On his way out

News reports suggest that U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, whom President Bush (“Poppy”) promised would be a conservative stalwart but turned out to the court’s second most liberal justices on many issues, will step down in June. A New Hampshire native connected with then White House chief of staff John Sununu, Souter, a bachelor, faced questions – though rarely explicit – about his sexual identity. (In hindsight, Souter’s nomination won Senate confirmation in part because as a lower-court judge, state court judge, and New Hampshire attorney general he had issues almost no controversial opinion.) Souter, only 69 (young by current Supreme Court standards) apparently never liked the Washington social scene. Souter cast one of the deciding votes in the landmark 1992 moderately pro-abortion rights ‘Casey vs. Reproductive Health Services” decision – which he helped read from the bench and probably in hindsight stopped some anti-abortion advances for good – which helped frame my dissertation research.

(Although Justice Souter has been no friend of the rights of the accused, he has continued to vote liberally in other matters, siding with the losers in the election imbroglio case that made the son of the man who appointed him (George W. Bush) the president. Souter was apparently so disgusted with the clear political partisanship and lack of intellectual integrity of the "Bush vs. Gore" decision that he considered resigning. Souter is apparently not close personally with his more conservative Republican colleagues on the court, and he has not been particularly impressed with their intellectual rigor - and this may have influenced him in deciding when to retire.)

Many Supreme Court justices, who have lifetime appointments, resign in some way to maintain their legacy. Justice Souter’s resignation is like that of Justice Harry Blackmun, author of the 1973 pro-abortion rights “Roe vs. Wade” decision, in that Blackmun (like Souter, a Republican) chose ideology over party and chose to resign soon after the election of a moderately liberal Democratic president (Bill Clinton) whose ideological leanings were closer to his own. (Justice Byron White, a diehard but sometimes conservative Democrat, opted for party over ideology, also waiting until President Clinton’s election.) Souter apparently went for ideology, and – unless President Obama faces problems from moderate Democrats in the Senate – President Obama will replace him with another moderate liberal (but – more likely – a Democrat - although picking a moderate Republican would be an interesting move for a president who tried - and failed - to appoint a third Republican/independent to his Cabinet).

-- Perry

Babe's revenge?

I got electronic communication late Thursday from an organization that a former student of mine helps lead that argued that “swine flu” originated not in Mexico but in a North Carolina pig mega farm (factory farm). It turns out that – as with chickens – megafarms have developed that keep pigs – apparently for their whole lives – penned up in a small, single pen by themselves. Pigs find this stressful, and they’re more likely to get sick. The organization cited some evidence that the mix of pig, bird, and human flu that apparently begat the “swine flu” now infecting humans got it start maybe more than a decade ago in one of a handful of North Carolina pig megafarms.

Ironically, a high school friend of mine – after helping condoize St. Augustine (FL) Beach – got his big break in the construction industry helping build refrigeration for the pig slaughterhouses in North Carolina – slaughterhouses that I suspect killed and processed the pigs that grew up on these megafarms. Refrigeration helped make it possible to ship pig products around the country and around the world. Even with a recent push for people to “buy local” with their groceries, the push towards flying food around the country and the world means that it would be more difficult to contain, to localize an illness like this.

So we may not only be suffering now (by starting to contract “swine flu”) from failing to help Mexico and other countries beef up their health care systems and confront economic inequality and exploitation of people and natural resources by multinational corporations. We may also be suffering from permitting animal rights violations that have come back to haunt us (hence the blog entry title).

Other flu updates: While some affected states cancel some public events, Stephanie and I hung out early Thursday evening at the Pegasus Parade, a huge public event. An outdoor event like this is probably safer than hanging out with a bunch of people – some potentially sick – in an enclosed area (as Vice President Biden somewhat inelegantly reminded us of).

One of Stephanie’s favorite students confided in her that an older brother of hers – who stayed back in Mexico after they all went home for Christmas – is now in the hospital and she and her family fear he has the flu.

-- Perry

Vincent's Derby weekend?

Vincent’s latest plan: Drop off a job application at the 4th Street Live Borders Books and Music store Thursday. Meet his friend Alex and go have dinner with Alex’s family at their home near Holiday Manor. Get up early Friday (Oaks Day – still a day off in the Jefferson County (KY) Public Schools and go over to his friend Samantha’s to help her clean her room (We’ll see if he did his weekly chores and laundry and cleaned his own room before leaving for Borders.)

The next part becomes fuzzy in my mind: At some point Friday he hopes that he and Sam can connect with his father, said to be on his way from Florida to Ohio. Later in the day – or first thing Saturday morning, after spending the night with the Davises? – he’s going to travel with them to Marietta, where some of my maternal ancestors are from and which Stephanie, Vincent, and I visited 11 years ago this month, to pick Sam’s sister up – after the end of spring semester – from Marietta College (pictured above) (where our counselor 11 years ago had gone).It’s unclear to me when they’ll be back. I guess Vincent won’t be going to the Pegasus Parade with us (weather permitting) this year. Our Derby Eve/Derby plans still aren’t clear.

P.S. Some changes in plans: It turns out that what Vincent was going to do with Alex tonight (although we still think Vincent is meeting people too close to school and then also coming home smelling like smoke from hanging out with smokers) was something we approve of. Alex, a friend of Vincent from last summer’s Denmark trip, went with another friend with whom Vincent hasn’t hung out yet to see another friend of Vincent – who he has also not seen much lately – get awarded his Eagle Scout paraphernalia at a nearby synagogue. We definitely approve of Vincent reconnecting with old friends (friends who we mainly like). Vincent had told his friend – not really joking – that he might not go because he didn’t believe in the Boy Scouts (and not so much because of their sexual orientation discrimination), even though Vincent was once a Tiger Cub.

Also, it turns out that Vincent is going with the David family to Marietta relatively early Friday morning. Because his father wasn’t due here until later Friday, he fibbed and told his father we were going to see one of Vincent’s maternal grandmothers in Ohio – because Vincent didn’t want to tell him that he was choosing going on a trip with his girlfriend instead of seeing his father. Vincent’s father stops by so rarely and Samantha goes out of town so rarely that it’s kind of too bad. I know he was looking forward to them meeting each other – but that wasn’t going to work – it turns out – no matter who he chose to hang out with because – unless their cars cross between Lexington and Cincinnati – the girlfriend and father were to be two different places Friday. We’ll see if this puts pressure on us to offer to bring Sam with us if we go to Ohio for Memorial Day weekend.

-- Perry

Extra signs

More signs of spring: Stephanie brought home from Day 2 of Crescent Hill church's up-scale plant sale, tea, and art sale (UPSTARTS) Sunday some more plants, adding to a bevy of plants she has installed. By Tuesday, flowers we'd been watching around the tree in the front yard of our rented St. Matthews home had bloomed (below).

Stephanie also got to fulfill her outdoor grillling dreams from the weekend, on a day when rain started to threaten for much of the rest of Derby week. On the menu were smoked turkey sausage and vegetable kabobs (Frisco got much of the veggie kabobs!), grilled half cabbages (!), and rice. It was the first time we've grilled this year.

Two danger signs for spring/Derby week. Good for alleviating my allergies, but bad for enjoying Derby week outdoors - Rain expected to continue this week, possibly on the Pegasus Parade tomorrow and on the races Friday and Saturday. Surprisingly, the rain let up today helping the local favorite "Belle of Louisville" "beat" a new Cincinnati-based rival boat in the Great Steamboat Race on the Ohio River. Also: Last year we went to Derby-related parties on Friday night and Saturday afternoon and - as of yet - we've received no party invitations (including for the annual Friday night party we usually go to). Trouble in the Chang/Mathews/Gregory family's Derby party land?

-- Perry

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Kathleen Sibelius, now a 60-year-old former two-term Kansas governor, confirmed by a mainly party-line Senate vote and sworn in as U.S. Health and Human Services department secretary Tuesday (instead of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, whose nominations tax return and lobbying problems derailed). Sibelius’ father is former Ohio Governor John Gilligan, who I was interviewed briefly (and unpleasantly) as part of my dissertation research.

Congratulations also to Scott Murphy, a 39-year-old NYC venture capitalist who beat out a long-time Republican state legislator (Jim Tedisco) whom the upstate NY anti-abortion activists whom I interviewed as part of my dissertation research loved. Recall that the special election – whose vote count at one point had Murphy and Tedisco TIED – was made necessary when NYS’s governor tapped a rather conservative upstate NY Democratic congressperson (Kirsten Gillibrand) for Hillary Clinton’s U.S. Senate seat. I wrote in my dissertation about how the evolution of Gillibrand’s longtime predecessor from Kennedy Democrat to conservative Republican mirrored the change in upstate NY’s political landscape. On his way to be sworn in, Murphy went from Glen Falls, which I visited to do an interview during my dissertation research, to the legendary Halfmoon Diner in the Saratoga County suburb of Albany (Clifton Park), where I also interviewed someone. Murphy and his family apparently moved to Glens Falls, near the farm where his wife grew up, so he could run for Congress. No stranger to politics, Murphy had also served as an aide to two Missouri governors.

Both Sibelius and Murphy have won in areas (Kansas and upstate New York) that are heavily Republican. But Gilibrand had won reelection with 70 percent of the vote, a margin that Murphy obviously didn’t come close to (his margin was apparently a few hundred votes).

-- Perry

Cautiously good news

Cautiously good news on the health front: The surgeon examined my groin – including having me cough – and said she thinks I probably pulled on the scar tissue. She suggested I continued avoiding lifting/stretching/other activity that tugs on the groin for another month. If it still hurts, she’ll probably send me to have a computer tomography (CT) scan of my groin. She detected no hernia, but says very small hernias she can sometimes miss. In addition (I believe) to avoiding picking up heavy object, she said I might also stretch (in general) regularly (which will make it harder to irritate the scar tissue – if it’s more flexible).

I stopped at home and walked the dog (and Frisco and I got stuck on the other side of a very slow-moving train - see photo above and video below). Vincent seems mainly to be alternating between sleeping, eating, watching Cartoon Network, and going over to his girlfriend’s. He requested a ride home again today.

In other health-related news, swine flu has begun circling closer to us, showing up within the past 24 hours in South Bend, IN, and Columbus, OH.

-- Perry

Tuesday update

Vincent surprised me somewhat by putting away his laundry and cleaning his room – in advance of Wednesday, when the plumber is slated to be there to fix his toilet seat and when his father may stop by. Still no word on the A/C repairpeople. Vincent and his friend Samantha are slated to connect with his father, who apparently is returning from helping his parents move back to Florida. Vincent hopes to have Sam over for dinner (he may cook!) Friday and have her go to counseling with him Monday PM.

I came home from the doctor Monday with instructions to take antibiotics and prescription ear drops (they were out at the pharmacy and so I’m taking Vincent’s). I haven’t yet caught up on sleep and Stephanie says I’m spending too much time on church activities. Church meetings Wednesday night, Thursday lunchtime, and Thursday evening, plus Derby-themed Children’s Fellowship Wednesday. Tomorrow is my appointment with my surgeon about my possible new hernia.

Stephanie has recently enjoyed getting her room back after she managed to get a college work-study student who has done little work and increasingly got on Stephanie’s nerves transferred to the school library. After last month's disastrous part one (open-ended questionsof the spring administration of IN standardized tests) tests at her school – not enough time, test questions that were too hard and covered material students weren’t supposed to have learned yet – students are taking the second part (multiple-choice questions) of the spring standardized tests in Indiana – on Derby week no less. (For one year only - a transition year during which IN is shifting from fall administration to spring administration - IN students are taking the tests twice in one school year.) There is less pressure because these spring tests are a dry run and the scores won’t count. With this past fall's test scores, Stephanie’s school managed to crawl out of last school year’s standardized tests doldrums and earn “Adequate Yearly Progress” – passing – marks this school year (based largely on those fall scores).

Both Stephanie and Vincent’s school districts were originally scheduled to have Oaks day – this Friday – named for the Oaks, the Churchill Downs race of 3-year-old fillies that precedes the actual Derby by one day – off, but the storms and days off then wiped out that. Constituents of Stephanie’s school district did get an e-mail message from the county’s public health officer with advice and caution about the swine flu, which has now apparently killed its first U.S. victims, in California. As I mentioned earlier, Stephanie’s school may come under scrutiny because two of her new students just left Mexico a couple of weeks ago.

P.S. Also on tap this week: My sister is preparing for end of the spring term dance performances – both as a choreographer and as a dancer – at Piedmont Virginia Community College’s fine arts “Extravaganza.” One of the pieces that Penny choreographed works with a piano compsition that eight-year-old son Jacob wrote and recorded. Penny is considering pursuing some kind of degree or certification in modern dance (partly so she might be able to teach dance herself). Penny was interested in dance but focused on music as a child. She already has a bachelor’s degree in history and certification in spiritual healing. They may have some more of Jacob's piano composition's recorded.

-- Perry

Welcome, Senator Specter!

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), a one-time Democrat who switched to being a Republican when the Democratic Party wouldn’t back his run for Philadelphia district attorney, appears set to announce a switch back to the Democratic Party. I remember watching Specter’s wife, Joan, at work on the Philadelphia City Council, where she was one of the only Republicans, when I worked in Philadelphia. I supported the campaign of then Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. House member Bob Edgar against Specter in 1986. That year, like most years, Specter faced a powerful conservative Republican challenger in the Republican Party, then had to pivot to face a strong Democratic challenger (in that year, Edgar).

Specter (pictured above in 2004 with now Vice President Biden – then dubbed “the third senator from Pennsylvania” given his pro-PA voting record and residence in Wilmington, Delaware just miles from the Delaware-PA line) was one of three Republicans in the Senate who voted for President Obama’s stimulus package. A 79-year-old cancer survivor, Specter pushed for a got a big increase in the National Institutes of Health’s budget in the stimulus package as one of the prices for his vote.

Already, it was clear that Senator Specter would once again would face a very strong conservative challenger in the 2010 Republican primary. With the switch, Specter will face that challenger in the general election and will not have to turn around and face a Democratic challenger in the general election. President Obama ended up winning Pennsylvania easily, and Specter’s PA colleague in the Senate (Bob Casey Jr.) is a Democrat and the state’s governor (Specter’s successor as Philadelphia district attorney and former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell) is a Democrat.

Once the Minnesota Supreme Court and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty award the Minnesota U.S. Senate seat that was up for grabs in 2008 to comedian Al Franken, who has apparently unseated Democrat-turned Republican and former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, the Democrats will now have the 60-seat filibuster-proof majority that eluded them when Georgia incumbent U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss won that December special runoff election.
Keep in mind that at least two Democratic U.S. senators have been ailing and are not always available for votes.We’ll see what all of this means for bipartisanship. It may that Democrats don’t have to threaten to use the budget reconciliation process to ram President Obama’s health care plan through. On the other hand, this will increase the power in the Senate not of the dwindling number of Republican moderates (of which Coleman and Specter were two) but of Democratic moderates (including Nebraskan Ben Nelson and – now – perhaps Specter) who have balked at plenty of Obama’s ambitious proposals.

P.S. Senator Specter has long served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he was one of the thorns in Anita Hill’s side (though he was respectful) when she testified against the confirmation of her former supervisor, now U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He chaired the committee when the Republicans were in the Senate majority earlier this decade, but only got that position – even though seniority would have normally given it to him anyway – when he promised conservatives that he wouldn’t interfere with any of then President Bush’s nominations of conservative Republicans as federal court judges.

P.P.S. Another factor in Specter’s decision: The rambunctious PA Democratic Party presidential election between then Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - especially in PA, a state in which primary elections are open only to those registered with the particular party – and then the increasingly popular candidacy of Democratic presidential nominee Obama – shifted thousands and thousands of PA voters not only out of the ranks of independent voters and those not registered to vote – but also out of the Republican Party rolls. Now Democrats, these pro-Obama former Republicans would not be available to help Specter defend his seat in a Republican primary.

-- Perry

Happy healing!

My cousin Peter e-mails from a hospital in Seoul that his mother, Aunt Songza (pictured above), had brain surgery for the second time last week but is now doing better. Songza may actually go home Wednesday.

-- Perry

Swine flu

We’re following news about the swine flu with interest, just like everyone else. An announcement at church reminded us that there are Presbyterian mission workers in Guatemala – many of whom we know – and the flu is starting to extend not only into the U.S., Canada, and Spain, but also – apparently more heavily – into Guatemala, where our church’s new partners in Izabal also are. Of course, I was in Guatemala exactly one month ago this weekend, and Stephanie got two new students two weeks ago who had just left Mexico.We’ll be thinking of these folks and others – including no doubt family members of Stephanie’s students threatened by the illness. We’ll also be listening for President Obama’s words about this global health threat and U.S. homeland security threat, as well as watching our own health. One reason I’ll try to go into the doctor this week about an apparent ear infection is the flu threat.A variety of additional events upcoming related to the health of the three of us and our home: I head to the surgeon this week about my groin and to the dentist next week about my mouth guard and allergist for an annual check-up. Stephanie heads to the dentist next week for her first step towards getting a crown over her root-canaled tooth. And Vincent heads today and next week to his weekly counseling visit and perhaps next week to the psychiatrist. We’ve called about getting Vincent’s toilet seat fixed and getting our central A/C fixed. In bathroom news, we picked up on elevated toilet seat for use when Mom comes to visit late next month (although possible hernia surgery has raised some questions about a swirl of activity planned during the furlough later next month).

P.S. It turns out that the original source of the swine flu may have been a Mexican pig farm – owned by a Virginia company – that neighbors have been complaining about for years. Chalk about another victory by U.S. agribusiness – and the penchant of we U.S. consumers for cheap hot dogs and bacon – over rural 3rd World people and – in this case – probably the global economy.

-- Perry

Getting ready for Derby

A year ago Friday night and two months ago Friday I was walking up and down one of Louisville's two monthly art walks/trolley hops - Fat Friday - on the last Friday every month - on Frankfort Avenue, near our church, passing out brochures about church events - and this Friday - about UPSTARTS, the youth ministry fund raiser featuring art and plants and a proper English tea. Stephanie drove to connect with me and we had Middle Eastern dinner at Shirraz (while I continued to pass out UPSTARTS flyers). Many shops and galleries along Frankfort Avenue were open late for the hop (like the one that we went to two years ago at Railroad Square in Tallahassee and the one near my old apartment in Columbus), and we checked out a very few near the restaurant. We stopped in Miraposa Place, a program/center/studio/gallery for mentally challenged adults who are involved in art projects there. It's almost Derby week in Louisville - A week ago was Thunder, earlier this weekend was the marathan and the balloon events. Wednesday is the Great Balloon Race, Thursday is the Pegasus Parade, and Friday and Saturday are the horse races. So the artists at Miraposa have been developing some Derby images, above and below (the steamboat race's "Belle of Louisville"), plus other themes (the map below).

Across the street was Elizabeth's, mainly a hat store. We ran into Beth (below), a woman we knew from Weight Watchers, who sported a small hat.

She and the proprietress and others helped Stephanie try on hats small and large.

Eventually, Stephanie settled on a large hat.

Last year we went to two Derby-related parties, a Derby eve party - the celebrity gawking party where were dress up like celebrities, then go down to watch the arrival of real celebrities at the Barntstable Brown party. Then we went over on Derby day (and watched Big Brown and Eight Belles) at church friends' house. We haven't yet been invited to these or other parties, but now Stephanie is ready, with a new hat. (An important weather note: It's supposed to rain here almost everyday through Saturday, so probably on the boat race, parade, and the Oaks and Derby races.)

-- Perry

Additional signs

Stephanie took these pictures - with signs of spring - in and around our house and yard Saturday, as the temperature climbed towards 90 degrees. Pictured above is cilantro Stephanie planted for the Cuban dish ropa viejo. In the two pictures are tulips - in the flower bed next to our little front porch - that Stephanie planted last fall.





Stephanie bent down to take some pictures of a blue wild flower that is so omnipresent in our front yard that - although she likes them - she just mows over them. She took several pictures because she was trying to catch a bumblebee she saw. It turns out, however, that she had caught the bee in the first picture (look careful immediately below). (Stephanie points out the bee shows up in the last picture too.)

-- Perry

Bubble burst

I'm afraid Vincent's reverted a little back to old form this weekend - leaving the house early Saturday without going to help out with the church art and plant sale (which he had told Ian he would help with) without finishing his laundry and cleaning his room (as he'd told us he'd done) - and then staying gone for 30 hours - without taking his medication - until we came to pick him up and he complained and made us wait. (Stephanie also had to mow the lawn again this weekend partly because he did a mediocre job earlier this week - She's pictured above following up with pruning, with Frisco.) It was back to picking him up between Halloween and St. Patrick's Day, which I hated. Stephanie said it reminded her of picking Vincent up at his father's - waiting, not knowing if there was going to be a confrontation, not knowing if he was really going to come with us - which we used to do when we lived in Ohio, also, every Sunday afternoon. Vincent asked why we were picking him up early, and I said it was because he hadn't done his laundry or cleaned his room or taking his medication. (He also was hot from going on a walk with his friend in 90 degree weather with the black T-shirt and black jeans he had put on Saturday morning.) But it was also because that's when we were driving through and I figured - correctly - that having gotten up early Saturday morning (inexplicably) and probably gotten little sleep Saturday night, he was probably exhausted (and if he slept that off Monday and Tuesday and did 0 hours of school work, instead of his usual 2 hours - that wouldn't be good). Also - he originally had talked about doing something with a different Sam, a friend he hasn't hung out with that much lately, and I thought we'd get him back for that. Of course, although we've cleaned up the house (except for his room), we unfortunately had a hot house for him to return to - our main central A/C is ailing, and we hadn't had his unit A/C on in his absent - and, I'm sure with two days near 90 degrees it was blazing up there when we got home. We haven't exited him from our home or sent him off to the juvenile center yet.

P.S. Vincent's been asleep for five hours since we got home, which he apparently needed.

-- Perry

Top 11 reasons

Top 11 reasons why we probably wouldn’t turn Vincent in for contempt of court and a sentence at the juvenile center even though he’s not coming close to doing school work 20 hours a week and hasn’t done much to get a job:

11. He mowed the lawn yesterday (although he did a mediocre job with the front yard).
10. He said he did two hours of school work today.
9. He said he turned in one job application today.
8. He watched his mother try Wii Boxing last night.
7. He did some of his chores and laundry today without us reminding him.
6. He says he’s going to do stuff with two different friends – other than his girlfriend – including one friend from before the Denmark trip – this weekend.
5. He says he’s going to volunteer as a waiter at our church art and plant sale and proper English tea (a youth ministries fund-raiser), where last year he was a star, for two hours tomorrow morning.
4. I asked him to remember to keep the basement door closed when either of the turtles are out and to take his key and lock the door when he leaves the house and he didn’t argue.
3. He celebrated the end of the house arrest this week with lots of walking.
2. He visited with his girlfriend yesterday afternoon but still connected with us in time for dinner.

1. He went to the bank at lunchtime and then I took the dog for a walk, we rendezvoused – not explicitly purposely – and chatted as the three of us walked home together in the windy, 80 degree weather that reminded me of beach weather.

-- Perry

Collective punishment

Let's stop beating around the bush. As more details come out about the U.S. government's reign of torture on terrorist suspects - I say that word very loosely - mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan - held in Guatanamo Bay, in Abu Gharib, and probably in secret prisons around the world, it's become clear that Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. military personnel - both with and without the support and direction of higher ups - mercilessly tortured (one "high value" suspect "waterboarded" 168 times) hundreds or even thousands of prisoners/suspects, not so much for intelligence information they might produce - although this might have been how some of it started and this might have occasionally been an ancillary benefit - but to punish individual people for the crimes (crimes that many of them had nothing to do with) of Al Qaida and Taliban affiliates in both countries, at the World Trade Center and on board the U.S.S. Cole; for the crimes of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq; and for the crimes of just being Iraqi, Afghan, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, non-Christian, non-English-speaking or non-white in general. A mix of bad policies and some bad people produced this horrible melange. No doubt even many out-on-patrol regular military personnel - perhaps even our friend Julian - and personnel of the Blackwater private security firm - not just supposed interrogators and guards - who were scared and bitter about being stuck in dangerous, unfamiliar places and - as in Vietnam decades before - took revenge on those people whose liberties they were supposedly there to defend. Of couse, no politician can call a spade a spade and denounce both the policies and the personnel, and who knows what you or I - those of us who were not there - would have done (if we were there). But the kinds of scenes that I became familiar with in supposedly left-wing documentaries I've watched and blogged about during the past year were apparently all too routine. The abuse, torture, and general inhumane treatment - treatment that has further endangered U.S. people abroad (including in Iraq and Afghanistan) (if not also here in the United States) and undermined U.S. interests - and whether or not it produced intelligence that prevented future 9/11s (and I haven't been convinced that it did) - was so pervasive and so dressed up in lies, faulty legal arguments, and smug, misleading "24" episodes that it can no longer be dismissed as isolated incidents committed by a few bad apples. Take that for being Iraqi! Take that for being Muslim! Take that for not speaking fluent English! That'll teach them.

-- Perry

World Civilization

This is the grade report Vincent got Wednesday after passing the final exam for the on-line version of second-semester World Civilization (more or less the same class he took off-line - in person - and failed - last spring. Click on the image to enlarge it.

-- Perry

Cold water

Vincent’s counselor at the electronic school high school threw some cold water on our exuberance, although most of what she was saying we already knew. Vincent is supposed to be spending at least 20 hours a week on school work (he's not even close – though I didn’t say that to her). He has less than five months to finish each class, and she doesn’t grant extensions. That means he ought to finish the Senior English and college algebra classes he’s currently taking – both as college and high school credit dual enrollment classes – by the middle of the summer. She said that – except for the math class, which is somewhat tough – he ought to be finishing these classes in less than two weeks. She also said he ought to be enrolled in three classes at a time, and so now that he’s finished World Civilization, he needs to come in to sign up for another class.

Good news is that if Vincent finishes the two classes he’s in, then takes and completes the second-semester Senior English class (also dual enrollment), and – finally – takes and completes two semesters of computer applications class (easy – she said; and the second semester is for dual enrollment), he would be all set – ready to graduate – he wouldn’t even worry about having to get a job and getting coop credit.

Although Vincent - perhaps more realistically, given his current pace - said he wants to enroll at Indiana University Southeast for spring semester, his counselor said he ought to be ready to go to college this fall (meaning he ought to finish all of those e-school classes by early August).

I was in at the Dawson Orman Education Center - where Jefferson County High School e-school is headquartered (map above) to pick up Vincent's senior English portfolio, something he has to finish putting together – a final graduation requirement, by myself, given that he had slept in. Vincent tried stopping in Wednesday but the counselor – who is retiring – is only there on Tuesday and Thursday right now. Nothing changes in the summer – they’re on the same schedule – except that she will be done at the end of June.

-- Perry

Wednesday update

One clear loser in the end of the house arrest (though still often profiting from Vincent not being at school everyday) is Frisco, who today for example is home alone for a protracted period for the first weekday day in a long time. I’ll stop at home to walk him in about an hour.Also – Great news on the school front: Unbeknownst to us at the time, Vincent failed his spring-semester junior-year social studies class (second-semester World Civilization) last spring, before he went to Denmark. (Of course, he also failed six classes last fall semester.) Passing World Civilization and passing one of his fall-semester classes (first-semester Senior English) are both required for him to graduate from high school (in addition to getting some eight or so more semester credits and passing second-semester Senior English). Today Vincent (after getting up at 6:45 a.m. and going out for a two-mile walk that would have been banned Tuesday morning) went to the Jefferson County High School main office – in the same building where he went to two disciplinary district meetings – and earned an 81 on the final (he said he forgot who Gorbachev was), passing World Civilization with a “B” (with a 92%).

Vincent said he picked up a job application at our local Heine Brothers coffee shop and may apply on-line when he gets to the Fourth Street Alive Borders Books and Music store (pictured above) (where he’s going to hang out now).Good going, Vincent!

P.S. Aunt June has started chemotherapy treatment (weekly) and radiation treatment (five days a week), but even with this her doctor says she probably has a year to live. She has trouble eating because her throat (which has throat cancer) hurts all the time. Please pray for June, her health care providers, and Barb, Sandy, Diana, Dustin, Jay, and Justice.

P.P.S. Vincent came home for a while and then went back out to one of his friends’ house within St. Matthews – and played four square, then had half a dozen of his friends stop by to “welcome him back” (from house arrest/being exited from school). Most of these were friends he started hanging out with this year, partly in connection with the Danish exchange.

-- Perry

He's out!

Vincent, Stephanie and I went to court today and met Scott Cox, the partner of the original lawyer we worked with (Mr. Mazzoli – who turns out to be the son of the longtime Democratic congressperson from Louisville). Cox used to work in the U.S. attorney’s office. He’s tall and has an imposing presence. He explained that he’d read Mr. Mazzoli’s interview notes and talked with him. He asked Vincent a few questions, then went straight in to negotiating with the prosecutors.

Mr. Cox said the prosecutors wanted Vincent to do 24 weeks of anger management classes, which he said the court usually sends abusive spouses and boyfriends to, and which he said is an ordeal. They also wanted Vincent to plead guilty to something. But apparently he pushed – brandishing Vincent’s lack of previous problems with the law, his week in inpatient treatment, and his continued counseling with Jodi Klein (he said the prosecutors seemed to be aware of her and were impressed that that was who he was seeing).

What Mr. Cox came out with was quite different – a de facto year of informal probation – but, formally, nothing. He said the prosecutors would for all practical purposes drop the charges and would allow Vincent to seek to have the charges against him expunged from the record in a year, when he turns 19. The provisions would be: Vincent would have to keep going to counseling or keep taking medication as professionals recommended. Mr. Cox said de facto we as his parents would continue keeping an eye on that and in general, and so that if we came in and said he wasn’t taking his medication, going to counseling, or even not doing other things he was supposed to, that would be a problem for Vincent. Also, Vincent was supposed to stay away from the schools (Mr. Cox said Vincent going to JCHS to take the final exams for his on-line classes would be OK – but he did say don’t go to school functions like basketball games etc. – Brown has already gotten Vincent banned from all Brown-related events.) Mr. Cox encouraged Vincent to press on ahead with school and hopefully go to college.

Belatedly, Mr. Cox and then Judge Prather stressed that if evidence came up that Vincent was not doing something he was supposed, Judge Prather could hold him in contempt of court – meaning, I think that he could be jailed even without a trial – that only a limited amount of evidence could get him in trouble. Also, if in a year Vincent were to seek to have his record expunged, if it turned out that Vincent had gotten in any kind of trouble – particularly with the law – at any time in that year – it might doom his expungement.

Vincent and we asked a few questions, and then Vincent said he agreed to it. After chit-chatting with Mr. Cox for a few minutes, we were called into a courtroom, and, while we sat down, Vincent and Mr. Cox went before the judge. Judge Prather and Mr. Cox talked about the deal and – like I said – Judge Prather warned Vincent about the possible contempt of court option. He also asked Vincent in a couple of different ways whether he understood the deal and whether he was OK with it. “Yes, sir, I understand” – was a phrase Vincent repeated a couple of times.

We are to call Mr. Cox back in a year to try the expungment – assuming nothing goes wrong.

Vincent consented to having us take him out to lunch at Fourth Street Live, but then he was off to go visit with his friend and Pablo, who has just returned from Arizona. He was meeting them a little closer to school that we would like and going off without washing his hands or really without perfect clothes for this weather (he wore a new short-sleeve short Stephanie had bought him for Easter to court (plus had his old winter jacket). But he came back to mention that he was still interested in spending the night at Pablo’s (you’ll recall I reminded him that Samantha will have school Wednesday). We have mixed feelings about some of this because – as I mentioned – we kind of liked having Vincent around. Being able to go out will help him get more exercise, and hopefully he’ll still find time to do his 30-45 minutes of school work per day four days a week and maybe even look for a job. Our month of having Vincent back is apparently over. Hopefully, the better habits he developed especially in the past month about being more cooperative at home and even doing some stuff with us will continue a little bit. Now, he not only has the experience of doing stuff with us and getting along with us again, but he also has this de facto supervision we have hanging over him a little. The lawyer said – I’m still learning new things everyday, at age 49, getting a little wiser, and I’m sure you are too, to Vincent. May it be so.

Thanks to Stephanie for hanging with Vincent when I was ready to give up and for arranging for the mental health inquest and persuading Vincent to go to Jodi Klein, for all of the professionals at Kosair and Wellstone and others (Jodi Klein, Dr. Knox) for helping with Vincent – and Mr. Mazzoli and Mr. Cox, to Grandma Martha for helping us connect with the lawyers, and for many friends and other family members who provided advice, support, and prayers (including our pastor, Jane) during this difficult time. Good work also, Vincent, for hanging with (and staying calm during) the week of in-patient treatment, the four weeks of house arrest, and the two court appearances. With a year of informal probation, seven plus classes still to finish, and no job yet, Vincent isn’t out of the woods yet. But he’s a lot closer now.

(Vincent and Stephanie went today to get him a bank account separate from ours, and he still needs to register for the would-be draft. Stephanie also got a root canal this morning. Grandma is also trying to get used to (apparently) losing another of her portfolios, the one that gives her a chance to find equivalent scores for several different standardized tests.)

Belated happy birthday! Enjoy and be responsible with your freedom, and stay in touch!

-- Perry

Birthday

After I'd gotten back from presbytery meeting and errands and Stephanie had gotten back from tutoring, Culture Club, and a training in a new system, Stephanie, Vincent, and I went to Sakura, a Japanese restaurant in a nearby shopping center that our friends the Hardys had recommended. You might recall that for my birthday and for our Danish exchange student Jon's birthday we had gone to Kobe, a similar Japanese restaurant over the 2nd Street bridge in Jefferonsville, Indiana. Sakura was closer and had a broader menu, though our chef (cooking - as at Kobe - right in front of us) wasn't the same kind of showman and some of our food wasn't as good as at Kobe. We ordered sushi and Stephanie and I shared grilled chicken and scallops, and Vincent had something not on the menu at Kobe - grilled calamari.

We'd also gone out to Japanese for Vincent's 17th birthday - a more sushi-specializing place on Frankfort Avenue, with two of his friends (Aaron and what's his name) (this was instead of the 30 plus kids who were at Vincent's 16th birthday birthday party at Laser Blaze during Thunder two years ago). But a year ago Vincent wasn't on house arrest and was able to see his friends. Half a dozen friends from school and Vincent's father did call today to wish Vincent Happy Birthday. After dinner we went for a walk around the shopping center, bought worms for the turtles, and in the process essentially got Vincent job applications from two businesses we frequent: Feeder Supply (the pet store) and Borders Books and Music (Vincent frequents two different Borders locations, just as we used to frequent the Borders down the street from them in Columbus).

At home an ice cream pie from another prospective employer that we also frequented in Ohio - Graeters - and presents awaited Vincent. Apparently this was all a little of a surprise even though I feared that Vincent had figured out one of the presents. Stephanie put candles on Vincent's ice cream pie, that the Graeters manager had decorated, and Vincent had no trouble blowing them out.

In fact, I had a lot more trouble cutting the pie than Vincent had blowing out the candles. I ate too much, but it was good - cookies and cream with three oreo cookies on the top.

Vincent opened cards/notes from Aunt Penny and her family and from Grandma Martha - plus a box, card, and gifts from Meemaw Nancy and Papa Bob.

The pants and three shirts/sweaters that Meemaw sent seemed to fit (while a shirt I had bought Vincent in Guatemala was unfortunately too small - and I had really agonized about the size).

But a top gift was something Vincent had wanted for a couple of years and he had asked to get several weeks ago at the Target in Clarksville, IN (partly because a couple of years after being released they're stil very hard to find anywhere). I had said - correctly - that we couldn't afford it. But later that evening I had went and gotten the next to last Nintendo Wii gaming system as a birthday present for Vincent.

You'll recall that Vincent was essentially not allowed to play video games for most of his time in high school. He's had a series of Nintendo game systems, and most of the games he has can move up from the Nintendo Gameboy systems to this Wii system. Two recent games, however - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and a generic Dance Dance Revolution - both Christmas presents - we got in versions that only work with his old Sony Playstation gaming system. Already, Vincent wants new games, but he may have to get a job to pay for that (he has gotten one check for his birthday - plus payment of legal fees). The basic Wii comes with the five-sport Wii Sports and uses a moveable controller to mimick sports actions. Vincent and we first tried Wii bowling which I have to confess I wasn't bad at.

Vincent then set up an "identity' with a name (Vince) and facial features (see below).

Vincent and I then tried Wii Tennis, which I liked. Lastly before going to bed, Vincent tried Wii baseball, which seemed OK.

Then Vincent went to bed and I started blogging. Stephanie was already asleep on the couch. Tomorrow is a big day. Stephanie goes to the endodontist at 7:45 a.m. and will probably have her first root canal (which will then probably be followed by our dentist drilling off half her tooth - which has bothered her for more than six months - and replacing it with first a temporary crown and then a permanent one - perhaps with the root canal coming against the advice of our dentist). Then Vincent goes for his big court appearance, at 1 p.m., immediately before which his lawyer will attempt to negotiate a plea agreement for Vincent with the prosecutors which the lawyers and we hope will not lead to Vincent having to plead guilty to anything. After that, Vincent hopes to be off house arrest and be able to visit/pal around with friends like those who called him (including a friend of his who's a bit of a delinquent like him - who also exited Brown this year, like Vincent - but who nevertheless has apparently managed to finish all of his on-line classes (unlike Vincent who's just about to finish his first of eight he's slated to take this year)). Later this week, we hope, Vincent will take and pass his Western Civilization final exam and will start job-hunting - even in this difficult job market - in earnest. We've enjoyed this 3 1/2-week period in which Vincent was not gallavanting around instead of working on school work (instead he was sleeping, watching TV and videos, and playing video games at home instead of doing school work) and we got to see him more and he was willing to do some stuff with us (and he was in a better mood - perhaps due to medication and counseling). (It was a bit like when Vincent was five, Stephanie said - or, as I put it, we got Vincent back for a little while.) We'll see if this all comes to a screeching halt after tomorrow - if the house arrest ends. As I mentioned, I've reminded Vincent that just because the house arrest doesn't mean that he can't still hang out with us some times. Either way, it doesn't seem that - even with his 18th birthday and even if the house arrest is lifted - that Vincent still seems gung ho about quickly moving out. (he tried to get our endorsement of him spending the night at someone's house Tuesday night - I told him we don't really know what will happen with the house arrest and - besides - it's a school night for almost all of friends - although Vincent implied that he'd at least let us know what he was doing rather than simply doing it and us finding out after the fact. ) (It also remains to be seen whether he and his friend will revert to the pattern of the last 3-4 months before the house arrest - of him hanging out at her house all of the time except for the few times she visited us.) We'll see if Vincent stays somewhat civil and cooperative whether we've dropped our dream of kicking him out (even if he doesn't get a job and make a monthly utilities contribution and even if he makes only very slow academic progress). (Either way, I can now figure out how to recycle an Ohio domestic law book I ordered about five months ago when I thought we might try shifting custody of Vincent to his father.)

Let's hope for appropriate, safe, and relatively pain-free dental procedures for Stephanie and a successful, not too too stressful court appearance by Vincent and his lawyer (and I guess let's hope for the end of the house arrest even though I kind of enjoyed it).

-- Perry