No Less

In the spirit of just getting it recorded.

Instead Of Creating More Victims, Let’s Do Two Things

I read the article from the Safe School Czar “Be A Man” with an admitted distaste, just based on what little I’ve heard of the guy. The mindset that just telling a kid to wear a condom when informed about a teen going home with a stranger he’d met in a public restroom creeps me out a little. This isn’t the kind of guy I’d want around my kids if I had any.

But the point of his story, and what first led me to it was that somehow he felt that violence was a normal behaviour for boys. He was being portrayed as advocating violence against people who tease, however, it was, as was pointed out to me, more a case of the author saying “we shouldn’t be surprised” when boys kill those who tease them. Society raises boys, according to the author, that killing is a way to prove their manhood. Or some such rubbish.

What I read from that was: “If a boy kills those who tease him, it is society’s fault.”

Clearly, the guy has struggled with his gender role identity. In that respect, I pity him. But he’s so wrapped up in his homophobia-phobia that he truly misses some major points.

A little more than six months after “Be A Man” was reprinted, the Columbine massacre happened. Initial accounts, at least, seem to point to two students acting out in violence at the more popular kids in school who may have teased them, or something along those lines. Other than the intensely focused homophobia aspect, “Be A Man” is almost prophetic.

In the author of “Be A Man”’s view, it’s extreme gender role imprinting that causes kids to tease mercilessly. But, instead of teaching kids appropriate responses, his goal is to teach everyone to be gay friendly. I mean, this guy is extremely focused on his narrow agenda. By doing so, he pretty much excuses the behaviour of kids who act out violently as the fault of society. And this is the critical error in his, and many like him’s thinking. Instead of teaching that it’s not okay to respond to name calling violently, he wants to sensitize the name callers to not be name callers. Understandably, in itself, that’s fine. But it’s also incredibly unlikely to succeed outside of a closed system.

So, the first thing I would suggest, is instead of blaming society for making kids want to act out violently, let’s start by teaching them that acting out is a personal choice for which there are consequences. It is not society’s fault there are mean people in the world, it’s just reality. Start by teaching more appropriate responses, not expecting the bad guys to play fair.

This is also how I feel about hate crime legislation. How is creating protected classes of people who have their own set of rules when it comes to crimes against them supposed to do anything, except have more people crying “hate crime” whenever they feel they’ve been wronged. That and create resentment from the less protected classes.

About 20% of violent crime is inter-racial, of that number it is disproportionately crimes against whites. Yet whites are charged twice as often with hate crimes. When you come up with a way to jibe those two numbers, let me know.

Instead of creating more victims, let’s call a heinous crime a heinous crime. But if burning a cross on one person’s lawn is a hate crime, it damn sure better be the same crime as it is on the next person’s lawn.

Special protection by laws that are unequally administered artificially increases the number of victims, it doesn’t reduce crimes. Unless you’ve solved the puzzle from a few paragraphs back about why the group that is proportionally more often the target of violent crime is also the group that is disproportionately charged with more hate crimes.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that an unequal administration of justice is the only way those two numbers make sense.

There are two things that strike me as similar in the gay rights school czar story, and the hate crimes bill. Name calling as a crime. I was taught that certain words were so taboo that you must never say them. If you said them, you could expect violent reaction.

Here’s the rub. Name calling is not justification for violence.

So, in addition to not blaming society when someone teases you, my second suggestion is this. Stop pretending there are protected classes that are immune to getting teased. Stop teaching your kids that it’s okay to react violently if someone says your particular keyword that historically has justified violent behaviour.

Got it? Two things: One, Be responsible for your actions and don’t blame society; and two, don’t react to name calling with violence.

Hate Crime Thought Experiment

Let’s suppose an assailant called his victim the N-word before violently attacking him.

Arrange the following in order of severity of the crime:

A) assailant is white, victim is black
B) assailant is black, victim is black
C) assailant is black, victim is white
D) assailant is white, victim is white

Under hate crime laws, wouldn’t these likely be treated as four distinctly different crimes? What makes the difference? Name calling.

I’m not in the mood to look up rap videos using the N-word as artistic expression. I’m personally offended by the word. I’ve been called it, more in the sense of affectionate greeting of a brother than a derogatory or racist term, but I protested, and my coworker stopped. I’ve sat through long traffic lights next to cars blasting the word repeatedly. It’s a word that has made its way into popular culture. But. It’s a word. I don’t think anyone should use it, but as long as someone does, then everyone should be able to. Equally.

And that’s one problem I see with making additional* laws based on someone’s mental state to enhance a penalty. The equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, is supposed to guarantee us, well, equal due process. You can’t claim that you’re a victim of social injustice, and ask for special privileges at the same time. You’re either in or out with this equality thing.

*Mens rea already addresses mental state in both criminal and tort law. What does hate crime legislation add to the concept?

What is the definiton of a Coup?

coups d’état: The sudden overthrow of a government by a usually small group of persons in or previously in positions of authority.

The government was not overthrown.

“a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially : the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group”

The existing government remains unaltered, not overthrown.

From: http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Coup-d’%C3%A9tat

“Any seizure of the state apparatus by extra-legal tactics may be considered a coup, “

–state apparatus was not seized, the removal of the president from power was legal.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_coup

“the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government”

–Government was not deposed, the president was constitutionally arrested.

http://www.apheda.org.au/campaigns/burma_schools_kit/resources/1074040257_16812.html

“Military Coup: A sudden overthrowing and seizure of a government by the military.”

–Government maintained power.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-coupdtat.html

“a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government”

–Government maintained power.

He’s An Expert On What, Exactly?

President Obama has no shortage of ways to spend other people’s money, but seems poorly lacking in actual ways of providing anything of value that others are buying.

He’s on the TV every day pitching this or that. But what exactly is his experience or expertise in the things he’s pushing?

Health Care? Exactly what unique insight does he offer in this complex industry? Has he ever sold insurance? Studied medicine?

Foreign Trade? Has he ever studied economics? (I’ve heard rumours from a supposed former classmate that he indeed may have, and that there may be a good reason his grades are sealed.)

What about climatology? Has he ever studied any science at all?

In a nutshell, we have a guy who is convinced in his own moral superiority, and his mass of supporters who he promises the spoils of victory to. That’s it. He’s an influence peddler with no real expertise on anything.

What? He was a constitutional scholar? Really? Let’s start with this one:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”

My guess is the instant he signs a mandatory federal health insurance program, he will violate his oath. Not that anything he says can be trusted, any way. In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s a man of many words, but not a man of his word.

You Can’t Tell Me What You Did

Just a little ditty.

update, with minor changes:

the pattern starts to emerge, (and I tune up a bit):

Halfback

I like the arrangement, just needs lotsa practice.

Seems like everything I’ve been playin’ the last few years has been in the same key, so this is what came up when I changed it up a little.

Pardon Me, But Isn’t Rape A Crime?

Every person who did indeed sign this petition should have no problem with being sodomized against their will by someone 3 times their age.

Unverified petition to pardon Polanski.

Woody Allen
Wes Anderson
Darren Aronofsky
Jonatham Demme
Stephen Frears
David Lynch
Martin Scorsese

full list:

Fatih Akin, Stephane Allagnon, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Wes Anderson, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alexandre Arcady, Fanny Ardant, Asia Argento, Darren Aronofsky, Olivier Assayas, Alexander Astruc, Gabriel Auer, Luc Barnier , Christophe Barratier, Xavier Beauvois , Liria Begeja , Gilles Behat, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Marco Bellochio, Monica Bellucci, Djamel Bennecib, Giuseppe Bertolucci , Patrick Bouchitey, Paul Boujenah, Jacques Bral, Patrick Braoudé, André Buytaers, Christian Carion, Henning Carlsen, Jean-michel Carre, Mathieu Celary, Patrice Chéreau, Elie Chouraqui, Souleymane Cissé, Alain Corneau, Jérôme Cornuau, Miguel Courtois, Dominique Crevecoeur, Alfonso Cuaron, Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Jonathan Demme, Alexandre Desplat, Rosalinde et Michel Deville, Georges Dybman, Jacques Fansten, Joël Farges, Gianluca Farinelli (Cinémathèque de de Bologne), Etienne Faure, Michel Ferry, Scott Foundas, Stephen Frears, Thierry Frémaux, Sam Gabarski, René Gainville, Tony Gatlif, Costa Gavras, Jean-Marc Ghanassia, Terry Gilliam, Christian Gion, Marc Guidoni, Buck Henry, David Heyman, Laurent Heynemann, Robert Hossein, Jean-Loup Hubert, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gilles Jacob, Just Jaeckin, Alain Jessua, Pierre Jolivet, Kent Jones (World Cinema Foundation), Roger Kahane, Nelly Kaplan, Wong Kar Waï, Ladislas Kijno, Harmony Korinne, Jan Kounen, Diane Kurys, Emir Kusturica, John Landis, Claude Lanzmann, André Larquié, Vinciane Lecocq, Patrice Leconte, Claude Lelouch, Gérard Lenne, David Lynch, Michael Mann, François Margolin, Jean-PierreMarois, Tonie Marshall, Mario Martone, Nicolas Mauvernay, Radu Mihaileanu, Claude Miller, Mario Monicelli, Jeanne Moreau, Sandra Nicolier, Michel Ocelot, Alexander Payne, Richard Pena (Directeur Festival de NY), Michele Placido, Philippe Radault, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Raphael Rebibo, Yasmina Reza, Jacques Richard, Laurence Roulet, Walter Salles, Jean-Paul Salomé, Marc Sandberg, Jerry Schatzberg, Julian Schnabel, Barbet Schroeder, Ettore Scola, Martin Scorsese, Charlotte Silvera, Abderrahmane Sissako, Paolo Sorrentino, Guillaume Stirn, Tilda Swinton, Jean-Charles Tacchella, Radovan Tadic, Danis Tanovic, Bertrand Tavernier, Cécile Telerman, Alain Terzian, Pascal Thomas, Giuseppe Tornatore, Serge Toubiana, Nadine Trintignant, Tom Tykwer, Alexandre Tylski, Betrand Van Effenterre, Wim Wenders.

+Erika Abrams, Gianni Amelio, Roger Andrieux, Alexandre Babel, Jean-François Balmer, Véra Belmont, Alain Berliner, Pascal Berney, Lucien Blacher, Catherine Boissière, Thierry Boscheron, Freddy Bossy, Patrick Bouchitey, Cédric Bouchoucha, Katia Boutin (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Guila Braoudé, Anne Burki, Lionel Cassan (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Teco Celio, Christophe Champclaux, Brigitte Chesneau, Catherine Chouchan, Jean- Pierre Clech, Henri Codenie, Robert Cohen, Guy Courtecuisse (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Morgan Crestel, Frédéric Damien, Sophie Danon, Hervé de Luze (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Benoît Delmas, Dante Desarthe, Romain Desbiens, Thomas Desjonquères (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Guillaume D’Ham (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Christelle Didier (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Kathrin DiPaola, Ariel Dorfman, Jean Teddy Filippe (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Martine Fitoussi, Matteo Garone, Catherine Gaudin-Montalto, Stéphane Gizard, Christophe Goumand, Dimitri Haulet, Dominique Hollier, Isabelle Hontebeyrie, Frédéric Horiszny, Anne Jeandet, Arthur Joffé, Paola Jullian, Richard Klebinder, Jean Labadie, David Lanzmann, Françoise Lassale, Carole Laure, Christine Laurent-Blixen, Emilien Lazaron (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Pierre et Renée Lhomme, Marceline Loridan-Ivens, Christine Mathis, Christopher, Spencer et Claire Mc Andrew, Allison Michel, Jean-Louis Milesi, Jean-Marc Modeste , Christian Mvogo Mbarga, Juliette Nicolas-Donnard, Eric Pape, Abner Pastoll, Olivier Père, Suzana Peric (Membre de l’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski “The Ghost”), Jacques Perrin, Thomas Pibarot, Anne Pigeon Bormans, Sabrina Poidevin, Agnès Catherine Poirier, Harry Prenger, Gilbert Primet, Tristan Rain, Jo Reymen, Laurence Reymond, Christiane Rhein, Avital Ronell, Marc Saffar, Gabriela Salazar Scherman, Jean-Frédéric Samie, Pierre Schumacher, Luis Gustavo Sconza Zaratin Soares, Frank Segier, Guy Seligmann, Julien Seri, Pierre Silvant, Roch Stephanik, Jean-Marc Surcin, André Techiné, Valentine Theret, Jaques Vallotton, Jean-Pierre Vergne, Sarah Vermande, Gilles Walusinski, Anaïse Wittmann, Arnaud Xainte, Christian Zeender.

EDIT: new names

Isabelle Adjani
Antoine Aronin
Paul Auster
Morgane Beauverger
Candice Belaisch-Goldchmit
Yamina Benguigui
Pascal Bruckner
Jessika Cohen
Philippe Corbé
Jean-Paul Dayan
Katarina De Meulder
Arielle Dombasle
Nathalie Faucheux
Corinne Figuet
Pierre Forciniti
Louis Garrel
Albert Gauvin
Johanna Gozlan
Davide Homitsu Riboli
Taylor Hackford
Isabelle Huppert
Neil Jordan
Thierry Kamami
Milan Kundera
Gaelle Lancien
Claude Lanzmann
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Sam Mendes
Camille Meyer
Patrick Mimouni
Yann Moix
Mike Nichols
Sandra Nicolier
Marie Nieves Perez Neël
Salman Rushdie
Carine Sarna
Ysabelle Saura Del Pan
William Shawcross
Olivier Soares Barbosa
Steven Soderbergh
Nil Symchowicz
Danièle Thompson
Eugenia Varela Navarro
Diane von Furstenberg
Margaret Walker
Elsa Zylberstein

source

And those organizations:

- l’Académie des César
- l’API (Association des producteurs Indépendants)
- l’ARP
- l’ARRF – Association des Réalisateurs et réalisatrices de Films – Belgique
- la Cinémathèque Française
- le Festival de Cannes
- le Fonds Culturel Franco Américain
- le Groupe 25 images
- la SACD
- le SPI
- l’Union des producteurs de films
- L’équipe du dernier film de Roman Polanski « Ghost »
- Pathé
- Scott Foundas (LA Weekly)

Social Media Skeptic

I’m just as skeptical as the next person. But one example that comes to mind is having visited with a family member who was talking about cutting off her vonage account. I suggested skype. She knew what it was, but that was about it. Fast forward a year, and she’s talking about how she makes international calls on skype. No, I don’t think it’s a result of my suggestion, rather there’s probably someone else at her company who also knew about it, and eventually it gained acceptance.

Social media is an opportunity to see what others are doing to solve common problems. In my case, I’m no expert, so my suggestions are easily dismissed. But I clearly saw something that was working for a lot of people, and even if it wasn’t taken seriously, my advice turned out to be spot on.

My advice? Don’t listen to me, listen to the people I listen to.

Just another bedhead recording

I just wanted to record this riff.