When democracy dies

Photo credit: Getty images

Today, I was watching the live session on Biden's certification of electoral college on NYT when suddenly a chaos ensued in the congress. The camera was running but the sound disappeared immediately. Lawmakers rushed to the exit doors and then suddenly the video stopped. It was sad to see what was happening at the capitol after. I used to believe that Americans are more civilized than what I saw today, but today's events changed my mind. Today's events showed that even in a civilized nation violence is inevitable and that what happens sometimes in the developing world can happen in the most democratic country like the US as well. I just looked at the international news headlines, the world laughs at the US. It's sad and full of sorrow. I feel there are some Americans who grieve and mourn their dying democracy.

Terror and chaos in Kabul

The Times speculates that behind the targeted killings might be some factions in addition to the Taliban. It's not clear what factions might be in point, but it is pretty clear at this point the Taliban is behind such attacks. It's possible to assume that they carry out their attacks through their third-party criminal groups but what makes the difference? It's still Taliban carrying out these attacks against innocent civilians. The claim that magnetic bombs are homemade is also questionable, at least we should cast doubt on Afghan government officials who make such claims under anonymity. How does the Afghan government know that the sticky bombs are homemade? We know that every one of those bombs are exploded so far and the question is, how did the government find out about the nature of the bombs after they blasted? The degree and magnitude of explosion of all these magnet bombs reveal that they are not homemade, they are rather imported from one of the two neighboring countries. 

Discovering Marx too late

For the past few weeks, I have reading Marx. To have a better understanding of his social, political, and economic theories, I visited Feuerbach and Hegel. How happy I'm for this late discovery, and how much I envy those who discovered him early in their lives, and those who read his works and understand him better. Today, I thought if had I discovered Marx 20 years ago, I would have a better understanding of the world and situation that I grew up, and the situation that I'm in now. Perhaps, my life would be different, perhaps, I would be different person.

For the past few days, I had a heavy feeling of some sort of loss, loss of time and opportunity. I told myself, alas, what opportunities that could have produced strength and ability I missed! Or opportunities that I took for granted and now I have to work hard to revive or repossess that in some sense is not too late but frankly it's late. Anyway, I feel contented to have spent the latter part of the month of December 2020 in reading Marx and understanding him a little bit.

reMarkable 2 pdf and ebooks review

Here is a short review of Remarkable 2. It's strictly about the reading features and how adaptable this device is to pdf and eBook files. I did not look at other features since I did not see the need. I have read a lot of good reviews but they did not mention anything about its capability of handling pdf files and eBooks. As you can see in the video, eBook files are fine but there are some issues with pdf files, especially if you want to zoom in. 

The normal view which is 100% is too small for me, so I need to increase the text size but unfortunately you can't customize the percentage of zoom in and zoom out. So you are strictly left with some preset options that you can select from, and if you do, the text goes off the edges. That means you can't pull up or pull down or pull to the right, you are stuck with 100% normal view which is really small, at least for me. 

On the other hand, you don't have issue with eBook files. It has a perfect normal view but if you zoom in or zoom out like you do on iPad, you have similar issues with pdf files, meaning text goes off the edges. It is so pricy, I paid $557 (including a marker and a sleeve case) and it took four weeks to arrive. I don't think it's worth it. I will return it and keep using my iPad for now. 

 

a bizarre delusion

It's hard to believe. I spoke of human rights violation and massacre by the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan today in class; a guy on a zoom class who seemed to sympathize with Islamic extremists accused me of being a government propagandist. Worse yet, he asked me to stop talking about it. I can't believe this happens in academia. I must be in the wrong place or the person is placed in the wrong place. What a bizarre delusional world!

to keep blogging

Just thought this morning that I need to come back to this platform and post something, which could be text or photographs. For the past few months I have been trying to keep journals about some of the events taking place around me. I haven't had the opportunity to chronical as much as I hoped and whatever I wrote so far has been tucked under my pillow. That sounds like hiding. I don't need to hide, I told myself this morning. So, I promised to do blogging regularly. This is a place where I can post non-academic stuff, just for myself and perhaps for others, if anyone would cross this path.

Playing Mountain Dulcimer on the Summit of Mt. Aeneas

From my summer journals:

Yesterday, I took my mountain dulcimer to the mountains and gave a concert to the mountain goats. It was a windy day, excusably, I couldn’t hold my concert on the summit because the wind would not let me play as I wished to and the sound would travel with the wind (I don’t know where). Also, there were a few two-legged predators nearby that goats did not like them, they became more skittish. Therefore, I had to scramble down a scree field and find a spot on the cliff edge, at which, at the bottom, the goats had congregated.

First, I gave an Athenian oration and tried to highlight the rocky mountain goats’ sufferings for millions of years at the hands of the growling wind, the cruel winter, the savage blizzard, and the bitter cold. Then, I admired them for their climbing skills and applaud them for resilience and perseverance for adapting to an extreme climate and at last, I was sorry that human species have encroached to their territory and disturbed their natural ecosystem.

They patiently listened. Some were regurgitating and some got a bit excited and started bulldozing the ground with their horns. Some were grooming their beards with their cloven hooves and some were wagging their tails. I think they really enjoyed my concert.

Remembering September 11 After 18 Years

It is 18 years after the September 11 attacks happened. I was in Dubai working for a used car company as an accountant. It was getting dark and we were about to close the gates to the garage. I walked inside the office, as usual, looking around what needs to be done at the last minute. The TV was on and it was on Al Jazeera Arabic channel. Back then, that was the only widely watched channel in the entire Arab world. I saw a plane hit the facade of a big tower and about 15 minutes later another plane hit another tower. I thought I was watching a movie. It didn't seem real. The clip was shown over and over and suddenly I saw from the upper part of the building smoke rises and later both towers collapsed.

In my befuddled state I changed channels, and saw similar images. The Arabic channels and their commentators were speculating that Japan might have attacked the United States to take a revenge of 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some commentators were pointing fingers at Jews, saying Jews have attacked the United States. I then searched other channels and finally I found BBC. Back then, my English was not that good but I could get a sense of what was in the news. What eventually I got was that the United States is being attacked but up that point, it wasn't clear who did it. I thought it is not a big deal.

The next day when I woke it wasn't a normal day. The local Arabs gathered on a roundabout near my work. They were happy and their utterances were "Subhanallah" (glory be to Allah) and Allahu Akbar (God is great).
It was rumored that some Muslim freedom fighters crashed the planes to the twin towers. Two days later, I heard from the news that al-Qaeda whose base was in Afghanistan was behind the attacks. Once again, everyone was happy because of the attacks. Arabs and other Muslims were celebrating and rejoicing over the death of nearly three thousand humans in the United States. To them all those who died in the attacks were infidels, but the perpetrators were called martyrs.

Among the cheers of jubilance, you could hear some Afghan voices too, however, they were not happy over the death of three thousand people, their elation was at regaining hope for survival, they were hoping that these attacks would trigger the United States to strike and destroy the Taliban and free the country. They were individuals who escaped the Taliban's systematic massacre in Mazar-e Sharif and Bamiyan. They were the Hazaras who were hoping for their country to be liberated.

Now you can delete Facebook account permanently

Do you remember that nearly three weeks ago Facebook agreed to a sweeping settlement of notable allegations regarding how it mishandled user privacy and pay $5 billion civil penalty, and also agreed to implement robust new protections of user data?

Well, as part of the new privacy settings, Facebook has enabled the permanently deleting account option. Until recently, you could only deactivate your account, but now you can delete the entire account with one click. Remember that nothing will come back after you push the delete button. It is scary and I am hesitant to do that though I do want to stay away from Facebook. I created my Facebook account in 2007 through the help of a friend. Back then you couldn't create independently (especially if you were living in Afghanistan) you should have been invited by someone. I had a friend at Duke University who sent me an invitation.

Just as a reminder if you want to delete your account, make sure to take a backup of all your photos, videos, status and posts. You will still be able to see them not on Facebook platform though. If you delete your account, you may not be able to use certain services if you have signed up with your Facebook account.

One final thing for deleting your account permanently, obviously there is a 30-day window for you in case you change your mind.

Lots of postcards to be sent out

Sometimes, I think I live an old fashioned life. Yesterday, I went to a used bookstore in downtown Charlotte and bought tons of postcards. I thought I am not going to be a slave of convenience of texting, e-mailing, or calling, I want to write my messages on a postcard. Though calling and texting have immediate advantage, I think it can't be equated with the impression that a postcard makes. Postcard becomes a memory and you can come back to it later, but you can't do it with phone call or text message.

I haven't seen a lot of people in this generation writing postcards. Last time I received a postcard was from my German teacher from Germany. I still have his card as a piece of friendship and teachership. I have an affinity with this medium. It takes me back to my roots where writing letter was the only means of communication. I find values in such tradition since it has become a lost art.

The postcards I bought yesterday were all old and whimsical. Interestingly, I found several Russian postcards capturing famous landmarks in Russia. They are from the Soviet era, between 1970-1990. I wonder who kept them all this time and why? I also found postcards from Germany. Again, they are old from the 1970s and 80s. I found a postcard of Marilyn Monroe wearing white swimsuit, probably from early 1950s. I immediately sent it to my American host dad.

If you like to receive a postcard from me, e-mail me your mailing address and I will send you one with a Rumi or Bedil poem, or simple greetings. This should be only in the US. Please indicate what language you prefer, I can write it in English, Farsi, Arabic, Russian, German, Pashto, and Urdu.

Fieldwork revitalized my native language

For the first time in nearly a decade, this summer, I had a chance to speak in my native language Farsi more than I did before. It was during my fieldwork that forced me to speak Farsi, though it have been comfortable and beneficial had I been able to speak English for the most part. That is what I also preferred, but not all participants were fluent in English. At any rate, I'm content with what have happened.

In my four years of college, I almost forgot Farsi. In college, I barely spoke my native language because there was no other Farsi speakers around. There was a benign retired US diplomat who lived nearby and we hang out a lot. He often called me or I went over to his place, we chatted in Farsi while cooking and drinking.

I have to admit that for the last ten years, I have never read a book in Farsi though I read the news regularly. That is a shame! (I tell myself). I did not have access to Farsi resources either, and honestly, I had no interest. I am a little bit biased towards Farsi and for that reason, I don't read scientific books other than in English. Farsi is good enough for poetry, storytelling and perhaps, Sufism, but not a language that you can use for critical thinking, logical reasoning, especially in the field of philosophy, technology, and science. I know this statement has ideological values, but what can you say when you compare two things. Well, one might say, languages are not things, they are culture and history. I agree, but what could you do in a short blog post than doing a gross simplification.

But getting back to the main point, living in DC with a community of Hazara immigrants this summer was gracefully beneficial to me. I noticed yesterday that my speech has become more smooth and I have become more confident to control myself from code-switching.

Sexual harassment during Hajj

I saw this image circulating on social media, which has become a subject of both ridicule and embarrassment. The text alongside the image said:

“Turkish brothers protect their sisters and wives during Hajj. The power of a society is reflected in how much the men value, protect and care for their women.”

Most of Muslim men and women reacted to the photo emphatically sympathetic towards the women who are surrounded by men, but they also mentioned that creating such a wall may result to trample other women or men.
Non-Muslims have reacted with contempt and scorn. Some said that Muslims have no moral and have no respect towards women even at the most sacred site like the great mosque of Mecca.

Sexual harassment during Hajj has been rampant but it has recently came to light. Here I found a couple of personal narratives of those women who have been sexually harassed during Hajj at Mecca.

1. 'I never told anyone': 5 women's stories of sexual abuse at the Hajj
2. Sexual Assault During Hajj: Will #MosqueMeToo Lead to Reforms in Mecca
3. 100 Women: Muslim women rally round #MosqueMeToo

The depiction of ideal masculinity

I saw this sculpture at a restaurant called Laughing Horse Lodge at Swan Lake in Montana. I looked at it as a beautiful piece of art and took a photo of it. One can see how art is capable of depicting the ideal male body in its best but in a sarcastic form. It shows that masculinity can be commodified and can be sold as an idea. This sculpture is a perfect example of how the ideal of maleness is framed, its symbolic and allegorical meanings reveal our stereotypes. 

It is interesting how muscle has replaced other features of manliness. I often hear people saying things like "he goes to the gym, he looks good." 

It is a depiction of Heracles who fought the Nemean lion, the vicious creature in Greek mythology. I am not sure who is the other person, but the crushed figure at the bottom is a lion. 

Getting ready for another semester

So it is again the beginning of another beginning, another semester, I'm as happy as I was before - well, maybe, I think I was happy for the past two semester and well before that. And I'm now back at this stage, beginning, which is so exciting.
Today, I deactivated my Facebook account, I was offered lots of incentives like you will miss so and so, and I reasoned that I hate Facebook, it told me, maybe I don't have enough friends, it gave me an option to look up for some. I didn't Facebook, I thought, would be a distraction, and honestly, it is.

I sent a few messages to friends with whom I have been in touch regularly and with people with whom I worked this summer in Washington DC, telling them I'm leaving Facebook and here is my contact details in case you would like to reach out to me.
I'm feeling gloriously fine, leaving a distraction behind. I am pretty much flexible at this point to leave social media if I don't find it worthy.

I will continue blogging because this is where I can express myself without distraction and not even being worried if anyone would come by and read it because at the end of the day, I'm writing for myself and it is a cathartic experience that I have been doing for a while. Back in Afghanistan, I did blogging professionally, where I labored from dawn to dusk to create content both informative and useful for all. But not anymore. From now on, this platform for my random thoughts and I like the functionality of it.

At the Natural History Museum

This summer I did a fieldwork in a small community of immigrants in Washington DC & as part of giving back to the community, among other things, I made videos & shared them on their Facebook page. Here's one of them from the Fossil Hall at the Natural History Museum pic.twitter.com/nlOIZ7JIaB

— Nasim Fekrat (@NasimFekrat) August 10, 2019

Pakistani Girls Sold into Marriage

I just read this sad story on BBC website about young girls as brides belonging to minority Christian and in some cases Muslim groups trafficked to China. This tragic story could be the tip of the ice berg. Who knows how many innocent and naive girls are being sold by their parents who have gone unnoticed.

In early 2000s, there were some rumors about Afghan refugees in Pakistan who were sold into marriages in the Gulf countries. A few of them were smuggled into Dubai and kept in the houses of wealthy local Arabs. At one point one of the brides was drowned and some were seen working in brothels in Dubai. It is unfortunate and yes, poverty takes the largest toll on poor and vulnerable people who always happen to be women and children.

Amazon Prime's Ploy That Most Customers Fall Prey To

Whether or not you are an Amazon customer, you probably have heard of Amazon Prime membership. If you are a frugal person like me and waiting to hear when Amazon announces its 30-day free trial, then you should read this post. I will address some issues and concerns and how they might be related to you and your experiences. I will unmask Amazon Prime’s disguised price hikes in their ingenious marketing ploy that gives the company an opportunity to camouflage this ploy to overcharge customers. I will explain how I was overcharged.

You are probably aware that Amazon customers are only eligible for one free trial of Prime every 12 months. That happens generally in the beginning of the year, in January. So, knowing that I'd get a one-month free trial membership with Amazon Prime, I signed up last month. I ordered a couple of books and some other items. I set a reminder for myself to come back on time and to cancel my membership. Yesterday was the last day. I went online to cancel it but it said that I'm not a member because I signed for a free trial. That means you won't be charged when the free trial period ends. But unbeknownst me to that is not what happened. I was charged.

Today, out of curiosity I checked my bank account and I realized that Amazon had charged me $13.09 —that is for one month of Amazon Prime. It neither showed on my Amazon account nor did I receive an e-mail confirming the charge. So, technically a free trial period is a ploy to attract more customers and unbeknown to people, Amazon signs them up automatically to its Prime membership. This is exactly what happened to me. I did not subscribe to the Prime membership, it was only a 30-day free trial. But this is not an isolated ruse to deceive people, overcharging is another Amazon Prime hidden scheme.

So, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of it. As I mentioned above, I did not sign up for a Prime membership, but I was charged $13.09. Let’s add up that number. For a twelve month membership, if I pay $13.09, which I was charged, it would add up to $157.08.

When I saw that number, I went online and did some research. I looked through Amazon Prime’s website and nowhere could I find that number. I became more suspicious of Amazon. And then I asked myself, what is that cost for? Why it is not mentioned on Amazon’s website? What is shady about it? I needed to find answers for all these questions.

So, before I turned to Amazon and contacted its customer service, I checked Amazon Prime’s page to find the current costs of membership. This is what I found on Amazon’s website. As of May 2018, Amazon has updated its Prime membership, which is as follows:

• Starting May 11, 2018, new members will be charged $119/year for an annual Prime membership and $59/year for an annual Prime Student membership.
• Starting June 16, 2018, existing Prime members with an annual membership will renew at a rate of $119/year. Prime Student members with an annual membership will renew at a rate of $59/year.
• Monthly Prime members continue to pay $12.99 per month. Monthly Prime Student members continue to pay $6.49 per month

Now, where does it mentioned $13.09 a month or $157.08 for 12 months? Nowhere. How can we consolidate $157.08 with anyone of these numbers proclaimed on Amazon Prime’s membership page? We can’t. So, is there a hidden cost, error or some sort of scam going on? The answer is, I don’t know. I don’t think a scam would be Amazon’s intention, but there is definitely something fishy going on that Amazon hides from its customers. That is a secret and a dirty trick that Amazon has carefully planned to take advantage of customers.

So, after my initial research, I turned to Amazon’s customer service folks and they were oblivious about it. At least they couldn’t explain why customers are charged at such a high rate. Some were not able to answer my questions. They were slow, impatient, and sometimes appeared rude. Other people had similar experiences. Finally, I asked them to direct me to their manager and one of them did. I chatted with Vinay, who claimed to be from the leadership team. He was so impatient, impetuous and rude. He forced me to end the chat. He yelled at me: END CHAT! I talked to numerous people at Amazon’s customer service, but not all are that bad. Here is my correspondence with Vinay:

Here's a copy of the chat transcript you requested:

12:27 PM PST Akshay(Amazon): Hello, my name is Akshay. I'm here to help you today. 12:27 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Hi I was charged $13.09 for prime membership, can you tell me what is that price? 12:27 PM PST Akshay: Nasim I understand your concern. Please do not worry I'll try my best to resolve this issue. 12:27 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: it does't correspond with your prices listed here https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202213110 12:31 PM PST Akshay: Could you please confirm last four digit of card on which you've been charged? 12:32 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: i cancelled my membership which was automatically charged. Don't worry about that did you check that link?12:32 PM PST Akshay: Yes I checked the link. 12:33 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: if i am charged $13.09 for a 12-month period that adds up to $157.08 but that doesn't say on that page? it says for one year it is $119 plus tax can you explain that? 12:34 PM PST Akshay: yes correct. $119 plus tax for one year 12:36 PM PST Akshay: Subtotal: $12.99 Tax: $0.10 Order Total: $13.09 12:36 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: that makes sense but that doesn't add up to $119 12:37 PM PST Akshay: $119 plus tax is for one year. For one year it goes to near about $128 - $129  12:39 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: but $13.09 x 12= $157.08 that number doesn't correspond with what you are saying 12:40 PM PST Akshay: If you purchase for long period you'll get prime in less price as compared to monthly prime.  12:41 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: can you explain that? https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202213110 it is not mentioned here though 12:42 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: I want to know why 12:42 PM PST Akshay: Sure. 12:43 PM PST Akshay: Please allow me two minutes while I check this for you. 12:44 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Ok Thanks 12:50 PM PST Akshay: Thanks for your patience while I look into this. 12:51 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: no problem 12:54 PM PST Akshay: As I've checked the details with my lead we don't have such explanation for the prime charges. If anyone purchase prime for one year it would be beneficial for them. 12:56 PM PST Akshay: I don't mean to rush you, but we've been idle for 1 minute. I want to make sure our chat's still connected. If you aren't able to respond in 1 minute, this chat will close. 12:56 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: ok i'm here 12:56 PM PST Akshay: Sure. 12:57 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Can I talk to someone who can explain this? Do you have a manager or something? 12:58 PM PST Akshay: Yes we've but you'll get same resolution from my manager as we both have same resources. 12:59 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: How will I get that? 01:00 PM PST Akshay: Do you want me to connect you to my manager/ 01:00 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Yes please 01:01 PM PST Akshay: Sure. 01:02 PM PST Akshay: One of the our appropriate team me​mber would be able to help you with this. I will transfer this chat to our special team for assistance. please stay connected.​ 01:03 PM PST Vinay(Amazon): Hello, my name is Vinay. I'm from the leadership team. Please give me a moment to review the previous correspondence.​ 01:04 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Hi Vinay sure thanks 01:05 PM PST Vinay: Thank you for staying connected.  I've reviewed your correspondence and I understand your concern regarding the Prime charges.  01:06 PM PST Vinay: I want to make sure that you get the correct information. 01:06 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: sure 01:06 PM PST Vinay: Nasim, If you subscribe for Prime Monthly subscription, you will be charged $12.99 per month.  01:07 PM PST Vinay: If you prefer an annual Prime Subscription, it would be $119.00  01:08 PM PST Vinay: If you subscribe for annual Prime, you will get a benefit of discount with the price.  01:09 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Right, I saw that is explained here https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202213110 01:09 PM PST Vinay: Definitely.  We are sorry but this is the only pricing available and the resolution we could help you with 01:10 PM PST Vinay: Is there anything else I can assist you with today? 01:10 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: wait a second please The price on Amazon page is $119+tax a year 01:10 PM PST Vinay: Yes. That's the one 01:11 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: I was charged $13.09 for a month which is $157.08 for 12 months. can you explain that egregious differences?  01:11 PM PST Vinay: Base charge: 12.99 USD Tax: 0.10 USD Total charge: 13.09 USD This is the charge including the tax  01:12 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: in my state a one year tax is $7.99+$119=$126.99 01:12 PM PST Vinay: We are sorry, I could just confirm that the Prime Annual Subscription will come with a discounted price.  These are the fix charges that Amazon has and we won't be able to provide any further details in this case. 01:12 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Okay, why isn't that price mentioned on Amazon prime page? 01:13 PM PST Vinay: Tax prices depend upon the region and area. 01:13 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: You are a manager or in leadership team as you said, can you explain that please? In my state it is $7.99 for a year 01:13 PM PST Vinay: I'm from the leadership team and this is the only resolution we could help you with.  01:13 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: But you didn't answer my question 01:14 PM PST Vinay: Amazon prime Annual Subscription is for $119.00 + Taxes and not $7.99 01:14 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: what is taxes? 01:14 PM PST Vinay: I guess we have extended the best we could for you and there is nothing much we could assist you in this case.  01:15 PM PST Vinay: Is there anything else I can assist you with today? 01:15 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Okay, you can't answer why Amazon charges me $157.08? 01:15 PM PST Vinay: Is there anything else I can assist you with today? 01:15 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Yes, I have another question as well. 01:16 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: I didn't sign up for Amazon Prime. I initially subscribed for a 30-day free trial. Why was I charged for prime membership? 01:16 PM PST Vinay: If you wish you may subscribe with Prime Annual Subscription for $119.00 01:17 PM PST Vinay: The Auto renew wasn't turned off and hence you were charged automatically after the trial period.  01:17 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: does the Amazon automatically sign up its customer for Prime membership? 01:18 PM PST Vinay: The auto renew was turned on and we have turned off the auto renew  01:18 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: I did turn it off. I also contacted someone on Amazon to check that. He or she said, I'm not signed up and that option was turned off. 01:19 PM PST Vinay: I now confirm that it has been turned off and the Prime Subscription has been cancelled.  01:19 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: Is there someone you could direct me that I can get an explanation regarding $157.08 charge for Amazon Prime for one year? 01:20 PM PST Vinay: I'm from the leadership team and have explained the details to you. This is the best we could help you with . Is there anything else I can assist you with today? 01:20 PM PST Nasim Fekrat: No, sir. You didn't explain to me why Amazon Prime charges me $157.08 for one year. Can you direct me to someone else who could explain this to me? 01:20 PM PST Vinay: It was a pleasure to assist you with this. Thank you for contacting Amazon.com. We hope to see you again. Please click "End Chat" to close this window. 01:21 PM PST Vinay: END CHAT for me? ---------------------------------

So, as you can see Vinay from the leadership team was not willing to explain why Amazon Prime charged me $13.09, which is $157.08 for year. Most of the people with whom I talked to were foreigners. I also speculated that it might be because of unfamiliarity or something that they were not trained for, but when I pressed them for explanation, I realized that they were not actually unaware of it, but rather they were unwilling to explain the price that is designed to fleece innocent customers out of their money. Even sometimes their language was incoherent and impossible to understand. I think they may use Google translator like this one, which sometimes I couldn't understand what he was saying.

What I am trying to convey is that it actually does not say the actual price, which may influence people’s decisions. If we add $.10 cents of tax to $12.99 that is $13.09, which is $157.08 for the entire year - the right amount that I was changed. The issue that I am concerned with is that Amazon Prime does not mention that on it is page. That is an ingenuous scheme. This is unethical and it should not be without consequences.

In 2014, I was charged for the whole year. I only realized towards the end of the year when I checked bank account. I was not notified by e-mail or otherwise. When I contacted Amazon Prime, they said, well, sorry to hear that. You always have the option to cancel your membership. You can cancel your membership now, if you want. That was their excuse. Amazon has carefully planned that and they know how to get away with it because they know that poor customers have no other choice than opting out, but Amazon has already drained their pockets.

Finally, I think it is imperative for everyone to share their experiences and expose schemes and ploys played by giant corporations such as Amazon. We can make them accountable and stop them from exploiting innocent and poor people. (Here I am going off on a tangent a little bit). We should share our ideas and experiences with each other to fight back against corporate greed and aggression. They are leaching off our hard work, our hopes, and success, and then use them against us not only economically but also politically.

Big corporations want to own us and rule us. We need to stand up and not let this happen. We should work together to be creative and raise awareness in our social circles, in colleges and universities, in workplaces, and in households. We have to make our hard work, our sweat, our success matter. This is the hallmark of our modern values. We have to stand for it and don't let giant corporations take control of them.

We need to get these things personal and turn it as a grassroots campaign on the street and on the web. Our laws are our tools, we can hold giant corporations accountable for their actions either it is related to global warming, health issues, human rights crises or small things like falling for the marketing ploy of Amazon Prime.

Government Shutdown Affects Grant Programs

Federal workers are not the only ones missing paychecks, the partial government shutdown has also affected academic communities, delaying funding and some travel cancellations as well. Today, I sent an e-mail to the National Science Foundation inquiring about funding, I received an automatic reply from NSF:

Due to a lapse in government funding, most National Science Foundation staff will not be receiving or responding to email until further notice. We sincerely regret this inconvenience and look forward to responding to you once we reopen.

Then a few minutes later, I received a follow up e-mail from the person in charge:

Because of the lapse in appropriations (aka, "a shutdown"), we are unable to respond to your message. Deadlines are unaffected by the shutdown.

So, here you go. You have some specific questions regarding funding and application, but you can't get an answer due to government shutdown.
I thought I should write this post in case anyone wonders whether he/she should submit the application on time or not, deadlines, according to the federal employee of NSF are unaffected by the partial shutdown.

going to an Eagles game

Yesterday, I went to the Philadelphia Eagles game. We tailgated outside the Redskins stadium at FedEx Field in Maryland. It was full of joy to cook and drink with my favorite people and meet some new ones. On my way home, I walked for nearly two hours to burn out some calories, but I got really tired when I got home. I slept like a log last night.

The Eagles battled hard to get into the play-off the victory of 24-0 over the Redskins. That means there is some hope for the reigning champions in the postseason.

I didn't know much about American football, so I started watching it in college. I gradually realized that it's like a religion to some Americans. Unlike soccer, American football is governed by a very complicated set of rules. It's also a dangerous sport; you can easily tear your ACL, break your neck or crack your skull. There are certain things about American culture you won't find else. In football, there is masculine pride, often with aggressiveness. You have to be tough and rough to beat the opponent team. If you look at the characters, they are huge, huge enough to block and resist like a bull. People in small stature have no place, almost, but there are some small agile players who run fast enough to outrun oversized players and accomplish touchdowns. Alcohol is an important element in the game. You have to drink enough to absurdly shout your lungs out for the team and talk loud to your neighbors. No one cares what you say or what others say to you. The language is familiar: You are stupidly drunk, happy, supportive of your team, wearing emblems and showing erratic behaviors, and balanced proportionally with the crowd. Nothing is out of the ordinary. Being as absurdly loud as possible is more likable and wanted than being quiet and ordinary. 

The Use of Social Media: Ego-Boosting and Time-Wasting

A few days ago, I felt I was succumbed to the temptation of using Instagram, which I have been trying to stay away from. The temptation was the result of thinking whether it is a good idea to upload some of my photographs there. I don't know why, perhaps, publicity was the spur. I opened an account, but for some reasons, I could not upload landscape photos to Instagram. I posted some photos of myself and tried different colors and features. I spent nearly two hours playing with a couple of photos. Then, suddenly, I thought, if I had spent that much time, I could have edited several photos on Photoshop and uploaded them to my website, or I could have read a few articles.

Time was not the only thing that I was worried about, it was something else: the ego. I did not download the Instagram app, but instead, I used the website through a backchannel. Even though everything looked basic, my photos looked fancy after I manipulated the light and color values. I could have stopped it, but the features and tools dictated me to do more. Therefore, I spent more time trying every available features.

Then, the following day, when I opened my account, I looked at my photos again. They looked great, except no one followed me. I thought, that is because I declined to share my contacts, or letting my friends know that I have created an account on Instagram. I again started working on my pictures. As I kept using different colors and tools to shape my portraits as best as I could, I felt drawn into the idea that I could possibly make myself look great and attractive. What a weird and unrealistic thing to do, I thought.

But for some reasons, I could not satisfy myself, I wanted my photos look really good. I never experienced such an urge before to spend this much time on my own portraits. It seemed ridiculous and I felt defenseless to the temptation and persuasion of tools that were offered to me.

It was then that I thought of the harmful impact of social media, such as Instagram, on the brain and behavior. I was offered a space, a strange yet familiar in which I felt I am not good enough. Two things happened at the same. The tools on Instagram asked me to boost my ego by changing hues and make saturation adjustment on my face, but at the same time, it took away my self-esteem from me. I felt insecure, but it offered me a panacea that I can indulge myself in egotistical projection of me and my personhood.

It was not the tools and features per se, but a range of other factors that were enticing. It opened a window to me, which listed some famous people and some were even familiar ones, and it asked me to follow them. Additionally, it ask me to share my contacts with the system. Then, it wanted me to send an invitation to my contacts and ask them to follow me on Instagram. I had a moment where I thought to myself, "What a bizarre thing that could be." I thought, I would become entangled in the web of self-doubt, insecurity, and perhaps, mental depletion.

Finally, today, I deleted my account on Instagram. It felt great. I patted myself on the back for I lost nothing. I felt I have protected myself from the invasiveness of Instagram, specially its e-mails and pushier notifications. I am considering staying away from social media like Facebook and Twitter, in general. So, I may delete or deactivate them in the year of 2019.