Immigrant in U.S. Custody Ignored to Death

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What the hell is wrong with our country? From the New York Times:

 In April, Mr. Ng began complaining of excruciating back pain. By mid-July, he could no longer walk or stand. And last Wednesday, two days after his 34th birthday, he died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a Rhode Island hospital, his spine fractured and his body riddled with cancer that had gone undiagnosed and untreated for months

…

In federal court affidavits, Mr. Ng’s lawyers contend that when he complained of severe pain that did not respond to analgesics, and grew too weak to walk or even stand to call his family from a detention pay phone, officials accused him of faking his condition. They denied him a wheelchair and refused pleas for an independent medical evaluation.

Instead, the affidavits say, guards at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, R.I., dragged him from his bed on July 30, carried him in shackles to a car, bruising his arms and legs, and drove him two hours to a federal lockup in Hartford, where an immigration officer pressured him to withdraw all pending appeals of his case and accept deportation.

A political party has seen fit to unleash our collective lizard brain for political gain. Many more monstrous things are sure to happen as a result.

Recent Reads—Fell, Sandman, Batman: Year 100, A People’s History of Science

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Clifford Conner’s A People’s History of Science: Miners, Midwives and Low Mechanicks offers a nice corrective to the great-man history that often serves as the discipline’s founding myth. While notable names from Pythagoras to Newton receive attention, Conner’s focus is on the unnamed artisans, craftsman and observers of nature who incrementally created a body of knowledge through countless hours of labor. He inverts the notion that scientific advancements are rooted in theory, showcasing quotes from eminent researchers throughout history about the value of the knowledge possessed by the “miners, midwives and mechanicks” cited in the title. (The relative uselessness of the classical curriculum offered by Oxford and other academies throughout much of their aristocratic past is oft-referenced as well.)

The book is most fascinating at the beginning, when it explores the knowledge and learning of traditional cultures, touching upon the astronomy of prehistoric people and the advanced navigational skills of Polynesian sailors. The book falters a bit as it nears modern times; it lacks a comprehensive take on the successes of modern, professional science, and it also falls into the trap of muddling research and politics. Systematic theories of nature, rightfully frowned upon by Conner when they’re formulated by the Greeks, are presented as a compelling alternative during the French Revolution.

Ultimately, the book is refreshing in presenting a more democratic history of science. Great anecdotes and a lively contrarian nature make for a good read.

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Guess Who Has an IMDB Listing?

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This guy!

The listing comes from my brief-brief-brief cameo in Illegal Use of Joe Zopp, the film that FLYMF co-creator Nick Holle and a group of his friends created in their home town of Chippewa Falls. The movie’s great (you can my response to it here), and it’s been really rewarding to see a group of good friends take a big artistic project through to fruition.

The movie will have its theatrical debut  on August 22 in Chippewa Falls Micon Cinemas; I will definitely be there. The movie will also be featured in Iowa City’s Landlocked Film Festival on August 23, after which there will be a DVD release. If you can make it to any of the screenings, you should show up to support an innovative grassroots film project. Congratulations to everyone involved!