Politics and Poker

Bob Gibson, the political writer for the Daily Progress in Charlottesville, devotes his weekly commentary column in Sunday's paper to news that political bloggers from around Virginia are going to be gathering in Mr. Jefferson's home town on August 27, under the auspices of the Sorenson Institute.

Gibson notes:

Virginia’s political blogs - a fast-moving feast of news, comments and critiques - are a growing collection of mostly informal discussions and observations in a medium with sites that tend to divide into left and right.

Bloggers are people who keep a running Web log that can resemble a cross between a diary open to the world and a place to post or discuss newsy nuggets. They are often the first responders when news happens. Their opinions tend to be informed and infused with the bite of their views and those of some readers.

There’s plenty to talk about at the first-of-its-kind Virginia blogging conference.

Bloggers have a lot to discuss about their power to inform people and to include various points of view. Many people can be welcomed into the political process through civil blogs that adopt a code of dignity and respect.

Gibson also gives this blog a nice plug:

Bloggers are still mostly independent enough that they will show the government - that creature many view as the most ungainly and inefficient of hungry beasts - the door.

Libertarian blogger Rick Sincere, a fiercely independent and civilized voice of Charlottesville, has a little message for potential government regulators on his blog, which can be found at: http://ricksincerethoughts.blogspot.com.

On the side of his blog is “The Political Bloggers’ Pledge: If the FEC makes rules that limit my First Amendment right to express my opinion on core political issues, I will not obey those rules.”

If the Federal Election Commission tries to crash this bloggers tea party, they may find themselves in Boston Harbor.

For more information about the conference, visit the Sorensen Institute's page on the "Summit on Blogging and Democracy in the Commonwealth."

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change

Readers will recall my June 18 post ("Young Zach Among the Philistines") about Zach, a gay Tennessee teenager whose parents shipped him to a brainwashing facility run by an "ex-gay" ministry called Love in Action.

Now the New York Times has picked up the story and the Christian Broadcasting Network has published an interview with Zach's father, who admits to his abusive actions regarding his son, using the smarmy language of compassion usually employed by liberals who advocate a rights-constricting law because it is "for the children".

In his interview with CBN, Joe Stark -- who apparently is brash enough and so lacking in shame that he uses is own name -- says:

“We felt very good about Zach coming here because… to let him see for himself the destructive lifestyle, what he has to face in the future, and to give him some options that society doesn't give him today,” Stark said. “Knowing that your son... statistics say that by the age of 30 he could either have AIDS or be dead.”

* * *

“Zack has got a mind of his own, and that's a God-given gift,” Joe said. “And Zack will have to make those choices when he is an adult as to what exactly he is going to do with his life. But until he turns 18 and he's an adult in the state of Tennessee, I'm responsible for him. And I’m going to see to it that he has all options available to him.”

* * *

“A lot of things that Zach spent a lot of his time doing were taken away,” Stark said. “And I can see why they do it now. It's because, if you're not doing those things, then what are you doing? Sometime or other, you have to communicate with your family. And that's a big thing that has happened in our family – Zach is communicating a lot more with us.”

One of the survivors of the Love in Action program told the New York Times:

"It's like checking into prison," said Brandon Tidwell, 29, who completed the adult program in 2002 but eventually rejected its teachings, reconciling his Christian beliefs with being gay.

CBN was fair enough to interview Tidwell, as well:

“Rarely in life will you ever live that closed off from the world,” Brandon Tidwell, a former client of “Love in Action,” said. “It's very, I think, deceiving, or misleading, or creates a false hope for people, to help them to create change in that very isolated environment, and then move out into the real world and try to continue to…understand themselves in a whole different way.”

The Times notes that

Critics of programs that seek to change sexual orientation say the programs themselves can open a person to lifelong problems, including guilt, shame and even suicidal impulses. The stakes are higher for adolescents, who are already wrestling with deep questions of identity and sexuality, mental-health experts say.

"Their identities are still in flux," said Dr. Jack Drescher, the chairman of the committee on gay, lesbian and bisexual issues of the American Psychiatric Association, which in 2000 formally rejected regimens like reparative or conversion therapy as scientifically unproven. "One serious risk for the parent to consider is that most of the people who undergo these treatments don't change. That means that most people who go through these experiences often come out feeling worse than when they went in."

Two weeks ago the Tennessee Department of Health sent a letter to Love in Action, saying it was suspected of offering therapeutic services for which it was not licensed, a department spokeswoman said. Mr. Smid insisted in the interview that his program is a spiritual, not a counseling, center, and he is removing references to therapy from its Web site.

He said he does not track his success rate. Mr. Harwood, who graduated from the adult program in 1999, said that of 11 fellow former clients he has kept track of, eight once again consider themselves gay.

Fortunately, Zach is going to be released into the real world soon. We can only pray that his keepers have not lobotomized him (metaphorically speaking). The Times ends its article with a quotation from Zach's blog, suggesting that, despite his youth, he has the fortitude to overcome this terrible episode:

Zach is due to leave the program next week. His June 4 message expressed thanks for the more than 1,700 messages on his page, many voicing support. "Don't worry," he wrote. "I'll get through this. They've promised me things will get better, whether this program does anything or not. Let's hope they're not lying."

Perhaps that last sentence is simply a manifestation of youthful naivete.

Fly Me to the Moon

Today is the thirty-sixth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the flight that culminated in man's first landing on the moon.

Last year, to commemorate the thirty-fifth anniversary (years ending in zero or five are more natural for celebrating anniversaries than those ending in six), I wrote a piece for The Metro Herald. It was something of a childhood memoir, sort of like Truman Capote's -- er, Harper Lee's -- To Kill a Mockingbird, but without the style, story, or substance. But it's a sketch, not a novel. (If I have a novel in me, it has not neared the surface.)

This article appeared in the July 23, 2004, edition of The Metro Herald:

Celebrating Humankind's Greatest Achievement
Richard E. Sincere
Exclusive to the Metro Herald

(Charlottesville, July 20) --- It was a sultry midsummer Sunday evening, warm even by Wisconsin standards.

Only recently had the Milwaukee archdiocese permitted local churches to expand their weekend Mass schedules beyond the traditional Sunday morning services to include Saturday and Sunday late afternoons and evenings. (The first time my family went to church on a Saturday for the new "vigil Mass," the church bulletin had a headline, "Do you feel Jewish?")

Despite the Vatican II reforms that had shortened the Sunday liturgy significantly, I was anxious for this evening Mass to end. Normally a well-behaved, quiet 10-year-old, on this occasion I persistently tugged my mother's sleeve, silently asking, "When will this be finished? When can we go home?" She replied with a motherly, "Calm down. We won't miss it."

What was it I was so afraid of missing? What had transformed a languid, leisurely Sunday into a mess of pre-teen anxiety?

The date was Sunday, July 20, 1969. If that does not sufficiently explain my addled state of mind that day, you were probably born much later.

That was the day, 35 years ago, that man first set foot on the moon. That was, perhaps, the last time the nation united as one to celebrate an accomplishment of peace and science. The New York Times reported the news with a front-page headline in 96-point type. (By comparison, this article you're reading is in 12-point type.)

The entire country was riveted to its (mostly black-and-white) TV screens. Normal programming was pre-empted by coverage of this momentous event. "Lassie" and "Bonanza" reruns would have to wait for another Sunday evening.

There have been other occasions when all Americans were as absorbed by a news event, so absorbed as to fear blinking on the chance something might pass them by. But those events have been almost uniformly tragic ones: the Kennedy assassinations, Nixon's resignation speech, the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

What made this event even more remarkable was that the nation was at war, not only abroad but, metaphorically speaking, at home. The Vietnam War had divided the country politically. Protest demonstrations often erupted into violence while American soldiers, sailors, and Marines were fighting and dying overseas. Race riots had scarred America's cities in the previous few years, most notably in the days following the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., only 15 months earlier.

Yet on that hot summer night, the fabric of the nation was noticeably unrent. We shared a communion of fascination that is unlikely to be repeated in the jaundiced age in which we live today.

There is a current comic strip called "Red and Rover," by cartoonist Brian Basset, which looks at the world through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy and his dog at about the same time as the moon landing. Young Red's obsession with the space program may be exceeded in intensity only by his crush on Marcia Brady. To him, as to many of his contemporaries, the names Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were not just words in a history book -- they were genuine, visible, vibrant heroes. And Walter Cronkite, Frank McGee, and Wernher von Braun were not just television talking-heads -- they explained and made accessible to youngsters and adults alike the wonderment of lunar travel.

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind": The words are as familiar -- or should be as familiar -- to Americans as "Four score and seven years ago ... " or "When in the course of human events ..." Armstrong's well-chosen ten words sum up the ingenuity, courage, and incredible virtuosity that took us to the moon -- man's destination from time immemorial -- within a decade of the decision to go there.

Today we live in a world of technology that we take for granted. Home computers, cellphones, iPods are simply parts of daily life. A visitor to Cape Canaveral can look at the banks of computers in its 1969-vintage control room and shake his head in bewilderment at how such primitive technology could have taken not just one, not just three, but a dozen men safely to the moon and back. (I know, because I was that visitor to Cape Canaveral just a few years ago.)

We have made many scientific advancements in the past 100 years. Didn't we just celebrate the centenary of the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk a few months ago? In the 65 years and seven months between that achievement and the moon landing, we saw the development of jet engines, the atomic bomb, television, and satellite communications. Since 1969 we have developed more technologies and inventions than anyone could count. The recent prospect of privately-underwritten space travel is exciting in an economic and political sense, but hardly awe-inspiring.

Really: In the past 35 years, has any scientific or engineering achievement been so dramatic, so earth-shattering, so emotionally satisfactory, as man's first steps on the moon?

To ask the question is to answer it.

Strange Fruit (Reprise)

I've been very popular with reporters today.

Hours before my telephone conversation with Los Angeles-based writer James Verini about the International Freedom Foundation (I am sure I disappointed him by not having known Jack Abramoff), I received a call from Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press, who had come across a piece I wrote some years ago about hate-crimes legislation.

He was interested in my views on the topic given the vandalization of the UCC church in Middlebrook. I told him what I have always believed: hate crimes laws are unnecessary if local law enforcement officials are doing their jobs of investigating, prosecuting, and punishing crimes that are committed, regardless of motivation or the words expressed by criminals before or during their crimes. I also added my reservations about anti-bullying laws passed by the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year.

Watch for Chris's article in a forthcoming edition of the Augusta Free Press.

Lost in the Stars

This afternoon I received a telephone call from James Verini, a journalist working on a story for LA Weekly about a think-tank I worked for in the early 1990s, the International Freedom Foundation (IFF).

Since the IFF has been defunct for a decade now, it seemed odd that a reporter would be interested in it. The hook is that one of the IFF's founders was Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist now in hot water for alleged fraudulent activities involving several clients, in particular some Indian tribes.

I told Mr. Verini that my time at IFF came after Abramoff's involvement in the organization and that, in fact, I had not met Abramoff (who may actually have remained on the IFF's board of directors but who had no role in its day-to-day activities).

My first contact with the IFF came in 1989, when I was asked to write a book under contract. That book was published in 1990 under the title Sowing the Seeds of Free Enterprise. Later, after working for almost a year in the public affairs office of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), I was asked to apply for the new position of Director of African Affairs at IFF. I jumped at the chance, since I really did not like working at CSIS because it was bureaucratic and unwieldy and my job there was not intellectually challenging, while IFF had a small staff (I think about 15 at the time) and I was promised a great deal of autonomy in my research.

I edited a newsletter called Sub-Saharan Monitor (not the publication now available on line) and later was promoted to Director of International Economic Affairs. When Mark Franz left IFF to work for the Bush 41 re-election campaign, I took his job as editor of the quarterly journal, terra nova. I really enjoyed editing terra nova: it was, as Robert Bork put it in another context, "an intellectual feast." I was able to interact with scholars from around the world, commission articles on interesting subjects, combine articles and book reviews so that they fit a common theme, and try to market the product to readers in Africa, Europe, and the Americas. It was a dream job for a writer/editor like myself, and one that I would love to replicate some day.

I explained that I had left IFF after the 1992 election when a number of staff, including myself, were laid off as fundraising faltered. Verini asked if this was because a Democratic administration was coming into office, but I told him that it was more because the end of the Cold War had caused funds to dry up for anti-Communist organizations like the International Freedom Foundation.

He asked if I was aware that the IFF had been funded by the South African government. (He characterized it as a "front" for the apartheid government.) I said no, that I only became aware of that fact when I googled IFF about six years ago and discovered that files had been uncovered during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's investigations. In fact, while I was at IFF, it seemed we were always scrambling for money, trying to find new and bigger funding sources. That was hardly the mark of an organization that was underwritten by a foreign government.

So far as I know, no one at the IFF at the time, including chairman Duncan Sellars or executive director Jeff Pandin, was aware of any underwriting by the South African government, the SADF, or South African intelligence services. The source of the money, such as it was, was hidden, and it is easy, in hindsight, to conclude that the money had been laundered quite successfully. Upon reflection, when I learned about the IFF's ultimate funding source a few years back, it occurred to me that the South African money must have been channeled through several European donors to IFF, who we all thought were primarily anti-communist in their motivation, none of whom had any apparent ties to South Africa or its government. (One, I remember, was described as an elderly Belgian businessman. And, no, I never learned his name.)

In his questions, Mr. Verini suggested that the International Freedom Foundation was a "pro-apartheid" organization. I told him this was a mischaracterization, that in fact the IFF was critical of the apartheid government, which we viewed as "ethnic socialism." (This view was best expressed, at the time, by George Mason University economist Walter E. Williams in his book, South Africa's War Against Capitalism, which I believe I reviewed in the predecessor to terra nova, International Freedom Review.) While the IFF was, in fact, opposed to the African National Congress, that was never equivalent to being in favor of apartheid.

I explained that we staff members -- researchers, writers, editors -- never had any pressure put on us to say anything in particular. Far from a propaganda front, the IFF provided us with free rein to pursue research topics. Naturally, those of us who worked for IFF shared a certain philosophy -- free-market oriented (in my case, libertarian) and anti-communist. No constraints were placed upon us in terms of what not to write about, and no direction was given about specific topics to pursue. There was no doubt, of course, that part of our job was to refute disinformation emanating from the ANC and pro-communist groups in southern Africa. Our overarching aim was to promote liberal democracy and free enterprise as an alternative to both communism and apartheid. This was typical of conservative and libertarian think tanks and advocacy groups in the closing years of the Cold War.

Verini asked what my views were on South African sanctions. I told him that I had testified before U.S. congressional committees during the 1980s, expressing my view that sanctions were an ineffective policy tool, and that I opposed the embargo against Cuba and sanctions against Libya for the same reason. (Believe me, such consistency was not common in the Reagan years. In fact, during my testimony at one hearing, Howard Wolpe, then-chairman of the House subcommittee on Africa, congratulated me for my consistency, albeit with a puzzled look on his face.) I also told Mr. Verini that my views have not changed, that I still believe sanctions are wrong-headed and ill-advised.

After our initial conversation, Verini called back to ask whether, during my time at the IFF, I had had any contact with the Bush administration. I told him nothing more than routine meetings with State Department officials, ambassadors, and the like, typical for anyone who works for a Washington think tank.

I did add this anecdote, however:

In the fall of 1992, I was working as the chief foreign policy advisor to Libertarian Party presidential candidate Andre Marrou and his running mate, my friend, Nancy Lord. My predecessor as editor of terra nova, Mark Franz, was working for the Bush re-election campaign. One day in September or October, Mark called me at work to ask me for some advice about how to frame a campaign issue. In the course of our conversation, I said to him, "You know, it's nice to have the luxury of knowing you're working for a presidential candidate who is going to lose." Mark responded ruefully: "I know exactly what you mean, Rick."

I'm in the Mood for Love

The actress and singer Frances Langford passed away on Monday, July 11, at the age of 92.

Demonstrating how the press always seeks to emphasize the local angle on any story, the Stuart News on Florida's Atlantic coast ran a timeline of the celebrity's life which barely touches on her show-biz career. Instead, it mentions her philanthropic and business activities in that part of Florida, including her donation of "Langford Park" and opening the "Outrigger Restaurant."

To most people around the country, however, Langford is best known as the singer who accompanied Bob Hope on so many trips to entertain the troops around the world that any impressionist who does a "Bob Hope" juggles the names of "Frances Langford" and "Jerry Colonna" as punchlines to good-hearted jokes.

My own recollection of Frances Langford stems almost entirely from her long association with actor Don Ameche in the radio sketches featuring the Bickersons. Langford played Blanche, a somewhat shrewish (but still loving) wife to Ameche's exasperated husband, John. As one historian of radio explains:

The Bickersons was a half-hour radio slot on NBC in 1946. Frances Langford played the part of Blanche Bickerson and Don Ameche portrayed the husband John.

John was victim of Contagious Insomnia, or Schmoo's Disease and many plots centered on his snoring. The battling couple would frequently go at it at 2 in the morning when John’s incredible, whining, giggling, tumultuous snoring would cause Blanche to wake him up.

They would fight about everything from relatives to Nature Boy (the cat) to sexy friend Gloria Gooseby.

I first heard the Bickersons, appropriately, late at night on the radio in the 1970s and '80s, when WMAL-AM's overnight host Bill Mayhugh -- in the years before local radio was overtaken by syndicated shows -- would periodically play excerpts from Ameche and Langford's faux battles. These dialogues are just as funny today as they were 60 years ago.

Despite performing on Broadway and in some 30 films, Langford may best be remembered for her songs, particularly "I'm in the Mood for Love," a sultry recording with lyrics by Dorothy Fields and music by Jimmy McHugh that reminded the fighting men of World War II of just what it was they were fighting for.

NPR had a nice tribute to Langford on Monday's "All Things Considered."

Isn't It Ironic?

Is it just me, or did anyone else catch the slight irony in the report that the creator of Charlie the Tuna died by drowning recently?

Of Thee I Sing

Note, please, a permanent addition to the sidebar of this blog. Tipped off by CatHouse Chat of the Old Dominion Blog Alliance, I have signed a pledge originated back in March by a California blogger who goes by the name "Patterico." The pledge is a simple one. It says simply and in full:

If the FEC makes rules that limit my First Amendment right to express my opinion on core political issues, I will not obey those rules.

According to his on-line biosketch, Patterico is a prosecuting attorney in Los Angeles County, California. He adds:

In addition to prosecuting criminals, Patterico maintains a blog called Patterico's Pontifications. Topics include media bias, legal issues, and political discussion from a libertarian/conservative perspective.

I didn't actually count, but it looks like hundreds of bloggers have taken the pledge and reported this to Patterico. Who knows how many hundreds of others have done so, quietly on their own?

St. Thomas Aquinas writes, in the treatise on law within his Summa Theologica, that "a tyrannical law, though not being according to reason, is not a law, absolutely speaking, but rather a perversion of the law" (Question 91, "Of the Various Kinds of Law"). He adds:

Now it happens often that the observance of some point of law conduces to the common weal in the majority of instances, and yet, in some cases, is very hurtful. Since then the lawgiver cannot have in view every single case, he shapes the law, according to what happens most frequently, by directing his attention to the common good. Wherefore if a case arise wherein the observance of that law would be hurtful to the general welfare, it should not be observed (Question 96, "Of the Power of the Human Law").

Civil disobedience. It's the law -- the moral law.

Strange Fruit

In what appears on first analysis to be a case of vandalism motivated by anti-gay bigotry, the sanctuary of a United Church of Christ congregation in Middlebrook, Virginia, was dappled with graffiti and set on fire over the past weekend.

According to Sunday's edition of the Staunton News-Leader:

Members of St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ awoke Saturday morning to discover their church severely damaged by smoke and anti-gay graffiti painted on the side of the building.

Jerry Shultz, 53, of Middlebrook discovered the fire still smoldering when he stopped by early Saturday to cut grass.

He noticed graffiti on the side of the building and went inside to make sure everything was OK. He called down to Sue Gochenour, who was working in the basement and had come into the education building through a different entrance. She was fine.

When he opened the sanctuary door there was still a small flame.

"I think it burned itself out for the most part," Shultz said. "There was only a flicker the size of a lighter."

The vandalism contained anti-gay messages and a declaration that United Church of Christ members were sinners. The graffiti's message appeared to be a reference to the national church's decision last week to endorse gay and lesbian marriages, Shultz said.

The United Church of Christ's General Synod voted July 4 to approve a resolution that endorses gay and lesbian marriages. The Rev. J. Bennett Guess, spokesman for General Synod said he isn't aware of any other problems at United Church of Christ facilities across the country since the decision. The General Synod does not set policy for its congregations, which are autonomous.

"We, of course, are deeply saddened by the tragedy that has happened to one of our United Church of Christ congregations," Guess said. "Regardless of the cause, a church fire is perhaps a congregation's greatest challenge."

When motives are inspired by hate, "then grief is compounded with fear," Guess said.

Noting that the congregation was scheduled to celebrate its 225th anniversary yesterday, today's Richmond Times-Dispatch follows up with the reactions of the pastor, in an article by correspondent Calvin R. Trice:

A weekend fire under investigation as an anti-gay hate crime forced yesterday's homecoming service for St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ outside.

In response, the pastor, the Rev. Dorcas Lohr, changed her sermon, which she delivered to about 90 people gathered beneath tents and the shade of two pin oak trees.

Throughout the nation and the world, religious fundamentalists of all the major faiths are inflicting violence on those who don't believe exactly as they do, Lohr said.

The fire discovered in the church sanctuary Saturday morning and the anti-gay graffiti scrawled on the side of the building are the judgment and condemnation of such people, she said.

"I cannot accept that judgment. Nor do I think any member of this congregation can accept that judgment," Lohr said.

The good news is that the local community responded with compassion, despite the hatred that sears the souls of some of their neighbors. Reports the Times-Dispatch:

The Rev. John R. Deckenback, a regional United Church of Christ official, noted that all the chairs, tables and other materials at yesterday's outdoor service were donated by organizations throughout Augusta County.

"I think that the support that has been demonstrated by the community has been much more indicative of the fabric of the Shenandoah Valley than the tragedy of the fire," Deckenback said.

Virginia's non-partisan, statewide gay rights organization, Equality Virginia, reacted to news of the vandalism with a condemnation in a news release distributed today:

Equality Virginia today joined with all fair-minded people of faith in condemning an anti-gay hate crime against a UCC church in Middlebrook, Virginia.

"Our hearts go out to the people of St. John's Reformed UCC. No one should fear discrimination or hate violence because of religious beliefs or association with a particular faith," said John Humphrey, co-convener of the People of Faith for Equality in Virginia. "The First Amendment and the Virginia Constitution guarantee religious freedom and a respect for a diversity of religious viewpoints. We urge support for the church and encourage all people of faith to join in dialogue about the effects hate violence can have on any affected community."

* * *

"Hate violence is a form of domestic terrorism that leaves entire communities feeling victimized and vulnerable," said Dyana Mason, Equality Virginia Executive Director. “It is critical that law enforcement agencies use whatever tools are available to them in investigating and prosecuting this crime."

Equality Virginia has reached out to the church and UCC leadership offering support, and will be communicating with the local police department, the Attorney General and Commonwealth Attorney’s offices and the Federal Bureau of Investigation urging swift and appropriate action.

A national religious organization, the Interfaith Alliance, also condemned the violence against church property in a news release dated July 11:

Today, the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of The Interfaith Alliance, condemned the hate crimes committed Saturday at St. John's Reformed Church (UCC) in Middlebrook, Virginia where a fire was set in the sanctuary and anti-gay graffiti was painted on the building. Despite the crimes, the United Church of Christ congregation celebrated their 225th anniversary Sunday with hope and strong community support.

"Our thoughts and encouragement are with the St. John congregation as they move forward following this malicious attack," Rev. Gaddy said. "On behalf of TIA, I would like to offer congratulations and admiration to the members of the Middlebrook community for coming together on such short notice and helping the congregation celebrate their historic legacy. We hope the community support continues and is strengthened in order to prevent such atrocities in the future."

So far there has been no published comment from the gubernatorial campaigns of Tim Kaine, Jerry Kilgore, or Russ Potts, nor from the attorney general campaigns of Creigh Deeds or Bob McDonnell. (Since McDonnell, as I recall, marketed himself as "hard on criminals," I would have expected a swift condemnation of this crime against private property and against people of religious faith. But perhaps my expectations are too high.)

Be True to Your School

The petition drive to put a measure on the ballot in Charlottesville aimed at changing the method of selecting the school board to popular election rather than appointment by the City Council is humming along.

In order to be placed on the ballot, the petitioners must collect just over 2,300 valid signatures of registered voters (10 percent of those voters registered and on the books on January 1 of this year.) So far they have collected about 1,600 valid signatures, exhibiting an astounding validity rate of 89 percent.

This validity rate is all the more remarkable because the circulators are entirely volunteers -- Democrats, Republicans, and independents -- collecting signatures on their own time.

Even the most proficient of professional signature-gatherers acknowledge that a 50 percent validity rate is good, and a validity rate of 60 to 65 percent is excellent. Batting .890 is a Hall of Fame performance in any league.

The school board petition needs to be completed by the first week of August in order to qualify for the November ballot. At the current rate, it looks like the team will have no trouble getting enough signatures far in advance of the deadline.

The Money Song

Charlottesville-area Libertarian activist Arin Sime has developed a new web-based tool for non-profit or political fundraising.

According to the July 6 Augusta Free Press, when Sime encountered problems using PayPal (the industry standard) for accepting donations to a small local political organization, he decided to develop software that acknowledges and meets the sometimes idiosyncratic needs of groups like that.

Small, localized non-profits, Sime noted, often do not have the same kind of organizational structure that a standard business or national group has, the kind of structure that PayPal (and, for that matter, banks) will take for granted.

AFP's Chris Graham reports on Sime's new project, called Donor Town Square:

PayPal, Sime said, was designed for eBay and auctions, "and it really works great for that purpose."

"I use it," Sime said. "But for somebody who wants a simple donation, it doesn't need to be as complex as they make it out to be.

"My process is you go to the Donor Town Square Web site, and in just a couple of minutes, you can set up a donation page, and then within 24 to 48 hours, we take a look at the account, and mark it for approval or not, and then you're ready to take donations," Sime said.

Sime has set up donation pages for campaigns from all sides of the political spectrum in addition to groups including Virginians Over-Taxed On Residences and Nation's Missing Children Organization.

Donor Town Square uses a number of security precautions in setting up its donation pages - including SSL encryption, the standard for use on the 'Net, which makes it so that nobody can read the credit-card numbers that are typed in.

It's nice to see an example of the entrepreneurial spirit aimed at helping charitable, educational, and political groups.

I'm Still Here

I really must apologize for the lapse in regular posting since June 23. I haven't forgotten you, my loyal readers. I have just been preoccupied with some domestic matters -- literally.

I just refinanced my mortgage and I have been doing some home renovations, including putting a new roof on the house, finding a new homeowners' policy, paying off some bills, and preparing to completely replace the bathrooms and kitchen.

You have my promise to be back in the saddle within the next few days. I have a whole slew of articles in my head that I simply have to set on paper (or in pixels).

Thank you for your patience.

(You Gotta Have) Heart!

My friend, Tim Hulsey, reminds me that tonight was the opening of Damn Yankees at the Heritage Repertory Theatre in Charlottesville. (HRT is the summer stock offering of the University of Virginia's Department of Drama.) Tim plans to see the show tomorrow night, and I hope to catch it next week.

Since 1971, with the departure of the Senators from Washington to Texas, Damn Yankees has seemed even more of a fantasy than its plot elements would suggest. Who could have imagined that in the summer of 2005, there would actually be a major league team in Washington -- the Nationals now, not the Senators -- conspiring to use eminent domain to displace numerous homes and businesses in Southwest D.C. in order to build a stadium on the backs of hardworking taxpayers, looting the public purse to the benefit of millionaire team owners and multimillionaire baseball players!

Anyway, let me get off my soapbox and back into the batter's box, so to speak.

Back in 1996, I was fortunate enough to see show-biz legend Jerry Lewis play the lead in a road company of the 1994 Broadway revival of Damn Yankees at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Here is my review of that production, which appeared originally in the Metro Herald in December 1996:

Damn Yankees: Darn Good Fun!
Rick Sincere
Metro Herald Entertainment Editor

"First in war, first in peace -- and last in the American league!" That's how Washingtonians of a certain age remember their beloved, if hapless, Washington Senators. Though never so clumsy as, say, the 1962 New York Mets, during the 1950s the Senators struggled simply to keep out of eighth place -- the bottom of the standings.

At the same time, the New York Yankees were winners all the way, taking the pennant each year of the decade except 1954 (when the Cleveland Indians took it) and 1959 (when the Chicago White Sox won the flag). So it is no mystery why Washington area baseball fans would have been constantly muttering "damn Yankees!" at their TV and radio sets after a ball game.

This it was that Maryland journalist Douglass Wallop wrote a best-selling novel in 1955 called The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, which was turned into a hit musical, Damn Yankees, that same year, co-written and directed by the legendary George Abbott, with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Starring the incomparable Gwen Verdon as Lola and the devilish Ray Walston as Applegate, the play was turned into a movie (with the same stars, plus Tab Hunter) in 1958.

Forty years later, Broadway revived Damn Yankees, this time putting Jerry Lewis on the boards as Applegate. Though Lewis has been performing since the age of five (he is now 69), spreading his talents through nightclubs, radio, movies, and television, Damn Yankees is his first Broadway appearance. Now he is appearing in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Slightly rewritten for a late-20th-century audience, the basic plot remains the same. Loosely based on the Faust legend, Damn Yankees tells the story of Joe Boyd, a 60-something real estate agent who acclaims he "would sell his soul" to give the Senators a slugger who can win them games. Instantly, Applegate (the Devil) appears and offers to take Joe up on the deal, turning him into 22-year-old Joe Hardy, a sensation with a bat (and he can field, too). Joe, taking a leaf from his real estate book, insists upon an "escape clause" -- if he quits by 9:00 p.m. on September 24 (the night before the last game of the season), he can keep his soul and return to his wife. Reluctantly, Applegate agrees. He's never lost a deal in thousands of years, after all.

Joe Hardy (played by John-Michael Flate, who bears a passing resemblance to Cal Ripken, Jr.) turns out to be just the shot in the arm that the Senators need. Flagging in seventh place in July, the now-nicknamed "Shoeless Joe" takes them to within one game of winning a free pass to the World Series in September.

Still, Joe yearns for his wife and home. Applegate tries to discourage this by sending his assistant, Lola (Valerie Wright), to seduce him. Lola has never failed before, but she's never met someone like Joe, either.

When Lola fails to divert Joe's attention, Applegate uses the press -- do things never change? -- to besmirch Joe's reputation by accusing him of being a discredited player named Shifty McCoy ("Say it ain't so, Joe!" could be a line from this play.)

Needless to say, Joe rises above these challenges, uses his escape clause, and returns to the warm security of his wife's arms.

Directed by Jack O'Brien, the show moves smoothly and at a fast pace. Rob Marshall, the choreographer, has devised dances that take advantage of his cast's athleticism -- after all, how else would baseball players dance? Like all modern Broadway choreographers, Marshall's work has echoes of Bob Fosse, the innovator who choreographed the original cast of Damn Yankees. He puts it all to good use.

Jerry Lewis is surprisingly low-key in his portrayal of Applegate. Although he does take a few opportunities to mug for the audience, and to use some of the "kid shtick" that made him famous forty-five years ago, his Applegate is a suave, serious businessman. One exception: During the number "Those Were the Good Old Days," Lewis takes center stage to tell a few jokes that would feel at home in a Borscht Belt resort. ("A priest and a rabbi are on an airplane . . . ") The audience, of course, eats it up -- that's what they expect from "the King of Comedy."

As Lola, Valerie Wright defines sexy seductiveness. She oozes, she stretches, she pouts, she purrs. How Joe resists her temptations is the key question of the show.

The male chorus in this show deserves special congratulations. Originally written as a much smaller part -- mostly as background singers -- O'Brien and Marshall have pulled out all the stops for these singing and dancing baseball players. Special mention goes to Ned Hannah as Ozzie, who lights up the stage whenever he appears.

A delightful feature of this production of Damn Yankees is the presence of Mel Allen, one of the greatest sportscasters of all time, as the "Stadium Voice." Although his voice is only on tape, hearing it was terrific, if only for a brief moment.

The sets and costumes successfully evoke the ‘50s, using the shapes and colors that we associate with that era. Not mere copies of old furnishings or clothing, the designers provide an aura of the time -- much as the designers of the recent revival of How to Succeed in Business evoked the early 1960s.

Damn Yankees is fun for all ages. The audience on December 17, at least, included adults who could have seen the original production, children accompanied by their parents, and teenagers and college students out on dates. In a way, this show is back home, with references to Griffith Stadium, Georgetown, the U.S. Senate basement, and other local landmarks.

The Kennedy Center's production of Damn Yankees continues through January 12, 1997, in the Opera House.

Watch this space next week for comments on HRT's new production of Damn Yankees.

Zero Tolerance, Zero Intelligence

I just found a terrific blogsite called "Zero Intelligence." Its mission is to highlight and bring to public attention absurd (but all too real and all too common) examples of school districts' exercising "zero tolerance" policies with regard to alcoholic beverage consumption, "weapons", and unwanted speech.

Asking "What is Zero Intelligence about?," the site answers:

Zero Intelligence is a play on "Zero Tolerance", the knee jerk reactionary policies that plague our school systems. The implementation of a zero tolerance policy is the equivalent of giving up on common sense, reasonability and intellect. All infractions are grouped into types with uniform punishments regardless of the individual facts of the incident. Posession of Advil is treated as if it were equivalent to pushing crack. An honor student with the wrong type of pencil sharpener is punished the same as a known delinquent with a switchblade would be. Improper use of an inhaler leads to arrest as assault with a weapon. It is easy to see why we call these "Zero Intelligence Policies".

The most frightening part of the above paragraph is that all of the examples cited are real. They are not hyperbole or fiction for effect. They all actually happened in various school systems in the United States. These and countless other incidents show just how badly zero tolerance policies fail our children.

• This is a group website dedicated to keeping an eye on, and pointing out the excesses of, bad school policies and actions. We will keep a particular focus on zero tolerance policies but will also report on abuses outside of these.
• We will hold these policies up for discussion when possible and ridicule when deserved.
• We do not in any way suggest an abrogation of rules and regulations, only that the punishment should fit the crime and that each incident should be evaluated on its own merits.
• This is a fairly partisan site and the contributors share a genuine abhorrence for the subject policies but we are always interested in hearing opposing views. Vitriol and defamation will not be tolerated in posts or comments.
• Discussion is always encouraged. To this end we have installed a subscription plug-in for comments on the site. Although not as effective as a discussion forum, this will allow readers to be informed when comments are posted to items they wish to follow.
• When possible and practical we will give space for rebuttal from the school systems that we report on.
• We reserve the right to use any material that is sent to zerointelligence.net as quoted content on this website.

I say, more power to them.

Nobody's Property Is Safe

This has been a bad week for personal liberty. First, the House of Representatives voted to amend the First Amendment to restrict freedom of speech that takes the form of flag desecration. Then the Supreme Court ruled today that local governments can seize private property for any reason, even to turn it over to other private owners for development purposes.

The ruling in Kelo v. New London means that nobody's property is safe from the greedy hands of government. It eviscerates the right to private property in the United States.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee, was the swing vote in this decision, voting with the Court's four most liberal members (Stevens, who wrote the opinion; Souter, Ginsberg, and Breyer). The Court's other swing vote, Sandra Day O'Connor, wrote a dissenting opinion joined by the Court's most conservative members: Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas.

As talk show host Neal Boortz put it this morning: "You only own your home so long as your local government chooses to allow you to own your home."

Writing in her dissent, Justice O'Connor says:

Over two centuries ago, just after the Bill of Rights was ratified, Justice Chase wrote:

“An act of the Legislature (for I cannot call it a law) contrary to the great first principles of the social compact, cannot be considered a rightful exercise of legislative authority … . A few instances will suffice to explain what I mean… . [A] law that takes property from A. and gives it to B: It is against all reason and justice, for a people to entrust a Legislature with such powers; and, therefore, it cannot be presumed that they have done it.” Calder v. Bull, 3 Dall. 386, 388 (1798) (emphasis deleted).

Today the Court abandons this long-held, basic limitation on government power. Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded–i.e., given to an owner who will use it in a way that the legislature deems more beneficial to the public–in the process. To reason, as the Court does, that the incidental public benefits resulting from the subsequent ordinary use of private property render economic development takings “for public use” is to wash out any distinction between private and public use of property–and thereby effectively to delete the words “for public use” from the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Justice Clarence Thomas, who also joined in O'Connor's dissenting opinion, wrote separately:

If such “economic development” takings are for a “public use,” any taking is, and the Court has erased the Public Use Clause from our Constitution, as Justice O’Connor powerfully argues in dissent. Ante, at 1—2, 8—13. I do not believe that this Court can eliminate liberties expressly enumerated in the Constitution and therefore join her dissenting opinion. Regrettably, however, the Court’s error runs deeper than this. Today’s decision is simply the latest in a string of our cases construing the Public Use Clause to be a virtual nullity, without the slightest nod to its original meaning. In my view, the Public Use Clause, originally understood, is a meaningful limit on the government’s eminent domain power. Our cases have strayed from the Clause’s original meaning, and I would reconsider them.

Thomas continues:

The consequences of today’s decision are not difficult to predict, and promise to be harmful. So-called “urban renewal” programs provide some compensation for the properties they take, but no compensation is possible for the subjective value of these lands to the individuals displaced and the indignity inflicted by uprooting them from their homes. Allowing the government to take property solely for public purposes is bad enough, but extending the concept of public purpose to encompass any economically beneficial goal guarantees that these losses will fall disproportionately on poor communities. Those communities are not only systematically less likely to put their lands to the highest and best social use, but are also the least politically powerful. If ever there were justification for intrusive judicial review of constitutional provisions that protect “discrete and insular minorities,” United States v. Carolene Products Co., 304 U.S. 144, 152, n. 4 (1938), surely that principle would apply with great force to the powerless groups and individuals the Public Use Clause protects. The deferential standard this Court has adopted for the Public Use Clause is therefore deeply perverse. It encourages “those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms” to victimize the weak. Ante, at 11 (O’Connor, J., dissenting).

Justice O'Connor also hits on the perversity of the majority's ruling:

As for the victims, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result. “[T]hat alone is a just government,” wrote James Madison, “which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own.” For the National Gazette, Property, (Mar. 29, 1792), reprinted in 14 Papers of James Madison 266 (R. Rutland et al. eds. 1983).

In response to the decision, Scott Bullock, the attorney from the Institute for Justice who argued for the oppressed homeowners in oral arguments before the Supreme Court, said:

"The Court simply got the law wrong today, and our Constitution and country will suffer as a result. With today’s ruling, the poor and middle class will be most vulnerable to eminent domain abuse by government and its corporate allies. The 5-4 split and the nearly equal division among state supreme courts shows just how divided the courts really are. This will not be the last word."

Dana Berliner, another senior attorney who specializes in the rights of property owners with the Institute for Justice, said:

"It’s a dark day for American homeowners. While most constitutional decisions affect a small number of people, this decision undermines the rights of every American, except the most politically connected. Every home, small business, or church would produce more taxes as a shopping center or office building. And according to the Court, that’s a good enough reason for eminent domain."

Now the battle for private propery rights moves to the ballot box. We must be sure that those elected to public office, especially to city councils, county boards of supervisors, and similar local bodies, reject the idea of using eminent domain for private development purposes. State governments must add protection of property rights explicitly into their constitutions and statute law. Until then, the individual right of private property remains at risk for every American.

'Signature Sings Broadway in Ballston'

This has been sitting in my email in-box for a while, but it's still timely, since the events described take place this weekend. (I'm going to try to see the Saturday matinee performance.)

Signature Theatre is proud to present a free concert celebration in Ballston's Welburn Square - Signature Sings Broadway in Ballston. For 15 years, Signature Theatre has dazzled audiences with innovative new work and stellar musical theatre productions on the main stage. This summer, Signature brings the thrill of live theatre to the masses as a special gift for the community. The concert will be presented on June 23, 24, and 25 at 6:30pm with a special matinee performance on June 25 at 1:00pm. Welburn Square is located between Taylor and Stuart Streets, across from the Ballston Metro, and it has welcoming open lawn and park bench seating for residents, families, and commuters. Patrons are also welcome to bring picnic blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the event. The concert is free for everyone - no tickets required! For more information, please call 703- 820- 9771, or visit our website at www.signature-theatre.org.

"We are thrilled to share this lively musical experience with the community," expressed Signature Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer. "Signature has received so much encouragement from the community over the years, and this is our way of giving back." The Broadway- inspired concert is directed by Rick DesRochers, Signature's new Associate Artistic Director, and showcases an array of musical theatre favorites - classics, hits from newer shows, and of course, Sondheim favorites. The cast includes celebrated Signature performers Bob McDonald (Putting it Together), Evan Casey (Allegro, Ten Unknowns), Lauren Williams (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Allegro), Clifton Duncan (One Red Flower), Lynn Neal (Mack and Mabel), and Florrie Bagel (2004 Overtures Graduate, Signature's Musical Theatre Institute). The hour-long concert includes unforgettable songs from My Fair Lady, Rent, Chicago, South Pacific, Into the Woods, Wicked, Sweeney Todd, and many others. All members of the community are welcome and encouraged to enjoy the outdoor performance.

Signature Sings Broadway in Ballston is sponsored by Maxine Isaacs and James A. Johnson; The Annette and Theodore Lerner Family Foundation; BNA, Inc.; Freddie Mac; Heritage Tile and Escrow; Washington Theater Review; Arlington Community Foundation; International Humanities, Inc.; IDI Group Companies; The JBG Companies; Reed Smith; Northern Virginia Community Foundation; Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley, Emrich & Terpak, P.C.; and Fraser Consulting, Inc.

SIGNATURE SINGS BROADWAY IN BALLSTON
Directed by Rick DesRochers
Thursday, June 23 at 6:30pm
Friday, June 24 at 6:30pm
Saturday, June 25 at 1:00pm & 6:30pm

Welburn Square across from the Ballston Metro
4200 Block of North Fairfax Drive
(Between Stuart & Taylor Streets)

ABOUT SIGNATURE
Signature Theatre is a non-profit professional theatre dedicated to producing contemporary plays and musicals and to the development of new work. Now in its 15th season under Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer, Signature has been nominated for 191 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the professional theatre and has been honored with 42 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Musical in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2005 and Outstanding Play in 1999. Signature Theatre is a member of the Theatre Communications Group, The League of Washington Theatres, the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, the Arlington Arts Alliance, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

Gay Victims of Communism

Hunter College Professor Wayne Dynes has a good piece on the gay victims of communism on his blog. Dynes acknowledges that he can only address the topic superficially, because little research has been done (or at least published) on how Marxist regimes persecuted (and continue to persecute) their gay and lesbian citizens.

He offers this historical illustration of Communist attitudes toward homosexuality:

A well documented episode is the visit of the great French writer André Gide to the Soviet Union in 1936. He went as a fellow traveler and returned deeply shaken. He wrote two books about the experience, the first circumspect, the second more outspoken about the social misery and absence of freedom of expression in the USSR. The Communists and their allies turned viciously on him. Some relied on innuendo, speaking of his problems with "morals" and his devotion to young men. The Communist pundit André Wurmser went further, producing a scurrilous article entitled "A Poor Bugger: André Gide." Another role, then, that homophobia played among Communists was to punish those who stepped out of line by advertising their proclivities. Something similar happened when Alger Hiss, after his exposure as a spy for the Soviets, sought to discredit his accuser Whitaker Chambers by talk about his homosexuality—-as if this had anything to do with the matter of Hiss' guilt.

Wayne's discussion of Castro's Communist Cuba and how its treatment of gay men and lesbians contradicts the left/liberal mythology about the Cuban paradise is worth a visit. He recommends a book, Gays Under the Cuban Revolution, by "an honest leftist, Allen Young."

Baby Names and the 49th Parallel

In his 1990 book, Continental Divide: The Values and Institutions of the United States and Canada, sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset wrote in his preface:

Knowledge of Canada or the United States is the best way to gain insight into the other North American country. Nations can be understood only in comparative perspective. And the more similar the units being compared, the more possible it should be to isolate the factors responsible for differences between them. Looking intensively at Canada and the United States sheds light on both of them.

In a chapter entitled "The Canadian Identity," Lipset, who is now professor emeritus at George Mason University, notes:

The cultural and structural differences among western countries generally and between Canada and the United States in particular have declined in some respects. The diffusion of values, the comparable economic changes, and the development of rapid transportation and almost instantaneous communication seem to be producing a common western culture. Yet, many traditional national differences persist, some in weaker form, and new ones emerge (an example is the rate of unionization, which is now much higher in Canada than in the United States).

In an effort to test this hypothesis, somehow I got the notion to compare Canadian and American baby names, to see if there was anything discernibly different.

Based on some quick research I did, differences may be eliding and our naming cultures may be converging. If you meet an adult today named Ian or Gordon or Douglas, chances are pretty good that he's Canadian, not American. New generations of Canadians and Americans seem not to carry over the distinctions attached to the names of their parents and grandparents.

This may not be true in the future. I looked up the most popular baby names in the United States and Canada for the year 2003. Here are the top ten names for baby boys and baby girls. Note the substantial overlap, especially for the girls. (Names that appear on both lists are marked with an asterisk [*] and an indication of where they fall on the other list.):

USA Boys

1. Jacob* (Canada #4)
2. Michael
3. Joshua* (Canada #2)
4. Matthew* (Canada #3)
5. Andrew
6. Joseph
7. Ethan* (Canada #1)
8. Daniel
9. Christopher
10. Anthony


Canada Boys

1. Ethan* (USA #7)
2. Joshua* (USA #3)
3. Matthew* (USA #4)
4. Jacob* (USA #1)
5. Ryan
6. Logan
7. Nicholas
8. Tyler
9. Dylan
10. Connor

USA Girls

1. Emily* (Canada #1)
2. Emma* (Canada #2)
3. Madison* (Canada #3)
4. Hannah* (Canada #5)
5. Olivia
6. Abigail
7. Alexis
8. Ashley* (Canada #8)
9. Elizabeth
10. Samantha


Canada Girls

1. Emily* (USA #1)
2. Emma* (USA #2)
3. Madison (USA #3)
4. Sarah
5. Hannah* (USA #4)
6. Sydney
7. Megan
8. Ashley* (USA #8)
9. Taylor
10. Paige

It looks like Canadian and American kindergartens may be practically indistinguishable in a couple of years, at least from the class lists teachers and principals will use.

Whether any conclusions can be drawn from this list (or even a comparison of longer lists, such as the top 50 baby names in each country), I don't know. Perhaps this is just an example of the trivial sort of research that can be done simply because we now have the capacity to do so, through Google and other search engines. (At the time Lipset wrote his book in the 1980s, it probably would have been necessary to travel to Statistics Canada/Statistique Canada in Ottawa for an American researcher to uncover the data for comparison.)

And what does it mean that the ninth-ranked names for girls are "Elizabeth" and "Taylor"? Really, Elizabeth Taylor. Someone is playing a cosmic -- or at least continental -- joke on us, eh?

New Addition to ODBA

With the first day of astronomical summer, the Old Dominion Blog Alliance (see sidebar) has a new member: Hans Mast, who describes himself as

a conservative (politically & religiously), Mennonite, 17-year-old computer programmer from Catlett, VA who loves to play basketball, volleyball and most any sport. I am Manager, Computer-guy, and Customer Service and Sales Rep for Golden Rule Travel & Communications.

I first noticed his blog through a recent posting on Canada. In it, he writes:

I was shocked at the level of ignorance that Canadians that I have talked with have about the Gomery inquiry and the sponsership scandal (perpetrated by the Liberal party). I asked a couple about it and intially they just looked at me blankly, but then after ten seconds or so, their faces would light up and they would say, "Oh... Yeah.. I think I heard about that. Some scandal in Ottawa." They didn't seem to know which party was involved. Stephen Harper (leader of the Conservative party) needs to get his act together on public education. Apparently the Liberals are losing points in the polls, slightly.

Since about 25 percent of traffic to my own blog originates in Canada, I appreciate Americans who can actually say something intelligent about our Canadian neighbors.

I remember a few years back, having dinner at the Dupont Italian Kitchen in Washington with about 15 libertarian and conservative friends. One of my tablemates and I got into a heated discussion of some aspect of Canadian politics -- the details evade me now -- when suddenly the whole group went silent, staring at us. Someone chirped up, "Are you guys really arguing about Canadian politics?" We nodded yes, as though nothing was odd, until the cultural context hit us and we all broke into a fit of laughter -- and, naturally, continued our conversation as though nothing had happened.

So I promise my Canadian readers more Canadian content, besides irregular updates on Dave Moffatt and his brothers.

War on Drugs, War Against the Poor

I came across an article in the South African newspaper, The Star, published in Johannesburg, about futile efforts to stamp out marijuana cultivation by peasants in neighboring Swaziland.

If you are not familiar with Swaziland, it is

a small landlocked country of about 17,360 square kilometers, with a population of approximately 1 million in 1999, at a density of 57 persons per square kilometer. Swaziland has some natural mineral resources (coal, asbestos, timber) but is a predominantly market economy based largely on wholesale and retail trade, agriculture and light industries. The Gross Domestic Product per capita is approximately US$1,300.

According to one recent report, "two-thirds of Swazis [live] in chronic poverty, and unemployment [reaches] beyond 40 percent." And the World Food Program reports:

The poorest and most food insecure households are headed by people with the least employment opportunities and very few assets

Even in years of reasonable harvest and stable prices, some two-thirds of households live below the poverty line. The recent dramatic increase in food prices have pushed a greater proportion of people below the poverty line and worsened the lives of those already struggling

66 percent of Swaziland's population live below the poverty line

The economy is largely dependent on agriculture and manufacturing sectors

As a land-locked country, with limited domestic markets, it relies on exports of agricultural commodities for economic development and food security

Arable land only represents 11 percent of the total area; the rest is permanent pasture, forest or woodland

The average unemployment rate in Swaziland is about 40 percent, although this figure is higher in rural areas

So it should come as no mystery why Swazi farmers turn to a cash crop that actually earns them cash in an effort to rescue their families from abject poverty. They grow "dagga" (a South African term for marijuana, weed, pot). The Johannesburg Star article explains:

Prized for its potency across the world, "Swazi Gold" is grown in the remote northern mountains of this tiny African kingdom, then smuggled into neighbouring South Africa and on to Europe and North America.

Police in impoverished Swaziland say that despite dousing acres of towering plants with deadly insecticide, they are losing the war on dagga to dirt-poor peasants bent on protecting their most lucrative crop.

"We can't win this war," says inspector Ngwane Dlamini, head of criminal investigation in the northern region of Hhohho.

"This is just a drop in the ocean - the people are poor and they can get much more money for marijuana than maize or vegetables," he says as he sniffs at a 2m plant in one makeshift field north of the regional capital Pigg's Peak.

To put a human face on the situation, correspondent Rebecca Harrison found the widow of a peasant farmer. It's hard to argue with her reasoning:

Like thousands of other peasant farmers in Hhohho, a woman who identifies herself only as Khanyesile ekes out a living from 30 limp dagga plants hidden in thick undergrowth behind her rickety shack.

"My husband died and I lost my job at the local furniture factory - I needed money to feed my five children and send them to school," she says from beneath a flowered headscarf.

Khanyesile, 45, has been jailed and fined for her dagga. Police have twice sprayed and burned her tiny fields and once local thieves stole the entire crop just before harvesting.

But a patchy income from selling shiny stones to tourists at the side of the road is not enough to feed her family, and she has no intention of giving up her plants despite the threat of up to six years in prison.

"You can't get money for maize... and it is difficult to grow, but a man from South Africa comes every month to buy my dagga," she says.

Most of her neighbours, Khanyesile says, also grow dagga, and homesteads club together to minimise risk for the man from South Africa, who arrives on foot across the mountains.

"I don't understand why the police want to stop us growing dagga - it is the only way we can make money."

While small-scale farmers like Khanyesile barely eke out a living by growing pot in a tiny patch in their backyards, the potential for profits that will pull them out of poverty is great:

Swazi marijuana, which is said to be more potent due to the soil and weather conditions, fetches a handsome premium.

On the streets of Johannesburg, Swazi Gold is sold in 30g small bank bags, or "bankies", for R70 apiece, while Amsterdam coffee shops charge the equivalent of around R50 for one gram.

Khanyesile says she gets around R1 000 for 2kg.

(Current exchange rates will bring approximately 6.7 South African rand for each American dollar. So R1,000 is about $150.00 -- a lot of money in a country where the average income is barely more than $100 per month.)

Why do the United States and other developed countries subsidize a global war on drugs that is effectively a war on the survival of the poor? Why do they do it even when its futility is so apparent? As Harrison puts it in her Star article,

[M]any experts say police are wasting their time, since dagga is embedded in Swazi culture, smoked for centuries by farmers and used for medicine by traditional healers.

Dlamini [the drug enforcement agent] says even the chief of his home village would smoke a dagga pipe twice a day as an accepted part of Swazi tradition.

Futile and cruel. Cruel and futile. Those are the words to describe the war on drugs.