Semester Preperation

Today I try to get back into the groove of things; I have a paper I need to fix up and two more I need to finish.

Workout notes 2000 yards of swimming; a nice “welcome back to swimming” workout. It helped that there were tri-babes all over the place!

Social: I had talked about the Jena case, and Blackinformant has his take:

Yes, my Nubian brothas and sistahs, the Black blogosphere has found yet another victim of “racial” injustice to rally behind. Of course, it all takes place in the usual setting: Small southern town with historical ties to slavery (What southern town does not have historical ties to slavery?). Usual characters include a white judge accompanied by an all-white jury. Before I continue, let me say up front that I am in complete agreement with the swarm on this case. Like the Shaquana Cotton case, from the available information out there on this case it does sound like the judge was being excessive with his sentencing of these young boys. Whether or not this is a case of Jim Crow trying to rear its ugly head, I will leave that to those who are really in the know of this case—not those who are not privy to all the evidence.

In any event, this case serves as yet another example of the great lengths folks are willing to go to address White-against-Black injustice versus INJUSTICE period. Do a comparison with the 117 (that’s ONE-HUNDRED SEVENTEEN) murders –mostly Black victims and perpetrators that have taken place in ONE city just south of Jena and you will see the gross oversight of this type of injustice by the blog swarm.

The following are just a few other instances of INJUSTICE that did not meet the apparent criteria of the members of the blog swarm for justice:

Ever heard of “Beat Up a White Kid” day? Well if you lived in the Cleveland, OH area during or before 2003 you may have heard of it.

When the attack was publicized a month later in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, more than 100 readers contacted the newspaper to confirm that the May Day ritual had been alive and well for years and “celebrated” in desegregated communities throughout the United States. Many in their 20s recalled staying home sick from school on May Day in the 1990s or hurrying home to avoid getting hurt. Some teachers did not give homework that day because they knew attendance would be down. Although annual pummelings of white kids by minorities is rooted in certain public schools on Cleveland’s West Side, the event may have multiple origins. For example, one man recalled that when he served in the military, many of his friends reported participated in or becoming victims of this annual ritual in desegregated communities throughout the United States.

In June 2003, the juvenile justice unit of the Cuyahoga county prosecutor’s office filed felonious assault and aggravated riot juvenile charges against the eighteen attackers. Noting that the attack was some sort of May Day ritual with the “focus to beat up a white kid,” the juvenile justice unit also charged the attackers with ethnic intimidation – a hate-crimes law. In July, Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge Joseph F. Russo entered not guilty pleas and appointed lawyers for the youth, and issued arrest warrants for the four who failed to attend the court hearing. Judge Russo ended the trial on October 2003 with six convictions, but concluded that “based on the evidence I’ve heard, May Day is reality and the evidence was overwhelming that this was an attack based on May Day and that the victim was chosen because she was white.” In drawing such a conclusion, Judge Russo made it clear that white students in Cleveland s integrated public schools have reason to fear assaults by minorities in so-called May Day attacks every May 1. In acknowledging the existence of Beat Up a White Kid Day, Judge Russo reasoned that “This terrible tradition must be stopped by sending a message.”

He continues on in a similar manner. My take: cases like the Jena one freaks me out because it appears that the government is against one group of people; in the latter case he is talking about the misbehavior of a gang of students. Sure, it is still worrisome, but in the second case I didn’t get the feeling that the local government approved of it.

Still, I have to give the blog author a great deal of credit for taking this on.

Religion and education

God’s calculus?

One might be too stunned to shake one’s head; this is a description for a high school calculus course:

CALCULUS
Students will examine the nature of God as they progress in their understanding of mathematics. Students will understand the absolute consistency of mathematical principles and know that God was the inventor of that consistency. Mathematical study will result in a greater appreciation of God and His works in creation. The students will understand the basic ideas of both differential and integral calculus and its importance and historical applications. The students will recognize that God created our minds to be able to see that the universe can be calculated by mental methods.

Ok….I am really wondering if school vouchers are such a good idea.

Christian Boot camp: girl dragged behind a vehicle because she couldn’t run fast enough.

Holy hell, what is going on at this place?

The director of a Christian boot camp and an employee were arrested Friday for allegedly dragging a 15-year-old girl behind a van after she fell behind the group during a morning run, authorities said.

Charles Eugene Flowers and Stephanie Bassitt of San Antonio-based Love Demonstrated Ministries, a 32-day boot camp, were arrested on aggravated assault charges for the alleged June 12 incident.

The two are accused of tying the girl to the van with a rope then dragging her, according to an arrest affidavit filed Wednesday by the Nueces County Sheriff’s Department.

…

Flowers, the camp’s director, allegedly ordered Bassitt to run alongside the girl after she fell behind, the affidavit said. When the girl stopped running, Bassitt allegedly yelled at her and pinned her to the ground while Flowers tied the rope to her, according to the affidavit.

What type of camp is the *so*-not-aptly-named “Love Demonstrated Ministries”?

Hmmm, “who would Jesus drag behind a van?”