« Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream... | Open Thread Main | Get Well Wishes for Christy! »
Why We're Leaving, Part 43 (or so)
The evening before I got into my car to drive 11 hours to Boston, in ridiculous traffic (see previous post about summer driving in the northeastern U.S. -- gas crisis? HAH! ), I received the following email, from my employer (Note, all grammatical errors remain uncorrected):
Dear Ms. Bradley,
Open Enrollment records from the Department of Budget and Management
Employee Benefits Division indicate that you added stepchild _*Cleo*_ to
your benefits coverage during Spring 2008 Open Enrollment.
The marriage certificate that is on file is no longer acceptable as
proof of marriage, therefore, our office needs a copy of the official
State marriage certificate certified and dated by the appropriate State
or County official, such as Judge, Clerk of the court, state official,
etc. A copy of the official document can be obtained through several
sources, such as the Courts in the County in which the marriage took
place, from the Maryland Division of Vital Records or from the official
source for government-issued vital records website at www.vitalchek.com
please have the marriage certificate translated and notarized by someone
other than employee and family member.
Also, the tax affidavit submitted was complete incorrectly. Please
complete the attach form and keep in mind when completing the tax
affidavit that these areas are completed correctly:
Only initial one box in section A, and initial section B and initial one
box in C under Part I. Then in Part II make sure the employee initial
all boxes under qualifying child test ****or** qualifying relative test,
not both. Finally, on Page 2 make sure the employee put initial in
appropriate boxes.
If the documentation is not submitted by August 6, 2008 your spouse and
children will be automatically dis-enrolled. Please forward the
documentations to ____
If you have any questions or need additional information concerning this
matter, please feel free to contact me at ___.
I think the email speaks for itself, but I could not help but respond with a reply, copied to our attorney, that I was going to be out of the country until August 9, that I was baffled by the suddenness and draconian tone of the demands, and that I had, in fact, filled out the re-enrollment forms in their office, under their direction, in May. I asked for an extension and insisted that my family's coverage remain intact. I copied the head of Human Resources.
Yesterday, I received this reply, from said Head:
Dear Ms. Bradley,
Your step-daughter is currently covered under your plan since
July 1. The State Employee Benefits Division made the decision to drop
dependents that did not have the student certifications, even though the
coverage was changing on July 1. Because she was dropped in March and
added during open enrollment, the State requires new documentation.
There was extensive instructions included in the open enrollment packet
regarding the addition of dependents to the plan and the documentation
that is required. The required documentation is also indicated on the
Affidavit for Dependent Children that you completed. To add stepchildren
to the plan, an official state (or DC) birth certificate and marriage
certificate are required. Since 1999 when you submitted a marriage
document, the State has changed the type of marriage documentation that
is acceptable. At that time, a marriage certificate signed by clergy was
accepted. Now, a certified copy of a marriage certificate signed by the
clerk of courts from the jurisdiction where the marriage occurred is
required. It is a frustrating exercise, but we don't have a choice. We
have been able to get the deadline for submission of your marriage
certificate extended to August 15th. If you cannot order the certificate
prior to your return, it is advisable that you get it in person to avoid
processing or mailing delays. Thank you for your cooperation.
MY COOPERATION??? "We have been able to get the deadline for submission...extended to August 15"??? Who are these guys? Who decides that I now have until August 15 to submit paperwork about a marriage that took place almost 10 years ago, as opposed to having to turn it in in less than week??? And why was the original license insufficient?? And why did they drop all non-certified student dependents (and her university swears they sent the certification) in March when they knew they would be reinstated July 1 ANYWAY???
I am finding that as I step ever-further-back from the ant colony mentality of day-to-day bureaucracy, I have less and less patience with such BS. What about you good folks? Where are you in the morass of ridiculousness we are calling modern society?
And can anyone decode this:
Only initial one box in section A, and initial section B and initial one
box in C under Part I. Then in Part II make sure the employee initial
all boxes under qualifying child test ****or** qualifying relative test,
not both. Finally, on Page 2 make sure the employee put initial in
appropriate boxes.
And then, can we all decode THIS?
44 Comments
Leave a comment
Not registered? Click on 'Sign-in' above and then select 'Sign up' in the lower right corner. Don't forget to click on the link in the confirmation email that will be sent to your email address.
That's how bureaucracy works in a Banana Republic!!
(My son has no insurance, nor do my brothers and their families - unemployment, small businesses, cheap employers, broke government - that's what happens.)
I wish we'd left the country before the dollar dropped.
slugbug,
Four acres available adjacent to us in Nova Scotia...four acres....
How about the myth of "customer service"?
I cannot tell you how many negative incidents I have had over the last several years when trying to get a simple matter corrected by calling a companys 800 help number.
I rarely reach someone who can:
a) Speak without a strong accent
b) Answer my questions without reading responses from a script... none of which address my issues.
Everything is a friggin joke anymore. A good experience now is considered the exception, not the rule.... and these corporate giants just get away with it, under wonderful marketing strategies that imply that they give a damn, when they truly don't care about anything but the bottom line.
Accepting mediocrity leads to more and more mediocrity, at best.
Smoke & Mirrors
I have a theory about our little democracy here. I see us all on kind of a “crazy bus” called America, precariously careening down the road weaving left, then right. If the bus goes to far to the right, then it’s path needs corrected before it goes in the ditch and crashes. The same is true if we drift to far left.
The real problem, just as in our daily driving of our automobiles, is “Over Correction”. This can cause an immediate crash.
Please folks…don’t give up on this ole bus we’re on. We are on a natural correction to the left after 8 hard years of drifting right, and it will take time for it to happen.
Just look at how well received President Obama was over seas, by our troops and the citizens of Europe. The world wants a strong, companionate, caring United States .
We need ALL Americans to come together over the next 100 days to ensure our future…for ourselves, and our children’s children
pcdoc,
We do care, we will vote for democracy, and we will NEVER give up on trying to fix what has gone so deeply wrong here.
However, we have purchased this little escape:
http://www.bobvila.com/RealEstate/Property-533570113.html
It will be the SANE asylum. All are invited.
That looks really nice Karen...can't blame ya for wanting and escape ;)
...an escape
Well, Christy and I will take that land and build a Roman villa. Thanks Karen! :)
What a happy-house, Karen! Though I thought you had purchased the white one with the all wood interior. I think it had been a few miles up the road from the Church-house you liked.
Magic decoder ring says....
Initial one box is Section A. (Presumably there is more than on box in section A that shouldn't be initialed.)
Initial one in Section B. (That's the box where you sign away your rights all in one fell swoop.)
Initial one box in Section C and underneath section C there should be a Part 1 and a Part 2. They want you to leave part 2 alone. But they want you to initial only one box from Part 1.
Clear as mud so far...
Initial all the boxes related to step-daughter who apparently isn't a relative to them and then go through and initial all "employee" boxes. As the employee, you're the one who has to do it because they want only the employee to initial relevant portions.
After you have initialed everything--incorrectly--they will send you a response telling you that you have failed to follow their directions and as such you have chosen to discontinue their service.
To sum it up...They think/say:
If you can't understand them, then it's your fault. What? You can't read? Did you fail NCLB?
Pa-leese!
Take responsibility. Until you do so, you don't deserve crap.
And that's how they decode that.
The deal is clearly that the State is clearly attempting to disqualify people on purely technical grounds. This is how cowardly bureaucrats attempt to cut costs. It's the same sorry approach that some in the GOP use to disqualify legal voters unlikely to cast their ballot for that party.
We have to fix a health care system that is clearly broken, and dragging both Americans, and the corporations they work for, into a ditch.
Cheech and Chong feud goes up in smoke
Comedy duo high on plans to reunite for first tour in more than 25 years
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25930766/
Dave's Not Here, Man
PCdoc...just wanted to let you know CHristy says Hi and welcome back.
She's experiencing a little difficulty logging into the DCP right now, but we're working on it.
Rove could be held in contempt of Congress
House committee recommends it but it's unclear if Pelosi will OK final vote
WASHINGTON - A House panel Wednesday voted to cite former top White House aide Karl Rove for contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to answer questions about the dismissals of several federal prosecutors as its Senate counterpart explored punishments for an array of alleged past and present Bush administration misdeeds.
Voting along party lines, the House Judiciary Committee said that Rove had broken the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether Rove encouraged prosecutions against Democrats such as former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
The committee decision is only a recommendation, and it was unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would allow a final vote. Rove has denied any involvement with Justice decisions, and the White House has said Congress has no authority to compel testimony from current and former advisers.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25932226/
monkey
Sounds a lot like the state-owned enterprises under a socialist economy. Just as inefficient, just as indifferent, and just as unsatisfactory.
Didn't they say capitalism was supposed to weed out the inefficient through free and open competition?
What a joke...
Karen
My friends Jim and Jo are living in Nova Scotia part of the year, the rest in Florida where they need to sell their shop. They got "landed immigrant" status.
Wonder if they'd be interested in the land? (They are house-sitting in Nova Scotia now, I think, & in Florida were living on their boat since they sold their house already.)
Apocalypse Down-under:
Aussie bank's write-offs signal doom for Wall Street
The scariest news of the week comes from down-under, where the National Australia Bank (NAB) announced it would "slash a £400m bond sale by two thirds. The retreat comes days after the Melbourne lender shocked the markets by announcing a 90pc write-down on its £550m holdings of US mortgage debt, an admission that it AAA-rated securities are virtually worthless....The decision by National Australia Bank to make drastic provisions on its US mortgage debt could have ramifications in the US itself. It opted for a 100pc write-off on a clutch of "senior strips" of collateralized debt obligations (CDO) worth £450m - even though they were all rated AAA. (Ambrose Evans Pritchard, "Australia faces worse crisis than America", UK Telegraph)
This is a huge story with grave implications for America's struggling banking system. No wonder the establishment media is avoiding it like the plague. If AAA rated CDOs are worthless, then some of the biggest financial institutions in the country will be packed off to the boneyard feet-first.
The original article appeared in the Business Spectator and was titled "NAB will shock Wall Street", by Robert Gottliebsen. "Shock" is an understatement. This is more like a meat cleaver crashing down on a butcher block. Schwook! This is a must-read for anyone who is following the meltdown in the financial markets.
Here is an extended excerpt from Gottliebsen's article:
"The National Australia Bank's decision to write off 90 per cent of its US conduit loans will have dramatic repercussions around the world. Wall Street will be deeply shocked when they understand the repercussions of what NAB has done. It is clear global banks have nowhere near provided for their exposures to US housing loans which in the words of John Stewart are experiencing a “meltdown”.
We are now way beyond sub-prime. NAB says that it is suffering a 55 per cent loss on American housing loans – an event that has never happened in the history of a developed country in recent memory. This is an unprecedented event and means that the cost of bailing out the US financial system is now far beyond the highest estimates. A US recession is now locked in, but more alarmingly, 55 per cent loan losses point to the possibility of a depression.
It means the cost of bailing out housing exposures to the two mortgage insurers will be so great that it will leave no room to bail out anything else and there are several US banks that are now in big trouble. NAB says that the dislocation in the residential market is separate from the corporate market, but the flow on is inevitable." ( The Business Spectator,"NAB will shock Wall Street")
The conduits are off-balance sheets operations run by the banks which contain hundreds of billions of dollars of bonds which are now essentially worthless. So far, many of the banks have not accurately reported the losses from these operations hoping that the housing market will stabilize and the value of the bonds will rebound. The action taken by the National Australia Bank is a "game-changer"; it's like the Grim Reaper swooping down on Wall Street and lopping-off the top of every big investment bank in downtown Manhattan. >>>cont
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20385.htm
We are on the ferry to Nova Scotia, so will be offline for the day; love to all and keep fighting!
Back atcha Karen... I send you off with a song ...
A Higher Place
by Tom Petty
We gotta get to a higher place
And we gotta leave by night
Before that river takes us down
We gotta find some place that's dry
We gotta run like we've never run
Or we're gonna lose the light
But if we don't get to a higher place and find somebody
Can help somebody, might be nobody no more
Well, I fool myself and I don't know why
I thought we could ride this out
I was up all night making up my mind
But now I've got my doubts
I got my eye on the waterline
Trying to keep my sense of humor
But if we don't get to a higher place and find somebody
Can help somebody, might be nobody no more
We gotta get to a higher place
And I hope we all arrive together
We gotta get to a higher place
If we want to survive the weather
I remember walking with her in town
Her hair was in the wind
I gave her my best kiss
She gave it back again
When I add up what I've left behind
I don't want to lose no more
But if we don't get to a higher place and find somebody
Can help somebody, might be nobody no more
Young Chuck moved to Montana and bought a horse from a farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry, son, but I have some bad news. The horse died.'
Chuck replied, 'Well, then, just give me my money back.'
The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I went and spent it already.'
Chuck said, 'Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse.'
The farmer asked, 'What ya gonna do with him?'
Chuck said, 'I'm going to raffle him off.'
The farmer said, 'You can't raffle off a dead horse!'
Chuck said, 'Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead.'
A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, 'What happened with that dead horse?'
Chuck said, 'I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a net profit of $998.00.'
The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?'
Chuck said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.'
Chuck grew up and now works for the government.
AHEM....
BREAKING NEWS: Federal judge sides with Congress, says Bush aides can be subpoenaed
www.msnbc.com
I left the USA 2 1/2 years ago for China, just couldnt watch the tragedy unfold any longer. Live in Northern China, spectacular scenery, 1 hour from Pacific Ocean, 1 hour from misty green mountains. House is 2,700 square feet, cost 85,000, with solid wood floors, entertainment system, large yard, marble entryway, solid furniture, etc, etc.
Can buy entire weeks groceries for 8-10 dollars USD, or can dine more extravagantly than any restaurant in New York. People are incredibly friendly and love to cook dinner, drink beers, drink motai( whiskey) and talk shop.
The local CPC (Communist Party China) Officials stop by for BBQ every month to catch up on US trends and shoot the breeze. Everyone is avid sports and thrill seekers, camping and hiking and kayaking, snow skiing and windsurfing are popular.
The green movement here is light years ahead of anywhere else ive been; solar and wind are mandated to increase as percentage of National energy usage.
The environement here needs help, its about what Los Angeles was in the mid 70's. so there is lots to do and help with.
And i feel safe. Nobody has guns, no drive bys or home invasions. can walk around at night without worrying about making it home. Everyone looks out for you and vice versa. The culture is incredible and fascinating to learn about.
Am travelling to Mongolia and Tibet after the olympics, that wil be a lot of fun. My family moved to USA when JFK was elected president, and most moved when Bush was reelected president.
There are options, the world is fantastic place to enjoy.
toolmaker knows...
Well, let's look at the news today, oh boy....
Bush cites progress in Iraq, cuts tours of duty from 15 months to 12
(Policically timed much?)
Federal judge sides with Congress, says Bush aides can be subpoenaed
(Big friggin whoop, like this toothless Congress will do anything with it, and so what, the damage is done)
McCain-Obama battle turns to racial issue
Contest for White House turns nastier, with McCain contending that he had been wrongly accused of planning a racial attack and Obama countering that his opponent was inventing a controversy.
(Gee, this is turing into a gem of a repeat of '04, only worse... )
Exxon breaks own record for biggest-ever profit
World's largest publicly traded oil firm makes $1,485.55 a second in the quarter, but misses forecasts.
(Duh!)
Anyone got any change?
Anyone live in Pittsburg here, my daughters husband is travelling there on Saturday, will be staying at the Convention Centre for 2 weeks
Hey, when the hell did it become ok for networks to run almost entire ads for a candidate over and over as part of their content, amounting to free national advertising?
McCain keeps getting his stupidly childish ads played, making up any funding gap for advertising he may have.
I am already way past disgusted with this campaign... as a (w)hole, this country has learned nothing.
Monkey...
Seems to me that in 2004, they aired the SBLiars for bush nonstop during those shows.
So my answer to you...In 2004.
In the fiscal year that ended Oct. 1, 131 rapes and assaults were reported in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Military assault victims face tough recovery
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated PressPosted :
Wednesday Jul 23, 2008 12:30:52 EDT
Of the women veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have walked into a VA facility, 15 percent have screened positive for military sexual trauma, The Associated Press has learned. That means they indicated that while on active duty they were sexually assaulted, raped, or were sexually harassed, receiving repeated unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/07/ap_sexualassault_072108/
Here's Kerry kicking Kyl's A$$ on msGOP.
What is this 'Iraq war' charge on my bill?
What is this 'Iraq war' charge on my bill? Part 2
Get this 'Iraq war' charge off my bill!
With friends like these....
August 1, 2008
Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say
By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan’s powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials.
The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack, the officials said, providing the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.
The American officials also said there was new information showing that members of the Pakistani intelligence service were increasingly providing militants with details about the American campaign against them, in some cases allowing militants to avoid American missile strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
Concerns about the role played by Pakistani intelligence not only has strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, a longtime ally, but also has fanned tensions between Pakistan and its archrival, India. Within days of the bombings, Indian officials accused the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, of helping to orchestrate the attack in Kabul, which killed 54, including an Indian defense attaché.
This week, Pakistani troops clashed with Indian forces in the contested region of Kashmir, threatening to fray an uneasy cease-fire that has held since November 2003.
The New York Times reported this week that a top Central Intelligence Agency official traveled to Pakistan this month to confront senior Pakistani officials with information about support provided by members of the ISI to militant groups. It had not been known that American intelligence agencies concluded that elements of Pakistani intelligence provided direct support for the attack in Kabul.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/world/asia/01pstan.html
August 1, 2008
Editorial
‘The Jungle,’ Again
A story from the upside-down world of immigration and labor:
A slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, develops an ugly reputation for abusing animals and workers. Reports of dirty, dangerous conditions at the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant accumulate for years, told by workers, union organizers, immigrant advocates and government investigators. A videotape by an animal-rights group shows workers pulling the windpipes out of living cows. A woman with a deformed hand tells a reporter of cutting meat for 12 hours a day, six days a week, for wages that labor experts call the lowest in the industry. This year, federal investigators amass evidence of rampant illegal hiring at the plant, which has been called “a kosher ‘Jungle.’ ”
The conditions at the Agriprocessors plant cry out for the cautious and deliberative application of justice.
In May, the government swoops in and arrests ... the workers, hundreds of them, for having false identity papers. The raid’s catch is so huge that the detainees are bused from little Postville to the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo. The defendants, mostly immigrants from Guatemala, are not charged with the usual administrative violations, but with “aggravated identity theft,” a serious crime.
They are offered a deal: They can admit their guilt to lesser charges, waive their rights, including the right to a hearing before an immigration judge, spend five months in prison, then be deported. Or, they can spend six months or more in jail without bail while awaiting a trial date, face a minimum two-year prison sentence and be deported anyway.
Nearly 300 people agree to the five months, after being hustled through mass hearings, with one lawyer for 17 people, each having about 30 minutes of consultation per client. The plea deal is a brutal legal vise, but the immigrants accept it as the quickest way back to their spouses and children, hundreds of whom are cowering in a Catholic church, afraid to leave and not knowing how they will survive. The workers are scattered to federal lockups around the country. Many families still do not know where they are. The plant’s owners walk freely.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/opinion/01fri1.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A congresswoman said Thursday that her "jaw dropped" when military doctors told her that four in 10 women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the military.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, spoke before a House panel investigating the way the military handles reports of sexual assault.
She said she recently visited a Veterans Affairs hospital in the Los Angeles area, where women told her horror stories of being raped in the military.
"My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41 percent of the female veterans seen there say they were victims of sexual assault while serving in the military," said Harman, who has long sought better protection of women in the military.
"Twenty-nine percent say they were raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and downward spirals many of their lives have taken since.
"We have an epidemic here," she said. "Women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq."
As of July 24, 100 women had died in Iraq, according to the Pentagon.
In 2007, Harman said, only 181 out of 2,212 reports of military sexual assaults, or 8 percent, were referred to courts martial. By comparison, she said, 40 percent of those arrested in the civilian world on such charges are prosecuted.
Defense statistics show that military commanders took unspecified action, which can include anything from punishment to dismissal, in an additional 419 cases.
But when it came time for the military to defend itself, the panel was told that the Pentagon's top official on sexual abuse, Dr. Kaye Whitley, was ordered not to show up despite a subpoena.
"I don't know what you're trying to cover up here, but we're not going to allow it," Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, said to the Defense official who relayed the news of Whitley's no-show. "This is unacceptable."
Rep. John Tierney, the panel's chairman and a Democrat from Massachusetts, angrily responded, "these actions by the Defense Department are inexplicable."
"The Defense Department appears to be willfully and blatantly advising Dr. Whitley not to comply with a duly authorized congressional subpoena," Tierney said.
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/31/military.sexabuse/index.html
Wal-Mart mobilizes against Democrats: report
Wall Street Journal says effort aimed at thwarting unions
MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 5 minutes ago
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing U.S. store managers to lobby against Democrats in November's presidential election, fearing they will make it easier for workers to unionize, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if store workers unionize, the paper said.
About a dozen employees who attended meetings in seven states said executives argued employees would have to pay hefty union dues and get nothing in return, and might have to go on strike without compensation. They also warned that unionization could force the company to cut jobs as labor costs rise, the Journal reported.
The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who have run the meetings didn't tell those attending how to vote in the November elections, but made it clear that voting for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, would be tantamount to inviting unions in, the Journal said.
Wal-Mart opposes proposed legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to unionize by signing a card rather than holding a vote.
A Wal-Mart spokesman confirmed the meetings to the Journal.
"If anyone representing Wal-Mart gave the impression we were telling associates how to vote, they were wrong and acting without approval," David Tovar, the Wal-Mart spokesman, told the Journal.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25967103/
Oh hey, by the way, guess what chain of stores has the most to gain from an economic downturn?
g'head, guess.
Hello from Nova Scotia!
monkey, we are shocked, SHOCKED I tell you that Wal-Mart would either oppose unions OR suggest that voting Republican would be a good thing to do.
Up here, jobs are not plentiful or particularly well-paying, but then neither are COSTS.
We just bought our house. It took about fifteen minutes and we signed ONE piece of paper.
And the house? Stunning views, everything ready, and room for guests. All you have to do is get here. It's tiny but beautiful, and the whole thing works.
We are going to get a camera and take photos.
Is there room for my drums?
... or is it, 'are there room for my drums'?
Are that your participles danglin', or is ya just happy to see me?
:-)
August 3, 2008
Magazine Preview
The Trolls Among Us
By MATTATHIAS SCHWARTZ
This article will appear in this Sunday's Times Magazine.
One afternoon in the spring of 2006, for reasons unknown to those who knew him, Mitchell Henderson, a seventh grader from Rochester, Minn., took a .22-caliber rifle down from a shelf in his parents’ bedroom closet and shot himself in the head. The next morning, Mitchell’s school assembled in the gym to begin mourning. His classmates created a virtual memorial on MySpace and garlanded it with remembrances. One wrote that Mitchell was “an hero to take that shot, to leave us all behind. God do we wish we could take it back. . . . ” Someone e-mailed a clipping of Mitchell’s newspaper obituary to MyDeathSpace.com, a Web site that links to the MySpace pages of the dead. From MyDeathSpace, Mitchell’s page came to the attention of an Internet message board known as /b/ and the “trolls,” as they have come to be called, who dwell there.
/b/ is the designated “random” board of 4chan.org, a group of message boards that draws more than 200 million page views a month. A post consists of an image and a few lines of text. Almost everyone posts as “anonymous.” In effect, this makes /b/ a panopticon in reverse — nobody can see anybody, and everybody can claim to speak from the center. The anonymous denizens of 4chan’s other boards — devoted to travel, fitness and several genres of pornography — refer to the /b/-dwellers as “/b/tards.”
Measured in terms of depravity, insularity and traffic-driven turnover, the culture of /b/ has little precedent. /b/ reads like the inside of a high-school bathroom stall, or an obscene telephone party line, or a blog with no posts and all comments filled with slang that you are too old to understand.
Something about Mitchell Henderson struck the denizens of /b/ as funny. They were especially amused by a reference on his MySpace page to a lost iPod. Mitchell Henderson, /b/ decided, had killed himself over a lost iPod. The “an hero” meme was born. Within hours, the anonymous multitudes were wrapping the tragedy of Mitchell’s death in absurdity.
Someone hacked Henderson’s MySpace page and gave him the face of a zombie. Someone placed an iPod on Henderson’s grave, took a picture and posted it to /b/. Henderson’s face was appended to dancing iPods, spinning iPods, hardcore porn scenes. A dramatic re-enactment of Henderson’s demise appeared on YouTube, complete with shattered iPod. The phone began ringing at Mitchell’s parents’ home. “It sounded like kids,” remembers Mitchell’s father, Mark Henderson, a 44-year-old I.T. executive. “They’d say, ‘Hi, this is Mitchell, I’m at the cemetery.’ ‘Hi, I’ve got Mitchell’s iPod.’ ‘Hi, I’m Mitchell’s ghost, the front door is locked. Can you come down and let me in?’ ” He sighed. “It really got to my wife.” The calls continued for a year and a half.
- more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html
Hello Nova Scotia!
Karen--clearly you will have to build a couple of compounds out there. One big enough for Monkey's drums and another for the rest of us.
Good news from here.
We have a heart beat.
Seems like all anyone can expect nowadays.
(on that happy note...I think I'll leave...)
Wow, this has turned into one stupidass campaign.
Will America fall for it... again?
monkey--I don't believe the people will fall for it again. I think that most states will win for Obama and the red ones will get more McCain ones. I suppose it's their own level of racism which will determine if those commercials are effective.
But right now, the economy is seriously bad. and McCain is seriously corrupt and many know that. Sure..he is 'Mr. Maverick' and loved by the media, but many know he kissed Bush.
That will be the kiss the kills his campaign.
I dunno General, I still see a whole lotta stupid goin around.
I fear, again, through the endless parade of dopey surrogates on all the borderline retarded tabloid news/tv shows, to the asinine campaign ads, that the message that is permeating out to the general stupublic is not the same one you and I see...
... and quite frankly, a general electorate who has by and large sat by and done nary a damn thing over the last 8 years doesn't exactly engender my faith in their ability to make a decent decision.
Rove Arrests--Judges comment
Last Friday, police in Des Moines, Iowa arrested four people who attempted to make a citizens’ arrest of former top White House aide Karl Rove, who was in town to speak at a GOP fundraiser. A retired minister and three members of the Des Moines Catholic Workers community were cited for trespassing. However, according to a press release, the judge presiding over the case praised their efforts:
Shaw was the first called before Polk County Fifth Judicial District Associate Judge William Price.
After entering her plea, the judge asked Shaw, “Mamn, what were you doing at the Wakonda Country Club?”
“I was attempting to make a citizen’s arrest of Karl Rove, your honor,” Shaw answered.
“Well,” the judge looked up and said, “it’s about time.”
hugs&love!