Cyber killer

Cyber killer .. q’est-ce que c’est ..? fa fa fa faaaa fa ..fa fa fa faaaa fa. An adult whose misconduct contributes to the death of a child has got to be guilty of something more than violating an Internet policy..! But apparently that’s all federal prosecutors can come up with in the case against Lori Drew, a 49 year old Missouri woman, whose malicious harassment on MySpace resulted in the death of a 13-year-old girl ..by suicide. I thought we already had laws on the books to protect children from this type of predatory behavior ..regardless of whether it’s done by direct contact ..telephone or computer. Now, I’m no legal expert ..but I know, from watching TV shows, that when somebody inadvertently dies during the commission of a crime ..it becomes a homicide. It’s no different than driving under the influence, or creating unsafe working conditions.

I realize that harassment isn’t always a crime. However ..what Lori Drew of Missouri was doing is considered particularly ‘predatory’ and definitely illegal. She posed as a 16-year-old boy named ‘Josh’ ..then proceeded to con ..pursue .. harass and torment 13-year-old Megan. This went on for several weeks. Now, I’m sure it wasn’t her intention to kill Megan ..but that’s not the intention of most drivers leaving the bar either. The amount of psychological trauma she inflicted was enough to drive the adolescent to hang herself in the bedroom. The last message she received from ‘Josh’ was: “the world would be a better place without you.”

Section HR 3402 of the “Violence against Women Act” is what makes this type of harassment a crime ..and which, in my opinion ..turns Megan’s suicide into a homicide. I don’t see this as a breach of ‘Internet protocol’ ..but an act of reckless endangerment by an adult contributing to the death of a child. Wouldn't detective Goran see it this way ..?

No pain

~raudulently creating a
~ySpace account and
~sing it to Cyber-bully ..

The letters at the beginning of each line are missing. I can’t get through the first paragraph with any comprehension. Takes so long to decipher the words that I lose my concentration ..get quickly distracted and forget what the article is about. I’ve looked back at the title for the third time now. I pull at the edges of the paper ..but there aren’t any creases in the way. Maybe the column got cropped during printing. I turn the paper upside down ..and letters pop up on the right-hand side ..but now the one’s on the new left-hand side are gone. I turn the paper right-side up ..and the letters fade ..disappear ..reappear ..disappear ..and the words ‘cataracts’ ‘torn retina’ ‘iconic amnesia’ ‘stroke’ and ‘tumor’ roll through my head. I sit back and shut my eyes ..when the real reason becomes apparent. There’s a lightening storm brewing behind my eyelids. I open my eyes and the lightening distorts whatever gets in front of it ..bending things upward ..around ..and out of sight. Twenty minutes later the storm passes and I continue reading ..greatly relieved. I’ve experienced this before and I actually feel pretty damn lucky because ..doctors have told me ..I’m experiencing a migraine ..only without the pain. If you can imagine that.

Cognitive impairment

Says here that people in National Security are accusing the Bush Administration of suffering from ‘cognitive impairment’ because of the way they handled ‘intelligence reports’ leading up to the Iraqi war. Now, I’m no expert on national security ..but I do know a little about cognitive impairment. In my opinion, the ‘cognitive impairment’ that led the Bush administration to believe Iraq was a threat ..is the same process that led the Roosevelt administration to believe Japan was not a threat ..and dismiss events leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I’m not so sure I would call this an ‘impairment’ however ..it’s more like a ‘cognitive strategy’: a strategy of selectively processing information that’s consistent with existing policies or pre-conceived ideas. We all do it to some extent ..it’s just that I expect our leaders to be less biased than the general population when it comes to interpreting world events. The Bush administration dismissed a whole heap of available evidence that did not support their policy of hostility toward Iraq. In the same fashion, the Roosevelt administration had plenty of intelligence reports indicating that Japan was planning to attack Pearl Harbor. They chose to ignore them because they did not support their policy of diplomacy with Japan.

Roosevelt later defends his blunder by denying that he received any warning about Japanese intentions ..claiming that none of the reports specifically mentioned Hawaii. Bush, on the other hand, makes his case by ‘hedging’ ..using ‘implication and innuendo’ to misrepresent the facts. It’s the same strategy used by attorneys when they want to avoid being charged with perjury once the truth be known. How admirable when politicians stoop to these tactics..! Although Bush implies the possibility of a link between Hussein and September 11 ..he never actually makes one. What he says is: “ ..Saddam Hussein has had connections with Al Qaeda.” Not “ ..Saddam Hussein is connected with September 11.” Even Condoleezza Rice had to go on ABC’s Nightline in their defense saying: “We never claimed that Saddam Hussein ..had either direction or control of 9/11.” Now, I find these statements comforting ..! You can rest assured there’s no evidence of ‘cognitive impairment’ affecting this administration ..just the usual signs of deception ..betrayal ..and greed.

Politics of fear

I predict that McCain will beat Obama in the general election this November. Why do I say this ..? Even though I consider myself an independent ..history shows that military leadership trumps intelligence. I mean, look at what happened to Adlai Stephenson when he ran against Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950’s ..or Eugene McCarthy when he ran against the Vietnam War in the 60’s.

Although Obama is more popular with the general population, a poll taken by the independent Pew Research Center found that white working-class Americans identify more with McCain. The majority of these Americans think Obama is too ‘intellectual’ or not ‘sufficiently mainstream’ (for some, ‘Obama’ is simply a funny-sounding name). Last week, a Bloomberg poll found that the majority of white middle-class voters prefer McCain over Obama 45% to 41%.

How do I explain these findings ..? Although Americans are more educated than before ..census shows that middle-class Americans are still largely under-educated ..at most, only 15% finish college (which is higher than 10% back in my day). What does this mean ..? (Besides the fact that I’m a poll-freak) It means that ‘critical thinking’ is not a value shared by many middle-class Americans. We resist new ideas ..rely on old-fashion ideology ..and prefer a leader who’ll protect us from the ‘unknown’. So, while the ‘unknown’ is a territory we all share ..it definitely covers more ground for the segment of the population that lacks a higher education. As a result, mainstream America is susceptible to the politics of fear and ignorance ..which definitely favors the party in power.

(I realize that this post is chock-full of over-generalizations and bias ~ a heap full of apologies to anyone I offended)

John Fogerty

Tonight I caught part of the John Fogerty concert that I missed last week while I was at the KT Tunstall concert. He’s on KCET soundstage ~ which I will put down whatever I’m doing to go and watch whenever it comes on. I never saw a ‘Credence’ concert when I was a kid ~ but friends of mine who did always came back and told me they were hot. “Wish someone had told me before the show” I remember Gil say “..they blew me away.” This was before the era of readily available information ~ so, we all thought they were a bunch of Arkansas hillbilly kids who went to the big city and became successful playing the kind of music they grew up with ~ songs like ‘Born on the Bayou’ or ‘Proud Mary’ ~ that is until I started reading Rolling Stone magazine and found out that they were a group of California kids raised in San Francisco. Didn’t matter ..it just went to show me how easy it is to believe my own bullshit ..especially when a couple more people agree.

KT Tunstall

Wonderful day ..especially if you’re into music the way I am. There’s the Stagecoach Festival in Indio ..John Fogerty at the County Bowl ..and KT Tunstall at the Marjorie Luke Theater. I chose to see KT Tunstall ..which is way-cool because, to my surprise ..it’s all-acoustic ..! Kind of like watching MTV unplugged ..which is a real treat for me ..being the folkie that I am. And it’s so intimate in here ..it's like watching her perform inside a junior high auditorium ..oh wait, this is a junior high auditorium. Her latest CD, which I really like, is mainly rock ..but, those same songs sound almost country when you hear them played on an upright bass and slide guitar. Reminds me of the time I saw the Flying Burrito Brothers at the Fox Theater ..which still ranks as one of my top-five favorite concert experiences .. they showed Laurel and Hardy clips between sets ..which launched me into hysterical fits of laughter.

This show, however, is even better ..!

Roberto

I’ve been working-out at the high school football stadium these days ..using the track and climbing the stairs. It’s a pretty cool-looking place ..bowl-shaped with lots of old stone work and giant trees .. I can even walk to it. This evening I could hear someone singing “I LOVE ROCK ‘N ROLL ..” so loud it echoed. When I get there, I see him sitting way up on the top row .. stomping his feet and pounding his fist to the music ..he looks kinda’ big and menacing, so I decide to walk around and go up another set of stairs ..when I stop and go ..nah, I can’t let people scare me like this ..so, I go up the stairs that go right by him. When he sees me coming .. he smiles real bright, through his goatee, and shouts: “These iPods are great ..I love music, man ..any kinda’ music ..it doesn’t matter ..!” I go: “Sounds like you’re listening to Joan Jett” He presses the button .. squints into the display .. then looks back at me and shouts: “You’re right ..man! You know, I’m mainly into the songs .. I don’t always pay attention to who does ‘em”. “What else you got there ..?” I ask. “OK, wait ..lemme see ..I got songs by Metallica ..Guns ‘n Roses ..Billy Idol ..Blondie ..” “Anything by Melissa Etheridge ..?” “Uh, no ..who’s that ..?” “Doesn’t matter ..got any rap?” “Yeah, I got Snoop Dog ..Beastie Boys ..and ..Hey man ..whatchu’ like lissin’n’ to ..?” “Ummm, different stuff ..lemme see ..uh, alot of Bob Dylan lately.” “I heard of him ..what’s he like ..?” “He’s folk rock ..” I say. He looks puzzled, so I go: “You know, it’s almost like rap” and I do my goofy impression of Dylan singing ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’: “Johnny’s in the basement ~ mixin’ up the medicine ~ I’m on the pavement ~ thinkin’ ‘bout the government ..” His eyes get real big ..his face lightens up ..and he throws his head back and laughs, going: “Whooah, that’s awesome dude ..” and I go: “Yeah, he was like one of the first street-poets ..ever see the movie 8-mile with Eminem ..?” and he’s like “Yeah Yeah ..so he’s one of those guys who can just open their mouth and the words roll right out ..” He gestures with his hand like someone vomiting. “Exactly ..!” I say ..and I’m about to continue stair-climbin’ when he goes: “Hey man, I got some h e r b ..wouldcha’ like to join me ..?”

Now, I’m sitting on top of the stairs ..watching the sunset ..feeling a warm Santa Ana wind on my face ..and listening to Roberto tell me stories about his high school days: “Man, I used to play football right down there ..” he gestures wildly down at the field below ..then he looks around and points to a group of trees “..and we used to get high over there .. between periods ..man, history class never sounded more i n t e r e s t i n g ..” I go: “Yeah, it can open your eyes to a lot of different stuff ..(?)” He goes on to tell me about his own family history. His father is from Durango Mexico ..where he married his mom ..and moved to Juarez ..by the Texas border. They just happened to be visiting friends in El Paso when Roberto was born ..making him an honorary US citizen. Clever ol’man I say to myself ..and I can see that Roberto is proud. I go: “That’s soo cool ..it’s like you know your story man” (or something lame like that ..when you know you’re getting too stoned to understand yourself). Roberto goes on to tell me that he used to be a gang-banger ..a ‘nubber’ he calls it. “What’s that ..?” I ask “A skull cracker ..” he says ..and I’m thinking ..hmmm, probably served him well on the football field down there. He tells me about an event that occurred when he was thirty that changed his life. He got a job working security at the Bowl. Before one of the shows, he was stopping traffic to let the concert-goers pass by ..when he sees this lunatic cross the street .. stumbling ..limping on a bad knee ..leaning on his girlfriend for support ..yelling obscenities ..picking fights ..shouting at his girlfriend ..and not making much sense ..except to Roberto ..who saw himself a few years down the road if he kept doing what he was doing. So, he stopped hanging with the gang .. and cut his alcohol consumption waaaayyy back (now he waits till he gets to the bar before drinking). Says he lost a lot of friends ..but doesn’t mind. “I like it where I’m at right now” he says ..and I tell him: “It sounds like a good place, my friend”