I took my wife and friend to Van Halen last night in the Izod Arena, which used to be the Continental Arena,and everyone still calls “Meadowlands”. The good news is they were great! Eddie, Alex,and David together played like the old days, and Eddie’s kid Wolfgang (who looks like Valerie Bertinelli with short hair) kept up well.But EDDIE is still the star of the show, and made sounds with his guitar I didn’t know a guitar could make. Rock on, gentlemen!Funny though… I used to be able to hear the keys “click” when I typed on my keyboard.
Dave
I am trying to be patient. But the board seemed to be in a rush to fire Ellen- they had to do it in a phone call while she was in the middle of her Freedom Walk- and they apparently had no plan in place, even though this was a premeditated move. So I am suspect about just went on and why. And I would have expected them to have some of their ducks in a row. Otherwise, it just looks like a coup of convenience with Ellen on the road in the middle of something she was very committed to. I am very disappointed in this turn of events and the cloak of secrecy surrounding the board’s actions. I expect better from the atheist leadership at AA.
Karen
Well put and I concur. The secrecy and poor planning with respect to this “transition” makes me suspicious – very.
For your hearing problem, you might need this little widget “Noisy Keyboard”. It makes your keyboard sound like an old typewriter.
http://www.leeos.com/noisy_keyboard.html
What and Karen,
With all due respect, I think you’re having a bit of trouble putting 2 and 2 together.
1) Ellen had the opportunity to attend every meeting, and DID attend her vote meeting. This was not done in secret.
2) If it was a “power play”, Why would Frank take the job as an interim president only, and for no pay? Frank has a full-time job, and is now quite overwhelmed with work to do, for which he will earn nothing.
3) If this had been planned out, don’t you think a permanent president would have been ready to take over?
4) Do you really think any of the board members wanted to fire the respected leader and “resurrector” of the organization?
This is really clear. Ellen really differed from the board in an urgent way (and maybe vice versa), and the board removed her because they thought it was the best course of action. Sometimes things just don’t work out well.
The board is well aware of the situation. They are experienced activists. Most of them remember Madelyn. They’re just trying not to get anyone in trouble (especially American Atheists). Please note Ellen IS still on the Board.
Dave
OK, so what was the beef? I think it’s important we know, because I may differ with the board in an urgent way myself. Except for that “don’t vote” fiasco, I have pretty much agreed with Ellen on most things she’s said and done. So have the board explain to us this new direction that they want to take that differs so much from what Ellen wanted. That should be simple enough.
1) Ellen had the opportunity to attend every meeting, and DID attend her vote meeting. This was not done in secret.
But why did it just happen to coincide with her Freedom Walk, when she was already well into it and committed to the project? Are you saying this came up all at once in one phone call and this was some kind of knee-jerk reaction that ended up in a call for a vote to keep or fire her?
2) If it was a “power play”, Why would Frank take the job as an interim president only, and for no pay? Frank has a full-time job, and is now quite overwhelmed with work to do, for which he will earn nothing.
How would I know why Frank or the other board members would do anything, since they aren’t talking?
3) If this had been planned out, don’t you think a permanent president would have been ready to take over?
Seeing as how we’re just now finding out how the AA hierarchy works, no. I would have thought so, but this question leads me to further believe this was some kind of knee-jerk retaliatory move now.
4) Do you really think any of the board members wanted to fire the respected leader and “resurrector” of the organization?
Obviously something motivated them to look beyond their respect for her and all the great work she’s done. You’ve already said there was no wrong-doing, and she hasn’t found religion. WTF was so urgent about the decision being made right then and there?
This isn’t as simple as adding 2+2. This is you and the board telling us the answer to our question is 4, but not telling us how you arrived at it. And we want to know that the books weren’t cooked.
Dave
What’s this 2+2 stuff?
The board fired Helen and set themselves up for a long disorderly and feckless transition period. That was dumb. Really really dumb. The appearance, and possibly the reality, is that some members of the board have been stalking the presidency and struck hard when they saw an opportunity despite its consequences to the organization.
The board needs to explain, with Ellen’s help, what happened or I am shifting my support elsewhere. So this isn’t about addition at all. It’s about subtraction.
Helen -> Ellen
I do hope that all of you wonderful posters here, from whom I’ve learned so much, don’t abondon this blog. I feel we’ve developed a pretty close familial relationship; it would be sad indeed to lose that bond over the firing of Ellen. Yes, we do need answers, but I need all of YOU to keep me sane in this insane world.
If you chose to leave, I for one, will sorely miss you.
cry4turtles,
At this point, I have no intention of giving up on this blog. In fact, as I have stated elsewhere, this blog is the best thing about American Atheists. I am occasionally and temporarily driven away by the continual inanity of the likes of phreedm, jcc, et al. However, the good feeling of fellowship and the interesting things all the rest of you post always bring me back.
Having said that, since becoming a member of AA a few years ago (post 9/11), I’ve never been terribly impressed with the organization. It has always seemed rather stagnant and unprofessional to me. Perhaps it does the best it can with limited funding, but a growing and vibrant organization would be working harder to increase membership and to bring a level of excellence to its publications and website that are sadly lacking.
For those reasons, I am not necessarily upset with Ellen Johnson no longer being president – just the outrageously clumsy way in which it was handled. I’m all for a new and positive direction for American Atheists. So far, though, this regime change isn’t knocking my socks off.
“I doubt everyone would get behind a boycott.” – Karen
Obviously fucking not! The next two posts stayed w/ the irrelevant guitarist topic. Not that EVH is irrelevant in general – just to atheism.
It takes a lot for a guitarist to make that statement.
I was in communication with Ellen via email regarding Viewpoint episodes when one of her replies came with the shocking news that she’d just been fired.
I’ve promised her that I’ll keep the details confidential. I don’t consider it a betrayal of her trust to tell you that those details are very disturbing.
Sorry – I thought music was the topic.
“Sorry – I thought music was the topic.” – Rusty Shackleford
No – music was merely a bright, shiny bauble – intended to distract.
continental suspension conversion…
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