The U.S. House passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, H.R. 1, on Wednesday. The vote was 244 to 188, with several Democrat members joining the GOP rebellion.
Most of the money would come through the government's two largest grant programs, Title I (for educating low-income children) and IDEA (aid for the learning disabled). The 2009 allocation also contains a large dose of money for building schools and fixing old ones. What the bill does not contain is any money for teachers, and there is a nasty little loophole that allows Washington to withhold the funds at a whim.
That loophole is a matching funds provision. States, such as Nevada, that are trying to solve their budget problems without real reform will be forced to come up with funding that matches what Washington is preparing to give. If they don’t, those monies are withheld. Governor Jim Gibbons’ budget, one that he put together without consulting a single affected entity, bases the majority of its core budget solution on reducing the state’s obligation to education by over 50%. This move is typical of the personalities that have taken over the power structure within the Republican Party. Ronald Reagan would never have condoned such a “solution”.
Today’s Republican Party, at least in my state of Nevada, has allowed itself to be co-opted by radical elements that claim to speak for all conservatives but don’t even belong to the party and by office holders who have gladly sold their ethics and honor for the promise of campaign funds. What is the saddest point of all is that the voters don’t seem to care about this. They consistently vote for whoever sends out the largest volume of ad material; especially if those ads promise the voter something for nothing. In the end all they get for that vote is nothing.
Where education is concerned, Nevada’s conservative pundits seem to have a huge blind spot. They write on a regular basis about failing to learn the lessons of history where tax policy is concerned, but at the same time they fail to see what we have done to our schools.
Few people remember now, but there was a time when the American Education System was the envy of the world. Back then teachers were allowed to teach without also having to be a secretary for the administration. They were allowed to exact real discipline without the threat of a lawsuit being held over their heads. Textbooks were thick and held real knowledge, undiluted by politically correct censorship.
Teachers’ wages were low, but so were the administrations’, so they all shared the same boat and they worked together to put out the best product they could, a student prepared to enter the working world.
Those who attack our public schools in the media offer little in the way of solutions, but this is typical of the type. For them, reaction is all they have, but like Governor Gibbons, they refuse to even discuss the issue with those they perceive as the enemy. So what do we do?
Private schools and vouchers are no solution. All those do is exempt the pundits and their supporters from the same burden of citizenship everyone else shares in. If we are to keep our country sovereign, we have to have a citizenry capable of meeting the challenges of this world head on, and they cannot do that if they cannot read, write, or think. In order to succeed in this work we will have to upset and offend a significant portion of our population.
Groups that focus on a narrow band of human sexuality, either to the right of the left, will have to be told that their opinion does not matter where education is concerned. Groups who feel that the US Government is fascist or worse will have to be told much the same. Groups who feel that the color of a persons’ skin is paramount will have to be removed from the discussion. Most especially we will have to prevent the legal community from having anything to do with education. The only part any group should have in education is what they have left for the historical record. Policy, procedure and regulation that deal with any form of political correctness should be stringently outlawed, complete with penalties for any person or entity attempting to reestablish what has proven to be disastrous.
Uniforms, similar to those used by airline stewards and stewardesses, consisting of slacks, business casual shirt and sensible shoes need to replace the costumes typical to today. This would remove the focus in the students’ minds on how they look to what they are doing. Vocabulary should be stringently regulated, even outside of the classroom. I pods, cell phones, and other electronic distractions should be forbidden to be on campus. Those students who simply cannot abide the fact that others in the class may be learning something, will be corralled together with the rest of the Sweathogs and only allowed to learn the core subjects; reading, writing and arithmetic. Outside of the Sweathogs’ den, every school, from middle school on up, will have to teach education tracks relevant to a variety of careers with hands-on labs similar to the shop classes of days gone by.
If we can do this, we will again be the envy of the world. That may up set some, but honestly, would anybody care about that?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Half-full or Half Empty? How about Broken?
Yesterday hundreds of teachers in Nevada were told that their jobs were gone. Not because they were incompetent or violating any one of school regulations. They were fired because the State of Nevada considered politics more important than education.
Nevada’s Governor, Jim Gibbons, an ex-fighter pilot and by training a geologist, made a campaign promise back in 2006 when he ran for that seat. He promised that he would not raise a single tax. Of course when he made that promise the economy was accelerating skyward and houses that originally sold fore $140,000 were being appraised at twice that amount. Just prior to his run, the state has issued a tax refund to nearly every citizen because of a massive surplus. And then the bubble burst.
As an Assemblyman, I saw the public face the legislature shows when they are on stage and I saw the other one they reveal only behind the scenes. Very few, Democrats or Republican, actually care whether or not the succeeding generations can read or write. What they care about is whether or not their next campaign is funded, and right after that, whether or not they can takes the reins of power by attaining a majority. Education? It’s not even in the top ten. To make matters worse, some on the GOP side actually consider public school to be dangerous for children. Not because of the prospect of drive-by shootings, gang violence or school bullies, but because of what they think may be taught. To them, every public school teacher is a flaming liberal and actively pushes the communist agenda. Nothing could be further from the truth, but these people live with the persona of the J. Edgar Hoover fifties imbedded within their persona. To them the Berlin Wall never fell and the Red Menace is running rampant through the halls of academia. I know dozens of teachers who supported Ron Paul and one of them is an official in the teachers’ union.
If that attitude weren’t so tragically cataclysmic, it would be laughable. The education glass in Nevada isn’t half empty or half full; it has fallen to the ground and shattered. The Governor is quite satisfied to allow million-dollar gifts to private citizens, to allow the Senate Majority Leader to violate the state constitution, ethics regulations and Senate Rules in order to grant waivers to campaign donors, and to claim a 300 million dollar rainy day fund does not exist, but he won’t spend a penny to save a teacher’s job. The mining industry pays only a half percent a year in taxes. Gaming, the other financial giant in this state pays less than 7 percent. The average worker and homeowner pays more than twice that, and many of them are teachers. What is wrong with this picture?
In Southern Nevada we pay the Superintendent of Schools over ten times what a beginning teacher is paid and he does less than half the work. The School District administration offices are a literal marble-lined palace while some schools have sections that have been listed as unsafe for occupation. The media is no help. One story on our local TV news stated that the average teacher in Nevada makes $52,000 a year. They got that figure by taking beginning teacher pay and adding it to what a PhD with 30 years of seniority would make and dividing by 2. What the report said was a lie. Most teachers make under 40 thousand a year and many are on food stamps while their principals are dining on fillet. Most teachers work over 60 hours a week while their principals may sometimes get up to 40. The 3 month vacation is another lie. The students get that. Teachers still have to work on preparing for the next school year, or did you think those lesson plans appeared by magic?
The system is broken. The position of teacher should be one of the most coveted jobs available. They should be teaching in palaces, not broken down portables. They should be making 6 figures a year, not the administration, and we should consider education to be as important to this country as National Defense. Because, if we don’t, we can kiss this nation good bye.
Nevada’s Governor, Jim Gibbons, an ex-fighter pilot and by training a geologist, made a campaign promise back in 2006 when he ran for that seat. He promised that he would not raise a single tax. Of course when he made that promise the economy was accelerating skyward and houses that originally sold fore $140,000 were being appraised at twice that amount. Just prior to his run, the state has issued a tax refund to nearly every citizen because of a massive surplus. And then the bubble burst.
As an Assemblyman, I saw the public face the legislature shows when they are on stage and I saw the other one they reveal only behind the scenes. Very few, Democrats or Republican, actually care whether or not the succeeding generations can read or write. What they care about is whether or not their next campaign is funded, and right after that, whether or not they can takes the reins of power by attaining a majority. Education? It’s not even in the top ten. To make matters worse, some on the GOP side actually consider public school to be dangerous for children. Not because of the prospect of drive-by shootings, gang violence or school bullies, but because of what they think may be taught. To them, every public school teacher is a flaming liberal and actively pushes the communist agenda. Nothing could be further from the truth, but these people live with the persona of the J. Edgar Hoover fifties imbedded within their persona. To them the Berlin Wall never fell and the Red Menace is running rampant through the halls of academia. I know dozens of teachers who supported Ron Paul and one of them is an official in the teachers’ union.
If that attitude weren’t so tragically cataclysmic, it would be laughable. The education glass in Nevada isn’t half empty or half full; it has fallen to the ground and shattered. The Governor is quite satisfied to allow million-dollar gifts to private citizens, to allow the Senate Majority Leader to violate the state constitution, ethics regulations and Senate Rules in order to grant waivers to campaign donors, and to claim a 300 million dollar rainy day fund does not exist, but he won’t spend a penny to save a teacher’s job. The mining industry pays only a half percent a year in taxes. Gaming, the other financial giant in this state pays less than 7 percent. The average worker and homeowner pays more than twice that, and many of them are teachers. What is wrong with this picture?
In Southern Nevada we pay the Superintendent of Schools over ten times what a beginning teacher is paid and he does less than half the work. The School District administration offices are a literal marble-lined palace while some schools have sections that have been listed as unsafe for occupation. The media is no help. One story on our local TV news stated that the average teacher in Nevada makes $52,000 a year. They got that figure by taking beginning teacher pay and adding it to what a PhD with 30 years of seniority would make and dividing by 2. What the report said was a lie. Most teachers make under 40 thousand a year and many are on food stamps while their principals are dining on fillet. Most teachers work over 60 hours a week while their principals may sometimes get up to 40. The 3 month vacation is another lie. The students get that. Teachers still have to work on preparing for the next school year, or did you think those lesson plans appeared by magic?
The system is broken. The position of teacher should be one of the most coveted jobs available. They should be teaching in palaces, not broken down portables. They should be making 6 figures a year, not the administration, and we should consider education to be as important to this country as National Defense. Because, if we don’t, we can kiss this nation good bye.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Let’s Play Political Football
Wikipedia offers this definition: A political football is a political topic or issue that is continually debated but left unresolved. The term is used often during a political election campaign to highlight issues that have not been completely addressed, such as the natural environment and abortion.
I have an addition for the Wikipedia page. A political football is also a topic that generates more hypocrisy than any other form of discussion. During my first few months in the world of politics I discovered that particular sport was not specific to any one of the political parties.
My first example is Illegal Immigration. On the Democrat side the football becomes one of so called “human rights” where the people breaking the U.S. immigration laws somehow have been granted rights above and beyond those of natural and naturalized citizens. On the Republican side, those violating our border are criminals, unless they suddenly become a valuable resource in protecting the bottom line of big business by working under the table. The reasons are quite different but both parties are refusing to resolve the issue, much less even come close to it. The real issue is that the United States is a sovereign country and should act as such. Immigration has rules for good reasons and the U.S. labor laws are also in place for good reasons. The hypocrisy of both parties on this issue has no good reason.
The second example is capital punishment. The left views capital punishment as cruel and unusual and claims the state has no right to kill people. At the same time they champion the killing of unborn children and support terrorist organizations overseas actively involved in the killing of innocents. The right is no better. They have allowed the laws involved around capital punishment to metastasize into a cancerous tangle that has reduced the effectiveness of the punishment to a moot point. Execution is not there to provide entertainment value or even revenge. It is there to act as a deterrent just as every other law with a stick attached to it is put in place. Our government isn’t interested in exacting punishment, it is interested in promoting good behavior, and yes, there is a difference between god and bad behavior.
The last example is abortion. It ties in with capital punishment because of a particular hypocrisy of the left. It is almost a certainty that most of the supporters of abortion know that a human life is being destroyed each time an abortion is performed. They also know that well over 99% of all abortions occur without a medical necessity. They simply cannot acknowledge that realization because of political necessity. The party agenda is far more important than human life…check that, human life that cannot vote.
I received several rather incendiary comments on this topic because I used the example of a woman’s unborn child being killed and the killer not being sentenced for the murder of that child. The point was missed, and I doubt it will ever be got. The person who pulled that trigger should be sentenced just as stringently for the killing of an unborn child as they would be for the killing of a 50 year old man. The age, sex, race, or economic status of a life should not matter. Wanton killing is wanton killing, regardless of the circumstance of the victim. Where are NOW, the ACLU and every other abortion rights group on this issue? They are silent as is to be expected, because the life of a child in the womb is nothing to them. They have their own agenda and that is the furtherance of their own political power. This football is simply a means to an end.
The right has its own problems where this issue is concerned. A few churches and several individuals have acted with the same fanaticism as members of the Taliban. The bombing of clinics and the killing of doctors have done nothing but place their cause in a bad light. Breaking the law is not the answer. Committing murder certainly is not the answer. Education is and it is going to take a long, long time because, though individuals may be intelligent, people are stupid. Just take a look at what we think is good television if you don’t believe me.
I have an addition for the Wikipedia page. A political football is also a topic that generates more hypocrisy than any other form of discussion. During my first few months in the world of politics I discovered that particular sport was not specific to any one of the political parties.
My first example is Illegal Immigration. On the Democrat side the football becomes one of so called “human rights” where the people breaking the U.S. immigration laws somehow have been granted rights above and beyond those of natural and naturalized citizens. On the Republican side, those violating our border are criminals, unless they suddenly become a valuable resource in protecting the bottom line of big business by working under the table. The reasons are quite different but both parties are refusing to resolve the issue, much less even come close to it. The real issue is that the United States is a sovereign country and should act as such. Immigration has rules for good reasons and the U.S. labor laws are also in place for good reasons. The hypocrisy of both parties on this issue has no good reason.
The second example is capital punishment. The left views capital punishment as cruel and unusual and claims the state has no right to kill people. At the same time they champion the killing of unborn children and support terrorist organizations overseas actively involved in the killing of innocents. The right is no better. They have allowed the laws involved around capital punishment to metastasize into a cancerous tangle that has reduced the effectiveness of the punishment to a moot point. Execution is not there to provide entertainment value or even revenge. It is there to act as a deterrent just as every other law with a stick attached to it is put in place. Our government isn’t interested in exacting punishment, it is interested in promoting good behavior, and yes, there is a difference between god and bad behavior.
The last example is abortion. It ties in with capital punishment because of a particular hypocrisy of the left. It is almost a certainty that most of the supporters of abortion know that a human life is being destroyed each time an abortion is performed. They also know that well over 99% of all abortions occur without a medical necessity. They simply cannot acknowledge that realization because of political necessity. The party agenda is far more important than human life…check that, human life that cannot vote.
I received several rather incendiary comments on this topic because I used the example of a woman’s unborn child being killed and the killer not being sentenced for the murder of that child. The point was missed, and I doubt it will ever be got. The person who pulled that trigger should be sentenced just as stringently for the killing of an unborn child as they would be for the killing of a 50 year old man. The age, sex, race, or economic status of a life should not matter. Wanton killing is wanton killing, regardless of the circumstance of the victim. Where are NOW, the ACLU and every other abortion rights group on this issue? They are silent as is to be expected, because the life of a child in the womb is nothing to them. They have their own agenda and that is the furtherance of their own political power. This football is simply a means to an end.
The right has its own problems where this issue is concerned. A few churches and several individuals have acted with the same fanaticism as members of the Taliban. The bombing of clinics and the killing of doctors have done nothing but place their cause in a bad light. Breaking the law is not the answer. Committing murder certainly is not the answer. Education is and it is going to take a long, long time because, though individuals may be intelligent, people are stupid. Just take a look at what we think is good television if you don’t believe me.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Pro-Death crowd is back.
I was going to write about another subject but a series of comments I received pushed that idea back for a day. They were all directed at one of the columns with regard to abortion. As anyone who reads this column will know, I am an unashamed proponent of life. I know (which is far stronger of a stance than mere belief) that life begins at the moment of conception. There is far too much science that proves this. The question is really when do any rights of humanity become endowed upon this life?
That question I posed is enough to send many of the pro-death crowd into a screaming frenzy because if what we now call the de-humanizing terms of zygote, fetus, etc, is recognized for what it really is, what they now see as a fundamental right becomes rather an act of legalized murder. What is really interesting is that many of this group will also stand vigil protesting the execution of a serial killer whose primary target was children.
If anyone will notice, I have not once said that an abortionist or their “patient” does not have the right to do what they do, yet these comments fairly shrieked that accusation attempting to shame me into silence. One comment was not allowed to be published because it used profanity, in spite of the prohibition for that sort of language clearly posted in the comment box. Apparently some folks can write but not read.
Throughout all the columns on this subject my single push has been to inject honesty into the discussion; honesty based on actual science and biological evidence not politically correct terminology. The problem, as exhibited by the comments, is that at least one side of the discussion cannot deal with such honesty, so I will, with glee, express it yet again.
I want a member of the pro-death camp to answer this question honestly and without rancor: what is the result of human conception if it is not human? I can almost guarantee that not one of them will give a well-reasoned answer because the only correct answer is “human life”. There are stages within the growth of this life that it has yet to achieve sentience and there are stages where it is completely reliant on the mother for sustaining that life, but if not human, what is it?
You see, when the rhetoric is broken down and the discussion is brought to fundamentals there is no room left for semantics and this is what really bothers the fanatics on both sides. Where abortion is concerned, most of the fanatics live on the left but not all of them. Those who shoot abortionists are just as wrong as those doctors who violate their oath by hiding behind contracts. The Hippocratic Oath as translated from the Greek is,
“I swear by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath.
To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art.
I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.
I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.
But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.
I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.
In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.
All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.
If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.”
There is no room in the oath, if it is followed honestly, to perform an abortion. If the comments to my blog are read, you will see that the writers did not bother to do any research, they simply reacted because I was disputing an article of their faith. They call for tolerance, but react with intolerance when someone disagrees with them. The comments give ample evidence to that, but if you will notice, I published them…except when profanity is used.
For those who didn’t pay attention in school, profanity is the four-letter dialogue you commonly use when your mother isn’t listening.
That question I posed is enough to send many of the pro-death crowd into a screaming frenzy because if what we now call the de-humanizing terms of zygote, fetus, etc, is recognized for what it really is, what they now see as a fundamental right becomes rather an act of legalized murder. What is really interesting is that many of this group will also stand vigil protesting the execution of a serial killer whose primary target was children.
If anyone will notice, I have not once said that an abortionist or their “patient” does not have the right to do what they do, yet these comments fairly shrieked that accusation attempting to shame me into silence. One comment was not allowed to be published because it used profanity, in spite of the prohibition for that sort of language clearly posted in the comment box. Apparently some folks can write but not read.
Throughout all the columns on this subject my single push has been to inject honesty into the discussion; honesty based on actual science and biological evidence not politically correct terminology. The problem, as exhibited by the comments, is that at least one side of the discussion cannot deal with such honesty, so I will, with glee, express it yet again.
I want a member of the pro-death camp to answer this question honestly and without rancor: what is the result of human conception if it is not human? I can almost guarantee that not one of them will give a well-reasoned answer because the only correct answer is “human life”. There are stages within the growth of this life that it has yet to achieve sentience and there are stages where it is completely reliant on the mother for sustaining that life, but if not human, what is it?
You see, when the rhetoric is broken down and the discussion is brought to fundamentals there is no room left for semantics and this is what really bothers the fanatics on both sides. Where abortion is concerned, most of the fanatics live on the left but not all of them. Those who shoot abortionists are just as wrong as those doctors who violate their oath by hiding behind contracts. The Hippocratic Oath as translated from the Greek is,
“I swear by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath.
To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art.
I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.
I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.
But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.
I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.
In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.
All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.
If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.”
There is no room in the oath, if it is followed honestly, to perform an abortion. If the comments to my blog are read, you will see that the writers did not bother to do any research, they simply reacted because I was disputing an article of their faith. They call for tolerance, but react with intolerance when someone disagrees with them. The comments give ample evidence to that, but if you will notice, I published them…except when profanity is used.
For those who didn’t pay attention in school, profanity is the four-letter dialogue you commonly use when your mother isn’t listening.
Friday, January 16, 2009
We Don’t Need No Steenking Education!
Last night Governor Jim Gibbons of Nevada issued his State of the State address. Because Governor Gibbons made a promise of not raising any taxes at all, Nevada’s economic woes grew right along with its population while revenues went down. Governor Gibbon’s solution to this pressing need for more money? Fire teachers.
Before I go into just how imbecilic his suggestion is, let’s explore the region of common sense. Nevada is a unique state. It is the only one where gaming is allowed state wide. New Jersey has Atlantic City and a few others have Indian Casinos, but they are not Nevada. To build a casino anywhere else other than Nevada, a gaming company has to convince that state that allowing them in is a good thing, translate that as “profitable”. The gaming taxes for the successful bidder can be as high as a full third of the gross profits. In Nevada the gaming tax is less than ten percent and it is not calculated on the gross, but the net. For some of the companies this winds up as less than one percent a year. It is no wonder that a good portion of the gaming CEOs in Nevada own their own jets and commute from their Oceanside estates in Southern California.
Mining is the other primary business in Nevada. More gold comes out of Nevada’s ground than any other state in the union. The mining industry pays an effective .5% a year in taxes while the sale price of gold continues to skyrocket. Barbara K. Cegvaske, the State Senator for District 8 in Nevada told a group of teachers being threatened with the loss of their careers that if the state raised taxes on mining to save the teachers’ jobs, mining would leave the state. I’ve had the misfortune to speak with Senator Cegvaske. You would not be blinded by her intellect. It is very likely she actually believes what she says. More’s the pity. Gold is found deep within the ground. If mining left the state, where will the mineral they seek be? Mining technology has improved since the gold rush, but I doubt it has climbed to the level where they could take the mountains with them when they go.
Governor Gibbons has a problem he did not mention in his address; he has no veto power. The last election eliminated the Republican leadership in the State Senate and gave the Democrat Speaker in the State Assembly a veto-proof majority. The power shift in the Assembly can be placed onto the shoulders of one man, George Harris, publisher of a poorly written rag called Liberty Watch. Harris never forgave me for defeating his anointed candidate, Kris Munn for the District 21 Assembly seat. That made me the 15th vote in the Assembly on the Republican side. Because of that position, I was able to block a couple of measures that would have severely impacted small business’s ability to survive in Nevada. Harris spent a fortune attacking me in the last primary. Because of that and a record low Republican turn out at the polls, Harris’ puppet got into the general. I was quite happy to help the Democrat Candidate Ellen Spiegel win the seat. Because of Harris, the Governor has no power over legislation at all. The question is whether or not the legislature has the wisdom to do what is right.
Most legislators have more than one face, the one they show in public and the one they wear in private. While in the legislature, I learned what most Republican legislators think of public education. They consider teachers in public schools the enemy. A few of them actually think teachers are a danger to their children. They make the error of confusing the teachers union and its political agenda with teachers. It is impossible to convince them otherwise. I’ve tried.
If the Nevada Legislature does the right thing and raises revenue properly, we have a hope of becoming a better state. If they act as they have in the past and continue to kowtow to the spoiled industries of gaming and mining, we run the risk of becoming incapable of educating even a tiny percentage of our children. Vouchers will not solve the problem because they still involve state monies and private schools have the option of refusing any child that may present a problem.
Right now more than half of the students leaving high school cannot read or write at a functional level. Business, small and large continues to complain about the quality of applicants, especially in the technical trades. I wonder what they will be saying when they cannot find applicants even capable of writing their own name?
Before I go into just how imbecilic his suggestion is, let’s explore the region of common sense. Nevada is a unique state. It is the only one where gaming is allowed state wide. New Jersey has Atlantic City and a few others have Indian Casinos, but they are not Nevada. To build a casino anywhere else other than Nevada, a gaming company has to convince that state that allowing them in is a good thing, translate that as “profitable”. The gaming taxes for the successful bidder can be as high as a full third of the gross profits. In Nevada the gaming tax is less than ten percent and it is not calculated on the gross, but the net. For some of the companies this winds up as less than one percent a year. It is no wonder that a good portion of the gaming CEOs in Nevada own their own jets and commute from their Oceanside estates in Southern California.
Mining is the other primary business in Nevada. More gold comes out of Nevada’s ground than any other state in the union. The mining industry pays an effective .5% a year in taxes while the sale price of gold continues to skyrocket. Barbara K. Cegvaske, the State Senator for District 8 in Nevada told a group of teachers being threatened with the loss of their careers that if the state raised taxes on mining to save the teachers’ jobs, mining would leave the state. I’ve had the misfortune to speak with Senator Cegvaske. You would not be blinded by her intellect. It is very likely she actually believes what she says. More’s the pity. Gold is found deep within the ground. If mining left the state, where will the mineral they seek be? Mining technology has improved since the gold rush, but I doubt it has climbed to the level where they could take the mountains with them when they go.
Governor Gibbons has a problem he did not mention in his address; he has no veto power. The last election eliminated the Republican leadership in the State Senate and gave the Democrat Speaker in the State Assembly a veto-proof majority. The power shift in the Assembly can be placed onto the shoulders of one man, George Harris, publisher of a poorly written rag called Liberty Watch. Harris never forgave me for defeating his anointed candidate, Kris Munn for the District 21 Assembly seat. That made me the 15th vote in the Assembly on the Republican side. Because of that position, I was able to block a couple of measures that would have severely impacted small business’s ability to survive in Nevada. Harris spent a fortune attacking me in the last primary. Because of that and a record low Republican turn out at the polls, Harris’ puppet got into the general. I was quite happy to help the Democrat Candidate Ellen Spiegel win the seat. Because of Harris, the Governor has no power over legislation at all. The question is whether or not the legislature has the wisdom to do what is right.
Most legislators have more than one face, the one they show in public and the one they wear in private. While in the legislature, I learned what most Republican legislators think of public education. They consider teachers in public schools the enemy. A few of them actually think teachers are a danger to their children. They make the error of confusing the teachers union and its political agenda with teachers. It is impossible to convince them otherwise. I’ve tried.
If the Nevada Legislature does the right thing and raises revenue properly, we have a hope of becoming a better state. If they act as they have in the past and continue to kowtow to the spoiled industries of gaming and mining, we run the risk of becoming incapable of educating even a tiny percentage of our children. Vouchers will not solve the problem because they still involve state monies and private schools have the option of refusing any child that may present a problem.
Right now more than half of the students leaving high school cannot read or write at a functional level. Business, small and large continues to complain about the quality of applicants, especially in the technical trades. I wonder what they will be saying when they cannot find applicants even capable of writing their own name?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Nevada Could Teach Illinois Lessons in Corruption
Most of the major news networks are continuing to run stories on the corruption overseen by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. To recap, Governor Blagojevich was charged, and eventually impeached, with the crime of attempting to sell a seat in the US Senate. Based on the reaction of the currently seated members to Roland Burris, the man he eventually appointed, it appears that more than a few of them think the good governor succeeded in his auction. Since the state of Illinois has the city of Chicago, and since Chicago has a less than savory reputation where its political life is concerned, the folks from that part of the country have begun to act almost smug about the quality of their corruption. Well, I have news for them.
Here in Nevada we have elevated political corruption to an art form. Chicago had Al Capone and other assorted mobsters. Big deal, we still have the mob and a number of them are so deeply ingrained into our politics that a witnessed brutal assault only brings probation. This would not be so unusual except that the order came from the same judge that hammered O.J. Simpson with hard time for using armed associates to get some of his stuff back. Those weapons were not used, by the way.
The judge, Nancy Glass, went out of the way to keep Dominic Rizzolo out of prison, even so far as calling up the defense council, Tony Sgro and advising him to come by in two years, and request she withdraw Dominic's felony plea and replace it with a gross misdemeanor. American Mafia writer, Steve Miller noted this in his column: Even Judge Glass' criminal defense attorney husband disagrees with her coddling a dangerous criminal: "People convicted of violent crimes have their prison sentences impacted by the harm done to their victims." "Any person who uses a... deadly weapon... in the commission of a crime shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term equal to and in addition to the term of imprisonment prescribed by statute for the crime." - From the website of attorney Steve Wolfson.
Our District Attorney, David Roger, is no slouch either when it comes to corruption. He is supposedly the one who urged Judge Glass to go easy on his favorite mobster of the week. In the neighborhood of Nevada’s Mr. Rogers, you can only commit a crime if you are a normal working citizen and not a potential or past campaign contributor. Several people have told me that the response from Metro, when they call to complain about a possible crime in progress and they happen to live in a gated community, is that the police cannot respond because it is in a gated community. This is of course a lie. The police have full authority to enter any community they choose to stop a crime. Guess what sort of community the Rizzolos live in.
Here in Nevada we elect our judges. If that isn’t a recipe for corruption, I cannot guess what is. An elected judge is always weighing their decisions on whether or not actually serving justice will get them unelected. Therefore we develop one justice system for the rich and another for the rest of us.
I can name less than a handful of current serving legislators and judges I could trust to do the right thing. Based on the last election, the electorate does not want judges and legislators known to be honest. They will vote for whomever puts out the largest amount of hate mail. We now have another judicial election cycle coming up. God help us all.
Here in Nevada we have elevated political corruption to an art form. Chicago had Al Capone and other assorted mobsters. Big deal, we still have the mob and a number of them are so deeply ingrained into our politics that a witnessed brutal assault only brings probation. This would not be so unusual except that the order came from the same judge that hammered O.J. Simpson with hard time for using armed associates to get some of his stuff back. Those weapons were not used, by the way.
The judge, Nancy Glass, went out of the way to keep Dominic Rizzolo out of prison, even so far as calling up the defense council, Tony Sgro and advising him to come by in two years, and request she withdraw Dominic's felony plea and replace it with a gross misdemeanor. American Mafia writer, Steve Miller noted this in his column: Even Judge Glass' criminal defense attorney husband disagrees with her coddling a dangerous criminal: "People convicted of violent crimes have their prison sentences impacted by the harm done to their victims." "Any person who uses a... deadly weapon... in the commission of a crime shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term equal to and in addition to the term of imprisonment prescribed by statute for the crime." - From the website of attorney Steve Wolfson.
Our District Attorney, David Roger, is no slouch either when it comes to corruption. He is supposedly the one who urged Judge Glass to go easy on his favorite mobster of the week. In the neighborhood of Nevada’s Mr. Rogers, you can only commit a crime if you are a normal working citizen and not a potential or past campaign contributor. Several people have told me that the response from Metro, when they call to complain about a possible crime in progress and they happen to live in a gated community, is that the police cannot respond because it is in a gated community. This is of course a lie. The police have full authority to enter any community they choose to stop a crime. Guess what sort of community the Rizzolos live in.
Here in Nevada we elect our judges. If that isn’t a recipe for corruption, I cannot guess what is. An elected judge is always weighing their decisions on whether or not actually serving justice will get them unelected. Therefore we develop one justice system for the rich and another for the rest of us.
I can name less than a handful of current serving legislators and judges I could trust to do the right thing. Based on the last election, the electorate does not want judges and legislators known to be honest. They will vote for whomever puts out the largest amount of hate mail. We now have another judicial election cycle coming up. God help us all.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Just What is a Dollar anyway?
According to a monograph written by Edwin Vieira, Jr., even those who purport to print our money don’t really know what a dollar is.
No statute defines - or ever has defined - the "one dollar" Federal Reserve Note “FRN” as the "dollar,” or even as a species of "dollar.” Moreover, the United States Code provides that FRNs "shall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the United States…or at any Federal Reserve bank.” Thus, FRNs are not themselves "lawful money" - otherwise, they would not be "redeemable in lawful money.” And if FRNs are not even "lawful money,” it is inconceivable that they are somehow "dollars,” the very units in which all "United States money is expressed.”
People are confused on this point because of the insidious manner in which FRNs "evolved" - actually, degenerated is a more appropriate verb - from the late 1920s until today. FRNs of Series 1928 through Series 1950E carried the obligation "The United States of America will pay to the bearer on demand [some number of] dollars.” Prior to 1934, the notes carried the inscription "Redeemable in gold on demand at the United States Treasury, or in gold or lawful money at any Federal Reserve Bank.” After 1934, the notes carried the inscription "this note…is redeemable in lawful money at the United States Treasury, or at any Federal Reserve Bank" (post-1934). Starting with Series 1963, the words "will pay to the bearer on demand" no longer appear; and each FRN simply states a particular denomination in "dollars.”
People have written to both their representatives and the Treasury Department asking for a definition of just what a “dollar” is. The replies reveal just how confused this situation is. Being a man who considers his word his bond, I would have to say that the FRN is and remains a contract; whether or not the government chooses to admit this…they printed the things. At the top of the contract they proudly proclaim it to be a Federal Reserve Note. At the bottom they declare the value, as in the dollar bill as One Dollar. The value of goods or services the note may purchase has changed, albeit not for the better. However, if you hold a 1900 $20 gold piece, you can still purchase what that coin could buy when it was minted. For example, back in 1920, a $20 gold coin would pay for a good suit. You can still do that today…if you have a $20 gold coin. A 1920 silver dime would pay for a decent breakfast…you can see my point.
The situation with coinage is more complex, but equally (if not more) confusing. The United States Code provides for three different types of coinage denominated in "dollars": namely, base- metallic coinage, gold coinage, and silver coinage.
The base-metallic coinage consists of "a dollar coin,” weighing "8.1 grams,” "a half dollar coin,” weighing "11.34 grams"; "a quarter coin,” weighing "5.67 grams": and "a dime coin,” weighing "2.268 grams.” All of these coins are composed of copper and nickel. The weights of the dime, the quarter, and the half dollar are in the correct arithmetical proportions, the one to each of the others. But the "dollar" is disproportionately light (or the other coins disproportionately heavy). In this series of base metallic coins, then, the questions naturally arise: Is the "dollar" a cupro-nickel coin weighing "8.1 grams"? Or is it two cupro- nickel coins (or four or ten coins) collectively weighing 22.68 grams? Or is it both? Or is it neither, but something else altogether, to which the weights of these coins are irrelevant?
In regards to the silver dollar...back when we actually minted silver coins for everyday use, the dollar coin weighed .999 troy ounces of silver. I would say that particular coin is the closest to anything as far as actually being a dollar. The value was there, the trust was there and the value of that coin has not varied through the years. If you currently have a silver dollar of nominal numismatic value (not one of the rarities) you can still purchase roughly the same value of goods or services you could back when the coin was minted, as stated in the examples above. Now we do still mint “Liberty Dollars”, but they are minted as collectibles more so than money.
Similarly, the gold coinage consists of "a fifty dollar gold coin" that "weighs 33.931 grams, and contains one troy ounce of fine gold"; "a twenty-five dollar gold coin" that "contains one-half ounce of fine gold"; "a ten dollar gold coin" that "contains one fourth ounce of fine gold"; and "a five dollar gold coin" that "contains one tenth ounce of fine gold.” The "fifty dollar,” "twenty-five dollar,” and "five dollar" coins are in the correct arithmetical proportions each to the others. But the "ten dollar" coin is not. Therefore, is a "dollar" one-fiftieth or one-fortieth of an ounce of gold? It appears to be undecided.
The US Government has not upheld its part on a contract begun back when it first began printing monetary notes. We still trade the notes for goods and services, but the trust is no longer there, in fact, based on the current crisis, the lack of trust is completely justified. If we had an administration with the courage to place the U.S. back onto the gold standard, we would see the value of the dollar skyrocket, whether or not enough gold exists to do so is beside the point. Experts disagree on both sides of that issue. What would be important would be the willingness to actually declare a foundation and to keep a promise...something our government hasn’t been willing to do for nearly three quarters of a century.
This brings me to a loosely connected point. Hollywood has expressed in film the idea that Uncle Sam trusts its citizenry about as much as they trust him. The background stories in the movie The Rock and Men in Black are an example. There is no love lost in either direction, but the greatest violator is the government. The current and ongoing mess was caused primarily by the government fouling up yet again…and apparently those in power are satisfied with the status quo. The reaction of the GOP leadership over the possibility of Sarah Palin is a very telling bit of evidence. If we are to ever regain our prosperity with some stability we need to begin being an honest, ethical nation. Being honest in our money would be a good start.
No statute defines - or ever has defined - the "one dollar" Federal Reserve Note “FRN” as the "dollar,” or even as a species of "dollar.” Moreover, the United States Code provides that FRNs "shall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the United States…or at any Federal Reserve bank.” Thus, FRNs are not themselves "lawful money" - otherwise, they would not be "redeemable in lawful money.” And if FRNs are not even "lawful money,” it is inconceivable that they are somehow "dollars,” the very units in which all "United States money is expressed.”
People are confused on this point because of the insidious manner in which FRNs "evolved" - actually, degenerated is a more appropriate verb - from the late 1920s until today. FRNs of Series 1928 through Series 1950E carried the obligation "The United States of America will pay to the bearer on demand [some number of] dollars.” Prior to 1934, the notes carried the inscription "Redeemable in gold on demand at the United States Treasury, or in gold or lawful money at any Federal Reserve Bank.” After 1934, the notes carried the inscription "this note…is redeemable in lawful money at the United States Treasury, or at any Federal Reserve Bank" (post-1934). Starting with Series 1963, the words "will pay to the bearer on demand" no longer appear; and each FRN simply states a particular denomination in "dollars.”
People have written to both their representatives and the Treasury Department asking for a definition of just what a “dollar” is. The replies reveal just how confused this situation is. Being a man who considers his word his bond, I would have to say that the FRN is and remains a contract; whether or not the government chooses to admit this…they printed the things. At the top of the contract they proudly proclaim it to be a Federal Reserve Note. At the bottom they declare the value, as in the dollar bill as One Dollar. The value of goods or services the note may purchase has changed, albeit not for the better. However, if you hold a 1900 $20 gold piece, you can still purchase what that coin could buy when it was minted. For example, back in 1920, a $20 gold coin would pay for a good suit. You can still do that today…if you have a $20 gold coin. A 1920 silver dime would pay for a decent breakfast…you can see my point.
The situation with coinage is more complex, but equally (if not more) confusing. The United States Code provides for three different types of coinage denominated in "dollars": namely, base- metallic coinage, gold coinage, and silver coinage.
The base-metallic coinage consists of "a dollar coin,” weighing "8.1 grams,” "a half dollar coin,” weighing "11.34 grams"; "a quarter coin,” weighing "5.67 grams": and "a dime coin,” weighing "2.268 grams.” All of these coins are composed of copper and nickel. The weights of the dime, the quarter, and the half dollar are in the correct arithmetical proportions, the one to each of the others. But the "dollar" is disproportionately light (or the other coins disproportionately heavy). In this series of base metallic coins, then, the questions naturally arise: Is the "dollar" a cupro-nickel coin weighing "8.1 grams"? Or is it two cupro- nickel coins (or four or ten coins) collectively weighing 22.68 grams? Or is it both? Or is it neither, but something else altogether, to which the weights of these coins are irrelevant?
In regards to the silver dollar...back when we actually minted silver coins for everyday use, the dollar coin weighed .999 troy ounces of silver. I would say that particular coin is the closest to anything as far as actually being a dollar. The value was there, the trust was there and the value of that coin has not varied through the years. If you currently have a silver dollar of nominal numismatic value (not one of the rarities) you can still purchase roughly the same value of goods or services you could back when the coin was minted, as stated in the examples above. Now we do still mint “Liberty Dollars”, but they are minted as collectibles more so than money.
Similarly, the gold coinage consists of "a fifty dollar gold coin" that "weighs 33.931 grams, and contains one troy ounce of fine gold"; "a twenty-five dollar gold coin" that "contains one-half ounce of fine gold"; "a ten dollar gold coin" that "contains one fourth ounce of fine gold"; and "a five dollar gold coin" that "contains one tenth ounce of fine gold.” The "fifty dollar,” "twenty-five dollar,” and "five dollar" coins are in the correct arithmetical proportions each to the others. But the "ten dollar" coin is not. Therefore, is a "dollar" one-fiftieth or one-fortieth of an ounce of gold? It appears to be undecided.
The US Government has not upheld its part on a contract begun back when it first began printing monetary notes. We still trade the notes for goods and services, but the trust is no longer there, in fact, based on the current crisis, the lack of trust is completely justified. If we had an administration with the courage to place the U.S. back onto the gold standard, we would see the value of the dollar skyrocket, whether or not enough gold exists to do so is beside the point. Experts disagree on both sides of that issue. What would be important would be the willingness to actually declare a foundation and to keep a promise...something our government hasn’t been willing to do for nearly three quarters of a century.
This brings me to a loosely connected point. Hollywood has expressed in film the idea that Uncle Sam trusts its citizenry about as much as they trust him. The background stories in the movie The Rock and Men in Black are an example. There is no love lost in either direction, but the greatest violator is the government. The current and ongoing mess was caused primarily by the government fouling up yet again…and apparently those in power are satisfied with the status quo. The reaction of the GOP leadership over the possibility of Sarah Palin is a very telling bit of evidence. If we are to ever regain our prosperity with some stability we need to begin being an honest, ethical nation. Being honest in our money would be a good start.
Friday, January 9, 2009
How about we honor our veterans?
Yesterday evening the Clark County School Board chose to finally join the rest of the United States in honoring our nation’s veterans. The decision only came ten years late. There used to be a sense of patriotism in the Las Vegas Valley. People who lived here used to feel pride in the men and women who laid their lives on the line for our freedom. That isn’t the case now; not any more.
About two years ago I stood in front of the school board and asked them to consider naming one of our schools in honor of our veterans. Some of the members said we already did. The school they referenced, Cimarron High School, used to have such a name, a decade ago before the board changed it. The claim was that the district had decided to give all the high schools western-style names, but insiders tell me that certain elements in the administration and on the board did not like “glorifying war”.
This is how cynical such an attitude on the part of bureaucracy is: the Clark County School District has a number of schools named after individuals of incredibly dubious character. One school is named after a past Assemblyman who narrowly escaped jail time for corruption. Several of his friends are currently inmates. That school’s name hasn’t been changed. It seems glorifying a corrupt public official isn’t as bad in the eyes of the school board as “glorifying war”. Oscar Goodman, the Mayor of Las Vegas, has been lobbying Congress, fervently trying to find financing for a Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. He somehow considers that a far more important project than spending a tiny fraction of the money to dedicate a defunct city park for the veterans.
Every airport in America of any significant size has an Armed Services club for the benefit of those men and women in uniform who come through. McCarran International Airport is the only airport of its size without such a facility. Over a quarter of a million military men and women pass through that airport each year. Many of them have layovers of several hours and nowhere to rest, check emails, etc...I spoke with Randy Walker, the manager of the airport about this problem and he agreed that something had to be done. He even went so far as to guarantee matching funds and an existing lounge as long as the county came through with its part. Clark County’s commissioners could not be less interested. In contacting the USO, the service organization that at one time had clubs for our soldiers popping up like mushrooms, was actually hostile to the idea. Apparently the idea of having one of their clubs in Las Vegas is pretty distasteful.
One of the few jobs that pay even less than teaching is military service. A very large number of enlisted personnel have to sign on for food stamps to feed their family. The conditions they work under can be horrendous and, in many cases, fatal. Once their term of service is over, the least we can do is honor that service.
About two years ago I stood in front of the school board and asked them to consider naming one of our schools in honor of our veterans. Some of the members said we already did. The school they referenced, Cimarron High School, used to have such a name, a decade ago before the board changed it. The claim was that the district had decided to give all the high schools western-style names, but insiders tell me that certain elements in the administration and on the board did not like “glorifying war”.
This is how cynical such an attitude on the part of bureaucracy is: the Clark County School District has a number of schools named after individuals of incredibly dubious character. One school is named after a past Assemblyman who narrowly escaped jail time for corruption. Several of his friends are currently inmates. That school’s name hasn’t been changed. It seems glorifying a corrupt public official isn’t as bad in the eyes of the school board as “glorifying war”. Oscar Goodman, the Mayor of Las Vegas, has been lobbying Congress, fervently trying to find financing for a Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. He somehow considers that a far more important project than spending a tiny fraction of the money to dedicate a defunct city park for the veterans.
Every airport in America of any significant size has an Armed Services club for the benefit of those men and women in uniform who come through. McCarran International Airport is the only airport of its size without such a facility. Over a quarter of a million military men and women pass through that airport each year. Many of them have layovers of several hours and nowhere to rest, check emails, etc...I spoke with Randy Walker, the manager of the airport about this problem and he agreed that something had to be done. He even went so far as to guarantee matching funds and an existing lounge as long as the county came through with its part. Clark County’s commissioners could not be less interested. In contacting the USO, the service organization that at one time had clubs for our soldiers popping up like mushrooms, was actually hostile to the idea. Apparently the idea of having one of their clubs in Las Vegas is pretty distasteful.
One of the few jobs that pay even less than teaching is military service. A very large number of enlisted personnel have to sign on for food stamps to feed their family. The conditions they work under can be horrendous and, in many cases, fatal. Once their term of service is over, the least we can do is honor that service.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New Server, New Email, same old internet
As a child of the fifties I will never be one to move within the arcane world of computer code. HTML makes as much sense to me as the squiggles used in Arabic writing. I do, however, know how to use a search engine as well if not better than your average teenager; just don't ask me to program one. As far as I’m concerned, back slash and forward slash are hockey terms.
When I landed my first job as a courtroom artist I was 18 years old, fresh out of High School and art was created with either pen, pencil or paint onto paper and canvas. Computers were massive complexes of tubes and wire and filled entire rooms to create less computing power currently found in a chip smaller than my little fingernail. Wonders such as the LED, CD, DVD, Bluetooth, laser mouse, and the PC did not exist except in science fiction and under different names.
I am writing this while sitting in my home office. To my right is a Sony component stereo system that I turned on by remote control. It plays either over-the-air broadcasts in several formats or a selection of choices from the carousel CD changer; all with the tap of a button on the remote. My computer is a Toshiba laptop. It is nothing fancy and, to be honest, slightly underpowered when compared to this year’s crop. But if I were able to step back in time to when I first began my artistic career, taking either product with me, I would be able to command any price for the wonders they contained. What will I consider commonplace tomorrow?
We take all of this incredible technology for granted now, to the point where, when flying from one city to another, on a trip that would have taken our ancestors weeks of months of hardship, we complain about being served stale peanuts as a snack. I have no idea why Jobs, Wozniak and Gates used the language they did in creating their programs, but I’m glad they did. I am currently illustrating a series of children’s books for a publisher using Adobe Photoshop as the primary program. If I were to do the job using only hand tools, and I could certainly do so, the work would take almost ten times the amount of hours.
The cartoon strip you see below this column was drawn the old fashioned way using pencil, paper, brush and ink. What technology has allowed to happen is to enable me to share it with a vastly larger audience than what its original publisher intended. This is the world of the internet; which brings me to my point. Because I am an artist, I work in files that can easily become not just huge but massive. My old email and DSL server did not have near enough bandwidth to deal with that size. I had to move up, but in doing so I had to get yet another email address. If you want to contact me, comment on this column and I will send you the new listing.
Thanks for reading.
When I landed my first job as a courtroom artist I was 18 years old, fresh out of High School and art was created with either pen, pencil or paint onto paper and canvas. Computers were massive complexes of tubes and wire and filled entire rooms to create less computing power currently found in a chip smaller than my little fingernail. Wonders such as the LED, CD, DVD, Bluetooth, laser mouse, and the PC did not exist except in science fiction and under different names.
I am writing this while sitting in my home office. To my right is a Sony component stereo system that I turned on by remote control. It plays either over-the-air broadcasts in several formats or a selection of choices from the carousel CD changer; all with the tap of a button on the remote. My computer is a Toshiba laptop. It is nothing fancy and, to be honest, slightly underpowered when compared to this year’s crop. But if I were able to step back in time to when I first began my artistic career, taking either product with me, I would be able to command any price for the wonders they contained. What will I consider commonplace tomorrow?
We take all of this incredible technology for granted now, to the point where, when flying from one city to another, on a trip that would have taken our ancestors weeks of months of hardship, we complain about being served stale peanuts as a snack. I have no idea why Jobs, Wozniak and Gates used the language they did in creating their programs, but I’m glad they did. I am currently illustrating a series of children’s books for a publisher using Adobe Photoshop as the primary program. If I were to do the job using only hand tools, and I could certainly do so, the work would take almost ten times the amount of hours.
The cartoon strip you see below this column was drawn the old fashioned way using pencil, paper, brush and ink. What technology has allowed to happen is to enable me to share it with a vastly larger audience than what its original publisher intended. This is the world of the internet; which brings me to my point. Because I am an artist, I work in files that can easily become not just huge but massive. My old email and DSL server did not have near enough bandwidth to deal with that size. I had to move up, but in doing so I had to get yet another email address. If you want to contact me, comment on this column and I will send you the new listing.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Mosab Hassan Yousef
One of the most extraordinary things happened this week and the only News network to report on it was FOX. Every other news outlet has been as silent about this event as if such an occurrence was as embarrassing as Dan Rather campaigning for John Kerry with his phony report on George Bush. The event was the explosive announcement that the son of son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the most influential leaders of the militant group Hamas, Mosab Hassan Yousef converted from Islam to evangelical Christianity. According to the FOX report, Yousef not only repudiates Islam, but slams those who have used the religion to foment terror throughout the world.
I watched the broadcast and was singularly impressed by this young man’s obvious courage. Without batting an eye he stated that those who follow the Koran are “insane”. He was raised as a radical Muslim and taught to hate the Israeli and the West as natural enemies of Islam. He helped organize protests and was indirectly responsible for a number of terrorist acts that caused the deaths of innocents. To be able to come forward as he has is an incredible act. The fact that he is still alive is simply a miracle.
With the current war going on in Gaza, the apparent one sided view of the major media is again obvious to all but the most naive viewer. With rocket after rocket lifting into the air toward Israeli suburbs, the MSNBC reporter continues with his/her report on how many Palestinian civilians the Israeli military has killed. Qassam rockets and Grad missiles rain down on Israeli civilians by the hundreds, and the images shown everywhere except FOX are those of Palestinian militants dressed in Hamas green demonstrating around an unidentified man holding what could either be a child’s body or a sack of laundry; the package is never revealed.
I have yet to be convinced of any legitimate claim the Palestinians, the Iranians, the Lebanese, Egyptians or any other Middle Eastern group has on the land of Israel. Leaving off Saul, who is recorded as being a rather ineffective ruler, the reign of King David is reckoned to have begun around 1050 BC. Any reasonable, thinking being would consider that a rather solid claim. What makes the thought of giving the Palestinians any portion of Israel as theirs to own absurd, is that they have never before lived there, not even in the distant past. They come from the eastern side of the Jordan. The Mexicans who want to claim portions of the American Southwest have a stronger claim on what they desire than that. Of course, if Mexican terrorists began lobbing rockets and missiles into San Diego, we would see much the same response from the news media as we do where Israel is concerned. To them, there are only two great evils in the world, Zionist Israel and Imperialistic America. The only thing that would shake that view is if one of the rockets landed in their Oceanside estates.
Yousef is a unique young man. He has the courage of his convictions and a personal history no pundit can argue against. He has come though experiences many of us would consider to only be the stuff of action movies. The news media think Islam is as valid as Christianity, though, where Christianity is concerned, they only reference those who has misused the faith for their own selfish goals; the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials were not Christian in origin, despite the trappings. Nowhere in the New Testament will you find God admonishing the follower of Jesus to murder a daughter because she married a man of her own choosing, to send a child into a crowd wearing an explosive belt, to saw the head off an innocent man, to push a helpless wheelchair bound man off a ship into the ocean, or the other innumerable atrocities committed in the name of allah (the lack of a capital here is intended). Far too long the world has allowed this abomination of a religion to exist. Far too long have the peaceful citizens of this globe stood by silently while these monsters have terrorized the innocent. Finally, one young man has come forward and spoken the truth. Sadly, only a few noticed.
I watched the broadcast and was singularly impressed by this young man’s obvious courage. Without batting an eye he stated that those who follow the Koran are “insane”. He was raised as a radical Muslim and taught to hate the Israeli and the West as natural enemies of Islam. He helped organize protests and was indirectly responsible for a number of terrorist acts that caused the deaths of innocents. To be able to come forward as he has is an incredible act. The fact that he is still alive is simply a miracle.
With the current war going on in Gaza, the apparent one sided view of the major media is again obvious to all but the most naive viewer. With rocket after rocket lifting into the air toward Israeli suburbs, the MSNBC reporter continues with his/her report on how many Palestinian civilians the Israeli military has killed. Qassam rockets and Grad missiles rain down on Israeli civilians by the hundreds, and the images shown everywhere except FOX are those of Palestinian militants dressed in Hamas green demonstrating around an unidentified man holding what could either be a child’s body or a sack of laundry; the package is never revealed.
I have yet to be convinced of any legitimate claim the Palestinians, the Iranians, the Lebanese, Egyptians or any other Middle Eastern group has on the land of Israel. Leaving off Saul, who is recorded as being a rather ineffective ruler, the reign of King David is reckoned to have begun around 1050 BC. Any reasonable, thinking being would consider that a rather solid claim. What makes the thought of giving the Palestinians any portion of Israel as theirs to own absurd, is that they have never before lived there, not even in the distant past. They come from the eastern side of the Jordan. The Mexicans who want to claim portions of the American Southwest have a stronger claim on what they desire than that. Of course, if Mexican terrorists began lobbing rockets and missiles into San Diego, we would see much the same response from the news media as we do where Israel is concerned. To them, there are only two great evils in the world, Zionist Israel and Imperialistic America. The only thing that would shake that view is if one of the rockets landed in their Oceanside estates.
Yousef is a unique young man. He has the courage of his convictions and a personal history no pundit can argue against. He has come though experiences many of us would consider to only be the stuff of action movies. The news media think Islam is as valid as Christianity, though, where Christianity is concerned, they only reference those who has misused the faith for their own selfish goals; the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials were not Christian in origin, despite the trappings. Nowhere in the New Testament will you find God admonishing the follower of Jesus to murder a daughter because she married a man of her own choosing, to send a child into a crowd wearing an explosive belt, to saw the head off an innocent man, to push a helpless wheelchair bound man off a ship into the ocean, or the other innumerable atrocities committed in the name of allah (the lack of a capital here is intended). Far too long the world has allowed this abomination of a religion to exist. Far too long have the peaceful citizens of this globe stood by silently while these monsters have terrorized the innocent. Finally, one young man has come forward and spoken the truth. Sadly, only a few noticed.
Monday, January 5, 2009
What price honesty?
Have you ever wondered what would happen to our lives if all of a sudden people decided to stop being dishonest? The cynic would claim that such an event could be the beginning of mass violence, murder, suicide and economic collapse. They would claim that our society, nay, the entire world is deeply rooted in a culture of deception. People have been conditioned to not only accept the little lies we consistently tell each other, but have come to expect them to the point that, when confronted with actual truth, they cannot process it.
When Bill Clinton faced the news camera and shook his finger at America while lying about his affair with Monica Lewinski, it was apparent, even to his most fervent followers that he was not being honest. Later, it was revealed that very few of his published honors and accomplishments were based in actual fact. That revelation has done little, if any to harm his ongoing career after the White House.
George Bush the elder also lied to America in much the same way. The only difference was that his lie was economic rather than lurid, but being a Republican in a country controlled by liberal media and thought police, his punishment was swift and politically devastating…for about four years and then the previous-mentioned liar came in.
Al Gore has to be the champ when it comes to spinning falsehoods, though John Kerry and his imagined heroism comes in a close second. Global Warming is simply the greatest hoax pushed upon the world stage…period. Nothing else even comes close. The most recent guffaw is how Gore and his fellow Warmingites explain that the current cooling trend is nothing more than a prime example as how “warming” is affecting the earth. Yes and, Glen Beck said it best, “Exxon’s massive profits are simply an example of how little money they are making.” Try telling the people in Fargo they are in danger of dying from global warming. The last temp there was several degrees below zero.
I remember the Spotted Owl brouhaha. One of the last jobs I did as a sign shop owner involved a Circle K store with an occupied owl nest in its sign. Seems Spotted Owls can only survive in old growth Circle K forests.
Here in Nevada, I tried proposing an immigration reform bill. It wasn’t the Democrats who opposed it, it was the Republicans. They claimed I was trying to bankrupt the state. These legislators are also people who claim to love the constitution. They claim to be moral and to love the law. They lie. They are not concerned about business being able to make ends meet as much as they are concerned about the next campaign contribution and their ability to spend it in nonpolitical goodies.
The truth is expensive and it can be inconvenient, but it will never disappoint and it will never cheat. So we kick out all the liars. Will that ruin our country? What do you think would be the economic picture if every politician upheld the truth and went after those who cheated, lied and stole? So we wouldn’t have Bush, Cheney, Reid and Pelosi. So what? Is any one so naive to believe they are the best we can get?
When Bill Clinton faced the news camera and shook his finger at America while lying about his affair with Monica Lewinski, it was apparent, even to his most fervent followers that he was not being honest. Later, it was revealed that very few of his published honors and accomplishments were based in actual fact. That revelation has done little, if any to harm his ongoing career after the White House.
George Bush the elder also lied to America in much the same way. The only difference was that his lie was economic rather than lurid, but being a Republican in a country controlled by liberal media and thought police, his punishment was swift and politically devastating…for about four years and then the previous-mentioned liar came in.
Al Gore has to be the champ when it comes to spinning falsehoods, though John Kerry and his imagined heroism comes in a close second. Global Warming is simply the greatest hoax pushed upon the world stage…period. Nothing else even comes close. The most recent guffaw is how Gore and his fellow Warmingites explain that the current cooling trend is nothing more than a prime example as how “warming” is affecting the earth. Yes and, Glen Beck said it best, “Exxon’s massive profits are simply an example of how little money they are making.” Try telling the people in Fargo they are in danger of dying from global warming. The last temp there was several degrees below zero.
I remember the Spotted Owl brouhaha. One of the last jobs I did as a sign shop owner involved a Circle K store with an occupied owl nest in its sign. Seems Spotted Owls can only survive in old growth Circle K forests.
Here in Nevada, I tried proposing an immigration reform bill. It wasn’t the Democrats who opposed it, it was the Republicans. They claimed I was trying to bankrupt the state. These legislators are also people who claim to love the constitution. They claim to be moral and to love the law. They lie. They are not concerned about business being able to make ends meet as much as they are concerned about the next campaign contribution and their ability to spend it in nonpolitical goodies.
The truth is expensive and it can be inconvenient, but it will never disappoint and it will never cheat. So we kick out all the liars. Will that ruin our country? What do you think would be the economic picture if every politician upheld the truth and went after those who cheated, lied and stole? So we wouldn’t have Bush, Cheney, Reid and Pelosi. So what? Is any one so naive to believe they are the best we can get?
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Thoughts on 2009
The continuous boom of fireworks woke me up last night. As per long-standing tradition I went to bed early New Years Eve. I have yet to regret that old decision.
2009 has a number of unique promises to fulfill. Whether or not it will is yet to be seen. We could either be witnessing the dawn of one of our most prosperous decades beginning with 2010, or the inexorable advance of Armageddon; the potential swing of the pendulum is that wide.
President-elect Obama has already shown himself to be less of a puppet of the liberal left than a lot of pundits feared. His willingness to work with people his typical constituency view as blood enemies shows an inner core of character I was unable to see during the campaign. It will be interesting to see how his middle-income tax cut fares and what, if implemented; it will do for the economy. American big business has become quite reactionary when asked to share their plunder. I personally know of instances where a business owner has actually taken steps that harmed his credit rather than reduce his own personal income to save the business his father began.
As is typical to the Middle East, the millennium-old conflict between the sons of Abraham rages on, but for the past several hundred years the fault lies on Ishmael’s side, not on Isaac’s. I have yet to get a real handle on the problem with the Palestinians. Their heritage is Jordanian, not Israeli. They hail from southwestern Jordon, not from the western side of the Jordon River. Not one accomplishment toward bettering humanity or society, or even themselves can be attributed to any of their disparate groups, and yet the world seems intent on blaming Israel, the real victim, for the Palestinians’ troubles. It seems to me that when someone gives you thousands of acres of arable land, you develop it; you don’t spend all your time developing weapons. The followers of the Babylonian moon god allah don’t care about logic, obviously.
Because of the vast Democrat sweep of nearly every significant office, the Reid/Pelosi cabal has been clamoring to move even further toward socialization. They envision American healthcare as being a mirror of what is offered in Canada. There are so many errors in that form of judgment that space is simply not sufficient to even cover a tiny percentage, but let’s just look at a couple right now. Both Pelosi and Reid happen to be independently wealthy. Over the years I have noticed that those who proclaim the socialist agenda to be the best are often the least generous with their own wealth when they have it. Both Pelosi and Reid share the trait of being dictatorial. They do not work well as the member of a decision-making team; they have a drive to be the one and only decision maker. Every socialistic leader in our world’s history has shared the same trait.
In Canada, it is true, you can see a doctor without paying a co pay. Of course, you have already paid 60% in taxes and had to wait for upwards of half a year while your condition grew worse, but that $20 didn’t leave your wallet. As in the UK, Canada’s health system has morphed into a two-tier system. Those who can afford to pay for extra privilege, get it and the government, used to privilege, does nothing to halt the trend. Do you really think that if it came to it that Reid or Pelosi would be waiting in line with you to see a doctor?
About a year ago my humble house was worth about $250,000. Now it is worth about $150,000. I have actually worked to improve the property, but the price went down. Fortunately the taxes also went with the price. Some economists are warning of hyper-inflation while others are screaming about the coming depression. I think a different scenario is possible, if Uncle Sam will get out of the way. My house was never actually worth a quarter of a million. It simply is too small and in too normal of a location for that price. As with all the other homes around my neighborhood, it was caught up in a short term economic frenzy and far too many scam artists got into a feeding frenzy. The balloon has burst and now things are beginning to stabilize...as long as greed is kept out of it. Gas prices are just about where they really belong along with a great many other commodities. If those businesses who failed were actually allowed to fail, better run companies would take their place. It has happened before and it will happen again. Simply because the owner of a business has a friend in Washington, it does not mean that my taxes can be used to cover up his failure. At least it shouldn’t mean that.
So, welcome to 2009. It should be an interesting year.
2009 has a number of unique promises to fulfill. Whether or not it will is yet to be seen. We could either be witnessing the dawn of one of our most prosperous decades beginning with 2010, or the inexorable advance of Armageddon; the potential swing of the pendulum is that wide.
President-elect Obama has already shown himself to be less of a puppet of the liberal left than a lot of pundits feared. His willingness to work with people his typical constituency view as blood enemies shows an inner core of character I was unable to see during the campaign. It will be interesting to see how his middle-income tax cut fares and what, if implemented; it will do for the economy. American big business has become quite reactionary when asked to share their plunder. I personally know of instances where a business owner has actually taken steps that harmed his credit rather than reduce his own personal income to save the business his father began.
As is typical to the Middle East, the millennium-old conflict between the sons of Abraham rages on, but for the past several hundred years the fault lies on Ishmael’s side, not on Isaac’s. I have yet to get a real handle on the problem with the Palestinians. Their heritage is Jordanian, not Israeli. They hail from southwestern Jordon, not from the western side of the Jordon River. Not one accomplishment toward bettering humanity or society, or even themselves can be attributed to any of their disparate groups, and yet the world seems intent on blaming Israel, the real victim, for the Palestinians’ troubles. It seems to me that when someone gives you thousands of acres of arable land, you develop it; you don’t spend all your time developing weapons. The followers of the Babylonian moon god allah don’t care about logic, obviously.
Because of the vast Democrat sweep of nearly every significant office, the Reid/Pelosi cabal has been clamoring to move even further toward socialization. They envision American healthcare as being a mirror of what is offered in Canada. There are so many errors in that form of judgment that space is simply not sufficient to even cover a tiny percentage, but let’s just look at a couple right now. Both Pelosi and Reid happen to be independently wealthy. Over the years I have noticed that those who proclaim the socialist agenda to be the best are often the least generous with their own wealth when they have it. Both Pelosi and Reid share the trait of being dictatorial. They do not work well as the member of a decision-making team; they have a drive to be the one and only decision maker. Every socialistic leader in our world’s history has shared the same trait.
In Canada, it is true, you can see a doctor without paying a co pay. Of course, you have already paid 60% in taxes and had to wait for upwards of half a year while your condition grew worse, but that $20 didn’t leave your wallet. As in the UK, Canada’s health system has morphed into a two-tier system. Those who can afford to pay for extra privilege, get it and the government, used to privilege, does nothing to halt the trend. Do you really think that if it came to it that Reid or Pelosi would be waiting in line with you to see a doctor?
About a year ago my humble house was worth about $250,000. Now it is worth about $150,000. I have actually worked to improve the property, but the price went down. Fortunately the taxes also went with the price. Some economists are warning of hyper-inflation while others are screaming about the coming depression. I think a different scenario is possible, if Uncle Sam will get out of the way. My house was never actually worth a quarter of a million. It simply is too small and in too normal of a location for that price. As with all the other homes around my neighborhood, it was caught up in a short term economic frenzy and far too many scam artists got into a feeding frenzy. The balloon has burst and now things are beginning to stabilize...as long as greed is kept out of it. Gas prices are just about where they really belong along with a great many other commodities. If those businesses who failed were actually allowed to fail, better run companies would take their place. It has happened before and it will happen again. Simply because the owner of a business has a friend in Washington, it does not mean that my taxes can be used to cover up his failure. At least it shouldn’t mean that.
So, welcome to 2009. It should be an interesting year.
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