Armchair Psychologist to the Conservatives

Over at Tiny Cat Pants, Aunt B. has a post up about a new law in Oklahoma, which requires women seeking an abortion to submit to an ultrasound prior to the procedure.

Go read it.

Considering this legislation passed in Oklahoma, I feel I should mention that Tennessee has a similar bill floating around the legislature (introduced by none other than Rep. Stacey Campfield.)

Of course, there’s probably no reason to cry foul just yet. In order for the bill to move, it would have to overcome two rather large obstacles:

(1.) The ultrasound, whether abdominal or transvaginal, would not be considered medically necessary – declaring it “legally” necessary doesn’t make it so. No argument can be made that the procedure would benefit the welfare and safety of the general public. (Lfe which is unformed, in utero, and therefore not self-sustaining doesn’t count as general public. So, let’s not even go there.) I don’t think such a state code would hold-up under judicial challenge – so the bill is a big waste of time. Surely, someone will point that out.

(2) The proposal was crafted by Campfield. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that his name appearing on the Byline of a bill is a fairly good indicator said bill will be quickly maneuvered to legislative “never-never-never ever” land.

Nevertheless, another lawmaker, who lacks the Capitol Hill Jinx Campfield carries, could introduce another version of the bill and be successful in bringing it to a vote. Not likely given the vote would probably split along party lines and die in committee: but it’s possible.

So – FOUL!

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Unfortunate Coincidences and Southern Theoreticians

Times-News reported yesterday, “Firefighters aren’t sure yet what caused a fire that severely damaged a house on Robin Road Tuesday evening just a stone’s throw from where the Pressmen’s Home forest fire began six days earlier.”

[skip]

Striggersville Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Gary Murrell said from the scene there’s no reason to suspect at this time that the fire was anything but accidental. He did note, however, that the renter who lives there is a relative of the person who allegedly accidentally set the Pressmen’s Home forest fire last Thursday while burning trash nearby.

“There’s been a lot of hard feelings around here about the (forest) fire,” Murrell said. “Some people lost their vegetable gardens, and others have been upset that forestry and the fire departments haven’t been able to get it out yet. It’s not likely that this fire has anything to do with that, but it was kind of a coincidence.

“When the residents left, the house was locked and secured, and the fire definitely started from the inside in a corner bedroom. So whatever the cause, it was internal.”

Rest of the story here.

This news is the reason my morning coffee run was made in record-breaking time. The information was out last night, so the rumors are flying today. Despite what Gary said, most of the spit-n-sit crew are floating the notion organized retaliation was the cause of the fire.

`Ain’t no such thing as coincidence,’ they said.

Then, they moved on to forming a list of possible suspects, such as so-n-so’s nephew, whom they heard was on drugs anyway.  According to Grumpy, `He’s taking that Methoethelene stuff that makes your teeth rot out.‘

I didn’t stick around to listen to the rest of the chatter – mostly because I find the southern tendency to theorize upon who, what, when, where and why without any fact, logic, or reason a little bit distasteful.  Don’t get me wrong. I accept that most Southerners are masters of fibs and fabrication. We tell mothers of ugly babies that lil’ junior is cute as a button. We shrink our dress size and our age. We stretch the size of our fish, motors, bank accounts, body parts, exploits and adventures. Hell, we’re so good at mxing fact and fiction, we’ve turned it into performance art. For the most part, this is okay — entertaining even.

But once you use this skill to malign individuals based on something repeated by Ms. Grumpy, who heard it from her sister’s neighbor, who goes to the Baptist church with the nephew’s ex-girlfriend’s mother – well, this is not your basic tale toting. It’s something different: something toxic, and I’m having no part of it (unless you’re maligning a politician, in which case, I’ll make an exception – only because my experience tells me unflattering rumors about a politician are more likely to be rooted in truth than not.)  As far as the local folks though – I know these people. I know they can hold a grudge for so long they forget why they’re holding it and how they picked it up in the first place. I know they are going to talk about this man, who accidentally started the fire, for the rest of his natural-born life and then some.

Honestly, this fellow could travel around, hat in hand, and apologize for any damaged property – and he is still going to face a lifetime of “Smokey the Bear” jokes and when his children go courting, this incident will come up in the whole “Who’s your people?” discussion. Quite simply, this fellow will henceforth and forevermore be known as “you know, the guy who set that big fire in `08.”  But organizing a community mafia to inflict property damage for revenge?

Eh. I don’t think so.

Sure, we’ve got plenty of people here, who would tear- up your house & car, steal your chainsaw, kiss your wife and drive your tractor into the pond over issues involving love or money – but an accidental fire and losing a bumper crop of `maters? I don’t see it – and without some proof, neither should you.

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Going About It All Wrong

Chattanooga Times-Free Press explains how the immigration sweeps last week, during TCAPs, could adversely affect Hamilton County’s No Child Left Behind Standings.

(h/t Don)

The potential impact could have been felt systemwide but may have been especially great at East Side Elementary, where 43 percent of the students are Hispanic. The school is an English as a Second Language center, located about two miles from Pilgrim’s Pride.

“I’m sure children who were in school of all ages last week — Hispanic kids — had real worries while being in school of what might happen at home. That’s just human nature,” said Mike Feely, director of the St. Andrews Center, a resource for Chattanooga’s multicultural communities.

“Something like a raid must have an impact on students, to be in school all day wondering if mom and dad are going to come back,” he added.

Meanwhile, I’m pondering upon how fundamentally wrong it is that we’re bemoaning test scores instead of the fact that we have children in our country, who live with the fact that, as a demographic, we generally don’t like them. Consequently, we may send special police officers to their house to round-up their family and toss them out on their brown asses.

American, why must you repeat the same mistakes over and over again?

Immigrating without the proper paperwork has always been a violation of civil law – you know like divorce, claiming your landlord violated the rent agreement or the neighbor’s fence encroaches upon your property.  Nevertheless, our country periodically takes a look around at the various people living here and starts thinking, “Oh shit, these people are different from me! There are too many of them. What if they take over? What if they start mucking up our diverse culture? No, we can’t let that happen. Let’s make them all get the hell out now.”

At that point, we consider this civil violation akin to murder, drug cartels, jesus cults, standoffs and hostage situations. We beef up our “immigration enforcement” department and go ape shit, storming chicken factories, having protests and such.  And this never works.

Look, my concerns about immigration and it how affects US security and economy mirror those of most Americans. The fundamental difference between myself and the majority would be – well, ya’ll are going about this the wrong way.  I “get it” that border security is national security for the simple reason that any lunatic could meander through our wide-open back door.

Why not focus our resources there?

Oh wait, I forgot. We need them here to deal with these people, we don’t seem to know how to deal with.  See, like you, I do not want criminals floating around in my country.  If we have the option of deporting felons, good – let’s do this.  But that’s not what this “sweep” was about.  If it were about eliminating the criminal element, we would not be storming into a place of business, arresting gainfully-employed undocumented people, who probably aren’t into blowing shit up to prove a political point and have committed only one crime: being present without the proper permission slip.

This sweep was about pleasing the masses.  And the masses say – “We’re only doing this because we’re concerned about the drain on the taxpayers and keeping things fair for the American workers.”

I don’t believe that.

If you were truly concerned about these issues: you’d advocate for an easier process. You’d allow these workers and their families to come here legally – so they could not only contribute but be rewarded fairly for those contributions with equal pay and benefits. Honest to God, people, it isn’t their presence which harms us but our exploitation of that presence.

This is about fear.  This is about keeping the vocal majority happy.  It’s also short-sighted, divisive and isn’t doing a damn thing to make us safer, better, or stronger as a country.  And there will be repercussions, most of which are far more serious than a damn test score and will take much longer to repair.

Why don’t you get that America?

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Update on Pressmen's Home Fire

EMA Director Gary Murrell tells the Times-News:

“Forestry told us we’ll be up to 1,896 acres burned when the last of it gets burned, which is a pretty good sized fire. There’s not a whole lot of fire (remaining), but it’s in an area around a bunch of houses, so we want to take every precaution.”

For such a large area to be burned, Murrell noted that amazingly little property damage has been done. Four buildings on the Pressmen’s Home campus burned Thursday, and then Friday a small hunting cabin in the woods was lost.

Other than that, the fire only took vegetation.

“I guess if you want to look at this thing in a positive light, the loss in property is minimal, no one was injured, and no one lost their home, which is a good thing,” Murrell said.

The forest fire was apparently started when a person working at the Pressmen’s Home allowed a trash fire to get away from him. Murrell said state forestry officials will wait until the fire is extinguished before determining if any legal action will be taken against the fellow.

“Before they take any action they need to know the final tally on how many acres were burned, how many properties were involved, the dollar figures lost — the whole nine yards,” Murrell said.

Read the rest of the story here.

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Kleinheider's Back!

You can find him here.

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Hepatitis B outbreak in Hawkins County

According to the Times-News, officials with the Northeast Tennessee Regional Health Office  have investigated eight cases of acute hepatitis B in Hawkins County since the beginning of the year.  Seven of the cases were residents of Hawkins County and one was a resident of Hancock County.

Read the rest here.

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My Thoughts on Current Events

Yeah, I’d say this conversation sums it up:

He: “Did you feel that earthquake this morning?”

Me: “What earthquake?”

He: “It was all over the news. Didn’t you watch channel 5 this morning?”

Me: “No. I don’t watch television anymore.”

He: “So, you missed those debates!?”

Me: “I tried.”

He: “Well…. blah-blah-blah (the extended version).”

Me: “Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah.”

He: “And did you hear what he said about us being bitter and crazy?”

Me: “I heard.”

He: “Well, I tell you what… and I am not saying this cause he’s black so don’t take offense, but wah-wah-wah-wah (dj’s remix version)…”

Me: “Huh?”

He: “I said are you listening to me?”

Me: “Not really.”

He: “I asked you if you thought you were bitter.”

(Sigh)

He: “Do you?”

Me: “Well, I am worried about my business folding in this economy, which might make it difficult to feed my family considering that the price of food is skyrocketing. I don’t like Republicans. I don’t like Democrats. I don’t like the third parties spawned from discontent. I believe in climate change yet I don’t recycle. Furthermore, the anti-immigration people are really starting to piss me off. And I am so tired of everyone accusing everyone else of being racist when they hate on Obama… when in reality half of them don’t even remember what racism looks like… so tired, I could spit. Just spit. Add to this, according to national standards, I’m about three husbands, a Sunday service and one pistol away from being considered batshit crazy. I can’t adjust my thong without running the risk of being caught on a google or a redflex camera… and since I bitch about this so often, the government is probably listening to my conversation with you right this moment and making plans to declare us both enemies of the state – in which case I kinda really hope that they water-board your ass. Because I have cramps and for some reason, you won’t shut up. So, I don’t know. Would you call that bitter. Because honestly, I feel peachy – just f~ckin’ peachy. How `bout you?”

He: “Uh… so maybe I’ll just talk to you later then?”

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The Sociology of Art in Reverse

Recently, Yale University art student Aliza Shvarts duped the student newspaper with a story about inducing repeated abortions on herself and using the blood for her senior art project.

Shvarts told the student paper that she planned to display a work that consisted of a cube lined with plastic sheets with a blood and petroleum jelly mixture in between, onto which she would project video footage of herself experiencing miscarriages in her bathroom tub. The footage was allegedly obtained over a nine-month period during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages.

Of course, the story about Shvarts’ project spread like wildfire across blogs and major media outlets. Most everyone was offended. Even the Pro-Life and Pro-Choice people put down their opposing banners long enough to be equally pissed off.

Then, there was Aunt B. who wasn’t duped by the hoax at all.

In fact, she said:

And I just want to say, before you stroke out at the thought of what she claims she’s done, take a second to think about whether she could have done what she claims she’s done. In my opinion, and I could be wrong, this is an important portion of her art–how people react to what she claims she’d done.

Turns out, B. was right.

According to Yale spokeswoman Helaine Klasky, the entire project was creative fiction. (Read here.)

As a result of this “fiction,” I’d imagine the editor for the student newspaper is justifiably angry and somewhat embarrassed. School officials were likely enraged once the story hit the media. Shvarts, who was finally confronted by those officials and has probably received a record-breaking amount of hate mail and death threats within the last 24 hours, has disconnected her phone and isn’t communicating with the press. And people are still seething over he concept — and the fact that they were misled only adds to their anger.

Yes, the art Shvarts claimed was brutal and offensive.

However, I’ve got to say if a large component of the art was the reaction – then, the project has been pretty damned revealing.

If you isolate the reaction, it displays our ability to unite, in spite of our divisive nature, against what is unquestionably and morally abhorrent. It exposes our voracious appetite for scandalous media and real-life horror stories. Clearly, we crave monsters both real and imagined.

It suggests that media is motivated by the public’s desires: and that we’re all too willing to digest any information as truth and render judgment (often in absence of the facts.) I also noticed that when the inaccuracies came to light, we assigned blame: whether it be to the student who started her own rumor or the media who unwittingly spread it around: but at the same time, most did not alter their initial opinions. We were angry over the act: we are equally angry over the imagination.

I also found it interesting that not a single person (at least none I read) posed the question: “Well, who were the assholes that donated the sperm? Did they know about the project?”

Don’t get me wrong – had this tale been true: yes, the “art” would serve as an indicator that the student was irresponsible and unbalanced. But if we’re going to demonize a woman for regularly forcing her body to slough off the uterine lining (because whether or not she was pregnant would be medically debatable) shouldn’t the man who attempted to fertilize the egg be called into question as well? Do women bear complete and total responsibility for new life by virtue of location? So, responsibility is determined by that whole possession is 9/10th of the law thing? Then, technically, women are liable for anything and everything beyond conception – which somehow doesn’t seem fair.

With all that having been said, while I understand that art and sociology are irrevocable intertwined and do dig the concept of eliminating the individual artist and creating a situation wherein society is the art: I don’t see Shvarts’ point here.

Does she have a thesis statement? What did she intend to prove? What was the predicted response? According to the AP release, her intent was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body — and this didn’t happen. We are debating morality, education, abortion — but not art.

So, where’s the rest of the project? Is this it? If so, then the artist fell short in the area of presentation.

Incomplete/F

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Grainger Sheriff faces Fuel Crisis

WATE reported last week that high gas prices were forcing cutbacks at the Grainger County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff James Harville told reporter Kristyn Hentschell his fuel budget for the department is $80,000 a year and there’s only $10,000 left. It needs to last for three more months.  The problem is, $10,000 is what it’s costing for one month’s worth of gas.

Consequently, Harville appeared before the county commission on Monday to request a budget increase.

According to Jim Zachary at the Grainger Today,  not only did the commission deny his request, they offered up no suggestions as to how the Sheriff might handle the crisis.

Well, Harville could do mounted patrols – although I’m not sure two officers could cover 200 square miles on horseback.  Then, there’s the issue of how to handle a high-speed chase, manage the uh – road rocks, not to mention, the horses must be fed and hay has been in short supply.

So..  what’s left?  Bike Cops? Corn-Oil Cruisers?

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Fmr Teacher Enters Guilty Plea on Child Pornography Charges

The Rogersville Review reports Michael Eugene Noel, former teacher and head basketball coach at Clinch School in Hawkins County,entered into a plea agreement on a federal child pornography charge and a charge of attempting to destroy evidence.

A hearing was scheduled by U. S. District Court Judge Ronnie Greer earlier this morning to consider the plea agreement, which was signed Monday by Noel, his attorney, Richard Spivey, and Assistant U. S. Attorney Helen C. T. Smith.

Noel was indicted in February on a charge of receiving child pornography from March 2006 until June 2007.

Under the terms of the plea agreement a second count alleging he possessed the pornography will be dismissed.

The agreement also includes a guilty plea to the third count of the federal indictment claimed from June 20, 2007 until June 28, 2007 Noel “did corruptly obstruct and impede, or endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede” the criminal case “by damaging and attempting to destroy two CPU towers and computer accessories, all of which was evidence of crime, and by concealing other evidence of crime.”

According to court records, authorities found 110 videos containing child pornography on two computers owned by Noel. Federal authorities said 58 of the videos were more than five minutes long and the videos depicted child bondage and children engaged in sadomasochistic sexually explicit conduct Authorities also reported finding 1,074 still images classified as child pornography.

Noel faces a punishment of not less than five years and not more than twenty years imprisonment on the receipt of child pornography charge; and a maximum of ten years imprisonment on the charge of impeding the due administration of justice, as well as fines of $250,000 on each count and supervised release for up to life.

In separate charges in the Second Judicial District of the State of Tennessee, District Attorney Greeley Wells charged Noel with four felony counts, including sexual battery, aggravated sexual battery, solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor, and attempted especially aggravated exploitation of a minor in violation of Tennessee law.

Now, let’s review;
He’s guilty of receiving child pornography 3/06-6/07.
He’s guilty of attempting to destroy evidence between 6/07-7/07.

He is not guilty of possessing the child pornography at any time from 3/06-7/07 — even during the period when he was attempting to destroy the material.

(UPDATE: More on the Kingsport charges at the Times-News.)

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