The War On Reality In Our Schools

Ken AshfordEducation, GodstuffLeave a Comment

7rFrom the DesMoinesRegister.com:

A community college instructor in Red Oak claims he was fired after he told his students that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be literally interpreted.

Steve Bitterman, 60, said officials at Southwestern Community College sided with a handful of students who threatened legal action over his remarks in a western civilization class Tuesday. He said he was fired Thursday.

“I’m just a little bit shocked myself that a college in good standing would back up students who insist that people who have been through college and have a master’s degree, a couple actually, have to teach that there were such things as talking snakes or lose their job,” Bitterman said.

Sarah Smith, director of the school’s Red Oak campus, declined to comment Friday on Bitterman’s employment status. The school’s president, Barbara Crittenden, said Bitterman taught one course at Southwest. She would not comment, however, on his claim that he was fired over the Bible reference, saying it was a personnel issue.

“I can assure you that the college understands our employees’ free-speech rights,” she said. “There was no action taken that violated the First Amendment.”

Well, of course it’s a violation of the First Amendment.  If a teacher is fired from a public institution because he suggested that the Bible is not the literal truth, then that is a textbook 1st Amendment violation.

It gets worse though.  Not only are teachers being ousted for suggesting that the Bible is not the literal scientific truth, but tax dollars are being earmarked to go toward the promotion of religion — to the detriment of science — at public colleges and institutions:

Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter earmarked $100,000 for a group, headed by former political associates, that opposes teaching evolution in schools.

The money is set aside for the Louisiana Family Forum in the labor, health and education financing bill for fiscal 2008, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Sunday. The group is being paid “to develop a plan to promote better science education.”

The forum is slated to use the funds to write a report on ways to improve science education in Louisiana, but critics say support for the group — which once produced a “battle plan” to fight the idea of evolution — is really support for religious teaching in public schools.

Two of the group’s leaders were also paid as consultants to Vitter’s 2005 Senate campaign, the newspaper said, and the group has been one of the senator’s strongest proponents in Louisiana, supporting him even when he admitted recently he was the customer of a call-girl service.

Vitter defended the move, saying it will help teachers offer students a variety of views on “controversial topics” like life science and global warming.

The bill is still pending in the Senate.

And yes, that’s the same pro-life, pro-family Senator Vitter who frequented hookers.

Twenty General Speak Out Against Iraq War

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

It isn’t mentioned often, but generals speaking out against a war policy is very rare in American history.  So when it happens, as it has a lot recently, that means that something is horribly askew.  After all, why else would these men risk their careers and reputations?

What might be called The Revolt of the Generals has rarely happened in the nation’s history.

In op-ed pieces, interviews and TV ads, more than 20 retired U.S. generals have broken ranks with the culture of salute and keep it in the family. Instead, they are criticizing the commander in chief and other top civilian leaders who led the nation into what the generals believe is a misbegotten and tragic war.

The active-duty generals followed procedure, sending reports up the chain of command. The retired generals beseeched old friends in powerful positions to use their influence to bring about a change.

When their warnings were ignored, some came to believe it was their patriotic duty to speak out, even if it meant terminating their careers.

It was a decision none of the men approached cavalierly. Most were political conservatives who had voted for George W. Bush and initially favored his appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary.

But they felt betrayed by Bush and his advisers.

“The ethos is: Give your advice to those in a position to make changes, not the media,” said Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, now retired. “But this administration is immune to good advice.”

Ken Burns’ “The War”

Ken AshfordHistory2 Comments

My expectations of the new Ken Burns documentary were rather low.  WWII is an awfully big subject, but Burns handled The Civl War, another monumental subject, just fine.  So I was a little disappointed to read that he wasn’t going to treat WWII comprehensively.  Instead, he was going to focus on the impact of the war on four places in the United States — Waterbury (CT), Sacramento (CA); Luverne (MN), and Mobile (AL).  My initial thought was, "Ken.  This was a world war.  Maybe we could focus on other places in the word?  Like, say, London or Warsaw?"

But — that said — I thought the first installment was pretty darn good for what it was.  I thought the jazzish music was a little weird, but all in all, I thought his "human" approach to the subject was fresh and moving.  From a WWII documentary perspective, I guess it makes a nice companion piece to the classic BBC "World at War" documentart series (a more traditional documentary with maps and troop movements arrows and the like).  Burns is trying to present WWI as "an epic poem", rather than as a textbook lesson.  And that’s fine.

The footage in Burns’ film is graphic and disturbing.  But that’s not what has some people worried.  This is what worries them: 

Missing from the version of “The War” to be shown by APT and by some other PBS stations will be four expletives.

The FCC hasn’t revealed in advance whether it will punish stations that air “The War” with the expletives intact. That’s why PBS is providing its 350 member stations a choice of two versions of the series: a clean one without the profanity, or the original with the expletives, as Burns wanted.

It was unclear Friday how many PBS stations would air the original, unedited version.

“No one has been keeping tabs on it, and there are many, I think, that haven’t yet decided,” said Jared Seeger, a spokesman for Burns’ Florentine Films production company.

APT spokeswoman Kathie Martin said the nine stations in Alabama, including WEIQ-TV42 in Mobile, would show the profanity-free version because “The War” will air “during family prime time.”

“We want to be sure that because of the educational nature of this, that we are not offending anyone with the language,” she said.

Yup.  Showing pictures of bodies that have been scorched by the H-bomb is perfectly alright as long as nobody drops the F-bomb when talking about it.

Sigh.

Jena Incident Goes On Tour

Ken AshfordLocal Interest, RaceLeave a Comment

And it came to High Point:

HIGH POINT — Scholars call it a symbol that reflects a shameful period in our nation’s history. Friday, High Point police removed four nooses hung from different spots around Andrews High School.

The principal of the school, Monique Wallace, sent a letter to parents after the four nooses were discovered.  Via WXII’s web site:

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Unfortunately, this letter is to inform you that today, four nooses were found at Andrews High School. School administrators immediately notified the High Point Police Department; the incident is currently under investigation and additional staff and law enforcement presence will be maintained for a period of time. Guilford County Schools (GCS) is fully cooperating with law enforcement regarding this matter. Those found to be responsible for this criminal act will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

We want to impress upon you that this inappropriate act is not a representation of Andrews’ administration, students or staff. Andrews and GCS will not tolerate behavior that is discriminatory or that disrupts the safe learning environment of our students.

Counseling will be available to students as needed by GCS. Additionally, the City of High Point has worked collaboratively with the school since 2004 through the High Point Human Relations Commission to establish a school-based student commission. These students are trained and ready to assist as needed. Please make sure your children are aware that threatening acts are not acceptable. Should your child observe inappropriate behavior or have any information regarding this incident, please ask him/her to immediately notify a teacher, staff member or our school’s resource officer.

Andrews High School has proven to be a school accepting of all races, cultures, religions and backgrounds. We will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that all students feel welcomed and safe in our school. If you have questions, please contact me at 819-2800.

Sincerely,

Monique Wallace
Principal

The Bush Family Pool Boy Speaks

Ken AshfordBush & Co.Leave a Comment

Not a particularly interesting article.  The pool boy, as it turns out, doesn’t have a lot of inside poop.  But this was interesting — a run-in he had with members of Bush’s extended family:

Turns out a leaf-skimmer doesn’t have tremendous access. In fact, the most insider-y stuff came from outside the gates, at a recent war protest aimed at the Bush compound. (For the record, Razsa felt obliged to attend in honor of a friend who was departing for Iraq; in fact he was as scornful of the "hippie protest kids" as he was of the pro-war element that showed up.) Leaving the demonstration, he stopped at a lemonade stand where a young girl and her mother had set up shop. They got to talking, and it turned out they were family of George Herbert Walker III, former ambassador to Hungary and first cousin of the ex-president up the road.

Ever respectful, Razsa kept his politics to himself and enjoyed the lemonade. It was the young girl who turned to him and held forth: "Just because we’re related to them, doesn’t mean we vote for them or believe in what they do."

"What did she say?" the mother asked.

Shocked, Razsa repeated the girl’s declaration.

The mother nodded in approval.

Renew America Columnist Calls Me “Very Nice”, Goes Screwy

Ken AshfordRight Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

So…. I read this column by Cynthia Janak last week.  It was a column asking "questions" about the attacks on the Pentagon and the WTC.  It seems that Ms. Janak has come under the spell of the 9/11 deniers — people who insist that there was something screwy about the attacks that day (with the implication that our government — and not Al Queda — was behind the attacks).

For reasons passing even my own comprehension, I sent her a polite email attempting to answer some of her questions.  We had a pleasant exchange. Here, for example, is one of the emails I received from Ms. Janak:

Ken,
Thank you for the information.  I did a brief scan of the website and I will so an in-depth read of it later.  I did check out some pictures of the plane with its landing gear down.  I put both photos next to each other and the exaggeration of the landing gear looks like a stretch but I could be wrong.  Give me your opinion.
The comparison photos are in the attachment.
The windows being blast proof makes a lot of sense.  I am not an engineer and I do not know about blast-proof glass.  That is why I asked the question.
Question:  Please help me understand how a solid mass can go from being solid to almost liquid?  From what I remember from science class this is not possible.  Help me understand.
Once again thank you for your email.  I appreciate the insight that you have given me.
Cynthia Janak

And this is how she recounted our exchange in a subsequent column:

One person was very nice and explained or tried to explain the differences. The one that made the most sense to me was the Pentagon windows. He stated that they were made to withstand an explosion. The only thing that I thought was rather humorous about our email exchange was that the more he tried to explain my pictures the more questions he raised for me.

That’s true, and it was humorous — but only because it became clear after a few email exchanges with her that she had — well, how to put it nicely? — a screw slightly loose.  She keep on emailing with "questions" and eventually she struck me as unneccessarily paranoid.  Sincere, kind, but just a little paranoid when it came to this 9/11 thing.

So it’s not a huge surprise to read, again in her latest column, that she’s gone around the bend.  You see, right after writing her column about 9/11, Ms. Janak started having computer problems:

Periodically, my computer acted as if someone else was working my mouse or my mouse would function abnormally. My tech friends had a hard time figuring out what the problem was. The only way to make it go back to normal was to shut down my computer and start over.

And that’s not all:

My phone clicks and makes strange noises.

Her conclusion?

Some entity of power is trying to disrupt my reporting of the truth. Why, it depends on who the entity or entities are.

All I can say is that I hit a nerve with my 9/11 article and I must be getting too close to the truth.

Yeah, that’s it, Ms. Janak.  They’re after you.

How To Deal With Autistic And Retarded Kids? Tase Them

Ken AshfordEducation, Mental Health, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

I wish I was this was a joke:

Every time [Rob] woke from this dream, it took him a few moments to remember that he was in his own bed, that there weren’t electrodes locked to his skin, that he wasn’t about to be shocked. It was no mystery where this recurring nightmare came from—not A Clockwork Orange or 1984, but the years he spent confined in America’s most controversial "behavior modification" facility.

In 1999, when Rob was 13, his parents sent him to the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, located in Canton, Massachusetts, 20 miles outside Boston. The facility, which calls itself a "special needs school," takes in all kinds of troubled kids—severely autistic, mentally retarded, schizophrenic, bipolar, emotionally disturbed—and attempts to change their behavior with a complex system of rewards and punishments, including painful electric shocks to the torso and limbs. Of the 234 current residents, about half are wired to receive shocks, including some as young as nine or ten.

Read the full expose at Mother Jones.

0% = Success

Ken AshfordRight Wing Punditry/Idiocy, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

This editorial made me laugh.  It’s entitled "Groundbreaking study affirms "gays" can change".  It’s written by Matt Barber, who serves as the Policy Director for the social conservative group Concerned Women For America.

[You would be right to ask, "What is Matt Barber — a guy — doing as policy director for Concerned Women For America?"  We don’t know the answer.  We just the love the irony that he’s writing an article about succesful sexual re-orientation].

Anyway, Matt’s all excited because a new "comprehensive study" shows that "men and women suffering from unwanted same-sex attractions can re-‘orient’ themselves through Christian counseling and/or reparative therapy to their natural and God-given heterosexual state."

The Christian counseling and reparative therapy is the kind offered by Exodus International, a group which not-so-ironically commissioned the "comprehensive study".

Let’s look at the details of this "comprehensive study".

Jones and Yarhouse emphasize the imperfections of their research, carefully noting points at which their method could be criticized. For example, they had hoped for 300 or more participants, but found many Exodus ministries mysteriously uncooperative. In the end, they settled for 98 people in their initial sample. (To boost the sample size, Jones and Yarhouse added a less-than-ideal cohort who had already been involved in the program for one to three years.) They also chose not to use physiological measures of sexual attraction, primarily because Exodus ministries would have found the use of pornography in research ethically abhorrent. Though humble in their presentation, Jones and Yarhouse conclude that their research is the most rigorous ever conducted on this subject.

Okay, so the study initially had 98 subjects.  They were interviewed several times over the course of a three-to-four year period.

Except, 25 of them dropped out of the study and the "un-gaying" program.  So now we’re down to a sample size of 73.  This is looking less and less "comprehensive".

Now, on to the results.  Of the remaining 73 study participants:

"15 percent reported their conversion was successful and that they had had ‘substantial reduction’ in homosexual attraction and ‘substantial conversion’ to heterosexual attraction. They were categorized as ‘success: conversion.’

"23 percent said their conversion was successful and that homosexual attraction was either missing or ‘present only incidentally or in a way that does not seem to bring about distress.’ They were labeled ‘success: chastity.’

"29 percent had experienced ‘modest decreases’ in homosexual attraction and were not satisfied with their change, but pledged to continue trying. This category was labeled ‘continuing.’

"15 percent had not changed and were conflicted about what to do next.

"4 percent had not changed and had quit the change process, but had not embraced the gay identity;’" and,

"8 percent had not changed, had quit the process and had embraced the ‘gay identity.’"

What of the remaining 6%?  Their results weren’t tabulated because of "microphone problems".

Now, what I find interesting is that 38% of the 78 participants were labeled a "success".  But what was defined as "success"?  Apparently, "success" was a very low bar, as Christianity Today admits:

Most of the individuals who reported that they were heterosexual at Time 3 [the last interview] did not report themselves to be without experience of homosexual arousal, and did not report heterosexual orientation to be unequivocal and uncomplicated.

In other words, an individual who reported homosexual arousal (to a lesser degree and/or as part of a bisexuality) . . . could be defined as a "successful" re-orientation.

So let’s cut to the chase then.  Basically, the results of the study (which doesn’t include the individuals who dropped out of the program) show this:

15 percent believe they are now bisexual, which is to say that they are no longer homosexual.

23 percent believe they might be slightly less gay, and/or possibly bisexual, and/or possibly asexual; it’s hard for them to tell because they’re not getting any.

29 percent believe the program hasn’t worked for them, but — gosh darnit — they still hope it will.

27 percent believe the program didn’t work at all and they remain totally gay.

And what percentage of patricipants are actually "cured" of the gaydom that supposedly plagued them?  What percent has completed the transition from gay to straight?  Zero, nada, nyet.

But somehow, this causes Mr. Barber to write "Groundbreaking study affirms "gays" can change".   No, Matt.  If anything, it disaffirms that premise.

Iraq Fact File

Ken AshfordIraqLeave a Comment

New York Times:

Military officials said Thursday that contracts worth $6 billion to provide essential supplies to American troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan — including food, water and shelter — were under review by criminal investigators, double the amount the Pentagon had previously disclosed.

In addition, $88 billion in contracts and programs, including those for body armor for American soldiers and matériel for Iraqi and Afghan security forces, are being audited for financial irregularities, the officials said.

$6 billion in contract is under criminal review?  Tell me this war isn’t illegal!

A typical example: A company hired to build the U.S. embassy in Iraq, First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting, paid $200,000 in kickbacks for two Army contracts. The allegation comes out of testimony given by a former KBR contracting official, Anthony Martin, convicted of bribery earlier this year.

Martin said in court documents that he agreed to receive kickbacks before awarding a $4.6 million contract to First Kuwaiti to supply 50 semi-tractors and 50 refrigeration trailers for six months. A month later, Martin awarded First Kuwaiti an additional $8.8 million subcontract to supply 150 semi-tractors for six months.

For his effort, Martin said, the company agreed to pay him $200,000. After he received an initial $10,000, he took a trip back to the United States. When he returned, he says he told the company he would not take any additional money.

The court filing says Martin’s "criminal benefactor appears to have completely escaped responsibility for his misconduct and instead continues to profit from a cozy relationship with the government."