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Sunday Open Thread

It's been a week since I've been wandered around my home town of Denver, almost a month actually if I count three trips to Washington for the Libby trial and one to San Diego. I need to grocery shop, visit the TL mom, do some laundry, etc.

While I'm off doing these non-eventful activities, here's a place for the rest of you to discuss what's going on in the world.

I'll be back in time for the Oscars, so consider this a non-Oscar related open thread.

< Oscar Nominees | Hersh Describes Contingency Plan to Attack Iran >
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    Walking around the Queen City of the West (none / 0) (#1)
    by Domino on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:19:14 PM EST
    Pretty much all of the snow is now off of the streets and sidewalks.     That is something for which we can be grateful.  As can the large apartment complex in my neighborhood that successfully avoided shoveling the snow for another season.

    Just what is assault, anyway? (none / 0) (#2)
    by Jen M on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 04:40:07 PM EST
    http://www.graphictruth.com/2007/02/evil-monkey-with-bloody-burrito-should.html


    "Last night, we went with nolly to Pokez, a Mexican restaurant in downtown San Diego. We had to wait about 15 min. to order, and the waitress seemed stressed. It was David's turn to order... he was slow to make up his mind while ordering, and grumpy. Not yelling or anything himself, just cranky. The waitress took this as directed at her, she suddenly snapped. She grabbed his shoulder, shook him, and leaned over and started mocking him, yelling his words back directly in his ear. He asked her to stop, and she grabbed his shoulder and then started screaming in his ear. Screaming that she had had enough and didn't have to work with this. And then she let go, stood up, told the table that she would not serve anyone at the table, and stalked away. He hadn't touched her beforehand... he wasn't even making eye contact, he had been looking at the menu.

    apparently, according to the local police, this was not assault

    The manager blamed the parents for bringing an autistic child into the restaurant. He told them to leave.

    please put your links in html format (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jeralyn on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 05:26:07 PM EST
    or they will skew the site. Use the link button at the top of the comment box.  thanks.

    Parent
    oops (none / 0) (#7)
    by Jen M on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 05:30:25 PM EST
    sorry

    Parent
    Jen M (none / 0) (#11)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 07:28:39 PM EST
    That's BS from the waitperson and the manager.

    I hope they lawyer up and go get'em.

    I'll make sure to avoid them the next time I'm on the Left Coast.

    Parent

    Unbelievable (none / 0) (#14)
    by HK on Mon Feb 26, 2007 at 04:21:36 AM EST
    I find it unbelievable how intolerant people can be with each other.  This child could have had learning difficulties or been bereaved or just nervous; whether he was Autistic or not, his behavior did not warrant this response.

    In the UK, the National Autistic Society have cards (like business cards) available to purchase that state that a person is Autistic and explains that they may have problems communicating and may not behave in what is considered to be a normal way.  I find myself having to explain to shop staff that my 8 year old daughter has Asperger's Syndrome when they take her lack of eye contact and speech as a sign of bad manners.  But I hate having to do that as I feel it further stigmatises her and lands her with a label that although accurate, may not be helpful.  I can understand why these parents just tried to let their son cope in his own way with ordering in a restaurant.  Of course, in this case, I doubt that any prior explanations would have led to a pleasant experience.

    Parent

    William Wilberforce, anti-slavery campaigner (none / 0) (#3)
    by dutchfox on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 04:41:45 PM EST
    Scott Horton has a terrific essay up on Balkanization on William Wilberforce in commemoration the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave trade in Britain. (23 February 2007) ---
    Two Hundred Years Ago Today, the Global Campaign for Human Rights Achieved Its First Victory

    Today the cause of universal human rights celebrates an important anniversary. On this day two hundred years ago, the Parliament at Westminster voted an act for the abolition of the slave trade. A few decades later, Parliament also voted the manumission of slaves throughout the British Empire. By that time, in the 1830's, the trafficking in slaves was viewed as a jus cogens crime by legal scholars around the world and the global movement to abolish slavery altogether was well launched.

    Charting the origins of the modern human rights movement is an exercise in an uncertain and problematic geography, but if we follow it back along its swiftest channels to its ultimate source, past the American Civil Rights movement, the cause of voting rights for women, the great American abolitionist movement of the first half of the nineteenth century, we inevitably come to William Wilberforce and his sisters and brethren who launched the effort to ban the slave trade. [...]
    He was not a social engineer or a man who scorned property. But he had harsh words for religious hypocrites who outwardly manifested their faith while ignoring the mandate to do justice, to support the poor and afflicted. He saved his special contempt for those who used the tropes of religion to justify slavery and the oppression of their fellow man:

    "When their conversations get really serious, you will see how little of their Christianity has anything to do with the faith taught by Jesus. Everything becomes subjective. Their conduct is not measured against the standard set by the gospel. They have developed their own philosophies, which they attempt to pawn off as Christianity."

    It is impossible for me to read these words today and not think of leaders of America's Religious Right who observed complete silence when reports surfaced from Abu Ghraib, from Bagram, from Guantanamo. Religious leaders who offered apologies and excuses for those in authority even as documents were published that showed that the practice of torture was a matter of formal government policy - of a government they embraced, uncritically. Wilberforce also stood close to politics, and to government. But he never hesitated to raise his voice in condemnation when torture, slave trade, and slavery were an issue. This is the conduct of a man for whom moral principle, not political expedience, was the odestar.

    Read all of it here.

    BBC Radio 4 In Our Time: William Wilberforce's life and legacy</div>

    Iraq For Dummies (none / 0) (#4)
    by john horse on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 05:23:28 PM EST
    Mother Jones magazine has a great issue on Iraq called the Iraq Handbook for Dummies.  Web version available called Iraq 101.  

    Watada case refiled (none / 0) (#6)
    by Gabriel Malor on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 05:29:19 PM EST
    That excitable fellow who stopped by last week may be interested to know:

    Undaunted by an initial mistrial, the Army on Friday refiled charges against 1st. Lt. Ehren Watada, a Fort Lewis officer who faces up to six years in prison for failing to deploy to Iraq and alleged misconduct.

    Link.

    Bush Plans to Cut Education Programs (none / 0) (#8)
    by john horse on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 05:52:25 PM EST
    I hope everyone is aware that the funds that we are wasting in Iraq are funds that will not be available for programs that really matter, like education.  Here is a list of programs that Bush's Department of Education plans to terminate.

    Program Terminations
    Program (2006 BA in millions)

    Academies for American History and Civics $2.0
    Alcohol Abuse Reduction 32.4
    Arts in Education 35.3
    B.J. Stupak Olympic Scholarships 1.0
    Byrd Honors Scholarships 40.6
    Civic Education 29.1
    Close Up Fellowships 1.5
    Comprehensive School Reform 7.9
    Demonstration Projects for Students with Disabilities 6.9
    Educational Technology State Grants 272.3
    Elementary and Secondary School Counseling 34.7
    Even Start 99.0
    Excellence in Economic Education 1.5
    Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners 8.9
    Federal Perkins Loans Cancellations 65.5
    Foundations for Learning  1.0
    Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs 303.4
    Javits Gifted and Talented Education 9.6
    Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships 65.0
    Mental Health Integration in Schools 4.9
    Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers 2.3
    National Writing Project 21.5
    Parental Information and Resource Centers 39.6
    Projects With Industry 19.5
    Ready to Teach 10.9
    Recreational Programs 2.5
    Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities State Grants 346.5
    School Dropout Prevention 4.9
    School Leadership 14.7
    Smaller Learning Communities 93.5
    Star Schools 14.9
    State Grants for Incarcerated Youth Offenders 22.8
    Supported Employment State Grants 29.7
    Teacher Quality Enhancement 59.9
    Tech-Prep Education State Grants 104.8
    Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program 2.9
    TRIO Talent Search 145.3
    TRIO Upward Bound 311.0
    Underground Railroad Program 2.0
    Vocational Education National Programs 9.2
    Vocational Education State Grants 1,182.4
    Women's Educational Equity 2.9
       Total $3,466.0


    context (none / 0) (#9)
    by roy on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 06:13:24 PM EST
    If you believe the Department of Education:

    The 2007 request continues the practice of the Bush Administration--also consistent with previous administrations over the past 25 years--of proposing to eliminate or consolidate funding for programs that have achieved their original purpose, that duplicate other programs, that may be carried out with flexible State formula grant funds, or that involve activities that are better or more appropriately supported through State, local, or private resources. Congress agreed to several of the Administration's recommended terminations last year, eliminating 5 programs totaling $25.6 million.

    The government-wide Program Assessment Rating Tool, or PART, helps focus funding on Department of Education programs that generate positive results for students and that meet strong accountability standards. For 2007, PART findings were used to redirect funds from ineffective programs to more effective activities, as well as to identify reforms to help address program weaknesses.

    The following table shows the programs proposed for elimination in the President's 2007 budget request. Termination of these 42 programs frees up almost $3.5 billion--based on 2006 levels--for reallocation to more effective, higher-priority activities. Following the table is a brief summary of each program and the rationale for its elimination.

    I don't see anything about cutting the DoE's total budget, only shifting spending within it.

    Parent

    then again... (none / 0) (#10)
    by roy on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 06:25:01 PM EST
    More beurocratic goodies here (PDF).  The proposed '07 budget for the DoE is 28.7% smaller than for '06.

    Parent
    If You Believe The Department of Education (none / 0) (#13)
    by john horse on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 10:15:30 PM EST
    re: "If you believe the Department of Education".  That's the problem, unlike you I don't take what Bush's Department of Education says on blind faith.  Lets just take one of the programs on the chopping block, the Byrd scholarship, which is a "merit-based scholarships to high school students who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and who show promise of continued academic excellence."  The rationale for cutting this scholarship is that it "duplicates existing Federal student financial assistance programs, as well as State, local and private efforts that provide merit-based resources for postsecondary education."  OK,sure there are some state, local and private merit-based scholarships but as any parent of a graduating high school or college student will tell you there just isn't that much merit based financial aid available and whats out there isn't enough.  Instead of cutting $46 million for merit based financial aid we should be increasing it.  So before you pull the rug out from thousands of college kids who are receiving the Byrd scholarship please tell me which State, local and private resources will make up for the $46 million cut.  By the way, the cost of funding this scholarship is just 2 days worth what we spend in Iraq.  

    Parent
    No great loss. (none / 0) (#12)
    by Edger on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 07:38:00 PM EST
    All that stuff is covered by 'faith' and 'revelation', no?

    Parent
    Speaking of revelations (none / 0) (#15)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Feb 26, 2007 at 11:43:30 AM EST
    In the "It's a small world" dept, you've all probably seen this already but Al Sharpton's great-grandfather was a slave owned (and freed) by Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather.