11/17/2011
Art Sandusky
A commenter left the following link on my blog -- very interesting. How far back does the State College abuse go?
11/15/2011
Aren't Many Pedophiles Abused as Children?
I believe so. I think it's fascinating that Jerry Sandusky's father ran a community center, a kindergarten, taught football, and ran an ice cream truck. He sure must have loved kids! Funny how he only had the one. Shy, bashful, Jerry.
"Art Sandusky was a standup guy, and he idolized his son, taught him everything, even how to kick extra points," said Dick Cain, a 79-year-old bartender at the Pulaski Club. "Jerry was a bashful kid. He stayed away from the girls. He was more about sports, every sport."
Is Jerry Sandusky the real Victim 1? Not that it excuses his behavior at all. I just like to examine root causes, and answer questions about evil. Is evil inborn, or created?
Statement Analysis of Sandusky's Costas interview
Lots of indicators of deception in the Costas interview. Example:
Question: Are you sexually attracted to young boys, to underaged boys?
Answer: "Am I sexually attracted to underaged boys? Sexually attracted? No. You know, I enjoy young people. I love to be around them, but no, I'm not sexually attracted to young boys. "
Please note that the question is answered with a question, indicating sensitivity. People will often answer a question with a question in order to pause to think of a response. Due to the direct question, the pause is sensitive.
Please note that he answers the question with a question, and then asks another question, showing a higher level of sensitivity.
Answer: "Am I sexually attracted to underaged boys? Sexually attracted? No. You know, I enjoy young people. I love to be around them, but no, I'm not sexually attracted to young boys. "
Please note that the question is answered with a question, indicating sensitivity. People will often answer a question with a question in order to pause to think of a response. Due to the direct question, the pause is sensitive.
Please note that he answers the question with a question, and then asks another question, showing a higher level of sensitivity.
Open Letter to Central Mountain High School
I just sent this letter to the senior staff, superintendent, and school board for Central Mountain High School, where Victim 1 in the Sandusky case was repeatedly molested, on campus, with the full knowledge of the staff. Please read and share!
To the Principal and Senior Staff of Central Mountain High School and to the Keystone Central School District Superintendent and School Board; namely:
Karen Probst, Principal
Robert Kreger, Assistant Principal
Steve Turchetta, Athletic Director/Assistant Principal
Nick Verrelli, Assistant Principal
Kelly Hastings, District Superintendent
Joellen Phillips, Administrative Assistant
And Board Members Wayne Koch, Charles Rosamilia, Thomas Shafer, Jerry Swope, William Smith, Jack Peters, Jeff Snyder, James Knauff, and Steve Murray --
We are just two of the millions and millions of outraged, disgusted, shocked, and horrified parents in America who are learning more every day about the vast, institutional coverup of child rape and sexual assault in central Pennsylvania.
Because it was not confined to Penn State.
At least one child on your campus were sexually assaulted by a known and voracious child predator as recently as 2009. According to his mother's statements, you have much to answer for. It seems that you are as guilty of gross negligence, child neglect, moral abdication, pedophile enabling, and criminal conspiracy to cover up as Penn State's administration is.
We are therefore demanding your immediate dismissals and/or resignations, and a full and complete investigation of what crimes may have been committed.
Why? Because:
1. You are the leaders of Central Mountain High School, where Jerry Sandusky's "Victim 1" was a student;
2. You allowed a man with a long record of "inappropriate conduct" with minors full and unfettered access to your students, and private unmonitored access to at least one student ON CAMPUS;
3. You had an eyewitness, an employee, who saw Sandusky in an inappropriate situation with a student ON CAMPUS, after hours;
4. You allowed this predator to pull a student away from his classes unannounced and have at-will unsupervised visits with him ON CAMPUS, and you NEVER INFORMED HIS MOTHER OF THIS;
5. When this brave, heroic boy finally hinted to his mother that something was wrong, and she confronted you at school, you urged her NOT TO REPORT IT. Her quote is that one of you "urged her to think twice about how she wanted to handle the situation, and asked her to think about "how that would impact my son."
Now you shamefully stay silent, while Victim 1 and countless others like him are left alone with their agony, shame, and savaged childhoods.
Where is your apology to him and his mother? To all of us? What is your explanation?
We look forward to the many forthcoming investigations and trials, and the large civil lawsuit settlements that will be awarded to children who were victimized while in your care. In the meantime, we will do everything in our humble power to see that justice is served. For your victim, and for all the other victims in Pennsylvania and elsewhere who are mercilessly unprotected by their teachers, principals, school boards, and others who have a duty to protect them.
Showering with young kids
I'm pretty sure it's weird to shower with small children you are not related to. Or related to, for that matter.
11/14/2011
Second Mile CEO's Resignation Statement
Here is Jack Raykovitch's resignation statement. Is it just me or is this totally DEVOID of outrage and personal betrayal? He worked for Sandusky for 26 years. His whole life was Second Mile. Shouldn't he feel personally outraged, betrayed, and horrified that his life and organization was built by a monster?
This statement contains none of those things. It contains distance, coldness, and a glib understanding of the pain caused. He tries to deflect attention away from himself and onto the victims. Is he afraid that we might find something if we turn the spotlight on him? Note how he says their pain and healing is "the greatest priority."
Whose priority? Wouldn't you say "MY"? He says "the."
I smell a rat.
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Pedophile Ring?
It doesn't need to be organized into a "ring" to be a ring. It can just be separate individuals who each have a taste for child porn, who therefore are all too happy to look the other way when "one of their own" is on the loose.
This could lead to several reactions:
1. Immediate action, including yelling or physically intervening on behalf of the child .
2. Leave the scene; call police.
3. Leave the scene; seek parental advice, call police.
Calling police could include Campus police if that is the accepted environment of authority in the school culture.
Next, there would be an inability to work with, near, or around someone seen in the shower with a child. I expect we may hear the same defense Michael Jackson used when he claimed it was okay to bed a boy. We may hear 'it may be inappropriate but I was only washing...' and so on.
If there was a physical sighting of a man sodomizing a child, the trauma upon the witness could be acute as the assault upon innocence is also an assault on the senses of the witness. This is similar to child pornography, but with a deeper impact upon the pysche, as it is upclose and three dimensional, or "live" happening.
Who could continue to work near, or even at a distance, with someone who sodomized a child?
This is concerning.
If the reaction is less than hostile disgust, investigators will have to be looking into a pedophile 'ring' of sorts.
Before such a notion is discounted, a pedophile 'ring' is not necessarily something that is well organized; but could be simply one pedophile not being shocked at the other's actions.
A pedophile ring can be an organization that shares child pornography as well as the names and profiles of victims, or it could very well be a pedophile being sympathetic with another, and then with another, who have pedophilia in common, and do not have natural revulsion at working with, or even near by, another pedophile."
Another insightful passage on the possibility of a pedophile ring at Penn State from the blog "Statement Analysis":
"When a man was seen in a shower with a young boy, the viewer of such would normally be traumatized by what he saw.
This could lead to several reactions:
1. Immediate action, including yelling or physically intervening on behalf of the child .
2. Leave the scene; call police.
3. Leave the scene; seek parental advice, call police.
Calling police could include Campus police if that is the accepted environment of authority in the school culture.
Next, there would be an inability to work with, near, or around someone seen in the shower with a child. I expect we may hear the same defense Michael Jackson used when he claimed it was okay to bed a boy. We may hear 'it may be inappropriate but I was only washing...' and so on.
If there was a physical sighting of a man sodomizing a child, the trauma upon the witness could be acute as the assault upon innocence is also an assault on the senses of the witness. This is similar to child pornography, but with a deeper impact upon the pysche, as it is upclose and three dimensional, or "live" happening.
Who could continue to work near, or even at a distance, with someone who sodomized a child?
This is concerning.
If the reaction is less than hostile disgust, investigators will have to be looking into a pedophile 'ring' of sorts.
Before such a notion is discounted, a pedophile 'ring' is not necessarily something that is well organized; but could be simply one pedophile not being shocked at the other's actions.
Pedophiles Among Us
From the great blog, Statement Analysis, on the ubiquity of pedophiles:
"Pedophiles are at all of our children's activities. They go to "Sesame Street Live" even though they have no children, (and it was easier to spot them before the advent of cell phone cameras by the big cameras they'd lug around), and all sorts of children activities, including Little League, Scouting, and Sunday School. They are drawn to schools, malls, bathrooms, and parks...andbathrooms at parks, malls and restaurants. They go to camp, and they go to dance recitals. They often move to be near schools. I knew of one who, in spite of having a strong intellect, would only take a job as a janitor in a grade school. "
CEO of Second Mile to Resign
Jack Raykovitz, ex-CEO of child sex brothel Second Mile. Stepping down today.
Wonder what he's scared of? Governor Corbett said that Second Mile was "grooming boys" for Sandusky.
Anyone else curious what you might find on this guy's computer hard drive?
11/13/2011
11/11/2011
The Sandusky Football Camp for Kids
Here is the website from an archive - the actual website is now defunct, for some reason...
http://web.archive.org/web/20080628213004/http://www.thesanduskyfootballcamp.com/index.html
This is from 2008!!!
Parents, relax! Joe Paterno Says Your Camper's "safety and welfare are our top priority"
Again, you just can't make it up. Not to be believed!
From the Penn State University Official Camp Athletic site, on the 2011 summer football camp session:
Dear Parents:
Thank you for considering our Penn State Place Kicking Camp. To those of you who have sent a child to one of our past camps, thank you for your continued loyalty; rest assured that your child's 2011 camp experience will be every bit as rewarding. Those considering sending a child for the first time should know that the camper's safety and welfare are our top priority and that your child will receive professional instruction from a team of outstanding coaches. Again, thank you for considering Penn State for your child's Place Kicking Camp experience. We look forward to seeing you this summer.
Warm regards,
Joe Paterno
Penn State Head Football Coach
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
This is the most recent Facebook status update on the Penn State Sports Camps Facebook page, posted on June 23rd, 2011:
http://www.facebook.com/pennstatesportcamps
Can you believe?? See for yourself:
Here's the comment I added:
Did any of the kids get The Sandusky? The sundae shaped like a man's genitals? It was available back in June (got removed yesterday though.)
Read below for my post explaining The Sandusky...
Penn State summer youth camps
From their website: (emphasis is mine)
"All summer youth camp participants are supervised by adults, 18 years of age or older, who have received safety training. Residential counselors have cleared a background check. A ratio of 1 adult to 15 participants is observed.
Parents/guardians of commuting students check their child(ren) in and out every day. Residential participants are checked in at the beginning of the camp and checked out at the conclusion by a parent/guardian.
For residential programs, the resident halls are locked 24 hours a day and can be accessed only by key cards issued to the participants who are staying in the particular residence hall. During these programs, the campus is patrolled at night by Penn State's Police Services."
Letter to Penn State's Board of Trustees
Thank you, and Gov. Corbett, for having the guts to do what you did.
Guts seem to have been in short supply over at Penn State. Now take the next step, which is MOTHBALLING YOUR FOOTBALL PROGRAM.
It's over. It's OVER. No more football. Get used to it. Also, start saving up the hundreds of millions you will be forced to pay, and should WANT TO PAY, to the human being's whose lives and souls were destroyed by Penn State and your criminal conspiracy.
I commend you for your actions, and look forward to your next steps. Shutting down football is the only way forward. The only way to show the country that your institution takes this all seriously.
The Sandusky ice cream sunday in the shape of a man's penis was being sold on campus!! Did ALL of you know about Sandusky's little "problem"? Who knew about it? Everyone must have known.
The country is watching. We will not stop watching you. We are waiting to see if and when you GET IT and SHUT DOWN YOUR FOOTBALL PROGRAM.
Looking forward to your next moves,
Mrs. Laurie Gigliotti
NOW WRITE YOUR OWN LETTER! Send it to: bot@psu.edu
11/10/2011
My Letter to the Walt Disney Corporate Citizenship site
Not that it will do much good. But if enough tiny voices cry out, who knows?
Do not broadcast the Penn State game on ESPN on Saturday. Do not profit on the backs of raped children! Stand with the families and parents who are sickened and outraged at Penn State's coverup and derliction of duty. DO NOT BROADCAST THIS GAME!!!
Your site says that there are 3 core principles you live by:
- Act and create in an ethical manner, and consider the consequences of our decisions
- Champion the happiness and well-being of kids, parents, and families in our endeavors
- Inspire kids, parents, employees and communities to make a lasting, positive change in the world
If you truly believe in those three principles, you can't possibly broadcast this game. Now is not a time for football. It's time to think about the kids whose lives were destroyed BY THE PENN STATE FOOTBALL PROGRAM. Do you really want the words "child sodomy" and "Walt Disney" to be used in the same sentence? Because they will. Thank you.
Where is the missing DA?? Where??
"It is strange that Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar never prosecuted Jerry Sandusky on child-rape charges 13 years ago, some speculate, because Gricar was known for being fiercely independent and hard on crime.
But it is even stranger that we cannot ask Gricar why Sandusky was not put behind bars, because the tough-as-nails district attorney disappeared in 2005. And though he was declared dead July of this year, his body has never been found."
The Sandusky
There is an ice cream parlor at Penn State that serves a sundae consisting of two scoops of ice cream in a bowl and a big cone sticking up between the scoops, to resemble male genitalia. The ice cream flavor is banana with nuts. And it's called THE SANDUSKY.
Here is a photo of the Sandusky. Interesting that Penn State Creamery pulled it off the menu today...wonder why?
Everyone in this town knew. They ALL KNEW. And thought it was hilarious.
Here is a photo of the Sandusky. Interesting that Penn State Creamery pulled it off the menu today...wonder why?
Mark May, ESPN Commentator and Former Penn State Player, Unloads on McQueary
Go Mark May!! My thoughts EXACTLY. You can see and feel how enraged he is. As we all are. As all normal people should be.
Mike McQueary at this point should be running out to CVS to buy hair dye and starting to grow his beard. As his wife packs the car and the kid, they could make it to the Mexican border by the time the game is over on Saturday and angry mobs start heading to his house with pitchforks and torches.
PLEASE WATCH.
Where Did You Dig Up That Old Fossil?
Billy Crystal, making his triumphant comeback at the Oscars! Direct from Forest Lawn! Jew-fro toupee and all!
I know zombies are trendy these days, but this is nuts.
One day they will run out of SNL alumni. Right? Please?
Boy, he's really gonna reel in the young hip folks! I guess those crazy teenagers just can't get enough of "City Slickers 2: Curley's Revenge"! When you're coming off your latest oxycontin bender, there's nothing better than a few bong hits and popping in the "Forget Paris" BluRay!
A fitting host for the Oscars....could anything be less relevant? Did any movies even come out in the last 6 months? Quick: Can you name THREE movies that came out this year? I can't. Except for Cars 2. I did see that.
The truth is I do love Billy Crystal. On DVD. I don't want to see any new scary face work. And you know there's going to be some....
11/09/2011
Jerry Sandusky and his SIX adopted children
That's right, he was allowed to adopt 6 children out of the foster system.
Maybe the police should interview them.
Mrs. Sandusky has some explaining to do of her own.
I, for one, will never stop throwing up.
http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/128516/jerry_sandusky_abuse_case_puts
$50,000 a year...for Ball Torture?
Yes, ball torture. That's just one of the delights awaiting you at my alma mater's sex workshop. Or, as The Daily Pennsylvanian put it:
"Tuesday night, over 40 attendees participated in the "Screw Smart presents: The Anatomy of Pleasure: What You Didn't Learn in Health Class" as part of the Love Your Body Campaign.
"For the penis, topics ranged from vibrators to ball torture, which Manser acknowledged some people are into and some people are not."
Who are these troglodytes who are not into this!? Such philistines!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cram for my Advanced Ball Torture and Taint Biting exam.
Penn State's sounding pretty good compared to this.
Mike McQueary Replies to My Email!
Minutes after I sent my screed, I received the following email from his Penn State email account.
Laurie:
I appreciate the e-mail...authorities have asked me not to say anything...The truth is not out there...It did stop...again...that is all I can say. Thank you. I tried to do the best I could, making very tough decisions in a very short time.
Mike McQueary
Wide Receiver Coach
Recruiting Coordinator
I appreciate the e-mail...authorities have asked me not to say anything...The truth is not out there...It did stop...again...that is all I can say. Thank you. I tried to do the best I could, making very tough decisions in a very short time.
Mike McQueary
Wide Receiver Coach
Recruiting Coordinator
Your thoughts?
An Open Letter to Mike McQueary
I sent this to Penn State's Mike McQueary, the star witness in the Sandusky child rape nightmare. I ccd about 30 other Penn State football employees, PA newspapers, and the mayor of the town.
Mike,
As I'm sure you are aware by now, your actions back in 1998 are shocking to those of us just hearing about them.
They have rocked me, and my friends and family, to our core. I understand that perhaps you "legally" may not have committed a crime. But when you witness -- stumble upon -- a scene like the one you saw in the showers at your place of work in 1998, and choose to skulk out quietly and not call the police or 911 immediately, my belief in the essential goodness of humanity is called into question.
As to who I am and why I am allowed to judge you on this matter: here are my qualifications: I am a human being. I am a mother of 4. I also have a personal connection to Pennsylvanian and its sports history. I am a U Penn grad, my family is from Philadelphia's suburbs, and my great-uncle named the Philadelphia 76ers.
But none of that matters.
What matters is your answers to these questions. I am ccing some Penn State stakeholders, because I am not afraid. I am not afraid you, or of speaking up for the victims in this case. More people need to lose this fear, in fact. (If any of you are enraged by this email, or feel anger at me, I urge you to redirect those feelings to the perpetrator of these crimes and his many enablers, instead of at me.)
HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU, MIKE:
1. You were a college quarterback. You are young and strong! Yet you saw a small, tiny little boy being held against his will, nude, in pain, in emotional distress, being ANALLY RAPED by a grown man. And you didn't start yelling for help? You didn't rush in to grab the man off the boy??? You didn't at the very LEAST run to the nearest phone to call for help? Of COURSE you should have rushed in and punched Sandusky's lights out! You should have scooped up that poor little boy and rushed him to the hospital! That's what I would have done or tried to do, even if it meant risking my job, my career, or physical injury. Or even death!! My question is: Why didn't you?
2. What would you have had to see in order to muster up the guts to walk in and disrupt the crime taking place? Would it have had to be a woman being raped? What if he had been stabbing or strangling the child? What if he had been sawing off his arms? At what point would you have had the courage to yell "Stop that"!?
3. There are only 3 possible explanations as to why you did not intervene in the crime, and did not immediately call the police. They are:
a) You are OK with people having sex with children, and/or watching people have sex with children, and didn't want to call attention to this fact; OR
b) You yourself were victimized as a child; OR
c) You are a coward. Possibly the biggest coward in the history of civilization, worldwide.
I lean towards C. My question is: Which of the above choices is correct, Mike? Guys 10 years younger than you were at the time are jumping on grenades in Afghanistan to protect and save lives. What are you doing?
4. Now, your only possible course of action is to do the following: Resign today. Admit your mistake. Change. Spend the rest of your life atoning for your inexcusable failure. Immediately contact the boy you saw and his mother, and beg their forgiveness. Throw yourself on the mercy of God and beg his forgiveness. Acknowledge your culpability and admit you were wrong. And finally, you should commit yourself to performing volunteer outreach to help other victims of child sexual abuse. That should be the only work you do from now on. You can save other children and help make up for your mistakes! It's not too late.
My last question is: Will you choose to do all this? Will all of us work towards changing our culture, which is one that protects pedophiles, to one that instead protects young children?
Probably not.
(If any of you reading this still feel I am in the wrong by sending this email, I ask you again: where is your anger that a known child predator was given free access to your school? Don't you think you should direct your anger at those responsible, and not to me?)
Here's my letter:
Mike,
As I'm sure you are aware by now, your actions back in 1998 are shocking to those of us just hearing about them.
They have rocked me, and my friends and family, to our core. I understand that perhaps you "legally" may not have committed a crime. But when you witness -- stumble upon -- a scene like the one you saw in the showers at your place of work in 1998, and choose to skulk out quietly and not call the police or 911 immediately, my belief in the essential goodness of humanity is called into question.
As to who I am and why I am allowed to judge you on this matter: here are my qualifications: I am a human being. I am a mother of 4. I also have a personal connection to Pennsylvanian and its sports history. I am a U Penn grad, my family is from Philadelphia's suburbs, and my great-uncle named the Philadelphia 76ers.
But none of that matters.
What matters is your answers to these questions. I am ccing some Penn State stakeholders, because I am not afraid. I am not afraid you, or of speaking up for the victims in this case. More people need to lose this fear, in fact. (If any of you are enraged by this email, or feel anger at me, I urge you to redirect those feelings to the perpetrator of these crimes and his many enablers, instead of at me.)
HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU, MIKE:
1. You were a college quarterback. You are young and strong! Yet you saw a small, tiny little boy being held against his will, nude, in pain, in emotional distress, being ANALLY RAPED by a grown man. And you didn't start yelling for help? You didn't rush in to grab the man off the boy??? You didn't at the very LEAST run to the nearest phone to call for help? Of COURSE you should have rushed in and punched Sandusky's lights out! You should have scooped up that poor little boy and rushed him to the hospital! That's what I would have done or tried to do, even if it meant risking my job, my career, or physical injury. Or even death!! My question is: Why didn't you?
2. What would you have had to see in order to muster up the guts to walk in and disrupt the crime taking place? Would it have had to be a woman being raped? What if he had been stabbing or strangling the child? What if he had been sawing off his arms? At what point would you have had the courage to yell "Stop that"!?
3. There are only 3 possible explanations as to why you did not intervene in the crime, and did not immediately call the police. They are:
a) You are OK with people having sex with children, and/or watching people have sex with children, and didn't want to call attention to this fact; OR
b) You yourself were victimized as a child; OR
c) You are a coward. Possibly the biggest coward in the history of civilization, worldwide.
I lean towards C. My question is: Which of the above choices is correct, Mike? Guys 10 years younger than you were at the time are jumping on grenades in Afghanistan to protect and save lives. What are you doing?
4. Now, your only possible course of action is to do the following: Resign today. Admit your mistake. Change. Spend the rest of your life atoning for your inexcusable failure. Immediately contact the boy you saw and his mother, and beg their forgiveness. Throw yourself on the mercy of God and beg his forgiveness. Acknowledge your culpability and admit you were wrong. And finally, you should commit yourself to performing volunteer outreach to help other victims of child sexual abuse. That should be the only work you do from now on. You can save other children and help make up for your mistakes! It's not too late.
My last question is: Will you choose to do all this? Will all of us work towards changing our culture, which is one that protects pedophiles, to one that instead protects young children?
Probably not.
(If any of you reading this still feel I am in the wrong by sending this email, I ask you again: where is your anger that a known child predator was given free access to your school? Don't you think you should direct your anger at those responsible, and not to me?)
10/31/2011
10/25/2011
Just Because You Say It's Art Does Not Make It So
Performance artist Marni Kotak, future Mother of the Year award recipient, is now living in an art gallery space in New York awaiting the arrival of her latest art prop: her newborn baby, which she plans to deliver in the gallery in front of visitors.
Previous performances include re-enacting the losing of her virginity in her parents car (for which she had sex with her boyfriend in a car parked inside an the gallery while onlookers watched), re-enacting her grandfather's funeral, and re-enacting other boring moments from her uneventful life. She did many performances where she pretended to have a baby shower. The only difference between her and me and you? She chose to call all this stuff art. Yes, I realize this is what Marcel Duchamp did with found art, but at least the guy was original.
This is an all-new level of navel-gazing. What's next? Installing a toilet in a gallery and sitting on it all day and calling that art? I can see that at home, trust me. And I don't want to.
Plus, didn't Vito Acconci do all this stuff about 40 years ago? Seed bed, etc etc? At least his art had some wit, some ideas around them, however scant. And can't SOME THINGS PLEASE BE SACRED??! The birth of your baby in a gallery is commodifying and commercializing the baby. The baby becomes just one more prop in this woman's sad, troubled personal life. The next project after the birth will be an 18-year saga in which every move the child makes is fodder for her "art." Poor child! Can you imagine your mother doing this to you? "Performance #451: my son's acne gets bad." "Performance #452: My son's fails his Algebra 2 test."
I think she may be misunderstanding Oscar Wilde's famous quote, "I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works." Ms. Kotak is blessed with neither talent nor genius, so this is tough for her.
Note to Marni: When you present your entire life as art, then none of it is.
When It Comes to Beach Filth, the Dogs Are Not the Problem
A dog beach in Santa Monica! Finally! Oh the days I used to wish for this when I 1) Had a dog and 2) lived on the westside. The best part about this story is that the main issue that was holding it up the whole time was "cleanliness." Hey, at least the dogs in Santa Monica go IN a body of water from time to time. Haven't these city officials ever walked through the pier/Ocean Avenue park area? It's like a human parking lot. The vagrants camping out all over could use a nice ocean dunk. Trust us on this -- when it comes to dirty stuff (ok, poop) lying around Santa Monica, and at the beach, dog crap is the LEAST of my concerns. Some of the poor souls around there would create a Hazmat emergency and massive beach closures if they stuck so much as a toe in the water. So let the dogs go in, please. Note to homeless: I know it's hard to find a place to bathe when you've been Occupying the Beaches for a few decades. I apologize if I caused any offense.
10/21/2011
Rest in Peace, Yueyue
Yueyue, the 2 year old girl who was 1) neglected by her mother in a busy marketplace and allowed to run into traffic, 2) hit and run over twice by large trucks, and 3) purposefully ignored by 18 passersby who saw her and did nothing as she lay writhing in terror and pain, has died. I can't and won't watch the video of the entire gruesome event.
The Chinese are having a rare moment of introspection. Why did no one help her? The 19th person who saw her finally dragged her out of the street. Why? In a related story, a Chinese woman who jumped into a lake in an apparent suicide attempt was fished out of the water by a female American tourist, as dozens of Chinese stood, watched, and did nothing. Why?
This is a country that performs forcible late-term abortions on millions. That tacitly allows a vast black market of kidnapped infants and toddlers to be sold to other families. That arrests human rights activists and bloggers, and tortures them in captivity. That bans religious freedom, reproductive freedom, thought freedom, and intellectual freedom. The results of 60+ years of these wonderful Communist traditions? An amoral, unrepentently materialistic society that seems to have abandoned empathy, charity, and human kindness. The State is all that matters.
Goodbye, Yueyue. Maybe your death will help people remember that they are humans first, and state drones second.
Goodbye, Yueyue. Maybe your death will help people remember that they are humans first, and state drones second.
Mommy, I Want My Crib
I object to using children as props in any political rally, on either side. Having said that, I think taking little kids to a "sleepover" in unwashed Zuccotti park late at night on a weekend is more than a little nuts. No tents allowed, but I'm sure they'll love sleeping in their strollers all night long. Be careful not to camp too close to the drum circles!!
9/20/2011
Another Reason We Need to Stop Killing Sharks
Because They May Save Our Lives. Really.
A molecule unique to sharks has unusual virus-killing properties. Sharks almost never get sick. Maybe one day we can harness this immunity and help ourselves. That's a lot better than a bowl of soup.
Just one more reason slaughtering sharks for their fins is not a good idea.
Shark Molecule Kills Viruses
A molecule unique to sharks has unusual virus-killing properties. Sharks almost never get sick. Maybe one day we can harness this immunity and help ourselves. That's a lot better than a bowl of soup.
Just one more reason slaughtering sharks for their fins is not a good idea.
Shark Molecule Kills Viruses
8/17/2011
Amazon Publishing and Timothy Ferriss
The Future of Publishing, Pt. II
Amazon has been letting writers self-publish for a while now, mainly digital-only editions. Now, with the launch of Amazon Publishing and the hiring of some big-name New York literary agents, they are about to set fire to the dreams of unpublished writers the world over. Here's the New York Times story.
Their first book will be the new opus from Princeton-educated author, lifestyle guru, and all-around jackass Timothy Ferris, he of the bestelling "self-help" books for guys.
His first book was "The 4-Hour WorkWeek." His second was "The Four-Hour Body." You get the idea: his theory is to minimize your labor for maximum results.
To me, Ferriss is a modern-day Frank T.J. Mackey, complete with ergonomic headset.
Hopefully Amazon will find more interesting writers to publish in the future. I understand the guy's books make money, yes.
But does this world really need more D.B.s giving young men false hope? He claims to teach you how to give a woman a 15-minute orgasm, among other chimeras.
But maybe I should let my husband read one, just in case...
Amazon has been letting writers self-publish for a while now, mainly digital-only editions. Now, with the launch of Amazon Publishing and the hiring of some big-name New York literary agents, they are about to set fire to the dreams of unpublished writers the world over. Here's the New York Times story.
Their first book will be the new opus from Princeton-educated author, lifestyle guru, and all-around jackass Timothy Ferris, he of the bestelling "self-help" books for guys.
 |
| Nice pose. |
His first book was "The 4-Hour WorkWeek." His second was "The Four-Hour Body." You get the idea: his theory is to minimize your labor for maximum results.
To me, Ferriss is a modern-day Frank T.J. Mackey, complete with ergonomic headset.
 |
| Really? |
 |
| Respect. |
Hopefully Amazon will find more interesting writers to publish in the future. I understand the guy's books make money, yes.
But does this world really need more D.B.s giving young men false hope? He claims to teach you how to give a woman a 15-minute orgasm, among other chimeras.
But maybe I should let my husband read one, just in case...
Rowling in the Deep
The Future of Publishing
JK Rowling hung on to the digital rights to all her books. Now they will be available exclusively on Pottermore, her new website. In the future, will every author have their own website? It seems to me that the future is bright for all the hopeful, unpublished authors out there. The middlemen and gatekeepers are shrinking.
I think this is all to the good. Authors of the world, you write!
JK Rowling hung on to the digital rights to all her books. Now they will be available exclusively on Pottermore, her new website. In the future, will every author have their own website? It seems to me that the future is bright for all the hopeful, unpublished authors out there. The middlemen and gatekeepers are shrinking.
I think this is all to the good. Authors of the world, you write!
8/11/2011
Budgets? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Budgets
Next Time, Let's Just Spend The $39 Million on a Solid Gold Toilet and Flush the Rest Down It
And this is just the community colleges. Just imagine what's going on at all the other departments in this city. The mind reels.
Just remember this the next time you hear a city official shrugging their shoulders and telling you they're cutting your services because of "budget shortfalls."
Mad yet? I'm ready to hit Ace Hardware for some pitchforks.
The mayor of Los Angeles currently employs 200 overpaid, underworked aides and hides the cost of their salaries. I thought this was the worst example of city corruption (see my previous posts). Until today...
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| Your city officials. |
Buried deep inside the LA Times today was this amazing story on the corruption inside L.A.'s community colleges. It seems that they have been very, very, VERY busy designing and starting massive, hugely expensive construction projects without budgets or plans.
Hundreds of millions of your dollars have been literally thrown away on projects that were abandoned halfway through (because they ran out of money!).
Hundreds of millions of your dollars have been literally thrown away on projects that were abandoned halfway through (because they ran out of money!).
Oh, and the people hired to investigate this waste and abuse ARE THEMSELVES corrupt! The current investigator is herself being investigated because she had no experience, other than working for an important city fundraiser.
And this is just the community colleges. Just imagine what's going on at all the other departments in this city. The mind reels.
Just remember this the next time you hear a city official shrugging their shoulders and telling you they're cutting your services because of "budget shortfalls."
Mad yet? I'm ready to hit Ace Hardware for some pitchforks.
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| Concerned citizens heading over to city hall to express their views. |
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