News site outsources local journalism

From CNN courtesy of Crooks and Liars:

Outsourcing first claimed manufacturing jobs, then hit services such as technical support, airline reservations and tax preparation. Now comes the next frontier: local journalism.

James Macpherson, editor and publisher of the two-year-old Web site pasadenanow.com, acknowledged it sounds strange to have journalists in India cover news in this wealthy city just outside Los Angeles.

But he said it can be done from afar now that weekly Pasadena City Council meetings can be watched over the Internet. And he said the idea makes business sense because of India's lower labor costs.

"I think it could be a significant way to increase the quality of journalism on the local level without the expense that is a major problem for local publications," said the 51-year-old Pasadena native. "Whether you're at a desk in Pasadena or a desk in Mumbai, you're still just a phone call or e-mail away from the interview."

More here.

Okay, so this is really just a California entrepreneur and his wife trying to make some money out of their basement, but, conceptually, it pretty much captures the essence of how the corporate news media is so fucked up. From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense to try to cut costs by chasing lower wages in the third world. But when you go after the bottom line in this way, there are always hidden losses. In the same way that farming out pet food manufacturing to China has meant a drastic loss of health and safety oversight resulting in countless pet deaths and illness here in the US, farming out the city council beat to Indian reporters means reducing the job to stenography. That is, it's not really reporting anymore. Sure, it provides information, but that's all it is, and such information is already available on the internet, which is how these "reporters" are able to report it. Real reporters, ideally, look for real stories, and by being in personal contact with the officials they're covering, and by being in the actual city that they're covering, they're able to get leads, hunt down good dirt, and generally serve their communities in ways that journalists have traditionally done.

In short, treating news as though it were some interchangeable, standardized product means it's not really the news anymore. I mean, it looks like news, but it ultimately lacks the depth necessary for citizens to make important decisions about the course of their city, state, or country.

More on how business practices shape and skew the news here.

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DRUNK MONKEYS

From YouTube courtesy of AlterNet:



Okay, this isn't usually the kind of post I make here at Real Art, but, as regular readers probably already know, I troll AlterNet pretty heavily for stuff to comment on, and they ran this drunk monkey clip from Animal Planet, and, well, I love monkeys, and these are drunk monkeys. I'm also fascinated by anthropologists who study primates in order to better understand human behavior: apparently, these particular monkeys, in terms of percentage of population, tend to drink just like humans; that is, some get trashed all the time, some are responsible, and some just stay on the wagon.

But when you get right down to it, I'm posting this video because they're monkeys. And they're drunk monkeys.

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Suit: Sub showed 'Brokeback' in class

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

The lawsuit claims that Jessica Turner, 12, suffered psychological distress after viewing the movie in her eighth-grade class at Ashburn Community Elementary School last year.

The film, which won three Oscars, depicts two cowboys who conceal their homosexual affair.

Turner and her grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking around $500,000 in damages.

"It is very important to me that my children not be exposed to this," said Kenneth Richardson, Turner's guardian. "The teacher knew she was not supposed to do this."

More here.

Okay, so I haven't actually seen the movie, but if I understand correctly, it's not supposed to be gay porn or anything along those lines. Never mind, for a moment, whether the sub broke the rules, which I'm sure he did; instead, ask yourself why it's so god-awful bad for eighth graders to see a romance film about gay cowboys. Why is it "very important" that Richardson's "children not be exposed to this"? Is he afraid that his kids will turn gay? Well, that's obviously not going to happen, but even if it did, so what? I'd also like to know the exact nature of this girl's "psychological distress." Is she anxiety-ridden? Depressed? What is it about gay cowboys that's got these people so freaked out?

Obviously, there's a deep strain of homophobia running smack dab down the middle of this suit. That, and the Richardsons probably could really use the 500 grand.

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Push to oust Gonzales loses momentum

From the Financial Times courtesy of TomPaine.com:

Republican members of Congress on Thursday leapt to the defence of Alberto Gonzales, the embattled US attorney-general, as Democratic efforts to oust him appeared to lose momentum.

Mr Gonzales faced a fresh barrage of question from Democrats over the controversial firing of several US attorneys when he appeared before the House judiciary committee.

But Republican committee members largely supported Mr Gonzales and called for an end to the investigation, easing pressure on one of President George W. Bush’s closest political allies.

Democrats have sought to prove that the firings of at least eight US attorneys last year were politically motivated, citing an e-mail by a Gonzales aide that judged federal prosecutors according to whether they were “loyal Bushies”.

“The list of accusations has mushroomed, but the evidence has not,” said Lamar Smith, the senior Republican committee member. “If there are no fish in this lake, we should reel in our lines of questions, dock our empty boat and turn to more pressing issues.”

More here.

WTF?!?

This investigation has uncovered a massive sidestepping of laws mandating the preservation of all White House records, caused an important DOJ aid to take the Fifth, and revealed that Gonzales himself is either fucking stupid or was lying while under oath--how many times did he say "I don't recall"? How could the investigation possibly be losing momentum? I would say this is amazing, but I've seen it happen too many times before to be surprised; the Democrats are rolling over even though they're the majority now. That is, if the investigation really is losing momentum. It would make sense if the press was simply getting bored with the story, and deciding that it's over, you know, because it's not sexy enough now.

Either way, it's fucked up.

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HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!



Your Mother should Know

Let's all get up and dance to a song
That was a hit before your mother was born.
Though she was born a long, long time ago
Your mother should know
Your mother should know
Sing it again.
Let's all get up and dance to a song
That was a hit before your mother was born.
Though she was born a long, long time ago
Your mother should know
Your mother should know
Lift up your hearts and sing me a song
That was a hit before your mother was born.
Though she was born a long, long time ago
Your mother should know

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Top Teacher Shown the Door After Showing “Baghdad ER”

From the Progressive:

Michael Baker worked for the Lincoln, Nebraska, public schools since 1981.

But after he showed the documentary “Baghdad ER” to his geography class on April 18, his career there was over.

This, despite the fact that in 2006, Baker was one of only 47 teachers in the state to win National Board Certification, according to the Lincoln Journal Star, which broke the story.

And

“What’s obvious is that the showing of ‘Baghdad ER’ was only an excuse to remove a progressive educator from the classroom,” Anderson charges.

Baker has clashed with administrators before. In 2005, they objected to his innovative approach to teaching history, which was to start at the present and work backwards, an approach he’d been using for four years.

But then, the school district forbade him from teaching that way any longer. The school’s consultant said it was “not logical, does not contribute to effective teaching or monitoring of progress, and puts students at a disadvantage” with newly instituted statewide tests, according to a paper on the subject by Professor Nancy Patterson of Bowling Green. Baker appealed but lost, and was eventually “prohibited from teaching U.S. history,” Patterson writes.

More here.

So this Progressive article has to speculate because of some compensation deal Baker cut with his district, but, having taught high school for six years myself, I think it's pretty safe to say that their guess is probably dead on. I've been writing here at Real Art lately about how teachers are just as subject to the severe and harsh authoritarian culture of public schools as students are--even slight challenges to the traditional order of things are dealt with harshly; teachers, then, serve as huge examples to their students of both authority and obedience.

It's pretty obvious that the film showing was only a pretense. Baker, who seemed to believe that the institution could actually be used to facilitate real learning, defied the rather arbitrary standards for his department's curriculum. It doesn't matter that learning history backward, by providing some context and real world applicability in order to create some true understanding and appreciation, might actually be a better way to teach history. All that matters is that Baker broke the rules. That is, he stood in direct defiance of the public schools' true mission, indoctrinating children into the culture of obedience and authority. For that he had to be punished.

Learning, you see, is a crime.

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Boston Legal’s Alan Shore on Gitmo

From Crooks and Liars:

James Spader's character named Alan Shore can definitely give one hell of a closing argument. I've posted him before and on Tuesday night the topic was Gitmo. Boston Legal often tackles the incompetence of this administration and whole bunch of issues that are smart and funny…"Guantanamo by the Bay": Alan Shore sues the United States on behalf of a client who was tortured for two years at a detention camp.

Click here for the video.

Okay, so I don't even really watch the show, but I probably would if I knew when it comes on. I only seem to catch it when I happen to be in front of the TV, which doesn't happen often these days, surfing around. I first checked it out because of a review I read praising the wonderfully honest relationship between the character played by William Shatner, a.k.a. Captain Kirk, and Spader's character, Shore, something about their end-of-episode chats on a downtown penthouse terrace. The review was dead on. Shatner's a tricky actor, tending towards melodrama, but clearly possessing great talent when in the right role, guided by the right director, or playing opposite the right actor. Boston Legal has clearly found the right combination to get Shatner's brilliance into a realm of consistency. Somehow he and Spader approach the television sublime when together, and that's what seems to be the glue that holds the show together.

Anyway, the show also deals with politics and general weirdness, well worth watching. I was fortunate enough to see this particular clip a few nights ago: Spader makes a fantastic argument against post 9/11 civil liberties violations by way of sarcastic overstatement. Go check it out--in addition to a silent William Shatner, you'll also see fellow Texas Ex Mitch Pileggi of X-Files fame.

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FRIDAY CAT BLOGGING

Phil



Sammy



Frankie



Be sure to check out Modulator's Friday Ark for more cat blogging!

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Former 'LA Times' Baghdad Chief Says Iraqis Are 'Humiliated'

From Editor and Publisher courtesy of AlterNet:

"Iraqis are rather hostile and feel humiliated. And that's the key thing that maybe some of our policymakers don't understand. The presence of the U.S. soldiers is very humiliating to the Iraqis. Even those who, in their minds know that it's necessary to have the soldiers there, at least some kind of force there preventing an all-out civil war from getting even worse...I don't think they appreciate American culture."

And

"Because there is not - even according to General Petraeus' own guidebook for fighting counterinsurgencies, they're not using soldiers, they're not using enough troops to accomplish their goals...But also, more fundamentally, I don't think that they can do this militarily. I don't think the fundamental problems in Iraq right now are military problems."

More here.

Okay, this has been obvious for quite some time now, but it's nice to hear it from somebody who was on the ground over there for an extended period of time. The US military presence does nothing but aggravate an already bad situation. Sure, if we just pulled out without any planning, the civil war would probably get worse, but why the hell would we leave without any planning? No less than Henry Kissinger has asserted that the only way out is to use a regional approach: bring Iran, Syria, Pakistan, the Saudis, the UN, and others to the table, and hash out something, anything, as long as it doesn't include US troops. It'll be messy, to be sure, but what's going on now is unsustainable.

I mean, the money we're spending should be incentive enough. Not to mention the ever increasing death toll.

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11 GOP Congressmen to Bush: You’ve Lost Credibility

From Crooks and Liars:

On tonight's "Countdown," Keith Olbermann replays an exchange between Brian Williams and Tim Russert from NBC Nightly News this evening about a stunning, closed door meeting that Keith described as a "watershed moment" between President Bush and eleven Republican members of Congress regarding Iraq. In this private meeting, the group, led by Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Charlie Dent (R-PA), hammered the President on Iraq and the impact the war is having on the future of the Republican Party.

Russert: The Republican Congressmen then went on to say: "The word about the war and its progress cannot come from the White House or even you, Mr. President. There's no longer any credibility. It has to come from General Petraeus."

Click here for the video.

I was wondering if something like this was ever going to happen. Quite the ass-licking. And I don't mean that in the good way. I'm kind of surprised, actually. The cult of Bush, or Reagan's First Law "thou shalt not criticize another Republican," or the kool-aid, whatever you want to call it, has been so amazingly binding to rank and file GOP members that I had kind of been taking for granted that most of them were going to play lemmings and run off the proverbial cliff behind their doofus alpha male. Apparently that's not the case. It's obviously too late to save the Republican Party, so an extra round of applause goes out for these eleven Congressmen: they've done this for their country instead of for political advantage.

I guess some Republicans really do love America.

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Kansas Board of Ed. repeals conservative sex ed policies

From CNN courtesy of AlterNet:

The Kansas Board of Education on Tuesday repealed sex education policies enacted last year, the latest move by the moderate majority to undo efforts by conservatives when they dominated the board.

One rescinded policy recommended that schools stress abstinence until marriage, while the other urged school districts to get parental permission before students could attend human sexuality classes.

On a 6-3 vote, the board replaced the policies with one that recommends "abstinence plus" sex education programs and leaves it up to the state's 296 school districts to decide whether to get parental permission.

The "abstinence plus" program stresses abstinence before marriage, while also urging schools to give students information about birth control and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

More here.

Well, it's nice to see that the moderates are trying to clean up the mess left behind by their nutty predecessors. Man, I'll never understand what makes those fundamentalists think this way about sex education. The thought that the whispered implication of sexual encouragement by teachers who talk about condoms somehow makes teens want to have sex is just plain laughable. As if the endless media stream of sexuality that pounds teens every minute of every day, or even hormones and human nature, have nothing to do with it. Obviously, "abstinence based" sex ed is just wishful thinking, but fundies honestly believe they've got a good argument here.

That, in itself, is good reason to totally bar right-wing Christians from ever having anything at all to do with education. Ever. They're fucking crazy.

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Poe blasted for quoting KKK leader during war speech

From Hearst via the Houston Chronicle:

U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, has ignited ire from bloggers nationwide and inspired TV personality Keith Olbermann to label him one of the "worst in the world."

It's because Poe, a Texas history enthusiast from his days as a Harris County prosecutor and judge, quoted Ku Klux Klan leader and Civil War Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest during a House floor speech about the war in Iraq.

Poe stated that Bedford Forrest's military strategy was "Get there firstest with the mostest" — a variation on the "Git thar fustest with the mostest" quote attributed to Forrest.

Historians disagree about whether the general ever said those exact words. Regardless, Poe's words rippled across the Capitol and online, where bloggers accused the congressman of racism for offering Forrest as a font of wisdom.

More here.

Poe was the local judge in the area where I grew up. While on the bench he made sure that people knew he had a reputation for being "tough on crime" and and for creative sentencing, like making DWI convicts wear sandwich board signs publicizing their crime, that sort of thing. In short, he's a big fucking right-wing idiot, and his ill-considered quotation probably has more to do with his mental retardation than with any sort of conscious racism. I mean, he may very well be a racist for all I know, but I don't think quoting the KKK's founder makes him one. After all, Hitler had some interesting things to say: would quoting him make me a racist? Hell no.

At this point the GOP is running scared. I don't think it's wise to bash them for piddling bullshit.

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Kansas Tornado Renews Debate on Guard at War

From the New York Times courtesy of AlterNet:

Ms. Sebelius’s comments about the slow response prompted a debate with the White House on Tuesday, which initially said the fault rested with her. Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, said the governor should have followed procedure by finding gaps after the storm hit and asking the federal government to fill them — but did not.

“If you don’t request it, you’re not going to get it,” Mr. Snow told reporters on Tuesday morning.

The debate was reminiscent of the Bush administration’s skirmishes with Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana, also a Democrat, after Hurricane Katrina. But after an angry flurry of words, both sides seemed to back down a bit later Tuesday.

Ms. Sibelius said she now had enough equipment and personnel to deal with the problems in Greensburg, and the White House acknowledged that the governor had requested several items that the federal government supplied, including a mobile command center, a mobile office building, an urban search and rescue team, and coordination of extra Black Hawk helicopters.

Nonetheless, the governor and officials in other states again expressed concern that the problem could occur again as the stretched National Guard system struggled to respond to disasters at home while also fighting overseas.

Click here for more.

When progressives raised this point during the reign of chaos in New Orleans after Katrina hit, I mostly kept my mouth shut about it. After all, there was no way of really knowing if the Louisiana National Guard response was late in coming due to the Iraq war or if it was just plain incompetence on the part of Louisiana's governor--I mean, obviously, Bush doesn't have a monopoly on incompetence, and there was plenty else to write about in regards to Katrina. For me, this new story about Kansas National Guard equipment shortages nails the coffin shut. In addition to the now infamous incompetence demonstrated by Bush's FEMA, the Federal and state response after Hurricane Katrina was so bad because important resources were tied up in the Iraq occupation.

I think it's safe to say that we're now, and have been, experiencing domestic casualties in this damned war, and it's from friendly fire. Fucking bastards.

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QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES
Means "Who Polices the Police?"

From the BBC courtesy of AlterNet:

LA police reassigned over clashes

News footage showed a police officer pushing a TV camerawoman to the ground and shoving people who were walking away from the officers.

Officials have denied the police deliberately targeted immigrants or civil rights activists.

But police chief William Bratton has acknowledged that an order for protesters to disperse may not have been understood because it was issued in English when most of those attending the rally spoke only Spanish.

Nonetheless, the highest-ranking officer at the scene of the rally has been demoted and placed on house leave pending the outcome of an internal inquiry.

His second-in-charge, a veteran of almost 40 years on the force, has been demoted and about 60 highly-trained riot control officers who were involved in the clashes have been reassigned.
Click here for more.

When I talk about police culture being out of control, this is exactly what I mean. It's not a question of whether demonstrators could speak English or not. It's that the concept didn't even occur to the cops on the scene. They were much more concerned with asserting their authority, so much so that they had to go after people who were obviously on their way out. And that's the problem: cops operate in an insular, hypermasculine, violent, and authoritarian culture. That means taking control, regardless of whether that's the right or strategic thing to do.

Clearly, this needs to change. We live in an ever more complicated world. Hitting people over the head isn't always a smart move.

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TWO FROM THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

So it's finals week and I have no finals. Strangely, I'm extraordinarily busy. Go figure. Soon. Soon I'll graduate. Anyway, here's a couple of noteworthy stories via the Houston Chronicle.

Senate blocks bid to allow prescription drug imports

From the AP

In a triumph for the pharmaceutical industry, the Senate on Monday killed a drive to allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from abroad at a significant savings over domestic prices.

On a 49-40 vote, the Senate required the administration to certify the safety and effectiveness of imported drugs before they can be imported, a requirement that officials have said they cannot meet.

"Well, once again the big drug companies have proved that they are the most powerful and best financed lobby in Washington," said Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican.

The vote neutralized a second amendment, later passed on a voice vote, that would legalize the importation of prescription drugs manufactured in Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan and New Zealand.

More here.

Fight against adult businesses costly for city

It's a big bill for so few clothes.

The city has spent nearly $1.3 million since 1997 on outside lawyers to defend a sweeping sexually oriented business ordinance against legal challenges from topless bars, adult book stores and "modeling" studios, officials say.

That figure doesn't include the likely equal amount of time city lawyers have spent over the years supporting and advising the outside legal team.

City Attorney Arturo Michel said defending the ordinance has been an unusually costly and time-consuming process.

"It involved more legal work, and clearly more work with people looking at the data and preparing for trial," he said. "With most other litigation, we typically don't appropriate anything that's even close to that."

Not surprisingly, the city's policymakers and the adult industry diverge on the necessity of fighting over the ordinance, which, among many regulations, prohibits the businesses from opening within 1,500 of feet of schools, churches, parks and day care centers.

More here.

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Gasoline prices hit record average of $3.07

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Gasoline prices have surged to a record nationwide average of $3.07 per gallon, nearly 20 cents higher than two weeks earlier, oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday.

The previous record was $3.03 per gallon on Aug. 11, 2006.

But despite inventory fears that have sent prices higher, there are signs that the rising prices at the pump may be peaking.

And

The recent increases are due mostly to refinery problems, Lundberg said, noting there have been at least a dozen additional partial shutdowns in the U.S. and internationally that cut refining capacity.

Click here for the rest.

So rising prices may be peaking, eh? I'm sure they'll bounce back. And since it's become clear that the California energy crisis a few years back was completely constructed by the energy industry timing its "maintenance" operations to happen all at the same time, which shut down electricity generating capacity, thereby greatly decreasing supply, and consequently raising prices astronomically, I have a major hunch that some of these refinery "problems" may be by design. That is, I don't think Big Oil is above market manipulation.

Anyway, there is one way to deal with the situation: tax the fuck out of Big Oil's windfall profits, and regulate pump prices so they can't pass it on to consumers. And don't give me none of that "free market" bullshit. I'm referring to an economic model that worked for decades with regulated power companies. You can write the law such that Big Oil is assured a fair profit, with money for maintenance, exploration, and expansion, while taking all those billions and putting them to good use for average Americans.

Screw economic orthodoxy; these gas prices are bullshit.

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Army general predicts rise in U.S. casualties in Iraq

From the Los Angeles Times via the Houston Chronicle:

A U.S. Army general on Sunday forecast a rise in deaths among American forces in the coming months, a prediction underscored by the announcement that a roadside bomb had killed six U.S. soldiers and a foreign journalist north of Baghdad. Five other American troops died elsewhere over the weekend.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said casualties will climb as American troops dig into enemy territory as part of a stepped-up military operation ordered by President Bush in January.

Lynch, who oversees a swath of territory to the south and east of Baghdad, gave his bleak prediction on the heels of the deadliest month so far this year for American forces in Iraq.

Click here for more.

So no surprise here. Hawks predicted a rise in casualties as part of Bush's dumb-fuck "surge" plan; doves predicted the same thing. Heck, I predicted it too: putting meat into a meat grinder results in hamburger--it's common sense on which we can all agree. Where the disagreement lies is in whether or not the "surge" will accomplish anything. The White House has asserted repeatedly that the idea is to create a stable situation such that the Iraqi government and military can rise to the challenge, or stand up, or whatever the catch-phrase of the day is. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has announced that training Iraqi soldiers has been downgraded as a priority, and the sham Iraqi government we created doesn't appear to be getting its shit together.

Obviously, the "surge" can only result in loss of American life, and nothing else.

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NEWSWEEK Poll: Bush Hits All-Time Low

From MSNBC courtesy of AlterNet:

It’s hard to say which is worse news for Republicans: that George W. Bush now has the worst approval rating of an American president in a generation, or that he seems to be dragging every ’08 Republican presidential candidate down with him. But According to the new NEWSWEEK Poll, the public’s approval of Bush has sunk to 28 percent, an all-time low for this president in our poll, and a point lower than Gallup recorded for his father at Bush Sr.’s nadir. The last president to be this unpopular was Jimmy Carter who also scored a 28 percent approval in 1979. This remarkably low rating seems to be casting a dark shadow over the GOP’s chances for victory in ’08. The NEWSWEEK Poll finds each of the leading Democratic contenders beating the Republican frontrunners in head-to-head matchups.

Perhaps that explains why Republican candidates, participating in their first major debate this week, mentioned Bush’s name only once, but Ronald Reagan’s 19 times. (The debate was held at Reagan’s presidential library.)

Click here for more.

Holy shit, that's pathetic! My oh my, how the mighty have fallen. I think it's safe to say now that Bush is utterly despised. I mean, he's below 30%; you can just trash him in casual conversation these days, and anybody who challenges you is the one who looks like a nut. If you think back to early 2003, when the White House had whipped the country into bloodlust, it was exactly the opposite: opposing Bush made you the nut. Of course, the ten or twenty percent of the country who had the balls to think for themselves in those days were actually the level-headed folk, but there's no need to dwell on that at the moment, although this ought to be discussed ad infinitum in the future for obvious reasons.

For now, I'm basking in all this wonderful Bush hatred.

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Fort Bend principal resigns in Bachelor backlash

From the Houston Chronicle:

The principal disciplined after one of her teachers appeared on the television show The Bachelor has resigned her position.

Tammie Carpenter sent a letter of resignation to Fort Bend Independent School District officials saying she was stepping down effective June 29.

Carpenter, the principal of Colony Bend Elementary, was disciplined by the district after she allowed teacher Amber Alchalabi to miss 22 class days earlier this year to tape episodes of The Bachelor.

Previous plans called for Carpenter to be reassigned to another campus and demoted.

And

The flap around Alchalabi's appearance on the show started two weeks ago. Lesley White and Raquel Flores, both parents who have children in Alchalabi's class, were upset that the teacher was gone for such an extended period.

White also said the nature of the show was not appropriate for a teacher and took issue with the show's producers taping at the school.

"It does not promote family values, moral values or appreciation of the normal 'dating' process. To exploit the children during the filming of this show is unacceptable," White said in a letter to district officials.

Flores also was concerned, saying class routine was interrupted while children were preparing to take the TAKS tests.

More here.

So what this means is that teachers are not supposed to have personal lives. That is, even on their own time, they are expected to adhere to the arbitrary and authoritarian standards of the workplace. Even indirectly aiding such a challenge to the indoctrinational system known as education can result in dismissal, even though in this case they're calling it a "resignation." It's like I said last week: teachers must necessarily be the most indoctrinated individuals participating in the educational system, serving as examples of both authority and obedience, and even slight challenges are dealt with harshly.

As usual, this extreme example proves the rule: public education's mission is to indoctrinate children into the culture of obedience and authority.

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THE NEW SPIDER-MAN MOVIE

Things I liked:

1. The appearance of NYPD Capt. Stacy, a favorite character from the 60s.
2. Casting favorite character actor James Cromwell to play Capt. Stacy.
3. The appearance of the Sandman, another 60s favorite.
4. Casting favorite character actor and Texan Thomas Hayden Church to play the Sandman.
5. The appearance of Venom.
6. Casting the goofy That 70s Show actor, and Bizarro Tobey Maguire, Topher Grace to play Venom.
7. The appearance of Peter Parker's 60s pre-MJ girlfriend, Gwen Stacy.
8. Harry Osborne.
9. Mary Jane Watson.
10. Bruce Campbell's silly French maitre d'.
11. Doctor Conners.
12. The black symbiote suit.
13. Peter Parker's self-doubt and crying.
14. The obligatory cameo appearance by Stan Lee.
15. Theresa Russell's brief scene as the Sandman's wife.
16. Jolly Jonah Jameson.
17. Betty Brant.
18. Robbie Robertson.

Things I didn't like:

1. Trying to tell five or six different stories, incompletely, in one movie.

Unfortunately, that one item on the latter list goes a long way towards canceling out everything on the former list. Not even all the explosions and flying debris could do anything to help.

There's a pretty darned good reason I don't watch too many movies these days.



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