Myth #1: Social Security is going broke.
Reality: There is no Social Security crisis. By 2023, Social Security will have a $4.6 trillion surplus (yes, trillion with a 'T'). It can pay out all scheduled benefits for the next quarter-century with no changes whatsoever.1 After 2037, it'll still be able to pay out 75% of scheduled benefits—and again, that's without any changes. The program started preparing for the Baby Boomers' retirement decades ago.2 Anyone who insists Social Security is broke probably wants to break it themselves.
Myth #2: We have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.
Reality: This is a red-herring to trick you into agreeing to benefit cuts. Retirees are living about the same amount of time as they were in the 1930s. The reason average life expectancy is higher is mostly because many fewer people die as children than they did 70 years ago.3 What's more, what gains there have been are distributed very unevenly—since 1972, life expectancy increased by 6.5 years for workers in the top half of the income brackets, but by less than 2 years for those in the bottom half.4 But those intent on cutting Social Security love this argument because raising the retirement age is the same as an across-the-board benefit cut.
Myth #3: Benefit cuts are the only way to fix Social Security.
Reality: Social Security doesn't need to be fixed. But if we want to strengthen it, here's a better way: Make the rich pay their fair share. If the very rich paid taxes on all of their income, Social Security would be sustainable for decades to come.5 Right now, high earners only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,000 of their income.6 But conservatives insist benefit cuts are the only way because they want to protect the super-rich from paying their fair share.
Myth #4: The Social Security Trust Fund has been raided and is full of IOUs
Reality: Not even close to true. The Social Security Trust Fund isn't full of IOUs, it's full of U.S. Treasury Bonds. And those bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.7 The reason Social Security holds only treasury bonds is the same reason many Americans do: The federal government has never missed a single interest payment on its debts. President Bush wanted to put Social Security funds in the stock market—which would have been disastrous—but luckily, he failed. So the trillions of dollars in the Social Security Trust Fund, which are separate from the regular budget, are as safe as can be.
Myth #5: Social Security adds to the deficit
Reality: It's not just wrong—it's impossible! By law, Social Security's funds are separate from the budget, and it must pay its own way. That means that Social Security can't add one penny to the deficit.8
Defeating these myths is the first step to stopping Social Security cuts. Can you share this list now?
Friday, July 30, 2010
For those who do not understand the motivation behind "911"
Motives: (1)Need a "False Flag" event to move the American people to support invasion of Iraq (2) WTC Towers money losers since they were built, outdated 60% empty (3) Larry Silverstein, WTC owner/lessee collects $500 million net insurance settlement (4) need a war to have an excuse to tighten security in US (5) Unocal needs to build 1500 mi. gas pipeline in Afghanistan, need security of US military (6) Wall Street and Military Industrial Complex gain major profits from war (7) Need to control Iraq oil nationalized by Hussein. Does anyone still not understand why "911" made good business sense?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
AE911Truth Engineer Does for Free what NIST Couldn’t for Millions
One of several burning questions surrounding the destruction of World Trade Center Building 7 was: “Where did the sulfur come from that melted some of the structural steel members from the building so much that they looked more like “Swiss cheese”? Sulfur reduces the melting point of iron by producing a eutectic mixture. The New York Times called these pieces of melted steel “perhaps the deepest mystery uncovered in the investigation.” FEMA documented the “intergranular melting, rapid oxidation, and sulfidation” of the steel members in Appendix C of their May 2002 Building Performance Assessment Team (BPAT) Report, yet offered no explanation for this phenomena which required temperatures far in excess of that which office fires or jet fuel could have provided.
Some government officials have attempted to explain the issue away by alleging that the sulfur came from normal building materials like gypsum wallboard. But gypsum wallboard has been used for a hundred years to protect steel structural members and has never “attacked” it before. Independent scientists have found evidence that the sulfur most likely came from thermate. Sulfur is added to thermite (an incendiary used by the military to cut through steel like a hot knife through butter) to make thermate. Scientists and engineers have urged the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to perform experiments to determine the source of the sulfur. But despite spending over $20,000,000 NIST failed to do any experiments or provide a working theory.
Enter Jonathan Cole, P.E., Civil Engineer, who has three keys to success: a desire to know the truth, a lot of determination, and a big back yard. He wanted to know if normal building materials, including wallboard, diesel fuel, and aluminum, could release the sulfur needed to attack the steel. View the dramatic video of this creative no-holds-barred backyard experiment that proves, for free, what NIST could not, or would not, for $20 million.
http://www.ae911truth.org/news/41-articles/321-ae911truth-engineer-does-for-free-what-nist-couldnt-for-millions.html
Some government officials have attempted to explain the issue away by alleging that the sulfur came from normal building materials like gypsum wallboard. But gypsum wallboard has been used for a hundred years to protect steel structural members and has never “attacked” it before. Independent scientists have found evidence that the sulfur most likely came from thermate. Sulfur is added to thermite (an incendiary used by the military to cut through steel like a hot knife through butter) to make thermate. Scientists and engineers have urged the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to perform experiments to determine the source of the sulfur. But despite spending over $20,000,000 NIST failed to do any experiments or provide a working theory.
Enter Jonathan Cole, P.E., Civil Engineer, who has three keys to success: a desire to know the truth, a lot of determination, and a big back yard. He wanted to know if normal building materials, including wallboard, diesel fuel, and aluminum, could release the sulfur needed to attack the steel. View the dramatic video of this creative no-holds-barred backyard experiment that proves, for free, what NIST could not, or would not, for $20 million.
http://www.ae911truth.org/news/41-articles/321-ae911truth-engineer-does-for-free-what-nist-couldnt-for-millions.html
Sunday, July 25, 2010
IAR selling large pump inventory for largest US Carrot producer
IAR just got in a $250,000 new inventory of various Stainless Steel blending pumps manufactured by Fristam, Cherry-Burrel, and Seepex. Go to IARSF.COM to view them in our Ebay Store.
Middle Class is Disapperaing Fast
22 Statistics That Prove The Middle Class Is Being Systematically Wiped Out Of Existence In America
Michael Snyder July 16, 2010
The 22 statistics that you are about to read prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America.
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate. Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now that is changing at a blinding pace.
So why are we witnessing such fundamental changes? Well, the globalism and “free trade” that our politicians and business leaders insisted would be so good for us have had some rather nasty side effects. It turns out that they didn’t tell us that the “global economy” would mean that middle class American workers would eventually have to directly compete for jobs with people on the other side of the world where there is no minimum wage and very few regulations. The big global corporations have greatly benefited by exploiting third world labor pools over the last several decades, but middle class American workers have increasingly found things to be very tough.
The reality is that no matter how smart, how strong, how educated or how hard working American workers are, they just cannot compete with people who are desperate to put in 10 to 12 hour days at less than a dollar an hour on the other side of the world. After all, what corporation in their right mind is going to pay an American worker ten times more (plus benefits) to do the same job? The world is fundamentally changing. Wealth and power are rapidly becoming concentrated at the top and the big global corporations are making massive amounts of money. Meanwhile, the American middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence as U.S. workers are slowly being merged into the new “global” labor pool.
What do most Americans have to offer in the marketplace other than their labor? Not much. The truth is that most Americans are absolutely dependent on someone else giving them a job. But today, U.S. workers are “less attractive” than ever. Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing more rules and regulations seemingly on a monthly basis that makes it even more difficult to conduct business in the United States.
So corporations are moving operations out of the U.S. at breathtaking speed. Since the U.S. government does not penalize them for doing so, there really is no incentive for them to stay.
What has developed is a situation where the people at the top are doing quite well, while most Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to make it. There are now about 6 unemployed Americans for every new job opening in the United States, and the number of “chronically unemployed” is absolutely soaring. There simply are not nearly enough jobs for everyone.
Many of those who are able to get jobs are finding that they are making less money than they used to. In fact, an increasingly large percentage of Americans are working at low wage retail and service jobs.
But you can’t raise a family on what you make flipping burgers at McDonald’s or on what you bring in from greeting customers down at the local Wal-Mart.
The truth is that the middle class in America is dying — and once it is gone it will be incredibly difficult to rebuild.
1. 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
2. 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
3. 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
4. 36 percent of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.
5. A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
6. 24% of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
7. Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
8. Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
9. For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
10. In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
11. As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
12. The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
13. Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
14. In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
15. The top 1% of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
16. In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
17. More than 40% of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
18. For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
19. This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
20. Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009.
21. Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years
22. The top 10% of Americans now earn around 50% of our national income
Michael Snyder July 16, 2010
The 22 statistics that you are about to read prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America.
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate. Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now that is changing at a blinding pace.
So why are we witnessing such fundamental changes? Well, the globalism and “free trade” that our politicians and business leaders insisted would be so good for us have had some rather nasty side effects. It turns out that they didn’t tell us that the “global economy” would mean that middle class American workers would eventually have to directly compete for jobs with people on the other side of the world where there is no minimum wage and very few regulations. The big global corporations have greatly benefited by exploiting third world labor pools over the last several decades, but middle class American workers have increasingly found things to be very tough.
The reality is that no matter how smart, how strong, how educated or how hard working American workers are, they just cannot compete with people who are desperate to put in 10 to 12 hour days at less than a dollar an hour on the other side of the world. After all, what corporation in their right mind is going to pay an American worker ten times more (plus benefits) to do the same job? The world is fundamentally changing. Wealth and power are rapidly becoming concentrated at the top and the big global corporations are making massive amounts of money. Meanwhile, the American middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence as U.S. workers are slowly being merged into the new “global” labor pool.
What do most Americans have to offer in the marketplace other than their labor? Not much. The truth is that most Americans are absolutely dependent on someone else giving them a job. But today, U.S. workers are “less attractive” than ever. Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing more rules and regulations seemingly on a monthly basis that makes it even more difficult to conduct business in the United States.
So corporations are moving operations out of the U.S. at breathtaking speed. Since the U.S. government does not penalize them for doing so, there really is no incentive for them to stay.
What has developed is a situation where the people at the top are doing quite well, while most Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to make it. There are now about 6 unemployed Americans for every new job opening in the United States, and the number of “chronically unemployed” is absolutely soaring. There simply are not nearly enough jobs for everyone.
Many of those who are able to get jobs are finding that they are making less money than they used to. In fact, an increasingly large percentage of Americans are working at low wage retail and service jobs.
But you can’t raise a family on what you make flipping burgers at McDonald’s or on what you bring in from greeting customers down at the local Wal-Mart.
The truth is that the middle class in America is dying — and once it is gone it will be incredibly difficult to rebuild.
1. 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
2. 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
3. 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
4. 36 percent of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.
5. A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
6. 24% of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
7. Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
8. Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
9. For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
10. In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
11. As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
12. The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
13. Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
14. In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
15. The top 1% of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
16. In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
17. More than 40% of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
18. For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
19. This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
20. Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009.
21. Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years
22. The top 10% of Americans now earn around 50% of our national income
Saturday, July 24, 2010
**The Dumbing Down of America
My article in Benicia Herald 7/27/10
I believe that there is an unfortunate trend in our country of our citizenry becoming less knowledgeable about important issues requiring quality information and critical thinking skills in the area of economic, personal, and political survival. The major institutions that contribute to the malicious or benign “Dumbing Down” of Americans are Religion, our Educational System, Poverty, the Anti-Intellectualism movement, Media disinformation and spin, Government Corruption, Corporate America, and the superficial Entertainment Industry. Ultimately it is the individuals passion, intellectual cogitative ability, and choice of how they choose to spend their waking hours that will greatly factor into their ability to think critically and be knowledgeable.
Orthodox and Evangelical Religions have been one the greatest factors in impeding an individual’s ability to think critically, question, embrace new ideas, and look to logic and reasons for realistic answers, rather than the abstract “Blind Faith” method. Should one choose their brain surgeon based on “Faith”, or should one question, perform due diligence, and have provable supportive information for making an intelligent decision for choosing their doctor? Reformed movements have developed primarily in the Jewish and Christian religions to adapt, retain their followers, and embrace those who see the bible as a collection of myths or memes, not provable facts. Past examples of religions resistance to knowledge was the Catholic Church’s mass burning of books in Venice, during the Inquisition. Galileo was persecuted and considered a heretic for espousing logical scientific data. Also according to “Gallup”, 56% believe that the origin of life is the result of Intelligent Design not Evolution, or natural selection. This Gallup survey shows the mass amount of ignorance that is primarily supported by religious myth and dogma that has no logical or scientific basis in fact, but is derived from a 3,000 year old story book of myths. There is a saying that “If a lie or myth is repeated enough over time, that it eventually becomes fact”.
Our public educational system is focused on rote memorization of facts, test taking, and moving students on to higher grade levels, even though they have not mastered the subject manner. Due to shrinking government revenues, class sizes have increased, special student programs have been eliminated, and those students who have special needs are being left behind. California spends 12% of its budget on incarceration and related services, but does a very poor job of educating inmates who will eventually transition back into society.
Those in poverty are usually not afforded the same safe environment, educational, and cultural opportunities by our society that the affluent have available. How can we expect to move many in poverty out of their desperate conditions, unless we give them extra opportunities, skills, resources, and focus that they need, to move them beyond a stagnant existence.
Intellectualism is not generally valued in our country by the mass’s, intellectuals are seen by many people as a threat to religion and traditionalism. That “Kool Guys” do not embrace Intellectualism is a sad commentary on our value system. Intellectuals are also seen as a tool to be used only by governments, universities, and corporations. In the past intellectuals have been ridiculed as “Eggheads, Geeks, Anarchists, Communists, and people who do not have common sense.
Unfortunately the days of quality mass media journalism, where facts and important information were reported by the likes of Edward R. Murrow and Woodward-Bernstein have been now filtered, “Spun”, and “Info-Tained” due to the influence of corporate controls, CIA censoring of important information, and the governments influence on the media in general. One has to go on NPR, out of the country, or to underground news sources to find out the truth about the war in Iraq, who really caused “911”, or what is really happening on Wall Street.
Two thirds of Americans have three or more television sets in their homes. Forty Nine percent of Americans say that they watch too much TV. Children and teens spend an average of four hours a day, or more watching TV or playing video games on their computers. We occupy ourselves and revert to fantasyland, by our addictions to spectator sports, reality shows, soap operas, quiz shows, and serials that take up approximately twenty eight hours per week. Our waking time could be better spent on self improvement such as reading a book, taking a class, spending quality conversational time with our families, watching a rented documentary, or researching important information on the internet that can empower our lives and our ability to make valuable life decisions. In a 65-year lifetime the average person will have spent nine years glued to the tube. My partner and I cancelled our cable TV subscription so that we would not be diverted by the mindless commercial television programs.
I once overheard a fellow seriously say that he would vote for Sarah Palin, because she was a “Hot Babe”. Now that superficial statement about a potential candidate for public office has nothing to do with the job description, but is an indictment of our vapid society. In balance, it is also equally important for us to be playful, have fun, a sense of humor, and to take time to rest our minds from the seriousness of life. If we are to progress as a society, be able to have the proper information and critical thinking tools to make thoughtful decisions, and to improve or a broken government system it is incumbent upon each and every one of us to hone our critical thinking skills, be an activist, question the status quo, and continually improve our knowledge base.
Harvey is a Benicia businessman. You may visit Harvey’s Blog and leave comments at: http://harveysrantsraves.blogspot.com/
I believe that there is an unfortunate trend in our country of our citizenry becoming less knowledgeable about important issues requiring quality information and critical thinking skills in the area of economic, personal, and political survival. The major institutions that contribute to the malicious or benign “Dumbing Down” of Americans are Religion, our Educational System, Poverty, the Anti-Intellectualism movement, Media disinformation and spin, Government Corruption, Corporate America, and the superficial Entertainment Industry. Ultimately it is the individuals passion, intellectual cogitative ability, and choice of how they choose to spend their waking hours that will greatly factor into their ability to think critically and be knowledgeable.
Orthodox and Evangelical Religions have been one the greatest factors in impeding an individual’s ability to think critically, question, embrace new ideas, and look to logic and reasons for realistic answers, rather than the abstract “Blind Faith” method. Should one choose their brain surgeon based on “Faith”, or should one question, perform due diligence, and have provable supportive information for making an intelligent decision for choosing their doctor? Reformed movements have developed primarily in the Jewish and Christian religions to adapt, retain their followers, and embrace those who see the bible as a collection of myths or memes, not provable facts. Past examples of religions resistance to knowledge was the Catholic Church’s mass burning of books in Venice, during the Inquisition. Galileo was persecuted and considered a heretic for espousing logical scientific data. Also according to “Gallup”, 56% believe that the origin of life is the result of Intelligent Design not Evolution, or natural selection. This Gallup survey shows the mass amount of ignorance that is primarily supported by religious myth and dogma that has no logical or scientific basis in fact, but is derived from a 3,000 year old story book of myths. There is a saying that “If a lie or myth is repeated enough over time, that it eventually becomes fact”.
Our public educational system is focused on rote memorization of facts, test taking, and moving students on to higher grade levels, even though they have not mastered the subject manner. Due to shrinking government revenues, class sizes have increased, special student programs have been eliminated, and those students who have special needs are being left behind. California spends 12% of its budget on incarceration and related services, but does a very poor job of educating inmates who will eventually transition back into society.
Those in poverty are usually not afforded the same safe environment, educational, and cultural opportunities by our society that the affluent have available. How can we expect to move many in poverty out of their desperate conditions, unless we give them extra opportunities, skills, resources, and focus that they need, to move them beyond a stagnant existence.
Intellectualism is not generally valued in our country by the mass’s, intellectuals are seen by many people as a threat to religion and traditionalism. That “Kool Guys” do not embrace Intellectualism is a sad commentary on our value system. Intellectuals are also seen as a tool to be used only by governments, universities, and corporations. In the past intellectuals have been ridiculed as “Eggheads, Geeks, Anarchists, Communists, and people who do not have common sense.
Unfortunately the days of quality mass media journalism, where facts and important information were reported by the likes of Edward R. Murrow and Woodward-Bernstein have been now filtered, “Spun”, and “Info-Tained” due to the influence of corporate controls, CIA censoring of important information, and the governments influence on the media in general. One has to go on NPR, out of the country, or to underground news sources to find out the truth about the war in Iraq, who really caused “911”, or what is really happening on Wall Street.
Two thirds of Americans have three or more television sets in their homes. Forty Nine percent of Americans say that they watch too much TV. Children and teens spend an average of four hours a day, or more watching TV or playing video games on their computers. We occupy ourselves and revert to fantasyland, by our addictions to spectator sports, reality shows, soap operas, quiz shows, and serials that take up approximately twenty eight hours per week. Our waking time could be better spent on self improvement such as reading a book, taking a class, spending quality conversational time with our families, watching a rented documentary, or researching important information on the internet that can empower our lives and our ability to make valuable life decisions. In a 65-year lifetime the average person will have spent nine years glued to the tube. My partner and I cancelled our cable TV subscription so that we would not be diverted by the mindless commercial television programs.
I once overheard a fellow seriously say that he would vote for Sarah Palin, because she was a “Hot Babe”. Now that superficial statement about a potential candidate for public office has nothing to do with the job description, but is an indictment of our vapid society. In balance, it is also equally important for us to be playful, have fun, a sense of humor, and to take time to rest our minds from the seriousness of life. If we are to progress as a society, be able to have the proper information and critical thinking tools to make thoughtful decisions, and to improve or a broken government system it is incumbent upon each and every one of us to hone our critical thinking skills, be an activist, question the status quo, and continually improve our knowledge base.
Harvey is a Benicia businessman. You may visit Harvey’s Blog and leave comments at: http://harveysrantsraves.blogspot.com/
**Criticism or Praise of Justice Thurgood Marshall
My article in Benicia Herald 7/21/10
Ones criticism, or praise of Justice Thurgood Marshall in most cases comes down to ones position on the Constitution, human rights, tradition, and progressive change. The upcoming confirmation of Elena Kagan has caused the ugly face of racism, backward Traditionalism ,and resistance to positive progressive social change to rear its ugly head. “Marshall” is being used as the poster child for “Activist Change”, as if this euphemism for trying to better the plight of the oppressed is a dirty word. The first immigrants to America from England were “Activists” protesting the crowns oppressive controls. Our country was founded on the premise that dissent, activism, and protest are constitutional rights that make a healthy democracy work for the masses. The reality of the universe is that energy, ideas, and human needs continually change and evolve to try to meet a compromise for the overall needs of a society.
For those who are not that familiar with “Marshall”, he was our first black Supreme Court justice. His philosophy for social change was primarily trying to change laws through the courts, rather than MLK Jrs’ tact of peaceful non violent protest. “Marshall” grew up in a typically middle class family in Baltimore, his father was a railroad porter, and his mother was a teacher, who pawned her wedding ring so that “Marshall” could attend law school. Marshall applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but was denied admission due to racial segregation. Marshal then attended Howard University Law School. After graduation he opened a small practice and then continued with an illustrious career at the NAACP as a chief legal advocate. He won 28 of the 31 cases that he brought before the highest court. “Marshall’s” success was to due to a combination of sincere passion to overturn the remnants of segregation, a bright intellect, and a tenacious resolve to prevail for human justice. At the time, due to his color, he was seen as a definite threat to the oppressive traditional controls of the white male south.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a Louisiana law mandating separate but equal accommodations for blacks and whites on intrastate railroads was constitutional. This decision provided the legal foundation to justify many other actions by state and local governments to socially separate blacks and whites. The reality of “Plessy” was that blacks were subjugated to inferior accommodations and education. The culmination of this effort was Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which Marshall argued before the Supreme Court. The decision in Brown overruled the “Separate but Equal” law of 1896.
Some of Marshall’s other outstanding cases were Loving v. Virginia, (1967), a landmark civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court, by a 9-0 vote, declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, the "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, thereby overturning Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. Unfortunately the voting populace does not always have the humanistic tolerance, education, and sociological enlightenment to fully understand the full gravity of their poor voting decisions.
Many African-Americans "think of Thurgood Marshall as being an even more important figure than the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.," says David Bositis, an expert on African-American voters and politicians at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies."
"I cannot imagine who mobilized this," says Michael Greve, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute. "It makes your jaw drop. At least mine," says Greve, who adds that Kagan has such a slim record that Republicans have decided to go after her mentors instead. It's just bad luck for the Republicans that the man Kagan clerked for 25 years ago was a civil rights legend. Robert Alt of the conservative Heritage Foundation agrees. You can laud his accomplishments both personally and professionally, but still question whether or not he approached the law in an objective fashion. Robert Alt of the Heritage Foundation said, "I don't think it makes sense to attack Thurgood Marshall, but I think Thurgood Marshall weighs heavily on these hearings," Alt says.
Marshal may be considered a judicial activist, which is not a bad thing for the betterment of society. A Senator said, "It's clear that he considered himself a judicial activist and was unapologetic about it." "He described his judicial philosophy as quote, 'Do what you think is right and let the law catch up,' "
The real underlying issue is not Kagan or Marshall, but our attitudes about viewing the Constitution as a “Living Document”, or something akin to the Bible that we are resistant to critique or make relevant to the current society. I believe that this position of saying the Constitution is not a “Living Document” is to support a position of traditionalism and opposing changes that are in concert with the current times. The mere fact that the Constitution had appended to it, a Bill of Rights, and twenty seven Amendments is living proof that it continues to survive as a “Living Document”.
My conclusion is that “Marshall” was a brilliant caring jurist who caused the enactment of laws that made America a more just and civilized society ultimately benefitting everyone, no matter what the color of one’s skin. It is very “Dirty Gamesmenship” to use “Marshall” as anything that is negative in order to thwart Kagan’s confirmation. Kudos to those intelligent moderate Republican’s who have tried to distance themselves from some of the Plebian “Knuckle Draggers” on the extreme right. Kagan’s comparison to Marshall in my perception should only be taken as a compliment, and shame on those who use Marshall to cast any aspersions on Kagan.
History is well evidenced with the fact that societies change and morph socially, economically, religiously, and technologically in spite of the Traditional class patricians who try to oppose progress at every turn. We have admittedly become a better society due to the “Activist” enactment of women’s rights, laws against segregation, workers rights and safety, consumer protection laws, environmental protection, and other laws that protect human rights and our planet. If we left the outcome of legislation just to the Traditionalists and strict Constitutionalists, who seem to fight most change, we would be back in the Nineteenth Century.
You may visit Harvey’s Blog and leave comments at: http://harveysrantsraves.blogspot.com/
Ones criticism, or praise of Justice Thurgood Marshall in most cases comes down to ones position on the Constitution, human rights, tradition, and progressive change. The upcoming confirmation of Elena Kagan has caused the ugly face of racism, backward Traditionalism ,and resistance to positive progressive social change to rear its ugly head. “Marshall” is being used as the poster child for “Activist Change”, as if this euphemism for trying to better the plight of the oppressed is a dirty word. The first immigrants to America from England were “Activists” protesting the crowns oppressive controls. Our country was founded on the premise that dissent, activism, and protest are constitutional rights that make a healthy democracy work for the masses. The reality of the universe is that energy, ideas, and human needs continually change and evolve to try to meet a compromise for the overall needs of a society.
For those who are not that familiar with “Marshall”, he was our first black Supreme Court justice. His philosophy for social change was primarily trying to change laws through the courts, rather than MLK Jrs’ tact of peaceful non violent protest. “Marshall” grew up in a typically middle class family in Baltimore, his father was a railroad porter, and his mother was a teacher, who pawned her wedding ring so that “Marshall” could attend law school. Marshall applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but was denied admission due to racial segregation. Marshal then attended Howard University Law School. After graduation he opened a small practice and then continued with an illustrious career at the NAACP as a chief legal advocate. He won 28 of the 31 cases that he brought before the highest court. “Marshall’s” success was to due to a combination of sincere passion to overturn the remnants of segregation, a bright intellect, and a tenacious resolve to prevail for human justice. At the time, due to his color, he was seen as a definite threat to the oppressive traditional controls of the white male south.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a Louisiana law mandating separate but equal accommodations for blacks and whites on intrastate railroads was constitutional. This decision provided the legal foundation to justify many other actions by state and local governments to socially separate blacks and whites. The reality of “Plessy” was that blacks were subjugated to inferior accommodations and education. The culmination of this effort was Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which Marshall argued before the Supreme Court. The decision in Brown overruled the “Separate but Equal” law of 1896.
Some of Marshall’s other outstanding cases were Loving v. Virginia, (1967), a landmark civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court, by a 9-0 vote, declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, the "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, thereby overturning Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. Unfortunately the voting populace does not always have the humanistic tolerance, education, and sociological enlightenment to fully understand the full gravity of their poor voting decisions.
Many African-Americans "think of Thurgood Marshall as being an even more important figure than the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.," says David Bositis, an expert on African-American voters and politicians at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies."
"I cannot imagine who mobilized this," says Michael Greve, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute. "It makes your jaw drop. At least mine," says Greve, who adds that Kagan has such a slim record that Republicans have decided to go after her mentors instead. It's just bad luck for the Republicans that the man Kagan clerked for 25 years ago was a civil rights legend. Robert Alt of the conservative Heritage Foundation agrees. You can laud his accomplishments both personally and professionally, but still question whether or not he approached the law in an objective fashion. Robert Alt of the Heritage Foundation said, "I don't think it makes sense to attack Thurgood Marshall, but I think Thurgood Marshall weighs heavily on these hearings," Alt says.
Marshal may be considered a judicial activist, which is not a bad thing for the betterment of society. A Senator said, "It's clear that he considered himself a judicial activist and was unapologetic about it." "He described his judicial philosophy as quote, 'Do what you think is right and let the law catch up,' "
The real underlying issue is not Kagan or Marshall, but our attitudes about viewing the Constitution as a “Living Document”, or something akin to the Bible that we are resistant to critique or make relevant to the current society. I believe that this position of saying the Constitution is not a “Living Document” is to support a position of traditionalism and opposing changes that are in concert with the current times. The mere fact that the Constitution had appended to it, a Bill of Rights, and twenty seven Amendments is living proof that it continues to survive as a “Living Document”.
My conclusion is that “Marshall” was a brilliant caring jurist who caused the enactment of laws that made America a more just and civilized society ultimately benefitting everyone, no matter what the color of one’s skin. It is very “Dirty Gamesmenship” to use “Marshall” as anything that is negative in order to thwart Kagan’s confirmation. Kudos to those intelligent moderate Republican’s who have tried to distance themselves from some of the Plebian “Knuckle Draggers” on the extreme right. Kagan’s comparison to Marshall in my perception should only be taken as a compliment, and shame on those who use Marshall to cast any aspersions on Kagan.
History is well evidenced with the fact that societies change and morph socially, economically, religiously, and technologically in spite of the Traditional class patricians who try to oppose progress at every turn. We have admittedly become a better society due to the “Activist” enactment of women’s rights, laws against segregation, workers rights and safety, consumer protection laws, environmental protection, and other laws that protect human rights and our planet. If we left the outcome of legislation just to the Traditionalists and strict Constitutionalists, who seem to fight most change, we would be back in the Nineteenth Century.
You may visit Harvey’s Blog and leave comments at: http://harveysrantsraves.blogspot.com/
**The True Cost of Military Spending
My article in Benicia Herald 7/13/10
Unfortunately America’s trust in the integrity of our government is at a very low point in our country’s history. People’s mistrust of government is not unfounded, a recent Pew Research poll places American confidence in government at 22%. Examples of issues that have caused a major breech in our citizenry’s trust are “False Flag” events such as Operation Northwoods, Vietnam, Iran Contra, and the crime of the century, “911”. In addition, the complexity of the Health Care Reform issue, governments attempted roles in repairing the economy, lack of bi-partisan cooperation, and the questionable relationship between Wall Street and the Treasury Department have been realistic causes of mistrust. The biggest ongoing issue, which is the “Elephant in the Room” that has so many economic tentacles, is our vast ongoing overt and clandestine military spending.
The US Congressional Research Service has calculated that cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will be $1.08 Trillion through 2010. This cost does not include accrued interest on the debt, Department of Energy research costs, Veterans affairs, and other budget costs buried in other government departments. Adding in interest of approximately $250 Billion, Veterans benefits and medical treatment of another $350 Billion, and buried costs of another $300 Billion, the realistic total cost for the Middle East wars is approximately $2 Trillion dollars. Projecting out another twenty years these total war costs could easily reach $4 to $5 Trillion dollars. The Obama administration has just increased the budget for nuclear armaments by 13.4%, when we have far too many warheads stockpiled from the past.
The Defense Department is deeply afraid that as we withdraw from Iraq, the next administration, the new Congress and the U.S. people will want to rebalance the country's statecraft and demand accountability in defense planning and spending. To buffer itself against such a change, the Pentagon is loading up the budget beforehand, daring a new administration, Congress, and the U.S. public to bring order and reason to defense budgets. Because once loaded up, any cuts can be called an unwillingness to "support the brave men and women on the battlefield."
US defense spending during the Cold War (1946-1991) averaged $400 Billion per year in 2008 dollars, including both the Korean and Vietnam wars. By comparison, the 2008 defense budget including the Iraq War and troop surge was $676 Billion. It’s absurd enough that we defeated the Soviets with a much smaller military budget, but proposed budgets increase spending further, when the winding down of the Iraq war should enable a $100 Billion dollar decrease.
Winslow Wheeler at the Center for Defense Information notes that the military budget has doubled while the quantity of weaponry and quality of military readiness has actually declined. Department of Defense accounting is so poor (perhaps intentionally?) that the DoD has no idea how much money is really spent on its weapons programs. Rather than increasing the defense budget, President Obama should consider freezing it at the 2007 level for the balance of his presidency. This would eliminate almost $1 trillion in deficit spending, and would finally force the DoD to focus on accountability and efficiency. A $600 Billion defense budget is still triple that of our potential adversaries’ defense budgets combined, and would ensure our safety while forcing fiscal discipline on an untamed federal department.
The price tag for imperialism is over half a trillion dollars a year — not so much less than last year’s Bank Bailout, which was rejected by a near unanimity of the public-at-large. Former President Eisenhower aptly said, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the Military-Industrial Complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist”. Health care and social security have not grown at such a high annual rate as military spending, but Tea Partiers are out protesting a lot less spending for Health Care Reform.
Defense contractors spend approximately one percent of their gross contract amounts on congressional lobbying. During the Afghanistan surge, in one quarter, military contractors spent $27 million to lobby congress. For example some of the top level military contractors, included in the $27 million are(Contractor, Sales, Lockheed Martin-$31.3 billion/$13.5 million; Boeing-$20.9 billion/$16.9 million; Northrop Grumman-$16.1/$15.2 million; General Dynamics-$15.9 /$10.3 million spent; Raytheon-$15 billion/$7.3 million; United Technologies-$7.1 billion /$8.1 million; L3 Communications-$7.1 /$5.2 million; BAE Systems (UK Corp.)-$6.8 billion/$5.3 million spent; Oshkosh-$6.4 billion/$380,000; KBR (Halliburton)-$4.7 billion /$650,000. These are not advertising or marketing costs, but bribes to politicians and consultants to influence voting on defense spending issues. These military contractors would not spend money on lobbying and campaign funding if they did not deliver them a return on their investment.
I once looked up in the sky during “Fleet Week”, to see the skillful maneuvers of the “Blue Angels” screeching across the horizons, and I would get an adrenalin rush coupled with a sense of national pride. Since then I have matured as an adult and realized that the “Blue Angels” are only instruments of death and destruction, and a skillful public relations campaign to induce our sons and daughters to join the military, and us tax payers to pony up tax dollars, with pride, for military hardware.
The following are common Myths and Realities of why we normally spend money on defense. MYTH- (1)We want to bring democracy and freedom to poor people in other countries who are oppressed. (2)We have so many enemies who are envious of our American lifestyle and want threaten our security. REALITY- (1)Military spending is a major economic engine that benefits large corporations, Wall Street, semi-employable, politicians, and skilled labor unions. Unfortunately from a moral and ethical point of view war is a bankrupt concept that saps the financial and emotional capital of a nation. If we were to cutback military spending by fifty percent we would have enough left over to service the national debt, pay for health care, improve our crumbling infrastructure, renewable energy projects, improve education, and bring ourselves up to speed on much needed civilian research projects.
Unfortunately, primarily since the fifties the Military Industrial Complex has become an accepted delivery system for funneling billions of dollars into the hands of major corporations and bankers, and protecting the corporate and imperialistic interests of America in foreign countries. We have never been attacked on own soil by another nation since WW II, so why do we feel so unsafe? Anyone who believes massive defense spending is primarily about freedom and democracy is being sold a brilliant “PR” job by our leaders.
You may visit Harvey’s Blog and leave comments at: http://harveysrantsraves.blogspot.com/
Unfortunately America’s trust in the integrity of our government is at a very low point in our country’s history. People’s mistrust of government is not unfounded, a recent Pew Research poll places American confidence in government at 22%. Examples of issues that have caused a major breech in our citizenry’s trust are “False Flag” events such as Operation Northwoods, Vietnam, Iran Contra, and the crime of the century, “911”. In addition, the complexity of the Health Care Reform issue, governments attempted roles in repairing the economy, lack of bi-partisan cooperation, and the questionable relationship between Wall Street and the Treasury Department have been realistic causes of mistrust. The biggest ongoing issue, which is the “Elephant in the Room” that has so many economic tentacles, is our vast ongoing overt and clandestine military spending.
The US Congressional Research Service has calculated that cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will be $1.08 Trillion through 2010. This cost does not include accrued interest on the debt, Department of Energy research costs, Veterans affairs, and other budget costs buried in other government departments. Adding in interest of approximately $250 Billion, Veterans benefits and medical treatment of another $350 Billion, and buried costs of another $300 Billion, the realistic total cost for the Middle East wars is approximately $2 Trillion dollars. Projecting out another twenty years these total war costs could easily reach $4 to $5 Trillion dollars. The Obama administration has just increased the budget for nuclear armaments by 13.4%, when we have far too many warheads stockpiled from the past.
The Defense Department is deeply afraid that as we withdraw from Iraq, the next administration, the new Congress and the U.S. people will want to rebalance the country's statecraft and demand accountability in defense planning and spending. To buffer itself against such a change, the Pentagon is loading up the budget beforehand, daring a new administration, Congress, and the U.S. public to bring order and reason to defense budgets. Because once loaded up, any cuts can be called an unwillingness to "support the brave men and women on the battlefield."
US defense spending during the Cold War (1946-1991) averaged $400 Billion per year in 2008 dollars, including both the Korean and Vietnam wars. By comparison, the 2008 defense budget including the Iraq War and troop surge was $676 Billion. It’s absurd enough that we defeated the Soviets with a much smaller military budget, but proposed budgets increase spending further, when the winding down of the Iraq war should enable a $100 Billion dollar decrease.
Winslow Wheeler at the Center for Defense Information notes that the military budget has doubled while the quantity of weaponry and quality of military readiness has actually declined. Department of Defense accounting is so poor (perhaps intentionally?) that the DoD has no idea how much money is really spent on its weapons programs. Rather than increasing the defense budget, President Obama should consider freezing it at the 2007 level for the balance of his presidency. This would eliminate almost $1 trillion in deficit spending, and would finally force the DoD to focus on accountability and efficiency. A $600 Billion defense budget is still triple that of our potential adversaries’ defense budgets combined, and would ensure our safety while forcing fiscal discipline on an untamed federal department.
The price tag for imperialism is over half a trillion dollars a year — not so much less than last year’s Bank Bailout, which was rejected by a near unanimity of the public-at-large. Former President Eisenhower aptly said, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the Military-Industrial Complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist”. Health care and social security have not grown at such a high annual rate as military spending, but Tea Partiers are out protesting a lot less spending for Health Care Reform.
Defense contractors spend approximately one percent of their gross contract amounts on congressional lobbying. During the Afghanistan surge, in one quarter, military contractors spent $27 million to lobby congress. For example some of the top level military contractors, included in the $27 million are(Contractor, Sales, Lockheed Martin-$31.3 billion/$13.5 million; Boeing-$20.9 billion/$16.9 million; Northrop Grumman-$16.1/$15.2 million; General Dynamics-$15.9 /$10.3 million spent; Raytheon-$15 billion/$7.3 million; United Technologies-$7.1 billion /$8.1 million; L3 Communications-$7.1 /$5.2 million; BAE Systems (UK Corp.)-$6.8 billion/$5.3 million spent; Oshkosh-$6.4 billion/$380,000; KBR (Halliburton)-$4.7 billion /$650,000. These are not advertising or marketing costs, but bribes to politicians and consultants to influence voting on defense spending issues. These military contractors would not spend money on lobbying and campaign funding if they did not deliver them a return on their investment.
I once looked up in the sky during “Fleet Week”, to see the skillful maneuvers of the “Blue Angels” screeching across the horizons, and I would get an adrenalin rush coupled with a sense of national pride. Since then I have matured as an adult and realized that the “Blue Angels” are only instruments of death and destruction, and a skillful public relations campaign to induce our sons and daughters to join the military, and us tax payers to pony up tax dollars, with pride, for military hardware.
The following are common Myths and Realities of why we normally spend money on defense. MYTH- (1)We want to bring democracy and freedom to poor people in other countries who are oppressed. (2)We have so many enemies who are envious of our American lifestyle and want threaten our security. REALITY- (1)Military spending is a major economic engine that benefits large corporations, Wall Street, semi-employable, politicians, and skilled labor unions. Unfortunately from a moral and ethical point of view war is a bankrupt concept that saps the financial and emotional capital of a nation. If we were to cutback military spending by fifty percent we would have enough left over to service the national debt, pay for health care, improve our crumbling infrastructure, renewable energy projects, improve education, and bring ourselves up to speed on much needed civilian research projects.
Unfortunately, primarily since the fifties the Military Industrial Complex has become an accepted delivery system for funneling billions of dollars into the hands of major corporations and bankers, and protecting the corporate and imperialistic interests of America in foreign countries. We have never been attacked on own soil by another nation since WW II, so why do we feel so unsafe? Anyone who believes massive defense spending is primarily about freedom and democracy is being sold a brilliant “PR” job by our leaders.
You may visit Harvey’s Blog and leave comments at: http://harveysrantsraves.blogspot.com/
**Metaphors for Morality
My article in Benicai Herald 7/7/10
We as humanoids have been very creative in our ability to construct metaphors to conveniently carve out what is moral, who is superior, and other definitions that setup a pecking order in our society. Religions over the centuries have been one of the primary facilities for separating what is malicious and what is beneficial. Oppressive government organizations have also used “Spin”, misinformation, demonizing, and labels such as Patriotism as a way of manifesting control over their peoples. Ruling groups and societies use metaphors to “Divide and Conquer”.
Misused metaphors strike at the emotional core of human beings, and cause us to lose focus and objectivity. I believe it would be more just and appropriate to describe the behavior of the person, instead of attacking the person. Some people, who use this attacking strategy, seem to always leave out a logical or objective reason for demonizing their victims.
The words Black/Dark or White/Light are very powerful, as they connote absolute degrees of positive or negative positions. People will say, “Do you see the light”, or “I am going to the dark side”, meaning that the absence of light, or darkness is a negative condition. Sociologically ethnic groups are devalued based on the relative degree of darkness of their skin. Why do so many more women dye their hair blond from dark, as opposed to dark from blonde? Professional uniforms are usually white to connote purity and integrity.
The patriarchal society model extends to authority figures who use judgmental phrases such, as obey the law, don’t defy the law, he is guilty of insubordination, he’s misbehaving, or she is resisting authority. Patriarchal attributes are independence, individuality, authority, emotional distancing, and individual survival. On their face these virtues of obedience seem righteous, but what about laws that have allowed discrimination, slavery, and miscegenation? What about a military commander that gives a soldier an order that is morally irresponsible? Should an employee who is asked to continue drilling an oil well under dangerous conditions act insubordinate and refuse, or be a faithful loyal follower? Most laws and directives in society are somewhat subjective, and are many times meant to benefit the power elite at the expense of the masses, or a dominant ethnic class.
The word “Democracy” in this country is sometimes used as a smokescreen to really mean “Free Market Unregulated Business Activity” without a sense of moderation, environmental stewardship, consumer protection, and overall integrity. I believe that the original intent of the Founding Fathers for Democracy had to do with the free exercise and fair representation of individual freedoms. In the 1860’s the courts defined corporations to have many of the same rights as individuals. In the last year the court just reaffirmed the rights of corporations to be on par with persons on the political stage.
Why are the words Freedom and Democracy used when we need to invade, or start an incident in another country? History has shown us that wars are about economics, very rarely about human rights. Iraq and Afghanistan are about our control of oil, a safe route for a Unocal gas pipeline, trading of oil in dollars not Euro’s, drug harvesting and routing, and mineral rights. If we were really sincere about our concern for bringing Democracy to the Iraqi people we would have not destroyed their major infrastructure and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians? The answer is, that as decent American’s, we abhor the idea that we could act warlike to take land and mineral rights, and protect the assets of our resident major corporations, and then say we want to bring “Freedom and Democracy” to these poor people. Wall Street and major corporations have major influence on our government policies today; it’s all about economic benefit, not trying to do the right thing.
It is ironic that humans have evoked more damage, destruction, and murder on our planet than any other living organism, but we have the hubris to label someone an “Animal” when we often times wish to demote them to a lower status. As settlers continued to populate America by virtue of Manifest Destiny, Native Americans were demonized as savages and animals so that Europeans could rationalize the theft, dislocation, and genocide of these indigenous peoples for the settlers own self benefit. Hitler demonized non-Aryan people such as Jews, Homosexuals, Blacks, and Gypsies as “Vermin” so that the Nazi regime could rationalize massive warring and destruction on other peoples and countries. Economics is usually behind the immoral motivation of regimes, and as a result the slave labor, personal property, and land stolen by the Nazi regime, was used to finance and further extend the Nazi war effort. It saddens me to hear some right wing Israeli’s demonize Palestinian’s as “Animals”, so that they can dislocate them from their occupied lands, without just compensation, in order to build housing settlements for arriving émigrés.
A great deal of death and destruction has been committed by mankind in the name of “God”. Man’s elected divine right to use all other forms of life for his own convenience and amusement is not God given, it is due to our intellectual and technological advantage over all other life forms. Invoking the use of the word God is very arbitrary and usefully convenient for us humans, but not necessarily used in a way that says we have free choice.
The terms “Straight” and “Gay” often times give people an instant emotional reaction; so therefore Good or Bad. Why are differences so difficult for us to embrace? Why do men seem to be so much more threatened by homosexuality than women? As members of a traditionally patriarchal society do men feel more fearful of their gender identity? Is intolerance really an inner indictment of our own inadequate feelings of self worth projected in a negative away against another person or group?
I believe that we could learn to temper our judgments and look within, and therefore self improve, rather than to choose to reduce the status of other individuals or groups. Let us try harder in our efforts not to be detoured by subjective “Moral Metaphors”.
You may visit Harvey’s Blog and leave comments at: http://harveysrantsraves.blogspot.com/
We as humanoids have been very creative in our ability to construct metaphors to conveniently carve out what is moral, who is superior, and other definitions that setup a pecking order in our society. Religions over the centuries have been one of the primary facilities for separating what is malicious and what is beneficial. Oppressive government organizations have also used “Spin”, misinformation, demonizing, and labels such as Patriotism as a way of manifesting control over their peoples. Ruling groups and societies use metaphors to “Divide and Conquer”.
Misused metaphors strike at the emotional core of human beings, and cause us to lose focus and objectivity. I believe it would be more just and appropriate to describe the behavior of the person, instead of attacking the person. Some people, who use this attacking strategy, seem to always leave out a logical or objective reason for demonizing their victims.
The words Black/Dark or White/Light are very powerful, as they connote absolute degrees of positive or negative positions. People will say, “Do you see the light”, or “I am going to the dark side”, meaning that the absence of light, or darkness is a negative condition. Sociologically ethnic groups are devalued based on the relative degree of darkness of their skin. Why do so many more women dye their hair blond from dark, as opposed to dark from blonde? Professional uniforms are usually white to connote purity and integrity.
The patriarchal society model extends to authority figures who use judgmental phrases such, as obey the law, don’t defy the law, he is guilty of insubordination, he’s misbehaving, or she is resisting authority. Patriarchal attributes are independence, individuality, authority, emotional distancing, and individual survival. On their face these virtues of obedience seem righteous, but what about laws that have allowed discrimination, slavery, and miscegenation? What about a military commander that gives a soldier an order that is morally irresponsible? Should an employee who is asked to continue drilling an oil well under dangerous conditions act insubordinate and refuse, or be a faithful loyal follower? Most laws and directives in society are somewhat subjective, and are many times meant to benefit the power elite at the expense of the masses, or a dominant ethnic class.
The word “Democracy” in this country is sometimes used as a smokescreen to really mean “Free Market Unregulated Business Activity” without a sense of moderation, environmental stewardship, consumer protection, and overall integrity. I believe that the original intent of the Founding Fathers for Democracy had to do with the free exercise and fair representation of individual freedoms. In the 1860’s the courts defined corporations to have many of the same rights as individuals. In the last year the court just reaffirmed the rights of corporations to be on par with persons on the political stage.
Why are the words Freedom and Democracy used when we need to invade, or start an incident in another country? History has shown us that wars are about economics, very rarely about human rights. Iraq and Afghanistan are about our control of oil, a safe route for a Unocal gas pipeline, trading of oil in dollars not Euro’s, drug harvesting and routing, and mineral rights. If we were really sincere about our concern for bringing Democracy to the Iraqi people we would have not destroyed their major infrastructure and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians? The answer is, that as decent American’s, we abhor the idea that we could act warlike to take land and mineral rights, and protect the assets of our resident major corporations, and then say we want to bring “Freedom and Democracy” to these poor people. Wall Street and major corporations have major influence on our government policies today; it’s all about economic benefit, not trying to do the right thing.
It is ironic that humans have evoked more damage, destruction, and murder on our planet than any other living organism, but we have the hubris to label someone an “Animal” when we often times wish to demote them to a lower status. As settlers continued to populate America by virtue of Manifest Destiny, Native Americans were demonized as savages and animals so that Europeans could rationalize the theft, dislocation, and genocide of these indigenous peoples for the settlers own self benefit. Hitler demonized non-Aryan people such as Jews, Homosexuals, Blacks, and Gypsies as “Vermin” so that the Nazi regime could rationalize massive warring and destruction on other peoples and countries. Economics is usually behind the immoral motivation of regimes, and as a result the slave labor, personal property, and land stolen by the Nazi regime, was used to finance and further extend the Nazi war effort. It saddens me to hear some right wing Israeli’s demonize Palestinian’s as “Animals”, so that they can dislocate them from their occupied lands, without just compensation, in order to build housing settlements for arriving émigrés.
A great deal of death and destruction has been committed by mankind in the name of “God”. Man’s elected divine right to use all other forms of life for his own convenience and amusement is not God given, it is due to our intellectual and technological advantage over all other life forms. Invoking the use of the word God is very arbitrary and usefully convenient for us humans, but not necessarily used in a way that says we have free choice.
The terms “Straight” and “Gay” often times give people an instant emotional reaction; so therefore Good or Bad. Why are differences so difficult for us to embrace? Why do men seem to be so much more threatened by homosexuality than women? As members of a traditionally patriarchal society do men feel more fearful of their gender identity? Is intolerance really an inner indictment of our own inadequate feelings of self worth projected in a negative away against another person or group?
I believe that we could learn to temper our judgments and look within, and therefore self improve, rather than to choose to reduce the status of other individuals or groups. Let us try harder in our efforts not to be detoured by subjective “Moral Metaphors”.
You may visit Harvey’s Blog and leave comments at: http://harveysrantsraves.blogspot.com/
**We just found $130 million for Education
My article in Benicia Herald 6/29/10
I am often baffled by the lack of logic and reason used by some voters, with such issues as capital punishment. We are at a nexus in our state’s budget; we are cutting back on school programs such as summer classes, sports, art, music, and other creative skills. Eliminating the capital punishment program and choosing life imprisonment will save the state enough money to employ approximately 2,000 more teachers, so what more do we need to know?
The threat of execution at some future date is unlikely to enter the minds of those acting under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, those who are in the grip of fear or rage, those who are panicking while committing another crime (such as a robbery), or those who suffer from mental illness or mental retardation, and do not fully understand the gravity of their crime.
States that have the death penalty have a murder rate that is approximately 30-50% greater than those that do not have the death penalty. One might conclude that there is a coincidence of more crime in death penalty states, which creates a need for the death penalty. A more realistic conclusion is that those states with the death penalty are more likely to have an environment of violence, perpetrated by the state that sends a message to potential murders to be more violent. Other support for non death penalty punishment is countries mainly in the European Union that have lower murder rates that have abolished the death penalty. Unfortunately the US has lagged many other developed nations in its ability to implement human rights progress.
There are racial and geographic disparities in who is sentenced to death. There is typically underfunding of defense counsel for poor defendants. Juries do not necessarily represent the ethnic makeup of the community. Ninety five percent of death penalty cases are defended by public defenders, whereas someone such as O.J. Simpson who’s innocence is very questionable, had the financial clout to hire the best criminal attorneys, was acquitted. Those who are actually sentenced to the death are predominately the poor who cannot afford thorough defenses. Death penalty juries are picked based on the fact that they cannot have a bias against the death penalty, so therefore are pro death penalty, which leans in the favor of granting the death penalty.
Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful convictions. In 2003 alone, Ten wrongfully convicted defendants were released from death row. The above does not take into account those on death row who have not sought further proof that they are innocent. Execution unfortunately is not reversible, and no money or reparations by the state can make an innocent executed person free or come back to life.
In a 1990 report, the non-partisan U.S. General Accounting Office found a pattern of evidence indicating, racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty. The study concluded that a defendant was several times more likely to be sentenced to death if the murder victim was white. This has been confirmed by the findings of many other studies that, holding all other factors constant, the single most reliable predictor of whether someone will be sentenced to death is the race of the victim. On average a Black person is 4 to 5 times more likely to be executed than a Caucasian for committing murder. From initial charging decisions to plea bargaining to jury sentencing, African-Americans are treated more harshly when they are defendants, and their lives are accorded less value when they are victims. All-white or virtually all-white juries are still commonplace in many localities.
Using conservative rough projections, a study estimates the annual costs of the present system ($137 million per year), the present system after implementation of the reforms ... ($232.7 million per year) ... and a system which imposes a maximum penalty of lifetime incarceration instead of the death penalty ($11.5 million. In California the current system costs $137 million per year; it would cost $11.5 million for a system without the death penalty. In 2009, New Mexico became the 15th state to repeal the death penalty, in part because of budget considerations and the high cost of death penalty appeals.
Executing the murderer will never bring back the life of the victim. If there is a possibility of giving restitution to the victim’s family from the accused, then executing the accused erases any possibility for the accused to make restitution to the victim’s family. What needs to be examined is our antiquated value system of an “Eye for an Eye” that has come out of an ancient book. Some of us have a defect in our emotional chemistry that somehow lets us believe that if we injure, or kill the perpetrator that another violent act against the perpetrator will heal the victim. This is not meant in any way to weaken the ability of a victim to defend them against a perpetrator. Some people are confused about the concepts of “Forgiveness” and healthy physical and emotional “Boundaries”.
Based on what knowledge is available to the present, there is no scientific data that supports the benefit of capital punishment to society over a lifetime of incarceration. The movement in most countries as well as states in the USA is the abolishment of capital punishment. The question is why are we so slow to abolish capital punishment in California, even though there is volumes of supportable data that flies in the face of capital punishments benefit to society. Could it be both myths, traditions, and our emotional need for revenge? With such a shortage of government revenues to cover important services, why is eliminating the death penalty such a logical conundrum. I believe we can make better uses of $130 million dollars that is a premium cost for capital punishment.
I am often baffled by the lack of logic and reason used by some voters, with such issues as capital punishment. We are at a nexus in our state’s budget; we are cutting back on school programs such as summer classes, sports, art, music, and other creative skills. Eliminating the capital punishment program and choosing life imprisonment will save the state enough money to employ approximately 2,000 more teachers, so what more do we need to know?
The threat of execution at some future date is unlikely to enter the minds of those acting under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, those who are in the grip of fear or rage, those who are panicking while committing another crime (such as a robbery), or those who suffer from mental illness or mental retardation, and do not fully understand the gravity of their crime.
States that have the death penalty have a murder rate that is approximately 30-50% greater than those that do not have the death penalty. One might conclude that there is a coincidence of more crime in death penalty states, which creates a need for the death penalty. A more realistic conclusion is that those states with the death penalty are more likely to have an environment of violence, perpetrated by the state that sends a message to potential murders to be more violent. Other support for non death penalty punishment is countries mainly in the European Union that have lower murder rates that have abolished the death penalty. Unfortunately the US has lagged many other developed nations in its ability to implement human rights progress.
There are racial and geographic disparities in who is sentenced to death. There is typically underfunding of defense counsel for poor defendants. Juries do not necessarily represent the ethnic makeup of the community. Ninety five percent of death penalty cases are defended by public defenders, whereas someone such as O.J. Simpson who’s innocence is very questionable, had the financial clout to hire the best criminal attorneys, was acquitted. Those who are actually sentenced to the death are predominately the poor who cannot afford thorough defenses. Death penalty juries are picked based on the fact that they cannot have a bias against the death penalty, so therefore are pro death penalty, which leans in the favor of granting the death penalty.
Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful convictions. In 2003 alone, Ten wrongfully convicted defendants were released from death row. The above does not take into account those on death row who have not sought further proof that they are innocent. Execution unfortunately is not reversible, and no money or reparations by the state can make an innocent executed person free or come back to life.
In a 1990 report, the non-partisan U.S. General Accounting Office found a pattern of evidence indicating, racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty. The study concluded that a defendant was several times more likely to be sentenced to death if the murder victim was white. This has been confirmed by the findings of many other studies that, holding all other factors constant, the single most reliable predictor of whether someone will be sentenced to death is the race of the victim. On average a Black person is 4 to 5 times more likely to be executed than a Caucasian for committing murder. From initial charging decisions to plea bargaining to jury sentencing, African-Americans are treated more harshly when they are defendants, and their lives are accorded less value when they are victims. All-white or virtually all-white juries are still commonplace in many localities.
Using conservative rough projections, a study estimates the annual costs of the present system ($137 million per year), the present system after implementation of the reforms ... ($232.7 million per year) ... and a system which imposes a maximum penalty of lifetime incarceration instead of the death penalty ($11.5 million. In California the current system costs $137 million per year; it would cost $11.5 million for a system without the death penalty. In 2009, New Mexico became the 15th state to repeal the death penalty, in part because of budget considerations and the high cost of death penalty appeals.
Executing the murderer will never bring back the life of the victim. If there is a possibility of giving restitution to the victim’s family from the accused, then executing the accused erases any possibility for the accused to make restitution to the victim’s family. What needs to be examined is our antiquated value system of an “Eye for an Eye” that has come out of an ancient book. Some of us have a defect in our emotional chemistry that somehow lets us believe that if we injure, or kill the perpetrator that another violent act against the perpetrator will heal the victim. This is not meant in any way to weaken the ability of a victim to defend them against a perpetrator. Some people are confused about the concepts of “Forgiveness” and healthy physical and emotional “Boundaries”.
Based on what knowledge is available to the present, there is no scientific data that supports the benefit of capital punishment to society over a lifetime of incarceration. The movement in most countries as well as states in the USA is the abolishment of capital punishment. The question is why are we so slow to abolish capital punishment in California, even though there is volumes of supportable data that flies in the face of capital punishments benefit to society. Could it be both myths, traditions, and our emotional need for revenge? With such a shortage of government revenues to cover important services, why is eliminating the death penalty such a logical conundrum. I believe we can make better uses of $130 million dollars that is a premium cost for capital punishment.
**BP turns $30 million bet into $37 Billion Liability
In Benicia Herald 6/22/10 by H. Rifkin
BP is just a large “Canary in the Mine” that is telling us that our corporate oversight and old energy policies are close to death. My mission in this article is to high light the cause and effect of a system that is governed by a small group of wealthy and powerful interests that only have their own interests at play.
It is the nature and objective of a corporation to maximize its profits for the benefit of its stockholders and participating top level management. Why do some of us have this naïve Pollyanna perception that a corporation should genuinely have the welfare of the general population and the environment as its highest priority. I liken a predatory corporate structure to a venomous snake or ferocious animal. Most of us respect poisonous snakes, but we also know that they have to be contained and controlled. Corporations provide a positive result, but need to be regulated and contained so that they do minimal harm while producing positive results.
For those who have not researched the present BP oil spill disaster I would like to shed some light as to what I have learned to date. Latest estimates are that 45,000 barrels per day of oil are leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. The last administration, because of its loyalty to the oil industry, made a concerted effort to deregulate, weaken and not proactively institute measures that would restrict the ability of the fossil fuel energy companies to operate responsibly. Being loyal to ones supporters is a normal course of events in politics and should not be a shock or surprise to anyone. BP’s plan for the drilling of the present well in question was to have it completed in two weeks. Unfortunately the drilling was moving into the sixth week at $1 million per day. So now BP has a well that is approximately $30 million over budget, and is not yet completed. On many wells a “Blowout Preventer” device is installed to mitigate any possible catastrophes resulting from the very high oil and gas pressures that are contained in an oil pocket. A survivor of the initial rig explosion, who was the chief Information Technician on board the rig, reported that Halliburton and Transocean told the BP project manager that is was a very bad idea to over ride, and accelerate the drilling rate and safety devices. After numerous warnings BP moved the project ahead which caused the destruction of the rubber gasket around the drill stem in the Blow out Preventer. In addition, BP directed its sub-contractors to take short cuts with the “Mud and Cementing” process which is used on many well casings. So folks this was not an accident or act of nature, it was gross premeditated negligence on BP’s part.
On June 2, Credit Suisse estimated BP would end up paying about $37 billion in total costs for the spill, including $15.6 billion in clean-up costs and $14.4 billion of liability claims. This would absorb three years of BP’s free cash flow after dividend payments and annual capital expenses of $21.5 billion (at an average price of $80 oil), according to in-house analysts.
Ronald Reagan said that, “Government is the problem not the solution”. Reagan’s statement was taken and executed as absolute, which is a very unrealistic view of government’s role. In the meat packing houses the government has placed inspectors to oversee the quality and hygiene of the meat packing industry. Cities have building inspectors to make sure that structures are built safely in accordance with building codes. Governments have police on the highways and streets to make sure that unsafe drivers are kept to a minimum. Government can serve an important role to protect the health and safety of its citizens, and to be stewards of the environment. Unfortunately in some instances government oversight can be inefficient, draconian, redundant, and subject to corruption. Given the alternative of no regulation or policing, the alternative of no regulation can be devastating.
In the case of oil drilling rigs, specifically deep water ones, we should have full time onsite government inspectors to monitor corporations such as BP, who put profit over safety and the environmental responsibility. In BP’s case, this specific drilling disaster would have probably been averted if there was an onsite government inspector. The government also needs to create a financial penalty structure, pay for those companies that consciously create a perilous or harmful events, that is commensurate with the financial ability of the entity to pay. Fines that do not hurt a company’s bottom line have a minimal effect on eliminating harmful future behavior. Unfortunately the entire oil drilling industry will be maligned due to one very “Bad Actor” such as BP .
The BP disaster could be a gift, if it causes us to accelerate our research and development of renewable energy sources. In addition, reducing the use of fossil fuels will reduce global warming effects, acid rain, air pollution, and carbon emissions. I believe that reducing fossil fuel use will also make us take a more serious look at our relationship to the environment, and how flaws in our technology and our corporate morality may act to hasten environmental destruction. Do we want to trust our nation’s health and safety to just “No Regulation” of corporate entities?
BP is just a large “Canary in the Mine” that is telling us that our corporate oversight and old energy policies are close to death. My mission in this article is to high light the cause and effect of a system that is governed by a small group of wealthy and powerful interests that only have their own interests at play.
It is the nature and objective of a corporation to maximize its profits for the benefit of its stockholders and participating top level management. Why do some of us have this naïve Pollyanna perception that a corporation should genuinely have the welfare of the general population and the environment as its highest priority. I liken a predatory corporate structure to a venomous snake or ferocious animal. Most of us respect poisonous snakes, but we also know that they have to be contained and controlled. Corporations provide a positive result, but need to be regulated and contained so that they do minimal harm while producing positive results.
For those who have not researched the present BP oil spill disaster I would like to shed some light as to what I have learned to date. Latest estimates are that 45,000 barrels per day of oil are leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. The last administration, because of its loyalty to the oil industry, made a concerted effort to deregulate, weaken and not proactively institute measures that would restrict the ability of the fossil fuel energy companies to operate responsibly. Being loyal to ones supporters is a normal course of events in politics and should not be a shock or surprise to anyone. BP’s plan for the drilling of the present well in question was to have it completed in two weeks. Unfortunately the drilling was moving into the sixth week at $1 million per day. So now BP has a well that is approximately $30 million over budget, and is not yet completed. On many wells a “Blowout Preventer” device is installed to mitigate any possible catastrophes resulting from the very high oil and gas pressures that are contained in an oil pocket. A survivor of the initial rig explosion, who was the chief Information Technician on board the rig, reported that Halliburton and Transocean told the BP project manager that is was a very bad idea to over ride, and accelerate the drilling rate and safety devices. After numerous warnings BP moved the project ahead which caused the destruction of the rubber gasket around the drill stem in the Blow out Preventer. In addition, BP directed its sub-contractors to take short cuts with the “Mud and Cementing” process which is used on many well casings. So folks this was not an accident or act of nature, it was gross premeditated negligence on BP’s part.
On June 2, Credit Suisse estimated BP would end up paying about $37 billion in total costs for the spill, including $15.6 billion in clean-up costs and $14.4 billion of liability claims. This would absorb three years of BP’s free cash flow after dividend payments and annual capital expenses of $21.5 billion (at an average price of $80 oil), according to in-house analysts.
Ronald Reagan said that, “Government is the problem not the solution”. Reagan’s statement was taken and executed as absolute, which is a very unrealistic view of government’s role. In the meat packing houses the government has placed inspectors to oversee the quality and hygiene of the meat packing industry. Cities have building inspectors to make sure that structures are built safely in accordance with building codes. Governments have police on the highways and streets to make sure that unsafe drivers are kept to a minimum. Government can serve an important role to protect the health and safety of its citizens, and to be stewards of the environment. Unfortunately in some instances government oversight can be inefficient, draconian, redundant, and subject to corruption. Given the alternative of no regulation or policing, the alternative of no regulation can be devastating.
In the case of oil drilling rigs, specifically deep water ones, we should have full time onsite government inspectors to monitor corporations such as BP, who put profit over safety and the environmental responsibility. In BP’s case, this specific drilling disaster would have probably been averted if there was an onsite government inspector. The government also needs to create a financial penalty structure, pay for those companies that consciously create a perilous or harmful events, that is commensurate with the financial ability of the entity to pay. Fines that do not hurt a company’s bottom line have a minimal effect on eliminating harmful future behavior. Unfortunately the entire oil drilling industry will be maligned due to one very “Bad Actor” such as BP .
The BP disaster could be a gift, if it causes us to accelerate our research and development of renewable energy sources. In addition, reducing the use of fossil fuels will reduce global warming effects, acid rain, air pollution, and carbon emissions. I believe that reducing fossil fuel use will also make us take a more serious look at our relationship to the environment, and how flaws in our technology and our corporate morality may act to hasten environmental destruction. Do we want to trust our nation’s health and safety to just “No Regulation” of corporate entities?
**Poverty Issues Undermine Public Education
In my article in the ‘Herald” last Tuesday, I discussed volunteerism and societal attitudes as they relate to public education. Just throwing money at public education is not the complete answer. Last week I viewed a Netflix DVD entitled, “I am a promise: Stanton Elementary” which is documentary about a Philadelphia inner city elementary school. This DVD really highlights that no matter how well teachers try to educate impoverished children that come into the system with major societal and family dysfunction, using limited financial resources, that the children face a very daunting task of succeeding. Our public schools appear to be dysfunctional, mainly because of the poor performance of poorer children in the inner urban cities of America.
The purpose of this article is not to say that there is definite room for efficiencies and improvement within the public school system. Class sizes, teacher pay, and lack of materials put a drag on the system. Public schools typically have 10 to 15 percent higher administrative costs than private schools. School buildings are under- utilized, being occupied only nine months out of the year, while their bonded indebtedness goes on continually. With budget cutbacks many summer school programs have been eliminated. Self esteem building programs, such as art, music, and sports, that round out a student as an individual have been drastically cut back. It is sad that we have another 50 billion dollars for a wasteful war in Afghanistan, billions for corporate subsidies, and tax cuts for the ultra wealthy, but no money to invest in the future of many of our children. The wealthy and upper middle classes can afford private schools, tutors, and all the important factors that can help a student achieve to the best of their ability. The poor do not have the same opportunity.
A Kansas City study of a school district that was given major financial resources had a difficult task in improving children’s learning scores. In the Constitution it says that we all have equal opportunity, which is not reality. Based on an individual’s financial position, he have may face many road blocks, in his ability to obtain resources, access, and quality of goods and services. Children of color, who grow up in crime ridden inner cities to single mothers or fathers with limited education and job skills face major challenges. These children often have to deal with inadequate nutrition, poor medical care, unsafe and decaying housing, and unstable physical and emotional environments.
Getting back to the important issues of poverty that effect a child’s ability to learn, it is important to look at some important statistics. Twelve percent of our nation’s people live at the poverty level. If a child is of color’ or is being raised by a single mother of limited earning capacity, the family is two and half to three times as likely to be living below the poverty level, compared to a white child. Over 52% of Americans live in the suburban areas surrounding the large metropolises. Today, Blacks, Hispanics, and poorer children dominate 23 of the nation’s 25 largest urban school systems. This cultural divide has raised a permanent fissure in our public schools, and has separated children into two separate and unequal class systems - one suburban, privileged and mostly white, and the other inner-city, poorer and mostly non-white.
Many of these children do not eat lunch or breakfast, unless the school supplies meals on site. In addition, many of these children have been subject to traumatic physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. The parents of these children can never afford to buy homes that bring environmental stability to these children, and many times are forced to be constantly moving to a foster care situation, an alternate family member, or a crime and vermin ridden apartment in a public housing project or tenament. Due to the challenging emotional issues facing these children, they are often found to disruptive, or act out in the classroom, taking away valuable time from the learning process.
In many locales there is a huge disparity between the spending on education between the poorest children to the richest children. The per student expenditure, in many inner city schools, is one-half that of suburban schools. The students in both school systems have the same educational needs, but the student of an inner city school receives only half of the amount of resources then the student in a suburban school. The inner city schools and administrations are supposed to make these funds seem equal to those of higher funded school districts. The difference in spending between suburban and inner city schools is not always so extreme. When student needs are considered, however, the disparities in funding are enormous. This reinforces the point that equity does not mean simply equal funding. Equal funding for unequal needs is not equality. The need is greater in inner-city schools if these students are to have the same experiences and opportunities as those who are in suburban schools. These inequities, which are only a small representation of the many that are faced by inner city students, hinder their educational future.
There is no simple answer to alleviate poverty, just as there is no simple answer for its embedded state in America. The common element shared by all is our humanity. People devastated by poverty are not deficient, less than, criminals,or subhuman. They are not broken; however, the system in which they are embroiled very well may be.
The neglect of the educational and personal needs of children in urban schools threatens the economic well-being of the nation. Unless the inequalities in education between suburban and urban schools are diminished, the schools and their students will always be victims of the divisions of race and class.
The purpose of this article is not to say that there is definite room for efficiencies and improvement within the public school system. Class sizes, teacher pay, and lack of materials put a drag on the system. Public schools typically have 10 to 15 percent higher administrative costs than private schools. School buildings are under- utilized, being occupied only nine months out of the year, while their bonded indebtedness goes on continually. With budget cutbacks many summer school programs have been eliminated. Self esteem building programs, such as art, music, and sports, that round out a student as an individual have been drastically cut back. It is sad that we have another 50 billion dollars for a wasteful war in Afghanistan, billions for corporate subsidies, and tax cuts for the ultra wealthy, but no money to invest in the future of many of our children. The wealthy and upper middle classes can afford private schools, tutors, and all the important factors that can help a student achieve to the best of their ability. The poor do not have the same opportunity.
A Kansas City study of a school district that was given major financial resources had a difficult task in improving children’s learning scores. In the Constitution it says that we all have equal opportunity, which is not reality. Based on an individual’s financial position, he have may face many road blocks, in his ability to obtain resources, access, and quality of goods and services. Children of color, who grow up in crime ridden inner cities to single mothers or fathers with limited education and job skills face major challenges. These children often have to deal with inadequate nutrition, poor medical care, unsafe and decaying housing, and unstable physical and emotional environments.
Getting back to the important issues of poverty that effect a child’s ability to learn, it is important to look at some important statistics. Twelve percent of our nation’s people live at the poverty level. If a child is of color’ or is being raised by a single mother of limited earning capacity, the family is two and half to three times as likely to be living below the poverty level, compared to a white child. Over 52% of Americans live in the suburban areas surrounding the large metropolises. Today, Blacks, Hispanics, and poorer children dominate 23 of the nation’s 25 largest urban school systems. This cultural divide has raised a permanent fissure in our public schools, and has separated children into two separate and unequal class systems - one suburban, privileged and mostly white, and the other inner-city, poorer and mostly non-white.
Many of these children do not eat lunch or breakfast, unless the school supplies meals on site. In addition, many of these children have been subject to traumatic physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. The parents of these children can never afford to buy homes that bring environmental stability to these children, and many times are forced to be constantly moving to a foster care situation, an alternate family member, or a crime and vermin ridden apartment in a public housing project or tenament. Due to the challenging emotional issues facing these children, they are often found to disruptive, or act out in the classroom, taking away valuable time from the learning process.
In many locales there is a huge disparity between the spending on education between the poorest children to the richest children. The per student expenditure, in many inner city schools, is one-half that of suburban schools. The students in both school systems have the same educational needs, but the student of an inner city school receives only half of the amount of resources then the student in a suburban school. The inner city schools and administrations are supposed to make these funds seem equal to those of higher funded school districts. The difference in spending between suburban and inner city schools is not always so extreme. When student needs are considered, however, the disparities in funding are enormous. This reinforces the point that equity does not mean simply equal funding. Equal funding for unequal needs is not equality. The need is greater in inner-city schools if these students are to have the same experiences and opportunities as those who are in suburban schools. These inequities, which are only a small representation of the many that are faced by inner city students, hinder their educational future.
There is no simple answer to alleviate poverty, just as there is no simple answer for its embedded state in America. The common element shared by all is our humanity. People devastated by poverty are not deficient, less than, criminals,or subhuman. They are not broken; however, the system in which they are embroiled very well may be.
The neglect of the educational and personal needs of children in urban schools threatens the economic well-being of the nation. Unless the inequalities in education between suburban and urban schools are diminished, the schools and their students will always be victims of the divisions of race and class.
**Steps Toward Improving Public Education
Article appeared in the Benicia Herald June 8, 2010
My partner and I just ended the first semester of a very rewarding experience mentoring primary grade children in a Solano County elementary school. The genesis of our journey started about a year ago with our concern about the number of children, who were dropping out of, or finishing high school without an adequate education. These students who lack the necessary critical thinking, mathematical, and verbal and written communication skills to integrate themselves into adult society sometimes become tangled up in penal, welfare, and sub-economic social systems. Employers in the U.S. have to sometimes bring in better qualified employees from abroad, because we lack properly educated and qualified candidates within our country.
Approximately one year ago I contacted several schools in order to setup a schedule where we could regularly volunteer our time to mentor students who were finding difficulty in the system. I never received any call backs from any of these schools. My next step was to contact a friend who had entrée to a school board member. Our friend contacted this school board member on several occasions with no feedback. One day at our local coffee shop I struck up a conversation with a person who was a child psychologist and mentioned that my partner and I wanted to help children succeed. He was delighted with my request and said that there was a major need for support, and that he would try to make some inroads for us. About two months later I received a call from an elementary school principal asking that I talk to her about volunteering. We subsequently started mentoring in the class room on a once a week basis. This “Hands on” mentoring experience gave us a realistic view of the teaching system, and the obstacles that many children face in their learning process.
We were fortunate in being placed in a classroom with a very bright dedicated teacher, who was very passionate about the children’s learning success. My assignment was to support a classroom of approximately thirty children who were having difficulty with addition and subtraction problems. My partners challenge was to mentor children who had difficulty in reading and comprehension. A few of these children appeared to be somewhat learning disabled. Other children were from families where English was not the primary language. All of these children seemed appreciative that we were trying to help them improve scholastically, and were eager to have us help them. At the end of the semester we noticed that our mentoring made the difference between many children grasping the knowledge, as opposed to being lost in the system.
There are no simple, one size fits all solutions to improving the quality of education. “No child left behind”, is just a somewhat empty slogan. There are many stakeholders who can participate positively in the improvement of our public educational system. I see the solution as a team effort of: Improved Financial Commitment, Increased Passion and Effort, and a Caring Positive “Can Do” Attitude from the entire community. Our financial priorities are out of sync when we spend far too much money incarcerating drug offenders and non-violent criminals that could be in treatment, or performing useful community services
I want to focus on volunteerism and community participation, from many stakeholders, as an option in this article. Children from affluent families usually have the liberty of well educated parents, money available for private tutoring, and public schools that receive outside private money for art, music, and sports programs that work to improve a child’s self esteem, creativity, physical health, and passion to learn.
There are many educated, caring retired people, persons in between jobs, and upper level students who could be participating in a mentoring program. There is adage that says, “Giving is receiving”. We have found that community service volunteerism is a very rewarding use of our energy and time. With little academic support at home, learning disabilities, a lack of educational focus, and other obstacles; many of these children need the extra attention and support so that they can grasp the educational materials. This extra attention may well lay the foundation for a child’s basic knowledge skills that will later enable them to be passionate about learning, complete high school, and possibly go on to a well paying professional career.
Unfortunately it is the poor and working class children who receive the brunt of our underperforming educational system. Public systems should be a support and safety system for the masses, not a financial bread basket for the rich and powerful to gain even more wealth to detriment of general society. Unfortunately public systems can become inefficient and ridden with bureaucratic administrative costs and political influence that add such burdens as, expensive outdated school books, underperforming teachers, and labor lobbies that unnecessarily increase public costs. I will address the details of how we can financially hone our educational system in a future article.
Everything in our society is interconnected, but I sometimes hear people say, “I have no children, my children go to private school, my children are grown, or I am not interested”. I say to their statement, “What is the cost of penal incarceration, drug abuse, unemployment claims, welfare, and a society that will not be able to compete in the world economy”. A well educated society provides the greatest financial and social “Return on investment” of any money and time that we may ever invest.
We have no problem allocating our passion and financial resources for military spending, corporate subsidies, non exiting entitlement programs, and a massive criminal justice system, but we seem to sometimes lack the long term thinking to realize that an educated and informed population is the “Brick’s and Mortar” that will enable our society to survive and progress.
We look forward to volunteering this coming semester, and hopefully meeting up with some of you new volunteers.
My partner and I just ended the first semester of a very rewarding experience mentoring primary grade children in a Solano County elementary school. The genesis of our journey started about a year ago with our concern about the number of children, who were dropping out of, or finishing high school without an adequate education. These students who lack the necessary critical thinking, mathematical, and verbal and written communication skills to integrate themselves into adult society sometimes become tangled up in penal, welfare, and sub-economic social systems. Employers in the U.S. have to sometimes bring in better qualified employees from abroad, because we lack properly educated and qualified candidates within our country.
Approximately one year ago I contacted several schools in order to setup a schedule where we could regularly volunteer our time to mentor students who were finding difficulty in the system. I never received any call backs from any of these schools. My next step was to contact a friend who had entrée to a school board member. Our friend contacted this school board member on several occasions with no feedback. One day at our local coffee shop I struck up a conversation with a person who was a child psychologist and mentioned that my partner and I wanted to help children succeed. He was delighted with my request and said that there was a major need for support, and that he would try to make some inroads for us. About two months later I received a call from an elementary school principal asking that I talk to her about volunteering. We subsequently started mentoring in the class room on a once a week basis. This “Hands on” mentoring experience gave us a realistic view of the teaching system, and the obstacles that many children face in their learning process.
We were fortunate in being placed in a classroom with a very bright dedicated teacher, who was very passionate about the children’s learning success. My assignment was to support a classroom of approximately thirty children who were having difficulty with addition and subtraction problems. My partners challenge was to mentor children who had difficulty in reading and comprehension. A few of these children appeared to be somewhat learning disabled. Other children were from families where English was not the primary language. All of these children seemed appreciative that we were trying to help them improve scholastically, and were eager to have us help them. At the end of the semester we noticed that our mentoring made the difference between many children grasping the knowledge, as opposed to being lost in the system.
There are no simple, one size fits all solutions to improving the quality of education. “No child left behind”, is just a somewhat empty slogan. There are many stakeholders who can participate positively in the improvement of our public educational system. I see the solution as a team effort of: Improved Financial Commitment, Increased Passion and Effort, and a Caring Positive “Can Do” Attitude from the entire community. Our financial priorities are out of sync when we spend far too much money incarcerating drug offenders and non-violent criminals that could be in treatment, or performing useful community services
I want to focus on volunteerism and community participation, from many stakeholders, as an option in this article. Children from affluent families usually have the liberty of well educated parents, money available for private tutoring, and public schools that receive outside private money for art, music, and sports programs that work to improve a child’s self esteem, creativity, physical health, and passion to learn.
There are many educated, caring retired people, persons in between jobs, and upper level students who could be participating in a mentoring program. There is adage that says, “Giving is receiving”. We have found that community service volunteerism is a very rewarding use of our energy and time. With little academic support at home, learning disabilities, a lack of educational focus, and other obstacles; many of these children need the extra attention and support so that they can grasp the educational materials. This extra attention may well lay the foundation for a child’s basic knowledge skills that will later enable them to be passionate about learning, complete high school, and possibly go on to a well paying professional career.
Unfortunately it is the poor and working class children who receive the brunt of our underperforming educational system. Public systems should be a support and safety system for the masses, not a financial bread basket for the rich and powerful to gain even more wealth to detriment of general society. Unfortunately public systems can become inefficient and ridden with bureaucratic administrative costs and political influence that add such burdens as, expensive outdated school books, underperforming teachers, and labor lobbies that unnecessarily increase public costs. I will address the details of how we can financially hone our educational system in a future article.
Everything in our society is interconnected, but I sometimes hear people say, “I have no children, my children go to private school, my children are grown, or I am not interested”. I say to their statement, “What is the cost of penal incarceration, drug abuse, unemployment claims, welfare, and a society that will not be able to compete in the world economy”. A well educated society provides the greatest financial and social “Return on investment” of any money and time that we may ever invest.
We have no problem allocating our passion and financial resources for military spending, corporate subsidies, non exiting entitlement programs, and a massive criminal justice system, but we seem to sometimes lack the long term thinking to realize that an educated and informed population is the “Brick’s and Mortar” that will enable our society to survive and progress.
We look forward to volunteering this coming semester, and hopefully meeting up with some of you new volunteers.
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