seeline

Yesterday a plane towing a banner that read "Take it down or we will" flew over the campus and town. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/plane_flying_around_penn_state.html Today I spoke with someone who told me that they have talked with several people who would willingly start a riot (literally) if the Paterno shrine is dismantled. Sadly - given the riot last November, plus the riot in the spring of last year after the news of Osama Bin Laden's death was broadcast, i fear that the place is a powder keg and that rioting is a very real possibility. It all makes me feel sick. Penn State has some excellent academic and research programs, but the way people are taking the Freeh report is really *not* good. I'm sure plenty of Paterno's supporters are adamant about the family going through with their "investigation." (What a sick joke!)

Probably has something to do with his job on the PSU football coaching staff. * aloc, we keep cross-posting.

Just... wow. (And not in a good way, either.) http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/former_psu_president_graham_sp.html

I suspect that people *will* go on trial after the state grand jury announces its findings - though who knows when that will be. there is talk of a federal grand jury investigation as well, though I don't think any media sources ahve confirmed that as yet.

Paterno family statement re. conducting their own investigation (!!!) because they will not accept Freeh's findings: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/07/16/3262663/members-of-joe-paterno-family.html

No surprise there, I think.

I think you could have come up with the same answer via a little judicious research yesterday. No doubt. But I preferred to talk to a vastly experienced professional in the field whom I knew personally and therefore, because of his track record, felt I could trust, rather than take the word of authorities I don't know. Of course, one often is in the latter position of necessity, but this time I was not and decided I should take advantage of that fact. No doubt you could have Googled the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for pedophilia. It's not exactly unavailable on the web. If you have never really dealt with the fallout from adults who prey on children for sex, then I apologize. But I think the ages of Sandusky's victims kind of spells things out. (8, 10, etc.) Yes, but as I said, I preferred to talk to a real person in the field whom I knew and trusted and who also could respond to any questions I might want to ask. Further, while the iterations of the DSM over the years all strive to be "scientific," in some areas they also are or can be "political" (i.e. responsive to various societal pressures), and I wanted to talk to someone whom I thought would tell me the truth as he saw it regardless of whose nose might be put out of joint, my own included. I understand that... I guess i have been all too aware of similar cases, for years, given what's been going on in the Roman Catholic church, for one thing. And no, the DSM-whatever version isn't written in stone, but I think that sexually assaulting little kids (of either gender) speaks to not only something very dark but also to something that is very clearly pathological. (As well as, well... wrong.) I also realize that not everyone has followed the grand jury presentment leak + arrest of Sandusky + Sandusky trial closely enough to be familiar with the victims' statements (both to the grand jury as well as in court during Sandusky's recent trial), but the victims all speak to the same pattern of actions on Sandusky's part. And several of them spoke of screaming for help (some while in Jerry and Dottie Sandusky's house, while Dottie Sandusky was upstairs and J. Sandusky was in the basement with the victims in question). Some of the ugliest aspects of the case (and what the state grand jury is dealing with) have to do - very directly - with the fact that people at the highest levels of PSU's administration decided it would not be "humane" to pursue any kind of responsible actions against Sandusky, even though they clearly knew that he was molesting kids on campus. Those administrators (I'm including Joe Paterno in this, not just Spanier, Curley and Schulz) effectively enabled Sandusky's continued predation on children. For years - in fact, for well over a decade. So did the board of The Second Mile, which declared the 1998 case to be a "non-issue." There is so much culpability here it's not funny. But the typical response (as with the reports of pedophiles in the RC church and in other churches) was not only to circle the wagons around the predator, but to attempt to actively discredit anyone's attempts at bringing things to light. The amount of hostility directed toward Sarah Ganim (reporter for the Harrisburg Patriot, 22 years old when she 1st broke the story about Sandusky and suspicions of his assaults back in 2009) was vicious. Because you do NOT criticize either the football coaches (past and present) or the supposedly wonderful charity that one of those coaches has founded.... one that has branches throughout the state and that worked very closely with the foster care system and with social work and mental health professionals. Nobody's supposed to rock the boat. it's worth noting that Sandusky's defense team tried to subpoena Ganim during the trial. She (all of 24 now!) said she would go to jail rather than reveal her sources; her paper backed her and the defense lawyers (who also tried to pull off their own DSM-IV-style coup to discredit the "pedophilia" diagnosis) had to back down. Honestly, the level of belief that neither Sandusky or Paterno were guilty of any wrongdoing is still very high, though I suspect that the Freeh report is getting to some of the hardcore Sandusky/Paterno supporters. In the meantime, the state grand jury investigation is still under way, and apparently a federal grand jury investigation has been convened as well. That the public knows anything at all about the state grand jury presentment is due to a leak. No doubt there will be more of them (leaks), as with some of the emails cited in the Freeh report. The grand jury's presentment isn't very long, and is available on most PA-based news sites. (Like the one I linked to a few pages back, pennlive.com). The Freeh report is a tome, though, and I haven't read it yet.

I think you could have come up with the same answer via a little judicious research yesterday. No doubt. But I preferred to talk to a vastly experienced professional in the field whom I knew personally and therefore, because of his track record, felt I could trust, rather than take the word of authorities I don't know. Of course, one often is in the latter position of necessity, but this time I was not and decided I should take advantage of that fact. No doubt you could have Googled the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for pedophilia. It's not exactly unavailable on the web. If you have never really dealt with the fallout from adults who prey on children for sex, then I apologize. But I think the ages of Sandusky's victims kind of spells things out. (8, 10, etc.)

I think you could have come up with the same answer via a little judicious research yesterday. At any rate, I think the onus (in situations like the one with Sandusky) is on not just Sandusky himself, but those who knowingly enabled his continued abuse of children. And *that* encompasses a whole lot of people, both inside PSU and in the town - The administrators at The Second Mile being (imo) some of the worst offenders in this regard, since their stated purpose was to help troubled children, not put them in harm's way. As for the victims who testified - and all those who have not come forward (I'm sure there are many) - the thing is... they are the ones who need help and support. That seems obvious enough, but the outrage re. the reputation of Paterno (and many others) on the part of rabid PSU fans has eclipsed the goal of helping those who were harmed. The head of state-style funeral that Paterno got is a case in point - such ostentation, and for what? (Check this story from today's NYT re. Paterno's contract demands, made shortly after he testified before the grand jury this past January... they're beyond belief: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/sports/ncaafootball/joe-paterno-got-richer-contract-amid-jerry-sandusky-inquiry.html?_r=1&ref=sports ) [breath] Apology accepted. I've tried. Not sure it did any good, though.

The standard answer is that most abusers were abused - makes sense to me. But this is a complex subject and not one on which I feel I can speculate. It's a very difficult thing - almost like trying to put oneself inside the mind of an abuser, and I definitely don't want to go there. I find it hard enough to deal with the news about Sandusky et. al. as is.

Not sure if anyone's referenced this article on pedophile teachers at the Horace Mann HS in NYC, but I think it might be relevant: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/magazine/the-horace-mann-schools-secret-history-of-sexual-abuse.html?pagewanted=all There were teachers like the ones discussed in the article at my HS; they were after both boys and girls. I don't think the gender of the person being preyed on matters so much as does the intent and actions of the predator(s). I do not think this article would have been published were it not for both the ongoing pedophile scandals in many churches (not just Roman Catholic) and the trial of Jerry Sandusky. And - as at PSU - the predators at Horace Mann were protected by their colleagues, as well as by the administration. I think that's likely the case in all situations of this sort. Few pedophiles are reported, and even fewer are prosecuted. The victims are left in limbo or worse. As to your question, Larry, I would rather plead the Fifth. I thought the thread was about the Sandusky verdict as well as the Freeh report, not so much about the sexual identities of those who prey on children. I find it ironic, given how Sandusky's defense team tried to play the mental illness card (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) to get him off the hook. Anything to protect the firm, be it PSU or a so-called charity (The Second Mile). I don't think the significance of The Second Mile - and its influence (i.e., Sandusky's influence) on social services for troubled kids has hit home for reporters, either in-state or from the national news media. The Second Mile was incredibly well-respected and highly recommended as a way to help kids. To know it was a front at very best is quite a shock - and the repercussions are going to last for a long time.

Larry - a fair number of Sandusky's victims were under age 12 (8, 10, etc.) at the time he began molesting them. You might want to check the grand jury report and reports of testimony at the trial for more details - try http://www.pennlive.com for starters, for actual documents and accurate reporting. (Reporter Sarah Ganim won an Pulitzer for her work on this issue, which began in 2009.) This *is* about pedophilia and the way a peodphile used the football program to lure and groom victims. It's also about a willing cover-up. And about the use of a charity for troubled kids (established by Sandusky - The Second Mile) to troll for potential victims. As a local, I think that: 1. the Paterno shrine should be torn down 2. Penn State should be removed from the Big 10 - in fact, I think the football program should be tabled by the NCAA for at least 5 years 3. post-suspension, that the football schedule and goals should return to what they were prior to the big push to make PSU a football powerhouse 4. that Graham Spanier (ex-pres. of PSU) should go to jail for his collusion and cover-up - and certainly, that he should be fired from the PSU faculty (he still has a job, just not as pres. How ironic that Mike McQueary is currently unemployed!) 5. that the PSU board of trustees needs to be honest about *their* involvement in a coverup (as I believe some members of the board, both present and former, *were* involved) To repeat: this is not about "homoeroticism" and consensual sex between adults. it *is* about an adult man preying on children and being given a free pass by his superiors in both the athletic department and the upper echelons of PSU's administration. Trying to make it over into a "gay" issue is not only misleading; it misses the point *and* unfairly characterizes gay men as pedophiles in the process. * As for PSU - it has a lot to recommend itself as far as education and research facilities. But the buck has to stop somewhere... I think it's time to go back to putting an emphasis on education rather than sports.

I think the soundtrack was the start of the popularity of some of the newer music outside of Brazil, or at least one of the points at which people first became aware of it. As for Jobim and some others knowing the Shank (etc.) recordings, it seems pretty likely. But I'm reserving judgement as to how much influence they might (or might not) have had; am not sure there are any hard and fast answers to that.

IIRC he made a deal about not getting co-leader royalties for the Lp. Which I think he should have, but I guess you can tell that I lived in the D.C. area for a while... * All the sources that I know of (McGowan & Pessanha's The Brazilian Sound, Ruy Castro's book on bossa nova, and others in Portuguese) put the date(s) for the beginning of bossa nova in the late 1950s, though it's not entirely clear - to anyone, I think - when the style actually coalesced. I would need to check elsewhere for the dates of the State Department tour that Byrd was on. * About the Almeida-Shank recordings, McGowan & Pessanha say that Almeida's L.A. trio (started in 1952) "added jazz edges to choro, samba and baião." And

iirc, this gent - Pery Ribeiro - was the 1st to record the song. I love his phrasing.

Charlie Byrd was on a State Department-sponsored tour to Brazil and really *was* ahead of Getz (and others) in bringing word of bossa nova here, as well as in playing it. He never got much recognition for that, but he never made a big deal about not getting proper credit, either. In any case... there's so much more to Brazilian music than this song, and so much more to this song than what most non-Brazilians make of it. Even the original lyrics - they're partly about feeling alone and questioning the meaning of existence; then the speaker (singer) says he sees Beauty (not just physical beauty) in the garota (the girl) and... that changes things from fairly depressing to very hopeful. Just my opinion, but I think this is something that can be seen in Brasil: the creation of beauty (like Carnaval costumes and parades) even in the midst of really terrible circumstances. The lyrics to "A felicidade" (from Black Orpheus) talk about that, too, from within the framework of Carnaval.

I think it applies to all genres of Brazilian music, though I do agree with you re. bossa nova, Jim!

TTK and mikeweil - all very true. "balanço" (the kind of "swing" you hear in most Brazilian music) is different to the US/European ideas of swing, though the Brazilians have managed to incorporate our ideas of swing into their music easily enough. That said, they've altered it to suit. This clip of Elis Regina and Hermeto Pascoal at Montreux - completely unrehearsed - is a favorite of mine... she certainly had fun with the English-language section.

And extremely liberal doses of hair gel...

Going back to the original post... I got a chuckle out of the fRoot's columnist's photo. For someone who claims he has no interest in being cool, he certainly *does* have an investment in maintaining a spiked, semi-hipster hairstyle.

also here - http://maria-brazil.org/embolada.htm You can see/hear repentistas improvising verses in the movie Saudade do Futuro (about poor people from the northeastern part of Brazil who have migrated to São Paulo in search of work).

I've always thought that the "plebeian" bit was a comment on the lover that's being addressed in the lyrics (*you* told me love was too plebeian) - that he/she views themselves as being above such attachments (or immune to them) - so, ironic. Agreed with TMG on the way that line hits.

Re. "I'll be Seeing You," I thought it was I'll be looking at the moon / but I'll be seeing you. (???)

She was so talented - but pretty much ignored here in the US. (Never could figure out why.) I loved her contributions to Black & Blue... her version of "Big Butter and Egg Man" (available on the cast album) is wonderful.

Well, lots of people have been performing songs from the Afro Sambas album for years... it's just a different take on them, more suite-like. She and Bellinatti still tour on this from time to time. I would love to hear them together.