Mr. Moon tonight

Those mountains to the east are empty—of people. They seem so far away, so desolate. Someone told me once that there's an old building in some canyon over there, abandoned and falling apart. I truly hope it is true. I dream about it, Mr. Moon.

Soon, Mathur's mysterious "consultant" will pay the colleges a visit

• Irvine Valley College faculty, if you consult the Flex Week handbook (which, this year, sports several of my photographs!), you’ll find that, on Tuesday (August 19), from 4:00 to 5:30, IVC Prez Glenn Roquemore and Ac. Senate Prez Wendy Gabriella will be holding another “accreditation update” (in B209).

I’m told that board President Don Wagner will be there too.

I sure hope everyone will make an effort to attend!

• A couple of days ago, senators of the Irvine Valley College Academic Senate received the agenda for the first senate meeting for Fall ’08, which will be held on Wednesday (August 20), from 10:00 to noon in B102.

I finally got around to reading it. Some elements are predictable enough. We’ll be informed of the progress of our accreditation task force, etc. We’ll hear about new faculty orientations.

But one item caught my eye:

Consultant Site Visit: September 02 and 04, 2008

Evidently the “consultant” will attend a special meeting with the senate’s Representative Council (i.e., the senate) on Sept. 4.

Our ever-wiley Chancellor, Raghu P. Mathur, has long promoted the fiction that this person has been hired by the district to help us out somehow. That’s why he’s called a “consultant.”

Yeah, but, as we’ve reported previously, that’s bullshit.

I’m told that Saddleback College will be “site visited” on two other days by this “consultant.”

The consultant will be writing a report. My guess is that the report will be written quickly and will be sent somewhere up north. 

Maybe Novato, CA.

Some newsberries:

• O.C. sheriff vows to arrest reservists if they're lying about lost badges: Sheriff Sandra Hutchens calls a mandatory meeting of reserve deputies designated by ex-Sheriff Michael Carona. 42 have reported missing badges or ID cards, which are now recalled.

• Chancellor Mathur looks like asshole, is asshole, says blog

How come nobody's talking about McCain and the Savings & Loan scandal?

OK, I'm just a philosopher. But tell me this. How come nobody’s talking about the Lincoln Savings scandal and John McCain’s part in it? It’s pretty relevant to the issue of McCain’s judgment, wouldn’t you say?

Essentially, businessman Charles Keating, chairman of American Continental Corporation (ACC was the parent company of Lincoln here in Irvine), had contributed to the campaigns of several senators, including pal John McCain, and when what was left of the feds’ regulatory mechanism (Saint Ronald had deregulated the S&L industry in the early 80s) commenced closing in on Keating’s corrupt operation, five of these senators, including McCain, met with regulators on Keating’s behalf in 1987. In the end, Keating’s riverboat gambler ways led to bankruptcy and seizure of ACC in 1989.

The episode cost taxpayers $2 billion. Over 20,000 elderly investors lost their life savings. Keating went to prison, but he was released after only five years.

As I recall, when he was asked whether his campaign donations had bought influence, Chuck said: “I want to say in the most forceful way I can: I certainly hope so.” (See Political Corruption, p. 43.)

The larger Savings and Loan crisis cost the taxpayer over $120 billion. And the government let it happen. John McCain was in the thick of this FUBAR.

Gosh, John, that doesn’t show much judgment on your part!

McCain was fifty years old at the time of the 1987 meeting with regulators.