Challenging EW for the "Most Batshit Letter-Writer" Award

A letter in today's DH, reprinted in its entirety:

It’s a communist plot

I find it hard to believe that several people who believe in communism have been elected to high state government offices. Beliefs so firmly entrenched that they are trying to have communistic doctrine made state law.

Two such people are Phil Keisling and Norma Paulus. Fidel Castro would be proud of their efforts to reduce Oregon to a one-party system. I’m not sure what Hasso’s stand is, but I think from his editorials that he too favors the one-party system.

The worrisome part in all of this is the loudmouths pushing for the open primary. They are weak-kneed people that haven’t a backbone to stand up for anything. They complain about being locked out of their constitutional rights. Not true. They choose to join small factions that stand for nothing and therefore have no power.

Wake up and join the world; and if our world doesn’t fit, go someplace else!

M. Paul Lindsey, Lebanon

I..... yeah. There are good arguments against open primaries - the right of a party to choose its own nominee, for example - but this letter does not make use of such arguments.

A second argument, for the record, is that open primaries are a solution that does not fit the problem, which is the presence of a two-party system.

Somehow, I don't think Phil Keisling is a communist. I'd have seen him at the monthly mixer and board game session by now.

Jeebus.

From the 'Ungrateful' Files

Syndicated columnist Mona Charen, as reprinted in the DH:

What will George W. Bush be remembered for? If, as Clare Boothe Luce argued, every president gets just one sentence in the history books, then President Bush’s will certainly concern the war on terror and Iraq. His historical reputation will wax or wane based entirely on how well Iraq does in the coming decades. That’s the ballgame for Bush, historically speaking. And yet, as recent news about student test scores reminds us, a poignant aspect of this president’s two terms is his unrequited love for blacks and other minorities.

Say what? Is she kidding? No? You mean she's seriously claiming that Bush has love for people of color? WTF?

Oh, and in case you thought her opening was bad, check out how she concludes the column:

...the total contempt shown by the African-American community toward this president is a staggering injustice.

Yeah - the 'staggering injustice' of the Bush years is clearly how ungrateful African-Americans were for - what does Ms. Charen cite? - No Child Left Behind, AIDS funding for African and faith-based initiatives. Certainly it couldn't be Iraq, the War on Terra', the rapid expansion of the police state, massive deregulation of financial markets (with all the attendant consequences), letting energy companies develop energy policy, or any number of other things. Nope. The 'staggering injustice' of the Bush years is that black people aren't grateful enough. Jesus Fucking Christ, this is getting old.

I can't believe people pay her for this. And I can't believe Hering ran such racist drivel.

I want to puke.

Not what I would call 'prize-winning'

The Oregon State Song:

Oregon, My Oregon
Words by J.A. Buchanan
Music by Henry B. Murtagh

Land of the Empire Builders, Land of the Golden West;
Conquered and held by free men, Fairest and the best.
On-ward and upward ever, Forward and on, and on;
Hail to thee, Land of the Heroes, My Oregon.

Land of the rose and sunshine, Land of the summer's breeze;
Laden with health and vigor, Fresh from the western seas.
Blest by the blood of martyrs, Land of the setting sun;
Hail to thee, Land of Promise, My Oregon.

What a racist, sexist imperialistic pile of crap.

A Rare Michael Bérubé Sighting

The world pens an open letter to John McCain:

EARTH, July 25, 2008 -- The entire world drafted an open letter to Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) today, asking him to drop out of the U.S. presidential race and concede the presidency to Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois).

"Ordinarily we do not interfere in America's internal affairs," said a spokesman for the rest of the planet, "even when it has become clear, as in recent years, that American voters are about to elect ignorant, incoherent buffoons who will add immeasurably to our immiseration. But this time is different.

Check out the rest.

Taking it personally

In response to this ridiculous letter in the GT (it's the first one), I wrote my own letter. This is the important part:

I have to take issue with Jerry Duerksen’s July 23 letter defending landlords. The situation, at least for this seven-year Corvallis renter, is not the rosy picture Mr. Duerksen points out. A few years ago, I lived in one of the properties managed by his company. When I turned on the exterior water faucet, water leaked into the floor in my house, right where the baseboard heater was. Repeated letters to Duerksen and Associates got no response whatsoever, even when I cc’d them to the actual owner of the property. Needless to say, I didn’t stay long, and I’ll never rent from Duerksen again.

What does the GT do? It asks Duerksen to comment on my letter, and then runs his comment below mine:

Editor’s note: Jerry Duerksen’s reply: Dennis Dugan was an excellent tenant for over a year. He received most if not all of his deposit back and left the apartment in excellent condition. Obviously the water leak was repaired, or it would still be leaking today.

Anecdotally, it seems like the GT only ever goes to people in positions of power - city officials or business owners - to give them a sneak peek at a letter or op/ed and allow them to respond. Needless to say, if this is true, I don't think it's good practice. I feel a little sandbagged.

On the other hand, Duerksen's response makes him look even more out of touch. If the best he can do is claim that the water leak has been repaired at some point since I moved out (which has been a full two years), and that I was an excellent tenant, then.... why even respond? He didn't dispute my claim; he just complimented me and sounded clueless about the problem. To me, this just makes his original letter even less credible.

"Flash Forward: Pharmacy Flash Cards"

For some reason, I can't stop laughing at this.

Make sure to check out the "About" page.

The Future of Education

From Rate Your Students, of all places:

The ongoing deterioration of high school. High schools no longer teach many basic skills. The expectation is that they shouldn't. Why? I have no idea. You can pick from two dozen AP courses designed to get you into college, but in most schools you can't get basic hands-on time with power tools or engines, can't learn how to balance a checkbook, build a budget, get a mortgage or manage a home.You can take a class requiring detailed discussion of the history of modern Europe, but not one in the basic requirements of informed citizenship. It's disgraceful. High school aren't "high" -- they're low-rent college prep, or a way to mark time on your journey to service-sector job hell.

True, False, Both, Neither?

Discuss.

The Man From Hope, Special Media Edition

Specifically, CNN's Candy Crowley's. From Washington Monthly (via Hullabaloo):

Candy Crowley on CNN: Barack Obama was, indeed, awesome in his Berlin speech tonight, but watch out! Americans might decide he was a little too awesome.

Not only is it easy for me to read that as "uppity black man," but it fits right into that ludicrous right-wing narrative that daring to dream of a better future is crazy, or impossible, or stupid, or all three. You know, the one I made note of here and here.

And this from CNN.

Can we admit that the mainstream media is simply not liberal in any meaningful way? Please?

Somewhere, we took a wrong turn

Via /. and from the Chronicle of Higher Education's free section:

Tucked away in a 1,200-page bill now in Congress is a small paragraph that could lead distance-education institutions to require spy cameras in their students' homes.

It sounds Orwellian, but the paragraph — part of legislation renewing the Higher Education Act — is all but assured of becoming law by the fall. No one in Congress objects to it.

The paragraph is actually about clamping down on cheating. It says that an institution that offers an online program must prove that an enrolled student is the same person who does the work.

Already, the language is spurring some colleges to try technologies that authenticate online test takers by reading their fingerprints, watching them via Web cameras, or recording their keystrokes.

Fuck that noise. Not only is this a ridiculous invasion of privacy (baaaaaaa), but it's unnecessary:

"It's going to reduce access," says John F. Ebersole, president of Excelsior College, an online institution based in Albany, N.Y. "It's going to increase costs."

...

"We're feeling a little picked on," says Lori McNabb, assistant director of student and faculty services at the UT TeleCampus, the online arm of the University of Texas system.

She says there's no evidence that cheating or fraud happens more often with its students than with students in face-to-face classes.

...

She and others say online instructors rely more on discussions, writing assignments, quizzes, group work, and "capstone" projects to judge their students' performance, and less on big exams. Tests, when they are administered, are often randomized so students in the same class get different questions, which must be answered quickly, making it difficult for those unfamiliar with the material to take tests for students. Instructors become familiar with students' writing styles so they can spot fraudulent work, officials add.

Two Seconds on the Blogging & Public/Private Split

I'm starting to think more and more about blogs as being a replacement for the loss of common, public space in our communities. Certainly LT, and to a lesser extent this blog, have served as spaces for (some) people to have conversations about what's going on with the LCSD.... on the other hand, given that LT and I have veto power over comments (comments being a form of speech), it sort of calls into question how public the spaces really are.

For the first time, I'm tempted to compare myself to a mall: A pseudo-public space that only exists due to the largesse of a private individual or entity. While it might have the superficial appearance of a public space where people have equal access, it's clear that someone can enforce arbitrary rules that violate some longstanding norms about access to public space.

Don't get me wrong: I think both this blog and LT have added, not subtracted, to the ongoing discussion in the community by providing some sort of quasi-public space to communicate that didn't exist before. However....

Hm. I should think about this more, but I doubt I will.