McCracken Lecture at Ohio University

It was an honor to be invited back to my Alma Mater, Ohio University, to deliver the Winter lecture in the McCracken Lecture Series of the College of Education at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. 46 years ago, I graduated with a BS degree in History Education, and proudly went on to teach for three years at Medina Jr. High School in the Columbus Ohio School District. Three years later, I changed careers to commercial television.

Teaching was a pleasure, even with 8th graders, but television was a stronger pull, calling loudly to me; I took a big pay cut and with the support of my pregnant wife, started on the ground floor of TV, ready, willing and anxious to work my way up -- which I did.

I had no idea that this story would be of interest to the College of Education, but the Dean, Renee Middleton, was interested in having students and faculty hear it because many former students have a similar story -- changing careers successfully.

Joan and I were well-received at the Lecture and well-taken care of by the Director of Development, Kaylin Kopcho. We were impressed by the professionalism of the staff there and the plans for the College.

My undergraduate years at Ohio University were a pivotal time for me, and as I looked at the young, fresh faces walking across the Green and riding the escalator at the Baker Student Center, I was refreshed and heartened that these students were in good hands and that there was hope for the future of this country.

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Preparing Talented, Responsible, Ethical Educators

~~ Ohio University College of Education

Let the Good Times Roll?

Thanks to CBS News, here is a list of the names of the people who attended the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. It cost you and me Dear Reader, 1.1 Million Dollars; some Congress sitters spent $2,200 a day! These people have no idea that we are in a recession or they would not have gone -- RIIIIGHT.

This list does not include the more than 60 people who accompanied President Obama; how much more did that cost? Despite the dulcet tones that we will hear on Wednesday evening as the President delivers the State of the Union Address, his words will all ring hollow in view of the behaviour of these people and the money they are wasting.

Attendees:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi Pelosi's husband Majority Leader Steny Hoyer Rep. George Miller Rep. Henry Waxman Rep. Ed Markey Markey’s wife Rep. Charles Rangel Rep. Bart Gordon Rep. James Sensenbrenner Sensenbrenner's wife Rep. Sander Levin Rep. Joe Barton Barton daughter Rep. Fred Upton Rep. Earl Blumenauer Rep. Diana DeGette Rep. Jay Inslee Inslee's wife Rep. Shelley Moore Capito Rep. Moore Capito husband Rep. John Sullivan Rep. Tim Ryan Rep. GK Butterfield Rep. Emanuel Cleaver Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Gifford's husband Rep. Marsha Blackburn President Obama Sen. James Inhofe Sen. John Kerry.

Stacee Bako Don Kellaher Wilson Livingood Brian Monahan John Lawrence Karen Wayland Drew Hammill Kate Knudson Bridget Fallon Bina Surgeon Mary Frences Repko Nona Darrell Tony Jackson Josh Mathis Phil Barnett David Cavicke Lisa Miller Peter Spencer Andrea Spring Lorie Schmitt Greg Dotson Alex Barron Christopher King Shimere Williams Tara Rothschild Margaret Caravelli Gerry Waldron Ana Unruh-Cohen Jeff Duncan Eben Burnham-Snyder Joel Beauvais Michael Goo Tom Schreibel Harlan Watson Bart Forsyth Ed Rice Steve Rusnak Carey Lane Matt Dempsey Dempsey wife George Sugyama Tom Hassenbohler.
31 additional unnamed Senate staff State Dept.

Special Envoy Todd Stern Secretary Hillary Clinton Pershing Deputy U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Maria Otero, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Ambassador Alejandro Wolff, Deputy Permanent Rep. United States Mission to the U.N. Daniel Reifsnyder, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment Lilburn Trigg Talley, Director of the office of Global Change Sue Biniaz, Deputy Legal Adviser William Breed, Director of Climate Change Programs USAID. Energy Dept: Steven Chu, Energy Secretary Jean Chu, Spouse of the Energy Secretary Rod O'Connor, Chief of Staff Amy Bodette, Special Assistant to the Secretary David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs Rick Duke, Dep. Assistant Sec. for Policy and International Affairs Holmes Hummel, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs Elmer Holt, Economist in the Office of Policy and International Affairs Matt Kallman, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs Dan Leistikow, Director of Public Affairs Devin Hampton, Lead Advance Representative Interior Dept: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Deputy Secretary David Hayes Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland Science Advisor Kit Batten Senior Advisor of Global Change at USGS Tom Armstrong USGS Director Marcia McNutt Deputy Communications Director Matt Lee-Ashley Jack Lynch (Security) Dave Graham (Security) Mike Downs (Security) Director of Advance Tim Hartz EPA: Security Officer # 1 Security, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Marcus McClendon Director of Advance, Office of the Administrator Security Officer # 2 Security, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Jennifer Jenkins Physical Scientist, Climate Change Division, Office of Air and Radiation COP 15 Negotiator Shalini Vajjhala Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of International Affairs COP-15 Negotiator Maurice LeFranc Senior Advisor, International Climate Change, Office of Air and Radiation COP-15 Negotiator Kimberly Todd Klunich Technical Expert, Climate Change Division, Office of Air and Radiation COP-15 Negotiator Leif Hockstad Environmental Engineer, Climate Change Division, Office of Air and Radiation COP-15 Negotiator Seth Oster Associate Administrator, Office of Public Affairs David McIntosh Associate Administrator, Office of Rep.ressional and Intergovernmental Relations Michelle DePass Assistant Administrator, Office of International Affairs Security Officer # 3 Security, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Lisa Jackson Administrator, EPA Gina McCarthy Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation White House Executive Office staff: From the Office of Energy and Climate Change: Heather Zichal Tony Russell Jake Levine Joe Aldy From the Office of Science and Technology Policy: John Holdren Steve Fetter Shere Abbott From the Council on Environmental Quality: Nancy Sutley Amy Salzman Jess Maher National Security Council: Mike Froman Ed Fendley Communications: Ben LaBolt.

"Laissez les bons temps rouler?"

We should call for an end to this kind of extravagance and waste.

In times like this, shouldn't our government be trying to save money?

Personally, I want my money back.

"Action expresses priorities.”
~~ Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Philosopher, 1869 - 1948

The People's Priorities

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, a part of the Pew Charitable Trusts, has released the results of a new survey into the US public's priorities. The full release may be found at: http://people-press.org/report/584/policy-priorities-2010.

All of the material in their short, two-page report is very interesting, but I thought, Dear Reader, that you might find these two charts worthy of your time. I hope politicians will actually read this Pew Report:

I leave it to the Dear Reader to draw their own conclusions as to what the Administration should do.

Below are the Center's words describing itself:

ABOUT THE CENTER
The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. We are sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts and are one of seven projects that make up the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

The Center's purpose is to serve as a forum for ideas on the media and public policy through public opinion research. In this role it serves as an important information resource for political leaders, journalists, scholars, and public interest organizations. All of our current survey results are made available free of charge.

The 1937 Flood, the Number 40, the Number 3

As the rains fall, I was reminded today that in my home town on the Ohio River, New Boston, Ohio, stories were told when I was growing up (and still told today) of the 1937 Flood. Here is an excerpt from my book, "On Harrisonville Avenue." Thirteen year old Ron, is the narrator:

"Every kid in my town had heard stories of the “The ’37 Flood” – and they had heard so many of them that it was never a topic of conversation among kids. My Mother would say that we had “foundered” on the ’37 Flood stories from grown-ups telling over and over the same stuff to us. Pubescent boys know everything anyway and don’t like to be preached at and can only tolerate so much. You know when they’ve reached their limit and are full up because a “sneer” develops and their head droops down and they mumble.

Mr. Emerson from Church on the 1937 Flood:
It was too warm that winter and instead of snowing, it rained 20 days in a row. Snow would have just piled up, but rain soaked into the fields and hillsides. It kept on raining, though, and then the ground couldn’t take anymore and it just ran into the street. There were jokes about Ducks and Noah, but old-timers started telling stories about 1913 and how the Ohio River came way up and flooded everything. We never paid any attention to the old men – but they knew what they were talking about. That’s why you young’uns should listen to us now. Did you hear me, Ronnie? (Yeah, I thought to myself – ducks, Noah, 20 days.)

Mr. Keitel, our German next door neighbor:
The Bible says you should always build your house on higher ground, so if you build your house next to a river bank, you’ll suffer the consequences, like those people in 1937. Why it wiped out those people in the bottomlands. I tried to drive into town to see the damage but the roads were blocked all the way back to Gallia and Rt. 139. The flooded people were looking for loans after the flood and couldn’t get them. Lots of the hitch hikers on the road after that were people flooded out because they built in the low lands. You should take note of that, Zichlein. (Uhh, I grunted. Got it. What’s a Zeesh-line?)

Elliot at Shorty’s Barbershop
My sister lived just up the street in the Mill Housing and the floodwaters rose so fast they evacuated everybody quickly. Maggie only had time to get her picture album and her sewing machine in Frank’s old Pickup Truck. Frank had to drag her out of the house that afternoon because they couldn’t find her little cat before they had to leave. She fretted all night about her cat that they left behind.
After the river had crested, she borrowed my fishing boat and made poor old Frank take her back into town. Why the water was up to the second floor. Frank pulled up to her apartment and Maggie looked in the window and there was the cat perched on the mantle, water up past the fireplace just a foot or two below the cat. Frank broke the window with his oar and Maggie yelled at the cat and waved a piece of liver at it -- wouldn’t you know, the danged cat swam to the window. Nobody knew of that cat ever swimming before but there it was. Ronnie, you can swim, can’t you Ronnie? (Only if somebody waves liver at me.)

In fairness to the people who lived through the Flood, I did understand the impact of the flood. In the Presbyterian Church on 2nd Street, two blocks from the river, there was a plaque on the wall of the two-plus story Sanctuary. The plaque was 12 feet 8 inches from the floor which was not at ground level. So the water must have been 25 feet deep at street level. Members there told me that the Pipe Organ which was in the front of the Church in the Choir Loft behind the Pulpit, was taken apart piece-by-piece by the parishioners and moved to the church Balcony where it survived the flood and is still used today. Pictures of the flood were in Fellowship Hall there and in practically every downtown business showing their store and how high the water was. They were all a part of history and they proudly had survived it. "

So, it rained 20 days and 20 nights for the 1937 Flood in my town. I remembered the story of Noah and his Flood, where it rained 40 days and 40 nights. I started to wonder about the number 40. It turns out that there are numerous mentions of the number 40 in the Bible. Here is only a partial listing:

• In the story of Noah and the flood, it rains 40 days and 40 nights (Gn 7:4).


• After the sealing of the covenant at Mt. Sinai, Moses is with God on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights (Ex 24:18).


• When the prophet Elijah is being pursued by Queen Jezebel, he flees for his life and travels 40 days and nights until he comes to the mountain of God at Horeb (Sinai) (1 Kgs 19:8).


• Israel wanders in the Wilderness for Forty years.


• In the New Testament. Jesus is tempted in the desert for 40 days and nights.


• Jesus fasted 40 days and nights (Matthew 4:2).


• Jesus remained on earth 40 days after the resurrection (Acts 1:3).

And then, I thought about another number that gets a lot of use -- the number three. This sequence is taken from my lecture, to be delivered at Ohio University, January 29:

• The Three Jewels of Buddhism (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha).


• The Christian Holy Trinity, (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).


• Karl Marx’s three ways of organizing a society – Communism, Socialism, and Capitalism.


• Mark Twain's Three Lies, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.”


• The oath of a witness – the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the… Truth.


• Lincoln’s Three for All – “of the people, by the people and … for the people.”


• The Three Monkey Philosophy – Hear no evil, See no Evil, and … Speak no Evil.


• And of course Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Three Stooges and the Three Little … Pigs .

I hope that you understand a little better now, Dear Reader, why I cannot seem to get back to writing on the second chapter of my third book. One thing leads to another; I am so easily distracted.

Creating Jobs in the Private Sector

It may have taken President Obama and his team a year to understand that the American People expected his administration to fix the economy first, not take on Health Care Reform; the electorate of Massachusetts has forced Obama, Pelosi and Reid to come to grips with that reality.
~

As an aside, the President has once again demonstrated his out-of-touch-elitist nature. The first time was during the campaign when he sympathized with the people of Iowa over the high price of groceries -- especially, Arugula. Arugula? This week, he once again proved he was out-of-touch-elitist when he criticized Scott Brown for campaigning in his old pick-up truck:

"Forget Scott Brown's truck," the President told a rally for Senatorial hopeful, Martha Coakley. "Anybody can buy a truck."

In Scott Brown's acceptance speech, he responded to President Obama's comment, capturing the populist sentiment and the average person's love affair with trucks when Mr. Brown said from his victory podium: "I didn't mind when the President came here and criticized me and talked about some of the things that he disagreed with me on. But let me tell you, when he started to criticize my truck, that's where I draw the line!" Big laugh and hoots from the audience. ~

It now appears that the President is going to start thumping on employment. He has already visited Allentown, PA., and today was in Elyria, Ohio, touring a factory that has laid off 33 employees; after the tour, he went for lunch at a local diner -- Smitty's Bar -- and had a Hamburger, probably because they didn't have Arugula there. But do these trips to towns on hard times add to the President's understanding of what it takes to create jobs? I worry that the answer is "NO."

This chart shows part of what may be the problem with the Obama Administration's understanding of job creation. His team has the least experience of any administration -- less than 10% -- of working in the Private Sector. It is the lowest percentage of experience for any administration in the last 109 years! They only know how to create Government Jobs!! These are jobs that are only good until the taxpayers money or the current appropriation runs out -- Government jobs!

If this crowd really wants to create jobs, they need to do it the old fashioned way -- cut taxes, so that entrepreneurs are encouraged to start a business and existing businesses are encouraged to make the expansion they had planned.

I fear, however, that instead, there will be more photo-ops where the President uses unsuspecting Americans as photo-props, says a few meaningless, empty words and then they go on doing what they know how to do -- create even more Government Programs and entitlements, while creating a hostile business climate, making Banks, Drug Companies, Insurance Companies, Oil Companies, Investment Companies, Media Companies, and Retail Companies enemies of the public and the object of Administration hyperbole.

Watch Wall Street slide while this happens and watch your retirement fund dwindle. These people are inexperienced amateurs at running a business, a government, or an economy, George Bush can no longer be blamed. This is the Obama Administration -- unelected Czars, income-tax-challenged, Chicago-cronies, etc. -- perhaps good people, but, in my opinion, out of their element.

There's none so blind as those who will not see. There's none so deaf as those who will not hear. ~~ Proverb

A Friendly Suggestion for President Obama

Yesterday, CBS News released a "by the numbers" report on the first year of the Obama Presidency. Among other interesting stats were:

• 51 Presidential speeches or statements on his Health Care agenda


• 171 times that President Obama used the TelePrompTer


• 158 Interviews were given by the President


• 10 foreign trips, the most by any President


• 160 flights on Air Force One


• 193 flights on Marine One


• 28 political fundraisers


• 7 campaign rallies

The seven campaign rallies which President Obama attended and keynoted were for Gov. Jon Corzine, gubernatorial Candidate, Creigh Deeds of Virginia, and Senatorial Candidate, Martha Coakley of Massachusetts; each of these candidates which President Obama personally supported were defeated.

I now note that the President will fly to Nevada to support the dwindling hopes of Senator Harry Reid. I want to add my voice to encourage this kind of behaviour by the President.

As a suggestion, here are some other noteworthy Senators and Congressmen , Mr. President, that you might campaign for also -- Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer, Charles Rangel, Steny Hoyer, Dick Durbin, Barbara Boxer and Henry Waxman. Please, President Obama, campaign for them all!

My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference. ~~ Harry Truman, 33rd President of the US, 1945 - 1953

Civility

The lack of civility in politics since 1987, is enough to peel the paint off your fencepost:

"Summing up his case against Brown, Olbermann concluded: 'in Scott Brown we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude-model, tea-bagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees'.” ~ Keith Olbermann. MSNBC. Note to Keith -- you forgot to call him a pedophile!

I cite 1987 because in my mind, the contentious confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork (b. 1927, Pittsburgh) commenced that year and marked the beginning of our current raucous un-civility. The rhetoric and fear-mongering mounted against Mr. Bork was crescendo-ing each day; the famous actor, Gregory Peck, appeared in a TV ad attacking Bork as an extremest; the AFL-CIO Union mounted a $20 million campaign against him; Civil Rights leaders made speeches. The speech most people heard, because it was televised nationally, was one by Senator Ted Kennedy, in which he said:

Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is often the only protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy.

The Economist magazine in its obituary of Senator Kennedy pointed out that none of his alarming allegations were correct, based on Bork's record, yet the smear was out there -- and it stuck. The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Joe Biden, denied Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court.

And thus began a titanic "Tit for Tat" era of childish sandbox political tactics that has grown into a sophisticated array of scurrilous and defamatory maneuvers designed to discredit. To be "Borked" -- killed politically -- was coined by the feminist and Civil Rights activist, Florynce Kennedy who used it in reference to the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas.

I wonder now if a new term will appear to describe what happened in Massachusetts yesterday when Scott Brown defeated Martha Coakley -- "Coakleyed." Whatever its definition, it will go into the politician's bag of tricks to be deployed at the drop of a hat or the whiff of a scandal.

The voting public deserves better than this. Besides, these people in Washington D.C. -- politicians and bureaucrats -- are our employees. We hire them to represent our best interests. Each time I see a new face get elected, I hope that maybe -- just maybe -- it is the beginning of a return to civility. Let's trust that Scott Brown feels the same way.

"So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof." ~~ John F. Kennedy, 1961 Inaugural Address

Foreign Aid -- Who Gets What?

Dear Friends:

I have given to the Haiti Relief Fund of the Presbyterian Church (USA). I do not write this because I am unsympathetic to the plight of the poor people of Haiti. Instead, I write it because I am concerned about them and about all other oppressed and poverty stricken people of the World!

The money that we have given to Haiti over the last 20 years, totals more than $2 Billion Dollars. Has it benefited the poor people of Haiti? Did it build them an infrastructure? Did our money build Hospitals, train Doctors, build water systems, an electrical grid, stronger housing codes? Apparently not. Where did it go? I leave that answer to you, Dear Reader, and I suspect I know your answer.

Below is the 2009 top ten Foreign Aid Recipients, and President Obama has promised to double this number for 2010. It is taken from Parade Magazine.

COUNTRY AID/PURPOSE
1. Israel
$2.4 billion
Virtually all of this money is used to buy weapons (up to 75% made in the U.S.). Beginning in 2009, the U.S. plans to give $30 billion over 10 years.
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2. Egypt
$1.7 billion
$1.3 billion to buy weapons; $103 million for education; $74 million for health care; $45 million to promote civic participation and human rights.
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3. Pakistan
$798 million
$330 million for security efforts, including military-equipment upgrades and border security; $20 million for infrastructure.
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4. Jordan
$688 million
$326 million to fight terrorism and promote regional stability through equipment upgrades and training; $163 million cash payment to the Jordanian government.
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5. Kenya
$586 million
$501 million to fight HIV/AIDS through drug treatment and abstinence education and to combat malaria; $15 million for agricultural development; $5.4 million for programs that promote government accountability.
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6. South Africa
$574 million
$557 million to fight TB and HIV/AIDS; $3 million for education.

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7. Mexico
$551 million
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8. Colombia
$541 million
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9. Nigeria
$491 million
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10. Sudan
$479 million
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How is this money -- your dollars and my dollars -- administered for the stated purposes? Do we have an administrator in-country writing checks for the stated purposes? Is that administrator monitoring how each dollar is spent? Is there an accounting for us at year's end? Can I have a report showing the use of my money? Did my money get spent for the stated purpose and did I get my money's worth?

Oh, Ron, there you go again. Don't be naive.

This is about keepingtherightpersoninpower/maintainingthebalance ofpower/assuringourpresenceinacontestedareaoftheworld/showingourintentions/ beingaworldcitizen. [Pick one...or more.]

I'm sorry, but when did you ask me if that is what I wanted to spend my money on? (danglingprepositionacknowledged!)

Let me be clear(er). Ask me, the next time -- not the current occupant of the Oval Office; they come and go. My money and me are here all the time!

ASK ME! STOP TAKING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC FOR GRANTED!! TRANSPARENCY !!!

Ronald D. Giles

Weekend Global Warming Round-up

Just in case you were busy over the weekend with kids/Church/parties/football/Facebook, and missed some of the News related to Global Warming, I offer the following to you, Dear Reader, as a Public Service:

Danny Glover, the Actor and Producer, blamed the Earthquake in Haiti on the failure of the Climate Change Conference to stop natural disasters (I think):

"What happened in Haiti could happen to anywhere in the Caribbean because all these island nations are in peril because of global warming .... When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I'm sayin'?"

From the Sunday Times of London, the claim in 2007 by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the Himalayan Glaciers could melt by 2035, has been called into question. A journalist traced the story's origin back to a phone call in 1999 by "The New Scientist" magazine to a little known Indian researcher, who has now admitted that his statement in that phone call was "speculation." His speculation was picked up and repeated numerous times without peer review and then was included as a probability in the UN Report of 2007.

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Still on matters of Ice, among the most sensational citations of Global Warming Advocates is that the North Pole will be free of ice by the summer of 2013. According to several newspaper reports, including "The Olympian" of Olympia, Washington, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center in Denver, Colorado, has issued a statement that "Arctic summer sea ice has increased by 409,000 square miles, or 26 percent, since 2007.”

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DISCLAIMER -- Dear Reader, I do advocate that each of us in our own way be the best stewards of Mother Earth that we can be. That we preserve and protect this precious environment which God has given to us. I only ask that we examine this issue on a rational basis, rather than an emotional basis (spare me the Polar Bear pictures, please) and that we look for the money trail -- who benefits on each side of the argument.

Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents,it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.

~~ Native American Proverb

Dewey Meets Zettl

I have yet to get back to writing on my third book. It is with me every day - even at night when I can't sleep, I start resolving issues yet to develop.

Instead, I have been struggling to write a lecture I will deliver at Ohio University on January 29 -- 50 minutes with a 20 minute Q & A to follow. Of course, I have not been working on it every day, but when I have, it is not writing easily.

It will be delivered at McCracken Hall to the College of Education Faculty and Students who attend. It is titled "A Classroom Teacher in Commercial Television: Dewey Meets Zettl," and details some of the things I took with me from the classroom when I changed careers.

I taught American History to eighth graders for three years -- 1964-67. While I enjoyed my time in the classroom, I was annoyed by the lack of merit pay increases. All teachers do not achieve equally, but I was among the best (said with an honest face, Dear Reader.) Yet even though I innovatively worked my hump off, I received the same raise each year as the teacher next to me who simply had students answer the questions at the end of the chapter. When done, his students could study other subjects or sleep -- as long as they were quiet.

In this Blog, I have not been shy about criticizing the Obama Administration, but in mid-year 2009, the President and the Secretary of Education announced their new Education initiative. It is called "Race to the Top," and has four main points:

• Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy;
• Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;
• Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
• Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.

While it would be fun to discuss each of these points, I draw your attention to the third point. Note the word "reward." Here we are 46 years after I started teaching and someone in authority has finally come out in favor of "merit" which has been the bane of the Teacher's Union. In an Administration where Unions are given favorable status over others, this seems to be a stake aimed at the very heart of today's union principles. I encourage this kind of thinking, Mr. President.

Now, Mr. President, let's talk about where the Jobs are!

“Man is not logical and his intellectual history is a record of mental reserves and compromises. He hangs on to what he can in his old beliefs even when he is compelled to surrender their logical basis.” ~~ John Dewey, American Philosopher, 1859 - 1952

"The television camera converts whatever it 'sees' (optical images) into electrical signals that can be temporarily stored or directly reconverted by the television set into visible screen images. " ~~ Herbert Zettl, Professor Emeritus University of San Francisco

The Bank Tax, an Errant Arrow

The President has targeted the 50 largest banks to "get back every dime owed to the American People." Exempt from the tax are some of the real drains on the bailout -- AIG, GM, Chrysler, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the latter two institutions having played a large role in causing the Banking Crisis. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were also exempt from the Administration's criticism about bonuses as their execs got big bonuses in 2009.

The tax is projected to raise $90 billion over ten years to offset the losses over that time ($117 billion) anticipated from AIG. Union-owned (55%) Chrysler and Union-controlled (39%) General Motors. Several of the top 50 Banks have already paid back "every dime" but ... uhhhh... this is a "financial crisis responsibility fee" ... yeah, that's it, you're responsible and that means you pay a ... fee. Even if you paid your loan back, you are going to be especially punished for following the Government's demand to loan money to people who couldn't afford the loan. Yeah -- take that, you, you ... Banks.

Now, think with me a moment, Dear Reader. What do businesses do when they incur inordinate expenses -- they pass the cost along to you and me. That's right! The Obama Administration naively is going to punish the Banks by taxing the voting public. Unintended Consequence!

Way to go! Nice move, Administration! You've really taught us a lesson!

"A good archer is not known by his arrows but by his aim."

~ ~ Thomas Fuller, British Author, 1608 - 1681

Transparency [trænsˈpærənsɪ ] Part II

A surprise to me and perhaps you, Dear Reader: the Obama Administration has a Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board. Vice President Biden met with the Chairman of that Board yesterday at 2:15. Here is the Vice President's Schedule, from the Los Angeles Times:

"DAILY GUIDANCE FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT, Thursday, January 14, 2010:

In the morning, the President and the Vice President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing and the Economic Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. These briefings are closed to the press.

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At 11:30 AM, the Vice President will meet with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This meeting is closed to the press.

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Afterwards, the President and the Vice President will have lunch in the Private Dining Room. This lunch is closed to the press.

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At 1:00 PM, the Vice President will meet with Iraqi Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi in the Roosevelt Room. There will be a pool spray at the bottom of this meeting; gather time is 1:45 PM in the Brady Briefing Room.
(UPDATE 2:20 p.m.: The White House issued its own report on this closed meeting.)

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Then, at 2:15 PM, the Vice President will meet with Earl Devaney, Chairman of the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board. This meeting is closed to the press."

**********************************************

How about that Closed Press Transparency?

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The last time President Obama took questions from the press corps was July, 2009 -- seven months.

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How about that Transparency (part II)?

"Simply stated -- it is sagacious to eschew obfuscation." ~ Norman R. Augustine, former Chairman of the American Red Cross

Transparency [trænsˈpærənsɪ ]

"My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government" -- Barack Obama, January 28, 2009

"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency" -- CNN, January 21, 2009

"All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in Freedom of Information Act, and to usher in a new era of open Government" -- Barack Obama, January 21, 2009

As the President meets today with Senator Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi on Heath Care Reform in secrecy -- no public presence, no pool press reporter, no C-SPAN -- I am reminded of the President's promises. He is conducting an administration that is just the opposite of what he promised. How can anyone trust anything that he says? And that distrust is rubbing off on the entire Federal Government.

.

How sad.

"Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants."

~ Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, 1856-1939
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"A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency."

~ Peter Fenn, Journalist

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“Whether you believe the government ought to spend more money or spend less, you should certainly be able to agree that the government ought to spend every penny efficiently and transparently. … Transparency is a prerequisite to oversight and financial control.

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Transparency is essential if we are to do something about the billions of taxpayer dollars being spent with no assurances that the funds are going where they are needed."

~ Senator Barack Obama, July 18, 2006

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The Hot Air of Copenhagen, Part II

While many of us have been tightening our budgetary belts during the economic woes of this country, Congress has not. CBS News has reported that 101 Congress-related persons attended the CCCB (Copenhagen Climate Change Boondoggle), booking an estimated 321 hotel nights (expensed), with dozens of commercial flights (expensed), and for Peolosi and other Congressional "Leaders," three military jets (two 737's and one Gulfstream V) were taken which CBS estimates cost $168,351 -- just for the three military jets. Who knows what the whole affair cost American Taxpayers (that's you and me, Dear Reader). That's right, we paid their bill -- every soda, omelet, wine, steak, creme brulee and morning Bloody Mary!

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And, for what purpose was say, NY Congressman, 15th District, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel there? Nothing on his website refers to the trip. Apparently, the CCCB did not warrant a mention.

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Or, House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, 5th Congressional District, Maryland -- why was he there? Nothing on his website mentions it. Apparently, the CCCB did not warrant a mention.

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Or, Congresswoman Shelley Capito, of West Virginia's 2nd District -- why were she AND her husband there? Nothing on her website tells me. Apparently, the CCCB did not warrant a mention.

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It is time for belt-tightening in Washington DC, not polluting, political junkets.

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I get a little hot under the collar when the Political Class tells us to get air in our tires to combat rising gasoline prices and global warming while they needlessly waste precious fuel and pollute the air; my hands start to clench when the Elected Elites in Washington raise our taxes and vote themselves raises; my blood pressure elevates when the Washington Nabobs keep their Rolls Royce health care policies while telling us what cost-saving health care policy we should have.

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Oh, Ron, that's the way things in Washington work. Come on, you're more sophisticated than that. You know what they say -- you never want to see the way that sausage is made or the way a bill gets through Congress. YES I DO!

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I am more sophisticated than that, because I refuse to turn my back and give tacit approval to a Political Class that is out of control. It IS time for transparency; it IS time for change -- but not by these cats.

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It is time to impose term limits by voting the sitting politicians out -- every one of them. Washington Nabobs, Quasi Nabobs, Nattering Nabobs, Nabobs of all stripes, beware.

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Get their attention: Vote Them Out!

"Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than voting for somebody."

~ Francis Pierce Adams, American Journalist, 1881 - 1960

Grumbling

"The problem with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people's money to spend."

~ Margaret Thatcher

Isn't it time to recognize that the Federal Government has a lousy record of running businesses? The Post Office is broke; Amtrak needs subsidies each year; Fannie Mae is bleeding money; HUD is scandal-ridden; and Social Security is about to go broke. The reason is simple: businesses need to make a profit to stay afloat and politicians need to get re-elected. The two entities do not now nor have ever operated in the same way. Career bureaucrats do not know how to run a business and neither do their itinerant bosses who come and go with the election year. Why should they get their hands on Health Care?

Now comes the latest Government boondoggle -- Stimulus money to create jobs. The Associated Press has just released their study -- reviewed by independent economists at 5 Universities -- which reveals that the job stimulus package passed 10 months ago, for "shovel ready projects" has had little or no effect on job creation.

"As a policy tool for creating jobs, this doesn't seem to have much bite," said Emory University economist Thomas Smith, who supported the stimulus and reviewed AP's analysis. "In terms of creating jobs, it doesn't seem like it's created very many. It may well be employing lots of people but those two things are very different."

And last month, Nancy Pelosi passed another "shovel ready" stimulus package, titled disingenuously the "Jobs for Main Street Act." This is more about paying political cronies than putting unemployed customer service reps back to work.

Now, the President and the Vice President, want a "Green Jobs" act, based on Spain's renewable energy program. Yet there is much evidence to question whether infusion of public money by the Spanish Government actually created many jobs, and, in fact it may have cost more jobs in related industries. http://www.juandemariana.org/pdf/090327-employment-public-aid-renewable.pdf.

Businesses and entrepreneurs create jobs in our economy, not government. The government should be encouraging businesses to create jobs. Businesses don't try to govern our country -- and government should not try to be a business. This is a system that has worked for over 200 years and has proven its worth. Get the government out of the way!

If you make a mess, clean it up!

Kimberly Alyn, a professional speaker and trainer, delivers a series of cleverly written expressions ending with the word "up." She has written several self-help sort of books, including "How to Deal with Annoying People." I thought you might enjoy her short clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXeCAeACmJE

"Being in power is a lot like being a lady; if you have to tell people you are, then you aren't." --Margaret Thatcher

C-Span, Transparency, and Health Care Negotiations

"[I will be] ...bringing all parties together, and broadcast those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are."
~ Barack Obama, January, 2008

Yesterday, a letter written by Brian Lamb, CEO of C-Span was published, seeking the fulfillment of President Obama's promise. It was sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.):

"As your respective chambers work to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate health care bills, C-SPAN requests that you open all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings, to electronic media coverage.The C-SPAN networks will commit the necessary resources to covering all of these sessions LIVE and in their entirety. We will also, as we willingly do each day, provide C-SPAN's multi-camera coverage to any interested member of the Capitol Hill broadcast pool.

...We respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American."

Amen! Whose government is it, anyhow!! No reponse as yet from Nancy and Harry.

http://www.letthecamerasin.com/

Resolutions

As the New Year starts to reveal itself, many of us are beginning to struggle with the Resolutions that we have made to be a wiser person or to do something better. Most of us -- including me -- make resolutions such as ...

... Spend more time with family

... Lose weight/get fit

... Drink less

... Be nicer to so-and-so

... Help others

While I can offer the Dear Reader little advice on how to succeed (other than don't give up, if you mess up), I thought you might find some solace and wisdom in the following quotes:

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other." ~ Unknown

"It depends on us... another year lies before us like an unwritten page, an unspent coin, an unwalked road. the pages we will read, what treasures will be gained in exchange for time, or what we find along the way, will largely depend on us." ~ Esther Baldwin York

"New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time." ~ James Agate

"The future ain’t what it used to be." ~ Yogi Berra

The Mummers Parade

A Philadelphia New Year's Day tradition, the annual Mummers Parade -- complete with feathers, banjos, saxophones, glockenspiels, a few political jokes, some cardboard cutouts and the Mummer's Strut -- takes place today, from 10:30am until... well... until its over.

I first saw the Mummers Parade around 1952 on the new Dumont Television Network. It was in black and white and was a "live remote" from Philadelphia all the way to my set in New Boston, Ohio. The parade (and the process) was fascinating to me, but I could not understand why adults were dressed this way and jumping around the way they were.

Mummers trace their origins back to the 1700's with odd mixes of Swedish, English, Irish, and German traditions. It was something like Wassailing, going from neighbor's house-to-neighbor's-house, but with clown make-up on, while playing "Oh, Them Golden Slippers" on a kazoo.

In the 1800's someone introduced guns to the celebration to "shoot in" the New Year. It was known then as "The New Year's Shooters and Mummers Association." Cooler heads prevailed after 50 years or so and guns were outlawed.

The first organized and officially sanctioned parade was in 1901 and the prizes offered turned it into a competition. Clubs were organized to promote "Mummerism," a blend of fun, satire, costumes, dancing, performance and making people smile. Soon, the Mummers were divided into four categories -- Comics, String Band, Fancies and Fancy Brigades.

The costuming for the Fancy Brigades in recent years has become so elaborate and expensive that their performances have been moved inside the Philadelphia Convention Center.

The budget crunch of our recession has hit the Mummers as well, as the City of Philadelphia and the Mummers Association were in negotiations until the last minute this year to agree on equitably splitting up the costs of putting on the parade. A contemporary and somewhat controversial Philadelphia Icon, Joey Venta of Joey's Cheesesteaks, stepped in at the last moment and threw $40,000 at the problem and the Parade is on (all day and into the night)!

"New Year's Day -- where auld acquaintance be forgot -- unless the results come back positive."

~ Jay Leno