Friday - May 29, 2009
Sotomayor: a leftist crackpot even in college
Somewhere in the Lefty Mind there is this concept that any “minority” group should have representation at all walks in life, at least equal to their numbers in the overall population. Otherwise evil discrimination exists!!
Ok, let’s time-jump back to 1974, long before Political Correctness was coined. Back to the end of the Hippie Era, post-Vietnam, pre-Watergate. An unruly time, to say the least. Slide on over to Princeton University, an Ivy League school for rich kids. After the tumult of the ‘60s, they now have an Affirmative Action plan in place. But that isn’t good enough for young student Sonia Sotomayor ...
Latin student groups assail University hiring performance
By David Liemer
April 22, 1974
Accion Puertorriquena and the Chicano Organization of Princeton have filed a complaint with the New York office of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), charging the university with a “lack of commitment” in hiring Puerto Rican and Chicano administrators and faculty and recruiting students from these minority groups.
While Provost Hackney, the university’s Affirmative Action officer, denied the charges yesterday, he admitted “we can make better efforts in the future.” He added that university’s new Affirmative Action plan, now being drafted, will “reflect our renewed commitment.”
The letter petitioned HEW to correct deficiencies in the present plan, and to determine whether “genuine, not contrived” efforts to utilize Latinos are being made in the new plan.
The letter also scores the university for not pursuing “active recruiting or advertising,” claiming as a result there are no Puerto Ricans or Chicanos on the administration or faculty.
...
The Latino groups’ charges include:- Princeton’s present Affirmative Action plan does not include a break-down of positions available to Spanish-surnamed groups nor a timetable of goals, although these are present for other minority groups.
- Attempts to locate qualified Latinos have consisted solely of contacts with the Ford Foundation and one Chicano student, Larry R. Garcia ’73.
- The University has made no attempt to contact groups such as Aspira and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Office, which have lists of available professors and administrators in the New York-New Jersey area.
- No regular university course “even alludes to” Puerto Rican or Chicano culture, because of the lack of a qualified faculty member to teach it.
- Out of a large concentration of Latinos in the New York-New Jersey area, disproportionately few hold university staff positions (secretarial, janitorial, etc.)
Anti-Latino discrimination at Princeton
By Sonia Sotomayor
May 10, 1974
On April 18, 1974, the Puerto Rican and Chicano students of Princeton filed a complaint with HEW charging the university with an institutional pattern of discrimination.
The facts of the complaint are these: 1) There is not one Puerto Rican or Chicano administrator or faculty member in the university; 2) There are two million Puerto Ricans in the United States and two and a half million more on the island itself. Yet there were only 66 Puerto Rican applicants this year, and only 31 Puerto Rican stuents on campus. While there are 12 million Chicanos in the United States, there were only 111 Chicano applicants and 27 students on campus this year; 3) Not one permanent course in this university now deals in any notable detail with the Puerto Rican or Chicano cultures.
Self-evident lack of commitment
The lack of commitment on the part of the university to the Puerto Rican or Chicano heritage seems self-evident from these facts. Yet statistical evidence is not the total concern or complaint of the Puerto Rican or Chicano students — what is terrifying to us are the implications. The facts imply and reflect the total absence of regard, concern and respect for an entire people and their culture. In effect, they reflect an attempt — a successful attempt so far — to relegate an important cultural sector of the population to oblivion.
Looks to me like she was gunning for Diversity Studies even back then. Gosh, years ahead of her time.
So Princeton knuckles under, and tries to find a minority person to fill an Associate Dean slot that opened up. Think that would make everybody happy? Think again.
Student committee complains about Garcias selection role
By Dori Jones
Sept. 12, 1974
While the newest assistant dean of student affairs, Luis Garcia, settled into his new job, the student advisory committee which participated in the search for a “minority dean” has renewed its protest over the selection process.The six students on the committee, including three blacks, a Chicano, and a Puerto Rican, complained that Dean of Students Affairs Simmons made the appointment without waiting for their endorsement and without answering their questions about student participation in the process.
“The dissatisfaction had nothing to do with the choice itself,” said Sonia Sotomayor ‘76, a committee member and also a member of Accion Puertorriquena. “Most of the students were pleased with Mr. Garcia. The dissatisfaction was with the amount of student input.”
The committee, which interviewed 12 to 14 candidates for the position last spring, refused to make a formal recommendation until Simmons clarified its role in the selection and answered its questions.
Princeton approached these minority-centric groups and got their input. They let these student look over the resumes and interview the job candidates. But that wasn’t good enough! Hella no. When asked for their recommendation, these groups instead issued a letter of complaint. And that got ignored? Well, no kidding. The university was trying to hire somebody, and wanted to extend the olive branch a bit to these separatist groups. And got back even more complaints. Gee, thanks.
Simmons never responded to the committee’s letter of complaint but two weeks later informed the committee that Garcia had accepted the job.
In its letter, dated May 30, and in a recent statement the committee complained that:
candidates for the “minority” position seem to be subjected to closer scrutiny that those for comparable positions. some of the candidates seemed to receive preferential treatment during the selection process. no Asian or American Indian candidates were recruited or considered. the members of the advisory committee were chosen by Simmons herself rather than by the minority organizations they seemed to represent“It was not right for them to choose that way,” said Sotomayor. Both she and Frank S. Reed ‘76 of the Chicano Organization of Princeton went back to their organizations to legitimize their positions as representatives.
I bet Princeton didn’t interview any Samoans either. And probably damn few Eskimos. Well, so what? They went and found a minority for the job. Pretty gross in my mind, but that’s the bottom line of Affirmative Action - color matters more than content. I bet that was the leading requirement in their Help Wanted ad. Not good enough for young Sonia though. No, she assumed that because she was asked for some input, the hiring decision was hers alone. How’s that for the Audacity of Hope?
In essence, our criticism dealt with two areas: 1) the aspect of student involvement, and 2) the position to be filled vis-a-vis the candidates themselves. Concerning the aspect of student involvement, we raised these questions: How was the search committee itself chosen? Dean Simmons did not consult with the actual membership of the various minority groups; rather, she appointed on an individual basis only those who raised concerns about Dean Moore ’s successor. What was our role as the student search committee? It was never clearly defined; consequently, we were led to believe that it would be more significant than it was in actuality. The only indication we received was a quote in The Daily Princetonian that Dean Simmons would not choose a candidate “unacceptable to the committee.”
...
In closing, we raise the issue to begin discussion and reevaluation that will prevent such unfortunate actions in the future. As a start, we feel a definite policy on administrative appointments should be set forth in writing. For instance, regarding student involvement, a detailed policy on the area and extent of our involvement, should be delineated. Also, clear channels should be established to ensure legitimate student input when it is sought. And finally, concerning the appointment process, the procedure established should insure uniform treatment of all candidates. A candidate’s background or the position he or she seeks to fill should be no reasons for preferential treatment on the part of the university.
Except that preferential treatment should be the sole reason for only considering candidates of a certain background for certain positions. Hypocrisy, thy name is Sonia.
We are so fucked. Original news article here.
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor once accused Princeton University of attempting to “relegate” the Puerto Rican and Chicano population to “oblivion,” according to a decades-old letter to the editor released by the university’s newspaper.
The Daily Princetonian has posted a series of Sotomayor-related letters and articles from the 1970s that show her early interest in the issues of discrimination and minority representation as a student at the Ivy League school.
PS - You want to know just how close-minded, racist, and culturally isolated a white person I am? I had to go look up the definition of Chicano. I rarely ever even hear or read the term. It means someone from Mexico. Not to be confused with Hispanic, which means someone from the countries south of the border that were once controlled by Spain. Latino/a extends the Hispanic term to include folks from Brazil, which was once upon a time run by Portugal. So, um, what do we call people who are actually from Spain, Andorra, or Portugal? Are they just Iberians these days? Cuz, Gaea forbid, they couldn’t have a thing in common with New World Latinos/as, just because they share the same root languages and the same root cultures.
Posted by Drew458
on 05/29/2009 at 09:33 AM
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Judges-Courts-Lawyers •
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Permalink • RACISM !!!
What kind of horseshit is this? The entire country saw them on live TV “guarding” a polling station on election day. Standing outside the doors with weapons in their hands. And then we watched the police show up and shoo them away.
In America, at least prior to 11/4/08, if the police were anywhere near the polling stations they were tarred with the Intimidation brush. Hell, if they were just sitting in their cars by the side of the road blocks away they caught grief.
You don’t have armed guards outside of the polling stations in America. It simply is not done. Ever. Period.
The mere presence of this pair of thugs, in “uniform” is evidence of intimidation. That they were armed makes the charge far worse. That one of them was holding a nightstick in his hand, and waving it around? This is called brandishing a weapon, and is a fairly severe offense.
There is no question whatsoever of their guilt. They didn’t have to bust heads to be guilty. They didn’t have to hassle voters to be guilty. All they needed was to be there, “providing security” unasked for. And believe me, they were unasked for. And there is no question that this didn’t happen. Here it is, on YouTube, although this video has been edited for run time; we don’t see the police showing up and telling them to leave.
So this is pretty much an open and shut case. So why is the Justice Department dropping the charges? Because these guys are black? Here is the entire news article from Fox News:
Three men were accused of trying to threaten voters and block poll and campaign workers by the threat of force—one even brandishing what prosecutors call a deadly weapon.
Charges brought against three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense under the Bush administration have been dropped by the Obama Justice Department, FOX News has learned.
The charges stemmed from an incident at a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day 2008 when three members of the party were accused of trying to threaten voters and block poll and campaign workers by the threat of force—one even brandishing what prosecutors call a deadly weapon.
The three black panthers, Minister King Samir Shabazz, Malik Zulu Shabazz and Jerry Jackson were charged in a civil complaint in the final days of the Bush administration with violating the voter rights act by using coercion, threats and intimidation. Shabazz allegedly held a nightstick or baton that prosecutors said he pointed at people and menacingly tapped it. Prosecutors also say he “supports racially motivated violence against non-blacks and Jews.”
The complaint says the men hurled racial slurs at both blacks and whites.
A poll watcher who provided an affidavit to prosecutors in the case noted that Bartle Bull, who worked as a civil rights lawyer in the south in the 1960’s and is a former campaign manager for Robert Kennedy, said it was the most blatant form of voter intimidation he had ever seen.
In his affidavit, obtained by FOX News, Bull wrote “I watched the two uniformed men confront voters and attempt to intimidate voters. They were positioned in a location that forced every voter to pass in close proximity to them. The weapon was openly displayed and brandished in plain sight of voters.”
He also said they tried to “interfere with the work of other poll observers ... whom the uniformed men apparently believed did not share their preferences politically,” noting that one of the panthers turned toward the white poll observers and said “you are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker.”
A spokesman for the Department of Justice told FOX News, “The Justice Department was successful in obtaining an injunction that prohibits the defendant who brandished a weapon outside a Philadelphia polling place from doing so again. Claims were dismissed against the other defendants based on a careful assessment of the facts and the law. The department is committed to the vigorous prosecution of those who intimidate, threaten or coerce anyone exercising his or her sacred right to vote.”
This is outrageous. But you know what? This is just a little thing, compared to what’s coming down the pike. Oh lawdy, the Change be a’comin.
CNN is ignoring this story. Not one word.
Posted by Drew458
on 05/29/2009 at 09:07 AM
Filed Under: • Obama, The One • Racism and race relations •
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Permalink • Town halls hire citizen snoopers as young as SEVEN to spy on neighbours and report wrongs.
H/T Argentium G. Tiger
BMEWs Tiger WOKE me up this morning with this article. I had something else but will post it later.
I don’t know how I missed this one and the date is a week ago.
I think the current political scandal re, the members of parliament scheming and leeching off the public has obscured much.
This type of thing came to light last year and caused a fuss and then died down. So I thought everyone else forgot it cuz I sure did.
Look at the date of this story. Eleven days ago and not a peep anywhere that I heard. I didn’t even see this in our local paper. I guess that’s how the authorities can get away with it.
There is another side to this of course. It sure looks bad enough and especially the way the Daily Mail wrote (and I copied) the headline.
There is a problem with what Brits call fly-tipping. Which is tossing trash at the side of roads or in fields. I have seen it and trust me, it really does look bad.
And reporting genuine crime should be an act of good citizenship, I would think.
But I don’t quite understand how a council can come to the conclusion that someone has “put out too much rubbish” for pick up. That has me stumped. What if a family just has a lot? How much is too much? And I can see as well, where the image of Big Brother comes into play. You are always going to get some officious troll with a fraction of authority of some minor kind, sticking their unwanted nose into your legitimate business. We’ve run into that sort of thing ourselves in the five years we’ve been here. But I guess recruiting kiddies too kinda smacks of the soviet system. Or Nazi Germany.
Catch em young enough to thoroughly train, and they’ll grow up accepting as normal behaviour the idea that ‘snooping’ on family and neighbors is simply the thing to do.
By LUCY BALLINGER
Last updated at 1:16 AM on 18th May 2009Children as young as seven are being recruited by councils to act as ‘citizen snoopers’, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The ‘environment volunteers’ will report on litter louts, noisy neighbours - and even families putting their rubbish out on the wrong day.
There are currently almost 9,000 people signed up to the schemes. More are likely to be recruited in the coming months.
Controversially, some councils are running ‘junior’ schemes which are recruiting children.
After basic training, volunteers are expected to be the ‘eyes and the ears’ of the town hall.
They are given information packs about how to collect evidence, including tips about writing down numberplates, which could later be used in criminal prosecutions.
Luton Borough Council’s Street Seen scheme encourages its 650 volunteers to report ‘environmental concerns’. It is also recruiting ‘Junior Street Champions’, aged between seven and 11.
Primary schools could also be involved within two years.
Similarly, Islington Council in north London has recruited 1,200 ‘Islington Eyes’ to report crime hotspots, fly-tipping and excess noise from DIY.
Volunteers are given a list of things to do when confronted with fly-tippers, including taking photos ‘without being seen’.
Last year the council undertook a recruitment drive for youngsters aged nine and above, called Junior Eyes.
Children are given special books to write down reports on littering or graffiti in their schools, which they then send to the council.
A spokesman for Islington town hall said: ‘It’s not possible for the council to see what’s going on in the borough at all times, so our Eyes for Islington are a great help, reporting issues such as dangerous footpaths, fly-tipping and graffiti.’
Welwyn Hatfield Council in Hertfordshire has given its 13 volunteers handheld computers to take photographs of problem areas.
The information is then uploaded to a map of trouble spots.
Overall, a total of 8,442 volunteers have signed up at 17 councils in England. Other councils are set to follow their example and set up their own networks of volunteers.
They say the scheme helps them find out about problems which they might not know about otherwise. But critics are worried the schemes could easily be abused and encourage a ‘Big Brother society’.
The move comes as local authorities dish out £100 fines to householders who leave out too much rubbish or fail to follow recycling rules.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Community spirit is one thing, spying on your neighbours is quite another.
‘It is the job of the police to maintain law and order, and there is no reason taxpayers should have to pay twice for the same service.
‘People are sick and tired of being spied on by their councils and in a recession we simply cannot afford luxuries like handheld computers at a time when the most basic public services are being scaled back.’
The Welwyn and Hatfield scheme is run by waste collection and environmental contractor Serco, which hopes to recruit more volunteers this summer.
A spokesman for the council said: ‘Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and its project partner Serco do not conduct any surveillance of residents in enforcement of environmental crimes, and neither do the community champions that have volunteered.’
Serco said other councils were keen to introduce its handheld computers, although many areas are conducting similar schemes using more low-tech methods.
For example, Hillingdon Borough Council in north London, which has recruited 4,800 volunteers from the age of 16 in the past 18 months, simply gives its ‘Street Champions’ pens and a folder of contact details.
A spokesman said: ‘Street Champions themselves have confirmed that it is not a scheme where people are asked to spy on neighbours. Street Champions are asked to act just as any other resident might to report issues in their local area.’
The spokesman added that two brothels had been closed down this year as a result of reports.
In North Devon, where trial schemes are currently under way, some of the volunteers have helped the police close down a drug den by giving witness statements.
However, the controversial pilot schemes have been dropped in a number of areas including Stoke -on-Trent in Staffordshire and Tower Hamlets in east London.
A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: ‘Environment volunteers are people who care passionately about their local area and want to protect it from vandals, graffitists and fly-tippers.
‘These community-spirited residents are not snoopers.
‘They help councils cut crime and make places cleaner, greener and safer.’
Posted by peiper
on 05/29/2009 at 07:09 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - May 28, 2009
HERE’S ONE I COULDN’T LET GET AWAY. Rest your eyes on this folks. And it isn’t a prank.
Fighting city hall isn’t easy and especially when you’ve done nothing wrong.
Workers lifted my car, painted yellow lines under it and put it down… then the wardens came and towed it away
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:07 PM on 28th May 2009MORE PHOTOS AT THE SOURCE HERE
Ruth Ducker always legally parks her Volkswagen Golf around the corner from her house, so it came as a shock when she discovered it had disappeared from its spot - and in its place was double yellow lines.
Her confusion deepened when Lambeth council claimed to have no knowledge of where her car was.
It took three weeks for the council to admit its contractors were behind the disappearance, and then add insult to injury by telling the 44-year-old graphic designer she owed more than £800 in fines.
Parking scandal: Lambeth council lifted Ruth Ducker’s Volkswagen out of the way as they painted double yellow lines - but then replaced it on the new restrictionsIn fact the car had been carefully lifted out of the way for the double yellows to be painted in Gordon Grove in Camberwell, then replaced on the new restrictions by the contractors responsible.
The same day a different set of parking enforcers spotted the ‘illegally parked’ car, and had it towed away - after photographing it on the newly painted double yellows.
Mrs Ducker had left the runabout without its battery, meaning she knew that it had not been stolen.
She said: ‘My little VW disappeared a week before Christmas. I had parked for years on an unrestricted stretch about 40 yards from my home. When I returned on 19 December to replace the battery my car had disappeared and yellow lines had suddenly appeared. There’s no way I could have driven onto those lines.
Other parking enforcers spotted Mrs Ducker’s car on the double yellows later the same day and had it towed away
‘Initial inquiries with the council found no trace of the car. It was three weeks before I received my first official notification.’
It took a further two months and the involvement of her local MP Kate Hoey to make the council back down and waive the fines, which by now totalled £2,240.
‘What they did was disgraceful,’ said Mrs Ducker. “I’m very grateful to my MP. When I saw the photos of my car on the yellow lines I was furious.
‘I knew that to pay up would be an admission of guilt, so I decided to fight them. But I didn’t get the car back until the middle of February and they offered a paltry £100 to compensate for lost road tax, insurance and inconvenience. Needless to say I still haven’t received a penny.’
Mrs Ducker had to wait two months and involve her local MP to make the council waive its fines - which came to £2,240
In a letter to Ms Hoey the council said contractors had told them the ‘vehicle may have been lifted in order to facilitate the painting of lines’ and admitted residents had not been advised of the planned work. The letter also confirmed that penalty notices were not due to be issued until the day after Mrs Ducker’s car was removed.
Lambeth council blamed a ‘breakdown in communication’ between its contractors and has now offered Mrs Ducker £150 compensation.
Posted by peiper
on 05/28/2009 at 03:31 PM
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Permalink • Apologies for lack of posts last 24 hours or so. Been AWOL.
Off all day yesterday, not off as in vacation, but didn’t post for which I feel guilty.
Busy with project and trying to do things around here before some really hot and humid weather sets in. This old place takes a lot of time and care and because it’s so old and has so much wrong with it, there just isn’t any way that we can spend a lot of money on it. Which means things get patched a lot and repainted and rust sanded and wire brushed etc. At my age, I find I can’t do as much as I did at say 30 or 40. Have to take breaks. Not used to that. More used to starting and finishing and working through meals etc. but then ouch. Suddenly find the ole back gets a mite stiff. Break for a beer right? Then fall asleep.
No-one who one day might buy this place will be buying it for the house. It’s the property that has the value. We hope. Prices have slid this past year. Anyway, we can’t even consider selling for another year. Homesik I may be but, based on everything I’ve been reading when time allows, and with the shoe in appointment of that supreme nominee well, do I really wanna return?
Ever have one of those where am I days weeks?
Feel like you’re taking one step forward and two steps back?
I’m reminded of an old (a very old) Red Buttons song. “Strange things are happening.”
Maybe not strange exactly but more like a pinball on tilt.
Apologies to friend Drew for dumping extra stuff for him to do while I nurse a bout of exhausted, a miserable case of embarrassing IB and a damn cough (yeah, again) that the docs here won’t give me the codeine for which will stop the damn thing. I can set a clock by it. Anywhere between 2:30 and 2:39 in the morning. Cough,cough and then try and get back to sleep again. Seeing another doc on June 5th, that was the soonest I could get when I called in last week. Something tells me its no more then a very weird sinus drip, but so far I can’t seem to find anything to dry it up. Even that over the counter stuff that advertises itself as doing that. It doesn’t. I’ve found a number of other things here that don’t work but I’ll save that for later.
In fact, I’m gonna post what I have here, and the rest will be posted tomorrow. Oh yeah there’s more. There’s always more.
Stay Tuned ...
Posted by peiper
on 05/28/2009 at 02:47 PM
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Permalink • a passing grade
Asleep last night at 1m, up this morning at 5am. Over to Allentown so she could take the COA exam. 3 1/2 hours later, she passed. Yay! So w’re home now, finally. I’m going to something to drink, and go back to sleep. Thank goodness this is over, and this certification will greatly enhance her career. Super.
Funny kind of exam they give. They tell you what categories you made mistakes in, but they don’t tell you what the mistakes are, or what the proper answers are. And they don’t tell you what your overall score is, or what the passing grade is. They just say Pass, or Fail. Kind of like some medieval Guild membership ritual. But intead of a hooded robe and a secret handshake, she got an embossed and signed document. Proof enough to land a better job.
But for now, I’m going to get some more sleep.
Posted by Drew458
on 05/28/2009 at 01:46 PM
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Permalink • Wednesday - May 27, 2009
Comment of the Day, so far
From the Sotomayor discussion over at Michelle Malkin’s ...
#17
On May 27th, 2009 at 10:16 am, NJ-Aviator said:
Anyone that touts their race or gender as part of their qualification, should be immediately disqualified and branded a racist or sexist.
At this point, the media, Obama, and Sotomayor herself, are trying to promote her racism as an asset. But they don’t call it racism…. they call it “experience”.
This woman shouldn’t be a judge of any kind. She actually believes that since she’s a hispanic woman, she is capable of making better decisions than a white male.
That is absolute proof that this woman is tried and true racist. Period. There is no room for any other conclusion.
Too bad the Viagra-resistant RINOs won’t even put up even a token resistance to this schlumph.
PS - Notice how the MSM is utterly ignoring Manuel Estrada’s compelling life experience and has nary a word to say about Clarence Thomas or his. All that crap only matters when it’s a lefty nomination, and anyone who objects to her will be instantly branded a sexist and a racist.
Having this much raw wool pulled across your eyes can cause corneal abrasions. We are doomed.
Posted by Drew458
on 05/27/2009 at 11:46 AM
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Permalink • Auto Porn
Click the link, young Skywalker ... and your journey to the dark side will be complete.
This has nothing at all to do with Star Wars™. It’s just some deeply disturbing and twisted car pr0n.
Posted by Drew458
on 05/27/2009 at 10:53 AM
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Permalink • Peiper’s life savings wiped out !!
And the bidding war has hardly even begun ...
gâteau au fromage aux enchères publiques
16 feet high by 24 feet long. He could paper a room with that ... and he’d never leave!
Posted by Drew458
on 05/27/2009 at 10:23 AM
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Permalink • Retinoscopy Before Breakfast
Oooh, I’m such a little martinet. I woke my wife up this morning with eyeball questions. It’s gotten to the point where I already know what the answers are myself, so I don’t have to look anything up in the books. I peppered her with questions until she headed out the door to go to the office. And she got them all right, everything from knowing the downside to chemical sterilization (very expensive) to how to make the spare batteries for the retinoscope last longer (fridge) to what kind of patient is most affected by dilating drops (those with blue eyes). And a boxful of lensometer questions, along with the colors of various laser beams and which surgeries they’re used for, questions about troubleshooting the various testing machines, and the proper means of taking a patient’s history. How many multicolored caps in the Farnsworth Munsell 100 and the D-15 tests? (85 movable & 1 fixed, 15 movable) Ishihara’s color blindness plates. The Fly. What is a dichromat? And so on. I’d say all her ducks are in a row, shackled tight and marching in lock step. Super. She isn’t just going to pass this exam, she’s going to ace the thing. Yay!! Looks like the episode the other day was just cold feet.
When she gets home this evening, surprise! Here’s a pencil. Draw me a sideview of an eyeball, and identify everything. Now draw me a bird’s eye view of the head, and show and label all the optic pathways right back to ... which part of the brain was it again? And then draw and name all the eyeball muscles, and show me which way they move eye. Then we’ll go over the X steps of CPR until she gets them all in the proper order. That will be on the test, and it’s a big freebie if you have the steps memorized.
Little does she know that I bought her the study guide for the next level of certification exam as a birthday present. But from what I can tell, she’s already ready for it.
Posted by Drew458
on 05/27/2009 at 07:40 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - May 26, 2009
We Wrung The Ringers
What, you didn’t think I’d be taking the summer off from bowling league, did you? Hella no!
Ok, so it looks like our 4th guy isn’t going to make it. So our team will be myself, my wife, and our pal Rex from the Monday winter league. Rex’s team was ahead in that league the whole season, but lost the last 2 games to the team full of tactical bowlers (sandbagging wringers) who snuck in, caught up, and clenched the crown right at the finish line. 3 out of 4 folks on that winter league team are on a team on our summer league.
We played them tonight. And they were up to their old tricks, bowling just poorly enough to look like they deserved the 49 pin handicap we had to give them. And then it blew up in their faces. The weather was cool tonight, and on the edge of rain. That tends to make the lane oil stickier or something. Whatever, it turned out to be a great night for me and my wife, and a poor night for them. When they needed to turn it on, and finish the games off with strikes, they just couldn’t do it. And I could.
We took all 3 games handily. By 53, 75, and 89 pins I think. And I had an awesome night, throwing my first 600+ series in ... 250 league games? I can’t remember, but I know I didn’t roll a single 600 all season long in either league. I threw a 660 tonight, well over the expected 483 my average would indicate. By the middle of the 2nd game I was starting to throw poorly. When that happens my hook ball flattens out and just becomes a scewball, because when my arm tires my hand comes out late and tends to go around the ball instead of through it. And of course that means I throw way inside my line. But that inside line screwball went straight to the top of the rack, and I kept right on striking. 1st game was a 224, 2nd was a 216, third game was a 220; more than 175 over average for the series. I’m happy! The Mrs. threw one in the 190s, one a little above average, and one just under. So she had a decent night too. Rex, who is always anchor, needed us to carry him tonight. And we did. Fair is fair; we’re a team and he’s carried us plenty of times in the past.
So we had a good time, and after 3 weeks we’re solidly in 1st place.
Now I’ll get her to study a little more and hit the hay. That test of hers is Thursday at 8am, so she only has a little more time left for the books.
And I was also able to get past the tired bit, just by keeping my head down and making a big slow and low lunge. Be smooth, with a big follow through. And the ball rev up and roll down, and down, and down, and down, and then snap right over to the 1-3 pocket. BOOM! hee hee, bowling is fun when you don’t screw up!
Posted by Drew458
on 05/26/2009 at 09:23 PM
Filed Under: • Bowling Blogging •
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Permalink • A Hope for Change
(Peiper sent me an ENTIRE WEEK of the London papers that covered the MP resignation and false mortgage scandal. I’ve got some big time reading to do to get on top of this one! You’re not seeing it on the USA TV news, but there is a major uproar going on. [thankfully the British can have a big to-do without burning up their own vehicles like the froggies are want to do {well, except for football matches}] )
LONDON – Conservative Party leader David Cameron called Tuesday for sweeping reforms to Britain’s political system, part of an aggressive damage-control campaign that has made him the only political figure to gain ground from a scandal over lawmakers’ expenses.
Cameron — widely expected to be the next prime minister — is now on record as wanting to find ways to increase the authority of parliament and limit the prime minister’s powers, possibly by ending the leader’s ability to schedule elections.
“We will begin a massive redistribution of power in our country, from the powerful to the powerless, from the political elite to the man and the woman in the street,” he said.
Cameron has dominated the airwaves and newspapers since the first hours of the scandal, when he said that wrongdoers within his party would be forced out, appearing to take more forceful action that Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose Labour Party lawmakers were also implicated.
Cameron called several days ago for disgruntled citizens with no political experience to run for parliament under the Conservative banner. On Tuesday he pressed for more change, arguing that individual lawmakers should get more say in how they vote — rather than being forced to follow the party line. Leaders should also consider curtailing the immense power of the prime minister, who can decide when to hold elections, he said.
I’d say [ and pray! ] the Brits are on the edge of a for-real No Confidence Vote. I don’t think they’ve ever done such a thing before. Well ... maybe this is the proverbial straw, and they can have a great big wumpus and a proper, elegant and veddy British national referendum. And pull out of the EU, toss a million A-rabs, deadbeats, and Travellers in the Thames, put a few thousand spy cams in the dustbin, toss the tossers from ‘elf & safety, throw out a few high handed local councils, and get back their country and their rights while they’re at it.
This is the spark they need. Let it burn.
On the third hand, I don’t know if I would fully trust Cameron. He might just be making a power grab for himself and his old pals. So let the People vent their ire. It’s time for a Rising. And a Reckoning.
Posted by Drew458
on 05/26/2009 at 03:48 PM
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •
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Permalink • Tears Of Joy?
I recently saw an old episode of “West Wing,” where Edward James Olmos, playing a fictional Puerto Rican federal judge, was nominated to become the first Latino on the U.S. Supreme Court. I cried, thinking how remote this possibility seemed, yet how close.
Now that Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been nominated by President Barack Obama to the Court, that episode finally rings true. When I heard the news, I wept, for the long-overdue acknowledgement that Latinos matter.
...
The search for a justice with “empathy” is no less coded than is the traditional search for “judicial temperament” and a person who will “judge, not legislate.” All nominees have the requisite merit badges, as does Judge Sotomayor. And to make their way to such a short list, all have the combination of personal and professional lives that warrant their consideration.What Sonia Sotomayor will have, as few other candidates, is the additional weight of historical expectations and the hopes of Latinos.
In today’s culture, Latinos are marginalized and demonized and feared. In Judge Sotomayor’s New York, roving gangs of thugs go “beaner hunting,” looking to harm undocumented Mexicans. Such racial hatred knows no nuance, as one such mob killed a permanent resident Ecuadorian, thinking him to be Mexican.
Cecilia Lopez, a student who is the first person from her family to go to college, sees something of herself in the first Hispanic woman to be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“To me, as a student that comes from a low-income background, I think she’s a true example of the fact that when you’re wanting to achieve something, it’s truly possible, regardless of your background,” said Lopez, a 20-year-old senior at the University of Texas.
On Tuesday, President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor, a woman of Puerto Rican descent, to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic person and only the third woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
In the wake of the nomination, Hispanics celebrated Sotomayor as a symbol of success and also as a reflection of the changing demographics of the country. In a sense, she is the Hispanic community’s answer to Obama’s narrative—a sign that, as Lopez said, anything is possible in America if a person works hard enough, no matter their race or economic situation.
Are we running out of “firsts” yet? Will we ever? Because I’d like to actually get past all this Identity Politics stuff in my lifetime, if such a thing will ever be possible. Sure, OK, fine. Let’s have a big happy Viva La Raza moment. And let’s not have any sour grapes about who put the first black person on the Supremes, or who first had a black person as Sec Def or Sec State, or who put the first woman on the Supremes, or any of that. Ancient history.
Then when all the hoopla is over, can we take a look at this woman’s qualifications? In the long run, I think that’s more important.
Sotomayor is touted by supporters as a justice with bipartisan favor and historic appeal.
She currently serves as a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The liberal-leaning justice was named a district judge by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and was elevated to her current seat by President Clinton.
Supporters say her appointment history, along with what they describe as her moderate-liberal views, will give her some bipartisan backing in the Senate.
Sotomayor presided over about 450 cases while on the district court. Prior to her judicial appointments, Sotomayor was a partner at a private law firm and spent time as an assistant district attorney prosecuting violent crimes.
Robyn Kar, who clerked for Sotomayor from 1998 to 1999, described her as a “warm, extraordinarily kind and caring person.”
It’s going to take a couple of days before any serious details emerge. Is she a judicial activist? Probably. Does she have a racial/gender chip on her shoulder the size of Cleveland? Probably. Think she’s a not-quite-in-the-closet Socialist? Who knows? And it’s my prediction that the GOP doesn’t fight her very hard at all. So get used to it now, because she’s a done deal.
(all articles sourced from cnn.com)
Posted by Drew458
on 05/26/2009 at 03:26 PM
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Permalink • Funnies From Ford
(this post brought to you via Opera, since I managed to crash Firefox so hard it blue screened my PC. I have to look into that.)
In a move certain to be popular with most of the guys who already have a Camaro, Chevy is planning a special version of the 2010 car that will fit right in with your “collection”.
Confirming earlier rumors of a “heritage edition” of the new 2010 Camaro that would appeal directly to their largest fan base, deep sources inside GM have signaled that the Camaro WT is indeed headed for production later this summer.
Available on both the V6 and SS models, the WT package will celebrate the look and theme that has appealed to thousands of Camaro owners and fans in modestly priced neighborhoods and manufactured home developments. The decision was made after initial market launch of the new 2010 Camaro was not bringing enough brand loyalists into the dealerships.
Similar to the concept photos shown, the production version of the new WT edition will feature mis-matched body panels in most factory colors. A new matte clear coated “distressed” primer finish unique to the WT package will also be randomly applied to various panels using a new patented paint process at the Ontatio, Canada production facility. Wheels will include a variety of up to 3 different 20” styles randomly installed on the production line as well. Attention was paid to assure that wheel weights were all different to assure a genuine WT driving experience that Camaro loyalists will expect.
Inside, the WT package will feature a unique leatherette upholstery with pre-printed tears and duct tape patches. The Camaro design team wanted to use genuine duct tape for seating surfaces but they found durability issues that might create warranty hassles. In addition GM worked with 3M to create the new leatherette material which is resistent to minor burns caused by a cigarette cherry for example.
tee hee. Go read the rest. And you can be sure that Ford will soon have it’s own Heritage Edition Mustang, complete with rusted out floorboards, a classic intermittently grounded electrical system, 4 month durability starter motors, and a special ragtop sub-edition that lets in more rainwater with the convertible top up than with it down. Stay tuned!
Posted by Drew458
on 05/26/2009 at 02:28 PM
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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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