Nazi Propaganda for Arab World-J.Herf

On Facebook, Ruth posted regarding:

Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World by Jeffrey Herf, a leading scholar in the field, offers the most extensive examination to date of Nazi propaganda activities targeting Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East during World War II and the Holocaust. He draws extensively on previously unused and little-known archival resources, including the…

William:
Ruth, this looks like an interesting book. I just read the Preface and am utterly astonished by the excellent question it hints at regarding ” … the failed attempt to extend the Holocaust to encompass Jews in the [Muslim] countries of that region.” I have read the Qur’an twice in Pickthall’s English translation and am well aware of the anti-Jewish and anti-Christian passages which are mingled with moderate sentiments regarding “peoples of The Book” and [2:256] “there shall be no compulsion in matters of religion.” One long time acquaintance of mine is the only American to become a monk at St. Catherine’s in Sinai and he observes how Christians and Muslims have cooperated in harmony there for centuries there. So what WERE the factors that discouraged Islamic nations from joining in with the Holocaust effort?

Do we all worship the same God?

One of the oldest know and most often visited temples in India (dating back to 8th century C.E. I think) Sri Vinkanteshera at Tirupati, has an inscription on one wall which says something like “All offerings everywhere come to me” which is echoed in the Bhagavad Gita 4-11

http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-04-11.html

And to paraphrase the Qur’an Surah 5 verse 48 in my own words from Pickthall “If I had wished to, I could have created all people as one religion, but for my own purposes, I created you as different religions. So if you must compete with one another then compete in doing good works. When you return to me, I shall explain my reason for the differences in religions.” (I became aware of this interpretation from a PBS special with Huston Smith of M.I.T. though devout Muslims will violently object to this interpretation arguing that the Qur’an may only be properly understood in the Arabic.)

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2002.02.0003:sura%3D5:verse%3D48

Indonesian Questions Obama’s Carrot & Stick tactics

I have met a very interesting young man in Indonesia through my on line presence in Ubuntu IRC chat at the irc.ubuntu.com server (using the irc client Konversation.)

He has asked me to comment, as an American, regarding how I perceive Obama’s foreign policy. I am starting this thread here, so I may email to him the link. I shall be adding to this thread my thoughts over the next day or so. I clearly have in mind certain opinions, but the mind thinks at lightening speed, in a gestalt fashion (many things at once), and it takes time to project the multidimensional nature of thought into a linear expository expression. So I shall post this for now, and make various social networks such as Facebook and Plurk aware of its presence, and then begin to add my thoughts and impressions in a fashion which I hope will be fair to the European and most especially the far East point of view, and yet accurate with regard to America past and present, and the circumstances which Barack Obama reluctantly has inherited.

It is ironic that I should be approached today by an Indonesian when last night I watched a long documentary, hosted by Daljit Dhaliwal, on the huge health problem caused in Indonesia by the American controlled cigarette industry.

I have always admired Indonesia for being the largest Islamic democracy in the world (if I am not mistaken) and for having a fairly open-minded secular view. I am told that honor killings, so common in Pakistan and even in India among certain Hindus, are unknown in Indonesia. A year ago I read that the mullahs in Indonesia were composing a fatwah against smoking as being haram (forbidden). By the way, I also admire Tunesia (another Islamic nation) which has a zero tolerance policy towards honor killings. Furthermore, I want to mention that Morocco was the very first nation to sign a treaty of friendship with America after the war of independence (a treaty which is still in effect today). Morocco instituted a religious training program for women who work with the mullahs around the country to guard against overly extremist teachings which might lean towards terrorism. I also greatly admire Kemal Attaturk for his efforts to modernize Turkey and wean it from the ways of the Ottoman empire (that sick man of Europe). I am saying all these things to express the many ways in which Islamic societies have succeeded in achieving a secular moderate form which is tolerant of minority diversity. I do realize that Indonesia is not without its problems of friction with its Christian minorities. I think it is very important for non-Muslims to constantly remind themselves of all the moderate and congenial forms which Islam has assumed over the centuries. And conversely, I shall attempt to summarize some of America’s short-comings in order to be fair and honest. And it is important for Europe, the Middle East and the Far East to remind themselves of all the many good points about America. Both sides have made the grave mistake of demonizing each other at points, and stereotyping and profiling, but we must not continue in this path or it will only lead to more violence.

If both sides are to achieve balance and harmony, and the world is very much divided right now into two “camps”, then each side must do its utmost to praise it’s opponent for all the good points and to confess its own shortcomings.

“Carrot and Stick” are the exact words which my Indonesia friend used. My Filipina wife asked me exactly what is mean by “Carrot and Stick.” I explained that there are old jokes and cartoons about people who want to motivate a simple-minded mule or donkey harnessed to a cart, and so they tie a carrot to a stick, and hold it just beyond the animal’s reach, and so the gullible creature struggles forward, hoping to approach the carrot, but of course never makes any progress and most likely never even gets to eat the carrot. Over the years, a different notion of stick has crept in; the notion of “speak softly and carry a big stick.” So, a carrot and stick policy means that if you do what we want we shall reward you, but if you dont cooperate, then we shall hurt you.

Our very next task is to avail ourselves of google search and find out just what the rest of the world is saying about America’s carrot and stick policy, since we are so wrapped up in what our media considers important that we are often unaware of what the rest of the world thinks or feels.

We find references to a carrot and stick policy with regard to many nations:

Darfur

Iran

American Hedge Funds

Pakistan

North Korea

US Health Care

Afghanistan

Cuba

Child Support

Nutrition

Employee Motivation

Housing

WELL, I could perhaps go on and on. Google yields a total of 800 results on a search of OBAMA CARROT AND STICK.

I really had no idea what I would find out from this search but it seems that I have stumbled across a veritable forest of carrots and sticks! Poor Barack is beginning to resemble Bugs Bunny, and I suppose all the groups who have a gripe with Obama are beginning to resemble Elmer Fudd.

Now if I make some joke about “slap stick comedy” (carrot stick slap) you will rightly accuse me of being too corny (carrot, corn).

I am not trying to make light of my Indonesian friend’s important question, but there is an amusing side to all this which is quite unexpected.

We all realize that at the heart of all discord lies two sides with conflicting interests. Peaceful solutions always involve negotiations which we hope will ultimately resolve into what is regarded by both sides as a “win-win” situation where each side maximizes its gains and minimizes loss. Of course, the non-peaceful approach is war, where both sides suffer death and destruction, and the winner takes all. So, at the heart of any negotiation is what may be viewed as “carrots and sticks.”

The entire world is driven by media spin and rhetoric of buzz-words
and buzz terms. “Carrots and Sticks” is but one buzz-term. If you will pardon another pun, whenever our knee-jerk reaction leads us to trot out buzz terms, then we are starting out with a tremendous CHIP (get it, stick, wood, chip) on our shoulders.

At first, I did not know which country my IRC friend was from, but I guessed India, because he was very formal and polite. He begged my pardon for sending me a private message, and then he addressed me as “Sir”. Only young people from India, or Malaysia or Indonesia will be this polite to their elders. And everyone in IRC knows my full name, knows that I am age 60, which astounds then, for they do not encounter anyone as ancient as 60 in IRC. My friend was very timid and hesitant to ask me his question, for he feared I might be defensive of America and my President. He does not realize that being a white American, I have a great deal of contempt for the bad things I see in American history, and the evil I see from centuries of white European Christian colonial aggression, slavery, exploitation and genocide.

One college student in India once mentioned Che Guevara to me, and assumed that as an American I must hate Che Guevara. I explained to him that actually Americans admire bandit revolutionary types like Che Guevara. We wear Che Guevara tee-shirts, and see such a persona as similar to our John Wayne types. We also very much admire India’s Pulan Devi (the woman bandito who could never be captured by India’s government). The student in India was shocked that I knew about Pulan Devi, and was not so pleased that I admire her and rubbed his nose in his own nation’s dark side.

When I learned that my new friend is from Indonesia, I mentioned that his language is Bahasa Indonesia, and that Bahasa shares the same root as Bhasa Braj which is the language of Vrindavan in which the Asta Chapp poets of the 13th century composed. He was somewhat surprised and perhaps embarrassed that I knew some things about his culture of which he is unaware.

I did not mention to him Bhoomi Putra (son’s of the soil), also spelled Bhumi. If you google on this term you will mostly find
links about Indonesia’s highest award. But, Bhumi Putra has a different meaning. I met a Chinese minority from Indonesia, and I mentioned Bhumi Putra, and he spat and said “no good.” If someone is born in Indonesia but is not Muslim, their rights are somewhat limited. But, if they CONVERT to Islam, THEN they become Bhumi Putra, and have special rights and perhaps even receive some land. Perhaps I am confusing Bhumi Putra with Malaysia

As I search, I find that only Malaysia is in the news for Bhumi Putra discrimination in their constitution, but certainly such sentiments must be active in Indonesia as well.

Now, I am not trying to make light of the “carrot and stick” question. I am not trying to make Indonesians and Malaysians feel bad. And I am not trying to make Americans look good.

Let us look at Barack Obama for a moment. His mother was Caucasian. His father was African. Genetically, Barack COULD have come out looking white as wonder bread, white as me. If Barack had been born with white skin, Americans would have seen him in a very different light, because Americans are basically stupid. Most of humanity is basically stupid. A white looking Barack would be just as Negro (half Negro to be precise) as a dark skinned Obama. But the American public would have had a harder time seeing his election as a first for Negroes. I only mention this to underscore the low common denominator of mentality which makes this political world of our go ’round.

+++++++++
Sunday afternoon, day 2 of this blog, Dec 27, 2009

I was pleased to find that my new friend, Giri Alam, has added me to Facebook, so now we may get to know one another better and peer through the blog portal into the world of America and the world of Indonesia, through an old man’s eyes, and a young man’s eyes.

And thank you so much for contacting me in Ubuntu IRC and asking me this very interesting question. I am just having my Sunday late morning coffee, and thinking about what I want to add to that post.

Part of my efforts in that post will be to paint a picture of how I imagine Europe, South America and Asia view America and also now America sees itself, its self-interest, and the rest of the world.

When I first searched on “carrot and stick” I did not realize how WIDE SPREAD that phrase is, both abroad and at home. I think this demonstrates a world-wide reluctance to admit that there MUST be compromise on each side of each issue, whether political, economic or religious. We must not resent the very process itself of peaceful negotiation because none of us can have our cake and eat it too (as the old saying goes.) Whenever diplomacy and arbitration fails, the next step is violence whether in a formal declared act of war, or guerrilla tactics, or individual acts of terrorism.

I shall now paste this very post at the bottom of my blog and try to add thoughts throughout the day.

Marshall McLuhan coined the term “global village” sometime in the 1960s long before anyone ever dreamed of things like IRC (the first chat program, developed in Oulu, Finland, or the Internet.

Now we see how easy it is for two people of vastly separated geographically and in age and culture to become friends.

OK…. HERE IS THE BIG QUESTION! IS THERE SOME WAY, ANY WAY FOR ALL THE OPPOSING SIDES, Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Communist, Capitalist, Industrialist, Farmer, etc to find compromises which allows us all a measure of freedom to live as we see fit without threatening one another?

I am going to introduce a term which some of you may have seen and for others it will be a new concept. The term is MEME.

Not only do we live in an electronic village where people living at opposite sides of the globe may be friends, but we share a body of knowledge which we may search and link to at will, which some years ago I began to call META-MIND, when I said “Internet is metamind”. All I need to do is throw a handful of links at you like so much pixie dust from Tinkerbell in a fairy tale, and suddenly, your mind has wrapped or grokked around something totally new and different.

Now, why should it be necessary for me to throw the pixie dust of all these links at you (all of you) and hope that you GROK them? What could any of this possibly have to do with the simpler question of what I as an American think of Barack Obama’s “carrot and stick” policies?

Well, it has something to do with a term called “illation” which was coined by Cardinal Newman, who left the Anglican Church of England and became a high ranking Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church.

Let us look at a brief excerpt from Cardinal Newman’s writings:

WE are in a world of facts, and we use them; for there is nothing else to use. We do not quarrel with them, but we take them as they are, and avail ourselves of what they can do for us. It would be out of place to demand of fire, water, earth, and air their credentials, so to say, for acting upon us, or ministering to us. We call them elements, and turn them to account, and make the most of them. We speculate on them at our leisure. But what we are still less able to doubt about or annul, at our leisure or not, is that which is at once their counterpart and their witness, I mean, ourselves. We are conscious of the objects of external nature, and we reflect and act upon them, and this consciousness, reflection, and action we call our rationality. And as we use the (so called) elements without first criticizing what we have no command over, so is it much more unmeaning in us to criticize or find fault with our own nature, which is nothing else than we ourselves, instead of using it according to the use of which it ordinarily admits. Our being, with its faculties, mind and body, is a fact not admitting of question, all things being of necessity referred to it, not it to other things.

…
As I now write about “illation” and “groking” to answer my Indonesian friend’s question about “carrot and stick” policy, and now quote from Newman’s “Grammar of Assent” (with the intention of dragging into all this the Jain concept of Anekantavada), why is it that thoughts of Bonhoeffer’s “Cost of Discipleship” (seemingly so unrelated) suddenly enter my mind?

====
Sorry for being away from this complex issue for so long, but I had to post many things in a Facebook thread discussion on Aquinas, Iranaeus and Christianity vs. modern humanism, with special reference to Hans Kung’s “On Being Christian”.

If you were to ask me the worst thing that America has done to Indonesia, and the nicest thing they have done FOR Indonesia, I would have to say, off the top of my head, that the worst thing is the Philip Morris Tobacco company using Indonesia to promote smoking especially among teenagers, and the best thing is that America and the WHO (World Health Organization) REALIZES what a terrible thing it has done, and has tried to get Indonesia to sign an agreement that would make life for tobacco companies more difficult.

If you were to ask me regarding the worst things that America has done in its history, I would have to answer the enslavement genocide of native Americans, the enslavement of Africans, and colonial aggression against Hawaii, the Philippines, and various Caribbean Central and South American nations under various guises and euphemisms of liberation and economic aid.

If you were to ask me the best things that America has given to the world, I would have to say the notion of a Constitution and constitutional law (and slowly but surely, International Law) and some genuine concern for human rights even in places that do not contain oil (although the mercy and justice of liberation is far swifter in oil bearing nations).

In order for you to understand MY view of things, you must in some sense BECOME me, and see what I have seen, and know what I know after the fashion that I know it. This is why I mention Cardinal Newman’s Illation in his Grammar of Conviction which is simply to say that we arrive at our convictions and certainties after years and years of very small experiences and observations which add up to the person that we are.

If you happen to be, say Ibn Khaldun of 14th century Tunisia then that constellation of experiences causes you to see the truth of reality in one way.

Anekantavada is an ancient Jain philosophical concept which fits right in with Cardinal Newman’s illation.

It refers to the principles of pluralism and multiplicity of viewpoints, the notion that truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth.

So, you see, I am quite un-American to the degree that I see McCain’s brand of patriotism as monstrous. And I am quite Socratic to the degree that I see myself as a “citizen of the world” (and how large was the known world when Socrates allegedly said that, since the total human population in 400 b.c.e. is estimated to be only 6 million, and not todays 6.7 billion.)

One young, enthusiastic, rather ill-educated Republican boasted to me on Facebook that America is the BEST because Canada could not beat up Vermont, and Canada realizes this, and Vermont realizes this. How tragic that one should view the greatness of one’s nation and culture in terms of coercive destructive force!
Yet Putin of Russia glories in the fact that as a former KGB operative he can still beat people up in a martial arts competition.
I understand that Obama’s big sports accomplishment is in basketball, so he might out DUNK you but he would not dream of KERPLUKING you.

You see, the pen is mightier than the sword (and this we all agree) but shall the spoken and written word prove mightier than a marving nuclear warhead? This remains to be seen!

Reading Virginia Woolf in Tehran

- Tuesday November 17 2009, 03:58 -
literarydiscussions: I just spent 40 solid hours to install Ubuntu linux on an old desktop with 250 gig huge hard drive, and attach to internet router with USB wireless adapter

Aida: why do you tell me this?

literarydiscussions: well, it is a major labor
like dante going all the way through hell

Aida: haha

literarydiscussions: before when you saw me it was on my blackberry, and i have to type with my two thumbs

Aida: but you arrived to heaven

literarydiscussions: but now, i am on a keyboard at 80 words per minute. Well, i always wanted to try Ubuntu linux, because I hate microsoft and their proprietary products

Aida: am glad you succeeded

literarydiscussions: one one of our documentaries, it was stated that in Iran, it is legal to sell kidneys,… and it is beneficial to both donor and recipient, so, i wanted to know if you encounter this practice. The american documentary spoke of it as a wise thing
Aida: wise thing? Of course not!

literarydiscussions: rather than outlawing the sale of organs as we do in america

Aida: but well some do that

literarydiscussions: the doctors point was that many people can do fine with just one kidney

Aida: imagine how poor one must be to sell his organs
Some donate for free. Imagine how poor one must be to sell his organs

literarydiscussions: i mean, he wasnt trying to criticize Iran
But, in america, some people freely donate their kidney to strangers

literarydiscussions: concordias life is much better with her transplant than it was in hemodialysis. Even though the kidney is marginal, and she takes lots of meds. Still quality of life is better than on hemodialysis. And peritoneal dialysis is better quality of life than hemo. But LOTS of work, five exchanges per day
and you have to be SUPER compliant and sterile in handling the tubing connection, with iodine, alcohol, etc. because it is easy to get an infection with peritoneal dialysis

Aida: of course

Aida: I had a friend who wanted to donate one of her kidneys
just because she was a good human

literarydiscussions: right

Aida: they didnt permit her because of her ovarian cysts
but she was going to do it

literarydiscussions: oh, you know, when that insane muslim psychiatrist did what he did, i felt sorry for the majority of good kind muslims who will get harrassed

Aida: what did he do?

literarydiscussions: OHHHH! Perhaps they surpressed it in your news! He was an army psychiatrist, but he had suicide bomber beliefs, so, he opened fire in a crowd and shot 50 soldiers

Aida: oh

literarydiscussions: and he was in contact on internet with a pro jihadist imam, and made posts praising suicide bombers
But, such are a very very small minority in muslim world

Aida: how strange
Aida: a psychiatrist!

literarydiscussions: they shot the psychiatrist, but he survived
He was american born, but of syrian or lebanese parents,

Aida: so he is alive?

literarydiscussions: and after 9/11 he began to sympathize with muslims in iraq, and saw USA as the bad guy.

literarydiscussions: yes, he is alive, but no news is given out about him. I guess that homeland security wants to really investigate
literarydiscussions: and they dont want to tip their hand to other jihadists who might be in hidden cells

Aida: those 50 soldiers are killed?

literarydiscussions: something like 50 shot , perhaps 20 killed
He shot one woman soldier, and though wounded she returned fire and took him down, and she lived

Aida: what a wild creature he was

literarydiscussions: well, his argument is that if he can kill 50 of the enemies of islam, then that is a glorious martyrdom

Aida: where did it happen?

literarydiscussions: that is what they believe
literarydiscussions: a week or two ago

Aida: yes and where?

literarydiscussions: ohhhh… it happened in one of the largest military bases in usa, in texas i think
perhaps ft. worth, not sure

I feel that the majority of muslims are peaceful, and one day, we can all live in more harmony

Aida: I see

literarydiscussions: human nature is too quick to stereotype and profile

Aida: I see

literarydiscussions: i mean, to say that all africans are this way, all arabs are that way, all jews are some other way

literarydiscussions: even in muslim world regarding sufis, and kurds, for example

literarydiscussions: on paltalk there are LITERALLY 100 kurdish language rooms! I was so shocked
literarydiscussions: there are vietnamese rooms running 24/7 with 50 to 100 at a time, helping each other to learn english
They are very industrious people to succeed

literarydiscussions: oh, and vietnam outlawed Facebook officially

Aida: do you know literary rooms where there are interesting talks?

literarydiscussions: a school boy in north vietnam contacted me in paltalk and asked me what is going on in USA that so many policemen are being murdered

I actually googled stats for him on police fatalities and showed him how low it is per city

But, his teachers are feeding him propaganda about the evil Americans

Aida: haha.but we never believed what they told us at school either about religion or america

literarydiscussions: i belong to paltalk Catholic chat, were the average age is 40 and over, just because they are ok for company

I dont like some of their attitudes
But they are more mature than other rooms
You can see my blog about it http://catholicchat.wordpress.com

Aida: so you dont know any literary club?

literarydiscussions: i put some sample discussions

literarydiscussions: i got banned from the two literary clubs that i belonged to
http://online-literature.com/forums is a good one

I got banned from there because i fought with the moderator, a woman from Turkey, who teaches in the U.K.

and she is kind of opinionated…
Her favorite novel is “TO Kill a Mockingbird”
I wrote about how the character “Boo” is actually like a Christ figure
and there are essays and sermons that say the same thing

She got wild angry, and said there was no such trace or hint of such a notion in the novel

If you google on online-literature sitaram you will find hundreds of my posts, but under my ID it says BANNED

Aida: what you think about to kill a mockingbird?

literarydiscussions: Well, the black man nicknamed “Boo” is in a house, and the kids never ever see him, but they know he is there (like God)
and they think he may be MEAN (like the God of the Old Testament)

Aida: haha

literarydiscussions: BUT, he leaves gifts for them in the trunk of a tree… (which is like the mystery of Eucharist… which is also called GIFTS

But then, a bad man tries to kill the children, so BOO suddenly appears and saves them (like Jesus)

Aida: were they gifts?

Literarydiscussions: and finally, the children get to know Boo as a person and friend, (which is the PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus stressed by american protestants in New Testament
literarydiscussions: well, they were trinkets that children would like
literarydiscussions: but, they were GIFTS given, left, mysteriously

Aida:
literarydiscussions: and, the author, Harper (I forget), grew up in the very christian south

Aida: why did he hide for long?

literarydiscussions: well, he was kind of a recluse
and black, so a minority

literarydiscussions: was it Harper Lee…. she was playmates as a child with Truman Capote

Aida: yes

Aida: I have seen the movie

literarydiscussions: she dedicates her one and only book to Truman Capote
And Truman Capote i think dedicated In Cold Blood to Harper Lee
literarydiscussions: and Harper Lee was Capotes research assistant for In Cold Blood

Aida: so why did she ban you for such notion?

literarydiscussions: and there is some suspicion that Capote actually helped Harper Lee write some of TO Kill a Mockingbird
and Harper Lee is what they call a ONE BOOK WONDER
It is her first and last novel

She did a few magazine interviews in the 1970s

Aida: interesting

literarydiscussions: but has been incommunicado ever since
Except for receiveing some reward, which was presented to her , a few years ago, by the actor who played in the movie

Aida: so they banned you because you connected it to old testament?
Aida: what was the problem in that connection?

literarydiscussions: that moderator and woman and I just got into argument after argument, because, she tried to shove her notions down everyones throat as being the indisputable truth

Aida: haha

literarydiscussions: the man who owns the site really likes her as a moderator

Aida: cute

literarydiscussions: and, i said many harsh but true things
literarydiscussions: about her, and her methods

Aida: oh God
Eh why did you do that

literarydiscussions: and, in part, it had to do with the fact that she did not grow up in a christian culture, so it is hard for her to see such interpretations

literarydiscussions: i do it because i prefer the truth to a lie

and better to die a free man than to live as a slave

Aida: yes but what is the point of disecting her methods for others
Some prefer to be blind

literarydiscussions: so, i would rather be who i am, and speak as i do, and have only 10 friends….. than be otherwise for the sake of 10,000

literarydiscussions: you might like http://literture-online.com/forums
Really!
You would probably kind of like that moderator, and she would like you i am sure

Aida: I am lazy in writing in forums..so I prefer to go where I can speak online

literarydiscussions: she likes women better than males, though she is married, she is not lesbian

Aida: haha

literarydiscussions: we got into a big fight about Virginia Woolf

Aida: how come? What did you tell about virginia?

literarydiscussions: and that Novella she wrote about the man who lives 400 years, and after 200 years he magically transforms into a woman

oh, the posts are somewhere, i could dig them up
Aida: haha. I havent read that one

Aida: but it is an interesting subject

literarydiscussions: well, my argument is that Virginia Woolf was bugged by male patriarchal oppression

Aida: only if you men could be women for a while to understand us!
literarydiscussions: and she was kicked out of a library because women were not allowed

literarydiscussions: so she wrote an essay “A Room of Ones Own”

Aida: oh poor woman

literarydiscussions: which you would enjoy
Aida: yes

literarydiscussions: she was invited to speak about women authors like Bronte, etc

But she decided to write that essay instead
Aida: yes? Interesting!

literarydiscussions: and it is very famous in Womens Studies classes

I am very pro womens liberation, and side with virginia woolf

Aida: of course.

literarydiscussions: i realize males are bastards

Aida: and admit it she is a genius author

literarydiscussions: all men are dogs, but some dogs are Lassie
I made that up

Aida: I know .you told me before.
literarydiscussions: Lassie was a show on tv for years about a dog who did wonderful things

Aida: I have seen it!

literarydiscussions: that was one of my more classic lines

Aida: haha

literarydiscussions: truly
I shall be remember for that one, if nothing else

Aida: hey I have to go now.am at work..must go visit patients

literarydiscussions: ok, nice talking

Aida: it was my lunch break

literarydiscussions: go now and heal the sick

Aida: thank you.and take care…hug concordia

literarydiscussions: so you ate some virginia woolf

Aida: yes I love Virginia Woolf

literarydiscussions: bye, later

Aida: one of my favorite authors. I bought her diary too!

literarydiscussions: i have a book that is an encyclopedia on v. woolf

Aida: I love her husband too !

literarydiscussions: a huge book, coffee table size
literarydiscussions: you would love it

Aida: she was rather selfish as a wife!!!

literarydiscussions: and i have the same one for james joyce
literarydiscussions: woolf had her issues
literarydiscussions: and, sexual identity crisis
Aida: you know there is a book called encyclopedia of poetry on
Aida: gigapedia.com

literarydiscussions: wow, i will look but you must go now

Aida: but the size is too big so I can not download it