INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY:

THE BANDS ARE BANNED:

Sometimes there are items of stupidity over and above the call of foolishness that leave me gaping with wide eyed wonder. Now appreciate that I am an anarchist and as such am privy to the occasional screed from those who want to "abolish civilization" (a mercifully small part of modern anarchism) and who also- beggar the imagination- delude themselves into thinking they have a way to accomplish this goal. You'd think I'd be enured to craziness. No such thing. The so-called "mainstream society" contunues to produce examples of insanity that equal or surpass the idea of "abolishing civilization", and it does it on a routine basis. What follows is one such example.

SBSBSBSBSBSBSB
Apparently there is a new 'tweenie' fad called 'Silly Bandz'. I guess that I may have seen them on the arms of young kids in the homes that I visit but I never paid any attention whatsoever- which is perhaps exactly the level of attention they deserve. I'd be hard put to think of anything that deserves less attention. Basically they are cheap rubber bands in the shape of various things-animals, mythical figures, princess icons,etc. that kids strap across their wrists. There's a website for them, and a Wikipedia note on them as well.

Considering the low cost of this item (which is, of course at least about 50 times the cost of production) I'm considering ordering a bunch to amuse the yard apes and keep them off my back when I visit homes. OK. If you can think of anything more harmless (but I'm sure you can think of things more silly) I challenge you to present it. Maybe nose picking in private? This, however, is not the opinion of various schools who have "banned the silly bands". I became aware of this while reading this week's Time Magazine. They have a more extensive article online. What on God's Green earth could be the problem here ? The teachers and the principals who put their insanity into policy claim that it is "distracting".

Pupils may "play with their bands" rather than sitting with bated breath until the next utterance from the god at the front of the room. I suggest they strip the little buggers naked so they will have nothing to "play with" while they imbibe the great wisdom from the front of the room. But maybe then they would still have "something to play with". Ooops !

The teachers have also claimed that the kids engage in 'trades' of the bands and that sometimes the partners in these trades "regret" the deals that they have made. This leads to "hard feelings", and, of course, the abolition of any feeling beyond loyalty to an ideology is a primary goal of modern education.

Teachers today are, for instance, under the illusion that they can "abolish bullying" by ramping up the control of the students by institutional bullying to such a degree that the students will not engage in "bullying" - other than of course informing the great bully (the teachers and the school administration) of violations of the code ie informing just like any good member of the Hitler Youth would have done.

The inculcation of ideology, however, while a primary goal of our education system is not the primary goal. That goal is pretty simple...to keep the little bastards babysat so that both their parents can engage in the wage labour necessary to raise a family today. In the last few decades the ideas of "progressive eduction" have been gradually corrupted such that today the idea that there are objective standards of knowledge would be considered evidence that you were a right wing fanatic. At the same time the school system, while it has gradually abandoned the real function of teaching ie the passing on of knowledge (the conservatives are right here) has taken up a Hitler/Stalin pact whereby, as long as you have the little lizards trapped in kid jail for a few hours a day you might as well "teach them to behave properly". In this desire to exercise control leftists and right wingers are equally enthusiastic.

The desire to "ban the bands" has to be seen in this context. Of course it is silly and absurd, but it means a lot to that portion of the working class whose product is social control. It comes close to being their reason for being. It is also taken up with enthusiasm by their bosses who are part of the ruling class and are very much in agreement with the idea that children should be controlled whether the control is rational or not. After all control is the major reason for the institutions that they govern. The irrationality is not so irrational once you understand that, aside from warehousing kids, one of the major functions of the schools are to discipline kids to "fit in" to institutions where the word of the boss and his point of view is divine.

That's how I personally see this incredible attempt to impose bureaucratic will on young children. I don't know how long a period of "physical reality" without the ability to control others would be necessary to reform people who want to increase their power by such evil acts. Canada has a huge area on Ellsmere Island for their colonies where they would have no opportunity to direct the behavior of anyone else. A compassionate society would, of course, provide the necessary food and shelter for the bare physical comforts necessary to philosophical contemplation on the nature of good and evil. No "political commissars" would be provided. Figure it out yourselves guys, and maybe some day you could rejoin civilized society.

SASKATCHEWAN:

SUBURBS AWAIT SCHOOL SPOILS:

As regular readers of this blog know Molly originally hails from the Province of Saskatchewan (before escaping to civilization about a quarter of a century ago). One of my favourite sayings is that I spent 14 years in "beautiful" downtown Regina and that most people serve less time for killing somebody in our society. Macleans Magazine recently did a survey of what are the most dangerous cities in Canada, and Regina came out at the top for crime. Winnipeg came number 3, after Saskatoon. The latter amazed me as this didn't use to be the case when I was growing up in that province. Saskatoon was a city that had a real reason for existing while Regina consisted pretty much of those who worked for the government and those who lived off it. Ah, the passing of time and the dreams of youth !

Anyways, the following is from the Act Up In Saskatchewan website, a sort of "mini-Indymedia" site based out of Regina. It discusses the latest plan to continue to close inner city schools in that city in favour of giving out funds to suburban schools. The case is actually quite typical of many cities across Canada, Winnipeg included, as public funds are diverted to those who already have to the detriment of those who do not. For a fuller discussion of this issue see the Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy blog. I particularily like the Buffie St. Marie quote, "Regina makes me wish I had never been born". I'm also glad to see that John Conway has decided to do something useful in his old age rather than spread the gispel according to Mao.

Suburbs await school spoils
Written by Trish Elliott
Wednesday, 05 March 2008
Regina’s wealthy awaited the spoils last night as school trustees voted resoundingly against a moratorium on the closure or merger of 14 inner city schools. Older schools are a “drain” on the system, argued Cindy Jarvis, representing the school council of Campbell Collegiate, a large south end Regina collegiate. Jarvis complained that Campbell’s higher socio-economic status was a burden that might cause “prejudice” against the school, and asked when the cost savings from the closures would be transferred over to the remaining schools. She also put in a pitch for more funds, saying Campbell needs a “facelift.” The trustees apparently felt Campbell’s pain; only one, John Conway, voted in favour of the moratorium.

Meanwhile, other presenters voiced their concern over a plan that will put nearly half of Regina’s elementary school population on buses. Parent Leif Caldor noted that the map of closures looks nearly identical to maps depicting low income and aboriginal populations, and criticized the board for their middle-class bias. More to the point, presenter Leslea Mair quoted Buffy St. Marie: “Regina makes me wish I had never been born.”

Noting that the trustees seem firmly set to begin the plan on March 11, RealRenewal, a group opposing the closures, said they will turn their attention toward the province and the polls.

HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL:

Once more down memory lane. When she was 13 Molly's father retired and we moved in from the country to "beautiful" Regina, Saskatchewan. Culture shock big time. It didn't take two weeks for poor little Molly to witness (but not participate in) her first gang fight in the parking lot of a nearby Safeway. Rather impressive to a country kid. Molly adjusted well enough to her new surroundings. As a country kid she was rather shocked by what she saw, but she had the advantage of good ol' country livin' that made her at least twice as strong as her size allowed. It took a long time for dissipated living to reduce the original genetic and early environmental advantage with which I was gifted. One of my first actions was to deliberately pick a fight with the scariest bully in the neighbourhood. He got in more punches; so he won on points, but if the fight had continued more than the hour it did I would have won because of endurance. From there on in I could cruise on rep. It helped to carry a knife.

When I first moved to the city I was exposed to the tender mercies of a 'catholic school' whose methods of discipline included manners of torture that are part of military interrogation across the world. Lean against a wall on one finger of each hand. Not too difficult for the first few seconds. If you slack,however, you get whacked across the back. As the minutes drag on circulation in the two index fingers becomes compromised. Lawsuits about lost fingers were rare as the kids usually accepted the beatings across the back rather than the pain from the fingers. Trust me; try it and you won't like it. The stretch to a point above your ability was a similar torture with the same incentive of flagellation if you failed. To this day this is why Molly believes every story about abuse in residential schools when the story is told by an ordinary Indian. She saw it and felt it in her own body. She has her doubts when the stories are conveyed through the dishonest chiefs, but the experience of the ordinary person in a residential school was even more horrendous than anything that Molly saw- which was bad enough.

In high school Molly had the misfortune (or fortune if you will) of being a "red diaper baby" and reading the Communist Manifesto at the age of 13. This meant that she was a Marxist for a few years until she grew up. Marxism is a religious response for many Catholics who see the evil inherent in the institutional Church but are unprepared to abandon religious ways of thinking totally. One religion substitutes for another. Needless to say I was not popular amongst the Jesuit teachers at the high school that I attended. My "rep" prevented them from manipulating the rich kids to attack me so they had to do the dirty work themselves. They did it very well.

One instance involved,unfortunately, the first honest priest I had ever met in my life, Father Brady. Brady was actually a decent man. He had a thing going with one of the nuns teaching across the field at the catholic girls' school. They used to meet in the dead of night to hump in the field. Later both him and her left holy orders and got married. Anyways, I was being my usual assholeish self in his Latin class, and he decided to try and make it somebody else's problem by sending me to the principal, a priest named Boyle. Now Boyle was not perverse. He was merely an ordinary nasty clerical fascist. He knew where he was. His type would sanction mass killings in places like Franco's Spain but would refuse to countenance torture. The ideal Jesuit, logical and clean. Brady expected a mere interrogation and intimidation session with two punches at worst. What he didn't know was that Boyle was not there. The vice principal McCardle was. This was one sick puppy, and the likes of him was one of the reasons why Brady eventually left the priesthood (sex aside). McCardle was a sexual sadist who loved inflicting physical pain. His desires couldn't even be confined to the ever present opportunities for "discipline" afforded by a Catholic school. He used to prowl the halls to grab students by the nerves in their shoulders and bring them down to their knees by his version of the Vulcan nerve pinch. Try it and see how painful it is. Ha,ha,ha.

So Molly waltzes in to the principal's office and, "oh shit" it's this demon. Here we go. Hold em out. This bugger had a really enthusiastic way of applying "the strap" to your hands. He'd actually jump up in the air to get the maximum swing to the leather. Now Molly has to more or less apologize to her genteel "politically correct" audience here as the words that follow are those that went through her mind at the time. They also go through the mind of everyone subjected to such treatment anywhere who has the determination to withstand it. Only the language varies. The meaning is the same.

The strap came down again and again. Molly didn't move one inch. The flesh parted. The blood spurted. The wounds got bigger and bigger. In Molly's mind the following words came over and over,

"Do your worst you dirty cocksucker. I won't flinch no matter what you do. You are a dirty bastard. I hate your guts. I'll get my revenge some day, but I won't give you any satisfaction now you filthy cock sucking bastard. "

Well Molly withstood it, and eventually the demon grew tired of tearing her hands apart. Back to Brady's class. Walk in dripping blood like Jesus come down from the cross from her hands. Brady is beside himself to apologize, explaining that he thought that Boyle was in his office. Molly grunts in too much pain to appreciate the apology or to think period. One more step.Just one more step.I've seen other situations like this in my life in much more serious circumstances. The class is dismissed. Brady has one more thing to think about as he plans to exit the Jesuits.

Then there was the story of Father John Toth- hopefully presently frying in the circle of Dante's Infierno reserved for the wrathful. This was an interesting animal as he was the "original" for every leftist's dream of those who oppose their sexual ideal. Very few people who disagree with leftism's ideology of "homophobia" actually conform to the cartoon version but Toth did. To say the least he was an annoyance as at least 1/2 of every class that he taught was devoted to two subjects. One was "the commies are out to get your mind"- interesting as I was a commie at that time (the foolishness of youth). The other was "be a man".

This was particularly bizarre as Toth was a great closet queen in the tradition of Elizabeth I . One of his favourite occupations was to cruise the hallways and fondle the bums of students with a great grin on his face. Even his clerical robe couldn't always hide the hard-on. Let us say that Molly never gave him a hard-on. He hated my guts with a deep passion. One day I was doing my usual radical student stuff,passing around a petition for students' rights in the hallways (FAR LESS RADICAL THAN MY BROTHER_NOW DECEASED_WHO BROKE THE COLLARBONE OF THE FOOTBALL HERO WHO WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT THE PRIESTS ENLISTED TO INTIMIDATE ORDINARY STUDENTS-MOLLY HAS ALWAYS BEEN RATHER NON-VIOLENT UNLESS IT WAS NECESSARY-more on this story if you want). Father Toth came up in full fury. Ranting and raving about the communist conspiracy. Being as I was a communist at the time and several evolutionary steps above him in the great chain of being I KNEW that what I was passing around was pure liberalism. He was so silly that I started to laugh at him. Bad plan but unavoidable. I meet the same sort of nonsense even today, but it disguises itself as leftism. The common factor is a total lack of a sense of humour- indicating much more serious intellectual defects.

Anyways, I laughed. The sucker turned red. He turned white. He turned red again. The details of his silly face are firm in my memory even after all these these years because they were so amazing. He said, "I'll see you in my room after school Murtagh". Here we go folks. I spend the afternoon with the 'Campion Smart Club', the honour students who could double as the 'Campion Atheists' except they didn't draw as much "heat" as I do. Good people everyone, but without "the devil in their soul".

OK. Let's go rock and roll. I go into Toth's private little torture chamber. He rants. He raves. He threatens. He puffs out his fat chest. Now... Tothy Poo used to be a professional boxer in his days of proving how much he wasn't queer and he had an impressive chest before it fell down to the level of his gut. Finally Molly can take no more of his bullshit. She takes off her glasses (yes Molly has always been nearsighted),

"OK Buddy, take your swing"

Now, Toth was a professional boxer. But Molly was trained by the best. This bastard could win on the prairies, But Molly's father was boxing champion of Quebec in his weight class, and the evil bugger insisted that Molly learn the techniques. He only stopped my training when I hurt him by a judo throw.Ironically enough my judo career ended when I disabled the "champion" who was supposed to go on to win an upcoming competition with a nasty street trick that I learned from the old man (all that I can say here is DON'T LEAVE DISCIPLINE TO YOUR BEST OR YOU MAY FUCK UP-Pick Man # 2 to be your thug).

Anyways Toth landed a goodly number of punches on me. Enough to turn my face to a nasty bloody pulp- until I got my guard up. Toth may have been a professional boxer in southern Saskatchewan, but my father fought the best in eastern Canada. My guard was unbreakable once I got it up after he had the advantage of surprise. To this day I wonder why I didn't fight back. I had the advantage even though he was 100m pounds heavier than me. But I merely blocked until he got scared by the skill.

I went home. My parents saw my face. The old lady was beside herself about lawsuits. The old man-who I may remind you was a boxing champion wanted to go and beat the shit out of this sleazy priest. Let us say that this wasn't the first time that the Irish community has confronted the corruption of their priests. My father was convinced to not finish my fight by a phone call where Boyle forced Toth to apologise. One can imagine the ear twisting. We accepted this grovelling and neither launched a law suit over assault nor turned up with 200 people at the Jesuit centre with a bad temper.

That is my "high school confidential". It reads more like a report from eastern Europe under Communist rule. It may be more brutal than what actually happens today, particularly if your school is not Catholic-though Molly has little doubt that there are other "techniques of persuasion" in public schools that are more modern and presumably more effective.

By the way most of the people mentioned in this blog are long dead.

Keep smiling,

Molly

WHEN TELLING THE TRUTH IS AN OFFENSE:

Molly has recently come upon an interesting item on the Saskatchewan blog Shagya's Blog about a high school student in Wayota, Saskatchewan, who was suspended from school for the simple fact of countering the propaganda doled out by the teachers in the school about marijuana. Molly has heard reports about this on the radio and being as she was unlucky enough to grow up in Saskatchewan eventually intended to blog about this herself. But Shagya has said it all. The student involved is an honours student who has now gone to China to study there (no..he's not Chinese; he's just smart). The social control as opposed to education function of the school system could not be more plainly expressed than it is here. No place for intelligence in school. Go to Shagya's blog for the full story. Brings back bad memories of Molly's own ancient high school experiences with the Jesuits. Some of those black coated bastards could punch real good.