Everything Southern Humboldt and more
I’m completely behind the agenda, and yeah, her response was cold and unprofessional, but don’t use the kids. If they’re old enough to act on their own initiative, that’s great, but this kid was clearly uncomfortable and it’s not fair to put him in this position.
This kid, on the other hand, is a little bit older and clearly acting on his own initiative.
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December 6, 2011 at 12:55 pm
tra
Clip #1: Grotesque.
Clip #2: Inspiring.
December 6, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Mitch
When the first clip finished, I clicked on one of the four videos that were shown as “next”. I hadn’t seen this before, and I’d recommend it to anyone. I confess that I find it hard to believe it’s for real, but there is a note on its youtube page implying that it is. Talk about a strong kid.
December 6, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Mitch
For anyone who also finds this hard to believe, here’s an ABC news story — it looks like his parents were involved, but the kid and his anguish are real.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/mother-jonah-mowry-bullied-gay-son-inspired-support/story?id=15090692#.Tt6xM7ggfEg
December 6, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Plain Jane
The engineering student is a young man any parent would be proud of. He should think about changing his major though. He has the whole package to be a politician and I don’t mean that in a negative sense at all.
I couldn’t hear what the little boy said but it was obviously not very nice nor his idea.
December 6, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Plain Jane
Mitch, that boy’s pain is so heartbreakingly real I don’t know how anyone could question its credibility.
December 6, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Mitch
PJ,
I agree. What I found bewildering was the way he kept looking up and to the side, as if waiting for approval. The ABC report clarified that; his parents were probably in the room. I find it bizarre that they thought this was a good idea for their son, but they may well have been right.
December 6, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Sally
I also found this to be unacceptable. This kid seemed to be prodded to deliver a line that was not his own idea. Michelle and Markus Bachmann might be in the dark ages on this topic, but a cheap shot won’t change their minds. This just adds fodder to the “gay agenda is trying to take over the country” myth. Those of us who believe in equal rights for all should find better ways to express it, and better times to do so… That being said, I *did* get a bit of a chuckle out of Michelle Bachmann first trying to “bond” with the child, and urging him to come closer, to whisper in her ear… and the look on her face when she finally heard his comment.
December 6, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Mitch
PJ,
Again referring to the Jonah “Whats going on” video, I guess I’ve yet to come to terms with the willingness of today’s young people to put themselves “out there” on the web. I still can’t quite make sense of the timeline in the ABC report, whether he made the initial video on his own or with help from his parents.
I don’t mean to challenge the young man at all — whatever he did, there’s no questioning his sincerity. I just find it an astonishing thing to do; some combination of brave, brilliant, courageous, and potentially foolhardy. It all seems to have worked out for him, based on the ABC report and a followup video.
The pain we put young people through is criminal.
As for Eric’s initial video, Elijah with Michelle Bachmann, I still haven’t heard the comment (I don’t have the best hearing). But any parent that would use their child as part of what appears to be a nasty practical joke makes me ill.
December 6, 2011 at 8:40 pm
tra
The little boy in the Michelle Bachmann video says “My mommy is gay and she doesn’t need fixing.” (Apparently this relates to the fact that Bachmann’s husband has dabbles in “reparative therapy.”) As far as I’m concerned, while her sexuality certainly doesn’t require “fixing,” her parenting philosophy sure could use an overhaul.
December 6, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Eric Kirk
I thought it was subtitled. Sorry. Anyway, what tra said.
December 7, 2011 at 8:40 am
Plain Jane
I don’t have the courage of Jonah, but believe young people like him speaking out is what it will take to raise the consciousness required to stop this sadistic behavior. Bullies don’t act alone. They require other students and, even worse, teachers to condone it with their silence and looking the other way. Realizing that bullying isn’t just a harmless schoolyard game; but is torture with lifelong consequences for both the victim and the bully, should spur the empathetic to intervene. Both the victims and the bullies need therapy. Bullies, like everyone else, don’t become who they are in a vacuum.
I saw a video the other day about teachers bullying a little girl. After getting no satisfaction from their complaints to the principal, the parents wired the little girl and sent her to school. The recordings of the way the teachers spoke to this child were sickening, but they were also giving lessons to the other kids in bullying. I can imagine that at least a few of the kids in her class took their cues from the teachers in how to treat this poor little girl.
December 7, 2011 at 8:47 am
Plain Jane
On the subject of the little boy and Bachmann, from her reaction I thought he must have said something insulting or obscene. His mother shouldn’t have used him like that, but Bachmann’s reaction to what he said was bizarre.
December 7, 2011 at 11:10 am
Eric Kirk
Certainly not what you could call “Presidential.”
But this was a book-signing tour. She’s obviously not really running anymore, and is just scrambling to cash in.
December 7, 2011 at 11:21 am
tra
Probably true. But on the other hand, that’s the way Gingrich’s campaign was looking until just a few weeks ago.
December 7, 2011 at 1:12 pm
Eric Kirk
And I think Gingrich is going to take a tumble after Iowa, which means maybe Bachman could reclaim her primary not-Romney status – before they ultimately choose Romney.
Of course, now that Huntsman has flip-flopped on climate change, he might also have a chance. He’ll probably stay away from science like the plague now.
December 7, 2011 at 1:59 pm
tra
I wouldn’t be surprised if Newt self-destructs…he’s done it before. On the other hand, his attitude of snarling, seething contempt obviously does appeal to many Republican primary voters. If he wins in Iowa and outperforms expectations in New Hampshire (and especially if Romney loses big in Iowa and underperforms expectations in New Hampshire), and then Newt takes South Carolina and some of the other early states, I could see him making a real run at the nomination.
I doubt that Newt would be very appealing to most swing voters in a general election, and the prospect of a Newt presidency would probably be a substantial motivation for Democrats to get out the vote. While I’m not thrilled with Obama, I think it’s important that the Republicans lose, and lose big. So I suppose from one point of view I should be “hoping” Newt wins the nomination.
But I can’t quite bring myself to think that way, because once he’s the nominee, there’s always a chance that he actually wins the election. Today’s announcement that Newt would like to appoint John Bolton as Secretary of State is, by itself, plenty enough to convince me that turning over the keys to the White House to Newt would be a complete disaster.
December 7, 2011 at 3:06 pm
tra
The latest CNN/Time polling shows Gingrich leading Romney by quite substantial margins in three out of the four earliest states: Iowa, South Carolina and Florida. And in New Hampshire, Romney’s lead is dwindling while Gingrich is catching up.
At the same time, there are still a substantial number of undecided voters, as well as many who are not yet strongly committed to their current choice — about half of those who would name their preferred candidate said they still might change their minds before election day.
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/cnntime-polls-gingrich-skyrockets-in-first-four-primary-states.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
As a primary election draws nearer, many voters transition from thinking about who they would like to vote for to thinking about who they are actually going to vote for, taking into consideration that they want their nominee to be able to succeed in the general election. I suspect Newt will lose some support in that process, especially if the polls continue to suiggest that Romney would have a better chance of defeating Obama.
December 7, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Eric Kirk
Expect Romney to air ads about the “right wing social engineering” quote as well as conservative responses thereto, especially Paul Ryan’s “with friends like these who needs a left?” That will take a toll.
December 7, 2011 at 5:24 pm
tra
Romney’s problem is that those who will be offended by Newt’s “right wing social engineering” quote aren’t likely to switch to Romney, they’re more likely to switch to Perry or Bachmann or one of the others. But trying to supress whoever is the current leader in the not-Romney race may still be a helpful strategy for Romney. If three candidates split the not-Romney vote that could leave Romney with a plurality in a lot of races, even if he continues to struggle to get an actual majority.
If I am remembering correctly, delegates are awarded proportional to the vote in most of the the early primary states, but most of the later primary states are winner-take-all. So if a given candidate doesn’t win a lot of the early primaries, but does well enough to earn a decent share of those delegates, and then that candidate goes on to win with a plurality in a lot of the winner-take-all primaries towards the end of the process, that person could still clinch the nomination even if more than half of all primary voters voted for someone else.
December 8, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Not A Native
Bring on the Newt!!
I still believe Romney is more likely than Gingrich to win against Obama. Not sure exactly why, but I just feel that most fundamentalists will grudingly choose to vote for a Mormon rather than a Muslim, while Newt will alienate many more moderates. Yes, I know Barack isn’t Muslim but evangelicals just don’t believe that. And I also think the a good portion of those who simply hate Obama also hate Gingrich and would not vote or vote for a third party ‘in protest’.
December 8, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Not A Native
OK, this philosophy prof’s essay explains why I feel Newt is a weaker candidate than Mitt.
December 8, 2011 at 2:38 pm
suzy blah blah
-im not saying that Jonahs wrong in making his statement, im just saying that it looks like the little dude needs a some help in spiffing up his vids cuz apparentl y he doesnt even know how to make one to be so there will be some scars in it that will show up on the scre en when he points at them yet, technically ie –it could be more convincing … not to criticize cuz im not really judging the quality of it, in fact suzy thinks the little hand written notes are sweet, or questioning or not questioning the sincerity of it, actually .. im jjust saying that either way, putting aside the subject matter issue, i do agree that its a part of another new web trend thats goin g on and contributing increasingly so from a not so subtle hyper multitaskedd many leveled platform –kids using the internet diving bored and plonging into expressing thir talents far better or worse out into the world for all of us to glimpse on youtube now.
December 8, 2011 at 3:50 pm
give me a break.
The second kid looks and sounds like a chump kissing ass in a monkey suit.
December 8, 2011 at 4:54 pm
JK
Zach says his family is like any other in Iowa & that people don’t know he has same sex parents. But, I could tell something was different about him. He is too articulate and confident for a college kid. It is now apparent (no pun intended) to me that same sex parentage can lead to rampant intellectualism. And, we all know that’s a gateway to liberalism. The poor bastard never had a chance to be the happy, myopic amnesiac that most Americans are.
@Suzy b.b. Cutters are usually embarrassed about their scars. To ask one to show them is like asking a bed wetter to prove that he pisses himself. He admitted it, that is proof enough. Try to imagine being in such a grey fog of detachment that cutting yourself seems to be the only way to be sure that you are still alive. It really doesn’t matter if this one person is “faking” it. It should be enough to know that there are people out there with that problem. Don’t dismiss it because it’s uncomfortable to think about.
December 8, 2011 at 5:14 pm
JK
WOW! In the time it took me to write my last comment, “give me a break.” shows up & proves my facetious point. A higher reasoning challenged, limbic system overloaded clown doesn’t like the way Zach talks (i.e. articulate & coherent). I forgot to mention that being an intellectual &/or talking like one pisses off the epsilons.
December 8, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Joel Mielke
“The second kid looks and sounds like a chump kissing ass in a monkey suit.”
And what would you have us believe you are, “give-me-a-break”?
December 8, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Mitch
suzy,
There’s a follow up video in which Jonah does a slightly better job of showing the scars to the screen. He’s with a friend who vouches for them.
I understand your point.
It’s a pretty sad comment on the prevailing culture when someone who does a youtube video in which they point to places on their body that they say they’ve cut has to find a video professional to help them make their scars look as prominent and “believable” as those in video games and movies.
It’s pretty horrifying that this kid began cutting himself in first or second grade.
Incidentally, he’s from Orange County.
December 8, 2011 at 8:13 pm
moviedad
A shout-out to Erik, did you hear that a federal judge has declared bloggers are not journalists? There is no such thing as citizen journalism.
So be careful….
Off topic I know, sorry. I’ll commit suicide immediately.
December 8, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Anonymous
I thought this was supposed to be a southern humboldt blog. You know, local blog. Why don’t we ever get to talk about local stuff? All we get are make nice comments about PR releases (e.g. Estelle announces,Huffman coming to Eureka,) and only get to schmooze about national stuff nobody can do anything about. It’s why the innernet is ruining america. Can’t ya feel it? We all think we’re doing something by spouting our wise opinions about stuff to each other about stuff we can’t do anything about and doesn’t do a damn bit of good.
It’s like the zapatista in Guatemala told a journalist who asked what we in america can do to help and she said, you fight injustice in your own communities.
December 8, 2011 at 9:49 pm
suzy blah blah
-mitch, suzy didnt find that follow up clip but i totally believe you that he and his friend made one. btw, did you check out allthe sweet replies he got? i found a lot of them who were commenting back to him using the written notes format while i was ssearching around. Really sweet.
-jk, it looks like we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one .
December 9, 2011 at 2:08 am
JK
You disagree that there are emotionally damaged kids who cut themselves?
Or do you just think it’s OK dismiss them because they might be doing it for attention?
I guess if he had a ‘real’ problem, that he could prove he actually had, then we should listen to him.
December 9, 2011 at 8:58 am
give me a break.
“Don’t use the kids” says the headline…
…and readership fawns over a 19 year old future car salesman.
December 9, 2011 at 9:02 am
give me a break.
“I forgot to mention that being an intellectual &/or talking like one pisses off the epsilons.”
HOLy @#$! i’M PISSED OFF ABOUT IT!!!!! #OIFJfuuuuuuuUUUUUUC—-K this SSSHHH-t-T!!!!
December 9, 2011 at 9:14 am
Whoever
Joel the guy described you perfectly.
December 9, 2011 at 9:32 am
Plain Jane
Give us all a fckn break and stop being such a stupid jerk.
December 9, 2011 at 9:53 am
give me a break.
If you’re refering to me, pj, I’ll take that as a compliment of my complementary comments. “don’t use the kids” but I’m supposed to be impressed by kid slick’s character? It’s that of a stereotypical used car salesman, am I wrong?
December 9, 2011 at 10:02 am
Mitch
gmab,
He’s in Iowa. He’s putting himself out there, in a conservative state, to break down stereotypes, by standing up, speaking out, and demonstrating that the stereotypes are wrong. He does this in a well-spoken manner and is pleasant to the people he is speaking to.
He points out that he is an engineering student, that his family is working together to face sickness, that he scores highly on standardized testing, that he is an Eagle scout and runs a small business. These are all examples to his audience that he is the sort of person of whom his audience would approve. It’s a very simple argument: “I am proof that your concerns are not valid.”
Perhaps his style is not a winner for some people living in Humboldt County, but what does that have to do with anything, gmab? Do you think you’d go over well in front of an Iowa Board of Anything?
Not to say anything bad about used car salesmen, but his list of accomplishments at whatever age he is suggests he may have more to contribute than selling used cars.
December 9, 2011 at 10:11 am
give me a break.
“Perhaps his style is not a winner for some people living in Humboldt County, but what does that have to do with anything, gmab? Do you think you’d go over well in front of an Iowa Board of Anything?”
What does it have to do with anything but the whole point of the thread, right? “Clearly acting on his own initiative”…based on what? His salesman-like demeanor? Are you that easy to impress or fool? I’m not impressed by his character…it has nothing to do with what he’s saying. Consider this the topic’s token “counter-point”. The response is that I’m pissed off and being a jerk about it? give me a break.
December 9, 2011 at 10:21 am
Mitch
gmab,
Yes, I’m that easy to impress. Have a nice day.
December 9, 2011 at 10:23 am
Bolithio
Un-constructive arguments on blogs are pointless. So is having the last word. Ignore, ignore.
December 9, 2011 at 10:28 am
give me a break.
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/savich/savich7.html
Remember when everybody was so impressed and brought to tears by this child’s words? “Don’t use the kids” also means “don’t let people who use kids use YOU.” If it’s as easy as dressing kids up in monkey suits and talking them into confidently lobbying some polito-speak at grown up affairs, be afraid.
Bolithio, loud and clear on that ignore! Thank you! Thank you especially for pointing it out, that you are going to ignore me as you have not ignored what I already wrote. Your sense of reality is being replaced by the four corners of a computer screen as you read this…go construct some of the forest you help clearcut.
December 9, 2011 at 10:49 am
suzy blah blah
-suzy totlally agrees with Bolithio.
December 9, 2011 at 10:59 am
GIVbE ME A VVBREEAK
They’re ganging up on me! Oh, the humanity! You can smell the seriousness with a stick! WELL FINE I CAN TAKE A HINT HAVE A NICE CRAPPY MORNING NOW I’M SO PISSED SO VERY VERY PISSED AND YELLING AT THE TOIP OF MY LUNGS WHILE I TYPE THIS SO PISSED OFF I CAN BARELY SEE STRAIGHT FOIEJ@#$!@ THIS I”M OUTA HERE YOU HOITY TOITIES CAN SACVE US ALL
December 9, 2011 at 11:16 am
give me a break.
suzy who? do you mean yourself because you’re writing in third person?
It’s funny because erik basically wrote “I agree with everything concerning hte goal of this first video but the production stinks (exploits child)” followed by “now HERE’s a video with a kid I could rally behind! What poise!”
…albeit erik wrote this with so much purpose and seriousness you could smell it with a stick…
…and I basically respond “Screw that second kid, he’s a worse chump than the chick in the first vid.”
…projection follows.
December 9, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Plain Jane
I’m not letting you have the last word on this thread, Suzy. :p
December 9, 2011 at 1:40 pm
suzy blah blah
-Jane, thats the same thing Matty told Hatty.
December 10, 2011 at 9:52 am
Plain Jane
Matty who?
December 10, 2011 at 10:24 am
suzy blah blah
matty the bully of course.
December 11, 2011 at 9:57 am
Bolithio
Speaking of bullies, I was thinking about how the internet seems to foster an environment where being insulting is so easy. I find myself in social situations all the time where during a conversation, my mind thinks “you idiot!”, yet my social tact mechanism kicks in and I dont speak the thought. How often do you have that situation with your significant other? I bet your quality of relationship is correlated to your ability to not say everything you think.
Yet on the internet, the only consequence of being a asshole is perhaps loosing credibility with your anonymous identity. And many times there is none, if your not trying to maintain any long term dialogue with people. For us who appear to be trying to maintain a conversation in our community, we should try harder to not fall in that trap.
December 11, 2011 at 12:24 pm
suzy blah blah
-bullying is not always done with insulting language. Sometimes the meanest bullying comes dressed in civil clothing. Sometimes it comes wrapped up with a bow and portrays itself as “concern”.
December 11, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Plain Jane
Neither of you are getting the last word! :p
December 11, 2011 at 2:40 pm
suzy blah blah
-my mother always told me, “Suzy, dont stick your tongue out at me.”
and, “if you cant deconstruct someone’s argument in a constructive way, than dont display your superiority it at all.”
December 11, 2011 at 2:41 pm
suzy blah blah
then
December 11, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Anonymous
An epsilon-delta definition is a mathematical definition in which a statement on a real function of one variable f having, for example, the form “for all neighborhoods U of y_0 there is a neighborhood V of x_0 such that, whenever x in V, then f(x) in U” is rephrased as “for all epsilon>0 there is delta>0 such that, whenever 0<|x-x_0|<delta, then |f(x)-y_0|x_0)f(x)=y_0). In the second one, the neighborhood U is replaced by the open interval (y_0-epsilon,y_0+epsilon), and the neighborhood V by the open interval (x_0-delta,x_0+delta). For a function of n variables, the absolute value would be replaced by the norm ||·|| of R^n, and the open intervals by the open balls B(y_0,epsilon) and B(x_0,delta) respectively.
This does not affect the meaning of the statement, since every neighborhood of a given point contains an open ball centered at that point. Hence requiring that, for any epsilon>0, f(x) in B(y_0,epsilon) for suitable values of x, ensures that for suitable values of x, f(x) in U for any neighborhood U of y_0. These suitable values of x are, according to both versions of the definition, those belonging to a suitable neighborhood (an open ball in the second one).
Both statements express the fact that for all x which lie close enough to x_0, f(x) lies as close to y_0 as desired. In the second formulation this condition is entirely expressed in terms of numbers: epsilon and delta are distances that measures the “closeness.” This facilitates the task of proving limits since the fundamental formulas are actually shown by constructing, for every epsilon, a delta with the required property.
SEE ALSO: Continuous Function, Epsilon, Epsilon-Delta Proof, Limit
December 11, 2011 at 7:26 pm
suzy blah blah
@ suzy who? do you mean yourself because you’re writing in third person?
-totally.
.
December 12, 2011 at 10:08 am
Anonymous
suzy said
“Sometimes the meanest bullying comes dressed in civil clothing. Sometimes it comes wrapped up with a bow and portrays itself as “concern”.”
are you talking about estelle?
December 12, 2011 at 11:48 am
Eric Kirk
I thought this was supposed to be a southern humboldt blog. You know, local blog. Why don’t we ever get to talk about local stuff?
Give me a topic. It’s been kind of slow here lately. Unfortunately, I have to catch up with the land use designation GPU meeting last Thursday night, though I did hear that last part of the HumCPR show on the radio on my way to Sacramento. But other than events, it’s pretty slow-going right now – which is a good thing.
As for the kid being “slick,” other than his suit, it really doesn’t come across to me as any kind of sales pitch. And I deal with used car salesmen, literal and figurative, all the time. He’s a kid who’s maybe trying too hard to sound like a full-fledged grown-up, but he’s articulate and thoughtful. My impression anyway.
December 12, 2011 at 12:17 pm
suzy blah blah
are you talking about estelle?
-LOL! good point.
-btw, suzy likes the suit. i spose you could call it ‘slick’ if you wanna compare it to Eric’s sloppy ass attire or something.
December 12, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Not A Native
I totally agree with Suzy about the subtle ways some people go about their bullying.
Its all well and good to make ‘rules’ about the inappropriateness of direct insults. But I think that ends up giving license to the nastiest, meanest, and most harmful types of aggression, the disguised backhanded sort. At least a literal and overt insult is directly answerable, but a sly ‘knife in the back’, has no ‘polite’ defense.
Anyone else remember Marc Antony’s pious backstabbing eulogy for Caesar? Classic !