In the Alzheimer’s unit

The New Neo Posted on by

Last week I visited two elderly relatives who’ve recently moved to an assisted living facility not too far from me. They’re in their mid-eighties, and although they’ve been married for more than 50 years they live in separate wings of the place, because his problems are physical and she has Alzheimer’s.

These are people who were long known for their lively, upbeat personalities, always fun to be around. He’s still gamely trying to be cheery, despite some pain and enormous fatigue, plus his concern about what’s going on with his wife, but it’s a challenge he doesn’t always meet. He’s the one with the full awareness, after all, which is mainly a blessing but has its drawbacks when things are bleak.

But his wife has no such problems. Her mental state hasn’t deteriorated too much yet. She’s still, as they say, “well oriented”—at least in space, if not in time. She’s aware that he lives in a different building, but she thinks it’s a temporary thing, a sort of hospital, and that they’ll soon be reunited for good. He visits her a couple of times a week, and her ordinarily cheerful personality seems intact so far.

Both her parents died a couple of decades ago (her father of Alzheimer’s), but in her mind they remain alive and well, as do a host of other deceased relatives. No use trying to introduce some reality on that score: what would be the point of inducing fresh pain, over and over? So it’s best to play along when she asks after other aunts and uncles who are no longer alive. The answers that seem to make sense are “fine,” “about the same,” or “holding their own.” And after all, who’s to say that’s not the case?

If you adjust to the fact that in her mind it’s about two decades earlier, conversation can go fairly smoothly and the visit is even fun. It’s important to stave off the awareness that next visit she’ll probably be worse, and the next and the next. Since her body seems strong, the day may come when she knows no one, and even speech departs. It’s not a good thing to contemplate; best to keep it at bay.

During this visit there was even a moment of unintentional humor. Shown a recent photo of her only surviving aunt, who is now 95, she gave a gasp of shock.

“What happened to her? She looks terrible!”

“She got very old. She’s 95!” was the answer. But she didn’t accept it, because to her the passage of years stopped quite some time ago, and she tried to do the math and came up short. But it was easy enough to distract and soothe her by changing the subject, because her memory doesn’t hold things for long.

Will she remember my visit? Almost undoubtedly, no. But was she happy to see me? Almost undoubtedly, yes. And doesn’t that have its own value?

Another changer

The New Neo Posted on by

Here’s another story of political change, this time from Rima Greene, a Jewish leftist feminist lesbian (yep, all four) in San Francisco who woke up to a few realizations [emphasis mine]:

When I was part of the Left, I thought “evil” and “enemy” were outdated concepts brought on by indoctrinated mental patterns. When I was at a peace camp in Portugal—a German peace community—I met the people who’d paraded through Israel with the banner: WE REFUSE TO BE ENEMIES. This is new age thinking, that you can refuse reality and just keep going on your merry way. We as Jews are targeted. We as infidel Americans are targeted. We are the ultimate prize as the Big Satan ”” although Jewish blood is the best for the West’s contemporary adversaries.

We do not grasp the mental universe of our enemies…We in the West have not a clue…That is what I was trying to sort out with the Daniel Pearl incident, but my friend tried to put a stop to my thinking by calling me a racist.

I opened up my mind to understand the mindset of those who want to vanquish us. I read Nonie Darwish and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and books by Paul Sperry and Robert Spencer. I was willing to connect the dots. My friends are not…

I was a lost soul, up for grabs by the default program of the Left. But I was not a Believer, I was not deeply imprinted, because I am an experimenter, an adventurer, and finally, my mind opened to going to Israel.

Many of the long term friendships I have had were with people, mostly women, who are not really people who loved me, but only ideological fellow travelers who cannot follow me now.

Greene’s change story is unique and personal, as is everyone’s. But it has universal aspects, in particular the pre-change mindset that is open to taking in new information despite an already-existing belief system. As Greene indicates, she may have been a believer, but she wasn’t a Believer.

Fareed Zakaria says…

The New Neo Posted on by

…there’s no Obama Doctrine.

So I guess that—on her next test administered by the Charles Gibsons of the world—Sarah Palin would be getting a presidential “doctrine” question wrong again, because I think she’d answer that the Obama Doctrine is “coddling our enemies while alienating allies.”

Zakaria’s column is almost painful to read, so hard must he twist and turn in his attempt to justify Obama’s foreign policy and try to make it sound coherent, thoughtful, and beneficial to this country. In doing so, Zakaria leaves out any reference to Honduras, one of Obama’s earliest and most vile forays into the international arena. Nor does Zakaria explain why helping push Mubarak out in Egypt and make room for the Muslim Brotherhood was so all-fired great.

Aside from the above characterization of the Obama Doctrine by Sarah Palin (and on this blog, way back when), there’s been another unifying principle at work in Obama’s foreign policy for the last year or so, and that is to do what he thinks will help him get elected. This has caused some zigzagging between options that appeal to the left and those that appeal to the middle.

Speaking of which—in an arena that is more domestic—is Obama about to work some sort of compromise for Republican cooperation on the debt ceiling? And is this true, or just a lot of hot air?

The Atlanta cheating scandal: it’s raaaacism!

The New Neo Posted on by

The idea of putting the cheating Atlanta educators in prison is racist, say a group of black clergy in Atlanta. Just what’s racist about it they don’t bother to explain.

Do they mean that, if the offenders had been white, there would have been no chance of them going to jail? Are they saying that prison itself is racist, since a disproportionate number of inmates are black? Or is the charge of racism so reflexive by now that they’re not even thinking of a justification for it?

The irony here is that it seems the vast majority of the characters in the story are black: the perpetrators, the DA who wants prison terms for them, and the victims, the schoolchildren and parents of Atlanta. Most Atlanta public schools are virtually all black—and quite a few of them, such as Booker T. Washington High, Martin Luther King Jr.’s alma mater, have never been integrated, passing seamlessly from the days of de jure segregation to de facto segregation despite official integration.

The Atlanta cheating scandal has shed a light on the current state of public education, particularly for black students in poor urban areas. If education has any chance of countering trends in that community towards family disintegration and the glorification of an anti-academic, outlaw mentality, it isn’t being helped along by certain attitudes of the leadership of the black community, as exemplified in these clergymen—or by some of the moves of the NAACP and the teachers’ unions:

The American public education system is failing many groups, but none more miserably than black males. The numbers are shocking. The Schott Foundation recently reported that only 47 percent of black males graduate from high school on time, compared to 78 percent of white male students…

The way urban city school districts fail black males is more disconcerting considering that black professionals are in charge. Urban districts are among the worst at graduating black males: Atlanta, 34 percent; Baltimore, 35 percent; Philadelphia, 28 percent; New York, 28 percent; Detroit, 27 percent; and St. Louis, 38 percent.

There are surely many reasons for such failure, and family breakdown must rank high among them. Schools may be powerless to transform black family life, but they should not be left off the hook for turning in a dismal performance. In a recent interview, Dr. Steve Perry, principal and founder of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., repeatedly places the blame for the black achievement gap at the feet of the partnerships between the teachers unions and the NAACP, “a civil-rights relic.” The places where black students excel, says Perry, are those where students have access to choice. Sadly the NAACP and the NEA have long undermined the push for low-income black parents to exercise freedom to choose the best schools as a national norm.

For example, even with mounting evidence demonstrating that single-sex education for blacks males from low-income households represents one of the best opportunities for graduation, the NEA petitioned the Department of Education in 2004 to prevent single-sex options from becoming nationally normative, balking because “the creation of an artificial single-sex environment [will] ill prepare students for life in the real world.”

More thoughts on the Casey Anthony verdict

The New Neo Posted on by

As I wrote yesterday, I didn’t follow the Casey Anthony trial.

But playing a bit of catchup today, and reading an admittedly brief roundup of news about it, I offer these observations:

Our justice system emphasizes people’s actions, not who or what they are. In other words, although most murderers are lying scumbags, not all (or even most) lying scumbags are murderers. Casey Anthony seems to be a lying scumbag, but the act of murder (or manslaughter) would have to have been proven for a conviction. The problems with the proof the prosecution offered seems to have been:

(a) lack of cause of death. This does not make conviction impossible, but it does make it difficult.

(b) shaky or incomplete physical evidence tying Casey Anthony to the corpse.

(c) lack of evidence of any prior child abuse or even mistreatment of the child. The evidence on this score was all for after the child’s death, and it was inferred from Casey’s partying and especially her failure to report the child’s disappearance/death in a timely fashion, plus her lies about a babysitter. But although this goes to some sort of coverup (and a very suspicious lack of grief at the horrendous event), it still runs up against the lack of a prior motive to the alleged killing.

(d) many people have noted that the popularity of such shows as CSI accustom jury members to an unrealistically high standard of forensic proof. I agree. But this case only met a very low standard.

(e) the defendant was a pretty, young woman. This can mean the jury was sympathetic and reluctant to convict. However, it could also have worked against her: “temptress,” “selfish mother,” “amoral slut.”

(f) the prosecution erred by not emphasizing manslaughter, by far their strongest charge.

The case reminds me most (although it’s hardly identical) with the Susan Smith case. Smith was not a sympathetic figure to most people, nor is Casey Anthony. Like Anthony, Smith initally lied (remember her sad pleas for the supposed kidnapper to return her children?) through her teeth, and her attorneys also alleged she was the victim of parental abuse when young (in her case, the abuser had confessed). The motive somewhat resembled the prosecution’s allegations about Anthony: Smith was trying to keep her lover, a man who apparently didn’t want the burden of children. Unlike in the Anthony case, there was a lot of physical evidence against Smith, including an obvious cause of death and intact bodies, and Smith confessed before trial. Her defense was her terrible mental state, and the defense alleged she had originally planned to kill herself along with the children but spontaneously jumped out at the last minute. It was all to no avail for Smith, who is serving a life sentence.

It seems highly unfair that a child murderer—which Casey Anthony may indeed be—could get away virtually scot free. Unfortunately, murderers get away quite often, due to lack of evidence. It’s not unusual for the police to have a very good idea who committed a crime, but to lack the evidence to bring a case to trial. In Casey Anthony’s case they may have brought charges impatiently and prematurely.

[ADDENDUM: And speaking of Susan Smith—sheesh!]

Ah, Phoenix in the summer!

The New Neo Posted on by

There was a jumungous dust storm yesterday in Phoenix that reached a height of two miles:

Here’s a different perspective:

The storm came at the beginning of Phoenix’s monsoon season—yes, you heard me right, Phoenix’s monsoon season—which is in the summertime and features violent thunderstorms whose winds can kick up huge dust storms in the normally-dry area near Phoenix.

Years ago, I had to stay in Phoenix for a week during July. The good news was that they were practically giving hotel rooms away. The bad news was that there was a reason for that: no one who wasn’t forced to be there at that time of year would ever willingly choose to go.

When I made the reservation, I asked the clerk what time the weather cooled off somewhat. His answer was, “Around Thanksgiving.”

I said no, really—and he said yes, really. I found that during the day it was about 115, and at night it cooled off only a few degrees. The swimming pool water was like a hot tub, but it didn’t matter because you wouldn’t want to be out there, anyway. The city streets featured spritzers that sprayed you every twenty yards or so in order to keep you alive.

There was no monsoon and no dust storm while I was there, but one was hardly needed to make the stay unpleasant. And sightseeing was an ordeal, although sun umbrellas were provided at this place, where Frank Lloyd Wright had a home and working compound (wisely, in winter).

The Atlanta school cheating scandal

The New Neo Posted on by

[See UPDATE below.]

When I first saw the headline “Investigation Finds ‘Widespread Cheating’ in Atlanta Schools” I almost didn’t click on it, so ho-hum and ordinary that fact seemed to be. Cheating has probably always existed in schools, usually of a rather petty and impulsive sort such as copying from a nearby student, although sometimes it’s more premeditated and widespread. And I have little doubt it’s increased in recent years.

But it turns out that this particular situation is different from the student cheating of time immemorial, because it’s the teachers and administrators who were doing the cheating, not the students. Now, that’s news, a “man bites dog” story, and a terrible one at that:

The report found that teachers, principals and administrators were both helping students on the state’s standardized test, the Criterion-Reference Competency Test, and correcting incorrect answers after students had turned the tests in. Eighty-two educators confessed to the allegations detailed in the report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.

Calling it a “dark day” for Atlanta Public Schools, Mayor Kasim Reed said the yearlong investigation “confirms our worst fears … There is no doubt that systemic cheating occurred on a widespread basis in the school system. Further, there is no question that a complete failure of leadership in the Atlanta Public School system hurt thousands of children who were promoted to the next grade without meeting basic academic standards.”

Not only that, but the Atlanta cheating scandal occurred under the watch of a superintendent who had been much-lauded and honored for her success at boosting academic achievement in that beleaguered school system. But the results were bogus:

The investigation tarnishes the record of Superintendent Beverly Hall, who was named national Superintendent of the Year in 2009, due in large part to reported gains in the district. The 800-page report shows some educators reported cheating in their schools, but Hall and other school officials ignored the claims, and in some cases, punished those who came forward. Hall stepped down at the end of her contract on June 30.

“National Superintendent of the Year”—it has a real ring to it, doesn’t it?

Hall is not alone, either. Earlier, a similar thing happened in Washington, DC. Both districts feature especially challenging populations, with high percentages of black students with families mired in poverty and disruption of many sorts.

This report of cheating is just another example of breakdown in our society, not that we needed another example. The dire economic and cultural wasteland in which the students find themselves is the culmination of many decades of problems, some of them the legacy of discrimination but in recent years many of them the legacy of the welfare state. What excuse do the teachers and administrators have?

Investigators appear to be blaming the cheating (at least in part) on high standards:

…[I]nvestigators cited the following as the key reasons that cheating flourished in Atlanta: “The district set unrealistic test-score goals, or “targets,” a culture of pressure and retaliation spread throughout the district, and Hall emphasized test results and public praise at the expense of ethics.”

A fish rots from the head, and I have no trouble believing that if it was widely known that Hall winked at such violations and encouraged results at the expense of all else, it would have encouraged the spread of cheating in order to boost the stats. But that couldn’t have happened unless many teachers were already morally compromised.

Should this be surprising? Probably not. Teachers are just a macrocosm of what’s happening in society, and it seems that the end justifies the means more and more these days. If these are the mentors and role models for students, it does not bode well for our future.

[UPDATE: Just a few minutes after writing this post, I discovered (hat tip: Althouse) a much more detailed article on the subject which is far more shocking than anything I’d read earlier. It makes it clear that the evidence supports a massive, systemic, and coordinated scam of long-standing duration under Hall’s supervision:

Area superintendents silenced whistle-blowers and rewarded subordinates who met academic goals by any means possible.

Superintendent Beverly Hall and her top aides ignored, buried, destroyed or altered complaints about misconduct, claimed ignorance of wrongdoing and accused naysayers of failing to believe in poor children’s ability to learn.

For years ”” as long as a decade ”” this was how the Atlanta school district produced gains on state curriculum tests. The scores soared so dramatically they brought national acclaim to Hall and the district, according to an investigative report released Tuesday by Gov. Nathan Deal.

In the report, the governor’s special investigators describe an enterprise where unethical ”” and potentially illegal ”” behavior pierced every level of the bureaucracy, allowing district staff to reap praise and sometimes bonuses by misleading the children, parents and community they served.

The report accuses top district officials of wrongdoing that could lead to criminal charges in some cases.

The decision whether to prosecute lies with three district attorneys ”” in Fulton, DeKalb and Douglas counties ”” who will consider potential offenses in their jurisdictions.

For teachers, a culture of fear ensured the deception would continue.

“APS is run like the mob,” one teacher told investigators, saying she cheated because she feared retaliation if she didn’t.

This is not just a case of ethically-challenged teachers and an administration that created pressure for them to cheat, and winked at violations. This is a group of of deeply corrupt and even criminal thugs running a school system. If these allegations are true, prosecutions should follow.]

[NOTE: Ironically, it may have been the meeting of those high standards that was the cheaters’ downfall. Results were so good that people became suspicious:

Among the achievements [Hall] cited: a 33 percent increase in graduation rates and one in three elementary students exceeding state standards…

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan praised Hall as recently as last month, noting that under her leadership Atlanta students made double-digit gains on national exams known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.

But over the last two years, APS has faced a series of reports and investigations questioning improbable test score gains at some city schools…Questions about the tests were first raised in December 2008, when the AJC [Atlanta Journal Constitution] published an analysis that showed improbable gains at some Georgia schools ”” including some in Atlanta ”” on tests taken first in spring and then in summer by students struggling to master core skills.

Last fall, a second AJC analysis showed 12 Atlanta schools posted highly unlikely gains or drops on the spring 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, the state’s main academic measure for students in grades one through eight.]

Strauss-Kahn’s accuser sues the NY Post

The New Neo Posted on by

The Strauss-Kahn case has not only spawned other lawsuits in France, it’s spawned a new one here as well, as Strauss-Kahn’s accuser sues the Post for defamation when it reported she is a prostitute.

It is impossible at this point to know the truth here. But even if she is not a prostitute and ends up winning the defamation suit, the damage to her reputation has probably been done, and any trial of Strauss-Kahn (if it goes forward at all) would feature a tainted jury because of the prior press coverage.

If so, it wouldn’t be the first time.

Why are competitive eaters thin?

The New Neo Posted on by

Competitive eating is an exceedingly odd—not to mention distasteful—sport. I’m not at all into watching people stuff their faces at rates that seem physically impossible and at the very least highly undesirable.

But I was reminded of it recently because yesterday, the Fourth of July, is traditional for hot dog eating contests, and there were a number of reports about the Coney Island venue, at which the winner managed to stuff 62 of the things down his craw in a mere 10 minutes. And this by no means exceeded his own PR of 68.

You may notice from this photo of the Coney Island contest that, contrary to what one might expect, the contenders are all trim:

This is usual in eating contests, and counter-intuitive. I have often wondered about it, and this time I decided to see what the explanation might be.

Turns out that competitive eating isn’t just an exercise in gluttony, it’s also a sport in which the top contenders must be in the proper shape. And it also turns out that the proper shape is not rotund, it’s lean. There’s a good reason for this—actually, several good reasons:

The size of the stomach at rest is inconsequential. All that matters is the stomach’s ability to expand, to adapt itself to the amount of food being shoved down the esophagus. And as in any other competitive sport, stomach-stretching skills require training.

Kobayashi’s regimen includes shrinking his gut by jogging for hours, then distending it by chugging gallons of water. He regularly feasts on giant meals of low-fat, high-fiber foods like cabbage, which stay in the stomach longer before breaking down. (By the way, the world record for cabbage consumption is 6 pounds, 9 ounces, in 9 minutes, held by American Thomas Hardy.) And he keeps trim: A skinny man’s stomach has little fat to push against it and fight the food for space.

So there you have it: huge amounts of exercise and low-calorie food.

And I don’t even like to think of the results of that cabbage competition.

[NOTE: For those who might be inclined to criticize Americans for being so uniquely depraved as to indulge in these contests (as I read in the comments section of one article), think again—eating contests are neither as popular nor as well-compensated in this country as they are in many other parts of the world.]