Shame

I don't think shame is an effective tool, as people who know me might have picked up on. I think it's degrading, and that it strips dignity from people, and that it's the sort of training "tool" that people use on, say, dogs. It's not a good way to learn anything but a simplistic relationship between some "illegal" action and the pain that will result. It does nothing to convince the shamed that their action was wrong, merely that they will be hurt if they do it again.

What am I referring to? This ugly spectacle.

What's even uglier are the comments below the story from people applauding this move.

Shit.

Hometown Insanity, Part Hiatus Interruptus

I have some brief Internet access, and what do I do? Go straight to Blogger.

I missed the latest Lebanon School Board meeting - apparently, the Board rescinded its earlier decision to "appoint" Ken Ray as interim Superintendent, leaving Assistant Steve Kelley in charge.

While the Lebanon Express story I got that from confirms it, the story doesn't make any mention of why that decision was made or who made it - the Board, Ray, or both. I'd really like to know what happened in the executive sessions meeting between Ray and the Board. Regardless, I think it's a good idea. There's no real reason to appoint Ray over Kelley besides some misguided attempt at a power grab that Ray - hopefully - wasn't willing to play along with.

You should also check out this comment from Anonymous, who adds some interesting background.

[A side note on anonymous comments: I understand the need for anonymity, but I wish anonymous commenters would pick a name and stick with it, even if it's a fake name. It would be nice to know if people are coming back. That's all.]

From the same Express story, I really like this part:

[Retired Superintendent] Davidian told the board members if their objective is to get rid of Jim Robinson they should buy the superintendent out and not waste his or Peck's time with a review.

During the audience comment portion of the meeting prior to Davidian and Peck speaking, Paul Bullock elicited a round of applause after he urged the board to spare the community the political drama and buy out Robinson's contract.

This suggests that Davidian sees right through the bull on this one. Suspending Robinson pending a performance review is not what Alexander, Wineteer, and their allies want unless it leads to his dismissal. They - and lots of other folks - want him gone, and anyone who pretends otherwise is either in on the game or blind. I am really starting to hate this kabuki dance, and I would die of joy if some enterprising Express reporter just blew the lid off everything. It's called investigative journalism, and I know it's hard, and I know it takes money and time, and I know the Express probably thinks it would put their reputation in the community at risk, but enough is enough. This is hurting the community, and even journalists are people and community members. Come on, folks. Crash the party. Please.

I'm also starting to feel for Chris Fisher. He's not quite talented enough to put the brakes on this train wreck, though he's trying his best. The injustice is that since he's on the wrong side, he's getting flack for doing his best to be responsible. That's pretty shameful - it's one thing to disagree with him while acknowledging his effort, as Shimmin apparently did in the last meeting, but it's another to call for his head just because he doesn't agree with your point of view. That's low, and both parents and teachers should know better. So I ask again: Is this really the model of politics and governance you want to use as an example for your children?

Break Time

This blog is on temporary hiatus until I have reliable Internet access again. Just sayin'.

Problem

I read Americablog. I like Americablog, for the most part. John Aravosis is funny, and gay, and not afraid to really mess with people.

But I wonder sometimes where he stands on things that aren't explicitly part of the American political scene.

For example:

He lives in the 11th, on Rue St. Maur. It's a gentrifying, trendy neighborhood with lots of bars and restaurants, though Marcus' end of the hood is pretty much a working-class Arab and Asian neighborhood, which is kind of fascinating as you'll think you're in a non-French foreign country.

Um, dude? Maybe this is just some sloppy writing, but that's pretty inaccurate. France is changing, and has changed. That is the new France. A little more knowledge of what's going would be nice, because your comment makes you sound like a stereotypical French xenophobe.

Gross

I know what kind of ice cream I'm not buying anymore (I never got into Starbucks):

I’ve been digging to see when Starbucks might consider taking the pus out of it’s Coffee and various other beverages. They don’t seem to have a definite timeline. When they make timelines they don’t seem to follow them anyhow. I dug up a Starbuck’s .pdf file.

...

“We shared the results of our dairy survey and explained the lack of customer demand for the certified organic dairy products that are currently offered in our stores. Starbucks agreed to continue to raise the issue of genetic modification with our suppliers; update our website with more information about genetic modification; and contact two of the company’s joint venture partners, the Pepsi-Cola Company and Dreyers Grand Ice Cream, Inc., regarding usage of genetically modified ingredients.”

So. Incredibly. Gross.

Fitting

Andrew Sullivan - who I do not understand at all - has a fantastic description of the Bush Legacy:

The man's legacy is a conservative movement largely discredited and disunited, a president with lower consistent approval ratings than any in modern history, a generational shift to the Democrats, a resurgent al Qaeda, an endless catastrophe in Iraq, a long hard struggle in Afghanistan, a fiscal legacy that means bankrupting America within a decade, and the poisoning of American religion with politics and vice-versa. For this, he got two terms of power - which the GOP used mainly to enrich themselves, their clients and to expand government's reach and and drain on the productive sector. In the re-election, the president with a relatively strong economy, and a war in progress, managed to eke out 51 percent.

And yet, for all that, there has been a tremendous amount of change in the United States in the last seven years, and much of it bad. People are suffering in ways they never had before as a result of the policies and practices of these people.

Speechless

I really thought that Rove would stay with him until the end.

Karl Rove, George W Bush's most trusted and senior adviser, has paid tribute to the US president as he confirmed his intention to leave the White House.

Mr Rove, who will step down at the end of August, said he was "deeply proud" to have served Mr Bush and the US.

Good riddance.

UPDATE: There are thousands of people who could have told Kevin Drum this on September 12, 2001, for free. It's always going to be a mystery to me why people didn't adopt this position until it was acceptable:

Instant analysis: It doesn't really matter. History will judge Rove a colossal failure, a man who never understood how to govern and, for all his immense knowledge of polls and politics, never really understood the times he lived in. It was 9/11 that both made and broke the Bush presidency, not some kind of mystical McKinley-esque realignment. Rove was blind to that, and blind to the way Bush should have governed after 9/11. His one-track mind, in which every problem is solved by wielding the biggest, nastiest partisan club you can lift, just couldn't adapt. It's fitting that he insisted on making even his final act as calculatedly partisan as he could, announcing his resignation not through the White House press office, but in an interview with the editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page. Sic transit, Karl.

The U.S., Jose Padilla, and Torture

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Miami - Jose Padilla had no history of mental illness when President Bush ordered him detained in 2002 as a suspected Al Qaeda operative. But he does now.

The Muslim convert was subjected to prison conditions and interrogation techniques that took him past the breaking point, mental health experts say.

Two psychiatrists and a psychologist who conducted detailed personal examinations of Mr. Padilla on behalf of his defense lawyers say his extended detention and interrogation at the US Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C., left him with severe mental disabilities. All three say he may never recover.

....

The judge in Padilla's criminal case has already ruled that Padilla is suffering from a mental disability, but she refused to allow defense lawyers to explore the issue of whether the disability was caused by Padilla's treatment in the brig.

It's a long story that I didn't totally finish, but I will say this: I would like to see an explanation as to why the judge in the case did not allow defense lawyers to explore the possibility that Padilla's condition was occurred while he was in the brig. As it stands, the ruling serves the function of helping cover up the fact that there has been lots of torture at the hands of the U.S. Government.

And then there is this non-denial:

Defense Department officials reject charges that Padilla was mistreated. "The government in the strongest terms denies Padilla's allegations of torture..." writes Navy Commander J.D. Gordon, a spokesman for the secretary of Defense, in an e-mail.

He adds, "There has never been a substantiated case of detainee abuse at Charleston Navy brig."

Funny thing, that. Padilla was held at Guantanamo Bay for a long time before being transferred to the Charleston Navy brig (I believe the transfer was the result of a court case that the Bush Administration lost). So that denial doesn't really mean shit.

Kucinich Once More

Hilarious. In a totally black-humor sort of way, of course:

If you know the Kucinich is the best candidate to represent your self interests, but you vote for another candidate the TV says is “electible” and then you hope that other candidate will adopt your issues once in office, you are exhibiting classic co-dependent behavior — acting against your own self interests in order to please someone in the hope they will change. It’s exactly the same as someone living with an alcoholic or an abusive partner.

From a comment over at The Republic of T. Check out the entire post, it's a pretty good argument for a) voting one's conscience and b) voting for Kucinich.

Totally Logical, But Still Incredibly Stupid

This is why people think that modifying one's assumptions about the world in response to evidence is a good thing. Not that I expect it to happen, especially any time soon.

Anyway, can you believe this shit? Someone has been smoking from the free market pipe a bit too much:

Brinkley said early economic planners had made the understandable mistake of assuming that a free market would rapidly emerge to replace what he described as Saddam's "kleptocracy", and create full employment.

Um, right. The most charitable thing I can say about that is this: It's only understandable if all you know about the world is what you learned at the feet of Thomas Friedman, or maybe from FOX news. A broader view - hell, any view - of history would have suggested that no, "free markets" do not just spring forth whole from armed conflict. That is a badly mistaken idea that neoliberals have convinced themselves of the truth of rather effectively in the last 20 years. The sad thing is that they show no signs of recognizing their ideological error, but seem to be desperately clinging to the idea that the implementation of Iraq was a mistaken, not the premise.

The least charitable thing I can says is that holy shit, those people are fucking idiots. No wonder things are such a clusterfuck.

Via Eschaton.