Monday, November 7, 2011

Deaths put Focus on Pastor's Advocacy of Spanking

The Times story today, 11/7/11, speaks of three children who were killed, apparently by their parents, all of whom had this pastor's book (which advocates spanking) in their homes. But the details of the abuse the children suffered make it obvious that these parents are total loons and shouldn't have been allowed to have all the children at all (many of them were adopted or fostered). What government authority allows such people to have so many children (clearly natural births cannot be controlled, but adoption or fostering can and should be). According to the story, the pastor's book lays out all sorts of safeguards or at least does not recommend starving children for days or beating them regularly in the sadistic way these "readers" did. I think it's clear that the state is at fault here.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Coverage of Occupy Wall Street

Well, the Times does cover the protest, in its own little way. It interviews the neighbors, it tells about how the police have arrested protestors for, apparently, no reason at all, but why doesn't it interview politicians to see how (or if) the protests are affecting them. Certain questions seem obvious, "You've seen the polls, [senator, representative, legislator, whoever]--there a lot of support for these protests and people seem to agree with the protestors on a lot of issues. How do you react to that?" It's a beginning. No, the press would prefer to bully the protestors about the absence of clear demands. Well, they've made no secret of what they think is wrong. You can find their original statement on the internet. And doesn't the very name of the protests give you a hint? We are the 99 percent and we'd like some answers. But nobody is giving them.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

memory, nostalgia; the present can also be faked

Reading about Joan Didion's new book Blue Nights in the Times. It sounds utterly heartbreaking and I don't believe she doesn't cry anymore when she hears her daughter's name. She and John Gregory Dunne had the same post-christening lunch for Quintana Roo as we had for Nicholas--watercress sandwiches and champagne--although as I recall ours was on 81st Street, not in the country somewhere, as was theirs. Of course it was--the christening was at All Souls on Lexington Avenue.