tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32020566749664118342024-03-05T02:08:35.105-06:00Tisdel's Tirades"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.comBlogger365125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-11756782741227882402017-02-01T13:37:00.002-06:002017-02-01T13:37:37.988-06:00Scenes from New Orleans' Protest March (1/21/2017)On January 21st, I marched with what must've been over 10,000 protesters in New Orleans to show our opposition to Donald Trump and demonstrate what we stood for. By good luck, I happened to show up with my camera right at the start of the parade route, and was there to see the entire parade as it went by. Below is a selection of the best signs, sights seen, and people from our version of the resistance.<br />
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<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" data-id="a/7IFbn" lang="en">
<a href="https://imgur.com/7IFbn">New Orleans Women's March 1/21/2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js"></script>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-88747806741444490132016-09-06T22:35:00.000-05:002016-09-06T22:35:42.872-05:00My Old, Long Love Affair with Michael CrichtonWhen I was in middle school and high school, Michael Crichton was among my favorite writers. The first taste I ever had was <i>The Andromeda Strain</i>, which appeared in a pile of presents one Christmas. That book was rather bloodless, a science-filled drama that was both sweeping and grim; at times it has more in common with a murder mystery than science fiction. But it appealed to me. The small desert town where everyone has died in bizarre ways? The secret military protocols that swing into action? The crack team of scientists assembled to root out the culprit? The added patina of SPACE? Sign me up, please. I devoured it down to the climax and went looking for the next.<br />
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Nowadays, when I find something I like--a book, a movie, a song or album--I tend to fix on the piece of art rather than the artist who created it. I don't go on months-long binges of every Metallica album or every <i>Wheel of Time</i> book the way I used to. But back when I found Crichton, that was still how I did it, and so I read everything he had to offer. <i>Jurassic Park</i>. <i>The Lost World</i>. <i>Prey, Timeline, Rising Sun, Airframe, Eaters of the Dead, State of Fear, The Terminal Man, Congo, Disclosure</i>. All grim thrillers, most rooted in science, some in the corporate world.<br />
<br />
And <i>Sphere, </i>which I just picked up a few days ago for the first time in years and which prompted me to write this post. It's a classic Crichton premise. A psychologist is picked up without warning from his comfortable researcher's life and flown out to a desolate spot in the middle of the Pacific, there to investigate a crashed spacecraft (in total secret) that's been there for hundreds of years. It's long been one of my favorite novels of his, because of its setting; the crushing dark and mystery of the deep ocean is something I've devoured in movies like <i>The Abyss</i>, books such as <i>Deep Wizardry</i>, or innumerable photos and videos of giant squid and sperm whales. I picked up <i>Sphere</i> hoping, and expecting, to get this feeling again.<br />
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I made it about forty pages in and stopped. The writing just wasn't very good.<br />
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Every Crichton novel is, in a sense, the same. There is a male protagonist. Usually he is a scientist, or if not, he's part of the corporate world. At the beginning, a powerful entity--the government, an aircraft company, a scientific foundation--summons him from his ordinary life to become part of an elite team. Often, humanity has overreached and begun to monkey with powerful forces beyond its control; these can be genetics and biology (<i>Jurassic Park, The Lost World</i>), nanotechnology (<i>Prey</i>), or time travel (<i>Timeline</i>). These forces inevitably get out of hand and kill people before being subdued, but only barely. At other times, the protagonist is pitted against a vast conspiracy and must struggle to uncover the truth behind the lies or clear his own name, as in <i>Airframe</i> (the airline industry) <i>Rising Sun </i>(Japan), <i>Disclosure </i>(false rape accusations), or <i>State of Fear</i> (climate change conspiracies).<br />
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For a liberal like myself, it's kind of shocking to look back and realize how conservative Crichton was (he's dead). On the philosophical level, he's clearly warning about the dangers of technology and mucking about with forces beyond our control. On a more political level, when confronted with climate change--a subject that would seem to be tailor-made for him, humans mucking with nature to devastating effect, a real-life crisis that was really happening--he wrote an entire book denying it. And not just any book; <i>State of Fear</i> contains dozens of graphs of average temperature, average rainfall, the urban heat island effect, all designed to show that global warming is a scam made up by liberal scientists who just want more research money (it has a 20-page bibliography!!)*. This is helpfully explained by the older, wiser character who instructs our good-hearted but naively mistaken protagonist (another Crichton trademark, deployed in <i>Rising Sun</i>). For me at 14, it was immensely convincing. I remember having a massive fight with my father over it, who kept saying "We have to believe our scientists!" "Yes," I replied, "but just look at this! Some scientists apparently say something different!"<br />
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Eventually, I was exposed to a broader and, um, <a href="http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=74">less biased</a> version of climate science. But there are other conservative motifs in Crichton's work. The villains in <i>Airframe</i> feature organized labor. <i>Disclosure</i> is all about a woman attempting to seduce an innocent man, failing, and then falsely accusing him of rape; throughout the book, Crichton laments how women have the power to destroy a man's career in this way. <i>Rising Sun</i> was shockingly xenophobic even at the time, presenting the Japanese people as unknowably different from white Americans for reasons we could never understand. Even <i>Prey</i>, for years my favorite Crichton novel, has an early digression into divorces and parental rights that contains the line "Every father knew that the court system was hopelessly biased against men".<br />
<br />
That line, that digression, is also classic Crichton. Throughout the book, throughout <i>all</i> his books, the protagonists frequently stop what they're doing and deliver an extended internal monologue on their backstory, or the science behind what they're doing, or the state of the world. It took a lot of other reading for me to realize how unusual this was, even among thriller writers. You don't really see Tom Clancy stopping what he's doing for a page and a half to write about the state of US-Russian relations or the history of the Stinger missile.** His writing tends to be focused on his characters and their experiences. But Crichton just steps away sometimes and lets <i>his own voice</i> take over. I think he gets bolder about injecting his own thoughts as his career goes on and the sales get higher; in <i>Sphere </i>(1987), the protagonist spends much of the first 40 pages monologuing or flashbacking about the history that got him on a military vessel in the middle of the ocean, but by <i>State of Fear </i>(2004), we completely stop the action for three whole pages while a character we've never met before and will never see again delivers an impassioned monologue on how the media scares people so that they'll do what the media wants.<br />
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In other words, there's a lot going on in a typical Crichton book that has nothing to do with the elements of a typical someone-else book. The plot is, if not set, then certainly standardized. Crichton's own beliefs make frequent appearances, often overrunning the plot for pages at a time. So what else is going on? What about character development? Description? Flow? Other elements of good writing?<br />
<br />
It gets a lot better than <i>Sphere</i>. But in those first forty pages, there isn't much there. The protagonist comes across as shallow, whiny, and unmemorable. The dialogue is mostly expository, and often sounds like words that wouldn't ever actually come out of someone's mouth. The descriptions are stilted and overly scientific. The whole thing feels like a house with no paint or furnishings, just bare plywood beams. If you're not dazzled by the premise, if you're not there to hear Crichton's worldview as much as you're there for a good story well told... how much of a book is there for you to read?<br />
<br />
It gets a lot better than <i>Sphere</i>. I remember <i>Jurassic Park</i> and <i>The Lost World </i>as brilliant, the peak of Crichton's art, perfect fusions of science and horror (and we haven't even talked about how good he is at horror!) and characterization, balanced between interesting digressions into paleontology or genetics or computers and literally visceral descriptions of raptors ripping people open. <i>Timeline</i> is a rush, perhaps my favorite historical fiction novel, a world of threats and bright colors where a man with a knife is as terrifying and heart-pumping as a T-Rex. And <i>Prey</i>, for all its faults***, is ripping and ruthless, a twisted-science body horror survival story in the best tradition of <i>The Thing. </i><br />
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Crichton just doesn't do it for me anymore. What he writes about, what he sells--his views, his style, his plots--are no longer what I'm looking for in a novel. That's not to say that his books are bad, as if I had some kind of ruler to measure them by; they're thrillers, not bildungsromans, and they usually deliver what they promise. It's just interesting and a little sad to think about books like <i>Timeline</i> that used to be among my very favorites, and to think <i>Maybe I'd better not pick that up again. Maybe it's best to let that memory sit golden and undisturbed</i>.<br />
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*Spoiler: the villains of the book are radical environmental terrorists who want to actually <i>cause </i>disasters that could be attributed to global warming, in order to galvanize the world into acting on the problem (which, for Crichton, doesn't really exist).<br />
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**I had a big Clancy phase, too; I started with <i>The Hunt For Red October </i>and read all the way to <i>The Bear and the Dragon</i>, which is about 100 novels (or so it seemed like). The thing that got me to stop was rather similar to why I quit Crichton; there's a monologue about 2/5 of the way into <i>Dragon</i> where a main character starts railing out of nowhere against "bloodsucking liberals" who slurp up people's hard-earned money. "Well," said I to myself, "that's enough of that".<br />
<br />
***Part of the conflict between the protagonist and his wife stems from the fact that she's working and he isn't, that that represents a threat to his masculinity, not just in his eyes but in hers; that she's more likely to have an affair with another man (which she does) and lose herself in work (she does) if her husband isn't a strong manly center of the house (he is, but she doesn't know it).Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-16961184570462887042016-07-13T09:16:00.000-05:002016-07-13T09:25:12.265-05:00Protesting in Baton Rouge with Black Lives Matter<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEfMhpRCN3SWXWF4x1zKpT-Giguqrwi-iCNa7ppppkkYjCgtpnvecvk2qXKQ1ipRNBHb4D6276TQpVA_SX7RTNVeLY3amN-2o3-DBhlOVgzAGu-rN2FiTufAUhOggHT3MLYWxAaoePiA/s400/DSC_0183.JPG" style="display:none;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Most of the
time, on this blog, I write my own opinions about other people’s stories. Today
I have a story of my own to share. It is very long, but it is leavened with
pictures. All experiences, stories, and impressions herein are my own; I do not
claim to speak for anyone I haven’t actually quoted, including other members of
the protests. All pictures in this post were taken by me, and are licensed for reuse with attribution under a Creative Commons license, as long as you contact me first. <o:p></o:p></i></span><b style="line-height: 17.12px;"></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">The Triple-S Mart</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On Sunday,
July 10<sup>th</sup>, my girlfriend (Rebecca) and I drove to Baton Rouge to
take part in the protests over Alton Sterling’s death at the hands of police.
We first went to the Triple-S Mart where Sterling died, and found maybe seventy
people camped out around it, holding signs and sitting against fences and under
portable canopies. Nearly all were black. One woman offered us water and soda;
she was behind a table with markers and sheets of paper for signs. A little boy
behind the table wore a Star Wars shirt with John Boyega’s character on it,
Finn, the first black lead of the series. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I saw one cop
there and one cameraman. "Cops don't come down here," said a man when I asked if there had been more. "The last two that were down here were on the night [Sterling] died." Rebecca said it seemed more like a wake, a vigil, than
an active protest. We, white out-of-towners with backpacks on our backs, felt
and looked like lost children. We asked a woman named Joanne if there was a
march or anything else in the city where we could be more useful, and she said
yes, that a march had begun at 5 PM at police headquarters. She gave us
directions downtown. It was now nearly 6. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The highway exits
to downtown were blocked by police. We found an alternate route through back
roads. A few blocks from police headquarters, we saw flashing blue lights and
what looked like hundreds of people in the street. We decided to stop there. A
police officer directed us onto a side street, where we parked, and I thanked
him for minding traffic. He asked who we were with, and we said, no one. He
said that the locals had mostly gone home, that it was all out-of-towners down
there. He said that if he was us, he wouldn’t go down there. We thanked him, took each other by the hand, and
walked towards the crowd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">The Protest</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Based on
later conversations with protesters and cops, as well as articles in the <a href="http://theadvocate.com/news/16367953-123/disturbing-turn-at-alton-sterling-protest-sunday-on-government-street-as-debris-hurled-at-authoritie"><i>Baton Rouge Advocate</i></a> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/07/police_arrest_dozens_in_sunday.html#incart_river_index">New Orleans Times-Picayune</a></i>, I learned
that three high school students had organized a peaceful march to
the state capitol building earlier that afternoon. The group we found, which
was largely out-of-towners, had split off from the main body and marched
towards an I-10 on-ramp, attempting to block the interstate. Many protesters
were arrested on Saturday for attempting to do the same thing. This time, the
police were prepared, and physically blocked the street leading to the on-ramp.
(Apparently the original march had a permit, but this splinter group had broken off the permitted route.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUut22-yxpoMz6LtmwDi5rULWuNt76_tRz7D4vZMwZcwOU3vQTudOp8pmJ2ym5XmGvh6NlP4hgNXSXqSHAm_g2Ernjit_zC08ad05mAlHph_S4oTR_6CDFmJXlcEUgcW4HfjEEPP3WdLI/s1600/DSC_0070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUut22-yxpoMz6LtmwDi5rULWuNt76_tRz7D4vZMwZcwOU3vQTudOp8pmJ2ym5XmGvh6NlP4hgNXSXqSHAm_g2Ernjit_zC08ad05mAlHph_S4oTR_6CDFmJXlcEUgcW4HfjEEPP3WdLI/s400/DSC_0070.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Police blocking the route onto the I-10 freeway. The blue-uniformed officers are City of Baton<br />
Rouge police, while the green-uniformed officers are state troopers. Note the gas masks.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When we
arrived, the street still smelled of tear gas, and an armored police Humvee was
using its LRAD system to make a loud, painful siren sound that
was intended to disperse the crowd. The officers were wearing gas masks.
Overhead, a helicopter and a small light aircraft circled the scene. I saw a
similar light aircraft over Friday’s protest in New Orleans, and assume that
both were spy planes operated by law enforcement. (Side note: this is not a conspiracy theory, but an actual thing
that has been documented by the <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ap-fbi-using-low-flying-spy-planes-over-us/">AP</a>, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/surveillance-planes-spotted-in-the-sky-for-days-after-west-baltimore-rioting/2015/05/05/c57c53b6-f352-11e4-84a6-6d7c67c50db0_story.html">Washington Post</a>, and <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/peteraldhous/spies-in-the-skies?utm_term=.ngLAyOgljd#.dyBdMVeJ8y">Buzzfeed</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Initially,
we got as close as the median across from the officers. A woman with a backpack and a “Medic” sign
offered me a vial of lavender oil to calm my nerves. Over a megaphone, an
officer commanded the crowd to disperse within thirty seconds, and to stop
illegally blocking the road. No one moved. We were there for only a few minutes
before the officers moved out into the street, and the protesters turned and
ran. We ran with them, hand in hand, to the safety of the opposite sidewalk. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeNc8aeGwc9RRtCQlYUMX5uC6nQybegYcMnab8fqXMI-za0Cd79oQG2nuDir3FGXmwbqVx_CFf41Hzd_QIBxft4HukqvSQ4vj4VEqppLmOa0YSFpvcfhap8FuHKbqiGmiTlNVZryfiPA/s1600/DSC_0101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeNc8aeGwc9RRtCQlYUMX5uC6nQybegYcMnab8fqXMI-za0Cd79oQG2nuDir3FGXmwbqVx_CFf41Hzd_QIBxft4HukqvSQ4vj4VEqppLmOa0YSFpvcfhap8FuHKbqiGmiTlNVZryfiPA/s400/DSC_0101.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On the
streetcorner opposite the police, a woman offered to let protesters stand on
her property, so everyone who could fit crowded into her yard. Those who couldn't fit spilled out onto the sidewalk or the adjoining road, French Street. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Across East Boulevard</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4nNAYirw82YPCsle5PXdlqmsSkUW2xMrAo1O93zmesF46APoKjd1SPbgAazszVykD1nU5PxEgzgZGHcc8LvOj-1oSJU_N3oVpXFfY-KRF2VYBwSmA1FIKa-C0Fb29zb1rBfhfnMLERO8/s1600/DSC_0165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4nNAYirw82YPCsle5PXdlqmsSkUW2xMrAo1O93zmesF46APoKjd1SPbgAazszVykD1nU5PxEgzgZGHcc8LvOj-1oSJU_N3oVpXFfY-KRF2VYBwSmA1FIKa-C0Fb29zb1rBfhfnMLERO8/s400/DSC_0165.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The police after clearing the protesters away. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRdlZi_DA6RhUwXXtbCygDBSOB3dt4O0LcodmG0NyLnFmzslI3CvnII-977HtmfVTynUL7sz3v3IdO9Fb_TRD8XipLoRnypwoZ_JSmvdmjqhT_9TPQMIcHdVUc5joGBS82wgmA5gydTU/s1600/DSC_0169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRdlZi_DA6RhUwXXtbCygDBSOB3dt4O0LcodmG0NyLnFmzslI3CvnII-977HtmfVTynUL7sz3v3IdO9Fb_TRD8XipLoRnypwoZ_JSmvdmjqhT_9TPQMIcHdVUc5joGBS82wgmA5gydTU/s400/DSC_0169.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two opposing sides, as seen from the median.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The crowd
was large, maybe five hundred people, mostly black but with a sizable
sprinkling of white protesters. Signs read “Justice for Alton Sterling”
and “We Are All One” and “I Can’t Keep Calm, I Have a Black Son”. One sign said
“Blue Lives Murder”. We chanted “BLACK LIVES MATTER!”, “No justice! NO PEACE!”,
“No racist! POLICE!”, and occasionally “Put down your guns! Put down your
guns!” Observers from the Legal Aid Society mingled with the crowd, handing out
little paper slips with a number to call if we were arrested. Another man walked
down the line of protesters, warning us to stay off the road so as not to give
them an excuse to come after us. I couldn’t stop thinking about how crazy it
was that the concrete sidewalk was safe, but the street two steps away was
unlawful territory. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEfMhpRCN3SWXWF4x1zKpT-Giguqrwi-iCNa7ppppkkYjCgtpnvecvk2qXKQ1ipRNBHb4D6276TQpVA_SX7RTNVeLY3amN-2o3-DBhlOVgzAGu-rN2FiTufAUhOggHT3MLYWxAaoePiA/s1600/DSC_0183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEfMhpRCN3SWXWF4x1zKpT-Giguqrwi-iCNa7ppppkkYjCgtpnvecvk2qXKQ1ipRNBHb4D6276TQpVA_SX7RTNVeLY3amN-2o3-DBhlOVgzAGu-rN2FiTufAUhOggHT3MLYWxAaoePiA/s400/DSC_0183.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protesters eyeing the cops: worried, defiant, assessing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCDgAuf2aMY63LkIqwboohW8Vu0Icp1_wz4HgtBEz1THHt7gYIKBxIsy-4Ecv7WbotZBXy8Sy0uYmedLRy4zmXlS48lXiVBM0bpCSoJqDMKdib9e2KCJMsmGFAKRYpTfcjBayNvjeYeU/s1600/DSC_0203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCDgAuf2aMY63LkIqwboohW8Vu0Icp1_wz4HgtBEz1THHt7gYIKBxIsy-4Ecv7WbotZBXy8Sy0uYmedLRy4zmXlS48lXiVBM0bpCSoJqDMKdib9e2KCJMsmGFAKRYpTfcjBayNvjeYeU/s400/DSC_0203.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Shortly
after we arrived, the officers all took off their gas masks, and the LRAD siren
was turned off, much to everyone’s relief. We were ordered out of the road,
then off the sidewalk. A woman in the yard began screaming, almost
unintelligibly, about how it was our sidewalk and public property; a group of
people, including us, marched a few blocks away and then back towards the
yard to demonstrate that it was indeed our sidewalk. The police didn’t move.
The loudspeaker occasionally called for us to disperse, but no police moved for
a long time. Things seemed to be fairly calm on both sides. Once or twice,
someone shouted “Fuck the police!”, but no one joined in and he was quickly
hushed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbLFHh_WgrL2quqyQTSAmVp0IecgdG7Zztath3AWiHQaXJ29iPSwoNHlnbzEThJwboUYL6Nrx3L9_la-DH2RIvX7EkvSg2aG5LcW1yqSPZsQLY7sNF7OpnShGE4Po02PJFEBJ_X6ULCQ/s1600/DSC_0205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbLFHh_WgrL2quqyQTSAmVp0IecgdG7Zztath3AWiHQaXJ29iPSwoNHlnbzEThJwboUYL6Nrx3L9_la-DH2RIvX7EkvSg2aG5LcW1yqSPZsQLY7sNF7OpnShGE4Po02PJFEBJ_X6ULCQ/s400/DSC_0205.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb8csoa5G_n60sMsDSBcO63RpFc6gT_elILRsVdAsKhuw1WCVOSF2GWZEpYRjqpU_5fb-Mz2in8RSvKc-s797a2ODMYavzd2G0S4UPOXppfw4L_Lm0CZy2xRsRPifrL0icGXIZCuqOeto/s1600/DSC_0224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb8csoa5G_n60sMsDSBcO63RpFc6gT_elILRsVdAsKhuw1WCVOSF2GWZEpYRjqpU_5fb-Mz2in8RSvKc-s797a2ODMYavzd2G0S4UPOXppfw4L_Lm0CZy2xRsRPifrL0icGXIZCuqOeto/s400/DSC_0224.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The still-anonymous-to-me star.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There were a
few moments of humor. At one point, someone famous showed up with his entourage and paraded down the street, flanked by
cameramen. He was there for all of five minutes. I asked a pair of black women
next to me who he was; they told me the name, it whooshed over my head, and
they said “an R&B singer”, the way I would say "a Canadian rock band" if someone had asked who Rush was. I suddenly </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.12px;">felt</span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.12px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">very white.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJkshGsC4LM82ECWV3Msmwg6FMrZjNqsywA3_tw3iRLFwWjR3iE8Wq_XXupoB9Bh7A8OTeJi3ONeNh2g0jBOuyzfofiGgTb-WnjWzUvoxd7Dcy1wNMdkSN8_T6htOPtcl-XB-OqzUSUY/s1600/DSC_0231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJkshGsC4LM82ECWV3Msmwg6FMrZjNqsywA3_tw3iRLFwWjR3iE8Wq_XXupoB9Bh7A8OTeJi3ONeNh2g0jBOuyzfofiGgTb-WnjWzUvoxd7Dcy1wNMdkSN8_T6htOPtcl-XB-OqzUSUY/s400/DSC_0231.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rebecca told
me later that she had been afraid the entire time we were there, start to
finish. I stopped being afraid after the sidewalk mini-march—I don’t know why,
the fear just went away on its own—but I was also pretty uneasy about what was
going to happen next. Clearly, the police were not going to disband on their
own, but neither were we. This body of protesters had no real leader, no place to
go other than the interstate; we were just standing around, chanting and
waiting for something to happen. I began to wonder how this was going to end. <br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Talking to the Police</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After
perhaps an hour of standing in and around the yard, talking with the other
protesters around us and shooting pictures of the small army across the street,
I decided that I could not leave in good conscience without at least trying to
talk to some of the cops across the road. (When I put this to Rebecca, she asked
“Why?” and I said, “Why not?”) She opted to stay on the other side, so I walked
up to the crosswalk, crossed the street, and approached a group of
non-riot-geared officers I’d seen lounging around a car. Two were black; the
rest were white. All were men. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I walked up
to them, greeted them, and asked if it was okay for me to spend a little time
with them. They, as you might imagine, were nonplussed; one asked if I was a
journalist, and I said no. Someone else said, why, then? I said, I want to hear
what you guys think of all this. Sure, they said. One pulled out a pair of
black flex-cuffs, and for a split second I thought they were going to cuff me, but
he instead asked if I would like to help them out (?!). I demurred, and one of the
other officers said “He’s not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>
much on our side.” Flex-Cuffs then offered me his gas mask. I said no thanks,
and asked if I could take some pictures of them. Flex-Cuffs hesitated, chewed
it over, then said “Well, I guess I can’t really tell you ‘no’”. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1FSMrErQcPAqTGZRXRDzq92-OMbyoj7ny0Q4zaLS2ND2NlRHGXlutLrIH2Qe5RFNnuQlnBo3mLYh1ZIbaCEx1w-Z9E6fUxl3jc4rplbfL1-Gq5paUiIkBvzJfKDofricCm__a2CUAtA/s1600/DSC_0241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1FSMrErQcPAqTGZRXRDzq92-OMbyoj7ny0Q4zaLS2ND2NlRHGXlutLrIH2Qe5RFNnuQlnBo3mLYh1ZIbaCEx1w-Z9E6fUxl3jc4rplbfL1-Gq5paUiIkBvzJfKDofricCm__a2CUAtA/s400/DSC_0241.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Let's show off our diversity," said the black officer at left before I took this photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJkdLbDq-i08X37sEBkGk5I3YvjQyYipZmDXUiJXz2Tz69zVFp0eV_n3tazsn3_oySKWOF_Z9B0cMw8nTgcTE-_JzXYEsysiaXGApI5_c6DII7VeGhwK_nhKstvZVkg4HkwprL7G8un8/s1600/DSC_0243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTJkdLbDq-i08X37sEBkGk5I3YvjQyYipZmDXUiJXz2Tz69zVFp0eV_n3tazsn3_oySKWOF_Z9B0cMw8nTgcTE-_JzXYEsysiaXGApI5_c6DII7VeGhwK_nhKstvZVkg4HkwprL7G8un8/s400/DSC_0243.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Flex-Cuffs is in the center. He was sort of half-joking about putting on his gas</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">mask for the pictures. </span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After a
little more talk, I thanked the officers and moved down closer to the main body
of police officers. There was a sizable swarm of reporters and cameramen over
there, most of them with cameras pointed at the protesters. By this time, the
crowd had overflowed out of the yard and into the street. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUROA-FMQKOulWcb8DbjmoQpZ51gBUl8EltpDhar1_TnkfHNh8mTHj4QGCyfI3mwzY0mYfKoy1ujv4mjR6algMDNtqhyphenhyphenaZgry79KmtOI6QGRXQSYOzKjzuFLhk2ui0Hwgld-LmbTKR4Io/s1600/DSC_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUROA-FMQKOulWcb8DbjmoQpZ51gBUl8EltpDhar1_TnkfHNh8mTHj4QGCyfI3mwzY0mYfKoy1ujv4mjR6algMDNtqhyphenhyphenaZgry79KmtOI6QGRXQSYOzKjzuFLhk2ui0Hwgld-LmbTKR4Io/s400/DSC_0250.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXLZyxXpmJL_ecptTiaSOW1ptnbrk542TLrHZqRorJqOWuRRdD6tQ7708ypgzERjt3jxceS2ojo9Tjd4JAHr1QaFSGz088kkOx1c27MPBlZsJty_rh7kzN1sTqvOD4ZenD5x0pkJbegY/s1600/DSC_0249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXLZyxXpmJL_ecptTiaSOW1ptnbrk542TLrHZqRorJqOWuRRdD6tQ7708ypgzERjt3jxceS2ojo9Tjd4JAHr1QaFSGz088kkOx1c27MPBlZsJty_rh7kzN1sTqvOD4ZenD5x0pkJbegY/s400/DSC_0249.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">More Talking with Police</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I chatted up
a more senior officer who was standing nearby. He was willing to talk, if slightly cool towards me, which
seemed understandable. I told him I wasn’t a reporter, just a protester, but I
was interested in what he had to say. I asked if he thought the protesters had
a point. He differentiated between the group across the road and the larger
march on the Capitol, which was more local-heavy; he pointed out that the
police had been working with black community leaders, elected and not,
specifically mentioning ministers. He said that this group, of mostly
out-of-towners, was more anti-police, and that they were in his opinion hurting
their cause. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I should
point out here that being from a white suburb in Wisconsin, my interactions
with police have been limited and almost always benign. People who know me know
that I also tend to defer to established authority. So whether he was right or
wrong, his words carried some weight with me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0mnDC4Hda-CbqW4YydiThNmjJY8WekI-cSBk1V43lbTe37_a8BjeQL7gDO04esbH3HOv-GrfDN6hyphenhyphenaUkVJvqAs3yhiTh020YG3141kgUUngumxuCcyfYR4MPqw4Z5NZV2BxCcP6yC6k/s1600/DSC_0252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-0mnDC4Hda-CbqW4YydiThNmjJY8WekI-cSBk1V43lbTe37_a8BjeQL7gDO04esbH3HOv-GrfDN6hyphenhyphenaUkVJvqAs3yhiTh020YG3141kgUUngumxuCcyfYR4MPqw4Z5NZV2BxCcP6yC6k/s400/DSC_0252.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note: this is not that officer. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uuQYdNfFrLNpmNCZVkXZgLgeO-bXllqZ-ImpSkkclGP_Wmy_xw5IEZXeSxmyT9ObMFYpn0BTY0gpg8Ff8ZYRUTJ-G9o8AcCRzx6SYKi1FNpCtx_TCLpdbVgNByRRW5GSvI9otiSduVs/s1600/DSC_0254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uuQYdNfFrLNpmNCZVkXZgLgeO-bXllqZ-ImpSkkclGP_Wmy_xw5IEZXeSxmyT9ObMFYpn0BTY0gpg8Ff8ZYRUTJ-G9o8AcCRzx6SYKi1FNpCtx_TCLpdbVgNByRRW5GSvI9otiSduVs/s400/DSC_0254.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We talked
about police shootings, and I mentioned the counts kept by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardian</i> and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Washington Post</i>. He asked me if I thought those shootings were all
unjustified, and I said, no. He invited me to look at it statistically. He
asked about Michael Brown, said that he had just committed a crime, that he had
assaulted an officer. He pointed out that the Justice Department had
investigated the case, and that they saw fit not to prosecute Darren Wilson. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What about
Alton Sterling, I asked. Was that justified? Him being tackled, held down, the
officer firing from a foot away? We’ll wait on the Justice Department to say
yes or no, he said. If they decide that it’s worthy of charges, they will file
charges, make no mistake. I asked him to consider that those people across the
street don’t have faith in the ability of the system to fix itself, to hold
itself accountable; they don’t see law enforcement the way you and I do, but as
an actively bad presence in their lives that has hurt them. He shook his head.
That’s a small minority of people, he said. There are many more people out
there who do have faith in the system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I would have
asked him more questions, but he got pulled into an impromptu press briefing,
which I sat in on. Across the street, a man with a megaphone had organized the
crowd; it seemed larger than before, boiling off the sidewalk and onto the
pavement. Half of it was yelling “ALTON!” and the other, “STERLING!” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkh7Sloy248b-5s-6bUVFB_mLP7C6m3QBhN4criXr7tKAQQYzJ4JTa6_yqP_-OjZ-3gaTZEytSt3aSpe-4Viqn9pAtcsR_KG7wb6IlFWL2j0frdiQ2uLH1aXNPhev4SlCI5UW-5KroB1s/s1600/DSC_0255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkh7Sloy248b-5s-6bUVFB_mLP7C6m3QBhN4criXr7tKAQQYzJ4JTa6_yqP_-OjZ-3gaTZEytSt3aSpe-4Viqn9pAtcsR_KG7wb6IlFWL2j0frdiQ2uLH1aXNPhev4SlCI5UW-5KroB1s/s400/DSC_0255.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNiyGz1ZUrSNc5UKR2GS-5xMhJ5szjMn4BdjgUwn3t2DwQlkmsxcyNv_bdTZhxQWz1jSuU47edjlcLFn12U5nQNKh3YE3R2xIAoAXle-eVVXxY7QLFlvWa4LensZDKIrcQFwS_P5kBoQ/s1600/DSC_0262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNiyGz1ZUrSNc5UKR2GS-5xMhJ5szjMn4BdjgUwn3t2DwQlkmsxcyNv_bdTZhxQWz1jSuU47edjlcLFn12U5nQNKh3YE3R2xIAoAXle-eVVXxY7QLFlvWa4LensZDKIrcQFwS_P5kBoQ/s400/DSC_0262.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Megaphone Guy can be seen at center left.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">The Riot Police</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I was
waiting on the officer, taking more pictures, when I saw a line of riot police,
shields up, trotting into place and sealing off the north end of the street.
Thoughts collided in my head: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">document
this</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">find Rebecca NOW</i>. This
only lasted a second or two but seemed much longer. As I pulled out my phone to
call her, I heard someone screaming my name. I looked up and saw Rebecca,
urgent, hand extended, halfway across the street. I put my head down and
sprinted across to her and rejoined the protesters on the other side. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqz8Q4ta4xvhIEYUS_Gu-4wzZ97cx3dAkQ9TdtusAS16zKtXxucbnYk-s4KIIJZndCzvcjEeUjzQFxy4UZBF-dFaonkmccFFLzg5lYF2gOtef6012pzQ-p7Jj2fzl4U12IhZ8PdSwBu0/s1600/DSC_0263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqz8Q4ta4xvhIEYUS_Gu-4wzZ97cx3dAkQ9TdtusAS16zKtXxucbnYk-s4KIIJZndCzvcjEeUjzQFxy4UZBF-dFaonkmccFFLzg5lYF2gOtef6012pzQ-p7Jj2fzl4U12IhZ8PdSwBu0/s400/DSC_0263.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't know if this man was a protester or photographer; he was over with the<br />
photographers when I was, but maybe he was doing the same thing I was. Either <br />
way, I think he just saw the line of riot police on the other side of the street.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The police
had formed a wall at either end of the street and begun to advance. The
contingent opposite the house now moved forward towards us. Everything got a
little confused. We tried to link arms with several protesters, but they
stretched across the street, and someone convinced them to clear out of the
road. The police crossed the boulevard and our side of the street. Rebecca and
I fled into an adjacent parking lot. They were on the edge of the yard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ5ZaABqcSqaHpX2dB_Xit8_AdOjur4zQKd4J3NpqH0P0HeMSiwnHbGq8rk5QhnmrsvnUBz72uHP4IzHJittQIre_4-XR6mN6j30FFvuk0YadJZn6jirvCnJEtOa9K6Oa2EH24cYkH4w4/s1600/DSC_0320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ5ZaABqcSqaHpX2dB_Xit8_AdOjur4zQKd4J3NpqH0P0HeMSiwnHbGq8rk5QhnmrsvnUBz72uHP4IzHJittQIre_4-XR6mN6j30FFvuk0YadJZn6jirvCnJEtOa9K6Oa2EH24cYkH4w4/s320/DSC_0320.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't have very many clear pictures of the "retreat", because, you know, chaos.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Looking
back, I saw the police entering the yard. Some people stood firm, and advancing
officers grabbed them and cuffed them. Most of the crowd fled the yard,
bursting out through the back gate and out into the road. The police formed
another wall and pursued us down the street, walking slowly and stopping at
cross streets. It was an odd kind of stop-and-go chase; no one else got close
enough to get arrested, and they didn’t seem particularly interested in chasing
people down. They just kept pushing us back and back and back, a blue line of
riot shields and helmets backed by armored vehicles. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSj9lwECKscUBHYxj86RqU3ethJx9bSq1Hyws6y_9nyJoURhiqGASv4f5yYq8gv6_ExTnXdpa2NAhJ5-4fmIg6HLXHbmxzObsy3WxyNH_rK536fflXGBvENqt8b4nwyps_pLHZwr5QeU/s1600/DSC_0404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSj9lwECKscUBHYxj86RqU3ethJx9bSq1Hyws6y_9nyJoURhiqGASv4f5yYq8gv6_ExTnXdpa2NAhJ5-4fmIg6HLXHbmxzObsy3WxyNH_rK536fflXGBvENqt8b4nwyps_pLHZwr5QeU/s400/DSC_0404.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbSZsWLipaY4OMO7yX4bnPjqVUPXn-J8Ax_ekxTCpQFk5yi4GBEhJW-3VJlz8Lmjf4AGSxGEg8_pX1AYO_l_yxRAK8GFYJCd21QyJQ2pwl0yURG5K30LQlQQejpnov3tlYdJWO23RH_Q/s1600/DSC_0428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbSZsWLipaY4OMO7yX4bnPjqVUPXn-J8Ax_ekxTCpQFk5yi4GBEhJW-3VJlz8Lmjf4AGSxGEg8_pX1AYO_l_yxRAK8GFYJCd21QyJQ2pwl0yURG5K30LQlQQejpnov3tlYdJWO23RH_Q/s400/DSC_0428.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
protesters gave ground, step by step, chanting, waving banners, hands in the
air. We were a disorganized mass, no longer a line, flowing piecemeal down
French Street. Several times, I shouted “We are not your enemies!”, which at
least got a look from some of the nearer officers. We were getting farther and
farther from the car, and after the third or fourth cross street, we decided it
was time to go. (This was excellent timing; we learned later that night that
sometime on that march to the west, people had started flinging chunks of
concrete at the oncoming police. I do not support that, and neither does she.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We
ducked into a side street and watched the police pass with a few other
stragglers. After they were gone, Rebecca put her head on my shoulder and cried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilddCzYBRo0pYh6GqhFaVtvogc8wDcV57kYwH3iKqG7qT7hKrzNDCt0PST2v8mYiweC7Dg5qs-o_7lLUxj58lbhd5b2dodZe-b8Zrq4PpLLr3d-Am2FH57uG7oG83BhxwUbEhPKvfosp0/s1600/DSC_0507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilddCzYBRo0pYh6GqhFaVtvogc8wDcV57kYwH3iKqG7qT7hKrzNDCt0PST2v8mYiweC7Dg5qs-o_7lLUxj58lbhd5b2dodZe-b8Zrq4PpLLr3d-Am2FH57uG7oG83BhxwUbEhPKvfosp0/s400/DSC_0507.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhgcYloQtnJ4liyfDZXFboei6AQM1-GTg454-ZS5xeAO5xMiB02w1F1XrXyr0Od6qD85cYBECph8bj9ct3LhpVCzf5VoRh4RRjxqkMnJtirsWccohi97zmi3XXW4TZ8Dj_EMar72CbC0/s1600/DSC_0522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhgcYloQtnJ4liyfDZXFboei6AQM1-GTg454-ZS5xeAO5xMiB02w1F1XrXyr0Od6qD85cYBECph8bj9ct3LhpVCzf5VoRh4RRjxqkMnJtirsWccohi97zmi3XXW4TZ8Dj_EMar72CbC0/s400/DSC_0522.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">We walked back to the car and put our things inside. I asked if Rebecca was OK to drive, and she said she was. As we turned onto East and headed back the way we’d come, I saw a police officer hand a bottle of water to a protester.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">The Gator</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">As we drove
back to Baton Rouge, me looking through the pictures I’d taken, we talked about
what we’d just done. Both of us agreed that it was right for us to be out
there, that it was right for us to lend our support and lend our voices to the
cause. I wasn’t sure, though, how the disorganized protest we’d been to—the
opposition with the police—connected to the kind of real change we were
seeking. Yes, someone had to make noise before anything would change, but was
this the kind of thing that would convince police and city leaders that they
had a real problem, that they needed to talk to community leaders? Especially
with a group that was full of out-of-towners? Yes, said Rebecca, but people
getting arrested for protesting injustice is the kind of thing that draws
attention. It needs to happen before there’s enough attention on the subject
that leaders will feel pressured to make changes. But was this the way it had
to be?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We had
fallen temporarily silent—her driving, me looking at my camera—when something
huge and heavy and dark appeared in the road. Rebecca estimated that it was
about a foot and a half high, stretching across the entire lane; she thought at
first that it was a discarded bumper or a shred of rubber from a truck. We ran
right over it. There was a tremendous crash; the whole car seemed to jump in
the air. Rebecca leaned on the horn, flicked on the warning lights, and guided
us to the side of the road. Another car pulled in behind us, but drove off
after a minute or two. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The odds are
that it was an alligator.
That’s what the officers—two St. James Parish sheriff’s officers—who responded
to the 911 call told us. It was long after dark, and we couldn’t very well look
for a body, but there was nothing on the roadside; one of the officers said
it’s possible the ‘gator even survived and crawled off the road. “They can move
real fast if they need to,” he said. (Two separate people told me that this was
how horror movies start; stupid kids driving at night run over an alligator,
which survives and swears eternal vengeance on them.) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Whatever it
was, the car was shot; the radiator was busted, the front bumper was wrapped
around a front wheel, and I’m not a mechanic, but the axle was doing
things an axle shouldn’t do. Rebecca called her insurance company, and they
told her that they couldn’t get a tow truck out there, so the officer gave us a
list of wrecking companies in the Baton Rouge area. After some time on the
phone, during which the officers left and one of them came back, the younger of
the two officers arranged for a wrecker to pick up the car and keep it in Baton
Rouge overnight. Rebecca called a friend and asked her to pick us up. The
officer suggested that we wait at a truck stop instead of on the side of the
road. And in the supreme irony of the night, after spending the evening
shouting at police and trying not to get arrested, we rode to the truck stop in
the back seat of his car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The helpful officer,
who was white, couldn’t have been much older than my twenty-six years. He was
clean-shaven, with dark eyes, and wore a blue-and-black ribbon across his sheriff’s
star that I later learned was a mourning badge, most likely for the Dallas
shootings. He had a copy of St. Michael’s Prayer for Police Officers tucked in
a little crevice in the ceiling of his car. He lent Rebecca his phone to copy
down the wrecker’s information, and a text message notification flashed up on
top of the screen while she was holding it. It was from “My Love”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 107%;">Last Thoughts</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When we got
to the protest, with the siren wailing and the faceless masked policemen
standing by with rifles and the scent of tear gas in the air, with the chopper
and the spy-plane overhead, I was afraid. But the longer it went on, as the
scent faded and the plane flew away and the siren fell silent and the police
removed their masks, the less afraid I became. The police are not our enemies,
and we are not theirs. The sheriff’s officer was helpful and kind, personally securing us
a wrecking truck when the police number he
gave us didn’t know what we were talking about. The officer I chatted up
answered my questions, and if he didn't hear me out as much as I’d have liked, that was only to be expected under the circumstances. Even Flex-Cuffs
was sort of friendly, in his own way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I found it
hard even to be angry at the officers who cleared the street; admittedly under
the eye of the media, they appeared to me to be professional and just doing
their job. And although I’ve seen some social media comments castigating them
for “attacking” a “peaceful protest”, one wonders what they were supposed to
do? This group was attempting to block the interstate before the police (and
we) got there, and if the police left it might have tried again, which would
have been a recipe for disaster with night coming on. The police couldn’t leave, and
they couldn’t just stand there indefinitely and wait for the protesters to
disperse on their own—a protest that was already well away from its permitted
route. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">My opinion
and my views and my thoughts are a part of this story, not all of it. My
history with the police has been generally good; I have not been abused,
stopped without cause, frisked, beaten, jailed, or subjected to any of the
countless indignities and injustices that Americans of color are subjected to
every day. Criminal justice reform and racism in policing seem so frustratingly
intractable to me, full of stories of people getting ground up and spat out by
unjust systems that fail black people and poor people at appalling rates. For
the Baton Rouge police department, or any police department, to fix the kind of
racist, destructive policing that killed Alton Sterling, good people on both
sides have to work together to find some kind of solution. The Baton Rouge
police have to admit that the protesters have a point, that Sterling’s death
was not justified in any sane way, and work with the community to figure out
how to better police the city in a way that does not harm black and brown
citizens. I hope this weekend of protests helped move the city in that
direction. I hope that, sooner or later, the other side starts to listen.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><b>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. </b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBY3RFO9TcyYW2GDeDTNur6D2VN0aCvvWEMFXW1GMsVPiNAy9w6LYMF0UPuapBgaqUCqzTWRnA7WJth2icgtEsfE55g42gpXsftZgYLaBfLyBdH4RdrF-YLld_sTWKdIuWgV5Yzyqsb4w/s1600/88x31.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBY3RFO9TcyYW2GDeDTNur6D2VN0aCvvWEMFXW1GMsVPiNAy9w6LYMF0UPuapBgaqUCqzTWRnA7WJth2icgtEsfE55g42gpXsftZgYLaBfLyBdH4RdrF-YLld_sTWKdIuWgV5Yzyqsb4w/s1600/88x31.png" /></a></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-33416303215096690112016-07-06T23:59:00.001-05:002016-07-07T18:15:35.014-05:00Why Wasn't Clinton Charged?<span style="font-size: large;">The Charges</span><br />
<br />
There's a really damning article by Andrew McCarthy in <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/437479/fbi-rewrites-federal-law-let-hillary-hook" target="_blank">National Review</a> that reads something like this:<br />
<br />
Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 793 (f) says that it's a criminal act to negligently remove classified information, or allow it to be removed, from the place where it's supposed to be stored. Hillary Clinton acted with gross negligence and moved information from where it should've been stored. In explaining his decision not to charge Clinton, FBI Director James Comey talked about how Clinton had no intent to cause harm, which isn't the purpose of subsection (f); it's about <i>negligence</i>, not intent. Therefore, the FBI essentially reinterpreted the law in order to avoid charging Clinton.<br />
<br />
The <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793" target="_blank">plain language</a> of the statute seems to bear out McCarthy's point. Here it is:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(f) Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any [document] relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) [knowing that that happened and not telling] shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.</blockquote>
Glenn Greenwald goes even farther on <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/07/05/washington-has-been-obsessed-with-punishing-secrecy-violations-until-hillary-clinton/" target="_blank">The Intercept</a>. It's been <a href="http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/jan/10/jake-tapper/cnns-tapper-obama-has-used-espionage-act-more-all-/" target="_blank">well-documented</a> that the Obama administration has punished more leakers of classified information under the Espionage Act than any other President. "People who leak to media outlets for the selfless purpose of informing the public – Daniel Ellsberg, Tom Drake, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden – face decades in prison", he writes. "For low-level, powerless Nobodies-in-DC, even the mere mishandling of classified information – without any intent to leak, but merely to, say, work from home – has resulted in criminal prosecution, career destruction and the permanent loss of security clearance".<br />
<br />
But Hillary got off. The Obama administration, like it did for David Petraeus, made an exception for the Democratic Presidential candidate. Because she's too big for the law.<br />
<br />
Greenwald doesn't think that Clinton's misconduct warranted criminal prosecution, if you look at her case in a vacuum. But, he continues,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"This case does not exist in isolation. It exists in a political climate where secrecy is regarded as the highest end, where people have their lives destroyed for the most trivial – or, worse, the most well-intentioned – violations of secrecy laws, even in the absence of any evidence of harm or malignant intent... Had someone who was obscure and unimportant and powerless done what Hillary Clinton did – recklessly and secretly install a shoddy home server and worked with Top Secret information on it, then outright lied to the public about it when they were caught – they would have been criminally charged long ago, with little fuss or objection."</blockquote>
Wow.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Defense</span><br />
<br />
On the other hand, we have <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b.-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clintons-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system" target="_blank">this statement from Comey:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."</blockquote>
No reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case?<br />
<br />
How can he say that? When you consider what McCarthy wrote and the plain language of the statute, even the most ardent Clinton defender would have to concede that there was enough gross negligence to at least charge her with a crime.<br />
<br />
And when you consider what Greenwald writes about Clinton's rank and privilege shielding her from harm, even the most passionate Clintonian would have to concede that it smells rotten.<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
Well, let's dig into it.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Greenwald's Precedents</span><br />
<br />
Rhetorically, Greenwald makes an excellent point. People who leaked classified information to the public, for the benefit of the public, have been prosecuted as criminals. But the facts of those cases aren't similar to what Clinton did. She didn't deliberately leak anything. Instead, she was careless about the security of classified information sent to and from her and her aides. So the list of whistleblowers--Ellsberg, Manning, Snowden--doesn't hold up as a comparison.<br />
<br />
Greenwald also says this-- "the mere mishandling of classified information – without any intent to leak, but merely to, say, work from home – has resulted in criminal prosecution, career destruction and the permanent loss of security clearance" -- and provides links to two examples: <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/sacramento/press-releases/2015/folsom-naval-reservist-is-sentenced-after-pleading-guilty-to-unauthorized-removal-and-retention-of-classified-materials" target="_blank">Bryan Nishimura</a>, who took classified information home from Afghanistan in 2007-8, and <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/kristian-saucier-investigation-hillary-clinton-223646" target="_blank">Kristian Saucier</a>, who took digital photos of the engine room in the nuclear submarine on which he worked. Saucier has pled guilty to a criminal charge of mishandling classified information, and is currently facing sentencing. Nishimura was sentenced in 2015 to two years' probation and a $7,500 fine.<br />
<br />
So the little people got stomped while the big fish walks free, right?<br />
<br />
No. These examples are more complicated than that. Nishimura downloaded classified materials onto his personal devices in Afghanistan, took them home to America, and kept them for four to five <i>years</i>. By any reasonable definition of the word, he stole them. (Greenwald's "merely to, say, work from home" is deceptively misleading here.) When the government caught on (in 2012), he destroyed a large quantity of information, according to the FBI. Meanwhile, Saucier tried to take photos of a classified engine room, then "destroyed a laptop, camera, and memory card after learning he was under investigation".<br />
<br />
His story contains this intriguing quote from a sailor who served with him:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Two guys in our boat were caught taking photos in the engine room on the nuclear side of things. Basically, all that happened to them was they … lost a rank,” Pitcher said. “I’ve seen quite a few cases like this and never seen any handled like Kris’.” </blockquote>
The article says that according to Pitcher, these were "not uncommon" infractions which were "almost always dealt with through what the military calls "nonjudicial punishment"", i.e. a demotion or loss of pay. It also says that Saucier's denying that he took the pictures, smashing his computer equipment, and owning an unregistered handgun that he allegedly cleaned with bleach after the FBI questioned him, may have contributed to the FBI's decision to charge him.<br />
<br />
But these people <i>took</i> classified information, then tried to conceal it. <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/hillary-clinton-missing-emails-secretary-state-department-personal-server-investigation-fbi-214016" target="_blank">There are gaps</a> where it looks like Clinton's lawyers deleted emails that they deemed private (which was allowed) that were actually work-related (not allowed), because they <a href="http://time.com/4393705/hillary-clinton-emails-fbi-james-comey/" target="_blank">may not have actually read</a> all of them (the FBI says they didn't, and of course, they deny this). However you feel about that, it's a long way from deleted emails (many of which the FBI reconstructed) to smashing your computers and bleaching your unregistered gun. And it's a long way from setting up a private email server to stealing information and keeping it for yourself. Those cases don't really apply to Clinton either.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Apples-to-Apples Precedents</span><br />
<br />
Okay, but what about people who were <i>just</i> negligent with classified information? Let's remove the excess variables in Nishimura's and Saucier's cases. Let's focus on people who did the same thing Clinton apparently did: be negligent with classified files. Did they face criminal charges? If they did, that would be damning proof that Clinton was being treated differently because of her political status.<br />
<br />
A recent column <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/state-department-email-leak-cables-hillary-clinton-secretary-cold-war-classified-documents-213999" target="_blank">in Politico Magazine </a>seems to say no. A high-ranking State Department official posed for a picture that revealed classified information, which was then placed on the cover of a magazine and distributed worldwide (as related by the photographer). A paper with classified information was partially visible in the picture. Although the text was illegible in the photo, the government feared that foreign intelligence agencies might be able to enhance the photo and read the text. Was that official punished under Section 793?<br />
<br />
Well, he received an official letter of reprimand. That was all.<br />
<br />
But that's only one example, and it was the No. 4 guy in the State Department. It's reasonable to assume that he also benefited from his political position. It's good to know, but that precedent doesn't let Hillary off the hook.<br />
<br />
That's why <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/hillary-clinton-prosecution-past-cases-221744" target="_blank">this Politico article</a> is so valuable. It says that "between 2011 and 2015, federal prosecutors disposed of 30 referrals from investigators in cases where the main proposed charge was misdemeanor mishandling of classified information". <b>Eighty percent of the time, that is, in 24 out of 30 cases, federal prosecutors declined to bring charges</b>. In the other six cases, the defendant pled guilty, and the case never went to trial.<br />
<br />
Here's a long quote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The relatively few cases that drew prosecution almost always involved a deliberate intent to violate classification rules as well as some add-on element: An FBI agent who took home highly sensitive agency records while having an affair with a Chinese agent; a Boeing engineer who brought home 2000 classified documents and whose travel to Israel raised suspicions; a National Security Agency official who removed boxes of classified documents and also lied on a job application form... </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Former prosecutors, investigators and defense attorneys generally agree that prosecution for classified information breaches is the exception rather than the rule, with criminal charges being reserved for cases the government views as the most egregious or flagrant. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“They always involve some ‘plus’ factor. Sometimes that ‘plus’ factor may reach its way into the public record, but more likely it won’t,” one former federal prosecutor said.</blockquote>
McCarthy is right that under the plain language of the statute, Hillary could have been at least charged with a crime. But according to Politico, because the statutes are written so broadly (because of course they are--it's kind of bad when someone loopholes their way out of getting convicted of treason), prosecutors have a lot of discretion about when to bring charges and when not to. And at least in the past four years, they have chosen <i>not</i> to bring charges in cases where the person merely screwed up and there was no intent to do harm.<br />
<br />
I'd also like to add this rather depressing information from way down in the piece:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It’s also unclear whether the information was less secure on Clinton’s home server than on the State Department’s unclassified email system used to send most of the now-classified messages to her in the first place. State’s system was an obvious target and has been repeatedly broken into by the Russian government, U.S. officials have said.</blockquote>
Which isn't, like, <i>good</i>, but bears thinking about when we're considering how much actual danger Clinton put the country in by keeping her emails on a private server.<br />
<br />
The Politico article goes on to relate several cases where high-level government officials were not prosecuted or agreed to plea deals for mishandling classified information, while lower-level officials and government contractors were charged with felonies. However, it adds:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But some of those felony charges for grossly negligent handling or removal of classified information appear to have been pursued in cases where the government strongly suspected espionage or deliberate leaking of classified information had occurred, but decided a full-blown prosecution on those grounds wasn’t warranted. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In such cases, “a criminal prosecution for mishandling classified would be used as a means to another end,” Leonard said. “The intent is not necessarily to punish the mishandling but is… like the proverbial example of going after Al Capone for income tax evasion.”</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">What Comey Said</span><br />
<br />
These precedents appear to be why Comey decided what he did. In his press conference yesterday, he said the following (bolding mine):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. Prosecutors necessarily weigh a number of factors before bringing charges. There are obvious considerations, like the strength of the evidence, especially regarding intent. Responsible decisions also consider the context of a person’s actions, and how similar situations have been handled in the past. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, <b>we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts</b>. All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. <b>We do not see those things here</b>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To be clear, <b>this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences</b>. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As a result, although the Department of Justice makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case.</blockquote>
So to the best that I can determine with publicly available information, without doing my own investigation (because I'm a damn blogger and I have a full-time other job), Greenwald is wrong. In the specific cases examined by Politico, relating to negligence towards classified information, lower-ranked people did not get off more easily than higher-ranked people. The cases where people were merely negligent with classified information got off, while cases with worse malfeasance were prosecuted.<br />
<br />
Which also explains McCarthy's objection. The plain language of Section 793(f) simply hasn't been enforced. Enforcing it in Clinton's case, and not enforcing it in other cases where a similar level of negligence occurred without intentional misconduct, would be the opposite of elitism; it would be treating her <i>more</i> harshly than similar cases have warranted, not <i>less</i>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">...Which is Not to Say that This Whole Thing Wasn't So, So Stupid</span><br />
<br />
I'm voting for Clinton in November, and I generally have a pretty high opinion of her, so factor that information into how credible you find this post.<br />
<br />
I think, based on the evidence available to me, that the FBI was correct in not bringing criminal charges against Clinton. But even though what she did probably wasn't criminal, it was <i>stupid</i>. If there's one thing that defines the Clintons, it's their ability to hurt themselves (closely followed by their ability to wiggle out of anything). Why on Earth did Bill Clinton <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/rich-lowry-clinton-trump-rigged-214019" target="_blank">barge into Attorney General Loretta Lynch's plane</a> last week? Even if they were talking about the weather and the Washington Nationals, did he not understand how <i>terrible</i> that would look?<br />
<br />
Why are there gaps in the emails? Why didn't she immediately turn over <i>all</i> her emails, personal or not, and avoid what had to look like her lawyers editing out damaging information? Why did she initially tell the world that there was no classified material (there was), that no emails were marked classified (some were) and that she took information security seriously (she apparently didn't)?<br />
<br />
For that matter, why does--gaah. Just read the first paragraph of <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/858997d5d9a540688d316654a5bb0c15" target="_blank">this AP story</a>.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
An Associated Press review of the official calendar Hillary Clinton kept as secretary of state identified at least 75 meetings with longtime political donors, Clinton Foundation contributors and corporate and other outside interests that were not recorded or omitted the names of those she met.</blockquote>
There are reasonable explanations for the omissions--there usually are--but it looks terrible, and it's so completely self-inflicted. This entire email mess is not a problem that the world threw at Clinton; it's a problem she created and then repeatedly exacerbated by not being open or transparent until she was forced to be. I've heard all the arguments about how Clinton is jaded from 30 years of more or less constant media scrutiny and scandal, how her instinct is to close ranks and clam up when something bad happens, and that there were in some cases <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/clinton-emails-in-probe-dealt-with-planned-drone-strikes-1465509863" target="_blank">real reasons</a> why unclassified emails had to be sent. I'm also sympathetic to the idea that <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/30/automatic-for-the-people/" target="_blank">overclassification is a real problem</a>, and it's frequently asinine and at odds with common sense.<br />
<br />
But this scandal did not have to happen. Clinton made some terrible decisions about how to respond to it. By the best information I have, she should not have been charged as a criminal, but--I mean, read that sentence again. When it applies to a Presidential candidate, that should not be a question we have to ask. In a perfect world, the Democratic party would have an electable nominee with Clinton's experience but without her (and her husband's) knack for creating and maintaining a fog of taint and scandal that surrounds her at all times. But this isn't that world, and Clinton--with all her flaws and all her bad judgment--is the Democratic nominee.<br />
<br />
Let's hope she's good enough.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-29435424625495138622016-06-30T18:27:00.000-05:002016-06-30T18:27:36.516-05:00With Trust and Understanding<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="line-height: 13.5pt;">According to </span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/the-christians-who-believe-theyre-being-persecuted-in-america/488468/" style="line-height: 13.5pt;" target="_blank">The Atlantic</a><span style="line-height: 13.5pt;">: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><i>Many, many Christians believe they are subject to religious discrimination in the United States. A new report from the Public Religion Research Institute and Brookings offers evidence: Almost half of Americans say discrimination against Christians is as big of a problem as discrimination against other groups, including blacks and minorities. Three-quarters of Republicans and Trump supporters said this, and so did nearly eight out of 10 white evangelical Protestants...</i></span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i style="line-height: 18px;">If religious people believe their institutions are declining—which, demographically speaking, they are—they may feel more threatened by what they perceive as the growing numbers of people in the country who have a different kind of faith [or none].</i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Religious historian Karen Armstrong wrote a book called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Battle-God-Karen-Armstrong/dp/0345391691" target="_blank"><i>The Battle for God</i></a>, in which she laid out the thesis that religious fundamentalism
in the West—in Muslims, Jews and Christians—was in large part a reaction to the
Industrial Revolution and modernization. Skimming over an unfathomable amount
of historical detail that she used and I won’t copy here, she wrote that
everyone was so horrified by the advent of modern industry and the
corresponding social upheavals—mass migration to the cities, horrible working conditions,
plagues, despoiling of the environment, smog that killed people, increasingly
bloody wars—that there was a huge wave of religious and philosophical
questioning about religion. This new world is awful! How did that happen? How
could God have let this happen? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some people (Nietzsche among them) concluded that God had no
relevance in the world anymore, and it was time to go full atheism. Some,
probably most people, fit the new world into their existing beliefs without too
much trouble and went on as before. And some people did a very human thing:
when challenged, instead of backing down, they went “No. Fuck you. You know
what? We believe it TWICE as hard as we did before”. These people became
fundamentalists. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was just watching <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/policing-the-police/" target="_blank">"Policing the Police"</a>, a Frontline documentary about policing
in Newark, which contained interviews with citizens who had been maltreated by the
cops, as well as cops themselves. Neither side appeared to be putting up an
artifice; both genuinely believed what they were saying. But what struck me was
the attitude of the cops. Rank-and-file officers talked about how they were
aggressive towards people they stopped on the street—in one case caught on
Frontline’s cameras, roughing up a guy walking down the street under the
slightest of pretexts—because everyone could be dangerous, and their priority
was to go home at the end of the day. The head of the police union in Newark
talked about popular hatred of the police, and how his officers felt like THEY
were the ones under attack. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does any of that have to do with this article? Those
officers weren’t roughing up an innocent man, or disproportionately stopping
black and Hispanic youth, because they’re straight-up evil and want those
people to be punished. They were doing it because they’re scared. They
genuinely believe that their job is dangerous, because it is, and that every
citizen they encounter on a night out on patrol is a danger to them—which is,
in the loosest possible sense, true. Whether their reaction was justified isn’t
the point. As long as they feel like that’s true, they’re gonna do what they feel
they need to do to protect themselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now re-frame it. The fundamentalist Christians surveyed in
this story, with the usual caveats about the reliability of polls, believe that
the rest of the world is out to get them. They see the relentless march of what
you and I call progress, on issues like gay, bi, and trans rights, as radical
leftists trampling over centuries-old beliefs about what is right and what is
sinful. They see the teaching of evolution as repudiating and attacking the
Bible, as seeking to disprove their core values. And they see their own
privileges eroding. Being a white, Christian, heterosexual man is still the
best job in America if you can get it, but as institutions and classes bend by
design or force to let in women and minorities, inevitably people who now have
to share power resent the loss of a time when they had near-exclusive claims to
it. They feel, for these reasons and many more, like they’re the ones under
attack. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And they are. In a sense. Activists have made tremendous
strides in the last half-century in tearing down barriers and lifting up whole
populations closer to real equality. But no matter how much activists say “We
want us AND you, not us INSTEAD OF you”, it is really, really hard to hear that
when you’re the one being asked to give something up. It’s hard to be the cop
and trust that the guy in front of you won’t knife you the second you relax
your guard. It’s hard to be the fundamentalist Christian and believe that these
activists—who they may never have had a real conversation with—want to be equal
to you, not replace you. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I write in this space every so often about the values of the
loyal opposition. How it’s important, not to cater to them, but to recognize
that they exist and that they have reasons for what they believe. How they may
even have ideas that are better than yours, or valid objections to your own
ideas that need to be settled. And how the only way to get anything done is to
talk to those people, to trust them, and to come to understand them—because that’s
the only way they’re going to trust and understand you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not some naïve hippie who thinks that trust and understanding
are practical solutions to all the world’s problems. But I am just naïve enough
to believe that they’re the only way you start to bridge these gaps. Mandatory
training on how to better talk to citizens is a start at getting cops to be
less shitty. If fundamentalist Christians really are passing anti-gay laws and
taking up anti-trans activism because they’re scared—not because they’re evil,
not even because they hate gay or trans people, but because they’re genuinely
afraid that their right to live how they want is being taken away—we have to
keep reaching out as much as we can. To say, in so many words, we don’t want to
bring you down; we want to be up there with you. There’s no guarantee that they’ll
listen. But I think we have to try.<o:p></o:p></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-41953530315004350132016-03-03T19:12:00.001-06:002016-03-03T19:12:55.357-06:00Talking about Trump in a Way that Works<div data-contents="true">
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="2umtv-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="742m3-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="742m3-0-0"><span data-text="true">If you've read my writing over the last couple of years, you know I'm generally an advocate for uncompromising conciliation. Of talking to people rather than just slapping a "backwards" or "wrong, idiot" label on them; of meeting rancor with honesty, of bridging gaps, of trying to create understanding and common ground. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="ba752-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ba752-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="ba752-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="62o51-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="62o51-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="62o51-0-0"><span data-text="true">Guess what? That's even more important now, with Trump and his legions, than it has been. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="c5hpd-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c5hpd-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="c5hpd-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="793i9-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="793i9-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="793i9-0-0"><span data-text="true">Hear me out, leftists.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="bvc26-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bvc26-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="bvc26-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="86dtj-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="86dtj-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="86dtj-0-0"><span data-text="true">Smart, angry people have been pointing out Trump's flaws and biases since he announced his campaign. They've only stepped up their efforts since he became a front-runner, and again as it became clear he was there to stay. 'He doesn't know anything substantial about anything!' they say. 'He's been bankrupt four times! He thinks the nuclear triad is a Chinese cabal! He's a birther, for God's sake!' </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="a2td4-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="a2td4-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="a2td4-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="piid-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="piid-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="piid-0-0"><span data-text="true">And most pertinently for this note, they say 'He insults women! He insults Muslims! He insults journalists! He insults [long list here], and he's biased against everybody, and he's a total fucking asshole!'</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="9totl-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9totl-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="9totl-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="3ne05-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3ne05-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="3ne05-0-0"><span data-text="true">So ask yourselves: since all those things are true, and everyone knows them... why do people still support him?</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="99u2a-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="99u2a-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="99u2a-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="3jkkm-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3jkkm-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="3jkkm-0-0"><span data-text="true">There are a lot of reasons, but in my opinion, a big one is political correctness. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="f9shd-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f9shd-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="f9shd-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="5fg61-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5fg61-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="5fg61-0-0"><span data-text="true">Yep. The big scapegoat of the right. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="2oti8-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2oti8-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="2oti8-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="rgfn-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="rgfn-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="rgfn-0-0"><span data-text="true">We, as leftists, are accustomed to using the word 'racist' or 'sexist' the way a mod on a message board deploys the ban-hammer. Like it or not, the ability to label someone as racist or sexist or whatnot--whether it's a fair and true accusation or not--is an incredible amount of power. No one wants to be that person. Universities fire their deans, cancel planned speakers, and negotiate with students to avoid being branded that way. Governments and businesses speak in neutered non-English to avoid offending any possible group. Once a public figure is labeled a racist or a sexist, it usually ends their career, or at best cripples it beyond easy repair. Doesn't matter if those labels are justified. We, Internet activists especially, are used to just pointing out that flaw in a person and then watching their support melt away. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="flope-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="flope-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="flope-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="bj1h7-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bj1h7-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="bj1h7-0-0"><span data-text="true">So reason #1 not to say "But he's a racist, sexist asshole!" is because it doesn't work. Everybody knows that at this point. His followers either agree with him or have rationalized that those things don't matter compared to what they like about him. Unlike just about everyone else, (justified) labeling doesn't work on Trump. We can't just keep saying, rather desperately, "But he's RACIST, don't you see??" and expect his supporters to come around.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="4skgo-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4skgo-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="4skgo-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="d9d8v-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="d9d8v-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="d9d8v-0-0"><span data-text="true">And reason #2 is that some of his supporters actually LIKE it. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="6r70c-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6r70c-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="6r70c-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="s9oj-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="s9oj-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="s9oj-0-0"><span data-text="true">Say you're the kind of angry white person who forms Trump's backbone, who thinks that the Democrats are trying to lift up illegal immigrants instead of lower-class, badly paid, no-college citizens like themselves. You don't see political correctness and the racist/sexist ban-hammer as a tool to deliver justice and punish the wicked. You see it as something the Democrats use to smash the people they don't like. Something that keeps the silent majority silent. As a tool that keeps people from pointing out what's wrong with this country. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="2v8mi-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2v8mi-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="2v8mi-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="9d3ou-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9d3ou-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="9d3ou-0-0"><span data-text="true">And now you see a guy who maybe is a little extreme in his beliefs, yeah. But he's speaking to all those issues you feel strongly about, but have been largely ignored for years by all the serious Presidential candidates. You don't agree with everything he says, but you love the way he says it. Blunt. Uncompromising. Optimistic, in a way--he reduces complicated problems to simple ones, and says he's the man to solve 'em. And what's best of all is that he refuses to be cowed. He's not going to be intimidated into silence by the mainstream media or the activist left. He's going to stand up and say what he believes. And you know what? You like that. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="cllkr-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cllkr-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="cllkr-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="8vaos-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8vaos-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="8vaos-0-0"><span data-text="true">I'm not trying to convince you to vote Trump in your primary or in the fall. I'm trying to convince you that all those Facebook statuses I see, all those attitudes I hear in my friends--that Trump is a pig, reposting that John Oliver monologue, all the variations--it feels good, but it doesn't solve the problem. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="9lt8m-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9lt8m-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="9lt8m-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="7fff1-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7fff1-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="7fff1-0-0"><span data-text="true">The problem is millions of people believing in Trump, and at this point, waving the ban-hammer around in the air hasn't solved it. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="c6u3j-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c6u3j-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="c6u3j-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="942f1-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="942f1-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="942f1-0-0"><span data-text="true">So the next time you come across a Trump supporter, don't scare them off. Don't cause them to oyster up by waving your hammer around. Don't assume they're dumb (you pretentious dick) or that they support Trump because they have half a high school degree. Maybe that's true, but pointing it out will not change their mind. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="4g2s4-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4g2s4-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="4g2s4-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="23i3p-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="23i3p-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="23i3p-0-0"><span data-text="true">Instead, if they seem willing to talk, ask them what they like. Draw them out. Let them talk. Let them draw those rationalizations--"He probably doesn't mean everything he says"--out into the open. And once they're out there, start nibbling delicately away at them. Present counter-facts. Refute with statistics where you can. There's an art to it; be coercive without confrontational, as if you were taming a colt. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="3jja7-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3jja7-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="3jja7-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="4tauc-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4tauc-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="4tauc-0-0"><span data-text="true">Is it a lot harder than turning away? Of course. Will you convince them? Maybe not. But you have a hell of a lot better chance than if you automatically shut them down. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="cofgc-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cofgc-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="cofgc-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="815ar-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="815ar-0-0">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span data-offset-key="815ar-0-0"><span data-text="true">And if we want to avoid a President Trump in November, sooner or later we'll have to start having those conversations. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-21442899160146657122016-02-04T17:26:00.000-06:002016-02-04T17:26:42.821-06:00President Obama Should Veto "International Megan's Law"<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear President Obama, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Please veto H.R. 515, "International Megan's Law to
Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced
Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders", when it reaches your desk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In every era, there are groups upon which the broader public
heaps its particular scorn. Sex offenders are not a racial, ethnic, or
religious group; they are united only by their crime. And yet despite their
crimes, they remain American citizens who are still deserving of basic freedoms
and the second chance offered all prisoners at the conclusion of their
sentence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Modern America has chosen sex offenders--and who could be
more deserving?--as one of the targets of this era, but our policy is often
reactionary and driven more by fear than good sense. Recidivism rates of sex
offenders are exceedingly low, but we act as if they were high. And the
"sex tourism" threat this bill purports to end is something the State
Department already has policies in place to deal with. In short, there is no
policy-related need for this bill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, due to the baby-and-bathwater nature of many modern
sex laws, some "sex offenders" are teenagers who sent each other nude
pictures, or statutory rapists who were genuinely unaware of their partner's
age, or other innocent people tarred for life with the "sex offender"
brush even when it contravenes all logic and good sense. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The bipartisan legislative consensus behind this law appears
to be driven not by serious consideration of policy, but by carrot-and-stick
incentives: no one wants to be seen being soft on sex offenders, and everyone
wants to say that they 'kept our communities safer' by striking another blow
against the evils of sex offenders. This is an awful way to make any law. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mr. President, threats to everyone's liberty do not walk up
to the front door and introduce themselves as such. They are, without
exception, cloaked in reasonable language to deal with nebulous dangers. And in
the long term, they set precedents--this would be the first-ever special
designation of an American citizen on a passport--that could one day be turned
against broader and less deserving sections of the American people. Imagine
your successor building on this law to require a special designation for Muslims,
for example, or for political dissidents. This policy is not worth that risk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Please veto H.R. 515. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-57112890772533660042015-12-02T13:22:00.000-06:002015-12-02T20:21:10.077-06:00Wisconsin Is Corrupt<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2011/2012, the Wisconsin Club for Growth, its proxy
Citizens for a Strong America, and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce collectively
spent an estimated $2.47M to reelect Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice
David Prosser. They collectively spent another $2.3M to reelect fellow WSC Justice
Lewis Gableman. Both are Republicans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In July 2015, those two honorable men <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/david-prosser-says-he-doesnt-need-to-step-aside-in-walker-probe-b99547465z1-319731971.html">declined
to recuse themselves</a> from ruling on the John Doe investigations, which
(among other things) are about whether the Wisconsin Club for Growth and
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce colluded illegally with (Republican) ‘Governor’
Scott Walker’s reelection campaign. Meanwhile, Democratic Justice Ann Walsh
Bradley recused herself “because her son works in a law firm that represents
one of the people involved in the probe”, according to the JS. JUST PUTTING
THAT OUT THERE. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The justices then reinterpreted campaign finance law
prohibiting collusion between campaigns and outside entities, finding that <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-supreme-court-ends-john-doe-probe-into-scott-walkers-campaign-b99535414z1-315784501.html">it
actually <i>allowed</i> that collusion</a>
and everyone else was wrong all along, and ordered that all copies of records
that were seized during the investigation must be <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/john-doe-prosecutors-want-courts-to-preserve-not-destroy-records-b99623388z1-356297961.html">destroyed</a>. (It's also worth noting that t<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">he difference between an ad that says "Vote for David Prosser!" and <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">an ad that says "David Prosser is <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">great and his opponent is an actual gorilla!"<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, i.e. doesn't <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">explicit<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ly say to vote for Prosser, <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">doesn't pas<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">s the holy-sh<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">it-are-you-kidding-me </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">common-sense </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">test but is someho<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">w enshrined in campaign law<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. There <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">is no meaningful difference between those two <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">types of ads<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, yet the law treats them completely differently. That is asinine.)</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">David Prosser wrote a <a href="http://media.jrn.com/documents/prosserrecusal.pdf">15-page opinion</a> on
why he declined to recuse himself, which said essentially “Well, that time they
spent a huge amount of money to reelect me was four whole years ago—who remembers
that far back? Besides, I basically had to accept their money under Wisconsin
election rules.” Gableman declined to state his, um, reasoning.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The ‘Governor’ and the Republican-dominated legislature then
passed a bill <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/bill-would-end-secret-john-doe-probes-of-political-crimes-b99599259z1-334704651.html">prohibiting
John Doe investigations from being used to investigate political corruption</a>.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The two justices voted today, along with the two other Republican
justices, that a special prosecutor <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-supreme-court-wont-reopen-john-doe-probe-rules-against-special-prosecutor-b99626790z1-359988701.html">had
been improperly appointed</a> to oversee the investigation into the (maybe
illegal) collusion between the aforementioned lobbying groups and the Governor’s
campaign arm, and declined to re-hear the case. (To be fair, they did rule that
the evidence gathered should be turned over to the court instead of just destroyed.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pause for reflection. <br />
<br />
HOW COULD ANY REASONABLE PERSON, REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL AFFILIATION, NOT CONSIDER
THAT CORRUPTION?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> WHAT ELSE COULD IT
BE? A STRING OF HAPPY COINCIDENCES THAT JUST HAPPEN TO WORK OUT IN FAVOR OF THE
PARTY THAT DOMINATES ALL THREE BRANCHES OF STATE GOVERNMENT, AND PROTECTS SAID DOMINANT PARTY FROM ANY LEGAL ACCOUNTABILITY
AND EVEN <i>EXPANDS </i>THEIR POWER?<br />
<br />
Prosser whines about campaign finance law in his opinion and says that it
wouldn’t be fair if he didn’t take the money. He’s the one who decides whether
to recuse himself, and he believes he can be impartial, so we should take his
word for it. Besides, four years is a long time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That is legal. It is also insane. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> No legal system
should allow ANY group to spend a huge amount of money to elect a judge, then
allow that judge to make a ruling about that group. How could that not at least appear to
be corrupt? And isn't preventing the appearance of corruption almost as important as preventing actual corruption (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckley_v._Valeo" target="_blank">Buckley vs. Valeo</a></i>)?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Partisan witch hunt, my ass. This would be dirty if ANYONE
did it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Imagine this situation with a Democratic governor and a
Democratic court (in some bizarre parallel universe) with a special prosecutor
trying to prove that the Democratic governor colluded improperly with Big Solar
and Big Wind to get himself reelected (<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">where a previous investigation has already convicted six of his employees<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">)</span></span>. And then when they try to prove it in court, the Dem-controlled
court <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">reinterpre<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ts existing law so that it's against their suit, </span></span>and orders that all evidence collected
be destroyed. When the prosecutor protests that Big Solar and Big Wind spent
heavily to elect two of the Dem justices, the Dem justices look themselves over
<i>real hard</i> and say “Nope, no
corruption here”. And the Dem governor says “This is clearly a partisan witch
hunt.” And then, oh yeah, he goes to the Dem-controlled legislature (where Dems
have a <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/182754381.html" target="_blank">gerrymandered</a> 2/3 majority, despite the state going R in the last seven Presidential
elections, most recently by nearly 7%) and passes a law that <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/bill-would-end-secret-john-doe-probes-of-political-crimes-b99599259z1-334704651.html">makes
it harder to investigate cases of political corruption</a>. And then oh yeah, he
then guts the Government Accountability Board, which had been pushing for
accountability in government, and rewrites campaign finance law in favor of groups
like Big Wind and Big Solar. (Those have not been passed yet, but they’re about
to be.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you’re a proud Republican voter, don’t you scream bloody
murder at that scenario?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And if you’re a principled Democratic voter, aren’t you
right there alongside them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, it’s happening in Wisconsin, and Democrats are on the
losing end. Screaming impotently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Where are the principled Republicans?</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-301076886570847822015-11-16T21:06:00.000-06:002015-11-16T21:06:12.957-06:00What Not To Do About ISIS<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My opinion: Everyone pretty much agrees on the immediate
emotional response (shock, horror, outrage) to the Paris attacks, setting aside
the quibbling over whether to pay lots of attention to other terrorist attacks
besides this one. The hard part is figuring out <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/11/16/dont-give-isis-what-it-wants-united-states-reaction/" target="_blank">the long-term policy response</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/world/europe/obama-g20-turkey.html" target="_blank">In the New York Times today</a>, an unnamed (of course) senior
intelligence official said “This was a game changer… Paris shows they can
attack soft targets on any day, anywhere, including in any major American
city”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bullshit. That’s not a “game changer”. That’s been happening
since at least 2008 in Mumbai, if not London 2005 or Madrid 2004, and it’s not
unique to ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. Everyone has been very well aware of the threat,
especially from returning ISIS veterans, for quite some time now and working
pretty hard on border control. This is exactly the same threat as we’ve had for
a long time now; the only difference is that now it’s not a threat, it’s
actually happened. The threat of bad guys with guns and explosives murdering
lots of people in the West is otherwise just as bad this week as it was last
week, which is to say, it is very out of the ordinary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If we learned anything from 9/11, it should’ve been not to
let our immediate emotional response drive long-term policymaking!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We’re <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/11/16/citing-paris-attack-cia-director-criticizes-surveillance-reform-efforts/" target="_blank">already hearing rumblings</a> about the terrorists using
commercial encryption to plan their attack, and how that translates into an
argument for more government oversight of the software industry and more back
doors with which they can spy. We're already seeing <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-gop-to-oppose-settlng-syrian-refugees-in-state-b99617125z1-350678111.html" target="_blank">brave, courageous 'governors' </a>like Scott Walker deny safe harbor to victims of terror because one
in 10,000 of them might be an enemy, even <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/11/16/3722628/no-state-governors-cant-refuse-to-accept-syrian-refugees/" target="_blank">though they can't do that</a>. And we’re already feeling pressure for
America to commit more money, planes, intelligence, and ground troops to fight
ISIS; that is to say, for America to take another couple of steps on the path
to another long, ugly, costly, indecisive, Middle East ground war that we will
not win and will solve nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After 9/11, we let the Patriot Act be passed, we acceded to
the Iraq invasion, we allowed Bush and Co. to torture innocent men and detain
them indefinitely, we allowed NSA spying on our private communications, we
elected a President who has presided over hundreds if not thousands of drone
strikes without a declaration of war, we elected a President who has so far
killed three American citizens without a trial, and on, and on, and on, and on.
It’s been fourteen years and we haven’t reined in the security state yet, and
more importantly, the war begun in Afghanistan in 2001 is not yet over!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After Bashar al-Assad gassed hundreds of his citizens, there
was tremendous public pressure for America to take a more active role in the
Syrian war, because to the public, gassing them was worse than shooting them. Obama,
although the “red line” comment made him look weak, didn’t give in to it. The
early indications are that he’ll be just as reluctant to put (more) American
troops on the ground vs. ISIS after Paris, to which I say, GOOD. Would ten U.S.
Army divisions beat ISIS in a straight fight? Probably. Would that solve the
problem of why ISIS exists, or stop the next Paris-style terrorist attack from
happening? Probably not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There will always be an ISIS. There will always be terror.
We’ve created a lot of terrorists, probably more than we've killed, but right this instant we don’t get to choose whether or not there
will be terrorists. We do get to choose how we respond to what they do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever we decide, let’s do it because we’ve
considered it carefully and decided that it’s best in the long term, not
because we’re hurt and angry and need to do something RIGHT NOW. And I can’t
see how getting into yet another Middle East ground war, or giving back some of our hard-won civil liberties, or denying safe harbor to victims of terror, would work out well in
the long term.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-66183495860656288382015-11-15T17:19:00.001-06:002015-11-15T17:19:36.612-06:00Starship Troopers --> Aliens --> Starcraft: Follow the References<div class="MsoNormal">
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thought between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aliens</i> (1986) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Starcraft</i> (1998); the parasitic,
human-corrupting Zerg are a lot like the Aliens, and several of the quotes of
the dropship pilot ("Heads up--we're in for some chop", "In the
pipe, five-by-five", appear in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Starcraft</i>.
You can also see the loose, undisciplined behavior of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aliens</i> Marines in the Marines of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Starcraft</i>, who likewise cover their armor with graffiti and grumble
"How do I get out of this chickenshit outfit?", another quote from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aliens</i>. So too the tiny, red “BAR” sign
in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aliens</i> colonists’ base, which
is replicated dozens of times in Terran standard scenery. And the iconic shot
of the Alien Queen advancing down the hallway towards the elevators is mirrored
in the cutscene battle aboard the Terran science vessel, as is the whole close,
frantic, chaotic fight against the Zerg in that scene.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Going the other way, I strongly suspect that James Cameron
and friends read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Starship Troopers</i>
(1959). Hudson's reference to knives and sharp sticks in his weapons monologue
to Ripley echoes Sergeant Zim's speech between knife-throwing sessions, and
Hicks falling asleep as the dropship descends through LV-426's atmosphere
speaks to Juan Rico's habit of falling asleep "if you actually had twenty
minutes of your very own... We were always several weeks minus on sleep." Rico
even sleeps standing up during parade and trains himself to wake only when he
has to move. Hudson also uses the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Starship
</i>Troopers slang “buy it” to refer to death, AND the Marines ask if this job
is “another bug hunt”, which is how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Starship
Troopers’</i> troopers call the fight against the “Pseudo-Arachnids”.<sub><o:p></o:p></sub></div>
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Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-31917527317373187302015-11-06T20:19:00.001-06:002015-11-06T20:24:22.134-06:00Rereading with Love: The Wheel of Time, Ten Years Later (Part II)<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Welcome back to the Wheel of Time. This is a 14-book (+1 field
guide + 1/3 prequel) that runs to about a zillion words and was a high school
favorite of mine. I just reread the fourth one and am sharing stuff about how I
now find it. If you want the first half, <a href="http://tisdelstirades.blogspot.com/2015/11/rereading-with-love-wheel-of-time-ten.html" target="_blank">click here</a>. If you simply wanna get
into it, read on. Here’s a glossary. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">Quick
Glossary</span></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rand: The basically messiah, super-magic user, and central
character. Is also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta’veren</i>, meaning
he has plot powers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mat: His buddy. Also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta’veren</i>.<br />
Perrin: His other buddy. Also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta’veren. </i>Dating
Faile. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Faile: Noblewoman in secret searching for adventure. Dating
Perrin. <br />
Berelain: Queen of tiny country. Pursuing Perrin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Moiraine: A magic user who found Rand before he was known to be
the messiah. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Aviendha: an Aiel (basically super-Bedouin) who tutors/hates/will
eventually love Rand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Elayne: Future queen, current magic user, has the hots for Rand.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Egwene: Magic user, has dreaming superpowers, used to be with
Rand but now ain’t. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nynaeve: Magic user. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Min: Also in love with Rand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thom: Rand’s advisor. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Siuan Sanche: Head of the female magic users. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lanfear: Rand’s evil ex from a past life. Shut up.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u><span style="color: #222222;">MAJOR SECTION II: How the Characters Work</span></u></b><u><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: #222222;">The Stranger at the Door</span></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Everyone in the series is constantly in the position of being
introduced to new things. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Nynaeve, and Egwene are from a
tiny backwater farming town and are totally unsophisticated. We see things from
their perspective, and we see a lot of new things; in <i>Shadow</i> alone,
Rand is introduced to the extremely complicated culture of the Aiel, and
there’s even a whole subplot about how ignorant he is. Perrin constantly
reminds everyone that he’s an unsophisticated blacksmith that doesn’t know
jack, even as he’s transforming into a leader of men (and refusing to admit it,
which is more annoying than I remember it being). Mat’s entire plotline
in <i>Shadow</i> is about finding answers related to things that have
happened to him in previous books, Nynaeve and Elayne are trainee Aes Sedai who
spend much of their time trying to learn new things, and Egwene is being taught
by her own bunch of strict taskmistresses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We rarely see things from the perspective of an authority figure
who knows what’s going on unless that authority figure is in the process of
wondering what someone <i>else</i> is doing; examples include
Moiraine waiting impatiently on Rand in the Stone of Tear, Thom being jerked
around by Moiraine in the Stone, and Siuan Sanche being suddenly upended by a
rebellion. Moreover, not only are characters constantly learning new things,
but the way the world works continually shifts underneath them. Look at the
Aiel; the test for becoming a leader of the Aiel is a very intense version of
“This is what you thought your people’s history was. Here’s what it actually
is, and it cuts to the heart of everything you believe. Now adapt to the new
reality, or else kill yourself”. There is a constant sense of shock at meeting
people who do things differently, from Aiel in a water-rich country to Seanchan
shocked at the mainlanders’ squabbling, and people get over it only very slowly
and sometimes not at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Eventually the series will begin to shift its tone. The core
group doesn’t stop learning new things, but they do gain experience in
positions of power and authority, stop being so wide-eyed at the world, and
start making decisions that impact the lives of others. However, although the
core group and many other characters get a lot more experienced and adept at
manipulating people over time, it hasn’t happened in <i>Shadow</i>. You
can sort of categorize the Wheel of Time books that way. Books 1-3 show these
characters as people who are essentially on an adventure story, traveling
unobtrusively and affecting events with deeds of heroism. Books 4-7 move to the
level of nations; although there’s plenty of adventure-story individual
missions, characters start leading and affecting events on a wider scale,
maneuvering with other powerful players. Rand in particular stops being a
refugee and begins to affect the destiny of whole nations; this is the last of
the table-setting. Books 8, 9 and 10 feel sort of scattered, with new plotlines
being introduced and old plotlines stagnating, before the rolling-boulder
downhill plunge that begins with Book 11 and carries past Jordan’s death all
the way to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Memory of Light</i>. <i>Shadow</i>,
Book 4, is a transitional one; everyone’s still learning, but Rand and Perrin
begin to lead, and others will follow them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: #222222;">Emotional Intelligence/Communication/Theory of Mind</span></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Why did you let her go in
that way?” [says Egwene]. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Puzzled, [Rand] stared at
her. “She wanted to go. I’d have had to tie her up to stop her. Besides, she’ll
be safer in Tanchico than near me—or Mat…”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“That isn’t what I mean at
all. Of course she wanted to go. And you had no right to stop her. But why didn’t
you tell her you wished she would stay?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“She wanted to go,” he
repeated, and grew more confused when she rolled her eyes as if he were
speaking gibberish. If he had no right to stop Elayne, and she wanted to go,
why was he supposed to try to talk her out of it? Especially when she was safer
gone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How hard is it to understand that Elayne wanted to be wanted
here? But Rand doesn’t get it, and what’s more, he doesn’t think it over and
understand later on. He just chalks that up as one of the unknowable mysteries
and moves on with his day. This is something that <i>everyone does</i>,
particularly as it relates to gender. Everyone in this entire series has the
emotional intelligence of a dog. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And long-running plot threads depend on it, which is really frustrating!
Perrin plans to go home and give himself up to the Whitecloaks (who will kill
him) so they’ll leave the Two Rivers, which is stupid, but, whatever. So he
tries to drive his girlfriend-later-wife Faile away by feigning interest in
another woman named Berelain. A) that doesn’t work, B) that fight with Faile
lingers for another 250 pages, and C) the subsequent Faile-Berelain-Perrin
triangle persists for another SEVEN BOOKS. It could have been resolved with two
or three adult conversations early in <i>Shadow</i>, but it wasn’t, was
it?!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oh, does Jordan love his
conflicts that are created or exacerbated by a lack of communication and an
inability to get inside other people’s heads. The Wheel of Time is peppered
with characters observing other characters and saying “oddly”, “puzzled”, “peculiar”,
or “for some reason” because they can’t suss out why the other person did something,
when the why is glaringly<i> </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">obvious
to the reader</span>. What moves it from frustrating to maddening is that
characters will muse internally about why someone else is acting that
way, <i>hit upon the right answer</i>, and then think to themselves ‘No,
that’s crazy, that couldn’t possibly be it’ and abandon the idea completely. It
used to make me crazy—it still makes me crazy! Important plot threads that last
four or five books are founded entirely on these miscommunications and
misinterpretations. When Jordan died and Brandon Sanderson took over the <i>Wheel
of Time</i>, one of the first things he did was to extinguish most of these
slow-burning threads, putting feuding characters in the same locations and
essentially writing “And then they hashed it out” half a dozen times.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <b>Gender Roles</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hoo boy.<br />
<br />
In some ways, the Wheel of Time is pretty modern-looking for a series that
began in the ‘90s and was written by an old white guy in the pre-<i>Game of
Thrones</i> era. Female characters such as Elayne, Egwene, Nynaeve, Siuan
Sanche, Moiraine, and plenty of others have political, magical, and personal
power of varying degrees. Women lead armies, nations and peoples. When women
are not formally in charge, they tend to have soft power that equals the hard
power of the men: examples include the Women’s Circle in Emond’s Field or the
wives and Wise One advisors of male Aiel clan chiefs, both of whom hold degrees
of power over the men who nominally lead. Women pursue dangerous missions,
advance within their professions, fight in battles magical and physical, and
generally display bravery, spunk, and the desire to be just as much a part of
the story as any man.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shadow</i> is
still very old-school. Modern feminism, as I understand it, is very much about
equal opportunity: women can and should be able to work on oil rigs, in law
offices, hold political office, and so on without consideration of their
gender. But although both sexes can hold power, <i>Shadow</i> and the
rest of <i>Wheel</i> are all about <i>specific gender roles</i>.
Sure, women can be powerful Wise Ones, but a Wise One is not a clan chief;
that’s a man’s role. Aiel women fight in the warrior society <i>Far Dareis
Mai</i>, Maidens of the Spear, but there are twelve warrior societies and the
rest are exclusively male. The source of magic, the One Power, is divided in
half; men can use the half called <i>saidin</i>, and women the half
called <i>saidar</i>, and neither can use the other one’s half without
help. Men and women are equal, says Jordan, but very definitely separate.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The One Ain’t The Other<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="color: #222222;">Saidar</span></i><span style="color: #222222;"> and <i>saidin</i> are illustrative in another
way, too. To use <i>saidin</i>, a man has to wrestle it into submission;
it’s often compared to riding an avalanche. To use <i>saidar</i>, a woman has
to surrender to it and open herself to be filled by it; Aes Sedai in training
imagine themselves as a slowly opening rosebud. Ignore the uncomfortable sexual
resonance for a second. The point is that men are <i>fundamentally wired
differently</i> than women; when Elayne and Egwene try to teach him the
Power, Rand compares it to a bird trying to teach a fish to fly. And the Power
is far from the only area where this is voiced. On practically every other
page, a character throws their hands up and declares that they’ll never
understand the opposite sex, and they never will. Hey, look, it’s the emotional
intelligence thing again! Nobody can cross the gender barrier and figure out
the other side because they’re just so freaking different from us. Women are
mysterious and desirable in their femininity, say the men; they’re dumb, say
women, but we love ‘em anyway. And that’s all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But, of course, it isn’t all. In some ways women have plenty of
power, but in other ways they fall into the kind of norms or male-gaze-ness
that would make several of my exes tear their hair out. Heteronormativity is
almost absolute, minus some talk about “pillow-friends” that appears in later
books, but a) it seems to be only women (remember this) and b) I don’t remember
any openly gay or lesbian characters, much less trans ones. Everyone is set in
their sexual and gender identity. More to the point, in traditional fantasy
style, nobody is single or casually dating; everyone has a Love Of Their Life that
they wind up with. Women (Elayne and Min, probably Aviendha, Egwene, Nynaeve,
and several others) fall in love with their men <i>immediately</i> upon
meeting them. And, well, this happens.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bechdel Dies<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Perrin Aybara belongs to
me,” [Faile] snapped. “You keep your hands and your smiles away from him!” She
flushed to her hairline when she heard what she had said. She had promised
herself she would never do this, never fight over a man like a farmgirl rolling
in the dirt at harvest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Berelain arched a cool
eyebrow. “Belongs to you? Strange, I saw no collar on him. You serving girls—or
are you a farmer’s daughter?—you have the most peculiar ideas.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">[Faile fumes internally
about being raised at Court in Saldaea]<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">She was surprised to see
the knife in her hand; she had been taught not to draw a knife unless she meant
to use it. “Farm girls in Saldaea have a way of dealing with women who poach
others’ men. If you do not swear to forget Perrin Aybara, I will shave your
head bald as an egg. Perhaps the boys who tend the chickens will pant after you
then!” <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It goes on like that. You see? These are two strong-willed
women. One of them runs a country, the other will be revealed as a noblewoman
who’s had all sorts of battle training. But they’re in this conflict because of
a man. Berelain’s trying to hook a member of Rand’s entourage so he will think
well of her country, and Faile is old-fashioned-ly in love with Perrin. If this
was Jordan’s idea of strong female characters, he misses the modern idea so hard
it’d make Bechdel barf. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Most female activity in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shadow</i>
fits this pattern on a macro level. Nynaeve and Elayne are ostensibly on an
independent mission, but they’re acting to remove a danger to Rand. Moiraine is
presented as this wise and unknowable figure who wields immense power (and boy,
do they talk about avoiding her manipulations A LOT), but almost all she does
in <i>Shadow</i> is bitch at Rand and follow him around. Ditto
Aviendha, who is made to act as his tutor; ditto Lanfear, who holds off on killing
him because she is still in love with him. He is the basically messiah, and
part of his power is that all sorts of people are pulled towards him without
knowing why, but… man. There are women doing things for their own sake—Egwene
studying Dreaming with the Aiel Wise Ones, for example—but they are far
outnumbered by the ones doing what they do for men. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Male Gaze<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I mentioned the male gaze up above. Jordan was kind of a dirty
old man, and there aren’t many circumstances where men are told to get naked in
his books, but women? In <i>Shadow</i> alone, we see topless
Sea Folk women, naked Aiel women plus Moiraine, Aviendha and Egwene, naked
Moiraine and Aviendha going to Rhuidean (an Aiel holy place), naked Seanchan
servants (men and women), Egwene in her bath (and Aviendha naked again in the
same scene), Nynaeve and Elayne and their friend Egeanin in revealing
nightclothes (multiple times), Elayne falling out of her dress to impress Rand,
and I’m sure there are plenty of others I’m forgetting. It’s delicately done
and never explicit—Jordan will say “She wore not a stitch” and leave it at
that—but it’s also damn near omnipresent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Even as a teenager I noticed this (I mean, of course I did). Often
in-book it’s at a female-only ceremony, like the Aiel sweat tent that Egwene
visits, but the overwhelming sense is that it’s for straight male readers to be
titillated by—remember the female-only pillow-friends? And of course there’s
sex. I think the first sex scene comes in Book 5, and many others follow. Mind
you, Jordan usually cuts away from the action, but will describe the afterglow
in fairly rapturous detail. It’s hard not to conclude that these books are
written precisely for the sort of teenage me that found them, blending
sword-and-sorcery stuff with naked this and naked that while throwing in enough
strong (ish) female-ness and sanctimonious cutting away to maintain some
respectability.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anti-Conclusion
Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I didn’t write this to render a judgment or draw a grand
conclusion on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shadow</i> or on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wheel</i>. Sometimes you go back and read a
thing from childhood, or see a TV show or watch a movie, and think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man, I can’t get into this now.</i> I tried
watching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jackie Chan Adventures</i>,
which used to be my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">favorite </i>Saturday
morning cartoon, when they put the whole series on YouTube. No dice. It’s paced
too slow, the jokes fall flat on adult ears, and Jade is somehow right about
everything because preteen girls always are. Even in a movie like Mulan that’s
still enjoyable, the jokes tend to be just a little slower, telegraphed a bit
more so that young eyes will catch them. And it’s depressing because you know
you’ll never again like it as much as you did; it'll never have that special magic that once caught your eye. “By the time I got back to music, the
season had passed,” says Daniel Baker in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Collateral</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">The Shadow Rising</span></i><span style="color: #222222;"> doesn’t hit me like that.
Sure, I probably wouldn’t be into it today. Somewhere along the line I lost my
taste for epic fantasy; I couldn’t finish even the third book in Terry
Goodkind’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sword of Truth</i> series,
and while I enjoyed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Song of Ice and Fire</i>,
I didn’t get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">into</i> it in the same way
that I did the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wheel of Time</i>. I have
friends who know every name of every minor House, get into all the fan
theories, have instant memory recall of every half-glimpsed prophecy. Nope.
When I was 16 I spent hours on Wotmania.com arguing with chat room denizens
about who killed Asmodean or whatever; it was my first experience in an online
community. Even though Reddit exists now, I haven't come close to doing that today.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My point is that <i>Shadow</i>
makes me think. Reading it over again makes me think about the me that read it
nine or ten years ago, and the me that’s reading it now, and how I’ve changed.
A book is like a time capsule that way, or maybe a mirror. The words in the
book stay the same no matter which you is reading them. And if it’s a good
book, you’re going to get a different meaning from it every time you try. If
you’re reading it like I did with <i>Shadow</i>,
you end up reading yourself, too. <i>This is
what I used to value. I missed this, but I caught that. This is what the book
meant to me then, and this is what it means now.</i> It’s like the old saying:
“Wherever you go, there you are.”</span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-82612239757287214612015-11-05T21:31:00.002-06:002015-11-05T21:31:53.176-06:00Rereading With Love: The Wheel of Time, Ten Years Later (Part I)<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I was in middle and
high school, my favorite books were Robert Jordan’s old-school epic fantasy,
the <i>Wheel of Time</i>. Before it was over, there were 14
books (three published after Jordan’s death), a prequel and a companion book.
The series is about a reborn savior who comes of age and leads the world in a
struggle against the Dark One, as with many fantasy books, and I just loved it.
What do you want. I own all but the last book and read the series (the books
are often around 1,000 pages) at least five times, but I hadn’t reread it in
half a decade and hadn’t touched <i>any</i> of them since <i>A
Memory of Light </i>capped the quattuordecology in 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At a used bookstore the
other month, I spotted a copy of <i>The Shadow Rising </i>(book #4), which
had always been my favorite. I bought it on a whim, took it home, and re-re-reread
it. Several things that I never or barely noticed a decade ago jumped out at me
repeatedly in the book, so I wrote ‘em up below. Briefly: the prose is
incredibly florid, the world is so complicated that Jordan spends half his time
explaining what came before, the book is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">incredibly <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">long</span></i>, everyone has the emotional
sensitivity of a Martian, everyone is constantly surprised by everything, and
the way women are portrayed is not nearly as progressive as I thought it was.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">Quick Glossary</span></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rand: The basically
messiah, super-magic user, and central character. Is also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta’veren</i>, meaning he has plot powers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mat: His buddy. Also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta’veren</i>.<br />
Perrin: His other buddy. Also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta’veren. </i>Dating
Faile. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Faile: Noblewoman in
secret searching for adventure. Dating Perrin. <br />
Berelain: Queen of tiny country. Pursuing Perrin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Moiraine: A magic user
who found Rand before he was known to be the messiah. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aviendha: an Aiel
(basically super-Bedouin) who tutors/hates/will eventually love Rand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Elayne: Future queen,
current magic user, has the hots for Rand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Egwene: Magic user, has Dreaming
superpowers, used to be with Rand but now ain’t. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nynaeve: Magic user. Angry
a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Min: Also in love with
Rand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thom: Rand’s advisor. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Siuan Sanche: Head of the
female magic users. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lanfear: Rand’s evil ex
from a past life. Shut up.<br />
<br />
<b><u>MAJOR SECTION I: How the Book Works</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #222222;"><br />The Prose</span></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Robert Jordan LOVED
descriptions. Oh my God. I confess I used to skim these, but this time I made a
conscious effort to read each paragraph carefully and take in its meaning.
Doing this, I noticed for the first time just how much description is really in
here. Take for example Rand’s bedchamber in the Stone of Tear, a fortress he
conquered at the end of Book Three.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">“</span></i><span style="color: #222222;">Callandor<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> sat undisturbed, a sword seemingly of
glass, hilt and blade, on a stand as tall as a man and just as wide, the wood
ornately carved and gilded and set with precious tones. The furnishings, too,
were all gilded and begemmed, bed and chairs and benches, wardrobes and chests
and washstand. The pitcher and bowl were golden Sea Folk porcelain, as thin as
leaves. The broad Tarabon carpet, in scrolls of scarlet and gold and blue,
could have fed an entire village for months. Almost every flat surface held
more delicate Sea Folk porcelain, or else goblets and bowls and ornaments
worked with silver, and silver chased with gold. On the broad marble mantel
over the fireplace, two silver wolves with ruby eyes tried to pull down a
golden stag a good three feet tall. Draperies of scarlet silk embroidered with
eagles in thread-of-gold hung at the narrow windows, stirring slightly in a
failing wind. Books lay wherever there was room, leather-bound, wood-bound,
some tattered and still dusty from the deepest shelves of the Stone’s library.”</i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">
<br />
The whole scene is like this, rich long paragraphs of description,
reaction, or internal monologue that are broken up only occasionally by rather
stilted dialogue. There’s more conversation as the book goes on (this is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only</i> 76 pages in), but when he’s
introducing the world, Jordan lays it on thick. He moves majestically over the
Aiel Waste (desert) or the lush Tairen countryside, peppering his characters’
observations of the scenery with political observations, internal musings, and
peoples’ actions that splash the landscape with color. Just read this:<br />
<br />
</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“One night lions killed two of the Shaido
packhorses, roaring in the darkness as they were driven from their prey to
vanish in the gullies. A wagon driver disturbed a small brown snake as they
were making camp the fourth evening. A two-step, Aviendha called it later, and
it proved its name. The fellow screamed and tried to run for the wagons despite
seeing Moiraine hurrying towards him; he fell on his face at his second stride,
dead before the Aes Sedai could dismount from her white mare. Aviendha listed
venomous snakes, spiders and lizards. Poisonous lizards! Once she found one for
him [Rand], two feet long and thick, with yellow stripes running down its brown
scales. Casually pinning it under a soft-booted foot, she drove her knife into
the thing’s wide head, then held it up where he could see the clear, oily fluid
oozing over sharp bony ridges in its mouth. A </i>gara<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, she explained, could bite through a boot; it could also kill a bull.
Others were worse, of course. The </i>gara<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
was slow, and not really dangerous unless you were stupid enough to step on it.
When she flung the huge lizard off her blade, the yellow and bronze faded right
into the cracked clay. Oh, yes. Just do not be stupid enough to step on it.</i></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That is never going to be
relevant in the entire rest of the series, but Jordan doesn’t care; he’s not
about narrative streamlining. He’s building a big sprawling open world with
lots of raggedy edges.<br />
<br />
<b>The Complexity</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me sum up just the
world. Never mind the history, never mind the politics by the time of <i>Shadow</i>,
never mind how magic works, etc. I’ll just list all the major groups at the
start of the series.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the main continent
where everything happens, there are these nations: <b>Saldaea</b>, <b>Arafel</b>, <b>Kandor</b>,
<b>Shienar</b> (these four are called the Blightborder), <b>Cairhien</b>, <b>Andor</b>, <b>Arad</b> <b>Doman</b>,
<b>Tarabon</b>, <b>Amadicia</b>, <b>Murandy</b>, <b>Altara</b>, <b>Illian</b>, and <b>Tear</b>. (I named those from
memory and thought I got ‘em all, but left out li’l old <b>Ghealdan</b> and irrelevant
<b>Mayene</b>. I’m a bad fan.) There are also unincorporated territories or cities,
such as Almoth Plain or Far Madding. Cairhien and Shienar abut a mountain range
that separates the main continent from the <b>Aiel Waste,</b> which has thirteen clans
of <b>Aiel</b>, a desert people. That’s to the east. To the south is the sea, which is
populated by the <b>Sea</b> <b>Folk</b>, dusky traders of great renown. To the north is the
<b>Blight</b>, the abode of evil where no humans live. To the west is the Aryth Ocean,
on the other side of which is an empire called <b>Seanchan</b>, who will invade the
mainland in Book 2. On the other side of the Aiel Waste is <b>Shaara</b>, an entirely
different continent about which little is known but trade is conducted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, you thought we were
done? Various groups and societies operate within the main continent. Female
magic users band together in a group called the <b>Aes Sedai</b>, which acts as a
guiding hand for the rest of the world and is country-independent; they’re run
from the White Tower in the city of Tar Valon. Amadicia is run by the
<b>Whitecloaks/Children of the Light</b>, an ascetic society dedicated to hunting down
<b>Darkfriends</b>, which are exactly what they sound like and pretty much everywhere.
<b>Tinkers</b>, peaceful nomads, wander through the world in their caravans in search
of the song that will bring about a new age. <b>Ogier</b>, a nonhuman race, keep to
their homes (called <i>stedding</i>) and interact only occasionally with
humans. Creatures of evil called <b>Trollocs</b> and <b>Myrddraal</b> exist, although they’re
not usually seen below the Blight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are traveling
entertainers called <b>gleemen</b>, firework-makers called <b>Illuminators</b>, traders and
peddlers galore, and of course nobles in every nation who try to gain
influence, money, or power. We can’t forget the <b>Forsaken</b>, the Dark One’s
thirteen hand-picked evil emissaries, who are all loose in the world (mostly in
disguise) and scheming various schemes to advance their own causes. And I’m not
even <i>counting</i> the groups that are created or become relevant
during the series, such as the <b>Shaido Aiel,</b> the <b>Black Tower</b>, the <b>Kin</b>, the <b>Two
Rivers</b>, the <b>Band of the Red Hand</b>, the <b>Dragonsworn</b>…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Every single one of these
things will become relevant during the series. With the exceptions of Arafel,
Kandor and Shaara, there will be major plotlines that take place in every
nation and with every group, and even those three are connected to
cross-national plotlines. What I’m trying to say is that this is a complicated
place. And so even at the tender age of Book 4, the first 200-300 pages
of <i>Shadow</i> are riddled with explanations, because they have to
be! You can’t go three pages without tripping over a long expository paragraph
because there’s <i>so damn much to expose</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think in later books
Jordan kind of throws up his hands and says, the hell with new readers, this is
unmanageable, because I don’t remember there being <i>as much</i> description
of the basic elements of the world in the last seven books as there is in,
say, <i>Shadow</i>. But it’s shocking to read again, especially since I
skipped the first three books and haven’t been introduced to all this stuff
gradually over the previous 3,000 pages. The first 200-300 pages of <i>Shadow<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></i>are like a master class; even
though a lot of it won’t be relevant to the rest of <i>Shadow</i>, he wants you
to get a feel for the world and its history. Did I mention that I didn’t
mention the history at all, and there’s over 3,000 years of it? Oh, man, I
didn’t mention the World of Dreams, or the wolves, or the snake-people and
fox-people, or…)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #222222;">The Length</span></b><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So between the
description and the exposition, you can see how these things balloon. We’re 350
pages in before the main characters all go on their separate expeditions from
the place where they started the book, which is stunning to reread, especially
since a lot of that 350 pages is various characters <i>wondering what’s
about to happen next</i>. The main characters also spend a <i>lot</i> of
time internally weighing their options, making comparisons, expressing
wonderment or bafflement (we’ll get to this), or simply observing the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are four main
plotlines. Rand goes to the Aiel Waste to prove himself as king of them in
fulfillment of prophecy, Mat seeks answers to life’s persistent questions, such
as “Who ate my memories?”, Perrin goes back to their home to deal with a
Trolloc/Whitecloak invasion, and Elayne and Nynaeve go to Tarabon to snuff out
a plot against Rand. There are other storylines that get a few chapters each,
such as a civil war in the White Tower or Egwene honing her Dreaming talents,
but those are the main ones. Some, like Rand or Perrin, are told almost totally
from Rand’s perspective, but we get Rand’s thoughts on Mat and vice versa as
well as Mat’s own story, and we get six or seven perspectives on the Tarabon
storyline. It’s all very nicely balanced; Rand’s story is the most prominent,
and Elayne/Nynaeve gets more time as the book goes on, but it never feels like
one storyline is overwhelming any other. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s just that there are
so many storylines and sub-storylines. Take Perrin’s story. He’s learning his
power to talk to wolves and enter the World of Dreams, he’s growing from a
simple blacksmith into a savvy leader of men, his people are organizing
themselves as a military force, he’s trying to avoid being manipulated by Aes
Sedai, he’s fighting with the woman he loves and later marries in <i>Shadow</i>,
and so on. (All of this happens in <i>Shadow</i> alone.) And all of
this interacts with the stories of people like Aram, the Tinker who renounces
their nonviolent beliefs for Perrin, Aiel traveling companions Gaul and Chiad,
and the Whitecloak commander <i>and</i> his evil advisor, both of
whom Perrin has a history with. Now scale this out to Rand and Mat and
Elayne and Egwene and Nynaeve, and all the people <i>they</i> know.
And then imagine all the new characters and major storylines that will be
introduced or expanded upon in the subsequent ten books. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the core
principles of the Wheel of Time universe is the Pattern, the
semi-mystical/semi-real sum of all human decisions that binds everyone together
in its fabric. You can see that in Jordan’s writing. Everything’s connected,
and everyone has to take everyone else and their beliefs into account before
doing anything, so every step in everyone’s story is taken very deliberately
and with much internal reflection. All of these stories progress together, even
the ones that are only hinted at and whose specifics must be guessed. And that
makes even <i>Shadow</i>, which by Wheel of Time standards is a very
fast-moving book (see the virtually plot-movement-free <i>Crossroads of
Twilight</i>), stretch out to a thousand pages because you’re not just dealing
with a single plotline, you’re dealing with several major ones and dozens of
smaller ones that all hook together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of length, we’re
2,100 words in, so come back tomorrow for the other three things! If you care! </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-38027796613353912992015-09-03T23:45:00.001-05:002015-09-16T09:02:10.737-05:00Scott Walker's "We Acted" On Police Reform in Wisconsin<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since 'Governor' Walker is known for his courage and boldness in speaking out on topics in the national interest, he doesn't come right out and say a damn thing in <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/09/02/hot-air-exclusive-scott-walker-speaks-out-on-cop-murders-and-american-leadership/" target="_blank">his op-ed on some outlet I've never heard of</a>, Hot Air, on policemen being shot in the US. He's going to unite America, thinks policemen should not be shot, and other controversial statements. (He does strongly imply, though not say, that Obama is the reason for anti-police rhetoric that leads to police deaths). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But he does say one thing of interest: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"In Wisconsin we acted to protect both police officers and citizens through a first-in-the-nation law that requires an independent investigation when a suspect dies in police custody."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Funny, it almost sounds like he's taking credit for that. "We acted." Surely he is among the "we"?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">UPDATE: On September 13, Walker said "I’m proud to say I'm the only governor in America, the first one and I believe the only one today, who signed a law that says there needs to be an independent investigation any time there's a death of someone in police custody." <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/13/scott-walker/scott-walker-im-only-governor-sign-law-requiring-i/" target="_blank">Source</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet according to Michael Bell, the man who advocated tirelessly for the bill (Assembly Bill 409/<a href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/related/acts/348" target="_blank">Senate Bill 348</a>) after his handcuffed son was murdered by police officers in Kenosha, Walker initially wasn't interested in his idea that maybe the police force shouldn't be investigating itself when it mighta done something wrong. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"In the beginning, I contacted the governor’s office, the attorney general and the U.S. attorney for Wisconsin. They didn’t even return my phone calls or letters," <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/what-i-did-after-police-killed-my-son-110038" target="_blank">he wrote in 2014</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">According to the AP, Walker's Attorney General (J.B. Van Hollen) was initially opposed to the bill when it was introduced in late 2013, calling it <a href="http://www.nbc15.com/news/state/headlines/Wis-bill-alters-officer-involved-shooting-reviews-221164071.html" target="_blank">"unnecessary, unworkable and an expansion of government's already too burdensome bureaucracy"</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What did Walker think? Well, it's really difficult to say. Reading the Journal Sentinel articles about the bill from that time period, <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/wisconsin-bill-would-have-outside-agencies-investigate-shootings-by-police-b9986593z1-222191311.html" target="_blank">Walker</a> <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/vote-on-custody-death-bill-set-for-tuesday-b99207155z1-245822921.html" target="_blank">isn't</a> <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/assembly-to-vote-on-changes-to-custody-death-investigations-b99205996z1-245998251.html" target="_blank">quoted</a> <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/official-reiterates-tom-barretts-backing-of-in-custody-death-bill-b99218165z1-248427801.html" target="_blank">in</a> <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/custody-death-bill-clears-one-more-wisconsin-legislative-hurdle-b99219782z1-248855681.html" target="_blank">any</a> <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/most-back-outside-review-of-custody-deaths-wisconsin-poll-says-b99223310z1-249603971.html" target="_blank">of</a> <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/gov-scott-walker-expected-to-sign-police-custody-bill-b99253819z1-256342301.html" target="_blank">them</a>. He seems not to have spoken out or taken any kind of public position on the bill (because he's <i>unintimidated</i>). Even in articles about the bill being actually signed, by him, he isn't quoted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He certainly didn't speak out in favor of the bill. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can't find the voting records (which pisses me off), but it seems clear that the bill passed the Senate and the Assembly with pretty wide support. Yet I'm unable to find Walker going on record about it during the legislative process.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Walker signed 55 bills the day he signed Assembly Bill 409/Senate Bill 348, so the press release from that day contains <a href="http://walker.wi.gov/newsroom/press-release/governor-scott-walker-signs-55-bills-0" target="_blank">only a paragraph on the police review bill</a>. Searches for "police" in his press release page turn up only visits to law enforcement memorials and things of that nature. A search for "police" under his "Government Reform" category yields only a reference to the 2011 'Budget Repair Bill'. And <a href="https://www.facebook.com/governorscottwalker" target="_blank">his Facebook page</a> doesn't have any posts between 4/7/14 and 5/2/14. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So we can't say for certain whether he approved of or disapproved of it, although it's reasonable to wonder if his view is the same as that of his attorney general (who is elected separately). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But he absolutely did not speak out in favor of it, unless it's somehow escaping my analysis. Walker is generally <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/06/26/scott-walker-on-crime-and-punishment-back-to-the-90s" target="_blank">pretty far to the right</a> on criminal justice issues, supporting bills that reduced parole for Wisconsin prisoners, not pardoning <i>any</i> Wisconsinites in five years as governor, and spending more money on corrections than on the UW system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Therefore, it seems reasonable to me to scoff when Walker says that "we", including himself, established an independent police review agency. He didn't say a word or do a damn thing that I can find in its support. According to Bell, he wasn't interested at all, at least when Bell proposed the idea. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet here he is, lapping up the credit for it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What a wonderful display of leadership. </span>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-16922076048903048402015-06-19T18:44:00.003-05:002015-06-19T18:44:48.963-05:00Crush the Enemy!! A Glimpse of American Fast Carrier Leadership in the Pacific War<div class="MsoNormal">
Charles Pownall was not a bad carrier admiral. In James H.
Belote and William M. Belote’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Titans of
the Seas</i>, he appears as a solid administrator and a tactically sound but
overly cautious commander, who commanded the main American carrier task force in the Pacific WWII Theater--Task Force 50--for a short time. With the awesome power of six heavy and five light
aircraft carriers under his tactical command to defend amphibious landings on
Betio (Tarawa) and Makin islands in the Gilbert Islands, he did so adequately.
The subsequent raid on Kwajalain with a six-carrier task force cost him his
job. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pownall did not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lose</i>
a battle; he merely did not win one. He saw the carriers as raiders, which they
had been on both sides until that point in the war. Their job was to get in,
drop bombs and torpedoes, and get out before the land-based air
counterattacked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the words of the Belotes: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The Air Plan devised by Pownall was the product of a
cautious nature and defensive-mindedness. In it Pownall specified that the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cowpens</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Belleau Wood</i> [light carriers] air groups should be reserved
entirely for defense. In addition the plan withheld nearly a third of the
embarked Hellcats on the big carriers for CAP [Combat Air Patrol]… The Task
Force, he thought, would not achieve surprise and probably would be attacked.
Therefore, ‘We will plan for the worst and hope for the breaks’. “ (246)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first American air strike was inconclusive, destroying
32 Zeros (fighters) and 9 Bettys (bombers) and damaging 20 more aircraft, but
the runways were left intact and plenty of planes remained. Pownall cancelled a
planned second strike and hit one of two secondary targets instead. The
Americans got away at the price of a torpedo hit on one carrier. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pownall’s losses were moderate and his results equally so,
but in the philosophy of a world war, cautious, moderate men are not winners. He
was canned after the battle for “his apparent predilection for seeing the
dangers inherent in a carrier strike rather than the opportunities”. (249) He
was replaced by Marc A. Mitscher. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mitscher was a winning admiral, a “pilot’s admiral”, a man
who believed that the best way to win battles and keep one’s ships safe was to
destroy the enemy. “To him carriers were primarily offensive weapons, and he
believed in neutralizing enemy planes by making sure they never left the
ground. Command of the air as a prelude to bombing strikes was to Mitscher as
sound a principle as command of the sea to an amphibious landing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mitscher’s first carrier raid for the next invasions in the
Gilberts was devastating. He planned to hit three airfields simultaneously,
making significant tactical changes as well. “A fighter sweep would strafe
first, bombers would then shatter the fields, and standing fighter patrols
would continue to orbit and strafe until every last grounded airplane had been
destroyed.” (252) That way, the carriers wouldn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> to run away; they could seize control of the airspace and hold
it! This was done, and the Americans maintained absolute air supremacy for the
remainder of the invasion. A similar plan worked soon afterwards in a
devastating raid on Japanese base Truk, destroying over 150 planes on the
ground. After the task force had “shattered aerial resistance” (262),
Mitscher’s planes wrecked what shipping and warships remained in the bay. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mitscher would continue in command of the fast carrier force
right through to the end of the war. The outstanding record compiled by his
pilots and crews has to be attributed in some part to increasingly superior
American tactics, weaponry, training, and numbers, but some credit must go to
the man. Commanding the same carrier task force with largely the same people in
it just a few months after Pownall, Mitscher got far more out of it. If Pownall
was a shield, Mitscher was a sword; instead of merely defending, he crushed the
enemy! This is why Pownall is forgotten today and Mitscher is one of the great
American admirals’ names in the Pacific War. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We don’t remember the timid generals or the conservative
ones, except when listing the minor players that passed before the great men
entered the scene. Having just reread the first book in Bruce Catton’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Army of the Potomac</i> trilogy, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr. Lincoln’s Army</i>, one cannot help but
think of George McClellan, who always demanded more men and additional surety.
Robert E. Lee was bold, daring, willing to do outrageous things when necessary
with ragged, footsore soldiers, and beat the stuffing out of McClellan’s
well-shod troops everywhere but at Antietam because he had a penthouse suite in
McClellan’s head, just as the threat of Japanese retaliation occupied Pownall.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You need aggressiveness to win wars; not mindless violence,
but controlled violence, for a purpose (to quote Robert Heinlein). Bull Halsey,
George Patton, Troy Middleton—the list goes on. Catton wrote a long ode to the
Confederate generals that is worth quoting from: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“There was a crippling deficiency in the [Army of the
Potomac] command… a lack of the hard, grim, remorseless, driving spirit that
must be on tap if wars are to be won.” (200) Later, he calls it “the
indefinable something which can best be summed up as a positive taste for
fighting” (203) and “the driving, slashing, fighting type of general” (206). Mitscher
was aggressive with purpose and brought out the best in his subordinates, say
the Belotes, even though he was the quietest and least bullheaded of men. Having
this type of general does not guarantee final victory—the decorated list of strong,
creative Confederate generals is proof enough of that—but a lack of it all but
guarantees defeat. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m currently studying Thomas E. Ricks’s massive but very
readable <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Generals: American Military
Command from WWII to Today</i>. It tells the story of how in the prewar and
WWII years, George Marshall canned or transferred <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dozens</i> of generals and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hundreds</i>
of lesser officers not because they were corrupt, stupid, or lost battles, but
simply because they were more Pownall than Mitscher, more McClellan than Lee. I’m
only in the WWII section (75 pages in), and it promises to be depressing—as the
years and wars slope towards the present, apparently the US Army grows less and
less willing to can the middle-management generals in favor of bringing fighters
to high command. There may be another post on this topic when I’m done.<o:p></o:p></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-53203688950443562882015-05-14T22:21:00.003-05:002015-05-14T22:21:56.370-05:00Senator Rubio on the NSA<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear Senator Rubio,<br /><br />If not now, when?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That is the question that immediately comes to mind upon reading the headline of your <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/05/10/nsa-patriot-act-sen-marco-rubio-editorials-debates/27097131/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">May 10<sup>th</sup> op-ed</a> in USA Today, which is “Sen. Rubio: Now’s no time to end NSA program”. You go on to assert that we now face “a greater threat of terrorist attack than any time” since 9/11/01, to claim that tools including the NSA’s illegal bulk metadata collection program have been “a major contributor” to our success in not suffering a major attack in the U.S. over the last 14 years, and to call for the renewal of the program as it currently stands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Senator, although you allude to “recent court rulings”—i.e. the three-judge appeals court of the federal Second Circuit Court unanimously finding the NSA’s bulk metadata collection program illegal a few days ago—I’m not sure you fully appreciate their meaning. At the end of your op-end, you urge Congress to renew the program as it stands, but do not acknowledge that those judges found the current program illegal under the Patriot Act as it stands right now. You rejoice that at least it was not found unconstitutional, but obscure the fact that the judges declined to rule on its constitutionality because the violation of the Act itself was so blatant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Think about what that means, Senator; even under the extraordinarily open and embracing aegis of the Patriot Act, this program went too far. It went so far that it wasn’t even necessary to rule on its constitutionality to judge it illegal. It goes far beyond what even <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-spying-prompts-reversal-anti-terror-lawmaker-071415170--politics.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">its primary author</a> wanted. And according to no less an authority than former NSA director Keith Alexander, the program is responsible for stopping <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/07/the-nsa-isnt-likely-to-miss-its-illegal-bulk-phone-collection-program/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">only one or two</a> threats since it was enacted, which is down from the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/officials-surveillance-programs-foiled-more-than-50-terrorist-plots/2013/06/18/d657cb56-d83e-11e2-9df4-895344c13c30_story.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">over 50</a> he originally claimed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although you point to FISA court opinions that repeatedly affirm the program’s constitutionality, let me remind you that that is a court where the rulings are secret unless they are declassified, at which witnesses for the defense are not permitted to argue and where the public has no voice. Only the government is allowed to present its case. The court approved 1,816 government applications in 2012, modified 40 and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/17/politics/surveillance-court/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">denied none</a>. Does that seem like a good environment in which to find something unconstitutional?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Moreover, the FISA court <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323665504579027180087675564" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">ruled</a> in 2011 that the NSA had illegally collected domestic communications for three solid years, and found the program unconstitutional unless changes were made. From 2011 to 2012, the NSA violated privacy rules <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-broke-privacy-rules-thousands-of-times-per-year-audit-finds/2013/08/15/3310e554-05ca-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">at least 2,776 times</a>. Most of those happened by accident, but <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/20/fisa-court-nsa-without-warrant" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">the NSA can use</a> data that was inadvertently collected, according to the FISA court. NSA officers have <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/08/23/nsa-officers-sometimes-spy-on-love-interests/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">spied</a> on their love interests, and not even your colleague, <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/02/no-one-knows-what-happened-to-nsa-staffers-who-snooped-on-their-lovers/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Senator Grassley</a>, has been able to obtain an accounting of how they were punished. Oh, and the GCHQ, Britain’s spy agency with whom we work, <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/17/7629721/nsa-is-pwning-everyone-and-having-a-chuckle-about-it" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">is perfectly aware</a> of how to obtain personally identifiable information from metadata. <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/05/ex-nsa-chief-we-kill-people-based-on-metadata/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">So are we</a>, and at least during the program’s years of secrecy, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/nsa-examines-social-networks-of-us-citizens.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">we did it all the time</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As for email accounts and credit card companies, Senator, there is a crucial difference between the NSA’s bulk collection and a private company’s: You give your data to the company by choice, and by law, you are allowed to opt out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Senator, the world will always be dangerous, and there will always be people calling it more dangerous than it was at a previous time. There will never be a point—I think we know this after fourteen years of war—where the U.S. will be free of the specter of terrorism. There will always be <i>some</i> reason for people like yourself to call for surveillance in the name of security. So I ask you, Senator, sincerely: if now is not the proper time to stop, then when will ever be?</span></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-12824701486552353812015-02-21T20:14:00.003-06:002015-02-21T20:14:54.135-06:00Defensive Gun Use in Politico Magazine: What to Believe<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently, two authors--Evan DeFillipis and Devin Hughes--<a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/defensive-gun-ownership-myth-114262.html" target="_blank">published an article</a> in Politico Magazine criticizing a two-decade-old study by Gary Kleck and Marc Getz. Kleck just <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/defensive-gun-ownership-gary-kleck-response-115082.html" target="_blank">published a response</a>. (The remainder of this post assumes you've read both.)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Let's look at what DeFillipis and Hughes said and what Kleck said in response. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">D & H: </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">"In 1992, Gary Kleck and Marc Getz, criminologists at Florida State University, conducted a random digit-dial survey to establish the annual number of defensive gun uses in the United States. They surveyed 5,000 individuals, asking them if they had used a firearm in self-defense in the past year and, if so, for what reason and to what effect. Sixty-six incidences of defensive gun use were reported from the sample. The researchers then extrapolated their findings to the entire U.S. population, resulting in an estimate of between 1 million and 2.5 million defensive gun uses per year."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Kleck does not refute this. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">When presented with a list of reasons why his survey respondents might have had reason to exaggerate the number of times they used guns in self-defense--social desirability bias, awareness of the political context of the questions, and "telescoping"--Kleck does not refute any of these things, either. He doesn't say they don't matter; he doesn't argue against them, or even address them. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">His approach is, instead, to criticize DeFillipis and Hughes's credentials, say he's heard all of this before, question their motives, and pooh-pooh the very idea of criticism. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">His sole argument against DeFillipis and Hughes is this: "The authors’ discussion of possible flaws in survey estimates of DGU frequency is conspicuously one-sided, addressing only supposed flaws that could make the estimates too high—but none that could make the estimates too low."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">In other words, 'It may be wrong one way, but it could be wrong the other way, too!'</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">He also makes numerous claims about supporting evidence, mentioning the "well-documented failure of many survey respondents to report criminal victimization, gun ownership or their own crimes" and saying "at least 18 national surveys have confirmed that DGUs </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">are</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"> very common", but unlike DeFillipis and Hughes, he does not include specific results from other surveys that corroborate his beliefs, or include links to his supporting evidence. This is not persuasive. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Finally, he postulates that DGUs would be underreported instead of overreported, because survey respondents could be admitting to criminal activity, and people are unlikely to report their own crimes. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">This seems to me to be nonsense, because Kleck and Geis conducted a presumably anonymous phone survey to get their results in the first place. They didn't ask people to march down to the local police precinct and confess. There would be no consequences for someone saying they used their gun in self-defense, even if it was illegal. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Obviously, we're now getting into the heads of the survey respondents, and asking whether the biases DeFillipis and Hughes pointed out would have outweighed the tendency not to report a crime. But again, it's telling that DeFillipis and Hughes point to well-understood biases that have been confirmed by studies from other organizations. Kleck does not back up anything he says with links or the names of other organizations who have conducted studies to corroborate him. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Ultimately, however, the question is whether a sample of 66 'yes' results out of 5,000 people can be fairly extrapolated to the whole country, what those unnamed eighteen studies Kleck said confirmed his results actually said, and w</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">hat to make of the Arizona study, the NCVS data, and the Gun Violence Archive data in DeFillipis and Hughes's column that all provide reason not to accept Kleck's numbers at face value. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">On the face of it, there is much more reason to believe DeFillipis and Hughes--who seem to have made considerable efforts to survey the state of research in the field of defensive gun violence and account for biases--than to believe Kleck, who does not back up what he says with supporting evidence or other organizations, and who spends much more time bad-mouthing his critics than he does actually refuting what they have to say. </span></span>Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-55173169169155392252015-02-20T21:40:00.001-06:002015-08-17T12:13:08.658-05:00Letter to Christian Schneider<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Dear Christian Schneider, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Columnist,<br />
<br />
It seems to have escaped you, in your haste to <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/gov-scott-walkers-foes-still-havent-evolved-b99447611z1-292433931.html" target="_blank">pooh-pooh
the New York Times’ coverage</a> of Walker’s attempt to rewrite the century-old
Wisconsin Idea, that Walker did not make a drafting error; he made a deliberate
attempt to change the University of Wisconsin’s mission from “the search for
truth” to “workforce development”. This has been covered in detail by the <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/documents-show-walker-administration-seeking-removal-of-uws-wisconsin-idea-b99439710z1-290927651.html" target="_blank">Journal
Sentinel</a>. It is hard to see how you could continue to refer to that as a drafting error without a heavy dose of sarcasm. (Either
that, or Walker has shockingly little control over his staff!)<br />
<br />
It’s also rather telling that you seem to admire Walker’s straightforwardness
(“actually practices the conservatism he preaches”, yet you mention two
incidents in which he completely failed to own his beliefs. The clumsy
attribution of his intent re: the Wisconsin Idea to a drafting
error was one. Declining to answer whether he believed in evolution was
another. And despite being on the stage at one of the world’s most respected
foreign policy think tanks, he <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/walker-addresses-london-think-tank-wednesday-on-global-trade-b99443152z1-291532721.html" target="_blank">declined
to answer <i>any</i> foreign-policy
questions of consequence</a>. That doesn’t bother you at all? (Also, you called
the evolution question a ‘political question’, which puzzled me. There are
questions asked of a presidential candidate that are <i>not</i> political?)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">This is a pattern for Walker; he <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walker-outlines-abortion-gay-marriage-positions-in-letter-b99375704z1-279975922.html" target="_blank">declined
repeatedly to state his beliefs</a> on the issue of Wisconsin’s
since-overturned gay marriage ban, although he continued to order his attorney
general to defend it in court. That is not very forthright behavior, nor is it
in line with the image he attempts to promote. It is simply the behavior of
someone who is unabashedly seeking higher office and attempting to make himself
seem more electable by emitting nothing but anodyne bromides and misleading or
false information. You lament liberals’ potshots on the aforementioned social
issues and for taking shots at Walker’s status as a college dropout. Very well;
let us examine his real qualifications.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Walker falsely claimed during his reelection campaign that he
had given the state <a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2014/oct/22/scott-walker/scott-walker-says-next-state-budget-will-begin-535/" target="_blank">a
$535M surplus</a> instead of a $1.8B deficit, which was measured as such using
the same methods that resulted in the $3.6B budget deficit he hammered Jim
Doyle for after taking office. But now that that method of calculating the
budget is <a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2014/oct/23/scott-walker/scott-walker-says-budget-shortfall-prediction-base/" target="_blank">inconvenient
for him</a>, he <a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2015/feb/13/scott-walker/did-scott-walker-flip-flip-budget-shortfall/" target="_blank">repudiates
it entirely</a>. He cherry-picks the numbers to make himself look good, and he
is <i>wrong</i>, and he doesn’t appear to
care. He has demonstrated that he has no considered opinions on US foreign
policy in an issue <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/02/scott-walkers-naive-foreign-policy-beliefs/385104/" target="_blank">as
important as Syria</a>. In seeking to validate his stance on unions as a
foreign-policy issue, he <a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2015/jan/28/scott-walker/scott-walker-records-show-soviets-treated-ronald-r/" target="_blank">made
up Soviet documents that never existed</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">His much-touted jobs agency
has not only failed to hit its job-creation marks, but has done <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/15/us-usa-politics-walker-idUSKBN0LJ0R320150215" target="_blank">everything
wrong that a job-creation agency can do</a>. Per Reuters: “</span><span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">State
legislative audits have found that WEDC has mismanaged taxpayer funds and
handed out awards to companies that should not have been eligible for them. The
agency also didn't follow up to ensure that jobs were actually being created
and failed to track whether businesses were paying their loans back on time,
according to reviews in 2012 and 2013. Lassa said the agency had improved its
performance somewhat since then</span><span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11.5pt;">.</span><span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">”
(You didn’t mention this one in your roundup of recent Walker coverage. Perhaps
it hit too close to home.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">He has declined hundreds of
millions of federal dollars in money to build a high-speed rail line and to
expand public health care in Wisconsin. And he just <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walker-budget-again-declines-federal-money-for-medicaid-expansion-b99445846z1-292084711.html" target="_blank">kicked
$108M in loan payments</a> down the road, just like Jim Doyle did… which will
hurt more in the long run, as any responsible fiscal conservative will tell you. B</span><span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #141823; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">y declining federal money,
kicking debt down the road, setting up a shell of a job-creation agency, and now
attempting to gut the UW-Madison system—which will be <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/cuts-to-uw-system-could-seriously-hurt-states-economic-growth-b99443996z1-291853951.html" target="_blank">bad
for state business</a> as well as state education—he is attempting to make himself
look good for primary voters at the expense of the state that is unfortunate enough to host him.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">I’m glad you’ve noticed that
liberals are angry about what Walker is doing to Wisconsin. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt;">Why aren’t you?</span></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-35420540610542755822014-11-26T00:12:00.000-06:002014-11-26T00:12:07.104-06:00Biking in New Orleans<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two things before we start. One: I’m completely unharmed,
for friends and family reading this. Two: There is no hyperbole in this post. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I just started work at an IT consulting company in downtown
New Orleans, about three miles down St. Charles Avenue from where I live. Since
it was 50 degrees a few mornings ago, I decided to bike to work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first major intersection between my house and downtown
is Napoleon Avenue. Around that area, St. Charles has a boulevard where the
streetcar runs, one lane of traffic and a curb lane. Bike lanes run from
approximately Octavia Avenue all the way west to the riverbend, but there are
no bike lanes going east (downtown) from where I live. Because of this, I
usually stay fairly close to the parked cars in the curb lane. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I waited for the light to change and crossed Napoleon
Avenue, getting up to speed as I did so. There was a bright blue car, possibly
a minivan, possibly a sedan, sitting on the curb about 20-30 feet past the
intersection. As my front wheel passed the car’s left rear wheel, I saw the
driver’s door begin to open, perhaps five or six inches outward, directly in
front of me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What happened next
was pure instinct; the thinking part of my brain was not involved. I had less
than a second to react. I yanked on the handlebars as hard as I ever have. The
bike slewed crazily to the left and out into the middle of the driving lane. I
cleared the edge of the car door by no more than two or three inches. Thankfully,
the car coming through the intersection behind me either threw on the brakes or
was already pretty far behind me, because I was not hit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Less than a second. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At this point, I started thinking again. My bike has road
tires, which are not built to grip the road during violent 45-degree turns, and
it was wobbling like crazy and still going at a pretty high speed. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m going to crash in the middle of the
street</i>, I thought, imagined myself falling, and started preparing to take
the blow on my forearms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Again, my body had other ideas. Without orders from the top,
I slammed both my forearms down on the handlebars, which were weaving back and
forth. That stabilized them, the bike stopped weaving, and I began to guide it
back towards the curb lane. I turned around and looked back during this process
and heard a woman shout “Sorry!” This all took place in a second or two but
seemed much longer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I got back out of the driving lane, I shouted “Jesus!
Fuck! Christ!” On “Christ”, the car behind me—a white SUV—pulled alongside me,
and the man inside hollered “Are you okay?” I said something reassuring, I
don’t remember what, and he drove off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That was the end of it. I wasn’t hurt. I stopped a few
blocks later to adjust my clothing and whatnot, but that was it. I missed it
entirely. I went to work, did work things, and eventually got out of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Around 5:35 that evening, I was biking home on St. Charles,
having just passed Lee Circle and passed under the freeway bridge. Again, I was
biking fairly close to the parked cars. I was wearing grey pants and a dark
green sweatshirt. I had my red taillight and white headlight on, although they
were not flashing so that any idiot could see them. Apparently that’s necessary
here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I never saw the black sedan until it pulled up alongside me.
Its lights were on, and so was its turn signal. It began to turn directly into
my path. I have no reason to believe he saw me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This time was different. Instead of an instant of pure
reflex and a violent change, everything seemed to be happening in pleasant
slow motion. I pulled back on the brakes, again instinctively, but I had time
to lazily contemplate the movement of the car. It didn’t register that I was
about to hit it. It was moving ponderously into my path, and I remember
thinking that the driver was cutting it pretty fine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was lucky again. We were in the middle of a block. Instead
of turning onto a street, he turned into a driveway that happened to have a
gate. That meant he was slowing down almost as much as I was. The angles kept
changing as we raced to the bottom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because of this, instead of hitting him at full speed, I
only nudged his right rear door with my left handlebar as he finished cutting
me off. We came to a stop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was too disgusted to say or do anything. I remember being
completely unsurprised that this had happened <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">again</i>. There was no noise from the car, so I pulled off the sock
that served me as a glove, gave a big smile and a sardonic thumbs-up, and got
back on the bike, shaking from the waist down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can think of three possible explanations for me not
hitting the first car. Either the driver paused in the middle of opening the
door, or she realized what was happening and pulled it back in a split second,
or I simply dodged it entirely. Whatever it was, that was one of the most
amazing things I have ever done. I have no doubt that if I’d been just a touch
slower to recognize and react to what was happening, I would have smashed into
the car door and suffered serious injury. The same goes for the second car. If
I hadn’t recognized what was happening and slowed down, I would have plowed
into its side at a considerable speed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m very glad I can do that. I hope it does not prove
necessary on every single commute. Who needs coffee when you have a heart
attack?</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-8309697217633389862014-10-30T09:31:00.002-05:002014-10-30T10:08:29.349-05:00Breaking Down the Red Cross's Response to the Damning ProPublica Report of 10/29As someone who served as an Americorps volunteer with FEMA in the five months following Tropical Storm Sandy, the waste, mismanagement of resources, inadequate treatment of volunteers and prioritization of "looking good" over "doing good" described in <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/redcross/the-red-cross-secret-disaster.html" target="_blank">ProPublica's article</a> is completely unsurprising. FEMA was guilty of all of these sins, so it is not surprising that FEMA's close partner organization is also guilty of those sins.<br />
<br />
When a large organization is guilty of bureaucratic waste and mismanagement, the last thing you would expect them to do is make a honest accounting of their sins and own up to what went wrong. The Red Cross, in this respect, is no different from any other agency that has been caught out.<br />
<br />
Let's parse their anodyne, noncommittal, <i>deeply outraged</i> response, shall we? Actual lines from the press release (<a href="http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/American-Red-Cross-Comments-on-Pro-Publica-Report" target="_blank">which is here</a>) will be <b>in bold</b>, commentary in regular text.<br />
<br />
<b>It is regrettable</b><br />
<br />
Translation: We wish you hadn't aired our dirty laundry.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>that ProPublica and NPR have used the two-year anniversary</b> <i>(sigh)</i> <b>of Superstorm Sandy's landfall to paint a distorted and inaccurate picture of a Red Cross response that helped tens of thousands of people who urgently needed our services with hot meals, shelter, relief supplies and financial support.</b><br />
<br />
No doubt the Red Cross did indeed do this. ProPublica even mentions in its article that the Red Cross, when challenged, likes to throw out huge numbers of people it says it helped--and that shouldn't be discounted or underplayed. At the same time, doing a lot of things right does not obliterate the things they did very, very wrong--like <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1225674-sandy-and-isaac-lessons-learned.html#document/p6/a184402" target="_blank">allowing sex offenders into childrens' play areas</a>, for example, or wasting 30% of available meals ostensibly for disaster survivors.<b> </b>Just because you did a lot of good is not a valid argument that you didn't also do some bad. It's more a PR shield than an actual response--note that their objection is to "the inaccurate picture" painted--and the Red Cross doesn't respond directly to most of the specific charges from ProPublica.<br />
<br />
<b>Our mission is to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies, and that <i>alone</i> is what guided our service delivery decisions during Sandy and during every emergency. </b>[Italics theirs]<b><br /></b><br />
<br />
This is the exception. They say this so boldly--<i>alone</i>--but then why is there <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1225674-sandy-and-isaac-lessons-learned.html#document/p6/a184402" target="_blank">an internal Red Cross document</a> that alludes to Red Cross Headquarters "diverting assests [sic] for public relations purposes"? Why is there <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1346529-letter-to-trevor-riggen-nov-18-2012.html#document/p2" target="_blank">an email from a Mass Care officer,</a> a guy on the ground, from 11/18/12, reporting that 15 of 37 trucks were diverted at one point for public relations purposes? Not responding directly to these pieces of evidence--which come, again, from within the Red Cross--seems a lot to me like the "ignore it and hope it goes away" approach to PR, which is an idiotic way to approach the problem. Repeat after me: The existence of the ProPublica article is not a PR problem that you have to solve. The problems within your organization that lead to poor service are the <i>real</i> problems that you need to solve.<br />
<br />
<b>We are proud of the work of our 17,000 Sandy workers – nearly all of
them volunteers– who served more than 17.5 million meals and snacks,
distributed 7 million relief items, and provided 74,000 overnight stays
in shelters. Two years after Sandy’s landfall, the Red Cross has spent
or committed to spend $310 million, which is 99 percent of the $311.5
million raised for our Sandy response. </b><br />
<br />
Yes, true, but how much was wasted? And given the Mass Care officer's testimony that 30% of meals were wasted, one wonders if that 17.5 million number covers meals actually served, or merely the total number of meals ordered, without accounting for waste and inefficiency? How do situations like the one described in the article, where a Red Cross kitchen serving 22,000 meals was ordered to scale up to 220,000 the next day, count? Would you count the number of meals that actually made it into the mouths of disaster survivors (something like 70,000 Danishes delivered, half of those wasted, according to ProPublica) or would you ring up 220,000 on your balance sheet and say you did that? This is a real question because the internal report revealed that the size of the disaster "<a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1225674-sandy-and-isaac-lessons-learned.html#document/p10" target="_blank">crippled</a>" the Red Cross's ability to tabulate what it had accomplished, and <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/long-after-sandy-red-cross-post-storm-spending-still-a-black-box" target="_blank">apparently the Red Cross is unusually opaque when it comes to telling the public how it actually spends its money</a>. That $310 million that was spent lost some percentage to administrative overhead and waste, but it's impossible to tell how much from the numbers they provide the public. <br />
<br />
<b>And our surveys show that the overwhelming majority of the people we
served had a positive experience with the Red Cross and the services we
provided.</b><br />
<br />
Will you make those surveys, or aggregated numbers from them, available to the public? What was your surveying methodology? Who was asked, and when? Is it possible that survivors rated you well on the whole because you fed and sheltered them during and after the storm, but nevertheless had concerns about your management? What is an "overwhelming majority", on a percentage basis of the people asked? Do the surveys contain leading questions? Is there a place for survivors to provide suggestions, and have you taken those suggestions into account? Again, as a random schmuck, I have no reason to reflexively believe you when you're in full cover-your-ass mode and won't make the details that back up what you're saying available to me.<br />
<br />
<b>In the chaotic first few hours and days after a disaster, it is
impossible to meet every need, especially on a disaster as big as Sandy.
When problems occur, we try to fix them quickly, and we always strive
to do better. </b><br />
<br />
This is true, and should not be underplayed (although that is their job). But there is a difference, as my fellow FEMA Corps members and I learned in the FEMA response, between problems that are inherent to the crazy post-disaster environment and problems created by bureaucratic mismanagement, lousy priorities (I point again to the food trucks diverted for photo opportunities), and infighting. I'm glad that the Red Cross says it fixes problems, but since it has not acknowledged in this release that any of the problems outlined in the article actually <i>exist</i>, that tends to make me pessimistic about whether those problems were actually fixed.<br />
<br />
<b>As we do with all major disasters, the Red Cross proactively sought
feedback from hundreds of volunteers, staff and others as part of a
thorough review of its response to Sandy. Based on that feedback, and
our own evaluation, we implemented changes to continuously strengthen
our service delivery. </b><br />
<br />
'Continuously strengthen' is such a mealymouthed phrase; it describes fixing problems without ever acknowledging that there were problems that needed to be fixed. I don't have much to say about this part; it's simply impossible to judge its veracity until the next major disaster. It is possible that the Red Cross made some changes, as <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1225674-sandy-and-isaac-lessons-learned.html#document/p6/a184402" target="_blank">the internal review</a> conducted away from the cold light of the press was far more honest and candid than the Red Cross was willing to be in this release. However, when the first item on the list of "Hinderances" [sic] is the Red Cross National Headquarters, whose sins include "Direct involvement in Service Delivery decisions without local understanding" and "Diverting assests [sic] for public relations purposes"... well, I don't feel like the public has much reason to be optimistic. If the senior leadership is part of the problem, what are the odds that they spontaneously became part of the solution without any outside pressure to change, up until this point? It smells to me like there's plenty of work to be done here. Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-72567566638295890232014-10-21T10:42:00.003-05:002014-10-21T10:42:49.592-05:00Brave Crusaders and Amoral Idiots<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I have not seen very many Hollywood movies about the days of slavery, or the days of the civil rights movement. The only one I've seen recently is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amistad_(film)" target="_blank">Steven Spielberg's Amistad</a>, where the focus of the movie is the legal question of whether rebelling slaves aboard a slave ship can be legally considered people. Of course, the good guys win, against great odds. But what struck me most about the movie was the character and tenor of the opposition. To the early-21st-century white liberal viewer, like me, they appear hopelessly backwards. Their arguments don't make sense. There's nothing they can say that would make their side of the case, denying legal personhood to rebelling slaves, okay.</div>
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Immediately after the movie, I wondered what modern-day issues of civil or women's or sexual rights are going to look equally one-sided in the Hollywood movies of fifty years from now. I feel like it's common among my friends to look forward and say "Well, the people fighting gay marriage are on the wrong side of history. Boy, aren't they going to look like idiots in a generation or two". And they probably are.</div>
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Something that's been on my mind for a few days, though, is the opinions of the other side. By virtue of being young and liberal and socializing mostly with young liberals who share my views, I don't often run into anybody who disagrees with me on issues like 'Should gay people be allowed to get married?'. There was a column, however, in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, right after the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeals of several states whose bans on gay marriage had been struck down. The column was by a supporter of the bans, <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/battle-to-protect-traditional-marriage-isnt-over-b99367319z1-278579321.html" target="_blank">and you can read it here</a>.</div>
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I disagree completely with this column, but that's not why I'm posting it. For the first time in a considerable time, I was reading the genuine, unfiltered opinions of The Other Side. And for the first time in a considerable time, I began to understand why they believe what they believe. You read through the column and see lines like these: "Marriage is not a creation of the state — it existed before the state. The state appropriately seeks to protect it. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman, and it matters to the state because that's the only sexual union naturally capable of producing children — Wisconsin's future taxpayers, workers, leaders and more."</div>
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Again, I'm not arguing in favor of this statement. I disagree with it. I believe marriage is a human institution created for human reasons, and it is up to humans to decide when to change the laws that govern us; I also believe that the state does not have a compelling interest in regulating marriage, as expressed by the judge who rejected the State of Wisconsin's arguments on those grounds.</div>
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But I read that paragraph, and I read that column, and for the first time in a considerable time I began to understand the internal logic that goes into the arguments with which I disagree. Of course if you believe marriage exists above the state, you disagree with a legal effort to change what it means. Of course if you genuinely believe that kids are better off with one man and one woman as parents, studies be damned, you'll structure your beliefs based on that. That's why the author believes what she believes, and that is where the opposition comes from. It's a popular pastime among liberal columnists (well, columnists on both sides, really) to pick at the underlying reasons why people believe what they believe; well, conservatives are afraid of change, so of course they oppose gay marriage. Well, liberals can't rely on themselves, so of course they support big government. It's a popular sport. This is something different: actually trying to understand why the opposition believes what they believe.</div>
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It's fair to say that I'm too far removed from this issue and too dispassionate about it to really hold this view. After all, if the state restricted my right to marry, or sit at a lunch counter, because of my religion or skin color, it's fair to say I'd be less interested in understanding why the Other Side believes what they believe, and more interested in overturning the real-world consequences of those beliefs that interfered with my life.</div>
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But this is important because, regardless of the Hollywood version of events where the Amistad opposition is reduced to helpless flabbling and eventually melts into the background while John Quincy Adams orates magnificently about the rights of man, there is always going to be opposition to what we like to call "progressive" social changes. There are always going to be people who dig in their heels to it, based on tradition, religion, or some other reason. I was just reading the Supreme Court decision in a case called Lombard, et al. vs. Louisiana, a civil rights case from the sixties, involving the state of Louisiana trying to punish four activists (three black, one white) who sat at a whites-only lunch counter and asked to be served. <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=373&invol=267" target="_blank">The opinion, authored by Chief Justice Earl Warren</a>, contained the following quotes from Louisiana authorities:</div>
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"The Superintendent of Police issued a highly publicized statement which discussed the incident and stated that "We wish to urge the parents of both white and Negro students who participated in today's sit-in demonstration to urge upon these young people that such actions are not in the community interest. . . . [W]e want everyone to fully understand that the police department and its personnel is ready and able to enforce the laws of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana." 2 On September 13, [373 U.S. 267, 271] four days before petitioners' arrest, the Mayor of New Orleans issued an unequivocal statement condemning such conduct and demanding its cessation. This statement was also widely publicized; it read in part:</div>
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"I have today directed the superintendent of police that no additional sit-in demonstrations . . . will be permitted . . . regardless of the avowed purpose or intent of the participants . . . .</div>
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. . . . .</div>
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"It is my determination that the community interest, the public safety, and the economic welfare of this city require that such demonstrations cease and that henceforth they be prohibited by the police department." </div>
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After Lombard, et. al. won the case, these people didn't just go away, right? That's the Mayor and the Superintendent of Police. The Mayor was a three-time candidate for Governor of Louisiana; the Superintendent of Police was active in public life for decades afterward, eventually becoming a member of the New Orleans City Council. You read <a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/11/fifty_years_later_students_rec.html" target="_blank">a retrospective like this</a> about white parents rushing to pull their children out of newly integrated schools. The parents didn't just go away when the court case was won, right? They presumably were still out there, grudgingly living with the new reality, fighting tooth and nail every change for the betterment of black New Orleanians. </div>
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Community interest. Public safety. Economic welfare. There are always going to be these kinds of respectable veneers for racism, sexism, religious discrimination, and all the other evils. I'm suggesting that without giving in to those evils, it is worth our while, once in a while, to shed the Amistad perspective of the progressive liberal side of things as brave crusaders opposed by amoral idiots and adopt a perspective of people opposed by other people who happen to be wrong. I truly believe that the way to change peoples' minds is to understand what they believe and why. Only then can you effectively argue against it. It's so much more effective than just yelling at each other. Remember, the Other Side thinks you're crazy, too, and they're not going away. They don't shamefacedly walk offscreen at the end of the movie and disappear forever. They're going to keep resisting and resisting and resisting. If your view is that they're all hopeless old lunatics and eventually they'll all die and young liberals will reign supreme, well, that's great. In the meantime, they're going to be here, and we might as well try to understand what they believe. Not, for the umpteenth time, because we agree, but because "it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it", as the quote attributed to Aristotle goes, and because understanding the Other Side's views will help you engage with them and hopefully change them. That's how you move beyond partisanship, that's how you get off cable news and late-night television, that's how you get people to talk to each other, that's how you change minds.</div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-851914872217870932014-09-27T21:53:00.001-05:002014-09-27T21:53:08.866-05:00Packers-Lions Tape Tales: One Personnel Package to Rule them All and Other Stories<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once upon a time, Mike McCarthy used to be known as the king
of swapping out personnel to find the most advantageous matchup; he'd go with
an inverted wishbone, two-fullback look one snap, and split four wides and a TE
out on the next snap. At least against the Lions, those days seemed to be over
with. Except for a brief period in the third quarter when they went with four
wides, the Packers ran their three-WR, one-TE, one-RB package exclusively. Not
once did anyone go in motion before the snap, Cobb was always the slot WR and
was never alone on a side, and the main variation seemed to be whether the TE
was split out or tight; it was almost always shotgun. No two-TE sets, no
fullback on the field (kuuuuuuhn?), no bunches or stacked WRs, nothing. I
mention this not as a criticism necessarily--after all, if it worked, who would
complain--but it was very jarring to see on tape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-Speaking of the offense, there was much blather this week
about Rodgers focusing too much on Nelson, but I really didn't see that on
tape. He was targeting Quarless and Cobb with decent results right up until the
bitter end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-Ndamukong Suh, he of ill fame, *abused* Lang and Linsley
inside. Another much-ballyhooed topic this week was Lacy and his lousy 3.1
yards per carry. Well, a lot of those runs were out of the shotgun, and I
counted three times where Lacy wanted to take it straight upfield but Suh had
destroyed Lang inside--and I mean destroyed; the first time it happened, Suh's
initial punch turned Lang completely around, putting him perpendicular to the
line of scrimmage. When that happened, Lacy inevitably bounced it outside and
got strung out, since he lacks great speed, and smothered. This happened to
Harris as well. Starks seemed much better at picking his way through trash and
turning upfield, perhaps because he committed to the inside runs more beyond
the initial read. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-The Packers ran some really weird blocking schemes in an
effort to control Suh, Nick Fairley and their comrades. Here's an example.
First and 10 in the first quarter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ezekiel Ansah is the RDE, Fairley the RDT. Opposite them are Bakhtiari,
Sitton and Richard Rodgers, tight to the line next to Bakhtiari. At the snap,
Sitton immediately pulls to the second level, Rodgers takes the DE, and
Bakhtiari turns and blocks Fairley from the side as he flies upfield,
effectively trapping him out of the play. (The play went south because of Suh's
crushing Lang as previously mentioned, but that had little to do with this
blocking pattern.) The Packers pulled Sitton, Lang and Linsley quite a few
times, mixed in cut-blocks on passing plays, and once double-teamed both Suh
and Fairley while leaving Ansah unblocked (which somehow worked). It looked
like a lot of time and effort went into controlling Detroit's defensive front,
but with one TE and no FB, I saw a lot of DeAndre Levy and Stephen Tulloch
flying into the line and getting past a guard or center whose job it was to
deal with him. Corey Linsley, bless his heart, looked very unaware on the
second level when trying to pick up LBs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-I think we get spoiled by Rodgers’ ability to make
something happen outside the pocket; usually, it’s a first down to Cobb or some
other big play. Today, Rodgers always seemed to be facing very tight coverage
when he rolled to the right, and ended up throwing into coverage or throwing it
away. I think this was because of the ubiquitous Suh and Fairley, who several
times shot into the backfield on passing plays and forced Rodgers to move
sooner than he’d have liked to. Because the receivers didn’t have as much time
to lose their coverage, as they usually do on a Rodgers rollout that takes 4-5
seconds to develop, the rollouts didn’t look nearly as good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-On defense, the Packers had no answer for Reggie Bush.
Whenever the Lions wanted Bush, or third-down back “The Chronicles of” Theo
Riddick, the back would circle out of the backfield, wide-open, and catch the
ball for an easy five yards before the CB or S wrapped him up. The Packers’
ILBs were either too slow to get over to Bush from the middle of the field or
were looking at beautiful butterflies, but almost every time the Lions tried
it, it worked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-The Lions never had an answer for Peppers. He had several
hits on the QB in addition to his sack, all of them after flying around the
corner against the Lions’ woeful RTs. He shared partial responsibility for
Neal’s sack, forced another two incomplete passes with QB hits, and was as
responsible as anyone for keeping Green Bay in the game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-Two depressing things to close. One: No matter how many
Packers are on the field, third-and-short for the enemy always feels like a
foregone conclusion, whether they’re running against the nickel or a four-DT
line. Two: Tramon Williams and Micah Hyde delivered some solid hits, and the
D-line was generally able to cover people up, but man, our linebackers. Neal,
Hawk, Lattimore, Barrington: when they’re not bouncing off backs or receivers
and letting them churn forward for more yardage, they’re getting driven
backwards for extra yardage even when they make the tackle. You watch footage
from the 2010 team, like the Redskins game in Week 5: when someone catches a
ball over the middle or runs up the gut, they get stopped. It doesn’t have to
be a blow-up hit, but the ballcarrier generally stops moving forward when hit.
Must be nice to be the Seahawks or somebody and take that sort of thing for
granted, because we can’t do it consistently. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-84710326150025343712014-09-25T18:13:00.001-05:002014-09-25T18:13:22.834-05:00Sammy Baugh's Weird, Wonderful Wikipedia Page
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sammy Baugh's Wikipedia page has a weird historical
quirk--scratch that, a million weird historical quirks. He was a QB, a Pro
Football Hall of Fame inductee in 1963 and is one of the Redskins' greatest
players. But check this out: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Baugh was a three-sport athlete at TCU, and was offered a job
as a football coach at TCU after his senior year. Instead, he signed a
minor-league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals before getting discouraged
and turning to football. He was then drafted sixth overall in 1937. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-As the sixth overall pick, he got a one-year contract. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Per Wikipedia, on being drafted by the Redskins, he said
"I didn't know what they were talking about, because frankly, I had never
heard of either the draft or the Washington Redskins." I will pray every
day from now until the 2015 draft that someone says this during the pre-draft
craziness. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-He also said this: "I didn't know how much pro players
were making, but I thought they were making pretty good money. So I asked Mr.
Marshall for $8,000, and I finally got it. Later I felt like a robber when I
found out what Cliff Battles and some of those other good players were making.
I'll tell you what the highest-priced boy in Washington was getting the year
before—not half as much as $8,000! Three of them—Cliff Battles, Turk Edwards
and Wayne Millner—got peanuts, and all of 'em in the Hall of Fame now. If I had
known what they were getting I'd have never asked for $8,000."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-The government's CPI inflation calculator runs that to about
$132,140.00 in modern dollars. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Playing both ways, he once threw four touchdown passes and
picked off four enemy passes IN THE SAME GAME. In 1943, which might as well be
943, he led the league in completion percentage (55.6%), interceptions (11),
and punting average (45.9 yards); the top in the NFL in 2013 was 48.9 by a guy
who plays in Oakland, so, you know, not bad. He also holds the best all-time
single-season average, 51.4 yards. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-On Halloween 1943 vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers, he became the first
player to ever throw for six touchdowns; he did it again on "Sammy Baugh
Day" in 1947 vs. the Cardinals, amassing 355 yards. In 1947. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Weirdest of all: he was a five-time All-Star, five-time
All-Pro, two-time Player of the Year (some kind of primitive MVP award) and led
the league in passing six times, which only Steve Young has ever matched, and
is in the Hall of Fame... but only made one Pro Bowl in his career. (It was
discontinued in 1942 and revived only in 1950.) Also, the Pro Bowl used to be
the defending champions against the rest of the league's all-stars, which, why
can't we have that nowadays????? That'd be amazing!</span></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-46190917174590809992014-09-22T19:15:00.001-05:002014-09-22T19:15:18.617-05:00The Short, Wonderful History of the College of Wooster in the NFL
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span>·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #141823;">On a whim, I decided to see if any Fighting Scots have ever played
in the NFL. <a href="http://www.databasefootball.com/players/bycollege.htm?sch=The+College+of+Wooster" target="_blank">The answer is yes: six of them</a>, four in the league's early days.
Hank Critchfield, a 5'10", 207-pound center, played for the Cleveland
Indians in 1931. Wilson "Willie" Flattery, a giant for his time at
6'0", 220, was a two-year guard for the Canton Bulldogs in '25-'26.
Johnnie Layport, a preposterous 5'9", 170-pound guard/tackle, actually
switched teams in his three-year career; he spent 1924 with the Columbus
Tigers, and 1925-26 with the Dayton Triangles. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #141823;"> Ben Roderick, who was born
in the nineteenth century and attended Columbia and Boston<span style="color: #3b5998;"><u> </u></span>College along with
Wooster, played for four teams as a 5'9", 175-pound FB/HB/QB. In 1923, he
played four games apiece for the Buffalo All-Americans and the immortal 11-0-1
Canton Bulldogs, who won the championship that year. (The 1972 Dolphins can
suck a dick: the 1920, 1922, 1923 and 1929 (Packers!) champions were all
undefeated.) After two years away from football, Roderick returned to the Bulldogs
in 1926 before playing a final season for the Buffalo Bisons, surely the worst
team name in NFL history, in 1927. </span></span></span></div>
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</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #141823;">Dan Callahan was the only Wooster player to grace the major
leagues between 1931 and the glory days of the 1980s, playing one season as a
6'0", 230-pound guard for the New York Titans under Sammy Baugh.* But he
was merely setting the table for--are you ready?--the legend of Blake Moore. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #141823;"><img alt="http://img.fanbase.com/media.fanbase.com/8/21098/99153b96cacec751bf8e25967de5118d965a3910.jpg?x=174&y=274&sig=200486a0b22c9091479fcb11cb76f035" class="decoded" src="http://img.fanbase.com/media.fanbase.com/8/21098/99153b96cacec751bf8e25967de5118d965a3910.jpg?x=174&y=274&sig=200486a0b22c9091479fcb11cb76f035" /> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://img.fanbase.com/media.fanbase.com/8/21098/99153b96cacec751bf8e25967de5118d965a3910.jpg?x=174&y=274&sig=200486a0b22c9091479fcb11cb76f035" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #141823;">Feast your eyes upon him. Blake Moore towers above
the greats of Wooster football, a 6'5", 267-pound colossus. All men feared
him. Defying all odds, he played in 77 games as a guard/center for Cincinnati
(1980-83) and Green Bay ('84-'85), eclipsing the careers of his five predecessors combined. But that's not even the zenith of the monumental career of Wooster's greatest warrior. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="null"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">E. Blake Moore, giant of the Wooster
graduates, has done something no one else had ever done, except for maybe Ben
Roderick: he scored an honest-to-God NFL touchdown. Two of them. In each of his
years with the Packers, who obviously saw something in him that Cincinnati
didn't, he lined up as an eligible receiver and caught one three-yard touchdown
pass. Two catches, career, two touchdowns: the greatest ratio in NFL history.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #141823;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span><div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #141823;"><u><b>Epilogue</b></u><br /><a href="http://www.wooster.edu/about/alumni/finance/moore/" target="_blank">Moore is currently an Executive Vice President </a>at Mackenzie
Financial Corporation; he was a history major and fourth-generation Fighting
Scot. He went to Harvard Law School after football, practiced law for four
years, then became a money manager. He also wrote the world's worst-titled autobiography, <i>Through a Pigskin Prism</i>. </span></span></span></div>
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*The legend of Sammy Baugh will have to wait until next post.Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-25866046530573688012014-09-02T14:24:00.001-05:002014-09-03T19:55:43.263-05:00Ruthlessly Editing Tyler Dunne, Part III<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I really didn't want to keep doing these, Tyler. I thought you had learned the error of your ways. (You even stopped posting articles for a couple of days, which was nice.) And then you posted your article of 9/2/14, <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/seahawks-vow-they-wont-back-down-despite-crackdown-b99342237z1-273517281.html" target="_blank">findable here</a>, and made me wonder if the Journal Sentinel even has editors anymore. Here's <a href="http://tisdelstirades.blogspot.com/2014/08/ruthlessly-editing-tyler-dunne-part-i.html" target="_blank">Part I</a> and <a href="http://tisdelstirades.blogspot.com/2014/08/ruthlessly-editing-tyler-dunne-part-ii.html" target="_blank">Part II</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let's begin. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Seattle </b><span style="background-color: white;">— </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Energy exudes</span><span style="background-color: white;"> throughout the Seattle Seahawks' practice facility. A glass case holding the team's 2013 Super Bowl rings greets you in the lobby. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Loud rap music later blares</span><span style="background-color: white;"> in the locker room. General manager John Schneider — unlike his former boss, Ted Thompson — bounds off the field as if ready to take a Student Body Sweep Right himself.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(I am forced to admit that your first sentence is not grammatically incorrect. However, it's still painfully awkward to read. A person can exude energy, or a place, but you've written it so that the energy is the subject of the sentence instead of the object. It just looks bizarre. Also, why is the word "later" necessary?)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And, of course, at the podium is Richard Sherman. In pure form.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Through the NFL's </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">obsessive</span><span style="background-color: white;"> embrace of </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">fantasy football-driven, patty-cake defense</span><span style="background-color: white;">, Sherman would seem to be </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Culprit No. 1</span><span style="background-color: white;">. The league is cracking down on illegal contact.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Would it kill you to say something simply. "The NFL is cracking down on illegal contact in 2014, and it's likely to hit the Seahawks hardest." You don't have to pretty it up with stupid little phrases like "patty-cake defense". News flash, Tyler: newspaper reporters are paid to be clear and concise. You are neither. Why are you getting paid, again?)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Seattle, Sherman says, plays within the rules and always has.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"We're happy the emphasis is there," Sherman said, "because it'll give people less excuses."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And does it affect his style?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Obviously not."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">With that, </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">he snaps his head to a new question</span><span style="background-color: white;">. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">This is the player who has become the emblem of Seattle's rise</span><span style="background-color: white;">. The swagger starts with Sherman, the trash-talking Stanford grad fresh off a four-year, $56 million contract extension. When the Green Bay Packers enter CenturyLink Field on Thursday, he'll cast the most intimidating shadow.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(He "snaps his head to a new question"? Think about that for just a second, Tyler. Just think about that. What are you saying? Why is that sentence even necessary? And why isn't the second sentence "Sherman has become the face of the Seahawks" or something like that? It's so unnecessarily wordy, so... clumsy. I don't like the wordiness of "cast the most intimidating shadow", but at least it sort of works. That doesn't.)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">From </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">riding that new fine line</span><span style="background-color: white;"> in coverage to a looming "chess match" with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Sherman is central to Seattle's unparalleled bravado.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"He's had his best camp, his best off-season work. Clearly," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "He's so disciplined about what he's doing. His attitude has been perfect. He hasn't missed a minute of practice. He's done everything, taken all the reps, done everything we've asked him to do.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I think he's been his most focused. He's been on it the whole time."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">On Monday, Sherman called the practice field a personal "sanctuary." This off-season capped a rise to celebrity status — he checked all the necessary boxes. A new deal. A high-profile Twitter feud (with Arizona's Patrick Peterson). A Madden cover shot. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Back to the field, to practice,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> he said you can "free your mind of all the distractions" and improve.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(It's a little weird that you don't mention the thing that catapulted him to celebrity status, namely the pass breakup vs. Michael Crabtree in the NFC Championship Game and his subsequent interview with some reporter, but I guess that's forgivable--you're only a reporter, you're not expected to know things.)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He's forced to be near-perfect because opportunities on game day are so fleeting.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">It can get lonely for Sherman. Lining up at left cornerback for 15 of 16 games last year, Sherman often </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">was treated like Barry Bonds at the plate.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Quarterbacks simply </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">walked him</span><span style="background-color: white;">, choosing to test other cornerbacks. And blanketing his deep third of the field, the 6-foot-3 Sherman still managed eight interceptions and 16 pass breakups in 2013.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(The Bonds analogy is tiresome, but this paragraph has a deeper problem than that. Tyler, it's 2014, and <a href="https://www.profootballfocus.com/" target="_blank">ProFootballFocus</a> exists. You can't be a football reporter in 2014 and not know about it, right? You can use numbers from that site to bolster the point you're trying to make: that QBs avoided Sherman last year. The number of targets he got and the number of completions he allowed is something you can find out. You don't need something as asinine as "Quarterbacks simply walked him", you can provide data! Why don't you? Hell, for the stats you do use, you could say that that was the best percentage of picks/breakups compared to his number of targets in the league, or something. The resources are available for you to be so much better than this.)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So he has a message to all quarterbacks. Don't leave him hanging.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I hope I get a lot of action," Sherman said. "Hopefully, teams come at me all the time. It's fun. It makes the game very fun for both teams. I don't expect any of that, though."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thus, the Richard Sherman-Jordy Nelson duels may be sporadic, if existent at all. Green Bay used Jarrett Boykin on its right side (Sherman's left) most of last season. Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn does expect to see Sherman on Nelson at times because, he said, the Packers "move him around a lot."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Possibly.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Possibly?)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Quinn did call this summer one of the best "technical times" Sherman has had since Seattle drafted him in 2011. When opportunities are sparse — and they probably will be Thursday night — Sherman must know when to strike.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Staying on it, every day, locking out," Quinn said. "You have to stay really disciplined to do that down after down because the one time you 'Ah, I'll just take a shot here,' that's when the bad one happens. So he's been disciplined this training camp."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The last time the Seahawks faced a prolific, no-huddle offense, they embarrassed the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning, 43-8, in the Super Bowl. Afterward, Sherman revealed that players were able to jump routes by deciphering Manning's pre-snap hand signals.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In that chess match, </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Sherman shredded the chessboard before Manning even touched a pawn.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> This one? In the </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">deafening decibel levels</span><span style="background-color: white;"> that await, Rodgers probably will be relying on non-verbal (and non-everything) communication, anyway.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sherman also notes that these are two different quarterbacks.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"It's dissimilar because the offenses they run are a little different," Sherman </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">said</span><span style="background-color: white;">. "Obviously, they both get the ball out quickly. I think Aaron is more dynamic in his movement and being able to get out the pocket and be able to step up or step through, and create more time for his receivers to get open.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"Peyton," Sherman </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">continues</span><span style="background-color: white;">, snapping his fingers, "makes his decisions and he's going. He takes his hitches and he's getting the ball out. He's not going to scramble and try to create more time. So I think they're different in that respect."</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(It's the little things, but you're so shitty at the little things, Tyler. A minute ago, we were in the past tense. Now we're in the present. Why? It was the same interview.)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bank on Sherman, right cornerback Byron Maxwell and nickel cornerback Jeremy Lane staying aggressive.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In one Monday sequence, Carroll praised his players for consciously adjusting to the league's points of emphasis, for taking it "right to heart." And moments later, there was Sherman saying, "We didn't change anything. We were playing by the rules before, and we continue to play by the rules."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Either way, officials will be watching. Rodgers jokingly told Ed Hochuli's crew early this summer in Green Bay that they'll need them Week 1.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Two years ago, the Seahawks cornerbacks bullied Green Bay's receivers in the first half.</span><span style="background-color: yellow;"> They tested the 5-yard limit Hochuli vowed this summer officials would crack down on.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Vowed is nearly as bad as "insisted", your favorite word, but at least it accurately connotes the intent of Hochuli. You're doing decently well... although, on second look, your second sentence is pretty awkward.)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don't expect any attitude adjustment here.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Cliff Avril's eyes scowl in semi-disgust.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> No, the Seahawks won't need to tone anything down.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(And then, this. You have this annoying habit of assigning agency to things--great plays from Part II, energy in the opening paragraph, now Avril's eyes--that don't have agency. The eyes did not decide to do anything. Why on earth not "Cliff Avril scowls in semi-disgust?")</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"They made these new rules to slow us down and guys have adapted and gotten even better," the defensive end said. "I don't think it'll slow us down one bit. You want to be aggressive. You want to make the plays you're supposed to make.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Hit the people you're supposed to hit as hard as you can."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Again, Sherman will be the one leading the movement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Tyler, this article is okay. It has, for you, a pretty small number of errors. I previously reviewed a Packers Plus column and an extensive feature story on Myles White. This is a more typical pre-game story, so you're more bound by word limits and less free to gallivant through the phrasebook of clichés and hyperbole that I imagine you must have. But it isn't <b>good</b>. You use eight words when five would do, hype up everything you can, confuse tenses, fail to make use of helpful resources, and write poorly. Where are your real editors? Am I the only one that sees this crap that you do? Seriously, the tenses thing is the kind of error that editors are paid to catch. What is the review process like at the JS these days? Does anyone look these things over before you submit them? Are they inured to your errors?</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I realized today why your over-reliance on clichés bothers me so much. I mentioned in a previous post that instead of reporting what you see, you draw your own picture and invite the reader to see that... with the implication that your own picture rarely corresponds to the things that are actually happening. Thinking about the implications of that is kind of appalling. Take the sentence from your last article, "White pretzel-knots a cornerback". We are presumably supposed to infer that White metaphorically tied him in a knot, i.e. confused him. But the words you used bear no resemblance to a thing that happened on the field--say, Myles White cut inside, turned the cornerback around, then cut outside and ran up the sidelines, leaving the CB in his wake. You're not describing the actual play in a way that gives us any indication of what happened. Instead, you're summing up the play with an image, from which we're supposed to <b>guess</b> at what happened in the actual play. Your use of metaphor doesn't make the events you're describing clearer for the reader, it makes it harder to understand what happened. And it's maddening because only you have the perspective--you were right there and you were watching--to <b>show</b> us what actually happened. We rely on you, especially for something like a practice that most people can't physically see, and when you describe something obtusely or confusingly it lets the readers down.)</span></i></div>
Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04049596985952131675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3202056674966411834.post-42917289466762985292014-08-28T13:31:00.000-05:002014-08-30T14:37:09.616-05:00Ruthlessly Editing Tyler Dunne, Part II<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This morning, Tyler had a <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/life-on-the-bubble-myles-white-fights-for-a-spot-on-packers-roster-b99339078z1-272982871.html" target="_blank">long, detailed feature story</a> about receiver Myles White. Last year, he wrote <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-rookie-running-back-lacy-has-burden-to-carry-b9951355z1-215404221.html" target="_blank">a similar story about Eddie Lacy</a> and Hurricane Katrina. Whether Dunne picked these assignments or they were handed to him by an editor, there's no shortage of pathos in his football coverage. Based purely on the subject matter, these are tight, compelling stories. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I just can't get over Dunne's awful writing. Maybe I should be looking at the proverbial trees less and the forest more, but I can't, so here's Part 2. (#1 can be found <a href="http://tisdelstirades.blogspot.com/2014/08/ruthlessly-editing-tyler-dunne-part-i.html" target="_blank">here</a>.) For brevity's sake, I'll highlight the flaws in-text as much as possible. The most common ones tend to be unnecessarily stacking words for emphasis ("</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hands clasped, Myles White never flinches, stutters, second-guesses, laments</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"), hyperbole ("</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">maddening asylum of stress</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">") and things that just sound idiotic ("</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">White pretzel-knots a cornerback</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"). Here we go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Green Bay </b>— A sliver of the tattoo is visible, the word "ashes" piquing your interest. So Myles White lifts his sleeve to reveal the art in its entirety.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">There's a phoenix inked across his right </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">armwith [sic]</span><span style="background-color: white;"> the words, "Up From the Ashes."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(Teachable moment time. What is the phoenix doing? What does it look like? Describe it, beyond the bare fact that it's a phoenix. It's characteristic of Tyler that he doesn't help you <b>see</b> the things he's writing about: you see the gaudy image he chooses to produce. Also, whose interest is it piquing? The reader's? Dunne's?)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In Greek mythology, the phoenix burns, turns to ashes, is reborn and flies </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">higher, stronger</span><span style="background-color: white;"> than before.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"This is my pain tattoo after I got in trouble," White says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">From Michigan State to Northwest Mississippi Community College to Louisiana Tech, White landed here, on the Green Bay Packers' deep wide receiver corps. White hopes he's </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">reborn, rising</span><span style="background-color: white;">. He's one of hundreds of NFL players on the "bubble," a </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">maddening asylum of stress.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> There are nearly 2,900 players in the NFL during training camp. After this weekend's roster cuts, only 1,696 will remain.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The month of August decides their fate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(A bit melodramatic... okay, really melodramatic, but this isn't that bad. Numbers are good.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So this month, where each practice is a mini job interview and stress runs high at Ray Nitschke Field, the Journal Sentinel tracked Myles White's fight for a roster spot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The day after Green Bay's first preseason game, Aug. 10, at Tennessee, White pulls his black Camaro into the Chipotle Mexican Grill parking lot off Oneida St. Windows tinted. Hip-hop pumping the bass. Unlike his peers on the edge, White is illuminating. He emerges with a megawatt grin immune to the high stakes ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(We've talked about this, Tyler. When in doubt--and you should be in doubt far more often than you are--use the simpler, clearer language to convey what you want to say. Study Lori Nickel, who does this far better than you do. This isn't all that bad of a paragraph; for once, your technique of using short, punchy sentence fragments works for you, with "Windows tinted" and "hip-hop pumping the bass". But the "illuminating" and "megawatt grin" just doesn't flow for me. I'll admit that's borderline.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In line, he orders a burrito, asks for vegetables, for it all to be double-wrapped — "Picky!" the woman across the glass jokes — and then takes a seat against a back wall. Customers come and go. Nobody acknowledges White, the 6-foot ½-inch, 192-pound wide receiver in his second Packers camp. He blends in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He refuses to sweat this summer out, chooses not to stress during the most important month of his football life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Do you need both "refuses to sweat this summer out" and "chooses not to stress"?)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It's in God's hands and Ted Thompson's hands," White says. "Whatever they decide to do is what they decide to do."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, God and Thompson are synonymous this time of year in Green Bay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">About 20 minutes into the conversation, Randall Cobb appears. On the phone, clutching his Chipotle bag, Cobb gives White a quick dap and exits. This is the player entering a contract year, one season away from a set-for-life, multimillion-dollar deal. This is the player Myles White aspires to be, the one he tries to emulate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(I was kind of disappointed by this. Your last sentence implies that there's some connection between the two deeper than 'White wants job security that Cobb has', but Cobb's never mentioned again in the article.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"All the time," White says. "All the time."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, he must make the team. And that is a process.</span></div>
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<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">1:30 p.m., Aug. 10</span></b></h3>
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<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Chipotle, Oneida St.</span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">The Zen never wavers</span><span style="background-color: white;">. Hands clasped, Myles White never </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">flinches, stutters, second-guesses, laments</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(Ughaaaargh. First of all, do you <b>really</b> need all four of these? Secondly, isn't "The Zen never wavers" a fifth one, except that it's deliberately incomprehensible? Thirdly, would it kill you to use "or" instead of a comma once in awhile?)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Never mind that Riverside Place in downtown Green Bay is booting him out of his apartment on Aug. 31. They want to sell his unit as a condo. Never mind that final cuts are Aug. 30. Never mind that his son, here with him in Green Bay, turns 2 years old on Sept 1.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Why wouldn't he mind?! These seem like consequential things!!)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Very soon his life will take a very new direction. He'll either have a future in Green Bay or be dusted off to Austin Straubel International Airport.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">The day after Green Bay's preseason opener, White </span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #444444;">insists</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> he's </span><span style="background-color: red; color: #444444;">in a place of peace.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> He </span><span style="background-color: red;">will not live on edge</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. </span><span style="background-color: yellow; color: #444444;">Not here, not now.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> Eating lunch after a morning workout, </span><span style="background-color: red; color: #444444;">White is "chill" personified</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. </span><span style="background-color: red; color: #444444;">He lives in the eye of the camp storm</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">. Through a monsoon in Nashville, Tenn., during the first preseason game. through all the camp chaos, </span><span style="background-color: red; color: #444444;">he promises to remain calm</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(Tyler. Buddy. Stop using 'insists'. It drives me crazy. It's one of your smaller stylistic flubs, yet one of the most aggravating--you approach it like you're trying to prove him wrong! Look at your previous paragraph. 'Oh, he has all these reasons to be worried, but he insists he's fine!' Nobody just says anything in your world, they have to insist on it. Again, it assigns intention where none existed. Also, I've highlighted in red the places where you say the same thing, 'White is staying calm', five separate times. Which, if we're keeping count, means you've said THE SAME THING, TEN DIFFERENT WAYS, WITHIN FOUR GRAFS. JESUS GOD, MAN.) </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everything in his past, he explains, has culminated in this phoenix rising.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Start with the weekend of Nov. 21-22, 2009, in East Lansing, Mich. A college fraternity jumped one of his teammates at a party, the players sought retaliation and, as White says, "things escalated." A brawl ensued, the players overwhelming the frat members. That same weekend, White was charged with public urination in an alley outside a bar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Michigan State promptly suspended White indefinitely. The school his father ran track for, the school he loved as a kid in Livonia, Mich., did not want him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(I want to know more here--what did White do in the fight? This could be hard to find out, or you could ask White.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I felt lost," he says. "I didn't know what I was going to do."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He picked up the pieces at a junior college, clawed his way back to Division I at Louisiana Tech, had a son and latched on as an undrafted rookie in Green Bay last summer. Cut, White made the practice squad, was called up midseason and caught nine passes for 66 yards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(This is ambiguous. When did he have his son? At Louisiana Tech or in Green Bay? Tell me how it's possible to tell from that sentence.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Now, it's about making the 53 outright — nothing less.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> With his life, his son's life dependent on every practice, White will not stress.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Firstly: Remember that about the 53. We'll come back to that. Secondly... "his son's life dependent on every practice"?! I mean, there's hyperbole, and then there's hyperbole! Is his son going to <b>die</b> if he doesn't make the team?! That's what "life dependent on" means, right?! Did they change the rules while I was away?)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">A year ago, he was a mess. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">One dropped pass, one mistake</span><span style="background-color: white;"> would </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">ruin his day, his night, linger on and on. "Haunts you," he says.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Awake at night in his St. Norbert College dorm room, one thought ran on repeat in White's mind — "Man, I'm about to be cut."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(This paragraph. Just... this paragraph.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">He calls it a </span><i style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">healing process</i><span style="background-color: white;">, and it's something every</span><span style="background-color: yellow;"> bubble boy</span><span style="background-color: white;"> fights.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>("Bubble boy?")</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"After practice, you're pissed off," White says. "You're, 'Damn man, I had a bad day.' You're sulking. Then, there's another stage where you're like, 'All right. I'm ready to go tomorrow. I'm going to make sure I clean it up tomorrow.' Then, you're so anxious for the next day, you're like, 'Man, I can't get through today because I'm more worried about tomorrow!'"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In Year 2, White is avoiding this trap. So far, he can do no wrong. He knows the offense; he survived the </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Aaron Rodgers death stares.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> He transformed his body, gaining 12 pounds. Taking the advice of Edgar Bennett, his position coach, </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">White ate all off-season. His goal was to carry a snack at all times, to never feel a pit of hunger</span><span style="background-color: white;"> in his stomach.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(I get the feeling that there's something interesting here buried beneath the dross, but I can't see it. "Taking the advice of Bennett... White ate all off-season." Besides the hyperbole of "a pit of hunger", is this different from the normal offseason where he doesn't eat and lives on air?)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Sure, White always possessed top-end speed — from challenging family members to $20 races as a kid to clocking in at 4.42 seconds in the 40 at a chilly pro day — but cornerbacks </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">suffocated</span><span style="background-color: white;"> him at the line of scrimmage. Contact was his </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">kryptonite</span><span style="background-color: white;">. Camp is now two weeks old and White is clearly a reborn receiver.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(<a href="http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Hyperbole and a Half</a> would be proud. Also, nice job sticking to your phoenix theme with "reborn".)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Jared Abbrederis tore his ACL. Chris Harper rides manic highs and lows. Jeff Janis is having trouble breathing, let alone practicing, through shingles. The chiseled Kevin Dorsey is shaping up as White's No. 1 competition. One moment, White </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">pretzel-knots </span><span style="background-color: white;">a cornerback off a receiver screen. The next, Dorsey </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">rips away a touchdown</span><span style="background-color: white;"> in the end zone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(It'd be nice to know from whom Dorsey "rips away a touchdown", because without that information, that's just an awkward sentence.)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yet, White isn't keeping Dorsey in his </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">peripheral vision</span><span style="background-color: white;">. He's only worried about his own game, his </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">0-to-60 acceleration that's a gear above</span><span style="background-color: white;"> everyone else.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(This isn't a bad thing for some people, but I just hate the "0-to-60 acceleration". The man isn't a car, and you don't need to reach for a cliché to describe his physical talent--use <b>your</b> words!)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smiling, stirring his drink, White says he's the fastest wide receiver on the roster.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Yeah, I mean, me and Janis," White says. "Everybody has their input, says what they want to say, but me personally I feel like I'm the fastest."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Janis is a total unknown. But the kid from Tawas City, Mich., population 1,795, he's told, is <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">fast.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(Reread that second sentence to me out loud and tell me if it flows. How about... 'But he's told the kid from tiny Tawas City, Michigan, is </i><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">fast.'</span><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"He's fast, he's fast," White says. "He's from Michigan. So I always give him a hard time that, 'If you were fast, I would have known about you.'...He's wayyy up there."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As Aug. 30 creeps closer, White must prove he can now win the contested catch, the 50/50 ball. One free play at Tennessee could've been White's shot, but Matt Flynn's long ball fell short.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I'm dying for it to come," he says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Playing wide receiver is funny. Want to take over a game? Want to get your Kobe Bryant on? You can't, you wait.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> This reality used to drive White mad. In high school, he'd be in the ear of his twin brother, the quarterback, shouting, "Throw me the damn ball!"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(This could be condensed to "You can't stand out if the QB doesn't look your way", or something similar.)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now, he doesn't </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">clap his hands, yelp mid-route, badger the quarterbacks. </span><span style="background-color: white;">White realizes more opportunities will come. Camp is a marathon. There will </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">come a moment, a day, a play, he says,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> when he must "put my name in the hat."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Let's say things, speak, construct verbiage three times in the same sentence, word-string, meaning flow just for the fun of it. You'll see how annoying it gets really, seriously, quickly fast.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So far, so smooth.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I control what I can control," White says. "If I do that well, it will all take care of itself."</span></div>
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<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">2 p.m., Aug. 14</span></b></h3>
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<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Packers locker room</span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Myles White must understand each cornerback. Each one has his own </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">style, flair, combative instinct.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> And White counterpunches accordingly. First, the most annoying draw in a one-on-one setting.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I know he's going to be patient," starts White, sitting in his locker. "He's going to clutch and grab."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Walking by, Jordy Nelson eavesdrops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"JB?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, Jarrett Bush.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It's worked for him!" White speaks up. "That's why he's a 10-year-plus guy."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sam Shields? "Fast. Just fast, man. You know when you have a vertical route, he's going to be right there with you every step of the way."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tramon Williams? "Quick and smart. Knows football like the back of his hand. Knows how you stem and how you position your body."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Williams also is down to rumble. We've reached the point of camp where the Packers are sick of each other. Sick of the extra shove downfield. Sick of the jawing from the sideline — Jamari Lattimore running his mouth, Bush </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">antagonizing</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(That actually works decently well, the "sick of" things, at least until you stop describing things. What does Lattimore say? How does Bush antagonize people? Put me there! Describe the scene! Show me, don't tell me! In an ordinary newspaper article, it's understandable to some extent if you don't have space to describe a scene, but a) good reporters can and b) this isn't an ordinary article. You have at least a thousand words to make your point. Use some of them to show the reader what's happening.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of the seven scrums, White's is the best. In 7 on 7, he clings to Williams downfield. Williams' temper boils and the two begin striking each other in the sternum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">White calls it big brother/little brother banter. His girlfriend and Williams' wife have known each other for years; their kids play together. But for this brief moment — Williams' arm lodged </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">up into [under]</span><span style="background-color: white;"> White's chin; Rodgers later referring to White as "Myles Mayweather" — they're not friends.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(This is a good, powerful paragraph. That's showing! The arm under the chin--that's great!)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's easy to rip through the first weeks of camp like White did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now, it gets difficult. That shove of Williams carried extra vinegar after a drop White had on fourth down the drill prior. White cursed and stared at his hands in bewilderment. Elsewhere, Janis is emerging. Fast. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">The circus, diving receptions are stringing together in highlight-reel fashion.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(You're so... breathless. I always come back to that word when trying to describe you, Tyler. There's no time to think in your writing. Sometimes it kind of works, like this paragraph. It makes sense in the larger structure of your story. You're taking a snapshot in a longer story, so the quick, punchy sentences kind of make sense. But then you have a sentence like the highlighted one. It's like you use words as bludgeons, not descriptors. Not to mention that the receptions are stringing themselves together, because they are sentient somehow. Would it kill you to replace "the" with "his"?)</i></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In an interview room at Lambeau Field, Edgar Bennett takes a step back to demonstrate what went wrong on White's drop. Hand placement? Check. Thumbs together? Check. Above the waist? Check. White, he says, forgot to look the ball all the way in. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">A WR 101 cardinal sin.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(How could anyone possibly... that's two clichés in five words, and the whole thing is only there for emphasis. It doesn't say anything new.)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It's all about looking the ball all the way into the tuck," Bennett says.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rodgers is the stickler about mental errors, for wide receivers needing to know precisely where to be and when. Bennett is the stickler about physical errors, for ball security. These are the two people White must impress most.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The coach did see how White responded. He loves "Myles Mayweather."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"No. 1, Myles is extremely tough," Bennett says. "One of the toughest guys to come into that room, no doubt about it. Love his attitude. And he was fundamentally sound. He kept his hands inside. He accelerated his feet on contact. And he finished. That's football."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">White's confidence is sky high. His temperament, loose. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">His speed, still ankle-breaking evident.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> He shakes off the drop, saying "I don't dwell on it. I move on." But a subplot has emerged.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He wears No. 83.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Ankle-breakingly? At least have the right conjugation for your hyperbole. Don't you have an editor for this kind of thing? Also, are you being intentionally confusing with your last two sentences? You haven't actually told us what Myles White's number is, or Janis's. For all I know as the reader, White wears No. 83 and this makes no sense. You so often refer to the prevailing narratives in the Journal Sentinel in your articles, forgetting that not everyone is going to read every article and know who or what you're talking about. It's unforgivably sloppy.)</i></span></div>
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<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">6:30 p.m., Aug. 16</span></b></h3>
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<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Edward Jones Dome</span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">After the game, helmet in hand, there's no one to greet at midfield. Myles White wanders through the mass embrace of veterans alone, in slow motion, </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">uncertainty plastered across his face</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">He skips into a slight jog through the tunnel, through a dying "Go Pack Go" chat, inside the visitor's locker room and — for the first time all summer — you see concern. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Today, White is ripped out of that eye in the storm, right into the Jeff Janis cyclone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Lights and cameras engulf</span><span style="background-color: white;"> the seventh-round pick from Saginaw Valley State as he breaks down the 34-yard touchdown that might've sealed his roster spot. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Wheels like these</span><span style="background-color: white;"> don't sneak onto a practice squad.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Across the room, White sits in his locker for 10 ... 11 ... 12 </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">cold minutes.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> He stares at nothing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Speed? To White's left, Davante Adams is gushing over Janis. They call him "V12," Adams explains. Janis, not White, is the one with the </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Lamborghini-powered nickname</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(This is really powerful stuff. It really puts the reader there. It makes you feel White's shock, like you're on Hard Knocks or something. It also highlights the dark side of the narrative: everyone, including you, Tyler, was fawning over Janis in the week after the St. Louis game. It's pretty powerful seeing the converse of that: when someone wins, everyone else loses. All the highlighted hyperbole is still there, but it sometimes helps you make a point or be more colorful. It's using it all the time that's the problem. Also, you meant 'chant', not 'chat', I'm guessing.)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">White finally saunters to the showers, returns and breaks down the plays that got away. This was nearly </span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">his</i>day [sic]</span><span style="background-color: white;">. Moments after St. Louis' Cody Davis broke up an in-and-out pass intended for White, he exacted sweet revenge. On third and goal from the 4, White burned Davis to the corner and adjusted beautifully for the touchdown.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Arms outstretched, swagger turned on, he fell flat on his back to celebrate his first NFL touchdown.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One flag for unsportsmanlike. One flag for illegal hands to the face on Corey Linsley. No touchdown.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A ticky-tack flag on a rookie center who had nothing to do with the play costs White. He's not sure if this play will resonate upstairs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I don't know," White says. "I try not to think about it. I think I left some plays out there I should have made. I had an in on the first ball that was thrown to me and even though he was draped on me, if I want to be the player I know I can be, I have to make that catch. You can't rely on the refs."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">More than the touchdown, that third-and-8 drop in the first half is on his mind. That was the challenge he wanted. White ran an in route on Lamarcus Joyner and the Florida State rookie was all over him. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Arm bar. A clutch. A knockdown.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">White knew this was the moment of truth Edgar Bennett was waiting for, the contested catch. In his Michael Johnson Performance hoodie and fluorescent green shorts, White slips socks into sandals. He stands up and leans an arm against his locker.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Great description. Seriously.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">The Janis Show is now must-see TV</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"He's a fast guy," White says of Janis. "He hit the corner, and he's fast. Decisive. Proud of him."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Five? Six? Who knows how many wide receivers the Packers keep. All White knows is </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">[that] </span><span style="background-color: white;">the competition is ramping up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"To each his own," he says. "However you handle it, handle it. You have to make a play. The bar has been set."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">He takes a deep breath, smiles and reflects on a play he </span><i style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">can</i><span style="background-color: white;"> build on. With 57 seconds left at this </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">hollow, lifeless, ghost town</span><span style="background-color: white;"> of Edward Jones Dome, White did race downfield to tackle the punt returner for a 5-yard loss...before promptly all-out sprinting off the field in elation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">No one called him "V12" after that play, no one gushed</span><span style="background-color: white;">. On the sideline, teammates chuckled, hardly acknowledging White.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(You're doing so well, don't screw it up now)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">But it's something. White </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">recalibrates to his state of chill</span><span style="background-color: white;">, fully aware that Janis officially raised the bar.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"And it's always going to be raised," he says. "That's where good teams keep taking a step up and forcing players to rise to the occasion."</span></div>
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<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">5 p.m., Aug. 21</span></b></h3>
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<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Packers Heritage Trail, downtown Green Bay</span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Hut ... Go! ... Hut ... Go!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These are the only two words Mychael repeats for a half-hour. These, and a high-pitched "Daddy!" At the Packers Heritage Trail off Washington St., the 23-month-old repeatedly drops into a 3-point stance and sprints into his dad's bear hug of a tackle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Between bronze statues of Paul Hornung and Johnny "Blood" McNally, the little guy in the frizzy brown 'fro and short-sleeve denim shirt is easily the cutest thing this side of the Fox River. Climbing, crawling, dinging his head on the one of the statues, he squeals and cries and laughs all while fixating his eyes on his dad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(This could maybe be two sentences, "fixating" could be "fixing", but you're on a roll, Tyler.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The fact that Mychael is completely reliant on him, on this summer, could cause </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">insomnia, 24-hour stress.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I try very, very hard not to think about that," White says.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Instead, all summer, he says Mychael has liberated his mind. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Frees him from games like St. Louis.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Last summer, his son was 1,100 miles away. His girlfriend, Shavonda, flew up for the Family Night practice. Other than that, White was alone with his thoughts and that, he admits, can be a dangerous place.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(Watch out for sentence fragments.)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He needed Mychael; Mychael needed him.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mychael has no clue that Dad could be cut in eight days, no idea their lives could change with one phone call.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"That's the beauty of it," White says. "He doesn't. So he doesn't treat it as such. He knows I go to work, I go play football and I come back. And I do the same thing over and over every day.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Don't get me wrong. This is very important to me. But the most important thing to me is being a dad, being a supportive father to him. That's No. 1."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">White has known Shavonda for 3½ years. They've stayed close. Oh yes, White was nervous when she first had the child. He was only 22 years old. He specifically remembers one day, one month into Mychael's life, when nerves consumed him.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Ohhhhhh. Tyler, you were doing so well!! What does "They've stayed close" mean? Are they together or not? Why the "Oh yes"? What the heck happened on that day when "nerves consumed him" (like cannibal worms)? You don't say! Tell us! Gah. Everything about this paragraph is shit.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right then, Mychael became his life. He decided to attack fatherhood "head on."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Right here is the No. 1 reason Myles White is so relaxed this summer. All summer, he squeezed in father-son time between leaving the office and reporting </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">to the dorms. Now, out of the dorms, </span><span style="background-color: white;">they have even more time to play on the mini basketball hoop and throw the Nerf football around. Mychael usually puts on Dad's 2013 game helmet and pretends to be a player.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(Minor thing, but this doesn't have to be awkward. Even "now that he's out of the dorms" would make this flow better.)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And even with Mom around, White changes diapers. The key to a successful diaper change?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You've got to get him to sit still, sit still."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">White looks over to his son. He's now waddling </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">at warp speed</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"He doesn't stop moving," he says, smiling. "He doesn't stop."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A year ago, Shavonda fielded the nightly phone calls from Myles. This summer, she sees the difference.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Yes. <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Yes</i>," she repeats. "He definitely has a much, much different mind-set than last year. When it came down to crunch time last year — the last two weeks of this time last year...."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her voice fades, disappears. Stressful?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Yes, yes."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">White's confidence </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">rebooted</span><span style="background-color: white;"> this week. Inside the Don Hutson Center, his post-corner cut froze Casey Hayward like one of these statues. And on back-to-back days, Janis </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">steamed</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Rodgers by running the wrong route — to which White told Janis on the sideline, "You have to relax. Just focus."</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The scene hints White still has an edge. In experience, in playing up in Rodgers' demanding stratosphere.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(ick)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Says White, "I feel like I'm at the point where I understand what he wants on a certain route, or where he wants to go with the ball."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Holding his son, he walks down Washington St., toward his apartment complex. They'll grab dinner and then White is off to the Radisson team hotel. The Packers play the Oakland Raiders tomorrow, another opportunity.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Jarrett Boykin and second-rounder Davante Adams are all locks. After St. Louis, the </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">green-as-grass, yet gazelle-fast</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Janis is a front-runner at No. 5.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Do the Packers keep six receivers? That number could be </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">the single force that cracks White's cool</span><span style="background-color: white;">. Mention "five or six," and the girlfriend's eyes dart toward White.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(She has a name, right? Shavonda?)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"I don't know what they're going to do," White says, briefly opening his </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">vault of uncertainty,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> "if they keep five or six. Whatever they decide to do, hopefully I'm in the mix. That's what it comes down to.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"If I'm not, I just have to pick up the pieces from there."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Hand in hand, they all walk away. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Time is ticking.</span></span></div>
<h3 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px;">
<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">11:45 a.m., Aug. 25</span></b></h3>
<h3 style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px;">
<b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Ray Nitschke Field</span></b></h3>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Today, Myles White's last stand begins. Today</span><span style="background-color: yellow;">,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> is a practice from hell.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(This is a little thing, but cut that stupid comma! By now I'm almost as mad at your editors as I am at you.)</i></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In the red zone, blanketed by Jarrett Bush, White drops a pass. On a deep cross, with a step on likely-cut Ryan White, he extends one arm and drops another. As the </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">dark</span><span style="background-color: white;"> "Say I Won't" by LeCrae blares during a TV timeout, White stands motionless. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Helmet under his arm, that look from St. Louis returns. That look of doubt.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Oh my God. Again with the melodrama.)</i></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Next up, on the scout team, White </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">all-out dives</span><span style="background-color: white;"> for a deep ball...and it grazes off his </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">finger tips</span><span style="background-color: white;">. Mud now covering his jersey, he can't even cut out of his break the next play. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">He slips, falls, a future now obviously in doubt.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Fingertips is one word. "All-out dives" is awkward. Your last sentence just sucks.)</i></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Slumped inside his locker afterward, White is visibly </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">dejected, emotional</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He snaps his blue-and-white socks with force repeatedly, slips them on, and pulls a white long-sleeve Louisiana Tech shirt over his head. Today is essentially the Packers' final training camp practice before the final exhibition game.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">His theme of 2014 — </span><i style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">relax </i><span style="background-color: white;">— </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">finally is damaged</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Is finally damaged?)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I let things get to me," White admits, "that I shouldn't have let get to me....I let things pile up that shouldn't have piled up."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">White did cradle two touchdowns in the corner of the end zone, even if one was bobbled. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">He clings to no silver linings this day.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(Melodrama. Melodrama.)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I shouldn't have let it get to that point," he says, blankly.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No, this wasn't the same wide receiver embarrassing cornerbacks the first three weeks. Right up to now, White had done such a masterful job of blocking everything out. Teammates see it. Tight end Jake Stoneburner, also a second-year pro on the bubble, heard White's "control what you control" drumbeat himself.</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yet the two took </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">polar-opposite</span><span style="background-color: white;"> approaches all summer.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Whereas White finishes practice and removes himself from the game by playing with his son, Stoneburner calls his dad and analyzes practice. He prefers the stress, </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">living on edge.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"For me," Stoneburner says, "the stress brings out the competitive 'I've got to get this done. Or else.' It keeps it more cutthroat for me."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now, </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">down the stretch run,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> Stoneburner is hot. Responding. Prod White about the life ramifications of a</span><span style="background-color: yellow;"> sink-or-swim</span><span style="background-color: white;"> summer and he reiterates the power of letting go. Not Stoneburner. He calls it "fighting the unknown." And, frankly, he says, it "sucks."</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(As a runner, "down the stretch" and "stretch run" are two different phrases. Putting them together doesn't add emphasis, it makes it baffling.)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You're like, 'Am I going to go through all this for nothing? And end up back at Columbus, Ohio?'" Stoneburner says. "That's pretty stressful. I won't lie, especially these last 10 days. Just because you know it's getting close.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Who knows what's going to happen? Yeah, it's your life. It can turn in a second."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">White has thought about life after football. </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">One minute in the spring he was racing Johnathan Franklin (the only player to ever beat him), the next Franklin retired with a neck injury. Whenever this dream fades, he'll teach and coach</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(One, awkward sentence. Two, will White or Franklin "teach and coach"? Or both? You said "Franklin retired", then left the "he" in the next sentence ambiguous.)</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Interlocking his fingers in thought, his voice picks up, as if realizing the dream's not dead yet.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It was one of them days where everything is just not going your way," White says. "You have to fight through it. Go back to the fundamentals. That was the type of day it was. Hopefully, I didn't hurt myself too bad.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"I'm kind of going back into that zone. It's out of my control."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Asked once and for all why should the Green Bay Packers keep Myles White, he points to the film. Hopefully, White says, the "tape shows it."</span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">It didn't today. In 20 minutes, White will review the practice tape with Bennett. He knows the scolding that awaits. And later in the day, after that meeting — in the same room Bennett broke down White's mid-camp drop — the coach </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">is told that</span><span style="background-color: white;"> White was torn up over his practice.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(I'm not a big fan of removing the reporter from the story, especially in a story this long, but that's a legitimate stylistic choice.)</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The mild-mannered Bennett is curt.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"He should be," the coach says.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"When we're fundamentally sound, we make plays. When we're not fundamentally sound, there's a drop-off. We can't play, we <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">don't</i> operate at that level. That's unacceptable. It just can't happen."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="color: white;">Technically, yes, the Packers could now keep White on the practice squad</span><span style="color: #444444;">. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">But that's not what he worked for, that's not what was on his mind those grueling training days in Dallas.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(We come back to it at last. YES. JESUS CHRIST. <b>THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE ENTIRE STORY. </b>All that "keeping five or six" stuff, the all-or-nothing tone of the entire piece, it's not actually true!! Why isn't this way up at the top of the story? It's not all or nothing! He </i><b>can</b><i> stick on the practice squad! If he gets cut, it really isn't the end of the world! It is unbelievable that you waited this long to mention this REALLY IMPORTANT THING!!) </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>(EDIT: Also, I had a nagging suspicion that was confirmed when I reread this. What the hell "grueling training days in Dallas" were those? This is the first time 'Dallas' has appeared. You mentioned that Shavonda and Mychael were "1,100 miles away", but didn't say where that was. And there was no prior mention of White's offseason work. All I can think of is that the Dallas sentence made sense in an earlier draft of the piece, when there was a part about Dallas elsewhere in the article, but that got cut and you forgot about this part (or your editor did). Again, this is maddeningly sloppy. How a professional writer can screw as many things up as you do and still have a job is beyond me. I'm done with this article. You are awful at writing.)</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two years ago, Jarrett Boykin finished off Tori Gurley (since cut by his eighth team) and Diondre Borel (now out of the NFL) with a breakout fourth exhibition game. "Wow," White cuts in, unaware. Last year, Jeremy Ross earned a spot in the fourth game. He still has hope in the form of Thursday night, a chance to convince Green Bay to keep six, to keep <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">him.</i></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No, White has never experienced a month like this.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In basketball, the Myles White equivalent could play in Europe, could latch onto an NBA Developmental team. In hockey, in baseball, there are minor-league options. In football, you make it or you don't.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thursday's exhibition finale is White's final job interview.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And then Saturday morning, he'll turn on his cellphone and wait. The Packers will either call and ask him to turn in his playbook. Or not. Silence is a beautiful thing on cutdown day.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">White dries his face off with a towel. Leans forward.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is it — the phoenix's final chance to rise.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You try to throw your name in the hat and whatever happens, know you did your best. You did your best. You let it all out. Maybe it wasn't good enough.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Football...is very, very cut and dry."</span></div>
</div>
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