Anybody attend the forum? (What's up with "Sons of Guns"?)

     AS YOU KNOW, I'm on sabbatical, and so I didn't (wouldn't, shouldn't) attend today's "forum" re IVC's response (in draft form) to the Accreds and their recommendations. Someone told me that faculty member Ray C attended and asked some challenging questions concerning matters (about program discontinuance?) he asked to be included in the report—but that, evidently, have not been thus far. I'm told that, at the forum, they essentially "blew him off." Ray responded by suggesting that he would then communicate his concerns directly to the Accreds.
     Oh my. We can't have that.
     These forums are almost invariably scheduled at times seemingly chosen to minimize faculty attendance. 12:00 to 1:00 is teaching prime time! Further, faculty were first told of the forum two days ago! 
     One would naturally expect a low turnout, at least among faculty. Is that what happened?
     Did you attend? If so, let us know what happened.

     SPEAKING OF BULLIES, I see that "Sons of Guns" is playing on the Discovery Channel. This episode: "The taser shot gun."
     I gather that this new show is a hit. I'm not sure what to make of that.
     I enjoy watching SOG—I'm funny that way—but the program is in many ways appalling. It is a "reality" show about a Louisiana shop that fixes and modifies guns: pistols, rifles, automatic weapons, even grenade launchers. The boss—Will Hayden—is an imperious redneck who, shall we say, does not seek to be loved. His crew comprises mostly fearfully obedient (even worshipful) youngish rednecks who are happiest when they blow things up: trees, cars, buildings, even living things. Hayden's world-weary 30-ish daughter runs the front office/finances. Most episodes revolve around efforts to satisfy a customer's request to fix a gun or create a new kind of gun—or the shop's own efforts to create—and thus market—a new weapon, such as an arrow-shooting shotgun, a gizmo that shoots 4 German WWII automatics simultaneously, or a gun for use at night to kill allegedly dangerous wild dogs. (Good grief.)

     Hayden appears to be a bastard, the kind of guy who keeps his employees scared—but not his daughter, to whom The Menacing Man is utterly devoted, despite her whiny nature. Most employees are young and full of youthful foolishness. Some treat Boss Man, the bastard, as a mentor. One senses that they worship Hayden, not despite his being a bastard, but because of it. He's a winner who does what the f*** he wants. And he's a fatheaded, the-military-can-do-no-wrong patriot, too.
     Now, I like guns—I think they're fascinating, sometimes amazing, even beautiful. (I have always had an interest in military weaponry, especially that of WWI and WWII.) But I'm not in favor of ordinary people owning guns (or grenades, etc.). I think the American way with weaponry is manifestly insane. Obviously, there are those who feel very differently.
     It is disturbing to think that the people of this show represent any significant portion of this country. I suspect they do. What do you think?

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