White House's Perino sounds like a sub-normal intelligence Liar again (big surprise)

So I saw this on a Media Bistro link to Politico this morning when I was checking my holiday emails.

"The New York Times has changed the subheadline in Wednesday’s front-page story on the CIA’s destruction of secret interrogation tapes, following a formal request by the White House.

The correction has already been made online, and there will be a print correction in the paper, according to a Times representative.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement that the Times subheadline — “White House Role Was Wider Than It Said” — was inaccurate.

“The New York Times’ inference that there is an effort to mislead in this matter is pernicious and troubling, and we are formally requesting that NYT correct the subheadline of this story,” Perino said.

The White House has continued not to comment on what the representative dubbed “misleading press reports.” (retrieved on 12/26/07 from an article by Michael Calderone on http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7481.html)

Big surprise that the CIA would destroy tapes of torture, right. They are just doing their job - they're spies, duh! The uproar around this is ridiculous. What other action would you possibly expect from spies? I mean really? What? The thing that is fascinating and annoying and stupid is the posturing, of the Times, the White House, the impotent lawmakers, etc, etc, ad nauseam. I wonder what it is like to come off like a total d-bag like Perino does every time she opens her mouth. Bush really loves to put her in the position of sounding like a moronic asshole. I bet she isn't so that is what really intrigues me. What is it like to be forced to say patently idiotic things every day? Even if you have drank the Bush Kool-Aid it must be a little horrifying.

Camillus House

This is a pic of the front entrance to Camillus House. Actually it jus one of four locations that they have down here. It is also right where I parked my SUV. I definitely felt like a cultural tourist. The program was started in 1960 by Mathias Barrett, a Catholic brother from the other side. Brothers are like mini-priests, in case you don't know. I don't remember the exact distinction, but they can't perform a lot of the sacraments and they still can't marry or have sex. So that is a go figure. Apparently they CAN do really awesome charity works, like old brother Mathias. He also founded the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, who are these cool Catholics dedeicated to helping the poor and needy à la Camillus House. The brothers are still associated with the house (they said grace before each meal when I was there).

Mandatory Volunteer?

So my first move as a fresh faced volunteer was to work over at Better Way House of Bargains on 79th street, moving stuff around the warehouse and whatnot. However I of course dilly-dallied and when I called Jimmy back to set up my time, he was like ‘Cool! How does the end of December sound?’ My heart fell. I had to make the dreaded email to the professor asking for the extension (always embarrassing). Armed with my extension I went back to my Plan A, Camillus House. I had also waited too long for them to apply back when I had originally looked into it. They get filled up really fast during the thanksgiving season. I sort of guess that this is a primitive white guilt instinct that kicks in just before the instinct to conspicuously consume goes into overdrive, sort of like a capitalist pre-balancing of karma.

Well Ed over at Camillus had already told me that he had open slots the first week of December. Extension in hand, I emailed him back to confirm that the slot was still available. He said that it was and I headed over there after work. I was rushing, so I did not get to put on at shirt and sneakers et al. so I went in there in a starched dress shirt (I left the tie in the car). I found Vita, aka Miss Vita aka Miss ’V’ and she put me to work.

We served the first group, the small line (roughly about 50-60 people). Then we scrubbed pots and pans and got set for the big line (I was shocke dthat the first line turned out notto be the 'Big Line' that Miss V told me about) at 6:30, which was easily 4 times that. There were upper phase clients helping us and all kinds of people running around. AT about 6 a whole team of EMT trainees came to serve the dinner. There was also a dude who was doing court ordered stuff and his whole extended family came in to see if he could leave at one point. He was really funny, just an uptight Hispanic dude, also in a dress shirt, looking around helplessly.

I felt like a fish out of water at first. I obviously had no clue what was going on or who to listen to. I wnt for the dished because I figured that I knew how to do that and that I would make friends easier, being that no one likes to scrub pots after pots after trays after pots etc. etc. The strategy worked and I felt comfortable and the regular upper phase clients seemed to appreciate the scrubbing. Miss Vita put on some old school funk mixed with Miami freestyle: Cameo followed by Debbie Deb followed by Egyptian Lover followed by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force – you get the picture, Miss V was dope and it made the pots much smoother. I got extra points for knowing all the music and also for having seen Cameo, as well as Egyptian Lover live.

I did feel kind of like a schmuck asking them to take a picture. I explained to them that it was for school. At first they assumed I was in trouble with the Law, since most volunteers are either of that group or with a group from work or church. I told them ‘see you next Wednesday.’ Miss V said ‘we would love to have you back anytime you want. ‘ I was covered in dish water and sweat by the time I got the guts for the picture. I wished I had the minerals to get one in the beginning so I could have a before and after. Next time I will.

I felt very good on the way home, having alleviated some white guilt that had been building.

Summer Session

The new section has commenced as of this past weekend, and the material, as well as the professors, looks great. We are using the Yalom book which seems like a great read thus far. Things are definitely looking up in the program. We can see the light of day and if everything goes marginally according to plan we will be graduated by this time next year.

I still have no idea how to get started on a thesis. Supposedly the information is in the program manual, but, if we go by their logic, so is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Were Carl Rogers and Michel Foucault the same person? You make the call:

Moyers v. Stewart

I saw the Bill Moyers program ‘Journal’ online last night. He was interviewing Jon Stewart from the Daily Show. One of the items that was discussed was Stewart’s interview with an Iraqi author where they discussed how it was o be in a state of almost constant loss. The Iraqi author stated that most people that could leave the country did. So I wonder ‘who is left over there?’ The other point that was made, and which was also made on Morning Edition today, was that the press put so much attention on the Virginia Tech murders, yet the Iraqi people are murdered at a far greater rate each day over there. The idea occurs that the Iraqi people are depersonalized; I am not sure if that is based on race, distance, thoughtlessness, religion or what. How does one grieve in a war zone? How does our country not grieve those people?

Drugs are Good Money.

While I was doing more research on these two papers I am writing, I came across an article which claimed that more than 50% of the authors of the DSM had financial ties to pharmaceutical companies. While this is sadly unsurprising to me, it still carries a certain amount of gravity. Since many symptoms of so called disorders are measured subjectively, the influence of big pharma on the evolution of this science/art must be enormous.