Welcome back grade inflation

“There’s something happening here, and what it is ain’t exactly clear.” ~ Buffalo Springfield

At the close of the 2016 school year, news dispatches remind us that college can be a high octane pressure cooker. From complaints of racial discrimination against Asian Americans trying to get in:

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/05/20/408240998/is-harvard-showing-bias-against-asian-americans

asian-american-discrimination-college

To the sometimes acrimonious ritual of final grade reports spiraling out of control…

 …a real bad day in LA…

la_lockdownhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/us/ucla-shooting.html?_r=0

The shooting started around 10 am, Wednesday, June 1st, 2016. Inside a small office in the engineering IV building of the UCLA campus, where hundreds of people were winding their semester down taking care of semester end tasks.

Once the bang of the gun and the jingling of shell casings were heard, people scattered and the campus was placed on lockdown. Text message and email alerts kept students with their heads down and hands up as local, and federal law enforcement agencies responded apropos to an “active shooter” event. Except it wasn’t an active shooter this time. It was a lone troubled student and a young engineering professor settling final issues, never to do so again.

Meanwhile in another “Shining City on the Hill.”

dtlumacki_plymurder

The body of another desperately troubled youth was pulled from a Massachusetts River near Gill.  Authorities believe 23yr old Tyler Hagmaier jumped from the French King Bridge into the Connecticut River about a mile upstream from Gill on may 6, 2016.  Hagmaier had earlier stabbed his next-door neighbor, a college professor, to death for motives not even understood by the killer as indicated in the confession note he left behind.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/31/body-found-connecticcut-river-may-murder-suspect-tyler-hagmaier-police-say/3zXSTS0GPpVQu6h9NdTcsO/story.html

Here in the Loopcircus…

College students and staff, as they do every year at this time, exhale and begin planning for the upcoming summer and fall sessions. However, this time they turn attention to an edict handed down by the governor and Board of Regents. To wit, college campuses, currently exempt from conceal and carry regulations making it unlawful to take weapons to school unless you’re a licensed law enforcement professional in good standing with your respective agency, will now prepare for a day when the exemption is removed (July 1, 2017).

The current exempt status is sensible and sane as college campuses are mostly populated by young impressionables just beginning to come to terms with raging hormones and the pressures of adulthood. It makes sense they should be prohibited from carrying firearms on campus, right? Not so fast podna. We got ourselves some wild west nostalgia addicts in Topeka, and they don’t care how it makes them look when guns are prohibited only in places that can afford expensive metal detectors at every entrance. Students and staff now must contemplate a future where EVERYONE brings their weapon. That’s right, Kansas has finally lost its mind, and the clock will be ticking through the fall and spring semesters 2016-17. Come July 2017, the exemption will be lifted, and those choosing not to leave Kansas for saner pastures have been asked to just “go along” with the law as handed down by the statehouse and subsequently blessed by the Board of Regents.

http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article19296501.html

concealcarry

HOWEVER, it’s not over till it’s over…

Three-fourths of Kansans responding to a poll oppose legislation… and they most likely won’t go quietly into governor brownback’s 21st century OK corral. Look for some significant noise coming from the campuses. It’s gonna be a long year.

The study results are part of the annual “Kansas speaks” survey conducted by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University.

WHAT’S THE NEWS:

Another loop in the human circus,
Stay tuned, this year is gonna get uber interesting.

Heavy cross to bear

Those who use the Tao to advise the powerful do not dominate the world with soldiers. Such methods tend to return. ~ Lao Tzu

It’s been a lousy week for particular members of the Cracka Squad.

Though one could argue The Donald only panders, he seems clearly resolute in his commitment to said pandering. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump is one or two steps from admitting his campaign is out of money (of all things). Maybe some fundraising lessons from televangelists?

trump

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/5/31/1532693/-Trump-s-campaign-is-broke

One could argue Rush Limbaugh merely panders as well, but no one doubts he speaks the language, and how. Unfortunately, a live-by-the-sword karmaloop is bearing down on the talent-on-loan-from-god Ditto King for another turn of the screw.

rush

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/is-rush-limbaugh-in-trouble-talk-radio-213914

James Dobson (a bonafide political operative if one ever existed) is one Cracka Fatwa removed from having transgender bathroom interlopers executed by “real men.”

??????? W-T-actual-F ???????

“If you are a dad, I pray you will protect your little girls from men who walk in unannounced, unzip their pants and urinate in front of them,” he said. “If this had happened 100 years ago, someone might have been shot. Where is today’s manhood? God help us!”

James-Dobson

https://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/evangelist-james-dobson-laments-the-lack-of-transgender-shooting-victims-in-unhinged-anti-obama-rant/

Some say it’s a sign of times, but it doesn’t have to be this way. At least not in our little slice of heaven (the good ‘ol U.S.ofA). Seriously… the secular “Nones” are a fast growing religious non-affiliation, and Millennials now officially outnumber the primary perpetrators of the loathsome culture war… Baby Boomers (“baby” being the operant word). Please, people!?! These crackas only have as much power and influence as we allow. Please, with your feet, your wallet, and your ballot, please… please… VOTE!

pew_generations

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/

nones

http://www.pewforum.org/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/

Round and Round in Loops

The Donald is ordered to release documents in Trump University lawsuit… 

…and he’s not happy about it. The U.S. presidential candidate called presiding federal judge (Gonzalo Curiel) “a hater” and spent 10 minutes airing grievances about the 2010 case at a recent 58-minute appearance in San Diego. Trump accused the judge of bias and called for him to be removed from the case.

The court order did not go over well with the booing trump-friendly San Diego crowd as rulings against trump were cited.  Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Curiel was appointed to the bench by Trump’s “birther” conspiracy target, President Barack Obama. The announcement of the order came on the same day as the trump speech, but some of the material had already been presented to the public.

“…some of the documents have already surfaced online. Online political website politico in March posted a 2010 Trump University playbook, which instructed employees to rank students by liquid assets to help determine what kind of course packages they could afford to buy.”

trump_u_lawsuit

WHAT’S THE NEWS?
A federal judge in San Diego has ordered the unsealing of hundreds of pages of internal documents produced by Donald Trump’s Trump University in connection with a fraud lawsuit against the company, the latest twist in the long-running lawsuit against the school.

For more, see source: Judge Orders Release of Documents in Trump University Lawsuit – WSJ

Sympathy for the Constable

 

From the Loopcircus archives…

Perhaps we can come to grips with the dusty remnants of racism in our country. But while we grapple with the facts and what those facts mean, it’s important to appreciate the role police officers play in a world where human on human violence has been on a steady and sharp decline since the middle ages. These officers are human too… and very often they feel “called” to serve. compelled by a sense of duty … a force that makes them think they can help … that they should serve … and they do.

Stealin’ Loops

It’s just lazy.

Look, Kirby Ferguson is right, everything IS a remix, there’s nothing new under the sun. However, when producing music, if you need a vocal, sing it! If you can’t sing, find someone in the neighborhood that can. Seriously, in an age where you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting an “American Idol,” or “The Voice” aspirant it’s lazy to pinch, especially vocals, from someone else’s tracks. That said, if you must have “that vocal,” the least you can do is send props the original singer’s way or maybe, here’s an idea, request permission for the pinch. It’s one thing to play or sing in the manner of someone else’s work, that’s homage, that’s a compliment. But to scrape it from the original artist’s track is, well, it’s just lazy.

Shame on you Bieb. Do better next time. After all, you’re are setting an example for millions of Beliebers, please, do the right thing.

WHAT’S THE NEWS (follow the link to compare tracks)?
Artist White Hinterland claims that Bieber stole parts from her song “Ring the Bell.”
 Justin Bieber Is Being Sued For Allegedly Stealing Vocal Loops In “Sorry”

Trump, Sanders explore an unconventional presidential debate

So, Sec. Clinton backed out of an agreement to debate Bernie before the California vote saying she didn’t think a Trump-Sanders debate would happen. Surprise!

Loopcircus doesn’t have a problem with this. The Clinton campaign and the DNC may have written off the Sanders challenge, but The Donald? Well, he’s not your average Redumblicrat.

WHAT’S THE NEWS?
Billionaire Donald Trump and Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders on Thursday (May 26, 2016) explored staging an unconventional US presidential debate that would sideline democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton but creates a high-ratings television spectacle Trump should raise ten million dollars for charitable causes.

Source: Trump, Sanders explore an unconventional presidential debate | Reuters

Dual-vortex tornado… what does it mean?

DOOM!

A dual-vortex tornado is considered a symbol of apocalypse and is a sign of impending doom for some nature-worshipping cultists. The first vortex represents the material world, and the second signifies the opening of the gates of hell. Dual-vortex tornado flags have been used to trigger general despair and social collapse. This one was spotted near Dodge City, Kansas the first Spring season of the Trump Administration. 

Still waiting for the apocalypse (original posting, May 25, 2016).

Today’s loopy full-circle irony break

starr

In a classic turn of the tables, Ken Starr, a.k.a. “Darth Blowjob,” blames himself for distracting, “…the most gifted politician of the baby boomer generation.” According to a NY Times report, some of his associates credited Starr’s full-court witch-hunt for pulling the Clinton Administration into an all-hands-on-deck distraction from the growing threat posed by Osama bin Laden. Starr seems to regret his place in history. In a belated nod of contrition at a panel discussion on the presidency, Darth Blowjob said his investigation had taken too long and that it “brought great pain to a lot of people.”

Thanks a lot, Obama!

Welcome, friends!!

Loopcircus… established April 2016 and midwived by Ron Rohlf, a musical refugee, reluctant tech wrangler, 5th estate evangelist, father, brother, son, uncle, cousin, joker, smoker, midnight toker. He also admires of the work of Dr. Clare W. Graves… distinguished professor of “Humanistic Psychology.”

Topics featured by loopcircus.com cover a range of interests primarily focused on the loops described in Dr. Graves’ work … how this insight can help practitioners of the 5th Estate engage folks they hope to reach.

Anyhoo, the site is born. Time to explore all manner of wonder in this loopy wild ride!

So it goes…
On and on and on and on…
Welcome to the loopcircus!

Cheers… Rohlfie