Sometimes the thing you don’t expect is the thing you need most.

I’m almost ashamed that in yesterday’s workday rush, I failed to remember the significance of November 10.

Each year on that date in Silver Lake, Minnesota, a long-retired lighthouse is brought back to life and sends forth a piercing beam of light, and in Detroit at the Mariners’ Church, a bell rings out.  It tolls six times now for reasons that are rooted more in politics than in memory, but it used to ring twenty-nine times.  Each sound of the bell memorialized one life lost on that most famous of Great Lakes freighters, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

All of us have probably heard the haunting melody and moving lyrics of Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 song, written both to memorialize and to pay tribute to the ship and her crew.  The song is wonderful, but while most of it is accurate, it doesn’t tell the whole story.  Neither does anyone else, at least not very often, now that the wreck has faded into history.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975

The laker called the “Mighty Fitz” was a behemoth when she was built in the late fifties.  An investment property of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, she was designed to be the largest vessel plying the Great Lakes.  At 729 feet from stem to stern with a 75 foot beam, she wasn’t the biggest in 1975, but she was of well above average size for a laker. Despite her size, in keeping with Great Lakes tradition, she was referred to as a boat, not a ship.

She had but one purpose, which was the transportation of processed taconite pellets.  These balls of concentrated iron ore are the lifeblood of the steel industry, and nowhere in the U.S. is taconite more abundant than in Minnesota.  Lakers like the Edmund Fitzgerald could load up their holds at ports in Minnesota or Wisconsin, then profitably and economically transport the ore to any of dozens of iron works situated around the Great Lakes.

Like most lakers of the day, the Edmund Fitzgerald had cabins at her bow and stern, with the bridge situated atop the bow.  Between the cabins lay a flat deck covered with loading hatches.  These huge openings with removable covers allow easy loading and unloading of the pellets by dockside machinery.  The hatches are each twelve feet by fifty-four feet in size.  A crane was required to remove and replace the hatch covers, which were secured to their openings by clamps that had to be laboriously resecured after loading was complete.  

Captain Ernest McSorley was the captain of the Edmund Fitzgerald at the time of her demise.  When Lightfoot describes him as “well seasoned,” he’s not kidding. McSorley had been the master of nine vessels over his 40 year career as a mariner; he had assumed this, his tenth command, in 1972. At 63 years of age, this veteran of both lakes and oceans had earned the respect of his peers and his men alike.  He was known in particular to be highly proficient at handling large vessels in foul weather. A Canadian by birth, McSorley lived near Toledo and had planned to retire once the 1975 shipping season was over.

On November 9, 1975, a Sunday, the Edmund Fitzgerald departed from Superior, Wisconsin, loaded with taconite for a steel mill near Detroit (not Cleveland, as Lightfoot mistakenly wrote.) As they moved out onto Lake Superior in the treacherous, unpredictable weather of November, all aboard knew there was a chance they’d encounter a gale, one of the strong, unpredictable, storms that Great Lakes captains call November Witches.

A second laker, the Arthur M. Anderson, fell in behind the Edmund Fitzgerald for the crossing, and the two set off at 13 knots bound for the locks at Soult Ste-Marie.

The storm hit the next day, with high winds and ten foot seas by 7:00 AM.  It was a witch by anyone’s standards.  Building quickly, the winds reached 43 knots by 3:20 PM, and waves topping 30 feet in height were battering the boats as they tried desperately to reach safety.

Heavy snow soon dropped visibility to near zero, and hurricane-force gusts slammed the vessels. No men were allowed on deck; the waves and wind were strong enough to wash even a well-secured man overboard, and in these conditions, a life vest was little more than a cruel joke.

By 3:30 in the afternoon, the situation looked dire indeed. The Edmund Fitzgerald’s two bilge pumps were working furiously to discharge water which was flooding in, presumably through damaged ballast tank vents. The radar was damaged and inoperative, and the boat was listing slightly.  The Anderson was doing somewhat better, and still had functioning radar.  Within an hour or so, the Fitz slowed to allow Anderson to catch up, and McSorley asked Captain Jesse Cooper for help with radar coverage.  

The vessels, at this point, were tantalizingly close to the relative shelter of Whitefish Bay. McSorley put out a radio call to any vessel near Whitefish Point, inquiring about the radio beacon there. The ocean freighter Avafors answered, and advised that the beacon appeared to be down. McSorley advised the Avafors, “I have a bad list, lost both radars, and am taking heavy seas over the deck.  One of the worst seas I’ve ever been in.”

The end came quickly, when it came. At shortly after 7:00 PM, a series of huge rogue waves hit the Anderson. The crests of the waves were so high they could be clearly seen on the Anderson’s radar. They slammed into the Anderson with such force that they damaged lifeboats hanging 35 feet above the waterline. The waves came out of the northwest, and Cooper saw that they were headed directly toward the Fitzgerald. Cooper immediately radioed the Fitzgerald to warn Captain McSorley and check on his status. McSorley reported, “We are holding our own.”

Those were the last words ever heard from the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. At 7:25 her target disappeared from the Arthur M. Anderson’s radar.  

Theories abound about what happened, and how the ship could have gone down so quickly without a flare, a distress call, or a trace on the surface.  Early theories held that the boat must have broken in half on the surface.  She was so long that it was possible for her bow and stern to sit on two wave crests while her mid-keel was out of the water; the alternative was also possible with the ship high-centering on a single wave crest, her bow and stern suspended in the troughs.  Only after the wreckage was discovered and surveyed was this theory finally put to rest.  The two halves of the ship rested only a few yards apart, making a surface breakup extremely unlikely.

The US Coast Guard report held that the ship took on water due to improperly secured hatch covers.  The theory was that the covers allowed water to slowly flood the cargo holds, eventually resulting in a loss of stability and buoyancy that sent the ship to the bottom.

The Lake Carriers Association, the trade organization that represented a dozen or more shipping companies including the operator of the Edmund Fitzgerald, didn’t like this theory because it put the company’s employees at fault.  While it was well known that laker crews were often less than cautious about completely securing every hatch cover clamp and that the clamps were often broken or damaged, the LCA decided to blame charts instead.  They felt it was far more likely that the governments of the two countries had supplied the operators with inaccurate charts.  Because of this, the Fitzgerald had struck an incorrectly charted six fathom shoal and breached her hull below the waterline.  Their theory held that the captain and crew knew nothing of this deep hull damage and cargo hold flooding until it was too late; the vessel had nose-dived directly to the bottom and broken in half on impact.

The National Transportation Safety Board initially rejected both the Coast Guard and LCA theories.  They eventually backpedaled, agreeing that the boat probably sank due to water flooding in through the loading hatches.  However, rather than blaming the crew, the NTSB put more of the blame on the design of the hatch covers and on the storm itself.  From their final report:

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the sudden massive flooding of the cargo hold due to the collapse of one or more hatch covers. Before the hatch covers collapsed, flooding into the ballast tanks and tunnel through topside damage and flooding into the cargo hold through non-weathertight hatch covers caused a reduction of freeboard and a list. The hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces imposed on the hatch covers by heavy boarding seas at this reduced freeboard and with the list caused the hatch covers to collapse.”

There were no survivors, and no bodies were recovered.  Generally, the bodies of drowned men eventually surface, due to natural decomposition processes that produce buoyant gas.  When the water is cold and deep, as it is in the vicinity of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s wreck, the bodies are instead preserved.  The Edmund Fitzgerald is now a memorial.  No dives are allowed upon her wreck.  Lake Superior, in song, legend, and reality, does not give up her dead.

There are twenty-nine men who know what happened that night, and why their ship disappeared without so much as a flare or distress call.  None of them can speak.  They lie entombed in the broken wreck of their ship, seventeen miles from the safety of Whitefish Bay in 530 feet of water in a lake that holds her secrets closely.  

Gordon Lightfoot, two crew relatives, and the bell.

In 1995, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society sought and received the approval of the Canadian government and the families of those lost in the wreck to dive upon the Edmund Fitzgerald and retrieve her bell.  The bell would serve as a tangible memorial for the families and survivors of the crewmen.  A replica bell carrying the names of the 29 lost would replace it at the wreck.

The bell is now part of a memorial located at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point.  Painstakingly and lovingly restored, it stands alongside a horribly smashed lifeboat, several life rings, and a few other items comprising the only tangible remains of the great vessel claimed by the November Witch.  

As Gordon Lightfoot wrote and sang, “The iron boats go, as the mariners all know, with the gales of November remembered.”

It doesn’t, of course. I’m betting the title got your attention, though, just as a similar headline did when it appeared today on news aggregator fark.com. The story itself, posted on the web site of KATU-TV in Portland, Oregon, is a textbook example of the dangers of spin (or, at the very least, irresponsible journalism.)

For those who want the executive summary, here it is. Wind power has been very, very well developed along the Columbia River in the northwestern United States. New wind farms are going online regularly, and an ambitious plan is in place to further encourage and support wind power.

Wind, as any sailor will tell you, is a fickle thing. Sometimes you have none at all, and at other times you have more than you can use. There have been occasions, recently, when so much wind power was dumped onto the electrical grid that it exceeded the load on the grid, a dangerous condition that can cause voltage to rise and circuits to trip.

This is a great thing!  Isn’t it? Those western states have managed to generate so much wind power that we don’t know what to do with it all, right?

Wrong.

As the article correctly points out, traditional sources of electricity are still out there. Power plants that use fossil fuels and nuclear energy are generally built and operated at great expense by corporations who want to see a return on their investments. They’re not about to dial back their generation capacity, cutting their income, so that wind power can take over when it’s available.

If we have too much power, then, who cuts back? Hydro does. Hydroelectric power is also well developed along the Columbia river, and when the supply of wind power exceeds demand, the dams cut back their generation.  

When a hydroelectric dam stops generating, the water still needs to go downstream or the river will drop, so instead of passing the water through the generators, dams just send it over the spillways. Water passing over a dam’s spillway becomes highly aerated. Nitrogen dissolves in the water, and the excess nitrogen makes fish uncomfortable or worse. This is the basis for the KATU story — those wind turbines are forcing the dams to spill more water.

Is wind power hurting the fish? Of course it isn’t! There is no causal link here at all.

In the first place, they could dial back the wind power if necessary, feathering the blades of these modern, advanced turbines so that they catch less of the wind and produce less electricity. They don’t do it, presumably, because it would be stupid. They want to generate more power by clean, alternative means, and that’s why the wind farms are there.

They could shut down a coal-fired plant for the duration of the surplus. Trading dirty, resource-gobbling capacity for clean, renewable capacity makes sense! This isn’t done for the oldest reason of all, which is greed. The plant owner who shut down would lose money, because he gets paid to turn a non-renewable resource into both electricity and pollution.

What’s really killing salmon? Greed is killing salmon. Greed is more powerful than wind. The wind farms and hydro dams are continuing to provide clean, cheap, resource-efficient power, and in return they’re being told by the big coal-fired behemoths, “Sorry.  There’s not room in this town for the three of us, and we were here first.”

Would anyone care to bet on which of the major players in the fossil-fuel power industry paid off KATU’s reporter to blame it on wind?  My money is on PG&E.

A much more interesting blog than this one is under construction. It’s long, based on an idea from MMM, and it’s taking a lot of time to write. I promise it will see the light of day soon.

I’ve gotten back into the habit of reading my friends’ blogs, and I’ve done pretty well at keeping up for a month or two now. Google Reader helps me by keeping track of what I’ve read and what I’ve yet to read. This morning, the “Next” button took me to the blog of a friend I used to chat with fairly often, but with whom I’ve been somewhat out of touch.

I really have been feeling rather down for the last few days, and perhaps that’s why I took something I read on that blog rather badly. Everyone has the right and responsibility to look after those they’re close to.  This blogger feels that her sister is “slumming” because she’s involved with a man who isn’t employed, drinks more than he should, isn’t highly educated, wore a name tag on his last job, and isn’t very physically attractive. The word and the reasons hit a little close to home for me, and I reacted. Before I could apprehend myself for aggravated criminal shitheadedness, I left a whiny, knee-jerk comment objecting to the generalization which probably wasn’t even a generalization.

There is a semi-formal definition of slumming on Wikipedia, but mine is simpler. Slumming is when a person of perceived greater worth dates someone of perceived lesser worth, purely for the thrill of it.

I cannot say I’ve experienced slumming firsthand. I have never passed on the imaginary pathogen known as “slum cooties.” I have, however, been judged on such criteria as my socioeconomic status, the density of my hair, the condition of my teeth, my weight, and my job. Some people really think that these are the indicators of one’s worth as a human, as a companion, and as a life partner. Naive as I am, I still can’t believe we (as a people) not only tolerate this level of superficiality, but espouse and embrace it.

Oh, of course, we put a nice, modern, politically correct spin on it. The old bumper stickers that read, “NO FAT CHICKS” are completely unacceptable now. The sentiments are still around, though.  Ever see this photo?

How To Spot A Rich Guy

Sometimes, I really don’t know what to make of this picture. Natural selection works in all sorts of strange ways.  Some women will feign attraction to a man, and even marry him, because his wealth outweighs all of the other criteria which select against him. On the other hand, sometimes a woman will be honestly, emotionally attracted to someone regardless of physical and socioeconomic deficits which select against him. Is the woman in the picture, as most people surmise, “out of his league?” Is she, in the alternative view, so shallow he may be out of her league? Wait. Could it be — horror of horrors — that the two of them actually care for each other as people, rather than as bank accounts or bodies? Could it be that they’re holding hands and being seen in public together because they love each other?

Okay, you’ve caught me. I’m an idealist. I believe that love does exist, and I believe that love is blind and deaf and financially clueless, and that it draws two people together by their hearts. I believe that a life partnership that’s not based on love first and foremost is a fraud. Many times I have seen situations that are very much like that photograph. If I even start to wonder about what they see in each other, I immediately accuse myself of the aforementioned criminal shitheadedness and remember that I know nothing about their relationship beyond what I see on the surface, and that it might well be based on exactly what it should have at its core.

My life has been punctuated by a series of failed relationships. Some ended amicably, if painfully, and some ended badly. Until my present fiancee’, though, every single one of those women wanted something other than me. They wanted a big bank account, a full head of hair, a perfect smile, an advanced degree, a slim body, bigger muscles, and more fashionable clothing and eyeglasses. What I had, what I did, and what I looked like were all much more important than who I was. I am not bitter, and I’m not angry about this. I hope all of them eventually find what they were looking for, and that they’re lucky enough to find love at the same time, with the same person.

I’m sorry, anonymous blogger. You have every right to worry about your sister. Except for the drinking and the fact that I’m not unemployed (yet?), I’m probably an awful lot like your sister’s new beau, and it was far too easy for me to swing that around and make it personal. When I remember that a lovely woman of fine lineage and good education considers me worth her while and worthy of her hand, a lot of the sting disappears.

One of my idols, George Carlin, once said that inside every cynical person there is a disappointed idealist. Nothing could possibly describe me more accurately.

Breaking with tradition, I will deny you the choice of which you shall hear first, and proceed with the good news.

Allison now has a blog!  She had asked me to set one up for her days ago, and I’ve finally gotten the work done. You can find her new blog at http://kd4dcy.net/allison.  I expect it will make more interesting reading than mine on a more regular basis.

Now for the bad news.  Keiko, our sweet and gentle bear of an Akita, passed away yesterday, apparently as a result of a snake bite.  He was an old fellow, but we all loved him very much, and the humans as well as the animals miss him greatly.  We’re all very sad at the loss of our friend, and none of us are ourselves just now.

Allison has used her new blog in a way that I used to use mine, as therapy.  Writing was always a good release for me, and this morning it appears to have helped her a bit too.  Her blog about Keiko is wonderfully emotional and tells his story, as well as the story of his predecessors, much more eloquently than I ever could.

There is other news, but it can wait for a less somber, more appropriate time.  For now, we will take some time to grieve, to remember, and to cry.

In memory of Keiko 1995-2008

The Sydney Sun-Herald newspaper has published a list of what it considers the “Top 100 Books of All Time.” There is no indication of how this list was arrived at, or whether it represents the results of a poll or a simple editorial opinion.  

Upon reading the list, my first reaction was to be rather disappointed in myself.  I have read in their entirety only four of the listed books, which doesn’t bode well for my literary background.  

Moments later, reason asserted itself and my dismay was softened when I realized that the list was ridiculous.  Many of the books that I consider important and good in a literary sense are notably absent from the list; War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy is an example.  Other, more modern books seem to hold places on the list purely due to their public appeal, such as works by Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, and Dean Koontz.

The top of the list made me feel completely vindicated.  What literary critic would name the Harry Potter books as the best books of all time?  They’re entertaining, they’re popular, and they’re certainly trendy, but can they possibly be the best books of all time?  I hope not.

Here’s the list.

1 Harry Potter series - J.K Rowling

2 Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

3 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

4 The Obernewtyn Chronicles - Isobelle Carmody

5 My Sister’s Keeper - Jodi Picoult

6 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

7 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

8 Breath - Tim Winton

9 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

10 Break No Bones - Kathy Reichs

11 The Power Of One - Bryce Courtenay

12 Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

13 Magician - Raymond E. Feist

14 The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons

15 Mao’s Last Dancer - Li Cunxin

16 Memoirs Of A Geisha - Arthur Golden

17 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

18 Cross - James Patterson

19 Persuasion - Jane Austen

20 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

21 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

22 The Secret - Rhonda Byrne

23 Marley and Me - John Grogan

24 Antony and Cleopatra - Colleen McCullough

25 April Fools Day - Bryce Courtney

26 North & South - Elizabeth Gaskell

27 In My Skin - Kate Holden

28 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

29 A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

30 The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory

31 Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

32 Atonement - Ian McEwan

33 Shantaram Gregory - David Roberts

34 Pillars Of The Earth - Ken Follett

35 The Pact - Jodi Picoult

36 Ice Station - Matthew Reilly

37 Cloudstreet - Tim Winton

38 Jessica - Bryce Courtenay

39 A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle

40 The Princess Bride - William Goldman

41 Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs

42 Anybody Out There? - Marian Keyes

43 Life Of Pi - Yann Martel

44 Seven Ancient Wonders - Matthew Reilly

45 People Of The Book - Geraldine Brooks

46 Six Sacred Stones - Matthew Reilly

47 Memory Keeper’s Daughter - Kim Edwards

48 Brother Odd - Dean Koontz

49 Tully - Paullina Simons

50 Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom

51 The Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger

52 Eragon - Christopher Paolini

53 Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

54 It’s Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong

55 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

56 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

57 The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

58 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

59 A Fortunate Life - A.B. Facey

60 The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley

61 The Notebook -Nicholas Sparks

62 Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen

63 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

64 The Host - Stephenie Meyer

65 Dirt Music - Tim Winton

66 Eldest - Christopher Paolini

67 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

68 It - Stephen King

69 World Without End - Ken Follett

70 Emma - Jane Austen

71 Temple - Matthew Reilly

72 Little Women - Alcott Louisa May

73 Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich

74 Scarecrow - Matthew Reilly

75 American Gods - Neil Gaiman

76 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

77 P.S, I Love You - Cecelia Ahern

78 All That Remains - Patricia Cornwell

79 The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

80 Past Secrets - Cathy Kelly

81 The Persimmon Tree - Bryce Courtenay

82 Husband - Dean Koontz

83 Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult

84 Wicked - Gregory Maguire

85 Spot Of Bother - Mark Haddon

86 Always And Forever - Cathy Kelly

87 The Road - Cormac McCarthy

88 Cents & Sensibility - Maggie Alderson

89 Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris

90 The Shifting Fog - Kate Morton

91 We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

92 Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger

93 Hour Game - David Baldacci

94 Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

95 The Woods - Harlan Coben

96 Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

97 Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

98 Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis

99 Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

100 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

I have been thinking a lot lately about the stuff of life.  No, not single-malt Scotch, but DNA.  I just finished re-reading a very interesting Robin Cook novel called “Mutation,” in which a physician entrepreneur and researcher meddles with his own unborn son’s genes with terrifying results.  Genetics are not my area of expertise, but who could not be fascinated by the sheer complexity and power of this amazing molecule in the shape of a double helix?  It’s a biological computer program, written in a language unique to life, and we understand less than 5% of the code as of now.

An episode of “House, M.D.” last night brought DNA back into my mind, and for some reason I could not remember the word for the sequences of DNA that fall between the genes and are not replicated during transcription.  The word totally escaped me, and I refused to look it up as a matter of pride, so I kept trying to think of it for the rest of the evening until I fell asleep.

When I awoke this morning, I got up, drank some lemonade, gave the dog a treat, and suddenly remembered that the word was “introns.”  I suppose that the dog, the lemonade, or the orthostatic hypotension could have separately or collectively caused my memory to disgorge the information; who can say?  I immediately texted this word to Allison, who had also been trying to remember it.  She responded by calling me a “sexy geek,” which made my day.

Today I found myself sitting down to lunch with nothing to read.  That’s fairly unusual for me, since if I’m eating alone, I generally have some reading material at hand to keep my mind occupied while I attend to the needs of my body.  I’ve read novels, industry periodicals, nonfiction, and even product literature over lunch in the past, but today my quick search turned up nothing of interest.  So, I sat down and simply ate.

I’d been eating for only five or ten minutes before my mind began to wander.  In the restaurant, two television sets were on and tuned to CNN and Fox News.  The only “news” was political, and this probably contributed to my bored, desperate turn toward my inner mind for entertainment.  I thought about DNA again, and its helical structure, and remembered something I’d read in the Feynman Lectures on Physics years ago.

Feynman did one entire lecture on the symmetry of the physical laws.  We assume all of our physical laws to be symmetrical.  Symmetry can be explained in a really simple way.  If you can take something (an object or an intangible) and do something to it (rotation, reflection, translation, etc.) and it looks the same as it did before, that thing is said to have symmetry.

I remember that Feynman used an odd example that really set my mind in motion.  I’m going to do a terrible job of re-describing it and I don’t have the books at hand, so bear with me.

Say we make a solution of common sugar in water.  We then shine a polarized light source through that sugar solution and observe the light on the other side.  We will notice that the plane of polarization of the light has been rotated from the original, and that it has rotated to the right.

Now let’s hypothetically construct some sugar artifically.  It’s not hard to do, but we won’t go into the process here.  We’ll dissolve that sugar in water, and shine the same polarized light into it.  Oddly enough, we discover that the light’s polarization hasn’t rotated at all!

Now, let’s add some bacteria to the water and let them eat some of the sugar.  After a few minutes, we’ll then shine the light through the container again.  Wait a minute!  The light exiting the container has rotated now, all right — but to the LEFT!

What happened?  The natural sugar rotated the plane of polarization to the right because natural sugar — glucose, in particular a form of glucose called dextrose or d-glucose, has a right-handed helical structure.  When we created our synthetic sugar, we made something with the right chemical formula, but it actually contained equal parts of d-glucose (dextrose) and l-glucose, which is left-handed!  The rotations cancelled and we saw no effect until we added bacteria.  All life that we’re aware of, right down to bacteria, either produces or uses right-handed sugar molecules.  The bacteria ate only the d-glucose, having no use for the l-glucose since it can’t broken down for use as food because the enzymes don’t fit!  We were then left with an l-glucose solution that rotated the plane of polarization to the left.

This started a thought process that began with left-handed sugars and went rather awry, with amusing consequences.  I began to realize that because of the symmetry of physical laws, it is entirely possible that all life on earth could have come to be the opposite way.  Almost everything in nature that has a helical structure rotates to the right.  What if somewhere, somehow, life either evolved or was created that was based on all left-hand structures?

An interesting idea for a science-fiction premise began to form in my mind.  Complications are what makes fiction interesting, after all.  Edwin A. Abbott took away one dimension and came up with a whole world called Flatland.  What if we created a world that hosted a majority of normal, right-hand-helix humans like us, and a minority of left-handed-helix humans based on Z-DNA?  We could call them Leptans, and the circumstances of their life would be most interesting.

To a Leptan, most of the foodstuffs on earth would be essentially non-nutritive.  Leptans would have enzymes that can only break down left-handed sugars, and to construct their proteins they would require left-handed amino acids that also aren’t found in nature in any significant quantity.  Food for leptans would have to be synthetic, since a cannibalistic population could not be self-supporting and would die out quickly.  

Interaction between leptans and humans would be unusual.  A leptan and a human could probably not produce offspring, because their DNA would not fit together and could not be combined during meiosis.  How a human body might react to “contamination” from a leptan body cell, or vice-versa, is something I can only speculate upon, lacking the knowledge of genetics and immunology to actually analyze the possibilities.  There could easily arise unique and unprecedented problems with leptans and humans living in close proximity.

Would leptans grow to resent the majority of humans?  Would they come up with ugly, racial slur-like names for us, like “dexters?”  Would there eventually be a leptan uprising, with the leptans releasing some horrible enzyme or toxin that’s fatal to humans but to which leptans are immune?  Would the majority of leptans turn out to be left-handed in terms of manual dexterity, and would the functions of their two brain hemispheres be reversed, or is that not the result of a symmetrical physical law?

Leptans would almost certainly be a better-looking, healthier people than humans.  When all food has to be produced via very expensive synthetic means, I don’t think gluttony would be a big problem.  If a leptan did find himself getting a little porky, he need only turn to the food of humans.  He could eat at Dunkin Donuts every day and never gain a pound, because his body could not process the sugar.

There seemed to be no end to the interesting premises associated with the leptan race, and I spent the rest of my lunchtime thinking about this.  I think it’s a great idea, and I’d love it if someone ran with it.  At the very least it’d make a good “Twilight Zone” episode, but it could easily be fleshed out into either a movie or a full TV series.  ”Leptan Uprising” even sounds like a really good name for a video game.  If you make your first million selling this idea to Spielberg or NBC or Nintendo, please be so kind as to give me some small credit.  I haven’t quite figured out how to “copyleft” the notion.

This blog has taken what I have come to consider an unwise turn in the last few months.  Outrage at several idiots and the people who provide support for those idiots led me to turn this area into a place to vent my frustrations and voice my discontent.  Clearly the mass media, direct communication, and the court system and regulatory authorities are the proper outlet for such issues.  I will try to turn back toward my original course, that of a personal outlet.  However, I make no promises for my ability to resist temptation should I encounter yet another idiot.  Considering what country I live in and taking into account the last few months of fark.com headlines, that does seem depressingly likely.

I generally consider myself an apolitical creature.  I will never be a politician because I have not mastered their primary skill, the art of lying.  I do listen to talk radio quite a bit, though, and exposure to political topics is unavoidable.  This morning, Herman Cain, filling in for Neal Boortz on WSB-AM in Atlanta, ranted incessantly about the new mantra of politicians everywhere: “Drill here, drill now, Pay Less.”  The more I hear this, the more convinced I become that the United States political machine believes that we are all blithering idiots.

Cain grates on me under the best of conditions.  His questionable grammar and odd pronunciation drive me to distraction.  How can a man pronounce “hour” and “Iowa” such that they are both two-syllable words and sound exactly alike?  His manner of speech goes far beyond an accent.  He speaks his own dialect.

Setting that aside, though, let’s analyze this idea that producing oil domestically will somehow reduce gasoline prices.  First of all, drilling is expensive.  It costs money to have a crew of men wielding a thousand tons of equipment put a piece of pipe five miles into the earth.  Leasing the land to drill into also costs money, and so does extracting and transporting the oil produced — provided the well finds oil in the first place.  Oil companies that spend this sort of money expect a return on that investment.

Oil has a price on the world market.  The U.S. doesn’t set that price, nor does Exxon or BP.  The price fluctuates, hovering at or near what the market will bear.  Let’s say, for purposes of argument, that the current world price for a barrel of crude oil is $100.  If a company could sell domestically-produced oil at $100 a barrel on the world market, why would it sell that oil a penny more cheaply here in the U.S.?  It wouldn’t, of course.  If it can make $100 or even more than that on a barrel of oil, it will.  The mantra should be “Drill Here, Drill Now, buy an American a Yacht.”

I’m all for reducing our dependence on foreign oil.  At the same time, attempting to compel people to get behind that effort by promising lower gasoline prices is dishonest and wrong.  Oil companies are large, powerful, politically-connected, and greedy.  Once the Arabs and other foreign oil exporting nations no longer have a stranglehold on our economy, you can bet that the energy industry will take over.

Few people realize another key fact.  Much of the “oil” we buy and import from foreign nations is finished gasoline.  Why?  Because the United States has not seen the construction of a single new oil refinery in 32 years.  Even if we had sufficient domestic crude oil, we don’t have the refining capacity to produce any more gasoline than we are already producing — which is clearly not enough, or we wouldn’t be importing the stuff.  Drilling solves nothing.

T. Boone Pickens, a lifelong oilman, has already figured this out and is spending millions in advertising trying to get this very message across to the American people.   He claims to have a plan that will get us closer to energy independence and out of a mess that he admits we can’t “drill our way out of.”

Gasoline prices in Atlanta, which were about $3.60 per gallon before Ike threatened Texas, rose in some places to over $5.00 per gallon this past weekend, even before Ike hit.  Refineries in Texas were not heavily damaged, and production was only mildly disrupted.  Prices didn’t go up because of supply and demand. Prices went up because people were greedy and found an excuse to make money from the misfortune of others.  Gasoline prices, unlike crude oil prices, are set by the seller and are subject to all manner of capricious whims.  The price gouging continues even today, well after the storm has passed and everyone has the word that damage was minimal.

Sonny Purdue, Georgia’s governor (that’s what they call you when you’re better at lying than all the other people in your state), signed new laws last month implementing stiff penalties for price gounging, and threatened to enforce them.  Predictably enough, I have not seen a single news report of a gasoline retailer being charged with price gouging, even though hundreds clearly committed the offense.

I’m tired of being gouged at the pump.  Back around 2003 we were paying between $1.00 and $1.50 per gallon for gasoline, and no amount of political nonsense will convince me that it now costs four times what it did then to deliver a gallon of gasoline to my tank.  Greedy people are getting richer and I’m getting poorer, and that makes me angry, political or not, because it makes me feel I’ve got a sign on the back of my pants that says “Drill Here, Drill now!”

[This article was updated at 4:30 PM Pacific Time with the AJC story.]

I’m on a business trip in Riverside, California, but news from home and other areas has continued to flow in.  I have decent internet access here, and thanks to Allison and Mike, I have also been reunited with my flaky but serviceable phone.  Incidentally, if you are ever offered a PDA cell phone called the AT&T 8525, just say, “no.”  It is a piece of junk cleverly disguised as a useful appliance.  It makes a dandy battery discharger, so long as you don’t need a phone.

I also had the distinct privilege of experiencing a magnitude 5.4 earthquake on Tuesday.  The epicenter of the quake was just 40 miles away, roughly between downtown L.A. and Riverside.  While the shaking was modest by California standards and little real damage was reported, it was quite a ride for a man who generally expects the ground beneath his feet to remain fairly stationary

Okay, okay.  On to the updates.  First of all, Allison’s attorney let her know yesterday that an open records request placed against Cherokee County had been answered, and that the county had turned over a copy of her personnel file.  The attorney was shocked to find that, as suspected, copies of my blog entries are in that file.  This evidence will be forwarded to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission in support of the complaint I have already filed against principal Keith Ball.

Another item worthy of note appeared in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  You’ll recall that Cherokee County School Board members Mike Chapman and Janet Read, who were recently re-elected,  were adamant about the board’s need to remain impartial and refrain from involving itself in personnel issues.

Cobb County seems to have the opposite problem.  Diane R. Stepp writes:

Cobb Superintendent Fred Sanderson apologized Thursday to school board members who didn’t know the principal they named to lead North Cobb High had been investigated on sexual harassment charges.

Some board members said they were not told about a seven-month internal investigation into allegations against Lawrence Bynum, former principal at Floyd Middle School .

“I was not aware that there was an investigation,” said board member John Abraham whose district includes North Cobb High. “It wasn’t brought to our attention.”

Board member Lindsey Tippins also said the board was unaware of the investigation when it approved Bynum’s appointment in June.

Cobb has a School Board that would have wished to know about a personnel problem so that they could have made more appropriate decisions as to that employee’s future with the system.  Cherokee’s School Board, our educational brain trust, would rather not know, thank you.

There was also a tiny article in a tiny Minnesota newspaper this morning bringing news in the case of priest Daniel Walz, who took out a restraining order excluding young Adam Race from attending services at St. Joseph’s church in Bertha, Minnesota.  As you may recall, Mrs. Race had her day in court in June, but a judge who (like most people, unfortunately) was ignorant regarding autism upheld the restraining order.  Carol Race still faced criminal charges for violating that restraining order and bringing Adam to church one morning — until today.  Mr. Walz apparently has tried to make himself and his congregation look less heartless by having the criminal charges dropped.  The restraining order, of course, remains in place.

You will not often catch this author quoting scripture.  However, one particular passage comes to mind.  I will quote it from the version of the Bible with which I am most familiar.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. [Revelation 22:17, KJV]

I’ve always known that lawyers interpret laws in the way that has the most benefit to their cases.  I wasn’t aware that there were spiritual lawyers, too, but apparently Walz has found a loophole.  The God he serves commands him to throw open the doors to “whosoever” may come.   Apparently, he believes he can exclude autistic people like Master Adam and still be within the letter of The Law, somehow.

The saddest and most telling fact is that one Minnesota newspaper carried this story, and no one not carefully following the case, as I have been, will ever know.  It’s sad because the popular media have forgotten Adam, leaving Walz to practice his exclusionary beliefs far from the public eye.  It’s telling because the media have treated Walz’ decision to drop criminal charges with a level of exposure consistent with its importance.   In other words, no one but Walz and his apologists has any notion that he’s done anything of consequence.

The story mentions that the Races and the church have had one mediation session.  Let’s hope that someone at that church eventually realizes that they’re being idiots and drops this ridiculous restraining order.

I have today filed my complaint with the Georgia Professional Standards Commmission against Principal Keith L. Ball of Woodstock Middle School. Not having firsthand knowledge or hard evidence (yet) of his other ethics violations, I have confined this complaint to his professional misconduct with respect to my blog. To wit, I cite his attempts to censor me by applying inappropriate pressure to my fiancee’ and her career, and his maintenance of copies of my writing in her personnel file in violation of my copyright and my explicit written denial of permission.

You can view the complaint here. In the file, I have used old-fashioned mechanical means (Post-It flags) to redact certain personal information in the interest of my privacy and my fiancee’s. The report sent to the Commission is complete.

GPSC Complaint (2 pages, 110 KB, PDF)

A press release from the United Federation of Teachers discusses a recent case that appears to bear a striking resemblance to Allison’s experience with Keith Ball at Woodstock Middle School:

Teachers Union Sues Brooklyn Middle School Principal
For Reassigning and Defaming Teacher
Who Insisted on Mandated Services for Special Education Students

The United Federation of Teachers has filed a lawsuit charging that principal Marian Bowden of Middle School 393 in Brooklyn violated a state whistleblower law by removing special education teacher Kimani Brown from his classroom and sending him to a temporary reassignment center in retaliation for his insistence that his students receive required services.

The lawsuit – which also alleges that Bowden subsequently made false and defamatory statements about Brown’s professional conduct to his colleagues, students and at least one parent – was filed on July 3 in state Supreme Court in Manhattan by the law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan at the behest of the UFT, the union representing New York City’s 100,000 public school educators.

Bowden reassigned Brown to a temporary reassignment center on May 21, 2008, which prompted Brown’s colleagues and parents to stage two large demonstrations outside the school on May 27 and June 10. The school, located at 1014 Lafayette Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area, serves general and special education students in grades 6-11.

Brown, a veteran teacher who is the union’s representative – also known as chapter leader – in the school, had maintained a good working relationship with Bowden for a while. In April of 2006, before Brown was elected chapter leader by his colleagues, Bowden wrote in a letter to Brown’s personnel file that he “is a dedicated and productive member” of the school’s staff.

But starting last fall, Bowden began to criticize Brown when they began to disagree on intervention services for special education students, alleged violations of group size regulations and the amount of time students were allowed to spend in the classroom and school budget priorities, among other issues. Bowden relieved Brown of his academic intervention service duties and the two subsequently clashed several times over issues ranging from services to students to respecting the contractual rights of the school’s educators and school safety.

“This is a clear case of a principal retaliating against an educator who had the nerve to stand up for his students,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten. “This principal needs to understand her role should be that of a leader, not a bully or tyrant.”

Weingarten said the union will continue to fight to have Brown reinstated at the school and have his personnel file at the school expunged of any disputed disciplinary charges or letters.

Other coverage of the story:

Principal’s out to get me, charges teacher in ‘Rubber Room’ suit
BY RACHEL MONAHAN, NY DAILY NEWS,Monday, July 14th 2008, 7:36 PM

A Brooklyn teacher claims he was banished to a “Rubber Room” after blowing the whistle on his principal for preventing special education students from getting services, the teachers union charges.

Kimani Brown, a teacher at Frederick Douglass Academy IV for three years, is suing Principal Marian Bowden for punishing him in retaliation.

“I’m a special education teacher. I’m supposed to make sure my students are getting their services provided,” Brown said. “So I spoke up.”

Brown charged Bowden hadn’t hired a resource room teacher until months into the 2007-08 school year and that special education students were denied counseling and weren’t given mandated extra time on tests.

The allegations mark another controversy swirling about the school, which reported a mom to child welfare services over her daughter’s supposed absences, even though she wasn’t enrolled, the Daily News reported last month. Brown has been idling at full pay in a detention room since May 21, a lawsuit the union filed July 3 in Manhattan Supreme Court charges.

The suit refers to a letter of commendation Bowden wrote in 2006, praising Brown for his “commitment” to “the special needs population.”

After Brown’s complaint last fall, the suit charges, city and state education officials visited and gave the school until yesterday to file a plan to correct problems, including the lack of individualized education plans for some students.

The officials said they are reviewing the document and will monitor the academy to ensure compliance.

Education Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg declined to comment.

The school is also, it seems, ‘padding’ the roster with shadow students, an action that many principals do to obtain extra money for the school (or themselves).

Yesterday’s primary election in Cherokee County brought both kinds of news.  I’m happy to report that Kim Cochran, one of the most qualified people in the School Board race, won her seat on the school board, defeating Wes Frye.  I am confident that as a former educator with considerable experience, she will bring valuable insight and excellent leadership to the school board.  I congratulate her on her victory and could not be happier with that particular outcome.

The news regarding the other two school board seats is, unfortunately, tragically bad.   When only 14.7% of the registered voters actually bother to vote, the outcome of any election is bound to be ugly.  Those 15% of the people signed up for four more years of Mike Chapman and Janet Read on the school board.  The arrogant, unresponsive, smug incumbents have won the day, and the kids, unfortunately, have lost.

I sure wish that the incumbents had spent half as much time during their last term dealing with the actual issues as they spent preparing for that recent forum.  It’s interesting that finding out what the community’s hot issues are and developing sound answers to those issues becomes so much more important just before an election.  Shouldn’t that always be a priority for those elected to serve?

With Read and Chapman back in place, I worry that Cochran’s one, lone voice of sanity on the board will not have the power to bring about change.  As sad as this is, we might as well settle in and expect everything to remain as it is for another four years.  Good teachers will continue their mass exodus from places like Woodstock Middle School, where unqualified administrators like Keith Ball care more about their own personal growth than the kids’ educational growth, and more about their power trips than their school system’s health.

On that issue, it’s onward and upward.  If I reach high enough, I’ll find someone who will listen — and act.

[This article was updated on July 12 with additional information.]

It’s been an evening filled with interesting communications. Oddly enough, it seems I can write about an out-of-control principal, inattentive school board members, and unresponsive school system staffers until the cows come home and no one will bat an eye. However, when I mention the suspicions of a couple of candidates regarding a PTA-sponsored forum, I seem to get everyone’s attention. That’s disappointing.

First I heard from Mike McGowan, Director of Public Information, Communications, and Partnerships with the Cherokee County School System. He called me after apparently taking strong offense to what he considers my “insinuation” that he prepared the notes referred to in my last article. I think I can safely say he was quite indignant and not the least bit polite, accusing me of distributing unsubstantiated information. The attentive reader will notice that I mentioned the opinion of a source and insinuated nothing about Mr. McGowan. In fact, I had never heard of him until he called to take me to task and “warn” me concerning my blog. For the record, Mr. McGowan stated that he has provided all candidates with equal access to information and has maintained impartiality.

I do wonder where Mr. McGowan got my cell phone number, though. It’s certainly nowhere on my blog, nor do I publish it anywhere on my web sites. It is, however, listed in my fiancee’s personnel file as an emergency contact. I will make no assumptions here for the moment.

[UPDATE: Mr. McGowan telephoned my fiancee' on the morning of July 11 and stated that he got my telephone number from someone I called in reference to this issue. Since I called only one person, Denise Nani, it would seem that she passed my contact information on to the school district rather than returning my call or e-mail.]

Remember that group of very noisy ladies I mentioned in an earlier article who were so disturbing with their talking and heckling during the forum? I mentioned in an earlier update that one of them was Mrs. Read’s campaign chairperson, whose name I now know is Beth Choppa. Choppa is also Co-President of the E. T. Booth Middle School PTA.

I heard from another Read’s campaign staffers this evening: Valerie Johnson, campaign treasurer. In a long e-mail, she provided her condensed curriculum vitae, which I will summarize: she is a Georgia Tech graduate, and has worked as a research analyst for several largish corporations.

In a rather long e-mail, Johnson stated that she provided the cards that the two incumbents referred to during the forum. The cards, of which she said there were more than fifty, contained potential (emphasis mine) questions which were formulated based on current hot issues in the campaign. These issues, she explained, were gleaned from the candidates’ web sites, newspapers, and online blogs as well as the web sites and reports of many well-known organizations in the field of education.

Johnson also said in a manner that implies direct knowledge (underscoring has been rendered in italics):

“Mr. McGowan (or anyone at the CCSD) and Mrs. Nani (or anyone at any level of the PTA) did not provide any of the questions to Mrs. Read or Mr. Chapman at any time. What other candidates saw was the hard work of two very dedicated individuals.”

I counted three including Johnson herself, but let’s not split hairs.

To Johnson’s credit, she seems to recognize that a lack of information can often result in misunderstandings. Her e-mail was neither threatening nor contentious, but simply provided clear, factual information. She also took the high road in requesting, rather than demanding, that I provide correct information. I have now done so, and I thank her for her input.

What Johnson did not mention anywhere in her letter is the fact that she is herself a member of the PTA. I know this because PTA members were asked to stand and be recognized at the conclusion of the forum, and all of the ladies in her row did so. Some research of my own indicates that she was once Public Relations Chairperson of the Bascomb Elementary School PTA, and was an Action Committee Head at the Chapman Intermediate School PTA.

She would have done well to at least acknowledge the perception of impropriety that might arise when a PTA member coaches select candidates in a PTA-sponsored forum. I am prepared to believe that Johnson recused herself from any involvement in the planning or execution of the forum itself in her capacity as a PTA member. However, she did not so state in her e-mail, and I have already been taken to task at least once this evening for making assumptions.

[UPDATE: In a follow-up e-mail, Johnson clarifies (underscores again rendered as italics):

"...let me make it clear to you now that I was not involved in planning the forum in any way. "

She goes on to demur from further comment:

"I hope that this clarifies everything. As I stated in my previous e-mail, I am not going to comment any further on this matter in order to allow the candidates to focus on the more important issues of the campaign but I did want to take the time to thank you for your graciousness and consideration in making this correction."

I'm happy to have the candidates focused on the more important issues of the campaign. I have no idea what others consider important when electing leaders, but I consider integrity a very important issue indeed.]

Note: Please read the following article for explanation and refutation of some of this article’s content, and for additional information that was not available at the time of this writing.

It came to my attention this morning that there was more to Tuesday night’s candidate forum at Woodstock High School than met the eye. It would seem certain that, however it happened, the incumbents (Chapman and Read) enjoyed an unfair advantage over the other candidates.

I have personally spoken with two of the candidates who were part of the forum. Each of them was in a fairly good position to see what was happening. It would seem that the two incumbent candidates were in possession of identical sets of index cards. On those cards were either the actual questions that would be asked at the forum or a good representation thereof. (One man said he read the question from Chapman’s card as it was being asked, word for word, by the moderator. The other said that he didn’t get as clear a view, but that the cards seemed to have been prepared by Superintendent Petruzielo’s staff.)

I expect a certain amount of misconduct during election campaigns, but this seems particularly heinous. I hesitated to write about these allegations until I’d given the organizers (the Georgia PTA) an opportunity to respond. The president of District 13 of the PTA, Denise Nani, has at the time of this writing not been reachable via telephone or e-mail. I can’t wait forever, and the candidates are giving me information now.

If nothing else, this should again be a vivid reminder of the fact that allowing Chapman and Read to continue in their seats on the school board would be nothing short of disaster for this school system. Regardless of who provided it, use of this sort of “inside information” speaks strongly of their lack of integrity and their disregard of fairness. Do we need four more years of that?

If you live in Cherokee County, I urge you to do your own research. When you do, I believe you’ll find that Kim Cochran, Robert Strozier, and Danny Dukes are the right choice for our school board. Please vote on July 15.

I am the least political person (more than 14 years of age) that I know or have ever known.  When a situation becomes so mind-bogglingly ridiculous as to motivate me to being politically conscious, it’s a true red letter day in my life.  Such is the situation with the Cherokee County School Board.

In the course of taking steps to deal with the situation with Keith Ball at Woodstock Middle School, it has become clear that there are equally serious problems elsewhere in the system.  To wit, the School Board members, collectively and individually, have shown a troubling lack of concern for the workings of the system they govern.

Last Monday, we attended a forum intended to allow residents of Cherokee County to meet the candidates for various offices prior to the election on July 15.  Sponsored by the Cherokee County Republican Women, the forum was not well organized and seemed a bit impromptu. For example, questions were collected from the attendees and were to be directed to a single candidate, but were then posed to all seven candidates.  Despite promises that all questions would be heard, most were discarded, including ours.

The candidates were game and entertaining, and I gathered some interesting first impressions.  Three seats on the board are up for re-election, and there are seven candidates for those seats.  Here are my opinions and impressions, summarized from notes I took that night.

Post 7:

Kim Cochran speaks well and seems comfortable discussing the role of a school board member.  She is a homemaker, mother, and former educator, the only trained and experienced teacher running in this election.   In fact, if elected, she will be the first teacher to serve.  She seems to take a common-sense approach to the questions.  She knows schools and education law well and has served on several school advisory boards.  She champions fiscally conservative policies and would keep control of the schools, to the extent possible, at the local level.

Wes Frye apparently phoned in his answers.  He was physically present, but had all the charisma of a profit-loss statement.  His answers generally followed the answers of others, and he had little to say that was original or interesting.  He’s been in the energy business and is a paralegal, a title examiner, an appraiser, and a real estate professional and has an associate degree in database management.  Despite 5 terms as PTA president and 5 terms as PTA vice-president, I can’t imagine this man being effective on the board.

Post 4:

Janet Read, the incumbent, came across as an infuriatingly smug, condescending woman who seems far better at talking than listening.  She presently works, from time to time, as a substitute teacher in the very school system she’s charged with governing.  My favorite quote of the evening from Read was in response to a question about personnel problems in the schools.  “It does no good to talk to me,” she admitted.  Truer words were never spoken.  She and Chapman, both incumbents,  seem to stick together and look out for each other.

David Farrow seems like a sensible fellow, but he doesn’t speak well.  He’s fascinated with numbers like dropout rates and graduation rates. He doesn’t seem to care where the numbers came from; he’s just intent on fixing them.  This is noble in itself, but unfortunately he’s neither convincing nor assertive in his statements.  Like Frye, he doesn’t present himself as leadership material.  In order to overcome those who would leave the broken system be, we need strong-willed people who don’t mind getting a little aggressive when necessary, and I don’t see Farrow having those qualities, as much as I may admire his accomplishments and his integrity.

Robert Strozier strikes me as a cross between Ross Perot and a pit bull.  He cuts right through the crap.  Like Perot, he came prepared with charts and graphs to dismiss the ridiculous idea put forth by the incumbents that our graduation rates aren’t bad.  The fact is that they’re terrible, and his data show this unequivocally.  Strozier speaks his mind with a refreshing frankness and isn’t afraid to deliver a few swift kicks to the status quo.  Strozier also plans to donate his school board salary back to the system, something no other candidate has mentioned.  His many stated goals include rewarding good teachers and making overtime a paid activity, not volunteer work as it is now in many cases.

Post 2:

Mike Chapman comes across as an arrogant, condescending, contentious, overly comfortable incumbent who seems to take his seat on the school board for granted.  To him, the questions were opportunities to crow about the school board’s past achievements as if they were his own.  He champions impartiality at the school board level, something I find completely ridiculous when a school system has personnel in place who are damaging it and the superintendent and his staff are not acting.   Chapman’s opponent was surprised to see him here, since he’d skipped the previous forum held at Cagle’s Dairy in June.  Chapman’s wife works as a teacher in this school system, and that’s a definite conflict of interest.  Chapman would either need to vote on his own wife’s salary or abstain from such a vote.  Neither would impress me.

Danny Dukes is a bit of a scrapper and took some shots at Chapman, mostly about Chapman’s attendance record at meetings and non-meeting school board functions.  Dukes has a lot of opinions about how we should fix the broken parts of this school system, and they make sense.  Rather than simply go along, as the incumbents have, with the “this is how we’ve always done it” conservative rhetoric, Dukes chooses to take aim at bad programs like “Math 1-2-3″ which Georgia is forcing down the throats of local schools.  He’d like to see change, and I think he’s ready to bring some about.

Last night we attended another forum.  This one was solely for School Board candidates and was held at Woodstock High School, the school which shares a campus with Keith Ball’s current fiefdom, Woodstock Middle School.  This forum was also far more organized and was sponsored by the local PTA.

There weren’t many memorable quotes, other than the embarrassing moment when Farrow couldn’t remember whether the correct grammar was “…we must have done well” or “…we must have done good.”   Chapman did refer to matters that are outside the “purveyance” of the School Board, which made me chuckle.  By the definition of that word, the Board must think of themselves as royalty.

Dukes again came out with his … er … dukes up, landing a couple of blows on Chapman that seemed ineffective against his force-field of self-importance.  Nonetheless, his ideas and reasoning were sound and he offered well thought-out, meaningful answers.  Cochran again stood out as the calm, intelligent voice of reason.  Strozier spoke plainly and offered clear data and definite goals.  One of his goals was to “return non-value-added administrators to the classroom where they belong.”  Direct hit.

Frye again phoned it in.  Farrow bristled at what I thought was a rather sensible question about some land donated to the school system and responded angrily, which didn’t help his credibility.  Read remained smug and reversed herself on an earlier statement about her involvement in school system operation.

One interesting question involved substitute teachers.  The Board recently changed the rules to require at least a 2-year college degree for substitute teachers.  That resulted in a shortage of subs when they’re needed.  Candidates were asked how they would solve that problem.

Chapman opined that we should simply raise the pay we offer substitutes.  Brilliant.  Let’s throw money at the problem.

Read failed to address the question and instead spent her time explaining the original decision, as if she felt it needed to be justified.

Farrow rambled for a while.  So did Frye.  Neither had a definite answer, although both echoed previous answers.

Dukes suggested allowing people to work as substitute teachers while in the course of pursuing a two-year degree.  That idea made sense to me.  At least it was a fresh approach.

Strozier had the best idea of all, though.  He suggested implementing a competency test for substitute teachers, so that a definite benchmark (rather than an education requirement) would determine qualification for the position.  Nobody else thought of anything quite so sensible.

The evening was marred somewhat by a group of ladies who sat directly behind me, in the third row.  I’m not sure where they thought they were, but they seemed to feel that they were exempt from the rules of order as well as from common politeness.  They insisted on talking throughout the program.  They were so loud that at times, I found it difficult to lock in on some of the softer-spoken candidates.  As PTA members, perhaps they felt privileged.

(UPDATE 7/10: Who was the loudest of the ladies, who actually heckled one of David Farrow’s answers? I’m told it was none other than Janet Read’s campaign manager.)

In short, the statements, questions, and answers last night also served only to further reinforce the opinions I’d already formed.  The field consists of two arrogant, condescending incumbents (Mike Chapman, Janet Read), two unelectable hopefuls (Wes Frye and David Farrow) and three candidates who need to win their respective seats (Danny Dukes, Kim Cochran, Robert Strozier).

More as it happens.

Disclosure: This article was edited the day after I posted it.  I found my own writing to be somewhat substandard and took the liberty of fixing it. 

I’ve been distracted by other issues recently, and I realized today that I’d failed to post an update on the Adam Race story recently.  I apologize for this.  I’m much better at dealing with one miscreant at a time, so the recent surfeit of jackasses has disoriented me somewhat.  There has been news in the case, although it’s not encouraging news at all.

On June 24, Carol Race appeared in a court hearing to defend herself and challenge the restraining order filed by Daniel “Not In MY Church” Walz.  Race represented herself at the hearing, and even had the opportunity to cross-examine Walz on the stand for about am hour, during which time he admitted that many of the accusations in the restraining order were based on hearsay, but that he “believes” that they happened.  Well, at least he believes in something.

The presiding judge one Sally Ireland Robertson, concluded the hearing by saying she would take the matter under advisement and would “rule later.”  This in itself was somewhat disappointing.  The next time my job forces me to make a quick decision, I’d like that “rule later” option for myself.

The following week, Robertson announced her ruling, which surprised no one.  She upheld the restraining order as proper, which actually makes sense to me.  After all, the question was never whether or not Walz had a right to do such a heartless, stupid thing, but instead whether he should have done it.  Using what seem to be very clear-cut guidelines, the judge ruled that Adam’s alleged behavior constituted “harassment.”

Walz’ actions are inexplicable, at least without doing some research involving the DSM.  Faced with objections, outrage, and ridicule from every corner of the globe, he is nonetheless stubbornly maintaining his unpopular position and has not rescinded the restraining order as any intelligent, compassionate man would have done by now.  This is why I do not use his church title when I write of him today.  Actually, something that begins with “Mother” might be more appropriate, but I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

The Race family has started a new web site known as “Project: Adam’s Pew.”  The site is pretty rough at the moment but it’s a good start, and I encourage you to stop by for a look.  Race is encouraging churches around the world to designate a pew specifically reserved for people with autism and other developmental disorders.

Oh, and a special note for our good friend, frequent commenter “Ben” from Minnesota.  Ben, your opinions are welcome here in the comments.  So are everyone else’s.  If you don’t like what someone has said, you are more than welcome to disagree with it and say so.  What I cannot tolerate are your assertions that unless someone is a member of Walz’ flock, his or her opinion carries less weight.  That constitutes an ad hominem attack, and is simply a lazy way of avoiding the hard work of supporting your argument.

As a part of my effort to see that the problem at Woodstock Middle School is properly addressed, the following letter was sent to all seven members of the Cherokee County Board of Education.  When I remembered that there are three contested seats on the school board this year and that there’s an election in mid-July, I sent it to all of the candidates for those three seats as well.

Honorable school board members:

I am a citizen of Cherokee County, and I write to bring to your attention a serious situation.  Cherokee County’s school system has an excellent track record and has historically employed some of the finest teachers and administrators in the state.  This reflects positively upon your strong leadership, and when something threatens that reputation, I know you will want to be aware of it.

Last year, the principal of Woodstock Middle School, one Richard Landolt, was replaced.  I was extremely happy and relieved when I heard of this action, because Landolt had put into place some policies which were at least unethical, and at most illegal.  One of these was a 65% “minimum grade” policy, where teachers were required to falsify a nine week grade if it fell below a 65% threshold.  This also required falsification of IEP documents.  Landolt still works within the school system, but I understand he has not re-implemented the illegal policies at his new school.

I had hoped that Landolt’s replacement, Keith L. Ball, would represent a return to sanity and would bring quality leadership to Woodstock.  Sadly, this has not been the case, and there is some fairly serious trouble brewing at the school this spring.

In my opinion, Ball shows clear signs of inexperience and overconfidence.  A quick look at personnel records will show you that teacher attrition (retirements, resignations, and transfers) were extremely high during and after Ball’s first year of leadership.  This is not a coincidence.  Good teachers are jumping ship.  Ball seems intent on aggressively establishing himself as an authority figure, but does not seem to understand even the most basic tenets of management.  He stifles and ignores experienced teachers from whom he could learn a great deal.  He does not listen to his people, even when they warn him that serious trouble might be ahead.

Ball’s priorities are inexplicable.  He says that there’s no money in the budget for such things as classroom bulletin boards, even when they’re required under his own policies.  He then sends out a flyer to parents and to the community in general, asking for donations not for vital classroom equipment like this, but for repair of tired landscaping, purchase of front office rugs, replacement of window blinds, and the like.

Ball seems to have little or no knowledge regarding special education and the handling of special needs students, and apparently does not care to learn.  He was warned by someone expert in this area that his inaction in one particular case could easily lead to a lawsuit.  The case involved a child with a diagnosed and documented developmental disorder.  He ignored the warning, and now a parent is on the verge of suing.

Perhaps more frightening than the mistakes is Ball’s tendency to duck and cover rather than simply fix a problem.  When the open records request was filed, Ball ordered his employees to destroy e-mails which were required to be delivered.  He then announced his own formal inquiry (into a situation he essentially caused) and threatened employees with disciplinary action.  He so upset these people that one showed up at the inquiry represented by counsel.

Confidentiality prohibits me from knowing the names of the student and parent involved in the above action, nor any more detail than I have already revealed.  I believe that the board would be in a better position to investigate such sensitive matters, and I hope I’ve given you sufficient information to begin such an inquiry should you choose to.

I am aware of this situation because my fiancee’ is one of the teachers who decided to leave Woodstock Middle School this year rather than work under Ball another year.  I am also the author of a personal blog which came under attack, indirectly, by Ball earlier this year.  Unable or unwilling to speak with me directly about some writing he objected to, he instead harassed my fiancee’ and threatened her with disciplinary action if she did not convince me to censor myself.  She has no connection to the blog at all.  This deplorable action clearly shows that Ball has difficulty respecting boundaries.

In short, honorable board members, the principal who will presumably be leading Woodstock Middle School’s staff next year is in my opinion dangerously unqualified for his position.  I would strongly suggest that the board take a close look at Ball’s performance and qualifications before allowing him to cause further damage to the county’s sterling reputation for educational excellence.

Scott Johnson

The pilot-operated relief valve (RC RV 2) at Three Mile Island was supposed to open at 2255 PSI. It did. It was supposed to close at 2205 PSI. It didn’t.

I don’t know how to quantify at what point my personal relief valve let go, but it is open now. It may close again. It may not. I do not attempt to hide here the fact that I am very angry.

This piece is written as an open letter to Keith Ball, principal of Woodstock Middle School. He will probably hear of it by way of a third party, and as you will read below, I consider that fitting as a response in kind.

Keith,

Let me be the first to congratulate you. You’ve managed to lose the finest teacher you have ever had the privilege of failing to appreciate.  She has accepted a new position with a school system that will consider her an asset and allow her to apply her knowledge and her talents to the fullest, rather than suppressing her as you have.

I’m confident that you won’t see this as a loss. Your delusions of grandeur will turn this into a victory in your mind. The rest of us know better. As of yesterday, though, my fiancee’ has been released from her contract at her own request, and I rejoice in this.

I gave you the benefit of the doubt when you entered my fiancee’s work environment last year. You were young for the job and inexperienced. There were also rumors of a less than stellar past at a school system in an adjoining county. These things seemed minor at the time, probably because I was so happy to see your predecessor, Richard Landolt, leave. His departure relieved me of the responsibility of calling for an investigation into his grading policies.

Now I’m sure I was mistaken to have put any confidence in you. The doubts began to creep in when you proved yourself incapable of writing something as simple as a principal’s message for your school’s web site without committing (and failing to correct) one or more errors in grammar and usage.

Confidentiality prohibits me from knowing more than the very surface layer of what’s been going on at WMS of late, but I’m quite astute and it’s not at all hard to guess. I will refrain from discussing my theories — for now. The emotional and physical impact that recent events have had on my fiancee’ tells me a more factual and somewhat unsurprising story. In short, it tells me that you’re a coward without a shred of conscience, honesty, or integrity.

Of course, we knew this, didn’t we? A few months ago, there were two blog entries posted here which referenced you directly. I didn’t expect you to like them very much because (aside from some sarcasm concerning yacht maintenance) they were true; no incompetent likes to have his blunders displayed for others to see. Your reaction, though, really raised the bar and set new standards for unethical behavior.

A man of integrity, a man of honor, a man of principle, or for that matter, a man would have contacted me directly to discuss the nature of those posts. If he wanted them taken down, he would have made his case reasonably and logically. After all, there is no question as to the author of anything here. I write this blog, and I am solely responsible for its content.

You took the path of a true poltroon. I received not a single e-mail from you, nor did I get a single phone call. There was not even so much as a voicemail message or a comment on the blog. Instead, you called my fiancee’ into your office. As we both know, she has no responsibility at all for the material. You reprimanded her verbally, caused her to feel her career was being threatened, then encouraged her to pressure me into taking those posts down. Even after she told you in no uncertain terms to take your complaints to the source, you couldn’t find the courage. Instead, you continued to make her life difficult until she finally did ask me to take them down.

I complied, not because I have anything but contempt for you but because I was not going to give you further reasons to harass her. In doing so I compromised my own principles against allowing outside influences to dictate what I write or post here. This was the lesser of two evils and the less selfish of the two alternatives. The posts were never completely gone, of course. They were made private, and access to them was given to a very exclusive group — anyone who asked. A surprising number did ask.

Recently, it has come to my attention that there are copies of those very blog entries in my fiancee’s personnel file. That’s actually kind of nice to hear, because I thought you’d wanted those entries to go away. If you’re preserving them in her personnel file, though, it seems unfair that you and your colleagues and superiors can read them, but that no one else can. You must think they’re worth saving! In light of this, those blog entries have been made public again. I’m even adding updates to reveal a few details that weren’t in the original posts. Those entries are “A Bulletin of Importance” and “A Further Bulletin.”

Oh, by the way, you might also wish to observe the notice on my sidebar which specifically denies you and your colleagues, superiors, and subordinates the right to maintain copies of my work. I would advise destroying your copies before I take the next step, but that’s your call.

Your actions toward my fiancee’ in recent days yet again prove to me that you, sir, are not qualified for the job you now hold. In fact, I don’t think you’re competent to manage a laundromat, let alone something as vital as a school. Your actions remind me of the Wizard of Oz, hiding behind an image of authority and desperately saying, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” You’ve made the same mistake as the Wizard, believing that authority can be assumed. It can’t. It must be earned.

It’s time for the curtain to be pulled back. Call me Toto. As a citizen of Cherokee County, it is not only my right but my responsibility to bring this issue to light.

I freely admit that I am not an experienced investigative reporter, but I have several qualities that recommend me for such a task. I’m an engineer; it’s in my nature to look at a system, find the faulty part, determine exactly why and how it failed, and write complete and detailed reports that will ensure the prevention of such faults in the future. I’m also extremely resourceful and knowledgeable, and when I see a wrong that needs to be righted, particularly when it involves someone I love, I am absolutely relentless.

Have a great summer.

There have been some interesting updates of late in the case of Adam Race, the autistic boy who was banned from the Bertha, Minnesota “Church of St. Joseph” by its pastor, Fr. Daniel Walz.

Adam’s mother, Carol, has been taking her family to another church for the past couple of weeks, but she hasn’t given up on Adam or on her desire to attend her local church. As reported by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Mrs. Race now has commitments from several parents with autistic children who are willing to drive up to several hours to bring their children to the church. Such a show of symbolic support is wonderful to see, and would that I could be there (along with my fiancee and her son, of course) to see Walz’ face on that Sunday morning.

Also, an earlier article in the same newspaper points out an interesting, ironic fact.

“In 2005, the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Cloud presented Carol Race, Adam’s mother, with an award, recognizing her efforts to encourage families with disabled children to attend mass, she said. The award cited her “untiring efforts … to educate and advocate for others who have children with disruptive disabilities such as autism and seek to participate as a total family at Sunday mass.”

It’s interesting to note the sudden shift in the winds here. First she’s a hero for bringing her entire family, autistic boy included, to mass every Sunday. Now, two years later, her son is a pariah for the same reason. It’s also sad to note that the Diocese can’t even mention autism in an award without calling it a “disruptive disability.”

My earlier blog on this subject was definitely polarizing among those who commented. Most people seemed to come down on the side of the family, but there were a surprising number of apologists for what Daniel Walz has done.  One, a fellow named Ben from Minnesota who says he attends Walz’ church, even called me and other commenters hypocrites.  (Well, he said we were disrespecting Hippocrates, but I translated.)  Ben apparently fears for my soul because I’m “messing with one of God’s employees.”  If that’s the case, so be it.  God’s personnel department needs work.  I’m mainly glad to see that the issue is attracting attention.  Attention is what autism has not been getting, and the most dangerous thing to a person with autism is ignorance.

One commenter objected to all the bad things that are being said (presumably by me, since my first post was fairly acidic) about Daniel Walz.  I’m sorry if the things I’ve said offend, but what the man has done is inexcusable, and he’s making no move to correct that mistake.  This adversely affects my view of him as a priest, a man, and a human.  When I become that disdainful toward someone, I generally do not hold back; whatever else this blog may be, at its heart it is a vent.

There are a lot of things I will probably never understand about Minnesota. Lutefisk would be one example. I’ve spent only about three days in the state of Minnesota in my whole life. Aside from the 3M plant that seemed to cover about half of the city of St. Paul, the thing I remember most is the stereotypical hospitality and courtesy afforded me by the people there, something that’s come to be known as “Minnesota nice.”

What I’m hearing in the news this morning is not so nice. It involves an autistic child, the Church of St. Joseph in Bertha, Minnesota, and its pastor, Reverend Daniel Walz. I will be dropping the title “Reverend” in the remainder of this piece because it is a title of courtesy, and I intend none. If I had been able to find a photograph of this worthless human being, you’d be looking at it now. If anyone has one, please send it along and I’ll post it; for various reasons, people should know what someone this ignorant and heartless looks like.

Carol and John Race have a son named Adam. That’s him in the photo. Adam is thirteen years old and severely autistic. The Races are dedicated to their son’s well-being, as all parents are, and they understand his disability. They’ve been attending the Church of St. Joseph since 1996, and have always taken care to ensure that their son’s sometimes-disruptive behavior is controlled and its impact on the other parishioners is minimized. They say they’d never had a complaint about Adam until last summer.

Daniel Walz, who has led the church for the past three years, visited the Races last summer at their home, along with another church official.

“He said that we did not discipline our son. He said that our son was physically out of control and a danger to everyone at church,” says Carol Race. “I can’t discipline him out of his autism, and I think that’s what our priest is expecting.”

Some months later, Walz followed up with a letter explicitly asking the Races to stop bringing their son to church. I don’t remember every word of the Bible, but I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in there like this:

“If thy autistic parishioner’s meltdown doth offend thee, and if his mother and his father cannot cure him, thou shalt drive him from thy church, verily, for blessed are the meek but not the autistic, and they shall inherit thy boot to thine ass.”

Daniel Walz seems to have worked that out for himself, though, without need of divine counsel. The Races, of course, dismissed the letter as having been written by a prejudicial moron (which is correct) and continued to bring their son to church. So, two weeks ago, Walz decided to up the ante and smote the Rices with a restraining order. When Adam accompanied his mother to church on Mother’s Day, the result was a citation, and a warning that if she brings Adam to the church again, she will be arrested.

If anything brings to light the problems caused by a complete lack of autism awareness in this country and probably worldwide, this is it. Autism is not a problem that you can fix through discipline. Autism is not misbehavior, it’s not recalcitrance and it’s not something to be locked away and hidden from everyone so that they’ll never understand it. Churches would never dream of turning away a man in a wheelchair or a woman who needs to be on oxygen, but a child with autism (and who reportedly is somewhat quieter in church than most of the babies in the room) is somehow a pariah and it’s okay to simply cast him out. Last time I checked, Christians didn’t deny people worship on the basis of their disabilities. It seems that no one told Daniel Walz.

The only good news here is that I’m fairly certain we’ll see a turnaround in this case soon. Daniel Walz might be stupid enough to turn an autistic child away from his church. The Catholic Church as a whole, on the other hand has just had a hard lesson in the dangers of bad press. Thanks to their coverup of the few priests who liked to play with young boys’ “rosary beads,” the church already has a black eye and has provided material for late-night comedians’ monologues for a year or more. I can’t believe they’d make the same mistake twice, and I might even expect something of a backlash. If Daniel Walz is left swinging in the wind by his superiors and winds up a disgraced layman, justice will be done.

I haven’t had time to talk about this with Allison, my fiancee’ and one of the area’s foremost authorities on the education of autistic children. I feel certain she’ll have input, and if you see a comment below from her, please give anything she might add a great deal more weight than anything you’ve read in this post.

Despite the few things I’ve managed to learn from her through osmosis, I still know nearly nothing about autism. I do know what makes me angry, and I would absolutely love to give Daniel Walz an opportunity to turn the other cheek.

UPDATE: May 22

After searching high and low for a photo of Walz, I found one that looked likely, but because I wasn’t 100% certain it’s the same man, I hadn’t referred to it. I received that confirmation this morning. The photo is on a commercial site and I don’t have permission to use it, so I’ll just direct you there: JeriCo Christian Journeys

Joyce McKibben, Mayor
City of Lithonia, GA

Dear Ms. McKibben:

Let me offer my congratulations. By overstepping your authority under the city’s charter and summarily firing your police chief, you forced your city council to rehire him on the spot. Your actions disrupted a public council meeting and left you looking like a petulant child.

By changing passwords on city computers, you then proceeded to disrupt city business and the payroll of city employees. You wasted the time of a state court by forcing them to issue a ruling on your authority under the city’s charter, which, predictably, was a ruling against you and in favor of the council.

You took your case to the media, too, whining and complaining until you successfully made your city a laughingstock and seriously impacted the success of local businesses.

It’s clear at this point that you’ve lost the respect of your citizens and just about everyone else who has heard of you, now that you’ve put your personal interests before those of your office and your city. Wouldn’t this be a great time for you to step down and just go away, before you do any more damage? Frankly, I’m tired of hearing about your childish rants in every newscast. If you have any regard for your city and its image, or even your own image, resignation is your sole remaining honorable option. Everyone thinks you unworthy of the office at this point; any other action will simply remove all doubt.

I’m posting this as an open letter because your mailbox at JoyceMcKibben@cityoflithonia.com is full, and I can imagine why.

Sincerely,

Scott Johnson