the real lacc: 29/09/2019

do no harm:

idit dobb-weinstein: "teaching is action and thinking at once. What I try to guard against most when I teach is not speaking as if my answer were conclusive, so as to avoid (to the extent possible) any kind of dogmatic appropriation. It is understandable why students might wish to imitate their teachers, but there are different modes of imitation. I try very hard to avoid the mimetic appropriation that is immediate, passive, and occludes thinking. One other reason is that if I made clear what my views were, and my views appeared as if they were final, it would preclude the possibility of first, students challenging me and second, learning from my students. The relation between the student and teacher is, to me, a dynamic relationship . . . Teaching and learning is a movement that occurs between. In other words, we are at once both agent and patient, both teacher and learner. If we are not very careful, we can do a great deal of harm. And that, too, I have learned from my teachers, Maimonides especially.

I believe my task is to provoke students to think and to engage them in genuine dialogue and questioning. To paraphrase a rabbinic saying, 'I have learned from my teachers, and I have learned from my peers, but I have learned most from my students.' And that is a continuous process of learning."

Wednesday 2 October 2019

twitter is down. copy paste these into twitter later.

sheila dharod addresses the ASO personal attacks permitted on LACC school grounds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6IWDxpEE3c 

engraved toilets seats forever https://thereallacc.blogspot.com/2010/05/engraved-toilets-seats-forever.html

Tuesday 1 October 2019

SUBTLE FORMS OF HIMSA

SUBTLE FORMS OF HIMSA

Only the ordinary people think that Ahimsa is not to hurt any living being physically. This is but the gross form of Ahimsa. The vow of Ahimsa is broken even by showing contempt towards another man, by entertaining unreasonable dislike for or prejudice towards anybody, by frowning at another man, by hating another man, by abusing another man, by speaking ill of others, by backbiting or vilifying, by harbouring thoughts of hatred, by uttering lies, or by ruining another man in any way whatsoever.

All harsh and rude speech is Himsa (violence or injury). Using harsh words to beggars, servants or inferiors is Himsa. Wounding the feelings of others by gesture, expression, tone of voice and unkind words is also Himsa. Slighting or showing deliberate discourtesy to a person before others is wanton Himsa. To approve of another's harsh actions is indirect Himsa. To fail to relieve another's pain, or even to neglect to go to the person in distress is a sort of Himsa. It is the sin of omission. Avoid strictly all forms of harshness, direct or indirect, positive or negative, immediate or delayed. Practice Ahimsa in its purest form and become divine. Ahimsa and Divinity are one.

http://www.dlshq.org/teachings/ahimsa.htm

successful indicator of a mediation's success
the willingness of the parties

insist upon being adverserial
hilarity

friends

lagaycenter.org

Seth Walsh should be getting ready for school this morning.

He should be texting his friends. Worrying about his hair. Playing PS3. Planning his future, like any other 13-year-old.

Instead, Seth is dead.

After being bullied, taunted, and accused of being gay, Seth finally had enough. On September 19, this beautiful, seemingly happy and artistic California youth tied a rope around his neck and hung himself from a tree in his own backyard.

He died just last week, after spending 9 days in a coma.

Investigators who interviewed the teenagers who taunted Seth for being gay concluded that no crime was committed.

I vehemently disagree. And if you do too, we need your support.

Because sadly, Seth isn’t the only one. In the last few weeks alone, we’ve learned of four gay youth who have killed themselves – all after being the victims of homophobic harassment and/or bullying. For example, Seth died just days after a Texas teen,Asher Brown, shot himself over anti-gay bullying; a Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi, jumped off a bridge in New Jersey after a sexual encounter with a man was broadcast on-line; and Billy Lucas from Indiana hung himself in his barn after repeated bullying at his school.

These incidents are not isolated. We're experiencing an anti-gay bullying epidemic, and it must be addressed. In Los Angeles, it is estimated that up to 4,000 LGBT youth live on the streets because they have fled or have been kicked out of their homes. Many have experienced the type of bullying that resulted in the deaths of these four teenagers and find themselves at the Center seeking our help.