The tasing of a handcuffed student

I just watched this. This happened at a University of Florida at a question and answer session with Senator John Kerry. Yeah, the student was rather obnoxious, but he had a right to ask his questions - it was a question and answer session, dammit. This kid shouldn't have been arrested, or even escorted out of the room. The other students in attendance were applauding his questions, so obviously having them answered would have been important. And then to tase this kid? After he was handcuffed? WTF?! And the fact that Kerry tried to continue on, ignoring the incident as though nothing were happening while cops tased a handcuffed student whose only crime was asking questions of a government official? Watch it for yourself and tell me what you think. (The direct link is here if you need it.)

Keep toxic waste out of Waycross!

(The following is from Gordon Rogers of Satilla Riverkeeper)

Governor Sonny Perdue has signed HB 325, giving the citizens of Ware County another tool they need to combat the placement of a subtitle D landfill in their community, a landfill that is proposed to be sited in altered wetlands which are tributary to a creek feeding into the Satilla . The bill allows a public referendum on the bond funds requested by the corporation seeking to operate the landfill in a leasing/operational arrangement with Ware County .

Ware County certainly must be responsible for, and plan for, its future with regard to waste disposal. Currently, the majority of Ware’s waste is shipped to the Broadhurst Landfill in Wayne County , a facility that has many of the same issues as the site in Ware. Therefore, Ware Countians share in the responsibility for impacts at that site. However, simply because there are similar issues at Broadhurst does not mean we should duplicate the problems on another disturbed wetland in South Georgia, particularly veiled in the lure of cheap landfill prices for residents subsidized by heavy waste streams coming out of Florida .

In related news, a local group, the Anti-Landfill Corporation, Inc. has filed suit challenging the validity of the contract between county officials and North American Metals Company, the Florida operation seeking to rail and truck waste into South Georgia from the Sunshine State .

Tremendous thanks goes to Representative Mark Hatfield (R-Waycross) and Senator Greg Goggans (R-Douglas) for guiding this important legislation through the House and Senate. Another hearty thanks goes to Randy Carter and other members of the Anti-Landfill Corporation for starting and continuing this important battle for their community and their environment. Deep thanks also to Jack Williams and the good folks at the Waycross Journal-Herald for doing a tremendous job of publicizing this issue, and for taking a strong editorial position against the siting of this landfill. And, thank you again to the Governor for signing the bill.

This fight is not over, but today is a happy day in this important labor.

For all those who ever worked at ServiceZone (speaking of Lake City and all...)

In early 2002 I spent six terrible weeks working at a call-center in Lake City, Florida, which at the time was called ServiceZone. At the time ServiceZone out-sourced to Dell Computers, and provided staff for Dell Product Support, Dell Sales, and Dell Financial Services. I was hired to work for Dell Financial Services. They were six long, terrible weeks. I was shocked at the multitude of unethical business practices conducted by Dell, to which the company turned a blind eye. People threatened to sue Dell (and me personally!) every day. After those six weeks, I thought I'd be hearing about a class action suit against Dell any day. Five years later, it's finally happened.

The New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, announced yesterday that his office had filed a lawsuit against Dell Inc. and its Dell Financial Services unit, accusing them of deceptive business practices and of failing to provide adequate customer service. [...] More specifically, he said, Dell failed to provide repair service to customers who bought contracts for onsite and expedited service. In addition, he said, Dell routinely sought to attract customers by promotional offers claiming that the financing was interest-free. Instead, the suit charges, many customers faced interest rates on their purchases that were as high as 29 percent. [full article here]

Oh. My. God. Every day I was there, I pretty much spent eight hours straight (and more) trying to "help" people who had been scammed by their salesperson. They'd essentially been tricked into accepting a contract which they thought gave them 0% APR, but which turned out to be 29% APR. And you know what I could do to help them? NOTHING. Of course, as soon as I would tell someone that I couldn't help them (which was the truth!), they would demand to speak to my manager. Now, since there was nothing our managers could do to help them either, we were required to do everything in our power to convince the customer that they really didn't want to talk to the manager after all. Not surprisingly, I got cussed out several times a day.

Here's hoping Andrew Cuomo kicks Dell's ass!

That fire's still burning towards Lake City!

The fire continued its march south on Thursday, driving through the dry swamp beds and tinderbox scrublands of drought-stricken Columbia and Baker counties. They are two of the state's most rural counties, but the fire remains on a path toward the more populous Lake City. As 700 state and federal firefighters descended on this city of about 11,000 residents two weeks ago, many thought their stay would be quick and easy, mostly mop-up operations to keep the fire from spreading. Now, though, the endgame seems far off, and some officials say the fire could rage for the rest of the month. [full article]

Meanwhile, Gwen's getting ready to go on a month-long vacation to Lake City!

More on South GA / North FL Fires

Smoke Closes Roads, Hampers Firefighters (Possibly the only time ever that Lake City has been featured on NPR)

Fire Closes Highways in Georgia, Florida

Evacuees Deal With Smoke, Stress as Fire Near Lake City Grows

Wildfire Smoke Closes Interstates in Florida

Rest of Florida Smolders Too

State of Emergency in Columbia County

As I mentioned in this post, I grew up in Florida. I lived for the first 18 years of my life ten miles south of Lake City in Columbia County, and it wasn't until 2003 that I left the LC for good. Nonetheless, I still have friends in Columbia County. I just checked my friend Stephanie's blog to discover that she's been asked to evacuate as a result of the fires. Then I checked the news... Things are scary down there right now.

Fire Causes State of Emergency in Columbia County: Columbia County was under a state of emergency late Friday after a massive fire prompted officials to notify about 500 families to evacuate their homes.Thousands of children were sent home from school early, and state troopers kept close tabs on area roads as visibility fell to a quarter mile Friday.

Crews Attack Massive Fire from Air, Ground: Calling the blaze moving through Baker and Columbia counties the largest and most dangerous fire in the state, firefighters said Friday they have managed to protect homes from a fire that advanced nine to 10 miles in 24 hours.
Driven by winds, fire sparked by lightning in the Okefenokee Swamp on Sunday has spread out of Ware County, Ga., through Baker County to threaten homes on the outskirts of Lake City. It has burned 180,000 acres in three or four days.

Lake City Brush Fire Named One of the Biggest: One of the biggest brush fires is near the Georgia border in Lake City, where people have been evacuated from their homes. On all of the roads, smoke is making visibility difficult for driving. Over Thursday night, nearly 600 homes were evacuated in Columbia County.

179,000 Acre Fire Threatens 1-10 and Homes Near Lake City: Firefighters said today that a wildfire that has raced through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into northern Florida has charred at least 179,000 acres -- or 281 square miles -- since a lightning strike ignited it a week ago.The fire, which started last Saturday in the middle of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, took just six days to grow larger than a wildfire that has burned 116,000 acres ofGeorgia forest and swampland over more than three weeks.The fast-growing fire more than doubled in size, from 88,250 acres Thursday as wind from the northeast fanned it across dry swamp grasses.Its movement slowed today, but firefighters expect the blaze to keep growing.Schools closed early in Columbia County Friday as the fire that started in Georgia crossed the Florida border.About 570 homes in northern Columbia County were evacuated overnight. Heavy smoke blanketed the area and visibility along Interstate 10 was down to about a quarter of a mile.The leading edge of the fire is four miles east of US 441 and seven miles north of Interstate 10.

Calm Winds Aid Firefighters: Wildfires scorched the wooded northern area of Columbia County Thursday at an alarming rate, but began to slow Friday as calm winds assisted firefighters in their task of slowing down one of the most dangerous fires in the county's history.The blaze remained in the Deep Creek area Friday night, located approximately two miles east of U.S. 441 and six miles north of Interstate 10.With wildfires having burned more than 82,588 acres in Columbia and Baker counties by late Friday, the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners and Lake City City Council both declared a state of emergency for the area. The city also declared a water shortage because of the firefighting emergencies.

Evacuees Reluctantly Retreat to Shelters: People took shelter at Winfield Community Center as wildfires raged in northern Columbia County beginning at about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday. By 8:30 a.m., Friday, about 30 people had evacuated to the temporary Red Cross shelter, volunteer Sylvia DeLoach said.

Fire in GA/FL

Well, the Georgia wildfire has shifted enough that at this point in time it is no longer a direct threat to Waycross. However, the fire spread to the Okefenokee Swamp, made its way southward, and hopped the St. Mary's River into Florida. Additionally, there are apparently hundreds of fires currently burning throughout the state of Florida. Now, I am currently a resident of Georgia, but I grew up in Florida, and many of my friends still live there. Below are some images taken by friends in Lake City, FL.

Taken at 3:45pm, Thursday, May 10 by Stephanie Tyson
(Yes, that photo was taken in the middle of the afternoon)


Photo by Caitlin St. John - flakes of ash on her dad's truck

Where there's smoke...

My mom took this photo of the smoke from the southeast GA wildfire from inside the Waycross city limits this weekend.

More Waycross fire updates [updated]

Photo by Terry Dickson, Florida Times-Union

Video: FirstCoastNews report, April 28
Fatiugue sets in after 12 day struggle with wildfire
In drought stricken southeast GA, wildfires flare
Some residents return amid GA wildfires
GA wildfire approaches 100 square miles
Wildfires flare again in southeast GA
Georgia wildfire shows residents its raging colors

Over 1000 fire and fire-related photos
taken by Carlos Nelson can be viewed here.

A state of mind [updated]

I listen to a lot of NPR. I also read a lot of blogs. I'm sure that this skews my view on current events quite a bit, especially when I'm overseas and don't have access to your average American TV and radio soundbites. From listening to NPR, it would seem that in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting, there has been a lot of discussion back home about mental illness. Is this true? Or is it just NPR? See, my family has a history of mental illness, going back several generations, and I - as the bearer of these high quality genetics - have dealt with this as well. It's a topic that, while certainly discussed in the US more commonly than in the past, is still shunned by the mainstream populace when at all possible. Two of the NPR podcasts that I'd like to recommend on this topic are: Predicting Violence and Forced Treatment. Additionally, if you're coming to this blog looking for information on Korea, let me refer you to a recent post at the Marmot's Hole entitled Coping With Depression and Mental Illness, which addresses that utter lack of mental health care in South Korea.

UPDATE: I'd also like to add Identifying and Treating Severe Mental Illness from the Diane Rehm show to my list of recommended discussions on this topic.

Waycross/Ware Co. fires make national news

(Photo from AP News)

Wind-Whipped Blaze Rages in Southern Georgia
Large Southeast Georgia Wildfire Continues to Burn
Georgia Wildfire Continues to Burn
Winds Push Georgia Fire Closer to Wildlife Refuge
Wind Could Help Firefighters in Georgia
Smoke Prompts Voluntary Evacuation of 5000

Keep up-to-date on the fire here.

Carlos Nelson has posted nearly 600 photos
of the people and places affected by the fire,
which can be viewed here.

For information on how the fire is affecting the
four-legged population of Ware County please visit SEGAPAWS.

To see clips of the fire on YouTube, click here and here.

Fire in Ware County, GA

There is currently a huge fire burning just to the south-east of Waycross, GA (where I live when I'm in the US). The fire was apparently started by a tree falling onto a powerline. The Satilla Regional Medical Center has posted an excellent site, containing up-to-date information on the location of the fire, medical concerns, volunteer needs, photographs, maps, etc. To keep informed on the fire, please visit their site here. The map and photographs below were taken from the Satilla Regional Medical Center's fire-update website.

(The building in this photo is Ruskin Elementary School)

Reactions to the Virginia Tech shooting

One of the best blogs about Korea, The Marmot's Hole, has an excellent post on the subject, which continues to be updated as new information becomes available. Click here to read. (He summarizes a lot of Korean news sites, which is great for those of us - like me - whose Korean skills are embarrassingly limited.) One of the things he has mentioned is that the Korean President and Foreign Minister have offered their condolences to the American people. Definitely read the post; it's quite informative. There is an incredibly long post on this topic up at another great blog about Korea, Scribblings of the Metropolitician, entitled The Politics of Pride and Shame, which I recommend, assuming that you can force yourself to wade through the entire piece.

Tragedy tied to Korea

The man who went on a rampage on the bucolic Virginia Tech campus was a 23-year-old student from South Korea, officials confirmed this morning. But they still provided no motive. Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior studying English, was found among the 31 dead found in an engineering hall. [complete article here]