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What They've Thought
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What They Thought April 24, 2005 R.A.
Hawkins Click here for columnist bios |
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R.A.
Hawkins I don’t know how many of my readers have taken a cruise, but I have to say that it is always quite interesting. Last week my best friend (my wife) and I took a short cruise down to the eastern coast of Mexico to take a look at the Chacchoben Ruins at Costa Maya. Last year we went to see the ruins at Tulum, and there was one particularly interesting thing that occurred there that explained the world to me. The tour guide was telling us about the people that had lived there when it was in its heyday. He asked the group if we knew what the head priest had looked like. Most of the people there didn’t have a clue as to why he asked that question, but I already knew the answer. I chose that moment to do a little people-watching. As soon as the tour guide realized nobody had any idea what the head priest looked like he answered his own question. It went something like this: “Keep in mind that this was around 795 AD. I know you have all seen the locals, most of whom are Mayan in heritage, and you would expect the head priest to be less than five feet tall with a dark complexion. But look at some of the doorways here. They are a little taller than that. As local legend has it, the head priest here was about six feet tall with fair skin, blonde hair and green eyes.” I was, of course, waiting to see the reaction from our fellow adventurers. It was kind of like watching people notice the streetlight was still red. In other words, there was absolutely no reaction. It was an epiphany. Suddenly I realized how Bill Clinton got into office that second time. People quite often don’t pay attention to anything. This latest trip wasn’t a disappointment either, but they seldom are if one pays attention. Our ship was about four hours out from Costa Maya when it suddenly began to slow down. I noticed a few people looking off to one side of the ship and went to see what was going on. There were, it turned out, twelve illegal "Elians" escaping Castro’s agrarian paradise and fleeing to Mexico in a very small dinghy-type boat. At first it looked like there were eight of them, and then the next count when they got closer to the ship was eleven. I later learned that there were actually twelve of them packed into that boat. One of the guys at our table told us that night that he had shared a few drinks in port with the ones that hadn’t had to go to the hospital for starvation and dehydration. He said that they had told him that they had seen a chance to run and so they did. They just grabbed the boat and hauled keester as far away as they could as quickly as they could, and when they ran out of gas they just sat out there for eight days with no food or water. After they had been hauled aboard and given medical attention, they were kept below. When the ship docked, the local military showed up as did an ambulance. My wife and I watched from the upper deck. There seemed to be a bit of an exchange with the officers of the ship and the local military, with a great deal of head shaking and arm-waving going on. Eventually the military left with their M16s and dogs. The illegal "Elains" were handed over to the local police, which would have been per our Coast Guard’s instructions. Those that needed medical treatment went to the hospital. I’ll never know what happened to them in the long run, but I know some of them were celebrating in a bar when we left port. The people-watching during all of this was pretty interesting again. One guy told me we need ears down there. Some people said they should be sent back to Castro’s agrarian paradise. Before some of you lefties out there decide to email me and tell me how wonderful it is down there in Cuba, I have a suggestion: Don’t bother sending that email. Just move there if it’s so great. But I have to ask you a question. What is sleezeburger’s agrarian paradise really like if people would jump to take a chance like that — exposed to the elements on the open sea in a dinghy with no food or water for eight days — to flee to Mexico? Not even Florida…. Mexico! Dinner was quite interesting as well. We were at a table for ten, four couples and two friends traveling together. My wife and I missed dinner the first night, but not after that. Every one of those people was a riot, so much so that the newlyweds at the table looked like deer in the headlights of a Mac truck when they showed up for dinner for their first time as well on the second night. It really was a lot of fun, and I am very glad that we were able to meet all of those interesting people, but when I saw the reaction of the newlyweds, I knew they wouldn’t be back again for the rest of the trip and I was right. But perhaps the most interesting part of cruising is the people that work on the boat. They are seldom American which provides us with an opportunity to meet the young from former Warsaw Pact nations as well as many other places from around the world. It is an opportunity for everyone to be ambassadors, letting them know that Americans aren’t nearly as ugly as Europeans. R.A. Hawkins Web Site Contact Back to Top |
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“Help! I can’t afford to fill my tank anymore!” This is becoming the cry of the American driver, and the rising costs of fuel are distressing every facet of our economy. With prices soaring at our pumps, choosing between a gallon of petrol and a gallon of milk is fast becoming a household’s budget dilemma. When it comes to deciding whether we want to drive a gas-guzzler or buy a carton of milk, the milk will win every time. Gas just doesn’t soak up the flavor of our Coco Krispies the way milk does. Certainly, overall, America’s gas prices are much less than that of Europe, but we’re spoiled and used to having our gas guzzling SUV’s and monster 4x4’s. The problem with the rising costs of our energy sources isn’t just about what drizzles down our auto tanks and burns carbon crap into our air. It's how the pricing of energy begins to inflict pain in almost every venue of our lives. Those big semi-trucks that deliver our groceries to our local supermarket are feeling the gasoline pinch, too. This is being reflected at our stores by the daily price increase for necessities and food items. The basics such as clothing, food, and cooling and heating of our homes are headed for trouble. Inflation has been rising for about a year now. As of yet we aren’t headed down the path of the 1970s, but if action and relief aren’t administered to help deter the rising costs of fuel, we could be headed towards an ugly summer and a dreadful year. Could a recession be on the horizon if the broad energy bill President Bush spoke of isn’t put into action immediately? The energy bill put forth by Bush includes $8.1 billion in tax breaks — mostly for energy companies — and would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska (ANWRA) to oil development, bringing with it relief at the pump and the following domino effect of the lowering prices of consumer goods. The Democrats in general aren’t big proponents of the ANWRA development. The only offerings coming from the Democrats so far has just been looking for alternative fuels to be our answer, but implementing such takes time, something many pocketbooks don’t have. While most economists leave out the mathematical equations of how America’s economy is doing in their addition and subtraction game (while playing with our inflation numbers), it still feels very real to the Joneses, the Gomezes, the Slotskys, and the O’Doul family down any neighborhood street, USA. The Feds, the egg-headed economists, and the far-removed-from-reality politicians can play verbal games all day with how they want to dress up our economy, but frankly sitting here at the bottom of the economic numbers it is iniquitous. I think America is tired of politics. Talk to anyone sitting at Joe's Bar and Grill on a Friday night. As they try to unwind from a long grinding-to-the-bone workweek, they’ve had it with being tossed around as if they are pawns in the game of American politics. Most don’t give a rat’s behind about whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or Independent politician. Collectively, we all have come to the place where we have been deceived so much that the only thing real is the fact that our wallets are becoming slimmer and slimmer. Retirement for many has become highly questionable. Sending our kids to college is becoming the number one reason dads who are heads of their households are going bald. It’s called financial stress. Most wives and moms no longer can stay at home. They’re being forced to go to work just to make ends meet. Young married couples who dreamed of purchasing a starter home within the first five years of their marriage are kissing those dreams good bye. Who can afford a starter home of 900 sq ft. that runs well over $250,000 and isn’t located in the best area of town anymore? Let’s not forget while we are whining about our economy to make mention of the soaring credit debt. Most families have to utilize their credit cards to pay for gasoline and groceries because they are living from paycheck to paycheck. Americans are in debt and claiming bankruptcy at alarming rates. This isn’t good for anybody. Will the bottom drop out again? Who knows. The pendulum always swings back and balance is regained. I do believe its time for the Washington pack to stop playing with the American workers’ dollars, though. Spending must come under control; we need to begin drilling in Alaska; we need to implement alternative fuels; and we need to stop playing politics with our land and our people. It’s way past time for Washington to grow up. The American people aren’t a part of Washington’s political/economic roulette wheel, nor do we want to be. We need politicians who really care about the interests of those who put them in office who aren't vying for the saint-hooded position of the "I’m right, you’re wrong, shut up and sit down" bullying game that takes place on both sides of the political fence. Just do your jobs and take care of the fuel pricing. We’ll fall in line and do our part, too, even if it means giving up my Dodge 4x4. |
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On
Thursday, April 14, 2005, the Washington Nationals (née Montreal
Expos) defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3, in the
first baseball game in D.C. since 1971. Wherever you look, people
are hailing the return of the national pastime to our nation’s
capital. Me? I think it’s nice that the Expos finally found a
new home. I also think it’s nice that Washington baseball fans
finally have a team. But is baseball still America’s pastime?
Or has football—as some suggest—surpassed it? Let’s
take a look.
Now, baseball’s a fine game. I know it moves a little slow for some people, but that’s only because some people don’t know how to watch it. See, it’s not the kind of thing you sit down and watch from beginning to end, like an episode of Joey. (Okay, bad example. It’s impossible to sit through a whole episode of Joey.) No, baseball is something you leave on for two or three hours while you’re doing something else. It’s the athletic equivalent of putting down the hammer or screwdriver to get up and get another beer. It’s like the Hamburger Helper of a good, productive day. (Though if you want to eat it on its own, that’s cool, too.) No one would doubt the important role baseball’s played in the last hundred years. In a way, it’s been like America’s pulse. In the 1920s, the rise of the Yankees seemed to symbolize New York’s arrival as Capital of the Universe. In the late ‘40s, Jackie Robinson put a face on the civil rights movement. And even today, amidst a steroid scandal, baseball figures prominently into the public debate over privacy laws, labor, and science. So the game has definitely been an important part of America’s social fabric. No question there. But I’m not sure that makes it the national pastime. Think about this. Other than the fact that it comes from America, is there anything distinctly “American” about it? Baseball is the only sport in which the defense controls the ball. That seems rather un-American, really. You’ve got to go on the offense if you want to get ahead in this country. Ask Donald Trump. Ask Martha Stewart. Hell, you can even ask Puff Daddy. Entrepreneurs take control of the ball. They don’t just swing at it and hope to make contact three out of every ten times. American football does a much better job of representing the spirit of things we consider uniquely “American.” Take work ethic, for instance. In football, winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing. With 16 games a season, every win counts. Not so much in baseball, though. In baseball, teams play 162 times a year. Fans can take a day off. They can gladly pay tomorrow for a hamburger today. Two weeks later, they won’t know the difference. To that end, football isn’t really a sport in America. It’s a religion. Almost every single game is played on a Saturday (college) or Sunday (NFL), which, for a Judeo-Christian country, means it’s played on the Sabbath. Accordingly, families come to a standstill when football is on. Tumbleweeds roll through usually busy towns. If anything squares with America’s reputation as a bunch of religious kooks, our faith in football is it. Then there’s the fact that we call it “football” to begin with. If I had to guess, I’d guess this makes foreigners really mad. I mean, the world already has a game called football. We call it soccer. And we hate its guts. So not only are we the biggest and strongest country in the world, but we refuse to play the game the rest of the world plays, and we insist on using the name of that game for our own pigskinerrific purposes. Would you use “tea and crumpets” to describe a can of Coke and a package of crackers? Would you support a war for democracy when you can’t even figure out who the hell you just voted for? I wouldn’t. Look, I’m not saying we should change football’s name, or watch more soccer, or be Jacques Chirac’s friend. I’m just saying the rest of the world probably thinks we’re doing this just to piss ‘em off. No wonder they think we’re an arrogant bunch of banana republicans. We wear matching tights and helmets. (In fairness, it’s no wonder we see the rest of the world as idiots for playing a game in which nobody scores. Marxist fools.) Finally, if you really want to know which sport is the true national pastime, just look at the local level. Little League baseball is an important part of Americana, but nothing compares to high school football. High school football is the heart and soul—the Way—for many a sleepy American town. (Though why that is, I’m not sure. I rooted against my high school football team.) So I think it’s great that they’re playing baseball in Washington again. I love baseball. Historically, I do think it’s the most intrinsically American game. And I’d like to keep calling it America’s pastime, even if for no other reason than the warm, fuzzy feeling it gives me. But let’s face the facts here, Toto. We’re not in a Rockwell painting anymore. America is football country. Love it or leave it. Jonathan David Morris Web Site Contact Back to Top |
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Enacted in 2002, NCLB or No Child Left Behind is a law that forces the public schools to implement measures which are intended to eliminate "the bigotry of low expectations" for poor and minority children as a condition of receiving federal money. Although many of the laws' mandates were required in the l994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, NCLB requires funding recipients to provide proof of accountability by demonstrating progress in eliminating the achievement gap.1 Stipulations for receiving federal money are imposed on schools and are intended to minimize the achievement gap and ensure that all children be proficient in their grade level by 2014. Assessment results are deliberately broken into subgroups to reflect economic level, race, disability, and limited English proficiency to ensure that no group is left behind.2 Over time, failure to make AYP, or adequate yearly progress will result in corrective action and restructuring measures designed to assist the school in meeting "state proficiency standards". 3 This week the National Education Association has filed a law suit against the federal government and is arguing that Section 9527 of the law says that the federal government cannot mandate a state or school district to incur costs not covered by federal funding. They claim NCLB is an unfunded mandate. The goal of the suit is to loosen federal requirements attached to the money or to raise the amount of funding to meet the alleged costs of making AYP.4 Lawsuits with union backing and demanding more tax dollars to provide for an adequate public school education are becoming more common place. However, according to Doug French in his piece about Nevada's K-12 education, "High per-pupil spending in America often correlates with pathetic educational results — witness New York City, Washington, D.C., and many other union-dominated jurisdictions. On the other hand, low per-pupil spending is often linked with relatively high educational success — as with our neighbor Utah, and with private and parochial schools."5 He warns us that, "The best defense is often a good offense. And so, a constant drumbeat about supposedly inadequate per-pupil taxpayer subsidies has proven an effective way to shift the blame, maintain the political initiative and, perhaps most importantly, keep the money flowing."6 People who are not educated on both sides of an issue and continually subjected to only one ideology or viewpoint make it easier for those with power and influence to have a greater effect on their opinion. For so many children an abridged education starts early in life because labels, like "politically incorrect" censor fairy tales like The Boy Who Cried Wolf; deemed no longer appropriate to teach morals such as to be wary of false accusations. Parents hand their children over to public education institutions earlier and earlier. The result, special interest groups like the NEA are able to maintain a lot of power and influence, even having long outlived their usefulness. Going back to Doug French's piece, he writes, "The quality of the individual teacher is by far the most important factor in student success."7 He continues, "Vast millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted each year by school district administrators and union bosses through the [salary] grids. They could move to measuring teacher quality by tracking individual students’ improvements year by year. But it’s so much less threatening to the union to just look at longevity and trivial teacher college degrees — neither of which, research has shown, significantly helps student achievement."8 Doug French gives the very reason why NCLB is so important to reforming the public school system. The law requires districts to implement what does work. As French puts it, "It is this—Nevada’s chronic spending to purchase what is known to not work—instead of what does work—that is this state’s fundamental education problem. And it has persisted for decades because it grows directly out of the debased role of the modern state as the servant of well-organized special interests."9 State courts legislating from the bench order legislatures to provide, what the NEA considers "adequate funding" to the public schools. In New York, Robin Rapaport, the President of the NEA reminded the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees that, 'Our state's constitution mandates that "the Legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this state may be educated."'10 She was critical that the Governor slashed funding for BOCES (vocational) funding cuts and for creating charter schools. She asked that education retirees continue to receive the same health insurance benefits as active educators and to re-enact the section of the law which would phase out with a sunset provision. She suggested state leaders find new revenue from the wealthiest private and corporate citizens.11 In response, the legislature restored the Governor's cuts, and passed a budget, "that will provide over $848 million more in funding to public schools than last year – approximately $354 million more than the governor proposed."12 It is because of testimony such as Rapaport's that Kansas, Montana, and New York are, "currently under orders from their highest courts to fix their school finance systems."13 In New York, the state is planning to appeal the trial judge’s order to provide $5.6 billion in operating increases over four years to fix the New York City schools. 14 The idea that the court can tell politicians to appropriate more taxes to assuage special interest groups is quite frankly, frightening. This is judicial activism at its worst. It has not been proven that greater funding will solve the problems inherent in the public schools. Certainly the court can determine the legality of an action but to determine how our tax dollars are spent seems out of its jurisdiction. “Whether the court has the authority to require us to appropriate money is a major constitutional question. The answer will be keenly anticipated by many. The prevailing view is that the court lacks the ability to do that.”15 Regarding the NEA lawsuit, MEA President Lu Battaglieri and Pontiac EA President Ana Sanchez spoke at a press conference in Pontiac "These massive shortfalls force states and school districts to divert money from educational priorities, such as reducing class size, retaining the best teachers or buying the most up-to-date classroom materials."16 This type of rhetoric is to be expected. Even though class sizes have been progressively reduced since 1955 from an average of 27 students per teacher to 15 per teacher and spending per pupil is the highest in some of the worst performing districts, DC and NY leading the pack, NCLB should be seen as bad for requiring these states to reevaluate what isn't working and implement what is scientifically proven to work. 17 The NEA is crying
wolf again. As long as we keep listening, they'll keep crying and getting
all the attention even though there is nothing to cry about. We don't
really need to give them the time of day. They are no longer necessary.
As a matter of fact, the only purpose they serve is to prevent us from
completing the work that needs to be done. Too bad there isn't a wolf
large enough to swallow them whole and relieve us from their burden… 2 Fact
Sheet: No Child Left Behind Act 3 Identifying
School Districts for Improvement and Corrective Action Under the No
Child Left Behind Act 17 Manhattan
Institute For Policy Research: The Education Research Office 16 Pontiac
part of national lawsuit filed against Administration for not paying
regulatory costs of No Child Left Behind Act 10, 11 Rapaport
Calls for Increased Education Funding 13, 14, 15
States Resist Meeting K-12 Spending Levels Ordered by the Courts 4 Texans
join suit over No Child Left Behind 1, 4
The High Cost of NCLB (pdf file) 5, 6, 7, 8,
9 The Red Herring Nancy Salvato Web Site Contact Back to Top |
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As the country looks for reassurance and even tempered advice, many turn to those who have a style of being meek, mild and calm. The manner of the delivery, is often more important, than the meaning of the message. So say the public. The attraction for avoiding the hard questions, is as popular as the latest hit on the nielsen parade of reality TV. But when it comes to politics, few are any better with the grin, soft tones and non threatening demeanor than the neo-con in chief - the editor of the Weekly Standard. You know his face, but do you know the man? William Kristol is a work in progress; a background that is disguised, while an ordinary man, image is promoted. Do you really know this man? Well, can you see through the media transparency? "Kristol was raised in Manhattan, educated at Harvard and spent his very early years working for Democrats, including Hubert Humphrey and Scoop Jackson, but by 1976 he had become a Republican . . . . In 1985 he was hired by Bill Bennett to serve in the federal Department of Education, where he quickly rose to chief of staff. With the election of George Bush in 1988, Kristol was given the unenviable job of handling Vice President Dan Quayle." This maestro of the 'spin' is also the master of the velvet touch. Just ask the composer of the “Spin Cycle” himself, Howard Kurtz: "If any political savant is wired to nearly all the Republican presidential candidates, it's Kristol, the genial face of non-threatening conservatism. And if anyone is deeply embedded in the media culture--editing an opinion magazine, pontificating on all the networks, quoted by reporters in search of a glib Republican--Kristol is the man. He's become part of Washington's circulatory system, this half-pol, half-pundit, full-throated advocate with the nice-guy image." Being the son of the celebrated, Irving Kristol and Gertrude Himmelfarb, one would have high expectations. But how well do you know Irving - the godfather of neo-conservatism? Consider this quote from the father:
But a father need not beget the beliefs of a son. So let Bill confess up, in this quote: "There's a reform Republicanism that can marry up fairly comfortably with the sort of center-right Democrat." Sounds like a mindset and platform coming out of John McCain? When Kristol started the Project for the Republican Future, he hooked up with the likes of Robert Kagan. You remember him from his - How we unlearned the art of war, published in the New Republic. "When America Blinked" is a prescription in deranged confidence for empire. Coming from the author of Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos, what else would one expect? Is this the kind of country that we want? The next venture was the Weekly Standard, a new conservative political weekly owned by Murdoch's News America Publishing Inc., a subsidiary of News Corp. Or should we more properly say, neo-con political weekly? For those who have falsely bought into the canard that the other Rupert enterprise, Fox News; is right-wing programming, it is an easy sell to claim that the neo-cons are conservatives. But are they? Paul Gottfried makes the point in - The Conservative Movement: "Almost all Neo-Conservatives . . . remain qualified defenders of the welfare state." In order to really understand what is going on, read this important essay - The Problem with Conservatives by Colonel V. Doner. The core of the neo-con agenda can be summed up:
It was said that Jerry
Seinfeld's capacity for the ridiculous made the show appealing. Bill
Kristol projects the same talent, but he makes the appeal of traditional
themes, ridiculous for genuine conservatives. By hijacking the rhetoric,
and substituting a ”social democratic” agenda, we are being
betrayed. What we get from the neo-cons is the extension of the War
Party and the Welfare State. Their vices resemble the methods of the
Joker. They gain pleasure in breaking every principle and moral stature
known to actual conservatives. More importantly, the Trojan Horse known
as Kristol, makes the crime funnier by playing a game of cat and
mouse with the common sense of the American public. Joker Bill knows
and views each offense, every infliction of pain, and any murder in
the name of empire, as the ultimate joke -- mocking all of us.
Kristol is pushing
the cuisine of the soup
nazi, with the leftovers of the Left - nothing for you . . .
The neo-cons are really seeking to enforce extremely strict adherence
to the NWO bouillon stand. Misunderstood by most Republicans, he is
actually "a culinary prodigy that suffers from his own contaminated
stew." That Kristol smirk reveals the contempt that this Joker
of the United Underworld has for all of us. He will stop at nothing
to deliver his next punchline. But this joke is not funny. He forgets
that the we are sick of being fed that pricey soup, with velvet gloves
. . .
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©2004-2005 by their respective authors. Reprinted by permission. |
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