July's meeting of the SOCCCD board: live and direct!

Operation GlennDrop

     (Be sure to read Tere's Board Meeting Highlights. Board agenda pdf here.)
     Well, here we are again for the meeting of the South Orange County Community College District's board of trustees. It's nearly 6:15, and the meeting hasn't started yet.
     All trustees are present and accounted for except for Tom Fuentes. Well, he's accounted for, I guess. (He's very ill.)
     For some reason, as I entered the room three minutes ago, there was much buzzing among the high number of district and college "usual suspects". WT....
     Ah, the board is starting the meeting! (6:16 p.m.)

● Nothing to be reported out. (No action taken in closed session.)

● Invocation and pledge. (Moment of silence; the Lord is not invoked)

● No resolutions. But a recognition for IVC Prez Glenn Roquemore.

   A recruiter officer (he manages 300 or so recruiters in SoCal) addresses the board. Says: it's a special period for us. We depend on the local community. We depend on people like Glenn Roquemore. Therefore, we've invited him to jump out of a plane--with the Army's skydiving team.
   We see a video. The Golden Knights. Lake Elsinore. We see his family. Big smiles. There's Glenn walking up into the plane. He's still smiling. There he is wearing his helmet. They're playing "Show me what I'm looking for." Odd choice. Then some similarly lame music. There's Glenn, falling like a rock, proving once again the gritty reality of gravitation. He seems to have four arms and two and a half legs. Whatever.
   Glenn's still falling. He gives the thumbs up. Now He's landing. Much sliding on grass. "We gave you a little bit of a taste of Army strong today," says someone. A freeze frame of Glenn falling. Very inspiring.
   On behalf of the U.S. Army, we present to you [it's a pin].. he is Army Airborne Qualified. They pin the thing on him. It's silver.
   Poertner comes up and sings Glenn's praises. He has helped create a positive image for the Army, says Poertner. So he gets a certificate of recognition. In a few months, no doubt, he'll get a certificate of recognition for his having received a certificate of recognition. And ad infinitum.
   Glenn speaks. He had lunch with soldiers. "I'm gonna wear these wings very proudly."

     I guess somebody decided that Glenn needed to raise his profile. "Why not drop like a rock from the sky?" Yes, why not.
     Glenn doesn't run his college. His VPI, Craig Justice, does. And Craig is ruthless and controlling and doesn't give a damn what any other group wants. He plays the faculty leadership. Others are scared to death of him.
     And where's Glenn?
     He's falling out of airplanes, smiling.
     Behold our next Chancellor, dropping and smiling.
     And Craig: the next Prez of IVC?
     Good Lord.

Fuentean donation
(artist's rendering)

● PUBLIC COMMENTS: nope.

● Board reports: (got one?)

Bill Jay: nope
Frank Meldau: nope
Marcia Milchiker: go see "Oklahoma" at Saddleback College. Incredible. Otherwise: nope
TJ Prendergast: nope
Nancy Padberg: nope
Lang: You give the term "taking a flying leap" new meaning (says to Roquemore). Har har. Nope.
Student trustee: nope

Chancellor's report: a quick comment. He points out a bust of Ronald Reagan up there behind the trustees. It looks like a brown turd from here. It's here only temporarily for safe keeping. You'll recall that Fuentes urged the board to name the room after RR. And Fuentes arranged for this bust, too, years ago. It was given to Fuentes, and Fuentes showed it to RR, who said he preferred it to other busts, I guess. It has been donated by Tom Fuentes (to the district, I guess).

● Discussion item: none

● Consent calendar: 5.5, 5.1, and 5.6 pulled.
The rest passes/is approved

5.1 Minutes. Passed.
5.5. Bugay asks amendment to attachment, 2nd page. Etc. Matter carries unanimously.
5.6 Lang puls it. Lang's being paid for a meeting he missed. The trustees always do this for each other. Wants the language clarified. His request to move the meeting was "denied." (Oh my. A little tension here?) He had a conflict, yada yada. Approved by all, Lang abstaining because, you know, he's very principled. That's why I always call him Dave "Quisling" Lang, betrayer of friends for private gain.

● Action items:

6.1: special services: Liebert Cassidy Whitmore legal services. A rate increase change. Item carries unanimously.
6.2: Board Policy revisions. Second time before the board. Carries unanimously.
6.3: for review and study: board policy revisions. Some questions about the basic aid policy. No other comments. Unanimously voted to accept for review and study.
6.4: this item is pulled.
6.5: Academic personnel actions. Approved unanimously.
6.6: Classified personnel actions. Approved unanimously.
6.7: Intra-budget transfer. Prendergast asks: transfer what from where to where? Laughter.
New Admin explains. Prendergast satisfied. Roll call vote. Unanimous.

● Reports:

7.1: Student trustee explains. I was asked to run. More publicity for our district. (?) He'll be the state wide student trustee, evidently!
7.2: basic aid. Lang: notes the first report that "breaks it down." Have we always gotten that? Poertner says: nothing new, Davy-Do.
7.3: no questions.
7.4 Retiree trust fund. All are comatose.

● Reports:

Academic Senate (SC): Carmen has moved to an admin position in College of the Canyons. "She will be missed." Stuff like "Oklahoma," I guess.
Union: Lewis Long: no report
Academic Senate (IVC): nobody here tonight. That's worse than no report.
Peebles: no report
Roquemore (IVC): I'll let my written report stand. Appreciate opportunity to work on accred issues this summer. "Very rewarding." (Sure it is. Is he running for office?)
Burnett (SC): you're first to see flex week brochure. They're dazzled. (Not. Mass Droolage.)
Padberg explains that she's taking a class at the college. (Spinning?) "Orange Appeal" is SC magazine. A copy was provided. Very glossy. Photography is beautiful, says Nancy.
Bramucci: got an award somewhere. The IT people, I guess.
Bugay: Roquemore is my hero. Jumping out of a plane, supporting the military. Also: Our chancellor is on track on all six of our accred issues.
Etc.
It's 6:54, and it appears that the meeting is about to end! Good Lord! Such speed, such efficiency!
6:56--over and out.

Board meeting tonight: “preventive education”

     The board of the South Orange County Community College District will conduct its July meeting tonight, starting at 6:00 p.m. Here’s the agenda: Board Agenda
     I glanced at the agenda outline. It seems unremarkable.
     I did notice item 6.1:

“Agreement for Special Services: Liebert Cassidy Whitmore”:
Approve Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement for Special Services with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore establishing a new range of rates for professional services effective July 1, 2011

     The firm’s website is here.
     Among other things, the firm claims to be a leader in “preventive education.”
     That’s quite a phrase. They explain it as follows:

One of the firm's greatest sources of accomplishment comes from its record of success in counseling and advising its clients on the best ways to avoid becoming a party to adversary proceedings.

     Item 5.5 is a “Faculty Hiring Addendum” for IVC. This seems to concern the replacement of Lise Telson and Bob Kopecky.
     Also, I see that we’ll be paying an extra $3762 for continued membership in the Community College League of California (CCLC) (dues have gone up from $ 36,238.00 to $40,000). (Item 5.12)

Another agenda:

     Meanwhile, the Voice of OC reports that

     Topping this week's public agendas is the appointment of a new Orange County Public Guardian. ¶ Former Public Guardian John Williams (who also had the job of public administrator) was fired from the post last month after a slew of controversies that eventually resulted in the splitting up of the two jobs. ¶ The Orange County Supervisors are scheduled to appoint Lucille Lyon, who previously worked as Riverside County's chief deputy public guardian, according to a staff report.

     Williams, of course, served on the SOCCCD board from 1992 until about 8 months ago, when he resigned. He's a rat bastard.

Random news:

Group targets Yorba Linda council prayer (OC Reg)

     A group that believes in a strong separation of church and state wants the Yorba Linda City Council to abandon its practice of praying at the council's biweekly meetings.
     "Local governments should not be in the business of performing religious rituals," the letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation states. "Calling upon Yorba Linda City Council members and citizens to rise and pray is coercive, embarrassing and beyond the scope of secular city government."
. . .
     Prayer during City Council meetings in Orange County is widely practiced; occasionally, council members or department heads will offer the invocation.
     Saddleback and Irvine Valley colleges have agreed to discontinue the use of invocations at some events, like scholarship ceremonies and faculty training sessions. The decision, which came earlier this year, was the result of a 2009 lawsuit by the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State….

Ted Rall opines cartoonishly

Past, Present, and Future

     Just noticed this: OC Weekly Captures 10 or 11 OC Press Club Awards (Naval Gazing)
     Matt Coker explains that

     OC Weekly won 10 or 11 awards at Wednesday night's Orange County Press Club Journalism Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Among these were eight first-place awards. ¶ It's 10 or 11 total because the same Weekling tied for first place in the same category, something Kedric Francis, Firebrand Media group editor and the press club vice president emceeing the awards portion of the evening, believes may be unprecedented in club history.

     Be sure to read all about it. And Congrats to the OC Weekly crew!
     You might recall that Kedric Francis, the MC, has a connection with DtB and was in fact a cub reporter for the Irvine Valley College Voice in the mid-90s.
     It appears that Ked first broke the Trustee-Frogue-Holocaust-denier story: See.

See also: Voice of OC Wins Press Club Investigative Awards

The grunt of the Neanderthal

     GUN DOLT. You’ll recall that, recently, a San Juan Capistrano City Councilman—and Saddleback College adjunct!—proposed changing a rule that bans guns in city parks. You see, this fella, Derek Reeve, thinks Americans have a right to carry guns just about everywhere and anywhere. Why not in city parks?
     Well, according to today’s OC Reg, Reeve’s Neanderthalic proposal has been rejected. Last night, relatively safe and sane members of the City Council decided that allowing guns in the park would make people feel unsafe, and, besides, it would brand the city as some kind of Wild West. That’s bad for business, man.
     But Reeve claims that the decision to preserve the old rule puts the city in legal jeopardy!

     …Reeve said the city rule could prompt a lawsuit. City Attorney Omar Sandoval said the rule likely was created about 10 years ago and that there hasn't been a lawsuit since.
     San Juan Capistrano resident Steve Behmerwohld said, "If you hadn't brought the whole thing up, I think the chances of us being sued (would be) a lot less."

     Um, dude. What about that?
     Reeve offered a lame retort:

"There's already been talk about going after cities. I saw that, and that's why I'm trying to head it off at the pass."

     Going after “cities,” eh? But not SJC in particular?
     You’re an asshole.
     Evidently, the Council also shot down Reeve’s idea to allow fishing in city creeks.

     IRVINE IS CLEAN, ISN'T IT? Meanwhile, today in court a former Irvine Planning Commissioner pleaded guilty to felony interstate wire fraud. Read about it in the OC Reg.
     His name is David R. Sparks. He’s described as a “family man.” No doubt he’s very pious, too. He could spend some serious time in prison polishing his piety.
     I noticed that Sparks was a contributor to Don Wagner’s 2010 run for the State Assembly.
     Just sayin’.

Red Emma: persistent redness (Red Emma)

IN FACT: Commentary by Professor Obvious (aka RED EMMA)

DtB’s International Media Analyst & In-House Culture Crank

Rebecca of Scummybrook Farm…Meet Billy Bragg

or

Color Me Shocked!

or

Less Fun in Funny

"God bless the brick house that was! God bless the brick house that is to be!"

—Rebecca Rowena Randall

“If this does not reflect your view you should understand

That those who own the papers also own this land.”

—Billy Bragg

My bad

     WHAT'S SO FUNNY—not funny ha-ha—finally, about the arrest of Rebekah Brooks, what makes the fun News of the World/News International un-scandal so unfun is, finally, how indeed predictable it is and not, alas, all that funny. Popping open a cold can of Schadenfreude feels good just about now, you bet, but it also only further numbs everybody to the obvious. Gilding the lily like this, wise-ass-wise, means that you miss the lily, covered in all that gold plating. Alas, like King Midas, you and I cannot eat irony.
     This, finally, will be the lasting legacy of the episode, by which I mean not lasting at all. And not the last. That R. Murdoch and The Sun and Fox News (sic) are sensationalist, rightist, GOP-serving distraction machines, intentionally full of pro-corporate positions and photographs of naked ladies and Glenn Beck and the odious Chris Wallace — a stick stuck up his bum as if to render the project legitimate “journalism” — should make Ms. Brooks’ comeuppance not at all shocking. Except that, once again, as soon as this one is knocked down, another house of bricks will be again constructed, a façade, a structure painted to look like bricks with a sign on top which says Journalism.

Say it isn't so

     Friends, it’s not even news. The Guardian began reporting the story two years ago. As if it needed to report at all. It’s barely a story. Who, after all, didn’t know what these people are? Which real journalists didn’t understand what Rupert and Rebekah were up to? And, you might wonder, what next shall be revealed?
     Glad you asked!
     Here, then, more headlines that might shake us all to the core. Or not.

News flash! Grover Norquist discovered to be not such a nice man!

Shocking revelation! Newt Gingrich raises millions in campaign donations to actually never run for president!

Finally Confirmed! George Bush was misinformed about WMD in Iraq! 

This Just In! Ron Paul, freedom-loving right-wing anarchist Libertarian opposes a woman’s right to choose! 

Startling Confession! Glenn Beck, author of Glenn Beck’s Common Sense: The Case Against An Out-of-Control Government Inspired by Thomas Paine, has never really actually read anything by Tom Paine!

Breaking Story! Sarah Palin has never read anything at all, and knows not who Tom Paine was!

Research Study Released! Michelle Bachmann’s law degree is from Oral Roberts University! Really!

Amazing Discovery! People who watch Fox News actually know less about U.S. history, how government works and public policy than those who listen to NPR and read the New York Times!

gosh he's smart

     Friends, you can be disillusioned, to quote the late civil rights activist Alice McGrath, only if you had illusions in the first place. Sure, more illusions mean easier comedy. Yet pretending to be amazed, shocked, embarrassed, amused only allows us to keep playing the fools, and to be played— all the while missing, not so entertainingly, the point, which is something less, a lot less, than the fun and hardy-har-har of obviously very bad people resigning their jobs and (remember you heard it hear first!) never doing a single day in jail.
     By the way, please contact me at Dissent the Blog Realty immediately if you had no idea and were surprised that Murdoch and his crowd were unethical, reactionary crooks who didn’t play by the rules of the mainstream corporate news world. I am eager to sell you some swampland in Afghanistan.

     Postscript: please don’t mistake this rant for cynicism or fatalistic criticism. I am enjoying, laughing, delighting as much as the next guy. It’s just that, truly, sincerely, I want so much more than only dumb, easy laughter. For instance:

     Let’s all download and then turn up Billy Bragg’s “It Says Here,” written in 1984. Lyrics included.

It says here that the unions will never learn
It says here that the economy is on the upturn
And it says here we should be proud
That we are free
And our free press reflects our democracy

Those braying voices on the right of the house
Are echoed down the street of shame
Where politics mix with bingo and tits
In a strictly money and numbers game

Where they offer you a feature
On stockings and suspenders
Next to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offenders

It says here that this year’s prince is born
It says here Do you ever wish
That you were better informed?
And it says here that we can only stop the rot
With a large dose of law and order
And a touch of the short sharp shock

If this does not reflect your view you should understand
That those who own the papers also own this land
And they’d rather you believe
In coronation street capers
In the war of circulation, it sells newspapers
Could it be an infringement
Of the freedom of the press
To print pictures of women in states of undress?

When you wake up to the fact
That your paper is Tory
Just remember, there are two sides to every story

When reason becomes useless

     OK, on Saturday, OC Weekly’s Michelle Woo posted about how only one guy showed up for the new Sarah Palin film being shown at The Block in Orange (Sarah Palin Movie Debuts in OC to an Audience of . . . One Lone Atlantic Reporter):

     While in town visiting his parents, Atlantic editor Conor Friedersdorf decided to work some reporting into his trip by checking out last night's premiere of The Undefeated, aka the Sarah Palin documentary, and interviewing the folks who made their way out to the late-night showing. AMC at The Block in Orange is one of only 10 theaters in the country rolling out the film. He figured there'd be a huge turnout in a county where "even Richard Nixon's association with this place is treated as a point of pride."
     What he came back with was a sad yet hilarious account of being the only one in the theater.

     OK, good. That made me smile.
     But what do I find in today’s OC Register? Why, it’s this:

Distributor: Strong opening for Palin film in Orange (Frank Shyong)

     Sarah Palin's documentary "The Undefeated" grossed just $68,000 nationwide on its opening weekend, but the film's debut in Orange was met with enthusiasm and strong numbers.

     Huh? Reporter Shyong was working with factoids provided by the film’s distributor:

     According to a news release from the film's distributor, ARC Entertainment, "The Undefeated" earned a per screen average of more than $11,000 on its opening weekend at the AMC 30 at the Block.
     The news release called the opening "stronger than expected." The film debuted at just 10 theatres nationwide, with Orange representing its second most popular location with Atlanta the most popular. ARC Entertainment CEO Trevor Drinkwater said they selected Orange after extensive demographic research that identified the town as a pro-Palin market.

     Good grief. So many stupid people. So little chance of avoiding them.

     Palin supporters and others [gosh, exactly who?] have fought to shape the film's media hype since its opening. An article on the Atlantic's website on Friday described an empty theater on opening night and several major news outlets picked up the news.
     But Ron Smith, a member of the California chapter of Organize 4 Palin, said that comparison is ridiculous because the reporter only attended the midnight showing. He saw the movie twice on Friday, once at 4 p.m. and again at 7 p.m.
     "If I had known there was a midnight showing, I would have been there," said Smith, who drove from Long Beach to see the movie. "But most of us conservatives have a job, and things to do at night, like sleeping."

     Really, Mr. Smith? You’d watch the same goofy movie two (or three) times in one day?
     Smith claims that the halls were 80% filled at the two showings he attended.
     Gosh, maybe we can hear from an objective party. Shyong contacted the theater but they refused to comment on how much business the Palin film has been getting.
     So, what are we to make of all of this?
     I believe the Atlantic guy. But of course he only attended the midnight showing. His inference that the movie wasn’t doing well seems reasonable to me, even if, in the end, the film does well.
     But would the film’s distributor lie? —Sure. That “$11K per screen” business sounds hinky to me. (Remember, nobody showed up for midnight.) Smith? —He might have exaggerated a bit, but I doubt that he was lying.
     My guess is that, on Friday, business was lots better for the earlier showings—maybe not 80%, but decent; hence the reports by Smith, et al. And the Atlantic guy likely really did find the theater empty for that midnight showing. That would leave an impression on me, too.
     Woo notes that The Atlantic’s Friedersdorf has inspired pushback and right-wing conspiracy theories (How I Became the Subject of a Conspiracy Theory). Friedersdorf explains that someone claiming to be involved in marketing the film blogged that the midnight showing was never advertised and that, therefore, Friedersdorf must have attended a “secret showing” provided by theater employees! No wonder nobody attended!
     Now, in fact, the midnight showing was advertised (e.g., in the LA Times and elsewhere), and Friedersdorf collected proof of that. He sent it to the blogger, asking for a correction and an apology.
     The blogger’s response? “The film's listing in the LA Times only proved ‘how elaborate such a setup could be.’”
     Ah, yes. The refutation of his charge is in fact just further evidence for it! Unbelievable.
     Sarah Palin supporters have busily promulgated this ridiculous and incompetent conspiracy theory. Unsurprisingly, Andrew Breitbart joined in the fun, repeating the daffy theory that is so easily refuted with perfectly available facts. And, beyond all that, Friedersdorf has been subject to vulgar ad hominem attacks.
     But of course!
     There have always been stupid (and loutish) people. So, OK, nowadays, some of ‘em are called “tea partiers” and Sarah Palin fans. And, as usual, lots of ‘em live right here in Orange County.
     But I worry that these people will actually get their candidate elected.
     If someone like Palin or Bachmann secures the Presidency, I just don’t know what I’ll do. Obviously, reason would be useless on their supporters.
     What do you do when reason becomes useless?
     I have no idea. Hide.