baldilocks

Kenya: A Point or Two in The Right Direction

With the more obvious aspects of Kenya’s social and political crises concluding, presenting a page dedicated to information about the country would seem to be a day late and a dollar short--were it not for the existence and presidential candidacy of Barack Obama.

Of course there are pages that are far more detailed and better researched than the one linked to above. But since I took it upon myself to put together information about what’s going on over there and to talk about it, it only seems fair to my readers to offer at least the bare bones of some facts, to at least point the way to answers. Fairness was also on my mind when it comes to those whom I have continuously excoriated and will continue to excoriate for repeating falsehoods--falsehoods implanted in their minds by those who would twist the still-perilous situation in Kenya to suit their own prejudices, fears and fantasies. (That last particular bit of fairness stems from one of the axioms in my personal code of conduct: bitching should never have itself as its sole purpose for existing if it can be helped. If one has a complaint, she should have at least one solution in mind. This is mine.)

Sources are multiple where possible--I tried not to rely on Wikipedia too much. Some sources are rank opinion but have within them still other sources. Obviously, as the number of sources read increases so will the view of Kenya's history and its woes become less distorted--at least for those with eyes to see. Suggested additions and verifiable (and polite) corrections are welcome.

Be vigilant against harsh reality. Making shizzam up doesn’t count. (A rebuttal.)

The Kenya Crisis

Set Them Free

Here's Education Revolt in Watts narrated by Drew Carey.

I lived close to LA's Locke High School for nine years but avoided that sea of neglected and/or dangerous kids like the plague.

It's interesting how the teachers' union types treat the students almost as property; they cared more about "giving them away" and about their own "rights" than whether the kids received a real education without getting shot or robbed--as occurred all too often at or around the school.

It's a feel-good video, except for one thing: when the parents were featured, the parent in question was always the mother.

(Thanks to Instapundit)

Bald Discrimination

And you knew that I'd be right on top of it.

Derek Jackson, a seventh grader at Bailey Middle School in Austin, TX was suspended from school because his barber had cut his hair too short!

Derek's mother, Amanda, says she met with Bailey Middle School Principal Dr. Julia Fletcher, and Dr. Fletcher told her that the issue was "not worth the fight".

Leaders of Austin's NAACP are convinced the suspension of Derek Jackson is racially motivated. [The Jacksons are black.] Nelson Linder with the NAACP says there's no other reason he can think of why a 7th grader would get in-school suspension for having hair that's too short.

According to the article, Derek's hairstyle violated the school's dress code and was a "distraction."

The only reason that I can think of for this rule would be the implications of a white bald-headed boy--that such a kid might be a junior skin-head. However, unless young Derek were a part of some skin-head diversity program, the likelihood that he is a junior-flip skin-head seems low.

And even if Derek were white what would be the big deal? Boys and men traditionally wear their hair short and, along with that, barbers make mistakes--as I well know--sometimes taking a bigger chunk out than intended and having to cut the rest down for symmetry's sake. On top of that, black boys and men--and not a few of their white counterparts--have been cutting their hair down to zero for a very long time with no political or social implications located therein; for the most part, looking great, and in the case of the adult men, very professional. Hasn't this woman ever heard of Yul Brenner (or Cobb for that matter)?

So why is having a bald head against this school's dress again? (I'm betting that if Derek had a big fluffy Afro or cornrows or locks, the principal wouldn't have uttered a peep.)

To me, this sounds like a "boy" issue, rather than a racial one. Lately, boy children can't catch a break--for acting like boys, or, as it appears in this case, for being groomed like one. However, the case is racial in this manner, albeit accidentally: the drop-out rate for black boys is alarmingly high. One should think that the principal of this school would not want provide one of the proverbial camel's straws for at least one black male child which might lead to that child becoming a small part of that statistic--especially for such a ridiculous matter.

Dr. Fletcher certainly has infinitely more important matters to attend to.

(Thanks to Crunk & Disorderly)

Note

Excuse my absence, but have you ever taken a statistics class? One with essays?

Quotation Trivia

Charles gives me some interesting history on the Edmund Burke quote, All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing:

“The Usenet newsgroup alt.quotations says in its FAQ:

‘[I]t has been suggested (in Bartlett's) that it might be a twentieth-century paraphrase of:

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
--Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents(1770)’

“Which makes a certain amount of sense.

"William Safire wrote on this once in his On Language column in the NYT Magazine; he got this as a response:

'Dear Safire:

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

You can quote me on that.

Sincerely,
Edmund Burke’

"Certainly _an_ Edmund Burke, if not necessarily _the_ Edmund Burke. :-)"

I love stuff like this. Additionally, Charles sends a report of an interesting bumper sticker sighting:

[O]n the way across town [Oklahoma City] today I spotted my first Condi '08 bumper sticker, with the following quotation across the bottom: 'We Have A Dream.'"

Priorities

I’m sure glad that all of the Big News happened this weekend. As ever, education calls and I have to answer. However, for a great editorial—rather uncharacteristic of the New York Times--go here (registration required). Were it a blog entry, it might go well in the ailing Venomous Kate’s regular feature, Hunting of the Snark (get well soon, girl). For those who would rather cut off a cherished appendage than register for the NYT, here’s an excerpt:

The administration's fundamental problem is that it is not very good at dealing with people it can't stand. The men and women in this White House are exceptionally forthright. When they come across someone they regard as insufferable, their instinct is to be blunt. They seek to be honest rather than insincere, to not sugar things up but to let these people know how they really feel.

Sometimes you've got to be slippery to accomplish real good. The Bush administration is thus facing an insincerity crisis. It has become addicted to candor and forthrightness. It needs an immediate back-stabbing infusion.

Perhaps Al Gore could be brought in to offer advice.

(Thanks to whomever I got it from yesterday. What a blur of blogs!)

Playtime Suspended

Today I’m wasting perfect good key strokes on that regularly-scheduled research paper due each Monday. An example of my topics: “Explain what situations are appropriate for each type of secondary storage device.” Zzzzz. You get the idea. It’s amazing how you can pop out 600 words for your blog in twenty minutes, but that research paper is like pulling toenails. :-)

Everyone’s got to pay those dues sooner or later.

Notice

I've got a paper due today in an on-line class. So I'll likely do a little late night blogging.

UPDATE: Too tired from doing what I had to do to do what I want to do. Good night.