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What's NEWS ?

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For a while, I thought I was gonna be Joe Webpage, and have a news page upfdated regularly. Cool idea. I'm that organized. Cool fantasy. But here's what's left of it. Who knows, maybe I'll try it again when life is a little less hectic...
 
 
*** NEWS FLASHES ***
DANG! Things have become so
frantic that I no longer
have time to keep the
NEWS section updated.
I'll try to hit the big
stories as they come up...
For example:
 
9/17/02
LYNDA says "Sigi-na, Baby!"
At a San Francisco book signing, Lynda Barry
answers my questions and doubts about my
wrting. Autobifictionalography, baby!
 
9/16/02
If they asked me, I could write a book...
and they asked me. A major publisher wants the
book, now I'm trying to decide how much to tell.
No wonder people wait until everybody's dead
before they Tell All...
 
9/11/02
Justice catches up with Himmelberg
After years of depicable shenanigans, our SLUSD
superintendant is cleaning out his desk.
 
8/28/02
Two isn't always terrible...
My younger bio-daughter turned two today, and
it was a delight to stop and consider what a wonderful
child she is...
 
8/15/02
I'll do it again in another 20 years...
I'm back from my sense-defying trip to my old Okie
Homeland. Gotta feel pity for a town like that.
 
8/09/02
EVE of DESTRUCTION
Tomorrow I'm returning to Oklahoma for the first time in
twenty years. WHY? maybe I'll know when I get back...
 
8/08/02
JUST DESSERTS
Jury awards $500,000 in damages in a racism case
against my school and superintendant. The truth hurts,
and sometimes it's very expensive.
 
see below for more on these stories

 
NOTICE: the NEWS updates will resume when time permits

  *** NEWS FLASHES ***
 
9/11/02
In the spirit of Immelda Marcos packing up her
shoes, SLHS Superintendant Tom "Let them eat
cake" Himmelberg is gathering his golf clubs and
hopping the next rail out of town, leaving behind a
decade of financial mismanagement, educational
neglect, and an ethical slime trail. His tenure will
be remembered as an era of racist, gay-hating
special interests and contempt for the educational
needs of the district's 7,000 students.
Being found guilty of "despicable" actions had
little to do with his sudden departure, he says.
Riiiiight... Whatever. He's gone, so let's not look a gift
horse in the mouth. Especially since that's not the
end of the horse we're dealing with. No doubt the
district is paying him handsomely to go away.
Worth it. Totally worth it.
 
8/28/02
SOPHIA turned two today, and I stopped to
reflect on how beautifully her Moms have raised her.
She's a happy, confident, playful, affectionate, funny
kid who loves to sing, dance and read to her teddy-
bears. [There's Bear blood in her genes, of course,
along with New Orleans Creole and Melungeon.]
Some kids have already told her that she can't have
two mommies -- but she does, and they're wonderful
parents in every way.
 
8/15/02
Imagine having been abused throughout
your childhood, and imagine, thirty years later,
going to visit that abuser as he lays shrunken with
age, weak and insensate on his death-bed.
Seeing Blackwell again, I felt little but pity for the
Town without Pity. Little fear, little anger. Still
the toxic black-hole that it always was,  its evil is
hard to see behind the peeling paint and social
decay that scars this ghost-town in the making.
See my Back to Blackwell page for the full story.
 
8/09/02
Getting ready to go to Blackwell tomorrow.
What am I thinking? I spent 12 years getting
out of it, thirty years getting over it, and now
I'm returning to the scene of the crime[s]. I'll
be seeing Launa and Carla, two actual friends
from the bad old days, but god knows what
other Okie life forms I may encounter. <shudder>
I'll have more to say when I get back. Much more.
 
8/08/02
It took the jury only an hour to find that
my school district and superintendant
Thomas Himmelberg had engaged in
racist and unconstitutional actions
against SLHS teacher Karl Debro [see
my friends page] and denied him his free
speech rights through unconstitutional
policies and "despicable actions."
Guilty on five counts. I spent several
hours on the stand, and the last five
years involved in the case. Karl had
asked for $450,000 damages, but the
jury gave him half a million. That's OK.
Karl had been "disciplined" for speaking
out in class about racism & homophobia,
which, in fact, teachers are ethically and
legally required to do. Look for some big
changes at San Leandro High School.
UPDATE: The district dodged the jury's
assessment of Himmelberg's personal
liability by writing a check for $1.2 million.
Himmelberg had been found guilty of fraud,
oppression and malice -- expensive hobbies
for a public servant. Now why is the district
paying for him to perform these despicable
acts & picking up the tab for his punishment?

09/11/02 "Gone where the goblins go"
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8/28/02 Sophia's second Birthday
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8/15/02 Max in Blackwell
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Max back at Blackwell High School

8/09/02
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8/08/02
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WHY IS THIS MAN SMILING?

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