Fair and Balanced (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more...)
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I spent some time this evening watching my favorite comedy network (FOX News). Don't get me wrong, my political biases tend to be more in line with FOX than with the rest of the major media outlets. It's just that I am completely unable to suppress a chuckle everytime they say the "Fair and Balanced" thing.

Anyway, I caught the story tonight about Ward Churchill being invited to speak at Hamilton College in upstate New York. The on-air treatment of the story was, I thought, probably a bit overdone. If you haven't caught this, Ward Churchill is a tenured professor and was the Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department of the University of Colorado (he has just resigned the Chair position). He has been described on a web page as: "Ward Churchill (Keetoowah Band Cherokee) is one of the most outspoken of Native American activists. In his lectures and numerous published works, he explores the themes of genocide in the Americas, historical and legal (re)interpretation of conquest and colonization, literary and cinematic criticism, and indigenist alternatives to the status quo. Churchill is a Professor of Ethnic Studies and Coordinator of American Indian Studies. He is also a past national spokesperson for the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. His books include Agents of Repression, Fantasies of the Master Race, From a Native Son and A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas."

The flap is about an essay he posted right after 9/11 called "Some people push back, on the justice of roosting chickens". FOX alleged that he said that the people in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the country at large got what we deserved in those attacks and that by inviting him to speak, the powers that be at Hamilton (whose campus in in New York and who have at least on child of WTC victims currently enrolled) were being insensitive and hinted at something bigger. (Something like being un-American, I guess.)

I figured that this was just another good sound bite, so I went googleing. What I discovered is that FOX was being nice. Churchill is a mean-spirited, hateful man, angry at the white world. Whether or not he is justified in his opinion is a matter of opinion. All I can say is that it has obviously worked for him. Here is a sample:

There is simply no argument to be made that the Pentagon personnel killed on September 11 fill that bill. The building and those inside comprised military targets, pure and simple. As to those in the World Trade Center . . .

Well, really. Let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break. They formed a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire – the "mighty engine of profit" to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved – and they did so both willingly and knowingly. Recourse to "ignorance" – a derivative, after all, of the word "ignore" – counts as less than an excuse among this relatively well-educated elite. To the extent that any of them were unaware of the costs and consequences to others of what they were involved in – and in many cases excelling at – it was because of their absolute refusal to see. More likely, it was because they were too busy braying, incessantly and self-importantly, into their cell phones, arranging power lunches and stock transactions, each of which translated, conveniently out of sight, mind and smelling distance, into the starved and rotting flesh of infants. If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I'd really be interested in hearing about it.

It becomes blatantly apparent that while Churchill may have a firm grasp on some of the more unsavory aspects of American history, he has no clue as to what Islamicist Terrorism is about. At least at the time of the essay chose to blame the US for continuing 1000 years of genocide against Islam. He also appears to feel some sense of solidarity with the perpetrators of the attack simply because they were brown (or at least not white) since everyone knows that America is about repressing and oppressing brown people. He also chooses to ignore inconvenient facts of history (Israel/Palestinians) by making the assertion that "By this, it should be understood that Middle-Easterners, unlike Americans, have no history of exterminating others purely for profit, or on the basis of racial animus. Thus, we can appreciate the fact that they value life – all lives, not just their own – far more highly than do their U.S. counterparts."

Actually I encourage you to go read the whole thing. A quote here and there does not do justice to how vile and hateful the whole thing is. (By the way, of the first four sources for this article I found, the only one that had an un-cut version was a website that describes itself as "...a two-year old project specializing in the creation and distribution of radical t-shirts and buttons." Ironically, or not so ironically, if you tend toward that sort of thing, the web site is available in English and French.) But more importantly, read the whole thing to get a feel for the kind of hate-mongering against America that is alive and well in academia and then try to convince me that there isn't an America-hating, leftist, intellectual elite here.

That said, I would die to protect Churchill's right to publish this vile drivel. He has already resigned the Chair of the Ethnic studies department at CU, and I think that is a good thing. But the Board of Regents at CU damned well better protect his status as a tenured professor. There is no point in having tenure if it doesn't mean anything. (Of course, how you get tenure now without having appropriate liberal beliefs is another problem altogether.)

Knowing a bit about CU and the City of Boulder where it is located, it was probably something of a coup for them to be able to give tenure to such an obvious radical rabble-rouser. I will enjoy watching them take the heat on this one and will lose what little respect I have for CU if they don't do the right thing and defend him.

 

by Cziltang 
Posted: Monday, January 31 2005 11:03:38 PM

One possible solution...
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I wasn't going to post this evening. I've spent a good part of the weekend moving, cutting and stacking limbs downed in our recent ice storm over at my parents's house. We could have had it hauled off, but it is free fuel for the wood stove for next winter. (By the way, if you need to hack up small to moderate sized brush, a Nepalese Khukuri works really well.) I thought I would do a little light reading tonight and call it quits. So I have nothing of consequence to say, but I did find this article on a a possible way to end our perceived problems with prisoner treatment at Guantanamo Bay. (via the Diplomad).

by Cziltang 
Posted: Sunday, January 23 2005 11:08:19 PM

Another Silly Season
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Well the Kansas Legislature is back at it, hence the term "Silly Season." Unlike other places, our legislature is only in session from January through May or June. There is a limited amount of time and a certain premium on not wasting time. We currently have issues like whether or not to re-write the death penalty law that was recently ruled unconstitutional, how and where we are going to come up with another billion dollars for school financing, as recently court-ordered (for a bit of perspective the State budget was 4.5 billion dollars last year and 62% of that was for school financing), taxation, roads, social services, prison beds vs. community programs and half a dozen other issues that will directly affect my wallet. Of course, the legislature hasn't done anything about any of those things, but they have managed to discuss whether or not we should have a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Oh goody. My tax dollars at work.

Actually I have a bit to say about several of these topics (image that: me with an opinion...) but I've spent the evening writing a rather long essay for my work web site and I'm just annoyed enough about it that I'm unable to start fresh from my happy place.

(I can't believe I just wrote that. Time to quit before I embarrass myself further.)

by Cziltang 
Posted: Thursday, January 20 2005 09:26:22 PM

Anniversary
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As of today, I've been with my current organization for 19 years. Pretty good for a temporary job.

I actually went to work at my current outfit on what I thought was a temporary basis. I had been working in private halfway houses for about 6 years and I really liked the small environment where everyone who worked there could be pretty well informed about all the clients in the house. The biggest I had worked for had 25 beds.

When I came to work at my current outfit as a probation officer, I had no intention of staying for any length of time. I specifically remember talking to some of the staff one night and telling them that although I sort of liked the job, 35 clients (and a 54 bed capacity) was just too big for my taste.

19 years later I am an administrator and we just finished expanding to 140 beds. We have more clients in a year than I worked with in the first 6 years of my career. I can no longer keep up with every client, but I do manage to get to know most of the interesting ones (including the woman who stuffed herself in a clothes dryer over the weekend because she wanted to feel warm and cuddly).

As long as I'm talking about work, I might as well get this off my chest. I get absolutely infuriated with the social service organizations in the community. The things that (don't) get done in the name of "helping people" are absolutely incomprehensible to me. For instance:

We have a client who has been with us for about a year and a half. A product of bad genetics and worse socialization, he pretty much functions like a 6 year old in a 24 year old body. He has no family. He can't hold a job. He was getting a little bit of general assistance, but every time he got the money he spent it all on junk food at a local convenience store (usually all at once). His goal in life is to get a job at a fast food restaurant because he would get a discount on hamburgers. If anyone should qualify as disabled, this guy should. He is completely unable to function out in the real world. Unfortunately, he scored 72 on an IQ test the last time he was tested (the cut-off is 70) so he doesn't qualify for disability.

Meanwhile, we have a new client who had some brain trauma about ten years ago. He was diagnosed a mentally retarded due to brain trauma. He hasn't worked a day in the last 10 years. At his last disability review hearing, the brain trauma part was dropped, so now he officially receives almost $1000 per month for being mentally retarded. Oh yeah, did I mention the part about how he is going to graduate with a bachelor's degree from a local university this spring?

I don't know whether I am more infuriated that my tax dollars are going to support an allegedly disabled individual who is about ready to graduate from college, or that the institution where I earned my degree is going to give one to a mentally retarded guy.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, January 18 2005 08:54:00 PM

The Smile of Providence
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I've spent most of this evening listening to Rat Jr's Delerium CD and tinkering with the WinAmp visualization plug-ins. I haven't done this for quite a while. It just wasn't practical on my old computer. As I write this I'm typing in a minimal Blog window, running the WinAmp in desktop mode all around the Blog window. Fascinating stuff.

All I can say is it is a damn good thing I didn't have a computer, CD's and WinAmp when I was young and stupid and smoking non-tobacco. I would never have left the house.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Monday, January 17 2005 10:38:06 PM

Inauguration Package
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I thought I was done for the night. After all, UN-bashing does take it out of you...

But this was worth a link. The Wal-Mart Inauguration Package at Scrappleface. And you don't have to meet any actual politicians...

by Cziltang 
Posted: Friday, January 07 2005 10:34:15 PM

Coordination of Relief Efforts
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I've seen lots of appeals for aid for the tsunami victims. Little blurbs on the Weather Channel, notes on various web sites, and the ubiquitous appeals from well-meaning web logs (including mine). Now I realize that, out here in the Ratlands, we are often behind the curve when it comes to items of culture. But I think it is significant that the only actual commercials I have run across soliciting aid for tsunami victims have been for UNICEF. Now God forbid anyone jump to the conclusion that I am discouraging anyone from contributing to the relief effort. Far from it. I wholeheartedly encourage you to dig deep. But before you send that donation, consider the following:

You may have seen the news stories about the US Military (along with Australia, Singapore, India, New Zealand, and probably others by this time) providing aid to tsunami vicitms. (Please forgive the CNN link. It rubs me the wrong way to use it, but it is decent article.) After you've read the "officially sanctioned media version," read what is going on behind the scenes. I found this article (via Powerline via Instapundit) at The Diplomad. I'm going to quote a bit of it:

This Embassy has been running 24/7 since the December 26 earthquake and tsunami. Along with my colleagues, I've spent the past several days dealing non-stop with various aspects of the relief effort in this tsunami-affected country. That work, unfortunately, has brought ever-increasing contact with the growing UN presence in this capital; in fact, we've found that to avoid running into the UN, we must go out to where the quake and tsunami actually hit. As we come up on two weeks since the disaster struck, the UN is still not to be seen where it counts -- except when holding well-staged press events. Ah, yes, but the luxury hotels are full of UN assessment teams and visiting big shots from New York, Geneva, and Vienna. The city sees a steady procession of UN Mercedes sedans and top-of-the-line SUV's -- a fully decked out Toyota Landcruiser is the UN vehicle of choice; it doesn't seem that concerns about "global warming" and preserving your tax dollars run too deep among the UNocrats. (emphasis mine -- cziltang)

Actually, I would encourage you to read the posts on The Diplomad for the past several days. Especially the one that contains the note about UNICEF providing selective in-service training for teachers to address the psycho-social needs of children in the affected areas. And the one about the US being condemned for what it has already done because it doesn't have the moral authority to do so. (I'm not making this up. Read it for yourself.)

In the lead-up to the war in Iraq I became spectacularly unimpressed and profoundly disenchanted with the United Nations. A few years ago, on our first trip out to Oregon, I saw a billboard in Boise, Idaho that said "get US out of the UN." At the time, I thought that was profoundly reactionary and short-sighted. Now I'm of the opinion that those rednecks out in Idaho have a point.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Friday, January 07 2005 09:26:59 PM

Just a little colder...
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We are in the middle of a day of heavy rain out here in the Ratlands. Not a problem, and a welcome event, under most circumstances. Unfortunately, the temperature has been hovering around freezing all day and we're getting quite a bit of an ice storm. Tree limbs are taking out power lines all over the area. A couple of hours ago I heard that 11,000 people in the area were without power. (I've always wondered: does that mean 11,000 households or is that a smaller number of households multiplied by the average family size in the area?) At any rate, it looks like it isn't going to stop anytime soon. The lights have been flickering here in the Rathole, so I don't know if the power will stay on here or not.

The juxtaposition of beauty and destruction in this kind of weather fascinates me. I was looking out the back window earlier when the weight of the ice broke a fairly large limb in a tree. As the ice-covered branches fell through the ice-covered branches that still remained on the tree, the multiple ice-on-ice impacts produced an amazingly beautiful tinkling sound. I will, of course, be considerably less enamored of the whole mess when I'm scraping ice off the truck at 4:00 AM tomorrow.

A few degrees colder and we would be having a huge (for Kansas) snowfall. But as Maxwell Smart used to say, "Missed it by that much..."

 

 

by Cziltang 
Posted: Tuesday, January 04 2005 06:44:05 PM

Birdseye
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I heard about a company called Digital Globe today. I don't know anything about them, other than they provide satellite images. They have a web page that has before and after satellite images of some places affected by the recent tsunami. The images are stunning and well worth a look, especially if you still need convincing that providing assistance is a good thing.

On a more cynical note, they also have available for your perusal, images of some of Iran's nuclear power plants and some sites in Iraq.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Monday, January 03 2005 08:35:43 PM

A reasonable facsimile thereof
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2004 has come and gone. 2005 has arrived out here in the Ratlands. I have nothing special for you to mark the occasion. No resolutions. No cheerful greetings or wishes for a prosperous new year. It is what it is. It will probably be more of the same.

Actually, I think about New Years much the same as I do about Christmas. Why do we have to wait til this time of year to be cheerful and charitable towards our fellow man? Why do we have to wait til this day to resolve to be better people? Why now? There is nothing inherently unique, significant or special about this particular point in the Earth's continuing journey around the Sun. This is an arbitrarily imposed chronological marker. As such, there is no more reason to resolve to be a better person today than there was yesterday or there will be tomorrow or the next day or the next or the next.

Conversely, there is no reason why I shouldn't wake up every day of my life and, after thanking whatever Cosmic power I believe operates in the universe for another opportunity, strive to become a better person, rather than wait for an arbitrary day once a year to make promises to myself.

(Gosh, Sparky, that almost sounded positive and inspirational. You'd better go drink heavily so you can watch TV tomorrow with the blinds closed and the curtains drawn while nursing your "amateur night" hangover...)

All nonsense aside, the Head Rat and I would like to formally and publicly (sort of) congratulate our "not-friends" J and T on their wedding yesterday. We wish you and the crew all the best (The New Year's Eve wedding was a tax thing, right?) and hope to see you at the lake this summer.

by Cziltang 
Posted: Saturday, January 01 2005 12:12:17 AM