honesty, with a month like Ramadan, it just makes you wonder why you wouldn’t want to fast. …well, besides your stomach’s complaints.

From Japan.

Ramadan Mubarak

Ramadan Mubarak for those of us here in Japan.  And, for those of you elsewhere, a late or early Ramadan Mubarak to you.

This will be an interesting one.  And, I hope, a very productive and developmental one.

Yôjô kagami [The Model to the Cultivation of Life]

This is my master’s thesis. Below you will find my abstract and beneath that an image of one of the woodblock prints, the male (inshoku, or diet) version. So, if it gets too boring, just scroll down to the picture!

By the period of the Bakumatsu, 1850s Japan, two woodblock prints had published and circulated within the world of ukiyo-e. While the prints appear pictorially beautiful and aesthetically call the attention of any reader to look closer, the prints lie shrouded in the mystery. The Inshoku yôjô kagami and, its counterpart, the Bôji yôjô kagami taught and instructed their readers in the cultivation life related to diet and sex. However, rather than functioning as simple visual splendor or as academic reference, these prints transcend the traditional demarcations of serious and satirical, private and public, and explicit and implicit. The Yôjô kagami prints are unique in their approach to the edification of the individual. In fact, on first sight, the prints appear to be more for visual pleasure and then satire than for use as informative woodblock prints. Unraveling the mystery that the prints have left behind for over a hundred years requires a visual, textual, and comparative study of the prints. Ultimately, the Yôjô kagami prints provide the reader with a rare multifaceted approach to cultivating life and their ability to do so lies in the unpacking of their mysteries and wonders.

here’s the image, click to view a larger version:

the Inshoku yôjô kagami or “The Model to the Cultivation of Life through Diet,” as I translate it, provides Kanpô knowledge, or Chinese medical knowledge, surrounding the image and internally has organs and their respective workers for display… [this image is copyright of Nichibunken, which possesses the original from which this print was digitized]