McGee-Fest 08...oops...08...I mean...09

“Sickness impedes the body but not the ability to make choices, unless you choose so. Lameness impedes the leg, but not the ability to make choices, unless the mind chooses so. Remember this with regard to everything that happens: Happenings are impediments to something else, but not to you.”

-- Epictetus 135 C.E.

MCGEE-FEST LETTER

Dear All:

I hope you and yours are well.

Our friend Tim McGee is about to undergo one of those life challenging experiences that awaits us all in the grand scheme of things. On January 5 he will have a ten-hour surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to remove his larynx and rebuild his voice box. This procedure has three components: 1) veins, arteries, and skin are taken from his left forearm; 2) cartilage is taken from his rib, which is then combined with the skin and blood vessels to rebuild his voice box; 3) skin is then taken from his thigh to patch the area from which the skin, veins, and arteries were removed.

Like many of us (including myself), his financial situation has been trying. Credit card debt, providing for family and meeting the unpredictable contingencies of everyday life are issues common to us all, but dealing with these problems while coping with a major illness presents a different set of obstacles. While he has some health benefits, expenses like gas, food, and lodging for long trips to Madison are draining.

As many of his friends are musicians, I think we have a duty to help Tim and his family. To that end I think a musical benefit would be in order. Having some experience with these events around Ann Arbor, I think we could provide sizable help if we maximized our resources.

My thoughts are this (and these are just general suggestions): we could have about 6 acts do a half hour set each (5-6 songs). Logistically, there would be a drum set and back line of amps. This would negate the burden of lengthy set ups, etc. I was thinking Punch, Tret Fure, Fast Eddie, Daryll Syria (Project or Congo Se Menne), Bongo Fury (Jerry Kippola), Laurie Hayes’ Flat Broke Blues Band, or whomever else might be interested.

Having the Walrus name attached, and doing a short set (equal to the rest of the performers) where we would do 5-6 Walleye hits would provide a huge draw and hence make more dough. I also thought this event might be coordinated with the class of 69 reunion weekend (July 24-25) as a way of increasing the attendance.

In short, our purpose would be to make money for McGee. It’s a chance for all of us to direct our energies toward a worthy endeavor, and to curry some good karma with our various deities.

Local Merchants could be involved to donate items to a blind auction, donated food could be served, the bar could donate a percentage of the drink money, and the door would go to the McGee family. If some money were needed to assist wayward musicians, that could also be managed.

It’ll take a bit of work and group coordination, but I think it’s our obligation to make this happen. Were any of us in Tim’s situation, he would do the same.

Best - Randy

ABOUT TIM’S SURGEON

So, there’s a sort of formal letter suggesting what we can do to help. Now, a bit about Tim’s surgeon, first off, he’s a Michigan man:

Gregory K. Hartig, MD, FACS
Professor, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
K4/720 Clinical Science Center600 Highland AvenueMadison, WI 53792-7375
Appointments: (608) 263-6190
Office: (608) 265-8207
FAX: (608) 265-9255
hartig@surgery.wisc.edu

Education

MD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1988
Internship, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI, 1988-1989
Residency, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1989-1993
Fellow, Head and Neck Reconstructive Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, 1993-1994

Clinical Specialties

Dr. Hartig is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. His practice combines traditional head and neck surgery with facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. He has extensive experience managing head and neck cancer, including tumors of the skull base, and performing microvascular free tissue transfer reconstruction. Dr. Hartig directs the head and neck oncology program at UW Hospital and Clinics, and is chief of the otolaryngology service at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital.

Research Interests

Dr. Hartig has research interests in the cytogenetics of head and neck carcinoma, free flap physiology, and airway reconstruction.

Recent Publications

Been MJ, Watkins J, Manz RM, Gentry LR, Leverson GE, Harari PM, Hartig GK. Tumor volume as a prognostic factor in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with primary radiotherapy., Laryngoscope. 2008 Aug;118(8):1377-82. [PubMed ID: 18418275]
Hodge CW, Bentzen SM, Wong G, Palazzi-Churas KL, Wiederholt PA, Gondi V, Richards GM, Hartig GK, Harari PM. Are we influencing outcome in oropharynx cancer with intensity-modulated radiotherapy? An inter-era comparison., Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2007 Nov 15;69(4):1032-41. [PubMed ID: 17967300]
Upton DC, McNamar JP, Connor NP, Harari PM, Hartig GK. Parotidectomy: ten-year review of 237 cases at a single institution., Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. 2007 May;136(5):788-92. [PubMed ID: 17478217]
Wiederholt PA, Connor NP, Hartig GK, Harari PM. Bridging gaps in multidisciplinary head and neck cancer care: nursing coordination and case management., Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2007;69(2 Suppl):S88-91. [PubMed ID: 17848305]
Sippel RS, Ozgül O, Hartig GK, Mack EA, Chen H. Risks and consequences of incidental parathyroidectomy during thyroid resection., ANZ journal of surgery. 2007 Jan-Feb;77(1-2):33-6. [PubMed ID: 17295817

O.K. for some of you this might be a bit boring, but what’s kind of cool about this guy is his interest in leeches. That’s right, LEECHES! Maybe McGee can just swim around in Lake Independence and those motley little blood suckers will take care of the rest. So what’s the deal with leeches? Here’s some info:

Hirudotherapy, the use of medicinal leech for medical purposes, was introduced by Avicenna in The Canon of Medicine (1020s). He considered the application of leech to be more useful than cupping in "letting off the blood from deeper parts of the body." He also introduced the use of leech as treatment for skin disease. Leech therapy became a popular method in medieval Europe, namely the leeches from Portugal and France, due to the influence of his Canon. A more modern use for medicinal leech was introduced by Abd-el-latif al-Baghdadi in the 12th century, who wrote that leech could be used for cleaning the tissues after surgical operations. He did, however, understand that there is a risk over using leech, and advised patients that leech need to be cleaned before being used and that the dirt or dust "clinging to a leech should be wiped off" before application. He further writes that after the leech has sucked out the blood, salt should be "sprinkled on the affected part of the human body."[1]

In Modern Medicine:

Medicinal leeches are now making a comeback. They provide an effective means to reduce blood coagulation, relieve venous pressure from pooling blood, especially after plastic surgery, and stimulate circulation in reattachment operations for organs with critical blood flow, such as eye lids, fingers, and ears.

Because of the minuscule amounts of hirudin present in leeches, it is impractical to harvest the substance for widespread medical use. Hirudin (and related substances) are synthesised using recombinant techniques.

They are also being used in relation to the treatment of various Varicose conditions

Here’s what Tim’s doc has been up to:

Testing a Device to Replace the Leech for Treating Venous Congestion
Gregory K. Hartig, MD; Nadine P. Connor, PhD; Thomas F. Warner, MD; Dennis M. Heisey, PhD; Majid Sarmadi, PhD; Michael L. Conforti, DVM, MS
Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2003;5:70-77.

ABSTRACT

Objective: To test the effectiveness of a device designed to promote decongestion and tissue survival of a fasciocutaneous flap during 15 hours of complete venous obstruction.
Methods In a porcine (THAT’S A PIG!) model, a 9 x 7-cm fasciocutaneous flap was elevated and the associated veins were clamped, causing complete venous obstruction for 15 hours in 6 control and 6 treatment animals. Up to 3 devices were used to treat the flap in a predetermined pattern. Control flaps were not treated. Measures of treatment efficacy included blood volumes removed; changes in skin color, surface perfusion, and tissue oxygen tension; and end point histologic findings.

Results: Control flaps were characterized by progressive darkening of skin color, undetectable surface perfusion, and low levels of oxygen tension. Histologic assessment showed severe congestion and extravasation of blood and distinct signs of necrosis. In contrast, treated flaps had significant improvements in skin color, surface perfusion, and subcutaneous oxygen tension. Histologic analysis showed little, if any, congestion and no signs of necrosis. Mean blood volume removed was 29.5 mL/h.

Conclusion: The device was effective in decongesting a large area of tissue during 15 hours of complete outflow obstruction, based on quantitative measurements of tissue health and viability.
INTRODUCTION

Use of the medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis) for treatment of venous congestion in transferred or replanted tissues has become the standard of care in situations in which surgical correction of a venous obstruction is not feasible.1-5 Unfortunately, there are numerous drawbacks with the use of leeches, including negative perception by patients, family, and health care workers; the possibility of infection; increased nursing care; and the possibility of unwanted leech migration or feeding on healthy tissue.6-11 Furthermore, our personal experience suggests that leeches are of limited value in situations in which significant venous congestion is present.

During the past several decades, there have been many articles3-5,11-13 that describe the use of medicinal leeches in clinical situations. However, the efficacy of leech use for treating congested tissue has not been documented in either clinical trials or experimental studies. Our work14 initially focused on characterizing the performance of the medicinal leech by using a clinically relevant swine model. In evaluating leech performance, we found that the average blood meal of a leech when feeding on a congested porcine fasciocutaneous flap was only 2.45 mL. Subsequent passive bleeding from the leech wound after leech detachment on the same flaps averaged only 2.21 mL during the first 2 hours after detachment. The effects of active and passive bleeding resulted in a focal improvement in flap color and perfusion, which was limited to a site only 1.6 cm in diameter, centered on the middle of the leech wound.14 Clearly, leeches have limited ability to decongest a large or severely congested flap. An alternative method for blood removal from congested tissue flaps must be developed to promote tissue survival.
In developing a mechanical device to replace the medicinal leech, we first focused our efforts on a method to improve passive bleeding from the leech wound after leech detachment.15 We developed a mechanical device that provided heparinized irrigation and mechanical agitation of the leech wound. This device increased passive bleeding by 156% during the first 3 hours after leech detachment. However, the practical effect on the congested fasciocutaneous flap was minimal. In other words, the severe global venous congestion in this extreme model was largely unchanged even with an increased volume of blood removed.

Through evaluation of medicinal leech performance and development of a first-generation device to increase passive bleeding, a second-generation device to completely replace the medicinal leech was developed. This device removed more blood from a congested flap than a leech (under identical conditions) and provided more complete tissue decongestion of larger tissue flaps than a leech.16 The goal of this study was to test the mechanical device during prolonged complete venous obstruction (15 hours) using a clinically relevant fasciocutaneous flap. Measures of flap health, including flap color, surface perfusion, subcutaneous tissue oxygenation, and end point histologic findings were used to evaluate the ability of the mechanical device to treat the venous congestion vs untreated control flaps. Our long-term goal is to develop a commercially available mechanical device with the ability to salvage congested tissue.

Well, There hasn’t been a lot of my voice in here (some of you might find this a blessing) but I’ve tried to offer some info on the capable hands Tim’s assigned himself to, provide an opening for those of us who want to help in an active way (passive sympathetic understanding is also a help), and garner some props for the lowly leech.

Peace - Randy

Academic Privilege at The University of Michigan: Student Essay

“For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, he marks--not that you won or lost--but how you played the game.”
-- Grantland Rice

Starting with the Winter 08 term, a new policy at U-M allows student-athletes to sign up for classes before the general student body. This rankles me. Why? Because the course I teach, Argumentative Writing 225, which has cap of 22 students per section (I teach 2), will be filled with jocks (the roster now stands at 20 in one and 17 in the other). Now don’t get me wrong, as you all know, I love sports. But where’s the diversity? The overarching mission of The Comprehensive Studies Program, for which I teach, is to provide the kind of intensive scholastic and advisory support that facilitates the success of students from urban and rural areas where, due to socio-economic factors, schools have limited academic resources. My beef is this: much of the enrollment I had in the Fall term (College Writing 125) -- a mix of international, inner-city, and rural students, and some of whom I take a keen interest in their progress -- are now unable to get into my classes. Grrrrrrr!

Having gotten this off my chest, I thought some of you might like to see the sample student essay I intend to have us read, analyze, and discuss the first week of class. It was written by a most excellent student in my Fall 125 section who, not coincidentally, was pissed off about not being able to get the classes she needs to make steady progress towards her major (oops! I guess you now know the author’s gender).

Happy Holidays All! – Randy

PS: Thank you, Bonni Q., for the lovely holiday mix.
You too, Billy De Broux, for the Santalyzing Xmas Chick!

NOTE: Due to blog constraints, the formatting will look different than MLA style.

Beau Shemp-Beckler
Randy Tessier
English 125
1 December 2008

Academics Versus Athletics

Wander onto a college campus virtually any Saturday in the fall, and you will see streets flooded with students and fans in the school’s colors. A walk in the student housing section reveals students, many of them underage, having loud, drunken parties as early as ten a.m. When a favored team wins (or loses) it can cause riots in the streets. Why do schools put up with this chaos? Revenue, of course. As they say, money makes the world go round, and college athletics bring vast amounts to campuses around the country. In the 2004-2005 reporting year, the University of Michigan’s athletic department made more than $17 million in profits (Cooper). This figure doesn’t even include merchandising-- in 2005-2006, University of Texas set a record with $8.2 million in royalties (Barnidge). Understandably, the money generated by sports programs makes schools happy, and they are willing to do nearly anything to maintain their funds. However, the love officials have for this money leads to unfortunate consequences.

When he was applying to colleges, Matt Skoglund knew he didn’t have the grades to get into the top liberal arts colleges he wanted. But he was a star hockey player, and that gave him the little extra push over the top that he needed. ''I probably would not have gotten into Middlebury without hockey,” he said. “Being a hockey player gave me access to a first-rate education” (Fiske). The NCAA instituted a sliding-scale program in the 1990s to determine eligibility to play Division I-- the higher your GPA, the lower the SAT scores needed. Those with a 3.55 GPA need only a 400 on the SAT, one of the lowest possible scores. Brian Dunn, a football coach at Northern Valley Regional High School, says “I think it is fair, based on the fact that 3.55 would be a GPA they've achieved in the 16 core courses that are required -- which means no fluff courses -- four years of English, three years of math, sciences and social studies. So, if you do well in your core classes, they will cut you some slack with the SATs” (Dawkins). Good grades cut slack with admissions officials? I had a 3.58 cumulative GPA in high school, and even though I scored a 1,930 (out of 2,400) on the SAT, I was terrified that my grades wouldn’t be good enough. A 400 allowing students to play insults those that got higher and were rejected.

In their book, The Game of Life, James Shulman and William Bowen show that athletes not only enter selective schools with weaker academic records, but once in college they “consistently underperform academically even after we control for standardized test scores and other variables.” Boyce Watkins, a professor at Syracuse University, “once came across a student athlete that could only read at a fourth-grade level.” When the student turned in a paper that “looked like it was written by Edgar Allen Poe,” he was investigated under academic misconduct charges. However, when the evidence was submitted to a board of three students and four faculty, the faculty outvoted the students and he was allowed to continue at the university (Capriccioso). Compare this to a survey of 93 UK higher education institutions, in which a total of 9,229 cases were recorded in one year, and 143 students were expelled, according to a Higher Education Academy and Joint Information Systems Committee study (Attwood). At Auburn University, a sociology professor offered “direct reading” programs for athletes that “required no attendance and very little work” (Thamel). This program eventually led to a student being named as a “scholar athlete” for his work in his sociology major, despite the fact that three sociology professors, including the head of the department, had never seen the player before in their classes. Many schools offer independent study programs for athletes, with University of Michigan athletes being steered towards Professor Hagen, a psychology professor that allowed athletes to, in some cases, earn three or four credits for meeting with Hagen for as little as 15 minutes every two weeks (Carty). U of M also ushers athletes into the Comprehensive Studies Program, giving them smaller class sizes, more individualized attention, and in many cases, much easier courses.

The perks for college athletes don’t end there. At Syracuse University, athletes don’t just get tuition, room and board. They also “get free books, free Nike clothing and shoes and free meal plans. They even have the option of transferring the dollar amount of their meal plan onto their SUpercard FOOD account. That equates to anything from $1,790 to $2,825” (Cummings).

The University of Michigan has just instituted a new policy (with the resolution passing 23-3) that puts athletes ahead in priority over all students except the disabled. Previously, students were allowed to register based on the number of credits they had accumulated, making sure that seniors were able to access important classes required for their degrees that might otherwise be unavailable. Athletes, proponents of the policy say, have a similar problem-- since they have to work around practices and games, they have to register first. Other busy students are furious about the policy. LSA sophomore Lee Collins, an Army ROTC cadet, wakes up before dawn three days a week for physical training, leadership training and infantry tactics and land navigation. He, however, does not get special treatment. “There are so many people who are working very hard, paying their way through college, there is no special consideration for them,” Collins said. (The policy is) basically saying that the athletic department is a step ahead of the rest of the school.” He understands the bind that athletes are in, he says, “but student-athletes should remember the “student” part of their designation. “In ROTC, they say that you should be a student first and a cadet second. And because they are student-athletes, they are students first, and athletes second”” (Calero).

Contrary to common wisdom, athletics aren’t everything. If schools were to remove their football programs, attendance and accolades would not plummet. The University of Chicago was a founding member of the Big Ten Conference, winning seven titles from 1899 to 1924. However, they withdrew from the conference and dropped their football program to focus on academics shortly after World War II (Hardy). Without their football program, they still maintained a top-notch college, with one of the best economics departments in the world, 82 Nobel Prize Laureates, and the site of the world’s first self-sustaining nuclear reaction. Athletics are not necessary to success.

Students at universities must work hard to maintain their standing. If their GPA falls below a 2.0 (a C average) they are placed on academic probation, and if they fall severely enough, they are suspended from the school. Athletes are largely protected from this fear, and as such put in less work, attend class haphazardly, and care little about their education. The gross inconsistencies between students and “student-athletes” are unjust and a black mark on the records of the institutions. Universities should move away from the athletic, and back to the academic.

Works Cited

Attwood, Rebecca. "143 Students Expelled for Plagiarism". The Times Higher Education. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008. <http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=402351>.
Barnige, Noell. "Sports Merchandising Lucrative". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008. <http://new.savannahnow.com/node/437745>.
Capriccioso, Rob. "Tackling Favoritism for Athletes". Inside Higher Ed.com. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008. <http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/07/20/sports>.
Calero, Trevor. "Other Busy Students Cry Foul at Priority Registration for Athletes". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008 <http://www.michigandaily.com/content/2008-11-10/student-outrcy-ignited-athlete-priority-registration>.
Carty, Jim. "University of Michigan Athletes Steered to Professor". Ann Arbor News. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008. <http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/academics/stories/index.ssf/2008/03/athletes_steered_to_prof.html>.
Cooper, Scott. "Low Revenue Hurts Teams". The Daily Collegiate Online. Retrieved 12/1/08. <http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/03/03-29-06tdc/03-29-06dsports-01.asp>.
Cummings, Zac. "SU Athletes Deserve Their Special Privileges". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008 <http://media.www.dailyorange.com/media/storage/paper522/news/2006/11/15/Opinion/Su.Athletes.Deserve.Their.Special.Privileges-2459968.shtml>.
Dawkins, Walter. " Do Student-Athlete Rules Strike the Right Balance? ". North Jersey.com. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008. <http://www.northjersey.com/education/twosidestoeverystory/13699507.html>.
Fiske, Edward. "Gaining Admission: Athletes Win Preference". New York Times. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E3D6123BF934A35752C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2>.
Thamel, Pete. "Top Grades and No Class Time for Auburn Players ". New York Times. Retrieved 1 Dec. 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/sports/ncaafootball/14auburn.html?_r=1>.

College Writing Instruction: Academic Textbook Reviews

ENGLISH 225

Recommended texts for English 225:

Essentials of Argument (2nd edition)
By Nancy V. Wood. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

In a clear and concise format, Essentials of Argument offers a three part guide to critical reading, critical thinking, research, and constructing an argument. Part I provides a 4 chapter analysis of understanding argument and research. Chapter 1 addresses characteristics of argument, style, and topic selection. Chapter 2 focuses on context and motivation, emphasizing that arguments are situational, and motivated by context bound issues. Chapter 3 outlines research and source evaluation; and chapter 4 offers instruction on how personal argument depends on supporting evidence as well as account for counter-arguments. Part II surveys essential aspects of argument that serve to convince the reader. Chapter 5 breaks down the Toulmin model. Chapter 6 looks at claims and purposes. Chapter 7 explains the connection between support and warrants, and discusses language and style. Chapter 8 has the student apply their evaluative skills and write and argument analysis. Part III has students practice writing arguments, and look at visual and oral forms of argument. Chapter 9 compares Rogerian argument with traditional argument. Chapter 10 examines what it means to support a personal perspective with research from outside sources; and Chapter 11 describes visual and oral argument. 3 Additional appendices include MLA and APA Documentation, Summary Charts, and One Hundred Topics That Generate Issues. The organization of Essentials of Argument is such that each part can stand alone. The benefit being they can be assigned sequentially, or in a way that best supplements the instructor’s specific course organization. While there are no readings, per se, at 340 pages, Essentials offers an affordable and appealing rhetoric text, both in voice and tone, and in its accessibility to an undergraduate audience.

Perspectives on Argument (6th Edition)
By Nancy V. Wood. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009.

Perspectives on Argument contains a rhetoric text and a reader. While the first 4 parts offer students strategies for critical reading, critical thinking, research, and writing arguments, Part V provides 16 readings related to seven general issue areas (e.g., family, technology, crime, race/culture/identity, the environment, immigration, war and peace). In Part I, Engaging with Argument, the 4 chapters look at the characteristics of an effective written argument, both written and visual; how to adopt a personal rhetorical style; strategies for analyzing written, visual, and oral arguments; and ways of integrating reading, viewing, critical thinking, and writing. Part II, Understanding the Nature of Argument, includes 5 chapters that outline the components of the Toulmin rhetorical mode; look at the types of claims and purposes for argument; define the dynamics of proofs and tests for validity; explain logical fallacies and argumentative ethics, extend and apply what they’ve learned to create visual arguments from everyday experience; and analyze Rogerian methods of argument. In Part III, Chapters 11-13 look at the research paper and oral arguments (“Web Sites for Further Exploration and Research” are included for each issue area in “The Reader”). An Appendix to Chapter 13 offers detailed instructions on documenting sources using both MLA and APA styles. Part IV, Chapter 14, covers the application of argumentative theory to literary forms. The four parts preceding the readings are designed to be read as free standing section, depending on the instructor’s organizational scheme. While taking up only a fifth of the text, the readings are comprehensive enough to exclude the need for supplemental materials. The clarity of purpose, logic of organization, and variety of topics in the “issues areas,” makes Perspectives a rhetoric and reader that at once facilitates the instructor’s task and engages the students’ attention.

Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, with Readings (8th Edition)
By Sylvan Barnet, and Hugo Bedau. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

Current Issues provides a detailed study of argumentative writing. Focusing on having the students know how to accurately summarize an argument, understand the claim (thesis) of an argument, locate the stated and unstated assumptions of an argument, analyze and evaluate the strength of an argument’s evidence, and account for the differences and similarities among various readings on a topic, the text’s overarching goal is to foster an intelligent understanding of public discourse as an ever present civic conversation in a public forum. Part I, Critical Thinking and Reading (Chapters 1-4), and Part II, Critical Writing (Chapters 5-7), offer instruction in critical thinking and writing arguments. They contain twenty-eight readings for analysis and discussion. Throughout the book, each essay is followed by a Topics for Critical Thinking and Writing section. Part III, Further Views on Argument (Chapters 8-14), surveys the following perspectives: the philosopher’s view (Toulmin model), logician’s view ((deduction, induction, and fallacies), moralist’s view (ethical considerations), lawyer’s view (legal issues), psychologist’s view (Rogerian argument), literary critic’s view (literary critique), and the forensic view (oral presentation and debate). A color coded section on documentation (MLA and APA), as well as some sample student essays are also included. While this text is highly recommended for the depth and scope of its interdisciplinary approach, some instructors might want a greater variety of visual arguments (advertisements and aesthetic representations) and more eye appealing images (color graphics). The anthology (reader) which takes up half of the text is more than balanced by Parts I-IV strong emphasis on writing instruction. The combination of rhetoric lessons and readings on social issues is comprehensive enough to negate the necessity of buying two expensive textbooks. Current Issues offers a challenging, yet intellectually accessible, approach to argumentative writing for the undergraduate student.

The Structure of Argument (6th Edition)
By Annette T. Rottenberg, and Donna Winchell. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.

At 545 pages, The Structure of Argument offers a brief, yet effective, combination of rhetorical/argumentative instruction and readings for analysis that emphasize practice in close analysis, evaluation of supporting materials, and logic of organization. While this text has condensed—and made accessible—the Toulmin model of argument (claim, evidence, and warrant), it also puts/places special evidence on motivational appeals (emotional responses evoked by warrants based on appeals to the values of the audience), and an audience-centered approach that sees swaying the audience to the arguer’s position as the rhetorical goal. The text is comprised of two sections. Part I provides four introductory chapters on the terms of argument and audience; critical reading and listening; analyzing visual texts; and support and organization. Chapters 5 through 8 focus closely on defining terms, defending claims, types of support, and analyzing warrants. Chapter 9 takes up popular fallacies as well as inductive and deductive reasoning, and Chapter ten outlines the importance of word choice in effective arguments. Part II looks at the writing process, research and presentation. Chapters 11 and 12 explain topic selection, surveying peripheral issues, organizing the issues, and drafts and revisions. Also included are annotated research papers in both the MLA and APA style. Chapter 13 sets out guidelines for presenting oral arguments. Although this text seems especially accessible to first year students (125), it might also be used in argumentative writing courses (225). The Structure of Argument offers understandable and effective strategies for teaching critical thinking and convincing arguments, along with a brief, yet compelling, variety of essays on contemporary topics.

Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing: A Brief Guide to Argument (6th Edition)
By Sylvan Barnet, and Hugo Bedau. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing: A Brief Guide to Argument is a relatively small text that provides effective instruction in analyzing and evaluating evidence in arguments. The book contains four sections. Part I, Critical Thinking and Reading (Chapters 1-4), and Part II, Critical Writing (Chapters 5-7), together comprise a condensed course in methods of thinking about and writing arguments. “Thinking” means critical analytic thought (Chapter 1); “writing” is understood as the implementation of effective, respectable strategies. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 address critical reading (Chapter 4 is devoted to reading images). In Part II, Chapters 5 (argument analysis), 6 (personal style of argument), and 7 (using sources) focus on critical writing. Parts I and II contain twenty-eight readings (nine are student papers). Part III, Further Views on Argument (Chapters 8-14), as in Barnet’s and Bedau’s longer text, Current Issues and Enduring Questions, surveys the following perspectives: the philosopher’s view (Toulmin model), logician’s view ((deduction, induction, and fallacies), moralist’s view (ethical considerations), lawyer’s view (legal issues), psychologist’s view (Rogerian argument), literary critic’s view (literary critique), and the forensic view (oral presentation and debate). Part IV (Chapter 15), is a casebook on the state and the individual, asking the question, “What is the Ideal Society?” The essayists here include Thomas More, Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas Jefferson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ursula K. Le Guin. A color coded section on documentation (MLA and APA), as well as some sample student essays are also included. This text’s central premise is that having students learn how to identify important types of evidence and key analytical and evaluative critical strategies improves the style of prose and intellectual depth of their writing. Offering a balanced mix of instruction and essays, Critical Thinking provides a mix of thought provoking and challenging readings designed to engage the students’ interest.

Pearson Longman offers a variety of low cost texts geared toward instructors’ individual teaching styles and students’ budgets. Here are three examples.

Envision: Writing and Researching Arguments (2nd Edition)
By Christine L. Alfano, and Alyssa J. O’Brien. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008.

Envision: Writing and Researching Arguments’ short three part structure expands on the first edition’s focus on understanding, analyzing, and writing about visual rhetoric by broadening its scope to include a stronger emphasis on writing instruction and textual interpretation of verbal print documents. Part I, Analysis and Argument, provides exercises meant to improve students’ proficiency in critical reading, rhetorical analysis, and how to synthesize and incorporate multiple perspectives. Both conventional academic essays and contemporary popular articles are included. Chapters 1 through 3 concentrate on analyzing texts, strategies of persuasion, and composing arguments. Part II, Research arguments, offers lessons in how to compose a research proposal, keep a research log, find credible sources, include grafts and charts, revise, and integrate sources. Field and library research, as well as collaborative drafting are also included here. Part III, Design, Delivery, and Documentation, has to do with the presentation and delivery of written and visual arguments. While various documentation styles are briefly touched upon, the emphasis is on disciplines in the humanities, hence the comprehensive focus on MLA style. Benefits of this text include a clear sequence of assignments section, a comprehensive Companion website, and an Instructor’s manual offering helpful pedagogical advice, and an overview of each chapter. While thoroughly accessible to today’s students, because Envision confines itself solely to contemporary examples, some instructors may want to assign supplementary readings.

To the Point: Reading and Writing Short Arguments (2nd Edition)
By Gilbert H. Muller, and Harvey S. Wiener. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009

One of the enticements of To the Point: Reading and Writing Short Arguments is its combination of concision and comprehensiveness. Part I includes three introductory chapters that cover the basic argumentative paradigms—Aristotelian logic, the Toulmin model, syllogisms, deduction, and logical fallacies, for example—as well as a close focus on reading and writing within the context of various rhetorical approaches. Part II presents a series of paired essays (six chapters), pro and con perspectives on today’s issues: hip-hop culture, the SUV phenomenon, the Wal-Mart mega-store mentality, animal rights, stem cell research, and capital punishment. Part III presents less polarizing issues as a way of showing how argument can be as much meditative as persuasive, offering multiple views on citizen concerns—the environment: how can we preserve it?; work, class and money; and terrorism, to name a few. Part IV provides six classic arguments by Plato, Jonathan Swift, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, Rachel Carson. And Martin Luther King Jr. Part V, “A Casebook of Arguments on Our Diets: Are We What We Eat?” includes essays, Web sites, and advertisements on body image and cultural identity. Part VI outlines the construction of a brief argumentative research paper and offers a model of successful academic research accessible to today’s student. In addition to its clarity of instruction, range of examples, and easy affordability, To the Point also offers a supplemental instructor’s manual and MyCompLab Web application that provides comprehensive and integrated resources for both teacher and student.

Good Reasons: Researching and Writing Effective Arguments (4th Edition)
By Lester Faigley, and Jack Selzer. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009

In a clear, accessible language, Good Reasons, at 325 pages, offers a straightforward approach to argument that explains the importance of persuasive writing. Choosing to avoid complicated terminology, this text’s only technical terms are the classical concepts of “pathos,” “ethos,” and “logos. Steps for analyzing written and visual arguments and for writing definition, causal, evaluation, narrative, rebuttal, and proposal arguments are outlined in a clear, understandable way. Encouraging students to formulate arguments in different genres and various media, over 75 illustrations that exemplify the pervasiveness and persuasiveness of image-text arguments are provided (photographs, charts, tables, and ads). It also covers research writing, source evaluation, and MLA and APA documentation sources. Notwithstanding the rhetorical strategies new to this edition, Good Reasons’ limited readings make it a better supplemental resource than a central text in a first year college writing course.

TRASHY NEWS on the MARCH: Marijuana Induced Psychosis

I was troubled by the 12/13/08 Ann Arbor News article about the Michigan man who was convicted of killing and cooking his wife. It seems he’s petitioning for a new trial because of new evidence that he was in a state of marijuana-induced psychosis. I’ve heard of the munchies, but this is ridiculous. Sure, I’ve experienced a state of pot-frenzy where I’ve wanted to perform cunnilingus (Lat., he who licks the vulva) on my woman after a chili-dog-pasty repast, but never--even in the throes of cannabis induced psychosis—have I had the urge to literally dine on her lamby thighs. There’s a cautionary tale here. Given that Mr. Fartz dismembered and roasted his wife’s body in their Summit Township restaurant, it only makes sense that entrepreneurial psycho-pot-smokers should restrict their murderous culinary impulses to those holidays where roasted meats are consumed voraciously as a popular tradition. Also, if you’re going to have human on the menu, probably best to invest in an Old Country Buffet rather than sushi bar. Fartz is doing life without parole.

Just down the road from Fartz’s Crowbar abode in Jackson, another sexy fat-bastard is living it up behind bars. According to the Associated Press, Kwame “Kwanza-Santa” Kilpatrick “Went on a shopping spree during his first full day in jail, spending $40 on food, toiletries and triple-XL long johns (if he’s above the third floor he can use ‘em as an escape rope). Records released Friday show Kilpatrick’s purchases included granola bars, barbecue potato chips, shampoo and $25 worth of Vaseline.” Wait a minute, Kwame, no mood lighting or Jet magazines? How can the Kwamster buy twenty-five bucks worth of petroleum jelly without some penile enhancement materials? Granted, you might not be able to see it, but who cares, Kwam, you can still feel it.

Bad Coaches, PET Scans, and Toenail Fungus

“Entomologists found that sex between male flour beetles may allow the males, by dribbling semen onto their partners, to impregnate the females those males later have sex with.”
-- “Findings” Harpers Magazine (January 2009)

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Pinocchio Illusion”: Yes, my heating contraptions are in stock. Although I haven’t finished my website yet, next week they can be ordered online and I will drop ship them to any address. They will cut your gas bill in half. Yes this is a shameless plug, and yes everyone should have one. Additionally, I have water purifiers and air purifiers. They make good stocking stuffers.
As soon as I can speak I will give you a call.

Love, Magoo

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Pinocchio Illusion: Vandal, let me know about the results of your PET scan. I had my Direct Laryngoscopy w/ biospy today. The test was a piece of cake this time. I get the results on Monday.Lovie vs. McCarthy? Does coaching in Green Bay make him a hick? Does coaching in Chicago make Lovie corrupt? They have both made major coaching blunders.

Posted by Anonymous to You Are Here: Disease as Performance at December 12, 2008 7:14 PM

Bill De Broux has left a new comment on your post "The Pinocchio Illusion”:

I've been thinking of amputating my toenails because there is this gross fucking fungus growing under them and there is not a medication on the planet that will get rid of it. But I have not yet done the deed. Does that make me a wannabe? Later, Bill.

Posted by Bill De Broux to You Are Here: Disease as Performance at December 12, 2008 6:55 PM

Dear All:

Since two of my dear friends, Timmy McGee and Billy De Broux, left comments on the blog, I thought I might use their posts as writing prompts. Since inspiration is oftentimes scarce, I thank you for providing the impetus for today’s topics.

First off, as is my want, and being an English teacher, I took the liberty to edit your posts as a way of facilitating their accessibility to the general reading public (facilitating their accessibility? That’s what we call wordy in the business).

Regarding my irreverent comments on Little Vincie’s “Flustration”: make no mistake about it, were McCarthy the coach of the Bears they would have a far better record than they do. For the record, my estimation of the worst coaches in the NFL is this (in no particular order): K.C.s’ Herm Edwards, Chicago’s Lovie Smith, Cleveland’s Romeo Crenell, San Diego’s Norv Turner, Cincy’s Marv Lewis, Philly’s Andy Reid, and Jacksonville’s Jack Del Rio. You’ll notice most of these guys are black, which only goes to show that race has nothing to do with how bad you suck.

Since you’ve let the cat out of the bag, Magoo (what means that? Let the cat out of the bag, indeed!). What bag, and how did he get in there in the first place? Wait a minute (sounds like the corrupt cop in Scarface), I’ll google it!
Origin

There are two commonly heard suggested origins of this phrase. One relates to the fraud of substituting a cat for a piglet at markets. If you let the cat out of the bag you disclosed the trick - and avoided buying a pig in a poke (bag). This form of trickery is long alluded to in the language and 'pigs in a poke' are recorded as early as 1530.

The other theory is that the 'cat' referred to is the cat o' nine tails, which was used to flog ill-disciplined sailors. Again, this has sufficient historical record to be at least possible. The cat o' nine tails was widely used and was referred to in print many years prior to the first use of 'let the cat out of the bag'. The 'nine tails' part of the name derives from the three strands of cord that the rope lashes were made from. Each of the cords were in turn made from three strands of string. When unbraided a piece of rope separated into nine strings. The 'cat' part no doubt alluded to the scratches that the knotted ends of the lash made on the victim's back, like those from a cat's claws.

Of the two explanations, the 'pig in a poke' derivation is the more plausible, although I can find no direct documentary evidence to link 'letting the cat out of the bag' to the selling of livestock. Versions of the phrase exist in both Dutch - 'Een kat in de zak kopen' and in German - 'Die Katze im Sack kaufen'. These both translate loosely as 'to buy a cat in a bag', i.e. to buy false goods.
The cat o' nine tails story is dubious at best. It is reported that the lashes were sometimes stored in bags, but the suggested nautical punishment origin fails at the critical point, in that it doesn't match the 'disclose a secret' meaning of the phrase.
The first known use of the phrase in print that I have found is in a 1760 edition of The London Magazine:

"We could have wished that the author... had not let the cat out of the bag."
There are several other literary references to the phrase in the 1760s and 1770s, most of which place it in quotations marks - a sure sign of it being not commonly understood and consequently, newly coined.

Cats feature very often in English proverbs:

A cat may look at a king - 1546

All cats are grey in the dark - 1596

Curiosity killed the cat - 1921

There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream - 1855

When the cat is away, the mice will play - 1607

This routine appearance of cats in the language is no doubt a consequence of them being widely kept as mousers and pets in domestic houses. As to 'who let the cats out?', we can't be certain; but it probably wasn't a sailor.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, you, dear reader, want to know just what cat Tim let out of the bag. It seems that on my last CT scan there was a spot, a smudge, an unknown something in the intestinal area that provided a question. While the general picture showed no disease, no lymphoma, there was this unexplainable blur. My doctor downplayed it, saying it was probably nothing (perhaps a scar, or, as my brother Paul suggested, a rogue turd), and that if I wanted we could look at it in six months. However, she continued, for hers, and my own, piece of mind, I could undergo a PET scan on December 9, just to see if there was anything to worry about (below I’ve included some information on CT and PET scans).

Funny thing about situations like this, unless you’ve recorded the conversation with the doc, your imagination begins to run wild about what you actually heard. Was the doctor trying to downplay the worst? Did she not schedule a future CT because she knew the cancer was back? Worry casts a long shadow on speculative concerns. I had a dream where I was in the tropics and small alligators and venomous reptiles were crawling under my clothes. I screamed at those around me to pull them off. Every ache and pain became a sign that the malignancies were everywhere. Slight headache? Oh no! It’s in my brains! Thinking myself riddled with tumors, a grim anticipation set in.

So last Tuesday I had the scan. Then the impatience set in. Should I immediately call and try to expedite the results, or should I wait to hear from the doc? Wednesday passes, no word. Then, late Thursday afternoon my cell phone rings. The number is 232-0000. Now I don’t know about where you live, but in my universe when a number ends in 4 zeros it’s always from a hospital. “Hello Randall, this is Thecla, Dr. Ahmed’s (yeah, I’ve got a terrorist doctor) assistant. I’ve got some good news…” That was all I had to hear. Yahoo! Praise God! Let’s party, and all that jazz. How does one explain this kind of news? One doesn’t.

As a service to my fellow cancer survivors/sufferers/victims, whatever, I thought I might try to explain in layman’s terms exactly how a PET scan differs from a CT scan. So, using my case as an example, here goes.

The CT scan involves the ANATOMY, the PET the PHYSIOLOGY, of a given organism. The CT took a picture of the anatomical structure of my abdomen. What it picked up was an anomaly, a “something” in the overall image that was out of place. What it can’t determine is whether or not this, this…thing has a metabolism, a life. The picture is static rather than dynamic. The contrast drink, the Barium Shake, highlights the organs and whatever else shows up, but beyond that offers little information.

The PET scan, because it involves a radioactive chemical injected into the bloodstream, and therefore infuses every cell in the body, picks up any metabolic activity at the cellular level. It is a physiological diagnostic, physiology literally meaning the functions of a living organism, which in my case could have been a malignant tumor growing in my bowel. What would have happened had the spot been a malignant growth is that the picture would show the tumor pulsing and lighting up. The metabolic nature, that is to say life activity, of the tumor would show up on the scan. As it turned out, the blip, scar, turd, or whatever it was, was benign, or lifeless.

A CT scan — also called computerized tomography or just CT — is an X-ray technique that produces images of your body that visualize internal structures in cross section rather than the overlapping images typically produced by conventional X-ray exams.

Conventional X-ray exams use a stationary X-ray machine to focus beams of radiation on a particular area of your body to produce two-dimensional images on film or a digital detector, much like a photograph. But CT scans use an X-ray unit that rotates around your body and a powerful computer. The result with CT scans is a set of cross-sectional images, like slices, of the inside of your body.

Doctors recommend a CT scan for a wide variety of reasons.
A conventional X-ray of your abdomen, for example, shows your bones as well as subtle overlapping outlines of your liver, stomach, intestines, kidney and spleen. A CT scan, however, clearly reveals these bones and organs as well as their inner structure and detailed anatomy of your pancreas, adrenal glands, kidneys and blood vessels.

A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is a special kind of imaging test which allows doctors to see how certain tissues and organs within the body are functioning. The most significant difference between a PET scan and other imaging tests such as MRI or CT is the ability to detect changes in the body at the cellular level rather than after a disease has progressed enough to actually effect the surrounding tissue or organs. A PET scan may be useful for helping to detect certain types of cancer, brain disorders, heart problems, and other conditions of the central nervous system.

A PET scan is performed by injecting a small amount of radioactive chemical into a vein. As the chemical travels through the body, it is absorbed by the organs and tissues. During the test, a scanner records the energy produced by the cells. A computer converts the recording into three-dimensional pictures of an area of the body and any cells that are changing show up at a brighter contrast to any surrounding, normal cells.

There is very little preparation involved prior to a PET scan and they are most often done on an outpatient basis. In general, most patients are simply given restrictions on food or drink for 6 to 12 hours prior to the test. Heart patients, diabetics, and other specific patients may be given a specific set of directions depending on the purpose of the PET scan. The test takes approximately 2 hours to complete.

PET scan technology is widely used in oncology as it helps to stage and detect certain types of cancer including breast cancer, lymphoma, and certain types of lung cancer. PET scan technology is also widely used in medical research.

Due largely to the technology and equipment involved, a PET scan is considerably more expensive than conventional imaging tests. Most insurance plans will cover a PET scan if certain conditions apply. Before undergoing a PET scan, patients should check with their insurance company about coverage benefits and requirements

As for you, dear Bill, technically, I suppose eliminating one’s toenail is analogous to amputating one’s hair (I get by with a little hair from my friends)! Billy, I wish you could be here for the annual Peace Concert at the Ark tomorrow night. I know you would appreciate the local musicians whooping it up for global harmony. Meanwhile, the gangsters in Washington continue to spread the wealth at the top hoping a tuppence or two might trickle down to the masses. It’s like the rainstorms in Arizona summers that never reach the ground. How about this: give us regular citizens a stipend so that we may buy stuff. No matter how much is given the banking fat cats, assuming on the outside chance that they might even use the money to lend us poor people, no one can buy anything anyway when they don’t have a job and nothing in savings.
The Marxist model still works best: progressive change must always be instituted from the bottom up, not the top down.

Although I’m still not exactly sure where my future BIID research will lead, I find it a fascinating subject. I get a steady stream of hits from all over the world that look at the 4 BIID postings on the blog. So much so that I almost feel obligated to find out more and share this knowledge with the BIID folk.

Happy Birthday to Genea “Obamalamadingdong” Tessier.

The Pinocchio Illusion

I’ve included the photo at right as an example of how insidious human nature can look. The world is full of gangsters that pillage, rape, and kill. Words like compassion, mercy, and sympathy mean nothing to them. Combined, they are responsible for the murders of millions of innocent men women and children, and we countenance them.

“If we are all unique creatures of God, as Christians affirm, normality becomes a meaningless concept.”
-- Ted Harrison 1948-- : “Disability: Rights and Wrongs” (1995)

“Touch also turns out to be easy to fool. Among the sensory tricks now being investigated is something called the Pinocchio illusion. Researchers have found that if they vibrate the tendon of the biceps, many people report feeling that their forearm is getting longer, their hand drifting ever further from their elbow. And if they are told to touch the forefinger of the vibrated arm to the tip of their nose, they feel as though their nose was lengthening, too.”
-- New York Times (12/9/08)

Regarding the BIID issue, look for a post soon relating the “Pinnochio illusion” to BIID.

I suppose I should write something. Ok, it’s cold, rainy, snowy, and nasty, what we sports gamblers call a wintry mix (bet the under). Kind of makes me feel like that hayseed Packers coach, a bit FLUSTRATED. Knew a fella once with three fingers. He was always complaining about his flustration. Whaddya gonna do? I don’t wanna be one of them english teachers who is always correcting everybody. Did I mention it’s dreary? The world can be a dreary place. My guardian angel in the English Department, Lori, is leaving. I’m happy for her, but sad for those of us who’ve come to love her. Peace Concert at the Ark this weekend. FUBAR will do a song by Oni, Jim, and Sophia, “Half Staff Blues.”

Bonni Q., thank you. B. is quite flattered you think so highly of her cooking.

Picked up a guy carrying a gas can last week. It was on the way to Plymouth. Dude was wearing a windbreaker and some Bruno Maglis, walking slowly in a a driving wet snow. So I think, I gotta pick this guy up. Funny thing though, I pull over a quarter mile ahead, thinking he’ll start running towards the car, which is what any hitchhiker worth his salt would do, but this guy just keeps walking at the same pace. Weird. Finally he gets to the driver’s side window, hesitantly peeks in and asks me if I’m giving him a ride. Did I mention Mitch Mitchell, Jim Morrison’s dad, and Sonny Von Bulow died recently?

So I says:
“No, I just wanted to see what you looked like.”
Then I says, “Are you a serial killer?’
So he says, “No.”
So I say, “Well I am. Ha Ha!”
Seriously, I say, “I can take you to the gas station, and give you a ride back, I’m going to my girlfriend's house in Plymouth. She lives on Sheldon”
He says, “I live close by there, you can take me home and my wife will drive me back.”
I say, “So what do you do?”
He says, “I’m a corporate lawyer, I’ve worked for Maasco Corp., Nabisco, and Ford.”
So I say, “You voted for McCain, didn’t you,” as I began to feign pulling off to the side of the road.
He goes, “Yea, I voted for McCain, but in my heart I secretly wanted Obama. My wife voted for him.”
So I say, “You wouldn’t have picked me up if I was walking, right?”
And he says, “No, I wouldn’t have.”
So I say, “You’re a corporate lawyer and you ran out of gas?”
He says, “Yea, I’m outta work.”
So I say, “The pain is trickling up dude.”
Then I dropped him off at a beautiful house in Plymouth.

McGee’s got some kind of heating contraptions for sale. I think we should all buy one. Obamalamadingdong’s on the verge of finishing in the money in our football pool.

Had a PET scan this morning and a CAT scan last month where I talked to a guy who had lymphatic cancer. During the course of our wait he told me about his disease experience. He was diagnosed at 38, carefully monitored, and underwent chemotherapy 4 years ago. One interesting tidbit he left me with concerned an experimental vaccine he’s been receiving in Spain. The guy is rich, so if you have lymphoma you can’t try this at home. Just prior to the chemo he had some malignant cells sent to Pamplona (where the bulls run), and the famous oncologist there used them to make a vaccine personally tailored for this guy. This is the direction in which cancer research is headed.

Go Bears!

BLACK XMAS, GAY MARRIAGE, & HATE MAIL

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is a part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.”
-- Hermann Hesse 1877-1962: “Demian” (1919)

BLACK XMAS

How sadly fitting a metaphor for the financial maelstrom about to consume us. A Wal-Mart (“Lowest Wages, Always”) employee on Long Island was crushed to death by a stampede of desperate shoppers. This only the most vicious example of the fights and injuries that broke out at Wal-Marts nationwide. It was reported there were more shoppers than shopping bags.

Across the world, however, there were consumers with bags. Having purchased a brand new Yamaha outboard motor and state of the art inflatable dinghy, they pulled up to a slum dock in Mumbai, shed their hunters orange windbreakers, and, showing off their young physiques in matching t-shirts and blue jeans, proceeded to unload their custom loaded individual backpacks. When a harbor master asked about the contents of their bags, they said, “We don’t want any attention, don’t bother us.”

Those of you who might wonder about my twisted tales need only look at the cruel expressions of human nature around us. How else to account for the kinds of evil that cloak themselves in guerrilla ideological justifications and first world nationalistic righteousness. When a religious fanatic murders a woman and child, or an unmanned high-tech drone missile wipes out an innocent wedding party, I call it evil. What the ultra committed muhajadeen and western right wing patriot have in common is the amoral capacity to use that cold, cognitive element that makes us “The Highest Animal,” to overcome the empathetic impulse. Simply put, they carefully rationalize the folly of maintaining a moral conscience, thus walling off any internalized opposition, innocent or otherwise, to those who might reject their apocalyptic worldview (See Dick Cheney’s 1% doctrine).

Meanwhile, our fellow citizens dying of thirst can take heart, the Space Shuttlers finally got the urine-to-water conversion machine working. Perhaps one day we’ll see a trans-Atlantic pipeline that ships America’s converted urine to sub-Saharan Africa. We could set up tributaries via the urinal outlets at sports bars. Bud-lite would be discounted for those who voluntarily ingest diuretics, thus partaking in that most noble, and altruistic, act (the piss is a communal discharge): sacrificing their pee on behalf of our dying brethren. Now if they can get that shit-to-donuts contraption working we’re in business.

GAY MARRIAGE and RACE

Let’s talk about race and homophobia. Why the inordinately high percentage of blacks that voted against Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage in California? In my long experience teaching at the college level, I’ve found African American students to be the most stridently homophobic of all minorities. Rather than explain why, I thought I might include this excerpt from Charles M. Blow’s editorial in today's “New York Times”:

(1) Blacks are much more likely to attend church, according to a Gallup report, and black women are much more likely to attend church than black men. Anyone who has ever been to a black church can attest to the disparity in the pews. And black women’s church attendance may be increasing. According to a report issued this spring by Child Trends, a nonprofit research center, weekly church attendance among black 12th graders rose 26 percent, while attendance for white 12th graders remained virtually flat. In 2006, those black teenagers were nearly 50 percent more likely to attend church once a week than their white counterparts. And it is probably safe to assume that many of them were going to church with their mothers since Child Trends reported that around the time that they were born, nearly 70 percent of all black children were born to single mothers.

(2) This high rate of church attendance by blacks informs a very conservative moral view. While blacks vote overwhelmingly Democratic, an analysis of three years of national data from Gallup polls reveals that their views on moral issues are virtually indistinguishable from those of Republicans. Let’s just call them Afropublicrats.

(3) Marriage can be a sore subject for black women in general. According to 2007 Census Bureau data, black women are the least likely of all women to be married and the most likely to be divorced. Women who can’t find a man to marry might not be thrilled about the idea of men marrying each other.

HATE MAIL

On Monday, March 31st, 2003 a photo of Sophia and myself appeared in The Ann Arbor News. Standing under a poster saying “Drop Bush, Not Bombs,” the caption read, “Ann Arbor resident Randy Tessier, left, strums his guitar to accompany antiwar songs as Sophia H. of Ann Arbor sings along with protesters on Main street in downtown Ann Arbor Sunday night.”

The following Tuesday I received two letters (transcribed as written) with no return address. My address (which is in the book) was handwritten on one envelope and typed on the other. The first contained a defaced version of the News photo with the following enclosure:

“Tessier --

As your strumming around Ann Arbor, which by the way “Shaky Jake” makes better noise then you do, remember who in hell gave the freedom to do so.

I don’t think you anti-Americans really give a damn any way, it’s your gutless type that GIs, sailors, Coast Guard etc. really detest, I am a Vietnam Vet and I hate you, loath you at the highest with bitter contempt, not one of you know what the hell your doing, nor do your type no what to do, men/women are fighting you and you spit on them, well I spit on you and have, watch your back ass-hole.

Did you make a date with the bitch next you in that photo in the paper? When Memorial day comes, stay off the street, when the 4th comes don’t go to any parades you ass-holes don’t belong, gutless fucking cowards, your scum are the minority and the cowards you are will try to weep the good out of an American victory, Hussein – his regime is FUCKING HISTORY !

I see that plastic guitar is made in Iraq, I bet by Hussein’s thugs.

-- Allen Harris”

Of course there is no such person. The second letter, shorter and typed, read:

“Tessier –

Which are you a Marxist, Communist, Liberal, Libertarian Socialist? Your not an American that is for damn sure, you are Anti-American spreading bias bull shit, and you clowns don’t even know what the hell your doing, nor do they know how to play a guitar, nice try ass hole!

There are thousands of men & women in Iraq fighting for you, and all you do is piss on them, I am a Vietnam veteran and I put you fuck heads in the same class as those in the 60s gutless cowards and are traitors pure and simple.

I say FUCK YOU! And GO AMERICA! And GO MR. BUSH! AND GO TROOPS!

-- Dick Jones”

Since my name’s in the book, it wasn’t difficult for Mr. Harris, or Jones, or whatever his name is, to send along his opinion. It’s a free country, why not?

Now fast forward to the blog I posted on November 3rd, 2008: “Endorsements and Embarrassments.” This was an unabridged version of a document published in “The Ann Arbor News” shortly after the election.

And so, 5 years later, I received this (typed) letter:

“After 8 years, America is better

Tessier,

Local observations, what has changed? America is safer, America is still free, has a Democracy, and Capitalism, still has free speech depending who you are, America’s problem! Caused by whom? Blame America first is the liberal-left’s idea of a problem.

Silence conservative speech is aproblem, conservative talk TV is aproblem, all those yard signs are a problem, the free market is a problem, supporting the troops is a problem, keeping terrorists out of America is a problem, not having huge taxes is a problem, having the great military is a problem.

Attacking the enemies of America is a problem, not giving illegal Mexicans full rights is a problem, not having faggot marriage legal world wide is a problem, not having a one party country is a problem, not spending enough is a problem.

Not having a huge government that makes Americans depend on them is a problem, not giving full rights to illegal immigrants is a problem, not being a third world country is a problem not having every court system fully liberal is a problem, God is a problem, the Ten Commandment is a problem, which Obama will change.

Having terrorists at GETMO is a problem, lets free them all, not having a socialist Markxist dictator is a problem, not blaming America enough is a problem, Bush’s anti-terrorism is a problem, supporting any victories of America is a problem, flag waving is a problem, having no fear of a free world is a problem, not hating Bush is a problem, not supporting Israel’s defeat is a problem, not supporting Iran is a problem.

Not supporting liberal-left agendas is a problem, not supporting Obama is a problem, supporting any conservative is a problem, not apologizing to the world for America is a problem, supporting patriotic themes is a problem, a liberal democracy is socialism/communistic and fully Marxist.

Not supporting this is a problem, not having a one world bank is a problem, shame on you if you don’t support all this, shame on you if you don’t support and accept this manifesto of destruction.

GOD BLESS AMERICA, GOD BLESS THE MILITARY”

Old bigots never die, they just keep buying new phone books.

Peace - Randy

F I C T I O N

“Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature…and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions?”
- Fedor Dostoevsky 1821-81 “The Brothers Karmazov” (1879-80)

The public area of the Michigan State Psychiatric hospital at Newberry contains six visiting rooms, florescent-lighted cells measuring 10x12, with walls and ceilings of Celotex. In each chamber, in addition to an electric ceiling fan, a permanently fixed steel table and chairs, there are concealed microphones, and as a part of the door, a one-way mirror observation portal. On Sunday, the seventh day of 2005, a solitary room was booked for 3:00PM,the hour Ward Stakel had selected for his first confrontation with Claude Guerre.

Just prior to that interview, Stakel gathered himself in the drifted over parking lot, preferring the numbing blizzard to the task before him.

“Testing...testing…I'm afraid, afraid of the truths I might uncover, lies I might inspire, or worse, the inability to recognize the difference."

Rewind.

"I'm afraid, afraid of the truths I might uncover, lies I might inspire, or worse, the inability to recognize the difference."

His wire was working. That night he would edit and transcribe the tapes, carefully manipulating their linear witness.

As Stakel remembers it:

"Nicole wanted to be there, behind the glass, but was instead stranded at the Detroit Renaissance Center, her residence since New Year's Eve. As far as I was concerned, this had to be the guy! Rosen's testimony, Guerre's movements and actions at that time, and what I would hear that day all pointed to him as the killer. Entering the room I was overcome by a sense of nausea, of awe and dread. And then I saw him."

"I imagined a bigger man, more physically imposing; not some rail-like wraith with lemur eyes. He was 62 years old but could've passed for 40. Oblivious to the core, he wore a tattered wife-beater, black horned-rim glasses, and black shoes with no socks or shoelaces. I shook his hand. It was warm and clammy."

"'Mr Guerre,” I began, “my name is Ward Stakel. I am here on behalf of a private client with regard to events that took place some 40 years ago. You do, of course, have the right to say nothing. However, I must also tell you that you can no longer be prosecuted for any criminal actions you may have engaged in at that time. Further, should your responses be forthcoming enough to satisfy my client, we will waive the criteria for parole.”

He eyed me icily, with dirty, piercing eyes, a thoroughly despicable looking creature, with a repugnant, sneering grin. Seemingly unmoved by what should have inspired some kind of response. With a soft soprano whine, and articulate diction, he spoke.

"Been there, done that." Isn't that the quaint little colloquialism one uses in these situations? But all of these things happened so very long ago,” Guerre said, oddly serious for a moment.

“Now Mr. Guerre-“

“Claude.”

“Claude, we're interested in what you remember about your time in the Queen City and St. Ignace area around 1971. Do you recall an acquaintance you may have had? A Mr. Louis Oliver? He claims to have been a friend of yours in those days."

"I remember him all right, Oliver was a joke. Always worried about right and wrong, good and bad. A lot of good it did him, all this talk. It never seemed to prevent him from making the wrong choice.”

“What kind of choices might these be,” I asked.

“How subtle. Oh...you know, like deciding whether to kill someone or not. Come on. Where are you going with this? What is it you want to know?”

“Why don't we begin by talking about your childhood, you know, your family background?”

Fixing me with those wild eyes, Guerre spun a tale. He remembered when he was 13. His father had euthanized the family cat, Boots.

“No matter what we tried, Boots refused to use the litter box. This went on for months, until one day dad decided to, as he so delicately described it, to 'put Boots away.' Only my father would think of electrocution as a humane method of death. Papa assured us that the cat would die immediately, mercifully. However, when it tore away from the electrified snare, he trapped it in a burlap bag and beat it to death with a shovel.”

That was the only episode from his family life that Guerre mentioned. By his brief account, he had worked as a morgue attendant, paramedic, short order cook and cab driver--all before the age of twenty.

“Let's talk about Oliver.”

“A strange one, such an intellectual, so shrewd. And such an interest in…what was his theoretical spin? The dynamics of moral consideration, that was it! How lofty. Ha Ha. Such a talespinner and glib talker, Spewing his academic snake oil as if it might make words more potable for having been treated with his unique blend of erudite semantic additives.”

"I can never tell you what you want to hear; but I can tell you something about Louis and I."

"What Claude?"

"They were moored at the Big Bay Marina.”

“Who Claude?”

“Some yacht girls from Cleveland, or Erie. Somewhere like that. We took them to an apartment above the Lumberjack. It was late. Louis disappeared with one up an attic ladder, while I entertained the others with my guitar. I never saw her again. He strangled her.”

"Strangled who, Claude?"

"I don't know. Just her. As it turned out, at least according to the newspaper I read, she was really a man. ‘Someone left a cake out in the rain.' Certainly a romantic lyric, don't you agree Mr. Stakel? May I call you Ward?"

"No. Please don't use my first name,' I whispered."

“As Louis descended the ladder carring a sawed off shotgun, I produced a Nazi bayonet I had stolen from my Pappy's brother, uncle Bull. It didn't take long to hogtie and gag them. There is nothing duct tape can't do. Did you know they used it during the Viet Nam War to repair Helicopter rotors. Amazing. Then we marched them down to the basement. I tended to the two youngest first. Taped their hands together, using an overhead steampipe to suspend them. I positioned them in such a way that they couldn't avoid watching us. We ordered the other two to undress. Grabbing a dusty refrigerator box from between the coal stoker and furnace, I flattened it out, forming a large stiff rectangle. Since I felt it was inordinately cruel to ask the eldest to stretch out on the cold concrete floor, I provided this makeshift pallet as her final resting place, securely afixing her hands and feet in a splayed position. The last girl, so beautiful, skin so exquisitely while, like alabaster or porcelain, I tied spread-eagled, face down on an old fashioned bumper pool table."

"The basic tools of torture are fist and boots. Nothing else is really needed to inflict suffering. Other items that come to mind, of course, are knives, broken bottles and cigarettes--all of which we had at our disposal. In the way of a whip, we had a scourge of electric cord and rubber fan belt. According to Oliver--a connoisseur of pain--a method of torture commeon to India and Pakistan is, Cheera, a torment in which the victim's legs are spread apart until the muscles tear and great bruises form in the groin. We applied this. We also used electric shock, targeting the genitals, nipples and lips--which are not only the most sensitive parts of the body but also the most private and personal ones. Applied by simply touching the skin with bare wires. Needless to say, we first sexually assaulted them. Oliver dutifully informed me this is regarded as the supreme agony, causing the victim the ultimate humiliation, indignity, and lasting psychological damage--a problem these girls wouldn't have to worry about. After this, we garroted them with guitar strings.

A funny story my friend! Is it not? Cest la vie. Me, a boulevardier, raconteur, bricoleur, flaneur, and doctor, having fun; I remembered a jet out of K.I. Sawyer--an F101 Voodoo, I believe--that went down in Lake Superior in 1962. They never found the pilot. And I thought right then, I'll kill Oliver. No witnesses.”

Guerre paused.

"I had come expecting to hear the worst," Stakel recalled," but not in the form of a story like this. I had hoped to learn what happened to Don Merryweather. Instead I was regaled with a story so appaling I was left with more questions than answers. If this were true, who were these women Guerre, and possibly Oliver, had murdered? Guerre's confession, although implying the fate of Nicole's father, failed to satisfy my understanding of why. What motive? What intent compelled these horrible crimes?”

Stakel sought refuge in the solace of inexplicability. This crime was a simple twist of fate, a violence without meditation, pre or otherwise. The victims might have died in a plane crash or earthquake. But Stakel couldn't leave it at this. They had suffered cruely, and needlessly.

"I saw no desire for redemption in his eyes. No remorse. No flicker of self-examination. Still, I attempted to temper my anger with consideration, my ultimate judgment unfolding from my sympathy, no, my recognition of the cruel possibilities of human nature and an understanding of the need for retribution when these forces are unleashed. For Guerre's pathetic psychosis had never given him the chance to experience what flows from an affect nourished by the dynamics of human emotion, he had no empathetic, and thus moral, function. His longing was without love, his hatred without spite.

My sympathy, however, brooked no forgiveness, no mercy; but it did require that I meet that moral obligation of understanding the man I was about to condemn. His sentence was sealed, albeit on strictly circumstancial evidence.”

Greetings From San Antonio

What country can we occupy...errr...liberate next?

ciRcLE sHoPping

“Consumer wants can have bizarre, frivolous, or even immoral origins, and an admirable case can still be made for a society that seeks to satisfy them. But the case cannot stand if it is the process of satisfying wants that creates the wealth.”
- J. K. Gailbraith 1908-- : “The Affluent Society” (1958)

“In a consumer society there are two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.”
- Ivan Illich 1926-- : “Tools For Conviviality” (1973)

“The metamorphosis of consumption from vice to virtue is one of the most important yet least examined phenomena of the twentieth century.”
- Jeremy Rifkin 1945-- : “The End of Work” (1995)

There’s a new trend in consumer culture. It’s called “Circle Shopping.” Before explaining exactly what this means, I might direct your attention to George Romero’s 1978 film “Dawn of the Dead.”

“Dawn of the Dead” shows the apocalyptic effects a zombie epidemic would have on society. In the film, a plague of unknown origin has caused the reanimation of the dead who prey on human flesh, which subsequently causes mass hysteria. Several survivors of the outbreak barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall.

One of the looming psychiatric crises of the approaching depression will be how to deal with the ensuing psychological withdrawal brought on by the unavailability of cash or credit to satisfy our consumer addictions. Like those zombies in Romero’s film who mindlessly lurch from store to store, catatonically responding to a primal cultural indoctrination urging them to buy something, anything, “Circle Shoppers” are slaves to a mode of experience that defines them.

What do I mean by this? As an example I offer this story about a visit I once made to my blessed sister’s house. While showing me around her gorgeously appointed domicile, she ushered me into a closet with hundreds of shoes, T-shirts, and other extraneous items of cheaply made wearing apparel.

“Brotherman,” she said,
“look at these bargains I’ve found over the years.”
She then held up eight pairs of tacky golden Aladdin Slippers purchased at the Dollar Store.
“Sisterwoman,” I says,
“why on earth do you need eight pairs of these Sheik Sandals (she’s got big feet), wouldn’t one or two pairs suffice?”
Her response?
“Since they were only a dollar a piece, I had to buy them all.”
“Have you ever worn them,” I says.
She says, “no, they’re too small, but they were such a bargain, I had to have them.”

Sis wasn’t interested in the purchase as much as the purchasing. Over the last fifty years we’ve been trained to ignore austerity and embrace prosperity. Our unabiding faith in capitalism made us forget that historical change can take a regressive as well as progressive course. Why shouldn’t we think of our assets (employment status and homes) as ATMs rather than securities. Wages would rise, home values would follow, and things would get better and better.

“Happy days are here again,
Skies above are clear again.”

How selective we were in ignoring the lessons of the Great Depression. It’s as if we got the first four words and ignored the last. After all, “again” contains the the unpleasant implication that there were once “unhappy” days, and even worse, they might come again. Also recall this song was recorded in 1929, before, not after, the economic debacle that would soon follow. Those who came of age before the sixties knew this (the credit card was invented in 1950). But that’s not us.

And so a kind of “want addiction” displaced the outdated idea that assessing the modest requirements of existence and prudently meeting these life needs might be a sensible budgetary strategy. It was suddenly in vogue to have what you don’t want rather than to want what you don’t have.

We became addicted to buying, and not the things we buy. And so my sis was most proud of the quantity and passion of her consumption rather than what she actually bought. It might just as well have been brushed aluminum Chia-Pets, bargain bin Bedazzlers, reduced priced Flowbees, or Ronco Cellulite Cream Reducer. It’s not the utility of what you buy, as much as the feeling that your purchasing bring about a consumptive and redemptive satisfaction. But what happens when the cozy economic context that enabled this behavior collapses?

But what do we mall zombies do when there’s no more cash, the house is in foreclosure, and the cards are maxed out? It’s simple, we “Circle Shop.” All that’s required is a fixed stipend of cash that can be recycled endlessly. One caveat, avoid becoming desperate to the point of liquidating the the cash that suspends spending withdrawal symptoms.

“Circle shopping” is simply this: One goes to the mall, fixes upon the item they obsessively crave, buys the fetishized object of their desire (add to cart), goes home and agonizes over the unaffordable debt they have just accrued, frantically returns the item, and then rejoices in the rush obtained at having their grub stake refunded so that they might shop again.


NOTE: Copyrighted in 1929 by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics). “Happy Days Are Here Again” was recorded by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra, with Lou Levin, vocal (November 1929), and was used in the 1930 film “Chasing Rainbows.”