Remembering Mr. Wizard (On the Importance of Science)

live blog of Lieberman meeting, or non-meeting...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/14/16231/8457

Posted by DiAnne Grieser at June 13, 2007 10:22 PM

Good thread header!!! :-)

My secret pleasure: PBS shows (usually Nova) about physics. When the concepts are explained with words, not mathematical formulas, I totally "get" the concepts and appreciate the science(s) involved. Einstein, Newton, string theory, whatever. I just love 'em!

This, yes, from someone who had a dickens of a time with fractions in fourth grade math and after the first quarter of algebra in high school became bored senseless with the endless repetition that led nowhere because the point of the math was just to do it, not actually do anything practical with it. I don't think in numbers, but in words, so even though I can do something like follow the formula to arrive at an accurate calculation for an astrology chart (which I was later told was advanced geometry, but I don't have a clue because I never took optional math courses), and I always knew what the results were going to be when the formula was followed, the numbers themselves bore me silly. I have done all kinds of math, statistics, averages, and whatnot by following formulas, and my checkbook is always balanced down to the penny, but the numbers themselves are still boring to me. That's why the Goddess invented calculators....

Many years into adulthood I felt better about my self-perceived 'lack' of math skills when I found out Einstein actually flunked fourth grade math.

:-)

Mr. Wizard was so before my time.

Kinda sorry I missed it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/watch-mr-wizard_b_51964.html
Watch Mr. Wizard
{{{Another story about Mr. Wizard. Many of the comments are great, too.}}}

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/13/daily-show-president-bush-albaniacs-and-the-popenator/
Daily Show: President Bush, Albaniacs and The Popenator

White House Subpoenas, and a Constitutional Showdown
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061407J.shtml
Matt Renner reports: "Subpoenas issued Wednesday by Congress for testimony from former White House officials could lead to a constitutional crisis over the right of executive privilege. Experts in constitutional law believe that the Bush administration will not comply with the Congressional subpoenas and will force a showdown. If individuals do not comply with the subpoenas, a vote can be taken to hold them in contempt of Congress. The issue would then be sent to the Washington, DC Circuit Court, where the US attorney for the District of Colombia could prosecute the case before a grand jury."
Excerpt:
Congress has one other option to enforce their subpoena: They can order the Capitol security to arrest the individual who refuses to comply with the subpoena and lock him or her in the basement of the Capitol building. Short of this, the only solution is a political one, according to Ohio State law professor Peter Shane.

{{{?!? I didn't know Congress could do that!!! Oh... the fantasies that come to mind.... ;-)}}}

DOJ to Investigate UK Arms Company Payments to Saudi Prince
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061407M.shtml
The US Department of Justice is preparing to open a corruption investigation into the arms company BAE over alleged one-billion-pound arms-deal payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. US officials say they are particularly concerned by the allegations that UK Ministry of Defense officials actively colluded in the payments.

Judge orders Libby jailed during appeal
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/14/libby.hearing/index.html

Posted by: madame defarge at June 14, 2007 02:28 PM

@@@@@@

OH HAPPY DAY..... MAYBE THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR AMERICA!!!!!

The judge was pissed at Libby and all his high and mighty "supporters". Apparently the judge got death threats....

I WANT TO SEE THAT PHOTO OPP OF LIBBY BEING LED AWAY TO JAIL....

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/14/the-daily-show-arming-the-sunnis-or-the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend/
The Daily Show: Arming the Sunnis or “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
{Splutter Factor! Put down your beverage and/or food before watching!}

A WHITE HOUSE PLAN TO ERODE OUR LIBERTIES
By Aziz Huq, The Nation
The Military Commissions Act threatens more than terror suspects at Gitmo. It is the spearhead of a long-term incursion on all our civil liberties and it must be rolled back.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/53964/

Excerpts:
The MCA doesn't say how a person gets designated as an "unlawful enemy combatant."
~~~~~
Problems arose this week not because of the flaws in the CSRT procedures but because the definition of "enemy combatant" that the CSRT uses isn't the same as the definition of "unlawful enemy combatant" in the MCA. Judges Brownback and Allred focused on this divergence and basically told the military that it couldn't fit a square peg in a round hole: A person designated by a CSRT as an "enemy combatant" isn't an MCA-compliant "unlawful enemy combatant."

Nevertheless, Hamdan and Khadr likely qualify as "unlawful enemy combatants" under the MCA's absurdly sweeping definition. So the likely next step will be a do-over. (And a do-over appears easy: The MCA allows a CSRT or "another competent tribunal" to do the designation.) This stumble for the commissions, in short, is unlikely to turn into a fall.

Posted by: Ralpheh at June 14, 2007 05:46 PM

Scooty-Boy hasn't yet spent a minute in jail and has ten days to appeal.

IF he does make it to jail, I don't think he'll spend the whole two and a half years there. I think DimWit will pardon him at some point.

But, yes, ol' Scooter's entrance to a prison I'd love to see, and IF shown on Lamestream Media evening snooze, I'd deliberately tune in to watch.

OK, back home now after the non-meeting.

First of all, great thread header, DiAnne! Even if we did have to explain to our kids why we were so sad about Mr. Wizard's death...

On the Lieberman meeting: I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you! to find out that there was lying going on in that establishment.

The staff lied to the press earlier today; claiming that there never was a meeting scheduled.
When we all showed up (see the photo at Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/14/16231/8457), a fairly unresponsive pod-like woman told us that the meeting had been cancelled that morning and she was not at liberty to tell us why.

Then, when three of us were meeting with Lieberman's Chief of Staff and Legislative Aide, folks called in to ask Joe himself to meet with us. They were told he WAS meeting with us.

The police were called and at one point we were threatened with arrest--we moved into a hallway and held photos of Iranian women and children up.

I do not believe that any of what we say to the inside-the-bubble types means much--the bubble only LOOKS transparent. But to share the truth with all of you and to have the truth told does mean a great deal, at least to me.

Read the Kos thread, especially Dick's long comment at the end. The more we know, the better.

Lieberman needs to have his bubble burst in a big way... or his jaw.

Senate supporters of a comprehensive immigration reform bill reach a tentative agreement to revive the measure, senators involved in the talks told CNN.

IF he does make it to jail, I don't think he'll spend the whole two and a half years there. I think DimWit will pardon him at some point.

But, yes, ol' Scooter's entrance to a prison I'd love to see, and IF shown on Lamestream Media evening snooze, I'd deliberately tune in to watch.

Posted by: NonnyO at June 14, 2007 06:35 PM

@@@@@@

Here was the analysis on NPR by Nina Totenberg: if Libby is in jail, it makes it harder (more obvious? more newsworthy? more embarrassing?) for Bush to pardon Libby. The judge sounds deadly serious about punishing Libby: I think the canned, form love letters from all his big shot lawyers friends did him no good and probably did him harm (Wolfowitz??? Bolton???) with the judge. And I think the idiotic death threats (Totenberg again) hurt Libby more.

The Repukes were arguing no jail time!!!!

Here's interesting and rather funny You Tube video on the slanted/unreal coverage of the Libby case by Fox News:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVgWoeC0Eh4

Posted by: karen at June 14, 2007 07:03 PM

My rage level is beyond description.

Thanks for the hard work though, Karen and CodePink.

I need a hobby.

http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons/2007/06/061407_iraq.html

I loved Mr. Wizard, and we actually learned that stuff in school.

Thanks, Karen, for all your momifying ways.

I need a hobby.

Posted by: Christy at June 14, 2007 09:08 PM

Try creative writing - you're good at it anyway! And it's always nice to have progressive writers together.

Since I live in a reactionary city, a reactionary ethnic community, and a reactionary family, creative writing has been one of the few ways I could meet progressives. And it's been very valuable experience for me.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/14/gonzales-under-investigation-yes-again/
Gonzales under investigation (yes, again)

{Heh.}

Military officers now targets on Hill
Dems challenge of Gen. Pace shows Pentagon uniforms no longer exempt

June 14, 2007

WASHINGTON - A Democratic challenge to Gen. Peter Pace indicates that uniformed officers no longer are exempt from the partisan fire on Capitol Hill once reserved for civilian policymakers.

Last Friday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the stunning announcement that he would not recommend Pace to serve a second two-year term as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Marine Corps four-star general had not been a target previously of Democrats' ire on the war, but Gates said lawmakers made it clear the confirmation process would be ugly.

"It would be a backward looking and very contentious process," Gates said at a Pentagon news conference.

The announcement was a surprise, particularly because the Senate in recent months confirmed other military officers with close ties to the Iraq war with little fuss.

Showing some muscle
In January, Senate Democrats helped confirm Gen. David Petraeus to take over the Iraq war despite their opposition to Petraeus' recommendation that the U.S. send thousands more combat troops into Iraq. The following month, Democrats endorsed Gen. George Casey as Army chief of staff after he led the Iraq war for 2 1/2 years.

Their approval kept with a long-held tradition on Capitol Hill that lawmakers level any stinging critiques at civilians and praise uniformed officers for their service to the nation.

"General Casey knows Iraq and the challenges the Army faces there," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in February. "The principal failures that led to the chaos in Iraq were due to the civilian leaders."

But when it came to Pace, Levin signaled a new era in which uniformed officers close to the president would be held accountable.

In an interview with reporters this week, Levin said Pace's nomination would have been more contentious than other uniformed officers because he was the closest military adviser to the president on a failing war.

Levin also noted the White House had hammered Democrats for approving Petraeus' nomination while opposing the general's recommendation to send more troops to Iraq.

"So by the president's and the White House's own logic, a vote for or against Pace then becomes a metaphor for where do you stand on the way the war is handled," Levin said.

Other senators expressed a similar view, indicating Democrats would no longer back the once popular Marine Corps general.

"General Pace has served the nation and the Marine Corps with great fidelity for over 30 years," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. "But, at this time, I believe that Secretary Gates has made the right decision."

Pace's downfall
Although House members lack the power to confirm military officers, they too appear willing to break from the tradition of not criticizing the military leadership. Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher said Wednesday she thought Pace was guilty of a dereliction of duty because of his support for President Bush's Iraq policy.

Tauscher, D-Calif., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Pace lost standing among members in March when he said homosexual acts were immoral and that the military should not condone the behavior by allowing gays to serve openly. He later apologized, including in a personal letter to Tauscher, for expressing what he said were his personnel views.

Tauscher said his comments on gays "showed his ignorance" and "had to be deeply discounted because they came from a man who had presided over a war that we got into on a lie and what I consider to be a serious dereliction of duty in having our troops and our readiness so destroyed by the policies of this administration."

Pace's demise comes amid increasing frustration by Democrats on their ability to force Bush's hand on the Iraq war. Following a meeting with the president and his top advisers on Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq "the great divide in the room."

"We all want stability in the Middle East, we all want peace, we all want a place that people can prosper," Schumer said. "But it is our view it really can't happen unless the policy in Iraq changes. It's their view that the policy in Iraq furthers stability in the Middle East, and it's hard to see that happening as things continue to decline, whether it's in Iran, in Syria, in the Israel-Palestinian conflict."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19221444/

Here's my favorite take on science. My dad was born in 1920. He joined the Army Air Corps as soon as he could after Pearl Harbor. He ended up a mechanic and made officer during the war. He demobilized under an agreement that he was subject to first recall but when recalled he would retain his brevet officer rank. So when Korea etc. happened he got recalled into SAC USAF as a flight mechanic (on board engineer for the nuclear fleet -- B-39,B-47, B-52 -- rent "Dr. Strangelove," my dad's favorite movie). So he learned all that science stuff in the service in the days of the slide-rule.

Anyway, now to the point. One day, in the 70's, me and dad were watching a football game. One side punted, and the announcer said "look at that hang-time!" My dad got all upset and said "What is this BS about 'hang-time -- they should say 'look how high that went.'" I said "Dad, what do you mean?" He went to the kitchen blackboard where we wrote grocery lists and proceeded to explain that the accelleration of gravity was a constant and that the vertical and horizontal vectors are independent.

One time I mentioned that to my boss, who is a former SEAL and has a Master's in naval architecture from MIT. He said -- "That's right, assuming a vaccuum, which is probably a good assumption from a significant digit point of view" (or something like that).

Anyway, that's my personal take on how there was a time in America when science was considered fun, sexy and interesting. Guess I'm just another old-fogey now.

Chuck in Houston

Max Weber:

"Under these internal presuppositions, what is the meaning of science as a vocation, now after all these former illusions, the 'way to true being,' the 'way to true art,' the 'way to true nature,' the 'way to true God,' the 'way to true happiness,' have been dispelled? Tolstoi has given the simplest answer, with the words: 'Science is meaningless because it gives no answer, the only question important for us: "what shall we do and how shall we live?"' That science does not give an answer to this is indisputable. The only question that remains is the sense in which science gives 'no' answer, and whether or not science might yet be of some use to the one who puts the question correctly."

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/lecture/science_vocation.html

Chuck in Houston

Thank God for Science ;-)

Many years into adulthood I felt better about my self-perceived 'lack' of math skills when I found out Einstein actually flunked fourth grade math.

:-)

Posted by: NonnyO at June 14, 2007 04:49 PM

Well, that's good news!!! I have had math phobia ever since my seventh grade Algebra teacher made fun of anyone who asked a question in class. I passed Algebra by my aunt (who is my age) doing my homework (came natural to her), and I took the tests and flunked them so the teacher gave me a D-.
Made honor roll and national honor society after that because I was good in English, social studies, government studies and business classes.
I never took another Math class EVER. If it's good enough for Einstein it's good enough for me.
I think I am bright, but when it comes to Math my pistons stop firing on all cylinders, and my hands get clammy. :-D

Science may not be able to provide answers
on how to live but it can provide information.
Scientific experiments found out about DDT and
other environmental poisons and their effects
and science was used to make nuclear bombs.
It makes a big difference who is using the
info gleaned from scientific research

Yeah I'm math phobic too. I was nearsighted from grade 2-6 and it didn't get diagnosed. Unless I sat at the front of the class I couldn't see. Also messed me up in sports. When I finally got glasses my eyes were glued to the windows as we drove home, as I could see the leaves on the trees & peoples' freckles. Like NonnyO, I didn't think they should be mixing letters and numbers (algebra). I usually did better if a $ was placed in front of the equations and I love a bargain. In college I took Statistics to avoid "real" math, taking the easier courses for teachers in summer. I somehow got through science courses such as Psychoacoustics but it was because someone explained the concepts well with words and diagrams, not just formulas.

God, this all makes me feel old.

More on the sleazy British buying planes, arms etc. for Bandar
http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/story/0,,2103730,00.html

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at June 15, 2007 12:37 AM
Posted by: not my president at June 15, 2007 01:04 AM

Interestingly enough, it wasn't math by itself that tripped me up... It was math as applied to physical chemistry and other chemistry classes.

I did three semesters of calculus in high school, and did two more in college - and did just fine. But chemistry pretty much killed me.

Don't get mad at me - I had an "Asian math nerd" stereotype to live up to. My writing and other skills suffered instead, to further comply with that stereotype - though now, I feel that it's the other way around, I prefer writing to math.

Hamas takeover shows failure of Bush's vision
With turmoil in Gaza, hopes for a two-state solution dwindling quickly

WASHINGTON - Five years ago this month, President Bush stood in the Rose Garden and laid out a vision for the Middle East that included Israel and a state called Palestine living together in peace. "I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror," the president declared.

The takeover this week of the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group dedicated to the elimination of Israel demonstrates how much that vision has failed to materialize, in part because of actions taken by the administration. The United States championed Israel's departure from the Gaza Strip as a first step toward peace and then pressed both Israelis and Palestinians to schedule legislative elections, which Hamas unexpectedly won. Now Hamas is the unchallenged power in Gaza.

After his reelection in 2004, Bush said he would use his "political capital" to help create a Palestinian state by the end of his second term. In his final 18 months as president, he faces the prospect of a shattered Palestinian Authority, a radical Islamic state on Israel's border and increasingly dwindling options to turn the tide against Hamas and create a functioning Palestinian state.

"The two-state vision is dead. It really is," said Edward G. Abington Jr., a former State Department official who was once an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

‘It is gone’
Abbas, whose bouts of vacillation have irritated U.S. officials, yesterday dissolved the Palestinian government in response to Hamas's takeover of Gaza. U.S. officials signaled that they will move quickly to persuade an international peace monitoring group -- known as the Quartet -- to lift aid restrictions on the Palestinian government, allowing direct aid to flow to the West Bank-based emergency government that Abbas will lead.

"There is no more Hamas-led government. It is gone," said a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the administration must still consult with other members of the Quartet. He said that humanitarian aid will continue to Gaza, but that the dissolution of the Palestinian government is a singular moment that will allow the United States and its allies to create a "new model of engagement."

The evolving U.S. strategy would let the Hamas-run Gaza Strip fend for itself while attempting to bolster Abbas as a moderate leader who can actually govern and deliver peace with Israel. The senior administration official noted that Gaza has no territorial issues with Israel, since there are no Israelis in Gaza, so the Hamas entity there would have no stake in potential peace talks concerning the border on the West Bank.

Referring to Abbas, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters yesterday that "we fully support him in his decision to try and end this crisis for the Palestinian people and to give them an opportunity to return to peace and a better future."

But analysts said yesterday that this strategy of dividing the moderates from the extremists -- which was the core of Bush's 2002 speech -- proved ineffective and may have led to the dilemma facing the administration.

Slide show

Infighting in Gaza
Hamas militants celebrate their Gaza takeovers, while Fatah supporters retaliate in the West Bank.

"The less we try to intervene and shape Palestinian politics, the better off we will be," said Robert Malley, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the International Crisis Group. "Almost every decision the United States has made to interfere with Palestinian politics has boomeranged."

After his reelection in 2004, Bush said he would use his "political capital" to help create a Palestinian state by the end of his second term. In his final 18 months as president, he faces the prospect of a shattered Palestinian Authority, a radical Islamic state on Israel's border and increasingly dwindling options to turn the tide against Hamas and create a functioning Palestinian state.

Story continues below ↓
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advertisement

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"The two-state vision is dead. It really is," said Edward G. Abington Jr., a former State Department official who was once an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

‘It is gone’
Abbas, whose bouts of vacillation have irritated U.S. officials, yesterday dissolved the Palestinian government in response to Hamas's takeover of Gaza. U.S. officials signaled that they will move quickly to persuade an international peace monitoring group -- known as the Quartet -- to lift aid restrictions on the Palestinian government, allowing direct aid to flow to the West Bank-based emergency government that Abbas will lead.

"There is no more Hamas-led government. It is gone," said a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the administration must still consult with other members of the Quartet. He said that humanitarian aid will continue to Gaza, but that the dissolution of the Palestinian government is a singular moment that will allow the United States and its allies to create a "new model of engagement."

The evolving U.S. strategy would let the Hamas-run Gaza Strip fend for itself while attempting to bolster Abbas as a moderate leader who can actually govern and deliver peace with Israel. The senior administration official noted that Gaza has no territorial issues with Israel, since there are no Israelis in Gaza, so the Hamas entity there would have no stake in potential peace talks concerning the border on the West Bank.

Referring to Abbas, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters yesterday that "we fully support him in his decision to try and end this crisis for the Palestinian people and to give them an opportunity to return to peace and a better future."

But analysts said yesterday that this strategy of dividing the moderates from the extremists -- which was the core of Bush's 2002 speech -- proved ineffective and may have led to the dilemma facing the administration.

"The less we try to intervene and shape Palestinian politics, the better off we will be," said Robert Malley, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the International Crisis Group. "Almost every decision the United States has made to interfere with Palestinian politics has boomeranged."

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19215537/

Hi gang,

Since we're talking about math and writing, I wanted to share a little triumph I had this week, thanks to the DCP!

The editor of our local once-a-week newpaper has asked if I'd like to be a contributing commentator on the opinion page! From my letters to the editor to my comments on local list-serves, they have seen and been impressed with my writing style. It's mostly commentary on local issues (plenty of fodder), but I was so pleased to be asked, and feel that if not for the DCP, I would never have developed my writing and commenting skills in a way that would have caught the newspaper's eye.

It'll only be a once every few months kind of thing, and unpaid, but it's still nice to be recognized, and I wanted to attribute the recognition to all of you, who have helped me find my voice!

Thanks, DCPers!

I miss math...my mom had me trained with all those red dots as a baby ("teach your baby math") and as a result I drove my teachers crazy for years by conceptualizing the math a lot differently from the way they taught it. Math was palpable to me in a way that their dry proofs could never comprehend.
I hit a bit of a speedbump with calculus in high school until I realized that physics and economics and just about everything else was simply applied calculus...and then once again math was a living organism and made perfect sense to me. I'll still frequently get distracted on a regular basis by wondering how to model a particular aspect of life with mathematical equations and "zone out" while people are talking at me until I figure out the general framework of the problem.
Somehow I went to college for an English degree and never touched math again, in an academic sense.
Yeah, I definitely miss math.
Science, not so sure about that. I had a really weird S&M biology teacher in high school who kept cages of castrated rats, petri dishes of mold, jars of pickled dead animals, and flats of marijuana plants in the back of the classroom. Middle school chemistry was much more fun, my lab partner & I were several months ahead of the other groups in the self-paced class and we spent most of our time "experimenting"...predicting what would happen when we combined various chemicals and then assessing the result. Or something like that. At one point we lit someone's name in fire in the carpet. That's one way to get people excited about science.

Posted by: monkey at June 15, 2007 06:11 AM

Regarding Irsrael/Palestinian relations, I recall during the years Clinton had the 'shuttle policy' that the conservatives were yeawing to leave them alone and that Clinton was 'just doing it for his legacy so that his legacy wouldn't be all about Monica."

Well, then Bush came into office, and he made a point of staying clear of all Clinton's policies which included the Israel/Palestinian conflict. Then within a year...his hands off policy came back to bite him in the butt.

His policy since then has been sporadic and basically just hawkish. It has no diplomacy in my opinion. It seems to me to be a bunch of punishment dolled out.

Maybe there is someone far wiser than me to tell me what is going on.

I certainly don't believe the 1000's of years of hate and religious hate can be solved in just a few short years; however, I do feel that America has to try to be an honest broker and support both sides. (Not that I know if that is really do-able.)

Sparrow
The way you have analyzed is exactly the way my Iranian-American friend did. She became very nervous when Bush completely ignored the Israeli/Palestinian conflict when he came into office - predicted big trouble in the middle east, because that was seen as symbolic of our arrogance, caring only about the region in terms of oil.

V
I loved and love science. I always took all the biology I could get my hands on and then got two clinical degrees, chickened out of med school because of organic chemistry (too much math!), then did get a speech and hearing sciences degree, but then ended up going back into clinical work. I miss research, especially design (the running of experiments itself becomes tedious as does analyzing data and writing up results). I don't fit in well in the clinical milieu in some ways (not quite extroverted enough) but I do enjoy the children. What I learned about human perception is very relevant and one frustration is when clinicians do something simply because it works and don't question how or why it works. That is the big difference my scientific training made. I'm also frustrated that the clinical and research paths are so separate as are the medical and educational paths (in my field). I think that is a big mistake. It would be much better for patients and progress to apply science more and to have a more medical/scientific integration with education. Well TGIF anyway and back to the grindstone.

Carol
Reading backwards .. I want to offer you a big congratulations!

I also think there is something wrong with the way mathematics is taught - people learn in different ways. Some are more auditory, some more visual, some more hand-on. When I was learning, if one stepping stone was missed, the child fell behind. Suppose someone didn't grasp long division well or wasn't firm on their multiplications tables, or they didn't "get" the first couple lessons of algebra. Too bad for them. I also don't think there was much encouragement in my day for girls. In one school, boys took shop and girls took home economics. We were never asked our interests. God forbid a boy should want to sew something or a girl make an end table. In another school, only boys took physics! One girl excelled in math, was good at calculus. The guidance counsellor suggested she be an accountant, no other options. Girls are supposed to have some edge in language and boys with spatial rotation. This is just a statistical trend, not a given. Education should be designed so any person can feel some confidence and attain a degree of skill in both. Even at University, there were special English classes for the Engineering Departments (mostly male) and special math and statistics for the Liberal Arts people (more females). It's fine to specialize, but everyone should have a good foundation.

Another example is handwriting. First of all, few write much any more. I don't see kids writing and drawing as neatly as they used to, and boys are really let off the hook because they may develop their fine coordination more slowly. Yet if you take a look at the handwriting of the Founding Fathers, the signatures are absolutely beautiful. I also have a male friend who learned his handwriting in Germany and it's much much nicer than that of most females I've seen. I'm not advocating for the Nuns who hit the kids' knuckles with the ruler if their letters aren't formed perfectly, but it's just another example of where "basics" aren't taught thoroughly. I will say that both genders can type and use game controllers!

Do you remember the Yes Men? Look at the hoax they sprung on all the oil execs at Calgary!! I am LMAO!!

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=20ee8637-9bd1-4ed3-b0d8-4e14ea4d035b&k=41943

Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning...

Posted by: Carol at June 15, 2007 07:53 AM

Congratulations! Glad that DCP was of so much help to you.

speaking of gender differences and science/technology:

A Spanish teacherwas explaining to her class
that in Spanish, unlike English,nouns are designated as eithermasculine or feminine.

"House"for instance,is feminine:"la casa."

"Pencil,"however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female,
and asked them to decide for themselves whether
"computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender
("la computadora"), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate
with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one,
you find yourself spending half your paycheck
on accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded
that computers should be Masculine ("el computador"), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;

3 They are supposed to help you solve problems,
but half the time they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won

Shantytowns springing up in Iraq

June 15, 2007

(CNN) -- Iraqis fleeing their homes because of sectarian warfare are starting to set up their own makeshift camps inside the country, a development reflecting the dire scope of the country's population displacement problem.

Andrew Harper, head of U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' Iraq support unit in Geneva, said that internally displaced people are setting up shantytowns because they haven't been able to find safe harbor with their relatives or friends and have been kicked out of public squares and government buildings in cities and towns.

"We're finally starting to see the creation of camps inside Iraq," said Harper, who spoke and provided detail to CNN via e-mail.

Iraq's displacement crisis is the most significant in the Middle East since the changes in population that occurred during the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

There are believed to be 2.2 million Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries and 2 million displaced internally, according to the UNHCR.

Internally displaced persons -- or IDPs, as officials refer to people who leave their homes but don't leave the country -- have been criss-crossing Iraq seeking refuge, a process that was accelerated after Al-Askariya Mosque, a Shiite shrine, was bombed in Samarra last year. That sparked a vicious wave of sectarian violence.

The presence of the newcomers here and there eventually began to strain resources in many locations and many of the 18 provinces aren't welcoming internally displaced people.

Harper cited strains on services such as health care, food and water access.

He said there now are tens of makeshift sites, including Najaf in the south, where there is much desert terrain, Baghdad, and Nineva province in the north. In Nineva, in fact, it is estimated that 7 percent of the total number of IDPs are in makeshift camps.

He said Kurdish region authorities "are planning to establish camps but we are resistant to that idea."

Harper said it is believed that just over 1 percent of the IDPs in Iraq are in "ad hoc camps," but "it is inevitable that we will see more and more being established and we have to find ways of providing effective humanitarian situation in an extremely insecure environment."

Most of the camps are not huge -- they range from a few to a couple hundred families.

"What we do know is that Iraqis detest living in camps and the fact that we are now seeing these types of camps being established is a very bad sign that other options are no longer available."

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/15/iraq.shantytowns/index.html

monkey,

Given that article and Tony Snowe's response to Helen Thomas's question that "Bush is on the front lines..."

Well, if he's so on the front lines then it's time that he take his family and live in those shanties.

They are refuge camps and those camps (to go along with club Gitmo and club Abu Gharaib) are only going to make the violence worse and the retailation against Americans worse.

Posted by: sparrow at June 15, 2007 07:11 PM

Fact is, he's F'ed up pretty much everything, and that's hard to refute anymore.

I'm sure Barbara Bush thinks those camps are working out quite nicely for the Iraqi's.

Could expect B Bush to trouble her "beautiful mind" about such trifles or L Bush to think about tragedies such as "Hurricane Corrina" or refugee camps.

Somewhere, somehow somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away and held for ransom
It don't really matter to me
Everybody's had to fight to be free
You see you don't have to live like a refugee
I said you don't have to live like a refugee

the dcp wine and tunage garden opens at 8pm est

pour old me

Congrats Carol, that is wonderful.

Ally,

Do you know I have written only one poem since we bought the new house? I don't think it is writers block really, but it is the first time in years I have not have a productive writing period.

Yall know that Alines case drives me crazy too, and the few times I did sit down to write, instead I just got taken in again by its complexities. Since the confession broke last year, all of us have been having serious nightmares again, but even on those nights where the dreams ain't so bad, you just jerk awake at 3:16 am anyway and think, 'Where in the hell did they put her...?'

BTW, speaking of writing and Aline, there is a book being written, and it is getting very close now to going to press. The premise is not actually Aline, but Robert Charles Browne, and she (the author) has been heavily collaborating with my family. Her too, I do not think she quite believed it at first, it was the Colorado cops that sent her to us.

We do not know what it will say, but I am most certain the revelations will just keep coming. Unless anything changes it should come out in October.

I will be scarce here soon for a while, someone who saw the other memorials is commissioning one for her parents crypt. As soon as my wood is cut to a satisfactory shape and size I'll be laying paint.

The only thing better than painting, is getting paid to paint.

I mean, other than all that, I need a hobby.

Great stuff right now on The History Channel... "Hippies"

Top Ten President Bush Global Warming Solutions:

10. Instead of "Partly sunny," have weatherman say "Partly cloudy"

9. Stop using Air Force One for Texas barbecue runs

8. Replace dangerous CO2 in the atmosphere with more eco-friendly CO1

7. Encourage people to walk more by distributing free Dr. Scholl massaging gel inserts. Are you gellin'?

6. Watch Al Gore movie one of these nights instead of "Dukes of Hazzard"

5. Bob Barker's free. Get him workin' on it

4. Send more troops to Iraq

3. I dunno, tax cuts for the rich?

2. Reduce hot air emissions by canceling "The View"

1. Resign

---The Late Show with David Letterman

Mail undelivered at Walter Reed
4500 pieces that were supposed to go to soldiers
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Army_Botched_Mail.html?source=mypi

Hey Monkey...

I was told, not too long ago by my friend who is this old school black man. He says 'I know who you remind me of now!'.

I looked at him and very cautiously said...'Who?'

He said 'JANIS JOPLIN!'

I just looked at him in confusion. I am still confused.

But I cut my hair with that thought in mind. Whacked it all off into a bob.

Carol--Congratulations!!! I'm so excited for you. That is a tremendous accomplishment and I'm so proud of you.

Posted by: Christy at June 15, 2007 08:46 PM

Pretty funny, I'm going tomorrow to see a Janis Joplin cover band as part of a cool lookin little local fest

http://www.oldschool.org/KindnessFestFacts.pdf
http://www.oldschool.org

Seriously, that is a very interesting coincidence.

I am not sure why I reminded him of her, Janis Joplin was well before my time too.

Hippis in Louisiana.

Oh Lord.

Hey Sparrow...

Hello Darlin.

1. Resign

---The Late Show with David Letterman

Posted by: not my president at June 15, 2007 08:42 PM

This is why Letterman is far preferable to Leno!

Posted by: Christy at June 15, 2007 08:13 PM

Good to know that you're a writer thorough and through.

I've never considered myself a writer until about 3 years ago, when I just decided to create a character based on myself, and start a novel. Now, that character is only secondary (her girlfriend is now primary), but writing has kept my spirits up, and allowed me to network with a number of progressives, including a CodePink staffer.

My folks have been quite nosy about my writing though, so I've stopped it until I get my own place. Can't wait to write again - in peace and solitude.

You know, I do not think I have ever felt such power as I did the year I wrote my first novel.

Yes it got me blacklisted but I do not care.

I started seriously writing at 15 and after I finished a set of ten very long story poems, it suddenly occurred to me I had been teaching myself to write a book. So I got a story in my head and played with it for two years before writing down a single word.

I can only describe it as a God-like power. To create these people from NOTHING BUT AIR. Direct their every move and habit.

There was a period where my grandmother died, my mothers mother, and my grandfather. my fathers father, died within 12 days of each other, it was horrible, but I was at the hieght of my power in my mind. I was going sometimes two chapters a day.

Then my nieghborkid shows up at my door and leads me to his mothers body, and I knew in my heart someone was about to get away with murder.

And they did too.

I quit writing cold. That really threw me. It took months to go back to it.

But in a way it was also for the best I quit midstream, because when I did go back, I had all the details worked out, it ended exactly as I wanted it too. It, the story excited me, it still does. My style needs polishing, but I can tell one WHOPPER of a story anyway.

I still get a rush thinking of how I could flex something so powerful by sheer will.

I think I will probably write another book and have to give it away for free too, but hey, in 200 years I will be famous.

Hey Sparrow...

Hello Darlin.

Posted by: Christy at June 15, 2007 09:10 PM

Hey Christy... I just got back from the store. I will check back later.

I am not a writer. It doesn't come easily to me. Also, I feel as if any story I wrote would be like a bottle of already served wine... I don't think I'd be able to be original.

However, when history is told about these neocons and Bush, it will sound like a fictional account. Too bad we're living it.

The horrid years of georgie seem like fiction, even now. I get too pissed to write about him at all anymore.

You know, it is strange, cause writing that book did something strange to me. It ...uncurled?... that power in my mind, and now I can literally flex it whenever I feel like it. Writing is natural to me, maybe even more so than talking.

The trick is feeling condusive to spending so much focus on something else while the kids are screaming and the house needs painted and my moms hanging out on my new back porch.

Yeah. Great.

The funny thing is, there is one subject I can not write about, other than my own personal account, and that is Alines case.

All I could think to say is 'F*ck you sheriff'', for 300 pages. Which sheriff...? Pick one.

Hard to explain something you don't understand yourself. I doubt I will ever write more about it than I do here.

Someone who knows more than me will have to tell that one.

Posted by: Christy at June 15, 2007 10:16 PM

I understand Christy.

Schlozman sought to hire ‘good Americans.’ A December 2005 complaint against controversial senior Justice Dept. official Bradley Schlozman alleged that Schlozman was “systematically attempting to purge all Civil Rights appellate attorneys hired under Democratic administrations.”

[Schlozman] appeared to be “targeting minority women lawyers” in the Civil Rights Division and was replacing them with “white, invariably Christian men.” The lawyer also alleged that “Schlozman told one recently hired attorney that it was his intention to drive these attorneys out of the Appellate Section so that he could replace them with ‘good Americans.’”

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/15/schlozman-sought-to-hire-good-americans/#comments

Posted by: Christy at June 15, 2007 09:33 PM

Fact is, writing is a terrific coping mechanism and stress releaser...!

Years ago when I lacked much time I wrote poetry (had a couple of them published, then lacked time to write to publishers to try to get more published). I've not written much poetry for many years. I re-read my work from 30 years ago again a few years ago and was surprised that some of the things were actually pretty good, but wondered what had prompted other pieces that were not good.

I've had a horrible amount of personal stress in my life for a few months now, wrote something to someone regarding facts, used satire, and the point was missed in favor of readers responding only to the satire. I should have slept on it, then edited out the satire (even if it was accurate). But I know what I will title the journals regarding the sad saga.

I have figured out that my writing style changes, depending on my targeted (imaginary or real) audience. It changes the way I express myself. Blogging has given me lots of freedom of expression and reading the freewheeling styles of others has enabled me to give myself permission to emulate a freer style of expression, but I have to edit out blog language to be comprehended by someone who has no idea what I'm talking about otherwise.

I loved having to to an essay for a final in college classes. I aced them. I had to go through my whole freshman year not knowing why I aced the essays, and the following year I took a creative writing class; students critiqued each other (light bulb moment), then I figured out why profs loved my essays: correct spelling and grammar and logic go a long ways toward first impressions; after that it's a matter of making sure any arguments are presented in a cogent manner. (I was very surprised so many college students were so clueless about things they should have learned in grade school. By then many of the students were using the computers that had just been installed in various locations at the campus - people didn't have personal computers yet, although many had typewriters, but those who had access to the computers should have at least done a spell check.)

Hooray for writing and the ability to relieve stress and cope with difficult situtations through words...!!! :-)

For anyone interested in Dave Letterman, Michael Moore is apparently on tonight to talk about 'Sicko.' The show just started here (Central Time).

Bush said he had his watch the whole time
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/14/wbush114.xml
yeah right

Enjoying all the talk about writing. I am pretty much a nonfiction reader and writer, for the most part. I like biographies, textbooks, travelogues, essays, wikipedia entries, instruction manuals, newspapers.

I guess I have some favorite fiction writers over time - Louise Erdrich (native American), Margaret Atwood (Canadian). I love to read from the past - Oscar Wilde, George Orwell, Nietsche etc. I like the way they write. I love to read old speeches - political, persuasive, and propaganda.

My best writing teacher used a text called Telling Writing and I favor conversational writing. It cuts through. On the other hand, I loved getting through Marshall McLuhan or even Finnegan's wake, totally different. There was a guy I went to graduate school with who also advocated for being very direct and active. Nuance can be good though.

My absolute favorite writer is Lawrence Osborne, who is British. He wrote a book on Asperger's syndrome, a book on wine and my all-time favorite book which I've read probably 20x - "Paris Dreambook - An Unconventional Guide to the Splendour and Squalour of the City. It's like poetry but it's prose.

I love to read Paul Theroux's accounts of his travel because all he does is go on long train rides (like the TransSiberian) and bitch the whole time! Pico Ayer is just the best travel writer. I would actually like to BE a travel writer, if I could ever get the time and money to travel.

I love Will Self - now that's fiction (and how!) & Tom Robbins, who is from around here, and Ken Kesey too. We have some good women Sci-Fi writers, like Ursula LeGuin. Also really love the magical realism (writing and films) from South of the Border. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - I agree with Bill Clinton on that.

I really love to randomly read wierd blogs. The internet has kind of leveled things as far as peer review. There are sites populated by people from the high-functioning autism and Asperger's communities (although that may be kind of a contradiction in terms, as many are loners by nature). It's interesting to me that they characterize others as "neurotypicals" and feel discriminated against. There has to be some truth to that. People on the autistic spectrum tend to be fairly guileless and free of mind games and manipulation and really don't start wars or screw people over.

I like it when elementary schools have children write and illustrate books, even if they do it fairly phonetically. My favorite is when they make up their own cookbooks.

Christy = Janis Joplin

Oh My .. sing it, girl!

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV ?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV ?

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?
I’m counting on you, Lord, please don’t let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?

Speaking of someone who can write, go to http://www.radrobin.com for an opus on leaving the Democratic party and what can possibly be done - comment appreciated, I'm sure. It looks like this was alot of work.

I Got A Crush on Obama, by Obama Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU

Posted by: not my president at June 16, 2007 01:24 AM

What's your point? Regardless of which candidate the video is about, it's offensive & should not be posted to perpetuate/validate its existence.

It is amazing how many writers we have here.

NMP, me too, I like reading all kinds of things, but, for some reason, I have always preffered textbooks.

I was never taught to write in any formal way or class, but I have a mother who is not only a poet but also a songwriter. She is actually quite good at it and encouraged us to pick it up.

At one point my mom was a history major in college, and at like 3 and 4 I was allowed to attend classes with her, I think I was the only kid in America who spent their days sorting out the bloodline of the British Monarchy.

My mom used to make history come alive in stories to us. I was the only kid in class that knew who William Wallace was and why he was remembered for it. Helen of Troy, The Bolshevik Revolution, Chinese Dynasties, she can take a story straight out of the text book and make them real. As a kid I was fascinated with Hitler, Napolean and pharohs. She is an excellent story teller and a walking encyclopedia on dates, times, eras.

Ever try explaining to your 4th grade classmates what the 'Diet Of Worms' is...? I don't recommend it.

Of all her 5 kids I am the only one that writes, my siblings all have real jobs and like money. But, my brother, him too, he is a story teller like our mother. He can be hypnotic.

They do not write, but we are all well read.

Posted by: madame defarge at June 16, 2007 08:23 AM

I don't think nmp meant any harm from it because nmp has stated she doesn't have a pony in the race yet.

However, I do believe madame defarge has a good point herself. And I think this is something the dcp regulars need to address--ie. should the videos or other artwork (etc) regarding candidates be posted at the dcp.

Regarding the video itself--not my style. I think it's crass. It wouldn't make me vote for Obama or not vote for Obama.

However, I am curious, because I don't have a pony in the race, if anyone knows of a site that is showing how their health care plans stack up. I wish I understood better how each of them will be taking our country back from the precipitace we're now at. And I want to know which ones are trustworthy.

BTW, I need some parenting advice.

My 15 year old son stepped out of his daddys house the other day, coming to my house for the summer. I immediately went into something resembling shock.

To my absolute amazement, my son is suddenly 6 foot two. At 15. Last year he was a little taller than me, now he is taller than every man in our family except my brother.

Looking up at him changed everything, and I am not sure why. It feels all different and I am not sure how.

WHY WHY does that suddenly seem so freaking wierd? I mean if an alien had popped out of that house, it could not have seemed more strange.

Will it always be wierd like that?

Oh Goodie. Keep your eye open for the internet addition of nightline when they interview the CEO of Shell who is on a propaganda tour to convince us that Shell and other oil companies aren't ripping us off and aren't as bad as they seem.

Stay tuned...

You do know who the main shareholder for Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company is don't you..?

Queen Elizabeth the Second.

A few years ago she cleared almost 4 billion in pure profit.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 09:39 AM

Christy,

I don't have boys, but I have nephews and I once slept at a Holiday Inn... (Take my advice on those flimsy credentials or not.)

You won't always feel weird. You'll feel short though. And when their voice changes, then it will feel weird again for a while, but then it will get better too.

Your parenting style may change as you see that he's growing into adulthood but you can't stop parenting either. You just begin to be there when they need you or push them along the way, but you stop telling them every little thing to do. Of course you still steer them away from using drugs, tobacco, or alcohol and you have consequences for when they break those rules or break a curfew--because they still need that type of involvement and guidance.

Of course, I have girls and their teenage years added lots of grey to my hair and caused me to shed many tears. I'm not sure if it's the same with guys. People have told me that guys are harder to parent when they're young but easier as teenagers with the opposite being true for girls.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 09:52 AM

AND she still gets to live at the Brittish peoples' taxpayer expense.

Sounds just like George.

Sparrow and Christy,
aving raised both boys and girls, I concur with sparrow that the boy got much much easier as he got older. Fifteen was a bad year, I recall. Eighteen is looking mighty good, so far!

I can talk with my son like an adult now. He's well-read, clever, and much more open now.

The eighteen-year-old girl is now much tougher, although she, too, is great. She is less open, however.

The just-turned-twenty-year old is a delight. Mature and responsible and communicative in good ways.

It's a shock, as you say, when they turn into seeming-adults overnight. But don't be fooled; they need consequences, now more than ever. They WILL do stupid things for a few more years.

I registered my son for college classes yesterday and the younger step-daughter is off to "Beach Week". The older one has a job for the summer at a nonprofit. Our reward for surviving all the sturm and angst is that now we have fun with them!

Moms in solidarity!

HAHAHA. The voice thing.

I have one son, and 4 daughters. I call to talk to a daughter and this man I don't know answers... I say let me speak to my kid.

In this deep voice that just rumbled he said 'I am your kid.'

I wen't 'EEEK!' and threw the phone to the ground and just looked at it dumbly for a few seconds. I didn't know wether to stomp it or pick it back up.

I could not decide if that was true or I was in some freaky horror movie. It totally caught me off guard.

But not even that prepared me for 6'2.

Whipping his ass just became an empty threat and I do not have a back up plan.

The funny thing is, there is one subject I can not write about, other than my own personal account, and that is Alines case.

All I could think to say is 'F*ck you sheriff'', for 300 pages. Which sheriff...? Pick one.

Hard to explain something you don't understand yourself. I doubt I will ever write more about it than I do here.

Someone who knows more than me will have to tell that one.

Posted by: Christy at June 15, 2007 10:16 PM

You will, Christy. Not yet because you are still living it. You don't know the ending. But that isn't important except for you and your family to have some resolution to the whole sorry affair. As you pointed out - you're the writer, casting person, director. Truth is hard to write because you become tied up with what's really accurate. There are always different versions of one historical event. It depends on who is telling the tale. You tie yourself up too tightly when you want every word and detail to be as it was.

You can invent an ending. You can invent the entire story to ensure that some of the guilty are run to ground. It was so good to read about that KKK guy getting convicted finally.

And Christy, I think that is the story that you have to write. For all those women. And especially for you. Janis Joplin? Now I can picture you.

Whipping his ass just became an empty threat and I do not have a back up plan.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 10:05 AM

Backup plan: car keys...

Posted by: woz at June 16, 2007 10:25 AM

Woz is right.

Christy and Karen,

Having seen my nephews change so drastically from a hyper toddler and kids compared to the witty and smart kids they are now, it does seem like the more difficult time was when they were younger.

My neices seem to replicate my daugthers' experience to a certain extent. I wonder how much girl bullying has to do with this drastic change. (You know...the queen bee syndrome?) They do say that girl bullys do a lot more damage in the long run because it's long term and insipid and stays hidden under a veneer of 'sweetness'.

madame defarge
The video on Obama went viral. That is my only commentary in posting it. I believe in freedom of speech and it's also satirical. I thought it was creative. What was offensive? That it was in an MTV style and that it wasn't politically serious? Young voters have a sense of humor. It might even get Obama votes. I see nothing wrong with making or posting it. We're all going to have to have a thick skin to get through this election cycle. I'm surprised anyone would blink twice about it. I thought it was cute and see nothing wrong with it. The person who sent it to me and another friend didn't either. So no apologies from me on this. I'd do it again.

I just watched it through again. I think it's cute and a great satire of the kind of thing young people watch on MTV. I'd like to see more of this type of thing. By the way, I'm a three decade feminist but with a libertarian stripe so don't buy into the PC police. I'd be glad to see more of this type of thing and what would even be better is if people watched it in the spirit in which it was made - fun. I also enjoyed the JibJab stuff, the Onion, any Jon Stewart and Colbert. We need more fun in this life.

Don't open this link if you think you won't like it and I'm off to cover my annual naked biker event and believe me it is very political and antiwar and pro-impeachment.

http://www.barelypolitical.com/

Posted by: not my president at June 16, 2007 10:46 AM

If it were about John Kerry, would you feel the same way?

Madame defarge
Yes, absolutely. As long as it was recognizable as satire.

The people who sent me the video are Obama supporters.

Woz is right.

Posted by: sparrow at June 16, 2007 10:33 AM

Thanks sparrow - occasionally I get there. I've had the week out (hospital) so I'm just jumping in at the deep end here.

DiAnne - great quotes about science through the years - I've sent those off to different ones. We had Professor Julius Sumner Miller as our science TV nut - and advertiser of Cadbury's chocolate. His antics were fun and made you think.

Now - the talk about writing as a therapy - it's something I've always encouraged. And the parenting - I have two sons. One is aged 31, the other 32. The 31 year old has 3 children to 3 mothers. His first arrived when he was 19 and I'd nowhere near finished the child-raising task. My friend and I agreed when our boys hit 15 that we should have the option of leaving home to take time out for 10 years minimum.

The youngest has his first baby (8 months) and he has his life much more together than his brother. He's the one I can talk to on the mobile without it chopping in and out. When Jeremy's first relationship ended and he couldn't see his daughter I tried to encourage him to keep a set of journals to give her when she's older. Just write a few thoughts when he thinks of her. He never did it. Jeremy is the one who makes every lesson in life the hardest it can possibly be. Trent is far more like me. Neither of them are academics like me though.

I don't have advice because, every single child is so incredibly different. There've always been consequences for actions for both of them - but Jeremy never once stops to think of consequences. Act. Sigh. Consequence. Oh, I didn't think of that.

This is what having children who are now parents does to the brain. It's the 32 year old who has the 3 kids. Jeremy. 31 year old Trent has an 8 month old daughter - Logan.

See - my advice would be confused.

Nice to hear people talking about sons. I have one son, a young man who just turned 26, and it's been one of the best experiences of my life. He is an Obama supporter, by the way, but as was said, I don't have a pony in the race yet. I do listen to what he says because he used to fall asleep at 4 reading almanacs and already knew all the presidents and vice presidents at 7! He doesn't go to blogs but just reads newspapers and watched both the Democratic and Republic Party debates, has a degree in Political Science and after this summer will have one in Communications. Yet he can't find a good job or affordable housing, but what a sweetie!

It's kind of cool that I work with children now that mine has grown up (& I don't have any grandchildren). I kind of miss those years and it's also nice working with parents. We deal with alot of problems, so it's a job I can believe in, even though it can be draining.

Janis Joplin...? I must admit, I am still confused.

All I know about Janis Joplin was my daddy hated her for being a 'Godless hippi' who died badly.

You are right about me wanting to direct the characters and be able to flex poetic license, and this case totally is wierd enough without any embellishment.

I think part of it is not really the ending not being worked out, but where do you even start as well? What happened is still happening, and it was started long before anyone detected it.

As for actually trying to write about it, I truly do feel it is not my place. I am to bear witness.

After her mother disappeared, in those long summers right after, Karrie and Petey would come to our house. For 3 years of summers we made up 'detectives clubs' and stalked the swamps trying to find the little airplanes Grandpa swore were there.

We made many oaths to solve it, to bring Aline home, and sealed it with drops of blood from our hands. We made promises to ghosts.

Sometimes it is very hard to tell her there is hope those promises will be fufilled. I know the odds are so totally stacked against her and her siblings, but I will keep my promise to her.

I knew one day she would come back to us, I knew one day we would find each other again. It has been a very long and painful journey.

I may never write about it in a studied way, but I tell yall because in the end it is the only thing that will protect my family.

I do not like being so exposed like that, but we are in the middle of a bunch of cops who all seem out to get each other.

The more victims we find, the higher the stakes go. The more killers it suggests.

I wish I could tell Karrie I had solved it, I would give anything to be able to keep that promise. But now that I am grown I know we never had that power. It is bigger than all of us.

Someone with that power will have to solve it, then it will be over.

Trooper Allen has that power and has 3 cold case murders in his lap with accusastions of police corruption flying in all three of them.

I think it is safe to say he has no choice but to solve them. I have met him several times and I can not help but feel hope. I am so afraid it is for nothing.

I have wanted this story to end for so long, I just want it to be over.

When we bring her home and bury her, then it will be over for us and I really don't care what anyone writes about it after that.

Woz said
every single child is so incredibly different
& I agree

On the issue of what "should" be on the blog, it's not up to me, but I think that song lyrics, political satire videos, and the like have as much relevance to the mission and thread headers as do peoples' observations about their personal lives, writing, families and so on. To me, it's all good. Diversity in community keeps it vital.

Christy
Janis Joplin was very talented and died at 27 after living hard. She was voted "Ugliest Man on Campus" in school, so if you have ever been the "odd one out" in a repressive environment, you will understand. It is unfortunate that she died so young and by the way, the "godless hippies" were very much more godlike in many cases than their critics. What did they preach? Love. Many were inspired by elements of eastern (and western) religions that emphasized unity and oneness but also were living exemplars of diversity.

By the way, I will be 55 next month and will be celebrating 4 decades of hippiedom, also having been influenced by my beatnik predecessors, by the American expats in Europe during the wars (their works and lives) and the punk philosophy of "questioning authority."

It amuses and irritates me when people like Cheney use as a slam that something is "out of the mainstream" and if not for the bohemian, how lackluster life would be.

By the way, I heard from my friend Kayakbiker (who sometimes covers peace events in the Twin Cities and does wonderful photographs for a number of progressive sites and sources) - he and his family went to the Philippines, where his wife is from. Her sister was hit by a car while a pedestrian and suffered a traumatic brain injury. They have spent most of their vacation so far in her hospital room and she just had a subdural hematoma drained. They do have modern equipment there, they were pleased to find, such as MRI machines, and much cheaper than here (even adjusted for the currency difference). Please send positive energy their way.

Presidential Politics in the Internet Age
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=politics&id=5397687
discusses controversial videos and their varying impact

"Janis Joplin was very talented and died at 27 after living hard. She was voted "Ugliest Man on Campus" in school..."

Talented at what? I think somebody said she was a folk singer, but I may be confusing her with another hippi.

Sometimes I guess living hard famously is enough to make you a legend.

Living hard makes you hard. Not invincible, just hard. "ugliest man on campus'... now that's funny.

Best line in any movie ever... 'Sometimes life is just hard, for no reason at all.'

I stopped self destructing at 24. I got lazy and wound up pregnant. It saved my life.

With all of my kids, I knew I was pregnant within days of getting so. Suddenly knowing a child was inside me changed everything the moment I realized it.

I don't know what Janis Joplin was about, but no one deserves to die so young.

Bill Moyers | Begging His Pardon
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061507R.shtml
"We have yet another remarkable revelation of the mindset of Washington's ruling clique of neoconservative elites - the people who took us to war from the safety of their Beltway bunkers," writes Bill Moyers. "Even as Iraq grows bloodier by the day, their passion of the week is to keep one of their own from going to jail," Moyers continues.
 
Vatican Cardinal Calls on Catholics to Stop Funding Amnesty
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061507WA.shtml
A senior Vatican cardinal said yesterday that Catholics should stop donating to human rights group Amnesty International because of its new policy advocating abortion rights for women if they had been raped, were a victim of incest or faced health risks.

Christy
She started out as a folksinger - moved from Pt Arthur TX to San Francisco, then was a blues-oriented rock singer with a big voice and alot of life and power. She was a legend. I got tickets to see her 4x during the summer of 1970 when I lived in Minneapolis but each time she cancelled, then she died. Unfortunately, like many in the rock world, she got into alcohol and hard drugs and died.

Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Curt Cobain - none of them made it to 30. I suspect maybe there was some undiagnosed bipolar disorder in there, as the manic phase can be associated with creativity (imagine not having level moods hardly at all) and many self medicate with alcohol and drugs. Tragic anyway.

Check her out. "Piece of My Heart" - classic. Complete vulnerability when a strong woman surrenders to unrequitted love - too sad. Experience Music Project here in Seattle (the big music museum of Paul Allen's) had a special feature on her and it brought me to chills then tears.

I mean like it's a blues-rock version of Patsy Cline codependency

Take it!
Take it! Take another little piece of my heart now, baby,
Oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart, now darling, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Oh, oh, have a
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, hey,
You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good.

Janis Joplin

fall to pieces,
Each time someone speaks your name.
I fall to pieces.
Time only adds to the flame.

You tell me to find someone else to love,
Someone who'll love me too, the way you used to do.
But each time I go out with some one new,
You walk by and I fall to pieces.

Patsy Cline

Universal - but to expose it and show it and depict it and nail it?!

I love Patsy Cline.

Ok gotcha on Janis Joplin, but still not sure why I would remind anyone of her.

I am not a folk singer, an acoholic, nor a dead hippi.

And I would make a rather handsome man.

I still don't get it.

not sure why I would remind anyone of her.
Christy

Your accent? (just a guess)

Posted by: woz at June 16, 2007 10:25 AM

You're absolutely right about the writing! :-)

However, a long time ago Christy had photos of herself on her blog and I viewed them. In physical appearance, Christy is beautiful in an etherial sort of way (model-type beautiful). An artistic photographer could go mad trying to capture it. No physical resemblance to Janis Joplin whatsoever! Knowing Christy can express herself well in writing (prose and poetry) or through her art almost doesn't connect, because in modern terms Lamestream Media has made us believe physically beautiful people are airheads, and they're famous for being beautiful people who have accomplished nothing else in life.
~~~~~

As for actually trying to write about it, I truly do feel it is not my place. I am to bear witness.
Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 11:15 AM

Bearing witness is the point of recording events.

I feel deep empathy for you and your family on many levels, and sometimes I can only read about the events that have made your life a living nightmare by forcing emotional distance; otherwise I just break down and cry in frustration. I can relate on a similar plane, although my emotional stressors are different, and there is no resolution (I had a temporary resolution of sorts until more recent events scratched the scab off to bleed all over again). Emotional deaths and mourning, but not physical deaths and mourning. "Resolution" is impossible unless circumstances change for one of the players in the tragedy. The only thing I can do is continue to record things in chronological order (plain cold facts from documents and enter them in my genealogy database), and then write about the emotional reactions in a separate journal. In a few years I can go back and read what I've written and then re-examine and re-evaluate the situation from the perspective of time, and then I will be able to look at things more objectively again.

But don't stop writing (or 'bearing witness'), even if it is so painful all you can do is scream in agony. There are all kinds of coping strategies, but all things considered, writing is one of the very best, and at least it is a positive way to deal with the grief. People without such a skill don't have that creative outlet and they do destructive things while working their way through horror and grieving processes.

As Karen can tell you (since she's been part of the process), plays can be written and acted that portray reality.

Evil exists independent of itself. Evil people exist because most are born that way, and any good that was shown them through the years of their childhood and adolescent years makes no impact on their adult lives, they never even try to emulate good, just as pit vipers are born the way they are. They just exist without rhyme or reason. The world could do just as well without them. Evil thrives on the chaos it creates. The only "control" one has is to avoid it whenever possible (a 'pain avoidance' response) or "control" one's own response to evil. The "resolution" one finds in trying to make sense of the evil one did not invite into one's life can be found through creative outlets such as writing, art, and other positive activities. It gives a person choices when no surface choices seem apparent. It makes one examine life from a philosophical perspective, almost like stepping out of one's own body to look back at events, but it's a positive reaction that can, if given a chance, result in future positive changes. A negative response only begets more evil in response to evil.

Choices matter.

I see your writing as a positive way of dealing with the evil that entered your life and the lives of your loved ones, a coping mechanism and positive choice in the face of impossible, uncomprehending evil.

Christy,

You don't have to write. It's not mandatory that you handle this experience in one way only. You have your art work, your blog, your pictures and your comments. You have your conversations with us, with your family, with the police or press.

What matters is that you are seeking or have found a way to cope with the anger and angst that the knowledge of Aline's story brings.

What matters is that Aline's story is carried in many peoples' hearts, much like April's daughter's story is in our heart, or like Karen's daughter's story is there, and Monkey's mom or tsp's mom, or my family (and so on) too.

Bearing witness isn't only about writing.

I think that is one reason that I particularly like the Jewish tradition of lighting a Yarzheit candle upon the anniversary of a loved ones death. The tradition arises out of the belief that each time someone thinks of you (or your loved one) it brings them another level up in Heaven.

Given that criteria, I think Aline and the others as well, must be really really at the tip-top of Heaven.

Oh and speaking of bearing witness...

Bearing witness also has to do with the living. Much like we are here for abq John or for others, when we help take care of each other, we are bearing witness for them too.

Posted by: Ally McRepuke at June 15, 2007 01:17 AM

I would never get mad at anyone who is good at math. In fact I hold them in "awe".

My son is extremely bright, and was too bored to do any of his work in grade school (like use flash cards to memorize times tables). He went on to graduate with very high honors from college and his classes included calculus. I asked him how he could do that well in his college math classes when he didn't "work at" his studies in grade school. (Of course I didn't put it that way, I am his mom after all and I wouldn't put him down, but somehow I got the question asked.)

His reply? "Just cuz I didn't do all that homework didn't mean I didn't learn it." Photographic memory.

Okay, I shouldn't tell this story but I am going to because it's so funny - I asked him once how it felt to be smarter than his mother and he said with a smile "Oh, the first day or so it was okay, but after that it got old." :-D

Christy,

I am sorry you have had to deal with the pain of what happened to Aline, especially since it must have rattled some of your sense of security as a child. The upside is that you became aware of evil at a young age, and learned to walk circumspectly without blindly accepting everything everyone said in life as truth.

My father lost his mother when he was only nine years old. She was murdered while walking home from work one early evening, leaving my father and his brother without a mother, and her husband without a wife. He never remarried. My father speaks lovingly of his mother, and says how much she would have loved her grandchildren, but he has never mentioned the murder. After all these years, the memory of it is still too raw.

We all have sorrows and loss, and I think it is good for you to talk about it. The only good to come out of pain is the growth that results from it. No wonder you are such a wise old soul in spite of your young years.

"...because in modern terms Lamestream Media has made us believe physically beautiful people are airheads,"

My mom told me once that me being beautiful would be a curse. I was very young, I asked her 'Why?' It seems it should be just the opposite.

And I will never forget what she told me, 'People want to sit beautiful things on a shelf, they do not want to hear it speak, they do not want to know what it thinks and most people are afraid to touch what they find beautiful.'

Most things we call 'beautiful' is an illusion. If it turns just so, or says this or that, its appeal diminishes. People do not want their illusions shattered.

"She was murdered while walking home from work one early evening, leaving my father and his brother without a mother, and her husband without a wife. "

That is horrible.

Was the murder solved ? Or atleast the prime suspect known...?

There never is any real closure I don't think. Those of us who do not kill can never accept what has happened.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 04:29 PM

Your mother is a very wise person! :-)

My mom is perhaps one of the smartest people I know.

She has read more books than anyone I know. Libraries full of them.

She also annoys the crap out of me and I am convinced she does so on purpose. And if she is here and reading this, Mom, you know I love you, but you nag me.

ARRRRGGGHHH!

She is like an 8 year old with car keys and credit cards. My kids have been brainwashed by her. They are also her useful little spies. I can just imagine all the crap they tell her I usually would just leave out.

I love my mother so much, I have spent 33 years trying not to headbutt her.

Oh my God - I had so much fun today! This is the way life should be - always!!!!

Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061607Z.shtml
Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in US military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to US and Iraqi officials and company representatives.

{{{Hmmm.... "Feels like" the increasing publicity about mercenaries - "private security contractors" - is a way to "soften up" the sheeple to accept them as the "unsung heroes" one person in this article is quoted as saying. How do they justify killing for profit as "heroic"??? When Georgie's and Dickie's war first started, these people were not talked about anywhere except on progressive anti-war blogs and if they died they got mentioned in the local in-state news (at least that's what happened here), but now it "seems like" someone is trying to elevate their status in the eyes of the sheeple by being more open about mercenaries and their roles in Iraq and Afghanistan. I wonder how it will go over with people who know the pay-scale discrepancies between regular military and the five-figure monthly income of mercenaries who are only in those countries for the money...??? I wonder what would be revealed about some of the mercenaries if background checks were run on them? I've read stories in the past that indicate some have criminal records, and others were rejected by regular military.... Hmmmm....}}}

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 04:51 PM

My dad NEVER spoke of it with me, but he shared quite a bit with my mother.

I was always going to ask my mom more about it one day, when we were alone and could talk about it, but my mom passed away before we ever had that talk.

She did tell me once though that the man who shot her was thought to be insane, so I believe they knew who did it, and possibly put him away. This conversation makes me want to contact my cousin and see if he was told more by his father (my dad's brother).

Both of her sons turned out quite well. I never got to meet their dad, he passed away before I came along. From what I can tell though he must have been quite a gentleman. Both their sons had very good manners, and had strong consciences, strong ethics, and strong characters.

My dad is very stubborn and has a few little flaws, but he is the closest thing to perfection there is. My mom always said that, too. He turns 90 this summer, and single-handedly took care of my ailing mother up to six weeks before her death last September.

Truth Shall Prevail
Greetings - hope it's not too hot there. Speaking of mothers, I need to give mine her weekly call.

Time for Democrats to use the hammer (impeachment) since Bushco and his cohorts in crime are stonewalling.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/16/172422/311

(I agree with the author.)

This is not a good week for Obama when Pastor Dan has something to say about the 'politics of reconciliation.'

http://www.streetprophets.com/story/2007/6/16/122443/800

This is one reason why I wouldn't wish the Presidency (candidacy) on my worst enemy. It's too easy to be attacked from every direction and no matter what you do it's never the right thing.

But can anyone really win nowadays without being aggressive?

Way to go in supporting our troops. Over 4500 letters undelivered to Walter Reed Hospital.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070616/ap_on_re_us/army_botched_mail

Where's that yellow ribbon when you need one?

His reply? "Just cuz I didn't do all that homework didn't mean I didn't learn it." Photographic memory.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at June 16, 2007 03:54 PM

Some people are just like that - they are natural learners.

I'm getting older and my brain has slowed down though - so natural learning doesn't happen to me anymore. :(

By the way, I will be 55 next month and will be celebrating 4 decades of hippiedom, also having been influenced by my beatnik predecessors, by the American expats in Europe during the wars (their works and lives) and the punk philosophy of "questioning authority."

Posted by: not my president at June 16, 2007 11:24 AM

I love your mentality, NMP. It's a complete opposite of what I have to put up with - the Asian drive for conformity and sacrifice of individualism.

According to that primitive belief system known as Confucianism, standing out from the crowd is a BIG negative.

Bush silent despite the subpoenas and despite hiring more lawyers too.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/NYT_Bush_strangely_quiet_on_Attorneygate_0616.html

According to that primitive belief system known as Confucianism, standing out from the crowd is a BIG negative.

Posted by: Ally McRepuke at June 16, 2007 10:06 PM

Same philosophy for teenieboppers too.

However, I do believe madame defarge has a good point herself. And I think this is something the dcp regulars need to address--ie. should the videos or other artwork (etc) regarding candidates be posted at the dcp.

Posted by: sparrow at June 16, 2007 09:32 AM

Posting things for/against a specific candidate would probably put our nonprofit status at risk. I'd rather save them for the likes of Democratic Underground, which is clearly a partisan venue.

I didn't watch the video NMP posted, and have no plans to do so anytime soon... Satire is not my thing.

Obama just sent me a fundraising letter. I'll sit on it for a while. I'll leave it up to the registered Democrats to pick a suitable candidate, as I am registered nonpartisan right now (and given the sorry state of my state Dems, plan to stay that way).

Vatican Cardinal Calls on Catholics to Stop Funding Amnesty
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061507WA.shtml
A senior Vatican cardinal said yesterday that Catholics should stop donating to human rights group Amnesty International because of its new policy advocating abortion rights for women if they had been raped, were a victim of incest or faced health risks.

Posted by: NonnyO at June 16, 2007 11:46 AM

Benedict (US Secretary of Faith) is now officially against human rights, PERIOD.

In a column slated for Sunday's New York Times, Sheryl Gay Stolberg notes that "President Bush was strangely quiet last week," even though he "had been quite vocal, and perfectly clear, back in March when Democrats first delivered their subpoena threat."

Bush had said, "I will oppose any attempts to subpoena White House officials," and added that he was "absolutely" willing to fight over subpoenas in court.

"But when the subpoenas actually arrived on Wednesday, for Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, and Sara Taylor, the former White House political director, Bush said nothing," Stolberg observes. "The current White House counsel, Fred F. Fielding -- who recently beefed up his staff by hiring additional lawyers to handle the growing demands for documents and testimony -- has yet to offer a response."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

What is the big deal about fighting the subpoenas???

Why not testify - tell the truth - and get it over with???

Or the continuation of the "cover-up"...

Remember Watergate??

(BTW: can the press say "cover-up"??? or ask "what is the president hiding?"

Truth, that is very interesting.

It is amazing to me how many people kill, either out of evil or insanity.

I used to ride around with the guys contracted to the coroners office to transport the bodies. Accidents, suicides, murders, natural death, it does not matter, only the coroner can order the removal of a dead body.

It was sorta an informal ride-a-long thing and I was 21 with a major death interest. I will never forget the last time I went out with them.

A 15 year old girl had turned her 15 month old baby upside down and shoved him into a 5 gallon bucket half full of rain water and held his feet till he stopped moving. She then left the scene on foot. A nieghbor saw or heard her do it.

After we arrived and a whole police presence was already well under way they were about to remove his body, and up walks his mother.

She had killed him then went and used her last $10 to buy him diapers. She was holding them under her arm.

They arrested her right in front of me, and to this day I do not think she even realized yet what she had done when they put the cuffs on her. She had this....look..on her face. A trance is the only way I can describe it.

She fully admitted to putting the baby in there, to shut him up, but she could not understand he was dead. How could he be dead, she told them, he needed diapers.

Watching them explain it to her and watching it settle into her was almost as bad as watching them remove his tiny body.

I never went out with those guys again. I think about that girl all the time, I am still convinced she killed and did so with no moment of self realization.

Everytime I stop and think of why people kill, I just see her walking back up into the yard with a bag of diapers under her arm.

Sometimes it is so damn hard, for no reason at all.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 10:23 PM

Sad Christy, very sad!!!

Points to why we need more psychological care and better parent education for all teenagers and expectant parents.

Sometimes it is so damn hard, for no reason at all.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 10:23 PM

Yes it is...

Thanks for sharing the story. Something out of whack must've been going on in that woman's mind...

This is why mental health services must be given to those who truly need it, not forced on political prisoners who are otherwise perfectly sane.

She was not a woman, she was 15.

She had given birth a month before her 14th birthday.

The scariest thing I think, is at the time I also had very young kids, and I totally understood what happened to her.

The baby cried and cried, and she snapped. Listening to a baby cry is absolute torture, even for experienced parents.

I knew but there for the grace of God go I.

strange

For NMP (and anyone else following French politics):

The French swing to the right will continue. Sarko will get a supermajority in the national assembly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6760599.stm

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 10:35 PM

That's also why we need comprehensive sex education. That girl simply wasn't ready for motherhood IMO...

Strange how?

Do you know the number one reason children under the age of 4 are killed?

Potty training accidents.

Number two?

Because they were crying.

Christy
Actually not so strange. We have had training at work lately re "shaken baby syndrome." Often it is the boyfriend. People who can't handle the stress of knowing what to do with a crying baby - people who react adversely and impulsively - they are advised to stand back aways and chill. The strange part is the stream of consciousness of this blog.

Ally
That's pretty harsh about France and Sarko. Some of the young people there had one word to say about him as far as comparison with Bush - "worse." I wouldn't go that far but they can say bye bye to early retirement, long holidays and generous bennies, along with the rest of the globalizing planet.

I was always able to control myself, but I have to be honest.The sound of a baby crying absolutely drives me insane and if I am over exposed to it I will become extreamly aggressive.

I will freak out.

My babies were never allowed to cry, I served their every whim to keep them from crying as much as possible.

As for actually trying to write about it, I truly do feel it is not my place. I am to bear witness.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 11:15 AM

That's just the thing Christy. Aline's not here to do it, but she can trust those who bear witness. Where to start..... When you wrote that day, as hard as it was on you now to remember it, the child in you witnessed something impossible to understand. Noone could help you grieve the disappearance because we all hang onto the tiniest thread of hope of the missing one returning safe and sound one day.

You were a child, and the child's mind and brain doesn't actually contribute to the discussions. The child stays quiet and listens. She hears snippets and hushed talk. Out of context. Yes, the story goes back before this and will go on after this as well.

I don't know the truth of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, but it has been my favourite book ever. I quote from it often. Atticus's lessons to Scout and Jem were brief, easily remembered and profound. I tried to raise my sons with Atticus's advice; to see the opposite point of view to their own. I wanted them to walk in the other's shoes for a while.

Seeing through a child's eyes gives a simple account of the confusions of life, trust, bigotry, hatred and all out murder and mayhem. The simple account then becomes really complex.

I really appreciated your account of that last day, Christy. I felt certain that you would have been exhausted by the end of your recall and writing. But in the ways of the world, this may never have all of the questions resolved. I do understand if it's much too hard to put yourself through it. Sometimes, when I'm writing I find myself sobbing to the point that I can't write any more. Usually those pieces go away some place for filing. I don't want to write soppy, as opposed to extremely moving. Those pieces come out much later.

Frankly, Christy I can't think of anyone who would do justice to this story more than you. It affected your entire life after that day. And that's your story to tell. The corruption and theft of a child's innocence.

Christy or anyone,

It's a fairly natural impulse to shake a crying baby, and happens more than people think. The crying triggers the response more in some than others - no value judgment. It's partly biological. The shaking causes a contrecoup injury as the brain is like jello and rebounds from one side inside the skull to the other, and can cause permanent severe brain damage. I have seen it and it's not so different from what happens to someone in a severe car crash.Subdural hematomas and subarachnoid hemorrhages are common. The retina can become detached from the eye. Seizures are common and severe.

If ever in the right situation, tell a sitter or stressed parent/caregiver to try:

Supporting the baby's head and neck
Putting the baby in a crib and leaving the room briefly
Sitting down, closing eyes, counting to ten
Take the baby for a stroller ride
Play music, sing
Ask a friend to take over
Don't pick up baby til you feel calm
Make sure baby is fed burped and dry
Gentry rock or walk the baby
Check for diaper rash, teething, fever
Call doctor if baby may be sick
Make sure clothing is not too tight
Give baby a pacifier
Offer noisey toy or rattle
Hug and cuddle baby gently

You may save a life - 20 percent of these children die and many of the others are brain damaged for life.

ok back to the cheerful stuff

new article by Seymour Hirsch

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/06/25/070625fa_fact_hersh

It's almost Solstice - everything was not meant to be so morbid

BTW...

Happy Fathers Day to all you Daddies out there.

nmp
I can't stop singing, Oh lord won't you buy me - a mercedes benz.

Christy
You certainly have the *extreme* life experiences don't you. That is so sad for that poor kid to discover that her baby was dead.

tsp
You're so right. We all have some tough experiences and stories to tell. This has been a great session on the DCP blog.

I still don't get it.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 12:03 PM

Your passion for justice, peace and truth, I'd say. Janis Joplin left a lot for us considering her life was so short. I'm sure that being in your presence for a short time, Christy, that passion would become clear.

"Seeing through a child's eyes gives a simple account of the confusions of life, trust, bigotry, hatred and all out murder and mayhem. The simple account then becomes really complex."

You know what Woz...? I will think about that one for a while.

I saved what I wrote that day, I am still not sure why. I had never just sat down and tried to explain it before. I was amazed at how coherent it seemed.

"You were a child, and the child's mind and brain doesn't actually contribute to the discussions. The child stays quiet and listens. She hears snippets and hushed talk. Out of context."

That is EXACTLY how it was.

As to the other.

You know I realized early that when a baby is crying, 90% of the time if you simply LOOK at the baby, you will know why. It is almost always obvious.

I never understood people that let their baby cry as they pretend that is just what babies are suppossed to do. Babies do not cry for no reason. If they are crying it is because something is wrong.

If a baby is crying, it is because an adult failed to simply observe the problem and deal with it.

Ally, are you still here? What mac did you buy? Was it a macbook or a desktop? I'm changing mine over pretty soon and was wondering what you chose.

Christy
Crying is communication, in fact, all behavior is communication.
I work with autistic children and when they act out, they are trying to express something and don't have the words. That goes for certain other children (and adults) too.

I saved what I wrote that day, I am still not sure why. I had never just sat down and tried to explain it before. I was amazed at how coherent it seemed.

Posted by: Christy at June 17, 2007 12:17 AM

Wow! There's your Preface or your Foreword. Exactly as that 9 year old wrote. If you've kept it, Christy, seems to me that you're being given the signs I think.

(I agree with the author.)
Posted by: sparrow at June 16, 2007 09:33 PM

Me, two; or is that three? Lots of comments on that diary.

The way I see it, if someone FINALLY did something about impeachment, at least I might not have to keep the volume at mute on the TV to avoid accidentally hearing the latest up-to-the-minute hysterical news bulletin about Paris somebody-or-other, and maybe - JUST MAYBE, mind you - Lamestream Media bobbleheads would be forced to talk about something important for a change other than who is still in the horse race for pretzelnitwit in '08. (Gawd, I'm so bored with it all; enough already; give us a break for another year before talking about it again, puh-leeze! They never say anything new anyway, just endlessly repeat their VAGUE platform speeches, and we know those by heart already.) The skulls of the bobbleheads may crack because they've not used their brains for the last seven agonizing years....

At this point, ANYTHING to get people to take their heads out of the sand long enough to pay attention to the very long list of lies, and war crimes, and high crimes and misdemeanors Georgie and Dickie have done (that we only know about yet; others are sure to follow).

At this point in the game, if the Dems don't do something, their silence in letting Georgie and Dickie getting away with their lies and crimes will be seen as complicity with their crimes... and it could go very badly for them in the '08 elections. As in, we may have to bribe our own Congress Critters: vote for impeachment or we don't vote for you in '08.... And they may have to face ugly questions like: Who's blackmailing you into letting Georgie be the de facto dictator all the time? How much money are oil corporations paying you to kiss Georgie's and Dickie's arses...?

Then we'll see how many think they need a permanent vacation starting in January '09. It's Voter Backlash they'll have to worry about in '08 for their inaction and complicity in keeping the crooks in office, not their imaginary 'Republican Backlash' they're afraid of that my rep mentioned in his email.

We have an election to change the government in October or November this year. I've been thinking about your presidential candidacy and the early race for selection. If the dems don't impeach and get that monster out of office, then the next president will be someone you really don't like. A smarmy John McCain perhaps.

And I heard that Bill Clinton pardoned a convicted person on his staff for theft of massive amounts of government $$$. Is that right?

Posted by: NonnyO at June 17, 2007 12:23 AM

I'm in obvious agreement with you there NonnyO. And your choice of president affects the whole world. It will be a shame to lose all of those voters who gave overwhelming support for the Dems in the midterm election. Can't they see that? Is it Pelosi's promise that's the problem?

"You certainly have the *extreme* life experiences don't you"

I am a scorpio Woz. It is my nature to seek out the extreme.

But alot of the more radical experiences happened to me as a child. I had no say in it.

I went wild for a while but then I grew up and became downright typical.

My life is perfectly boring now. I like boring. Boring is quiet. I live my entire life within a 20 mile radius of my house.

Used too, I believed I should know everything. Or at least anything I wanted to know.

The older I get, the more I have to contemplate living with what I've learned.

Some places I never should have gone, but I refuse to regret it.

None of us are getting off this rock alive.

I do not know WTF Pelosis problem is, but if she can not stop georgie, then she is complicit.

I am tired of georgie, and I am sick of the dems that just LET HIM keep getting away with it.

If she does not throw down soon, there is still time to call for HER IMPEACHMENT.

If she can't stop lil georgie what in the hell is she good for?

NOTHING.

Oh dear, Christy. My son Jeremy is a scorpio and he has had to learn his life lessons in the hardest and most outrageous ways possible. Christy - scorpios are also creative and smart.

Some places I never should have gone, but I refuse to regret it.

None of us are getting off this rock alive.

Posted by: Christy at June 17, 2007 12:38 AM

Yes. I'm always saying that "no experience is a bad experience to a writer". And while I'm in that bad experience, I keep that in my head where the tears are and in my gut where the pain is. Nope - "none of us are getting off this rock alive." Great point.

Posted by: not my president at June 16, 2007 11:06 PM

Honestly the French Socialists need new ideas, fast. Just saying that Sarko has ugly policies is NOT enough.

My state-level Dems are in the same quandary. Right now, they are increasingly irrelevant to the vast majority of the state's population. The only reason people still vote Dem is because the state Republicans are ideologically extremist (at least compared to state Republicans in the Northeast, anyway), but I won't count on that forever.

Posted by: woz at June 17, 2007 12:19 AM

woz, I was yanked out for a few hours for a computer trouble at work! (When I am part owner of the family business, I'm on call 24/7.)

As for my Mac, it's a desktop - a 17" iMac to be exact. US price starts at $999, and my custom-configured example is $1,549. I'd have to check the Australian Apple Store to get your price, though...

Is it Pelosi's promise that's the problem?
Posted by: woz at June 17, 2007 12:35 AM

We don't know what the problem is, woz.

We're like mushrooms: kept in the dark and fed $h!te, so all we ever get is vague nonsense rhetoric and/or (if we're brave/dumb enough to turn on TV snooze) propaganda from the White House and Pentagon, which tells us precisely nothing.

I've yet to hear a LOGICAL reason for why the Dems are dragging their feet. It's not as if the articles of impeachment haven't already been drawn up. There are books with the proper articles published, Conyers had articles drawn up before the election last fall (but never brought to the floor), etc., and all anyone would have to do is consolidate all of them and bring charges against Dickie (first) and Georgie (second, since everyone pees their pants in fear of Dickie, it seems, and if they get rid of Georgie first, then we're stuck with Dickie). There's recent precedent for impeaching a lying prez; that's what they did to Clinton. All anyone would have to do to prove Dickie and/or Georgie lied about going to war and torture (multiple crimes: multiple lies and war crimes) is play back the sound bytes we all heard on TV early on, followed by people stating FACTS and truth about those lies.

Still, so far, LOGIC is noticeably absent for any vague political statements as to why the papers have not been served on the crooks "leading" this country. Dems are falling down on the job of representing the people who elected them. All they do is fall down and let Georgie and Dickie walk all over them. And Dems stand around with their thumbs in their mouths saying 'It's not my fault! He did it! They did it and we can't get a majority!' and refuse to be the constitutional co-equal branch of government. They're LETTING Georgie play dictator, indulging him like he's a spoiled brat which only gives him more power, and I'm afraid we'll one day wake up and he'll BE dictator.

Meanwhile, Congress Critters are all talk and no action, and we're still being lied to daily and people are still being killed for the original lies and the lies to cover the first lies....

And speaking of computer troubles:

My work machines are Dells. Never buying them again, especially after their massive donations to the W presidential campaign and coronation. (Their quality has taken a turn for the worse as well)

HP is the largest competitor out there, but I've had very negative experiences with their products.

I do need PCs at work though, because the CAD software I use runs only on Windows. Configuring a Mac for Windows dual-boot is just too costly.

Ally
I agree alot of the French socialists and American Dems have the same problems - fragmentation, timidity etc. It's very frustrating, as we know the outcome of a big swing to the right only helps huge corporations.

Posted by: NonnyO at June 17, 2007 01:35 AM

When I met with madame defarge in Chicago three weeks ago, we were both upset with the lack of a withdrawal timetable in the war funding bill. However, we also agreed that the weak provisions built into the bill were a starting point, and that the Dems need to build upon it, even if only incrementally.

As much as I would love to see an immediate call for impeachment (and withdrawal from Iraq), I honestly don't expect that to happen. However, I want to see the beginning steps, such as investigations into the criminal behavior of the W regime. It will take time to build a case for impeachment, but it does need to happen.

If the Dems are doing none of that, then they indeed deserve to be voted out just like the Republicans.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/16/saturday-cartoons-6/
http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2007/06/saturday-cartoons_16.html

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/16/countdown-hot-doj-on-doj-action/
Countdown: Hot DOJ-On-DOJ Action

Posted by: not my president at June 17, 2007 01:38 AM

Point well taken. Emphasis on huge corporations ONLY - not mom-and-pop small businesses, contrary to popular perceptions.

The California Republican Party is doing a much better job of *appearing* (that's appearing, not actually being) friendly to small businesses than the California Democrats, even though neither side is a true friend of small businesses.

The Democrats and the progressive community have a major PR problem, and it's not just the fault of the right-wing media.

Posted by: NonnyO at June 17, 2007 01:35 AM

They're going to get away with murder!

Ally, thanks for all that. I'm going for a macbook - and was wondering what you chose. I want to be able to walk out and sit in the middle of life at the pub, by the fire and work a few hours each day. I've got a credit account with the macshop here so it will take me a while to get the one I want. I do get an education discount which is rather fortunate. Still expensive for me though.

Ally
I think alot of the problem is that the big corporations and big media and pretty much one and the same. I was noticing that now that Rupert Murdoch might not buy Dow Jones, the next big bidder is the owner of the Financial Times and also he has alot of interest/stock in GE, which I believe owns one of the big networks and is also affiliated with some weapons makers. & so it goes.

The stock market is doing pretty well but alot of it is on the backs of the poor, the worker, the debtor. It's propped up artificially. An unscrupulous company can run full-page ads promoting investment in a Chinese company and run up the value of the stock before the company has even made a profit. People lose their shirts but the middleman is laughing all the way to the bank. The same thing happened with all the IPOs and then the dot.com meltdown. Our financial planner warned us and showed us that many of the companies were overvalued as much as 1500%. He was right.

The housing market is another manipulated ripoff. Here, people are run out of apartments because of condo conversions. People buy and "flip" the condos for profit, sometimes before they're even built let alone rented. A house that was $70,000 20 years ago is now sold for $400,000. It's still the same house, bought with an income that has probably increased by 10-20% at most. Ridiculous.

I was polled by Zogby today. He lists multiple choices that people would pick who oriented politically left to right. I realized that there are actually people who think we should use more power, more fuel, more energy, as long as it leads to growth. Then there are the Dominionists. Read RFK Jr. & Al Gore had had it up to here with the fakeness of the G8. I wish to hell he'd run.

How am I supposed to sleep after Astrobuff sends me THIS?

Hamas hits the intelligence jackpot .. ***there are some very worried operatives out there....

http://www.topix.net/forum/world/iran/TKQDPUQJD2FOCGCHQ

Hamas – and its Syrian and Iranian allies - capture priceless Palestinian Authority intelligence archives in Gaza putsch

June 15, 2007, 8:48 PM (GMT+02:00)

The Fatah-led general intelligence and security services caved in too fast to shred, wipe or burn documents, computer disks and archives. The entire collection fell into Hamas’ hands when they seized Palestinian Preventive Intelligence HQ at Tel Awa (henceforth Tel al-Islam) and the Palestinian General Intelligence center near Gaza port.

Never before has a bonanza of Western intelligence secrets on this scale ever reached an Islamist liberation movement. The US, British and Israeli intelligence services may have suffered their greatest debacle in America's middle-east follies. It will take them many years to recover.

Hamas has taken possession of hundreds of thousands of documents cataloguing the clandestine operations of Western intelligence services in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the oil emirates. It is now the owner of complete archives of Palestinian undercover links with foreign intelligence services going back decades, with names of spies, political collaborators and double agents. The documentation covers the secret ties Palestinian intelligence maintained from the 1970s, when Yasser Arafat was based in Lebanon, with the Americans, the British, the French, the Israelis and many others.

clip

After the Nazi regime was defeated at the end of World War II and Eastern Germany fell in the 1990s, there were officials willing to make a desperate effort to destroy or hide their intelligence treasure. Palestinian intelligence officers did not burn a single page.

Posted by: Christy at June 16, 2007 11:31 PM

My first born son had colic. It is a phenomenom where the baby starts crying and screaming at a certain time each day, then stops at a certain time of the day.

Every afternoon of his first three months, he would start screaming at 3:30 p.m. and cry until 9:30 p.m. The doctor gave us colic drops but forgot to tell us that they could make him worse, and if they did to discontinue them. They made him worse. He doubled up and got red and just screamed for a solid six hours a day for three months. He stopped miraculously on his third month birthday.

We walked him, rocked him and sang to him, and nothing worked except putting him in the car in his car seat and taking him for a ride. He quieted right down when in the moving car.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at June 17, 2007 02:51 AM

Gosh, you have just described my firstborn son as well. It was amazing. I always got nervous when he stopped crying at 3 months. If he stopped crying there must be something really wrong. It took me a while to relax and just enjoy him.

And you also just described my firstborn as well.

He started screaming at 9:45 every night and would scream sometimes until 3 am. Only the vacuum cleaner soothed him.

Listening to that scream combined with lack of sleep is absolute torture for everyone involved.

It lasted 2 months and then my mom taught me a cure.

Pancake syrup and baking soda.

Cloud the syrup with just enough baking soda to make it cloudy, then let them suck it off of your finger.

The prevailing theory is colic is gas trapped deep in the intestines, I tried it with my son once and it worked.

He slept all night from there on out.

Posted by: Christy at June 17, 2007 10:06 AM

Well I'm glad to hear there is a remedy, although I didn't have one when I needed it! :-D

One week before his third month birthday I was exhausted and stressed from the screaming every night. I called the doctor and pleaded with him to give me something that worked. His nurse asked about the colic drops they gave me two months earlier, and I told her they didn't work. She said "Oh, I guess he forgot to tell you that they can make it worse if it doesn't make it better." Our car was our best friend (good thing gas was so inexpensive in those days).

The vacuum cleaner? That is TOO funny!!!

Someone once told me that colic is caused from their little nervous systems being undeveloped at birth. All I can say is it's a good thing my nervous system was developed or a gunny sack mighta looked pretty good some evenings.

I know you and Woz know what I mean. I remember my little brother had it, and my dad and mom used to take turns walking the floor all night with him. One night my dad was so tired that he looked at him and said "You little s-*t!" My mom hurried and took over that night.