Its my Right to be Left of the Center

Special Prosecutor? Perhaps...

2009-07-12T08:38:00.001-07:00

Several media outlets are reporting this morning that Eric Holder is leaning towards appointing a Special Prosecutor to investigate the Bush Administration's war crimes in relation to torture. The story they are all linking to is this one from Newsweek. An excerpt:

....Four knowledgeable sources tell NEWSWEEK that he is now leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's brutal interrogation practices, something the president has been reluctant to do. While no final decision has been made, an announcement could come in a matter of weeks, say these sources, who decline to be identified discussing a sensitive law-enforcement matter. Such a decision would roil the country, would likely plunge Washington into a new round of partisan warfare, and could even imperil Obama's domestic priorities, including health care and energy reform. Holder knows all this, and he has been wrestling with the question for months. "I hope that whatever decision I make would not have a negative impact on the president's agenda," he says. "But that can't be a part of my decision."

Upholding the law should be the only thing Holder thinks about when deciding whether to appoint a Prosecutor to look into the torture issue. AP adds this:

Holder is considering whether to appoint a prosecutor and will make a final decision within the next few weeks, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on a pending matter.

Come on Eric, do the right thing...go after these pompous fuckwits..please!

The Rethugs are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. Alienating them is no big deal as the bastards have become the Party of No. There is no bipartisanship in DC..so fuck the bastards and go after Bush, Cheney, Yoo, et. al. Especially after this story hit the newswires. Dick Cheney is a liar and a carpetbagging douchenozzle. He relished keeping Congress in the dark..and actually had the CIA lie to them. No one deserves to be brought down like The Big Dick Cheney™. No one.

Secretive religious group = Cult

2009-07-10T19:55:00.001-07:00

Rachel Maddow has focused on the C Street bunch for two straight days now. The C Street religious group is known as The Family. Everyone is sworn to secrecy..hence I think of it as a friggin cult.

This is part one of the interview with a gent, Jeff Sharlet, that lived at the C Street church/dorm for a year and then wrote a book about it and it's founder, Doug Coe. From an MSNBC article on Coe and The Family:

In his preaching, Coe repeatedly urges a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. It’s a commitment Coe compares to the blind devotion that Adolph Hitler demanded from his followers -- a rhetorical technique that now is drawing sharp criticism.

"Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler were three men. Think of the immense power these three men had, these nobodies from nowhere,” Coe said.

Later in the sermon, Coe said: "Jesus said, ‘You have to put me before other people. And you have to put me before yourself.' Hitler, that was the demand to be in the Nazi party. You have to put the Nazi party and its objectives ahead of your own life and ahead of other people."

Coe also quoted Jesus and said: “One of the things [Jesus] said is 'If any man comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, brother, sister, his own life, he can't be a disciple.’ So I don't care what other qualifications you have, if you don't do that you can't be a disciple of Christ."

The sermons are little surprise to writer Jeff Sharlet. He lived among Coe's followers six years ago, and came out troubled by their secrecy and rhetoric.

“We were being taught the leadership lessons of Hitler, Lenin and Mao. And I would say, ‘Isn’t there a problem with that?’ And they seemed perplexed by the question. Hitler’s genocide wasn’t really an issue for them. It was the strength that he emulated,” said Sharlet, who is a Contributing Editor at Rolling Stone and is an Associate Research Scholar at the NYU Center for Religion and Media in New York.

Ensign and Sanford were both residents of this C Street church/dorm. hmmm...Watch the video..it will make your skin crawl when you listen to Coe preach about hating your mother, father, sister and brother..

This church/dorm only houses elected officials. They are all about POWER. Tonight's episode isn't available yet..but when it is..well, it's available NOW! ;)

Feds rescue over 400 fighting dogs in one day.

2009-07-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

It’s the biggest dogfighting raid in the history of law enforcement. It took place over seven states and netted 26 people that will hopefully one day rot in hell for what they have done. From the San Francisco Examiner:

State and federal agents staged raids in several states, charging individuals in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas following a more-than-year-long investigation originally tipped off by the Humane Society of Missouri.

In Missouri, prosecutors said members of a multistate ring routinely denied the dogs medical treatment and “destroyed” injured dogs who were no longer able to fight by shooting them “in the head, throwing them into the river or burning them in a barrel.”

Although the arrests stem from the same investigation, the rings were not “one concentrated, organized conspiracy.” United States attorneys in four districts will try the cases separately.

Kathy Warnick, president of the Humane Society of Missouri called the raid the “largest coordinated rescue in U.S. history.” “This heinous, heinous bloodsport is not going to be tolerated,” she told the New York Daily News.

The Humane Society of Missouri is sheltering more than 300 dogs - believed to be mostly pit bull terriers - seized in Missouri and Illinois raids. The dogs will be housed, cared for and evaluated at an undisclosed emergency shelter in St. Louis.

I just can not wrap my mind around humans that do this. I just can not. They would kill the losing dogs by shooting them and burning the bodies.

Iron Maidenform by Dawn

2009-07-09T14:44:00.001-07:00

This is so awesome. It is a work of art that I can relate to and enjoy looking at. Please visit Dawn's blog for more photos of her piece that is going up for auction soon.

Gonzo gets a job! At a college!

2009-07-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Texas Tech has hired Alberto Gonzales. From TPM Muckraker:

The press release, which says Gonzales will work as both a recruiter and teach a junior-level course on "contemporary issues in the executive branch," makes no mention of Gonzo's involvement in the U.S. attorneys scandal (among other things) or his subsequent resignation. Instead, it ends with, "...and later was appointed Attorney General."

Nice.

Specifically, Gonzales will be responsible for "recruiting and retaining first generation and underrepresented students," and will help plan a leadership training program for minority and first generation students at both Texas Tech and Angelo State University. In addition to his class, he'll also guest lecture for other courses.

"His own upbringing in Houston as part of a migrant family with eight children makes him qualified to tell underrepresented Texas students that college is possible," said Kent Hance, chancellor of Texas Tech. "He will help Texas Tech and ASU prepare our students for success and to be future leaders in the State of Texas and beyond."

Oh sweet Jaysus in a speedo. Gonzo will help prepare students for success? LMFAO!

graphic filched from Kvatch.

Amsterdam considering prostitution's financial problems.

2009-07-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

This story is funny, but then...it's not. Women, who's livelihood is prostitution, which is perfectly legal in Amsterdam, shouldn't be discriminated against. But they are.

Banks refuse credit for anyone in the prostitution industry. They even refuse to allow them to open bank accounts. Prostitution is a legal industry in Amsterdam, its know world-wide.

Giving workers access to banking services and products would legitimize the industry and give workers the ability to better their lives and those of their families. They pay income taxes, yet they are not allowed to use banking services.

This double standard is total bullshit. Prostitution is a legal industry so treat it like one.

Rove deposed by congress critters today.

2009-07-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

From RawStory:

Judiciary Chairman won’t comment on what was asked, said

Former Bush White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was deposed by lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee, Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said in an interview Tuesday.

Rove’s deposition took place over a period of some eight and a half hours, beginning at 10 a.m. and ending around 6:30 p.m, ET — and the lawyers took several breaks, Conyers said.

Conyers wouldn’t say what Rove told investigators or whether Rove would appear before his committee again.

Oh...to have been a fly on that wall today.

Uyghur's still protesting and being killed in China.

2009-07-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

From Democracy Now!:

New protests have erupted in China’s western Xinjiang region, two days after at least 156 people were killed and over 1,000 wounded in the country’s worst ethnic violence in decades. On Tuesday, some 200 ethnic Uyghurs–mostly women–took to the streets to protest over the mass arrest of more than 1,400 people following Sunday’s clashes. Later, hundreds of ethnic Han Chinese marched through the streets of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province. The two sides blame each other for the outbreak of violence.

The DN link includes an interview with Nury Turkel, a Uyghur American Attorney. He is the co-founder of the Uyghur Human Rights Project and past president of the Uyghur American Association. Here is video of the unrest and a report by Amy Goodman.

WTF? The Guardian is liveblogging MJ's funeral...

2009-07-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

This is fuckwitted. Poor Michael...they are draggin' his coffin to the Staples Center. What.A.Fucking.Farce.

This is even better...snort...live coverage online. Yahoo's..thy name is MSM today. View it on my video page. I refuse to give MJ more real estate than he already has.

I can't take anymore!!!

2009-07-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

I commandeered the Ball n' Chain's™ tv yesterday afternoon. I got to watch the usual political talk shows, much to the chagrin of the Bn'C, who hates that shit. I saw Lawrence O'Donnell hosting Hardball..yay!

Vizio wants me to ship my broken set to the warehouse in Chino, CA then they will ship a new (or refurbished) one to moi. We can't drive it down..we must ship it. And this article says only 3% of plasma tv's breakdown. Gee, to be in such small company. Who wants to bet the new one will have problems too? UPS sucks and so does Vizio.

Fuckers...fucking fuckers.

I am watching MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan. He isn't too bad and he has a strange roundtable of guests and talking heads, all waxing poetic about Michael fucking Jackson. I am watching this on my broken tv, so it looks like I am watching tv through a friggin screen door...that wiggles.

This whole day is going to be MJ day isn't it? I want some political news damn it! Give me my fix you fucks.

I go in for a cystoscopy today...oh goodie..this one should be fun right? I will now have had a freaking fucking camera in all my orifices after the day is over. I know, TMI. Suck it up and deal..after all, I have to.

Sweetie, aka FacePlant, refuses to come out from under the bed if any of the other felines are in the room.. unless there is food involved. But he is eating like it's a contest and that's a good thing for the poor lil emaciated fur-less kitteh.

Have a good day folks..and pray for moi and that camera thingy going down this afternoon. Also say a prayer for my tv and the new one that will be shipped to me using gawd knows which delivery service.

Monday...and it still smells like sulfur around these parts.

2009-07-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

The neighborhood was full of fireworks this weekend..including last night. This didn't sit well with the felines of course.

Sweety, aka Faceplant, still won't come out from under the bed after a really huge kablooey last night about 1am.

Today's news will be full of Obama and the Russians today. Really, did he have to take that trip now? Isn't there more pressing biz at home dude?

Sometimes I think he does this shit as a diversion.

People will be second-guessing Mooselini's latest move..to abandon her job as the Gov of Alaska. There is no way to make this look good for her. No friggin way. The bitch is whacked out..and perhaps she is only listening to Todd, because no self-respecting politco is going to tell her to dump her day job..none.

My tv took a shit last week. It was only 10 months old. Vizio is a raggedy ass bunch of fuckwits and I highly recommend that you DO NOT buy any of their products without an extended warranty.

I will go silently crazy this week without tv. Sick ain't it? I admit I am addicted to the boob tube. Lots of music to be played I guess...

Oh yeah..Mac the Knife kicked the bucket this morning. Oh, how I hated that sumbitch. I hope he is in the seventh level of hell..frying. I know..its wrong to speak ill of the dead..but still Robert McNamara was a Dick Cheneysque type of dirtbag. Even if he did come around to seeing things he did as horrific..Karma is karma dude.

Excuse me???

2009-07-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

There are times when society gives me reason to pause and reflect. This is one of those times.

Who would tell a 17-18 year old female that is about 75-100 lbs overweight that she looked good in a tube top?

Is it just me or is that explosion of flesh coming from beneath the tube top in very poor taste and just downright nasty?

I have always said people should be either comfortable or creative. But the scenario above fits neither of those right?

I am still fighting the bulge myself and vain I am not, but for the love of Christ woman...cover that shit up! Whether that is PC I dunno.

I don't know if this is a fashion fau paux or chica really thinks she is sparkling in that attire, or she flat ass doesn't give a shit. Cuz it takes some real stones to wear that garment with that bodytype...in public.

That's all I got, except Serena Williams did it again at Wimbledon. You go woman! Her 3rd Wimbledon title.

Ch..Ch..Changes..

2009-07-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, I did the unthinkable..I changed my template. All the prior comments are gone..zip!

Ah..no big deal right?

Please bear with me as I fix this sucker up..going to move some things to the other pages..so this page will load faster as some folks say it takes fucking forever to load.

Happy Fourth of July!!! Enjoy yourselves but don't drive tanked out of your ever-lovin mind ok? ;)

Palin to resign as governor.

2009-07-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a shocker! Like everything else she says..her decision makes no sense to me. From AP:

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," Palin said in a statement released by her office.

"It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, so that this administration, with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future, can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success," she said.

Her popularity has been going downhill in Alaska for a while now. I hope she runs for President..Lets see how many yahoo's will vote for a woman that can't find her ass w/both hands.

Feline Friday!

2009-07-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

Gather 'round chil'ren and let mama Dusty tell you a story..

The last week has been spent trying to capture a Persian cat that had taken up residence under our RV. I am not a fan of Persians. They are too hairy for me and their little pushed in faces are fugly.

The temperature has hit triple digits every day over the last 5 days. At night, it got down to 80..oh joy. Now, if you put on a big heavy sweater and sat under that RV for 24 hours you might get an understanding of how this feline was suffering.

He was scared and he smelled bad..real bad.

Twice a day, I would crawl under the RV and bring him food and refill his water dish. The day it hit 110, he wouldn't eat. He could barely lift his head. Now I was scared.

I had developed a bit of a bond with him in the preceding days. He would let me touch him whilst he ate. When I talked to him he would come to me, but I couldn't get him to come out from under the damn RV. Even with wonderful treats like chicken breast, he simply would not venture out from under the vehicle.

Monday, when he wouldn't eat I figured I had to do something to get him in the house. My back was killing me and being an old broad, it wasn't easy getting my big carcass under that fucking vehicle. But I did it anyway.

So, Monday around noon, when it was already 107, I decided to snatch him up. I could tell he hadn't drank anything or eaten anything. His meow was so weak it was tugging at my heart strings.

I begged and pleaded with 'Sweety' to come to me. I laid on that hot dirt for over 20 minutes talking to him and inching forward towards him. Finally I got to him and he didn't move a muscle. His eyes were half open. So I grabbed him by the neck. He didn't even offer resistance.

I got him into the house and he ran under the bed. I was now smelly myself, full of sweat and dirt.

It took a couple of days but he warmed up to me and spent more time on top of the bed than under it. I called our trusty vet, Dr. Anderson, and made an appointment for them to put him under and clip him. His coat was so matted down and he weighed virtually nothing. I have a kitten that weighs more than Sweety. You remember Spanky don't you? Of course you do.

So he went to the vets. They called me around 2pm yesterday and told me what they had to do. They had to shave him completely, his coat was that matted. Then Dr. Clark, Dr. Anderson's wife, told me she didn't want me to be shocked when I came to get him. I said I expected them to shave him down to his skin, I knew how matted he was after being neglected for gawd knows how long.

She then told me about the stitches. I gasped..wtf? She explained that his coat was the worst she had ever seen and it was all the way to his skin in most places. It was viturally impossible for them to shave him all the way to his skin without knicking him, but he would heal and his coat would grow back. She also said he was horribly emaciated and needed to eat kitten food.

The only good news was that he was nuetered and between 4 and 5 years old.

The only original fur left on him was his feet and his face. From his ears to his tail he was naked and hairless. Or, almost hairless..check out this mornings picture:

If you click it, you can see stitches. poor lil guy.

This morning, he purred when I touched him. He snuggled closer to me, purring up a storm. I guess I am the proud owner of a Persian who answers to Sweety.

Unless one of you dear, wonderful readers would like to have him. I will deliver him to you! Come on..you know you want him, right? ;)

Persians are not very active felines and they like nice quiet environs..which our humble abode ain't. All the other felines just walk up and stare at him. He is funny looking with that huge head of fur and that skinny little naked, hairless body.

I love my vet's. They should of charged me $300 bucks for all the work they did, but they only charged me half of that. Dr Anderson and his wife Dr. Clark are good people. I am just glad I had a credit card that could accommodate paying them for their efforts.

Now, which of you wants to adopt this little guy? Remember..free delivery!

Oh, and have a very happy fourth ya'all. ;)

WaPo offers lobbyists access to Obama administration..for a fee.

2009-07-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is friggin outrageous. The Washington Post is fast becoming yellow journalism, plain and simple. From Politico via TruthOut:

Washington Post Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Katharine Weymouth said today she was cancelling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where, for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few": Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper's own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its "health care reporting and editorial staff."

Is this what's known as pay to play? It sure sounds like it. How can you separate your newspaper from the lobbyists when you do something like this?

Where in the blue hell is journalistic integrity in this mess? Seems that the communications director wasn't too keen on this bullshit either:

In his e-mail to the newsroom, labeled "Newsroom Independence," Brauchli wrote: "Colleagues, A flyer was distributed this week offering an 'underwriting opportunity' for a dinner on health care reform, in which the news department had been asked to participate. The language in the flyer and the description of the event preclude our participation.

"We will not participate in events where promises are made that in exchange for money The Post will offer access to newsroom personnel or will refrain from confrontational questioning. Our independence from advertisers or sponsors is inviolable. There is a long tradition of news organizations hosting conferences and events, and we believe The Post, including the newsroom, can do these things in ways that are consistent with our values."

WaPo has been going downhill for quite a while now, with the exception of a very small cadre of investigative journalist's..this just seals it for me. Dana Milbank is a tool and so is Katherine Weymouth. Journalist integrity my fucking ass...A free press? Not at the Washington Post evidently.

MN Supreme's rule Franken won.

2009-06-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

MSNBC is reporting the MN Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that Al Franken won the election.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race.

The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling.

Justices said Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office. With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibusters.

Next stop for Coleman..living under a bridge or taking it to SCOTUS.

Any bets on which he will pick? ;p

Madoff gets his due and other noteworthy news.

2009-06-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

Bernie was sentenced to 150 years this morning. That was the maximum he could be given.

I wonder if that sentence will make his victims feel better, somehow I doubt it. His wife Ruth finally released a statement this morning about her husband's crime. You can read the entire statement here. I really can't muster any sympathy for Ruthie.

Joe Jackson is lower than pond scum. He is already getting his worthless, child-beating ass on the tv as much as possible, showing up at the BET awards show last night and having a daily presser when possible out in front of the families Encino enclave. Al Sharpton is also getting his share of tv time as is Jesse Jackson (no relation but I bet he wishes he was).

The biggest media circus in the last decade will now start. Who gets those three little children that lived in a fairytale bubble? Who gets any money..or rather.. is there any money to hand out? Not waisting any time, Joe and Katherine Jackson have filed a probate order and gotten temporary custody of the three children. It's gonna get real ugly.

Iraq is preparing for our soldiers to start pulling out of their cities tomorrow. This news is scary in that all hell might break loose now that Iraqi police will be in charge. I worry about this, I worry that the innocent will suffer. I worry that our soldiers will be sitting ducks. I just worry period. But I want them all home now..all our soldiers. Don't leave them sitting in fortresses, just bring them home..NOW.

Finally Tricky Dick Nixon has more of his musings released. I have been reading the transcripts over at the NYT and they are a friggin trip. Get this quote from a Philippines head honcho during the time Marcos took control of the government:

ROMULO: You see, democracy, really, American democracy, is for a mature, highly developed, affluent society.

NIXON: Yes.

ROMULO: For a developing society, you need someone with strength.

Affluent society? Give me an effin break dude. Did anyone know there is a website devoted to the Nixon tapes? Yep...check it out here.

Walter Cronkite's health declining rapidly

2009-06-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

From the NYT via The Daily Beast:

The New York Times reported today that Walter Cronkite is gravely ill with cerebrovasuclar disease and, according to his family members, "not expected to recuperate." "He is resting at home surrounded by family, friends and a wonderful medical team," his three children said. Cronkite's family told TVNewser, a blog, that he had been suffering from his disease for several years. The CBS News anchor was oftentimes described as "the most trusted man in America" during his work on CBS Evening News from 1960-81.

Cronkite was always on our tv every evening when I was a child. It was Cronkite that announced the news of JKF's death for me and so many other important news stories. When I got older and moved out..he was on my tv every evening as well. I hope he is comfortable, pain-free and surrounded by those he loves and who love him.

From Wiki:

During the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Cronkite was anchoring the CBS network coverage as violence and protests occurred outside the convention, as well as scuffles inside the convention hall. When Dan Rather was punched to the floor (on camera) by security personnel, Cronkite commented, "I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan."

He is 92 years old and I can still hear his voice which was soothing and paternal for me.

And that's the way it is....

Jacko's legacy..in music

2009-06-25T21:15:00.001-07:00

Watch a nice video of MJ's music legacy here on my video page.

Musical facts on Michael Jackson:

Jacko sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Jackson as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time and "Thriller" as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time. Jackson won 13 Grammy Awards and received the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award.

No matter what your opinion of him was as a human being, the man did change music and dance..by combining them into works of art many times.

My son loved Jacko. I remember fighting furiously with my ex husband about what my son wanted for Christmas one year..an MJ doll, complete with that red leather jacket seen in the video Thriller. My son loved his music and his videos as a wee lad.

It drove my ex-husband crazy that my son wanted a 'doll'. Especially a doll of a black man. It infuriated me that he was racist and homophobic.

My son got that doll and his own version of the red leather jacket. We talked about that today on the phone when I called to tell him that Jacko had died. He was sad about it, but we enjoyed the walk down memory lane.

Jacko became a freak, it was sad to watch him fall from his pinnacle. The child molestation charges were something that he had to carry the rest of his life, yet he was acquitted in one trial and paid off the family in another. Whether he molested children..we will never be sure. We can be sure that his father was a bag of shit that sucked the life out of a small child in order to fill his own bank account, thereby robbing Jacko of any semblance of a childhood.

Jacko changed the face of pop music and he gave his all to his fans that loved him regardless of whether he had a real nose on his face or a prosthetic, regardless of the fact that he went from a black man to a man whiter than my current husband or had wrongfully touched a child.People loved Jacko and always will.

He was basically broke when he died. His beloved Neverland Ranch is owned by the cartel that was bankrolling his new tour in Europe.

I just hope his demons are at rest and that his children will remember him as a father who loved them more than anything else in the world.

ACLU report: Identifying School-to-Prison Pipeline in State

2009-06-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Pandagon has an excellent post up about racism and racial stereotyping within the Michigan school systems. Full disclosure: The author works for the ACLU in Michigan. You can read the ACLU report entitled “Reclaiming Michigan’s Throwaway Kids: Students Trapped in the School-to-Prison Pipeline,” here. The report addresses the disciplinary practices which are highly suspect and disproportionate with regard to African-American students in the state. A few highlights of the Pandagon article:

One of the things the report discusses is the vastly disproportionate numbers of punishments that black students receive - in Ann Arbor, for instance, black students make up 18% of students but 58% of suspensions, with numbers like these are repeated in districts across the state. I’ve had this discussion with people before, and the explanations for this usually attempt to pin it on parental involvement, or culture, somehow believing that the apogee of black culture is mouthing off to a teacher, because that makes sense.

I have a basic rule in life: if a group of people seem to be acting illogically given what are seemingly clear reasons not to, then there’s likely something else at work. We could accept that black kids and black families are just drastically more likely to train themselves to do disruptive things that will be cracked down on in schools, but that makes virtually no sense whatsoever. I think there are a couple of things at work, the first being that assumption by many teachers that black students and black males in particular are more aggressive and therefore more likely to transgress initially. The second is that, from the perspective of black students, being more likely to be treated in a capricious and heavy-handed manner by authority figures makes you less likely to respect those authority figures.

In my mind, it's logical to have less respect for authority figures when you are constantly being treated 'capriciously' by the asshole in charge because of the color of your skin or because of your sex. This paragraph in the Pandagon article really hit it for me:

Any more, many schools don’t do detention, they just suspend or expel. Combined with zero tolerance policies, often for subjective transgressions, being a grade school or high school student is perilous - whether you behave well or behave poorly, your continued presence in school is often subjected to the whims of teachers or administrators in dealing with you.

With all the budget cuts, they don't have the teachers to hold detention after school anymore. It's also a lot easier and cheaper, to expel or suspend a child. From the ACLU report:

Through its research the ACLU found that disproportionate discipline towards African American students was apparent in the majority of the school districts examined in the study. For instance, in the Ann Arbor School District during the 2006/07 school year, black students accounted for 18 percent of a secondary school student population, but they received 58 percent of suspensions. This trend is reflected in school districts statewide.

“In school district after school district, from one end of the state to another, we found that black kids are consistently suspended in numbers that are considerably disproportionate to their representation in the various student populations,” said Mark P. Fancher, ACLU of Michigan Racial Justice Project staff attorney and principal author of the report. “More alarming still are studies we examined that show that the behavior of black kids and white kids is essentially the same, and black kids are still kicked out of school proportionately more often. This is true regardless of socio-economic factors and geography.”

Racial stereotyping is alive and well isn't it? Damn it..damn it all.

How To Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell

2009-06-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

From The Progress Report:

While campaigning for the White House, President Obama pledged to repeal the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT) policy, which bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military. But since taking office, the Obama administration has yet to follow through on its promise and has repeatedly resisted calls to suspend DADT by executive order. The administration is seeking "Congressional action" to resolve the issue. As a consequence, the military has discharged more than 265 service members on the basis of the discriminatory and counterproductive policy since Obama took office. Despite the losses, when asked about DADT in March, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that repealing DADT would have to be pushed "down the road a little bit." Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that the Senate was waiting for "a legislative proposal from the White House on repeal so as to provide clear guidance on what the President would like to see and when." Seventy-seven members of the House recently sent Obama a letter urging him to "suspend" DADT. As part of an effort to build momentum from this call for action, the Center for American Progress published a report yesterday by Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan, and Laura Conley that provides a practical outline for repealing DADT and opening the armed forces to men and women who are currently excluded.

HOW TO MOVE FORWARD: Korb, Duggan, and Conley have laid out a five-step solution to repealing DADT that starts with the Obama administration setting the agenda: 1) Sign an Executive Order banning further military separations based on DADT and send a legislative proposal on DADT repeal to Congress; 2) Form a presidential panel on how to implement the repeal; 3) Repeal DADT in Congress and change the Uniformed Code of Military Justice; 4) Change other necessary military guidelines to conform to the new policy; and 5) Follow-up to ensure that the armed forces implement the policy changes. The CAP report says that "careful examination of the laws outlining the president's powers as commander in chief show that the executive branch has the authority to suspend homosexual conduct discharges without legislative action." This provision, commonly known as a "stop loss" order, grants the president authority to suspend the release of military members during any period of national emergency in which members of a reserve unit are serving on active duty. But because Congress originally passed the ban, an executive suspension will have to be followed up with legislative action that reverses DADT. CAP also recommends forming a DADT advisory panel modeled after the Gates Commission, which was established by President Nixon in 1969 and outlined a plan for transitioning the military to an all-volunteer structure. The commission's charge should be to consider "how" to end DADT, not "whether" to make the change.

LESSONS LEARNED: A crucial hurdle, the CAP report says, is the military's "strong aversion to change." President Truman's effort to integrate the Army bares this out. In 1948, after Truman issued an executive order ending racial segregation in the armed services, Gen. Omar Bradley, then the Army chief of staff, flatly refused, saying desegregation would ruin the Army. Because of the military's reluctance and bureaucratic hedging, Truman's 1948 order wasn't implemented until 1954. The CAP report notes that it's common for members of Congress, especially those on the Armed Services Committee, to aid the military's aversion to change. Robert Taft, the Senate Majority Leader at the time, called Truman's executive order a "cheap political ploy." On the question of gays serving openly in the military, perhaps the biggest obstacle has been public opinion -- until recently. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, nearly two-thirds disagreed with the argument that "allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military would be divisive for the troops and hurt their ability to fight effectively." And a 2006 Zogby International poll of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans found that 73 percent were personally "comfortable with gays and lesbians." The most recent example of a military seamlessly integrating its Army can be found in Britain. The British, who have a military structure and deployment patterns most similar to ours, were forced to allow gays into the military by the European Court of Human Rights in 2000. Before integrating, surveys in Britain indicated that there would be a backlash from current service members, with "two-thirds of male troops" saying that they would not work with gay men if gay bans were lifted. Once the ban was lifted, however, only a handful of troops resigned.
DADT STILL CLAIMING CASUALTIES: During a conference call with reporters yesterday, Korb underscored that repealing DADT was "not a gay rights issue" but an "issue of military readiness" at a time when the U.S. is engaged in two wars. Since its enactment more than 16 years ago, DADT has resulted in the discharge of more than 13,000 highly qualified men and women. At least 1,000 of these service members have held "critical occupations," such as interpreters and engineers. In addition, roughly 4,000 service members have left the military voluntarily every year because of DADT. The recent cases of Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach and Army Lt. Daniel Choi are illuminating. Fehrenbach, a highly decorated F-15 fighter pilot and an 18-year veteran of the Air Force with 88 combat missions, was informed last September that he would be discharged because someone notified his commanding officer that Fehrenbach had a male partner. It's estimated the military spent roughly $25 million training Fehrenbach. Choi was a National Guard infantry officer, whose expertise as an Arab linguist was vital to the war in Iraq. But he was also discharged because of the bigoted policy. The result of losing talented and crucial service members, said Korb, is that "lives could be lost."

Of all the industrialized nations with a military..how many are as homophobic as the United States military? The following is a list of countries which allow gays in the military:

Argentina
Australia
Bermuda
Canada
Germany
Israel
Italy
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Philippines
Romania
United Kingdom
Switzerland
Uruguay

Russia is a tad strange on this issue- those alleged to have "sexual identity problems" are to be drafted only during wartime. "Well adjusted homosexuals" are permitted to serve in a normal capacity.

SCOTUS rules 13 year old school girl strip search illegal..

2009-06-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Holy fuckamoly..really? That's a friggin no-brainer for me folks. She was also accused of bringing naproxen to school..not an illegal drug..an over the counter medication.

It was an 8-1 ruling. The lone idiot..I mean dissenter is...drum roll please...

Justice Clarence Thomas

Christ, was a tool Thomas is. From the McClatchy writeup:

"What was missing from the suspected facts that pointed to Savana was any indication of danger to the students from the power of the drugs or their quantity, and any reason to suppose that Savana was carrying pills in her underwear," Souter wrote.

The "combination of these deficiencies was fatal" to the legitimacy of the search, the court concluded. This ruling is likely to clarify for other school administrators nationwide how and when intrusive searches of students might be conducted.

Carrying pills in her underwear..give me an effin break.

Hypocrisy 101- Mark Sanford took that class.

2009-06-24T15:08:00.000-07:00

The Party of No has it's second philanderer in as many weeks today. Poor Governor Mark Sanford has professed to a few goodies today:

He lied about where he was for the last week.
He has been having an affair with a married woman
He possibly lied about spending South Carolinian's money to see his mistress.
He hasn't resigned from the governorship yet, but he demanded that Bill Clinton resign over the Monica Lewinsky affair.
He blew his 2012 move towards the White House out of the water..with a couple of bunker-buster bombshells.

Do I feel sorry for him? Fuck no..but I do feel bad for his wife of 20 years that gave up a lucrative Wall Street career to run his campaigns. She looked like the pinnacle of a good wife..Leave it to Beaver style. He of course supported the DOMA..the Defense of Marriage Act..can you say hypocrite? Read his sordid emails here and here if you wish..I do not.

But his wife kicked his ass out of the house..good for her. Good. For. Her!

Hopefully Sanford and Ensign will get the help they need..a psychiatrist for their lying, hypocrisy and double standards. ;)

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away...

2009-06-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

Paul Simon-Kodachrome click to listen.

View some beautiful photos from some of the worlds greatest photogs. From CNET:

Kodak is winding its last rolls of Kodachrome after 74 years of making the color film used by many of photography's greats. Steve McCurry and Eric Meola.

Spectacular yet old school. Goodbye Kodachrome.. a wonderful product used by millions to show us the world and it's inhabitants.