Abortion

At mass yesterday, my priest brought up the topic of abortion-not surprising for a Catholic. I will layout his specious argument against abortion.  Each of us was put on Earth for a special reason.  Einstein was put on Earth to produce his famous Theory of Relativity. If his parents had aborted him-we would never has the theory.  I disagree that no other scientist would have developed the theory. Calculus was developed independently by Newton and Leibniz.  Neptune was discovered independently by John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Vernier.  We did not abort the person who would have cured cancer, as he claimed.

If we are to argue that a loss of one life can have a negative impact, such as his examples of Einstein and Walt Disney, what about a positive impact.  What if Stalin's parents had an abortion or Mao.  Millions would have been saved. The argument goes both ways.

Charter Schools

A few weeks ago, 60 Minutes had a piece on how successful a chain of charter schools were. I found it interesting that the schools were using methods of teaching that I used when I first began teaching in the 1990s.  Back then many teachers were using project-based learning.  I was able to a theme- connecting reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies and the students researched a project of their own choosing. I would guide the students through the research-some needing more guidance than others.

Unfortunately, due to state and federal mandates, I am no longer give the freedom.  I must teach prescribed lessons  within a given time frame with fidelity to the text. I am reminded of a scene from The Godfather.  One of Michael's (The Godfather) is asking him to have more freedom to protect his territory. "I am not asking for anything, just take off the handcuffs."  I am asking for the state to take off  the handcuffs and I will be more successful than these charter schools.  All schools should have to play be the same rules.

Republican Overreach

Since the end of World War II, Republicans devise a way to limit their opposition, which in the end hurts the Republican party.  After Roosevelt's four terms, the Republicans pushed for an amendment to limit the president to two terms.  I believe that Eisenhower and Regan would have been elected to a third term.  In order to make inroads in the South, the Republicans devised the Southern strategy to get the Southern white vote.  It put the Republican party on the wrong side of history.  The party lost the black vote, which was heretofore solidly Republican.  The Republican party to an extreme position on immigration, which caused it to lose the Hispanic vote.  The Republicans are attempting to go back in time on women's rights, alienating another larger demographic of voters. If the Republican Party continues on this track, they will be an all white party of the rich or evangelical Christians.  It is not a winning strategy.

Downtown St. Petersburg

I recently took a day trip to St.  Petersburg and was pleasantly surprised at my discovery.  I visited the Dali museum, which I enjoyed.  The paintings cover the breadth of Dali's work from his Impressionist beginnings to Surrealism.and into his classical period. The body of  work reveals a constantly growing and evolving artist. Docent tours are available every hour on the half hour.  Headsets with information on the paintings are available as well.  I first went on a docent tour and used the headsets to supplement information on pieces that were not discussed on the tour. In addition to his painting, you can watch a film Dali made.  Outside is a labyrinth you can walk through.  Despite my penchant for Impressionism, I enjoyed the museum.  I was able to get a better understanding of Dali and surrealism.

Along the waterfront, there are a plethora of restaurants and boutiques.  I dined al fresco at Moon Under Water with an excellent view of the bay.  I had a delicious curry dish.  The menu was full of a variety of choices.  It was difficult to decide but the kind waitress gave me her recommendation.

I went to the Chihuly Collection.  I was impressed with his glass works, which are beautifully displayed.  His art work is puerile.  He squirts acrylic paint on a canvas and calls it art.  It takes him ten minutes to do a piece.  My third graders could do the same but would not be able to charge $12,000 for it. A docent tour is available and recommended.

My final destination was the Vinoy hotel, a gem from the 1920s.  It fell on hard times in the 1970s, as did apparently the city, but has been restored.  A Chihuly chandelier hangs in its ballroom.  Although we were not guests the manager was helpful in providing a history of the hotel.

I recommend visiting St. Petersburg.  I will return to see the museums I missed.

   

Too much riding on one test

On Monday FCAT begins.  It is a test that will determine if my students will progress to fourth grade.  It trumps what they have done the rest of the year.  It is a test that will determine if I am considered an effective teacher.  In a recent article in Phi Delta Kappan, a professional journal for educators, research show that gains in student achievement are influenced by much more than the any individual teacher.  School factors such as class size, curriculum materials, instructional time, availability of specialists and tutors and resources for learning are a factor.  Another factor is home and community support.  Individual student needs and abilities, health and attendance are a factor.  Differential summer learning loss is a factor, especially among low-income children.

It is folly to think that a four day test can give you the whole picture of a child, as it is to think it does the same for a teacher.  It is disheartening to think that teachers who sacrifice to promote the love of learning to children are reduce to a secret state mathematical formula.

Immortality

I read an article about the quest for immortality in Scientific American and decided to use to see how I am on my quest.  According to the article there are four immortality narratives.   The most basic is staying alive.  While no one can stay alive forever, we can extend our lives. I chose to do this by eating a healthy diet and daily exercise. I think I can add another 20 quality years to my life by doing these simple activities.  The second narrative is resurrection - physically rising again with our bodies.  I do not believe in resurrection.  The third narrative is soul, "surviving as some kind of spiritual entity."   While no one is absolutely sure there is a soul, that is why it is called faith, I am following Pascal's wager and living my life to achieve an afterlife. If God does not exist, it does not matter how you wager, for there is nothing to win after death and nothing to lose after death. But if God does exist, your only chance of winning eternal happiness is to believe, and your only chance of losing it is to refuse to believe. As Pascal says, "I should be much more afraid of being mistaken and then finding out that Christianity is true than of being mistaken in believing it to be true." The fourth is legacy to leave an impact through children or our work.  I do not have children but as a teacher I have a major impact on the lives of children every day.  My hope is that they remember the wisdom I have passed on to them.

Will I achieve immortality? I can do what I can to extend my life and have faith that there is an afterlife or at least I will be remembered for the good things I have done.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

I recently finished Absolute Monarchs by John Julius Norwich, as history of the papacy.  It was very enlightening, more so since I am a Catholic.  Mr. Norwich is very objective in his writing, so we learn about great popes, the corrupt popes, and the average popes. It was interesting that through the middle ages most popes were ordained priests after they were elected priests.  Many popes were more interested in enriching their families then to shepherding their flocks.  Nepotism was common place until the 20th century.  The Renaissance popes built grand monuments and palaces for themselves but also added to the Vatican library.  There were a few forward thinking popes but most were conservative afraid of losing control of the papal states and power and influence over the kings of Europe.  Some were pawns of the kings of Europe.

How have things changed in the 21st Century?  Not much. Our present pope was the head of the Inquisition, which is now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  His duty was to ensure that the doctrines laid down by Rome were being enforced.  If they were not, the offenders were exiled to the hinterlands. The recent Vatican leaks show that there is still corruption in the Vatican. Cardinal Vigano had been making marked progress in his battle against corruption and cronyism as deputy governor in charge of financial reforms of Vatican City.  Last August, Vigano was suddenly appointed papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States. But Vigano felt that if he were moved out of Rome it would send the wrong signal—that anyone who fights the church’s corruption won’t get to do it for long.  He was moved anyway.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Don't Judge A Book

I recently went to get my haircut.  I was not pleased with my stylist so I went to a new salon.  I made an appointment and arrived on time. I had to wait a few minutes as both stylists were finishing up.  There were two stylists, one appeared to be older and was more conventional.  The other was younger, with pink hair and tattoos on her arms. The first stylist asked me if I had a preference.  I hesitated because I am very conservative in my appearance.  I am a teacher who still wears a shirt and tie to school.  I told her it did not matter, despite having an innate prejudice against tattoos.  I was a bit apprehensive when I was told that the woman with tattoos would be my stylist.

I was pleased to wrong in my superficial judgement.  My stylist was one of the most pleasant and considerate that I have ever had.  She did an excellent job.  I made sure that I got her name because I have found a new stylist.  The old adage is true "You can not judge a book by its cover."  I will not be so quick to judge in the future.

Joe Kennedy and Citizens Energy

I was visiting family in New York over the holidays, when I saw an advertisement by Joe Kennedy and Citizens Energy.  They provide discount heating oil to the poor and elderly households in 23 states.  While wages have remained stagnant, oil prices have increased.  It is a financial burden on these family, who have to choose between heating their homes or buying food.  I find the program laudable, but it interesting who supplies the oil - Venezuela!  American oil companies are making record profits and continue to receive tax subsidies but will not donate oil to this program.  I find it appalling that Citgo, an Venezuelan company is the only donator.

Goebbels Would Be Proud

I read an interesting letter to the editor in my local paper Saturday.  The writer was confused why Obama said God Bless America.  The writer stated that President Obama was a Muslim and not a Christian.  First President Obama is not a Muslim and even if he was Muslims still believe in God.  The writer claimed that Obama was only for the rich Americans not the poor, which apparently made him un-American.  Again the writer has his facts wrong.  The President is trying to raise taxes on the richest one percent of American but is stonewalled by the Republicans, who want to lower taxes on the wealthy. 

Joseph Goebbels would be proud at the Conservative propaganda spread by talk radio and Fox News.  They continue to spread lies about the Presidents birth and religion.  They are trying convince people that they are for the common man, while the President is for the rich Wall Street executives, which is the exact opposite of the situation.  Goebbels said if you repeat the lie enough people will believe it.  The Conservatives believe it and in the case of this one writer it is true.  It is more appalling that a newspaper would print the letter.

My Bipolar Relationship with America

Why I am embarrassed to be an American - the political circus.  The American political system has become a laughing stock.  One only has to look at the current clowns running to represent the Republican party.  We have a man who ran a pizza company, who has no knowledge of anything outside of this country.  His grasp of economics is not much better with his 9-9-9 plan that would be the biggest transfer of wealth to the richest Americans.  We have a woman who claims she is subservient to her husband as the Bible says but would not be if she was elected to be president.  She is opposed to government handouts except when her family receives them.  We have a former Speaker of the House who makes Pinocchio look like Honest Abe.

I am proud that our political experiment of 1789 has withstood all the political turmoil.  America has survived a civil war to end slavery, the great depression, three impeachments and the political corruption of Congress.

America has fueled the economic growth of the world.  This has caused an embarrassing wage gap and destroyed the middle class.  It has also provided innovation in products and ideas.  America is still the land of opportunity for immigrants.

America has provided the world with great authors from Hawthorne to Hemingway.   It is the birthplace of jazz and rock.  The Great White Way has entertained millions.  On the other hand, it has given us the culture of celebrity and the curse of Paris Hilton.

America is land of splendid natural beauty.  We have majestic mountains, white sandy beaches, stark deserts and fabulous forests.  We have a climate to suit everyone's needs. 

Catholic Church Changes

The Catholic Church is again changing and I am not sure why.  After the Second Vatican Council, the Church decided to modernize.  The mass was given in the vernacular instead of Latin.  I was an infant while these changes were occurring, but I would have preferred to have have the mass in a sacred language instead of the mundane.  Apparently, 50 years ago, there was a poor translation because the reason for the new changes is it is closer to the original meaning.  An example of few of the changes from the Nicene Creed. Current - of all that is seen and unseen. Revised- of all things visible and invisible. Current - he suffered died and was buried. Revised- he suffered death and was buried. I am not sure why we are making what appear to be minor changes.  If we want to go back to the original perhaps we should say the mass in Aramaic.

The New Gilded Age

The Gilded Age occurred in the 1880s.  After the Civil War, the United States has a business/economic boom, which fueled our growth and began the shift from Europe to America as the source of wealth.  It was a time when JP Morgan could gather the bankers to his office to avert an economic panic.  It was a time of the creation of companies like Standard Oil, steel companies, AT&T and the railroads.  Unfortunately not all of this wealth was created by new ideas and streamlining of business but the manipulation of stock on Wall Street, mostly by watering down stocks.  The negative side of this growth was the wide divergence in wealth between the working class and the captains of industry.  The ostentatious displays of wealth were show in the vast mansions and summer homes plus the rapacious buying of antiquities.  The captains of industry purchased politicians and the political bosses ran the government.


We are currently in a new Gilded Age with a vast disparity of income between the middle class and the wealthy.  The profits on Wall Street have come from manipulations of securities that provide no value to the economy other than to enrich the investment banks.  The investment banks funnel huge sums of money to the political campaigns of both parties.  Their lobbyist make the laws of the nation.  They ostentatiously display their wealth as the robber barons of old.

How are we to get ourselves out of this mess?  While Occupy Wall Street is helping to shine light on the problem, they have yet to offer any solutions.  The Gilded Age ended with an accident of history, the arrival of Theodore Roosevelt.  Will Obama be the new Gilded Age's T.R.  Unfortunately, I do not have the answers.

How the Tea Party Got It Wrong

Who are the members of the Tea Party?  They are predominately white, middle class men who are concerned with the economic problems facing America.  They claim that they are concerned about the size of the government and government deficits.  Surprisingly they support the Republicans or perhaps were co-opted by the Dick Armey and the Koch brothers, who took the United States from a surplus to the largest deficits.  Republicans have supported large deficits since Regan.  The Republicans refuse to raise taxes to cut the deficit, not even on the wealthiest one percent and believe in cutting middle class programs, such as Social Security, which would hurt the majority of Tea Party members.  Logically it does not make sense to support a party that is in the pocket of the wealthy.

Why was it acceptable for GW Bush to increase the size of government with unfunded programs such as prescription medicare and No Child Left Behind.  The Tea Party has no problem spending billions of dollars on wars but not on Americans.  It makes me wonder is their problem is that there is a black man in the Oval Office that they want to remove.

Hippiefest

Saturday I participated in Hippiefest a Concert for Peace and Understanding. I was outside where a local band was playing 60s music.  I noticed a few women pretending that they were passing around a joint.  They told me that they were reliving the old days.  Then I noticed a man smoking a cigar; he had a real joint behind his ear.   I saw him smoking it later.  I guess he was getting ready for the concert. There was a display of album cover that were drawn with chalk.  You could purchase it through a silent auction.  Someone did the Beatles "White Album", which my third graders could have done.

The show began with Felix Caivaliere performing the Rascals hits, such as Groovin and People Want to Be Free. He also did Wilson Picket's Midnight Hour.  Rick Derringer performed his hits.  I was not familiar with his work but I recognized Hang on Sloopy and Rock and Roll Hootchiecoo.  Gary Wright, the Dream Weaver, performed his early work with Spooky Toad.  He explained how he wrote Dream Weaver.   Gary was working with George Harrison, who invited him to go to India.  Harrison gave Wright books to read and one contained a poem about a weaver of dreams.  Mark Farner sang Grand Funk Railroad hits, such as Bad Time to Fall in Love, Some Kind of Wonderful and I'm Your Captain.  Dave Mason ended the show.  He performed Only You Know, Feeling Alright and All Along the Watchtower.  He was having problems with his voice so they played a blues song, which his bassist sang.

I was too young to be a hippie but I read about protesters spitting on soldiers returning from Vietnam and calling them names.  All of the artists acknowledged and supported the troops overseas.  Each performer was given an equal amount of time to play, which is a change from past shows.  I was surprised that there were not more people dancing.  I only saw two or three groups.  I guess the Baby Boomers are showing their age.  Despite drinking and at least one person getting high, it was a peaceful evening, just as it was billed.

The Moral Decline of Republicanism

The Republican Party has a schizophrenic history.  The party prides itself on its 1850s ant-slavery roots and the party of Lincoln.  In the decades after the Great Emancipator's death, the Republican party became the organ of greedy industrialists.  It has never lost its association with big business.  During Theodore Roosevelt's term as president, he sought to broaden the party.  He wanted a Square Deal for the people. Eventually Roosevelt and the Progressives broke from the party.  Republicans became the party of the status quo and represented big business more than the average American.   "The business of America is business."   It used scare tactics, such as the Red Menace to gain power. While Republicans claim to be strong on defense, the are responsible for the secret war in Southeast Asia and arms for hostage deals with Iran.

As I mentioned in previous blogs, I am a former Republican, who believed it was morning in America.  I believed that the party could not sink any lower but I am disappointed to be wrong.  The current debt crisis debacle shows that the Republicans are willing to put political gain before the welfare of the country.  In their lust for power, they are willing to cause a double dip recession to gain the White House.  They will block any initiatives to improve the economy in an attempt to defeat President Obama.  I do not believe even the Machiavellian Nixon would stoop so low.

Who is to blame?  Ultimately, it is the American people, who believe their simplistic approach to solving the complex problems facing America.  We need to be more educated.  Stop spending your time watching "reality" tv and awaken to the reality of the Republican agenda.  The gap between corporate executives and the rank and file workers is growing at an exponential rate.  The middle class is under constant attack and the Republicans want to balance the budget on their backs.  They want to destroy the middle class, with their tax and education policies.

Wake up everybody.  Take action before it is too late.

Winter in America

Over the weekend, Gil Scott Heron died.  I planned to publish a post on Sunday but I could not access my blog. While Gil Scott was the voice of a generation of black speaking out against racism in the late 1960s and early 1970s, my post will focus on a singular event.  It was February 15 1985 perhaps 1986, when I was living in Maryland.  My brother was visiting and saw that Gil Scott Heron was playing at Tacoma Station.  I was not familiar with his work but I agreed to go.  We set off for the concert, I had an address but no directions.  I knew D.C.  was laid out on a grid and was confident we could find it.  We drove around the nation's capitol witnessing the plight of the unemployed and homeless.  They were burning the wood at a construction site to keep warm. It was not an area that two white men would feel comfortable.  We found the address on the flier but there was no club there.  Finally after an hour, I went into to a convenience store to ask directions.  I left my brother to watch for the car.  Tacoma Station was in Maryland, not D.C. as the flier stated.

We entered the club and looked around.  We were the only white people in the place. Gil Scott did have a white guitarist. I admit to being a little nervous.  We were treated very well.  The people we spoke with were pleased that we had come to hear his music, that he reached a white audience.  I wonder what it would have been like if the roles were reversed and two black entered an all white club to listen to music.  I know that Gil Scott appreciated our presence.

Reflections on a Carl Sagan Excerpt

In The Demon-Haunted World (1995), Carl Sagan wrote:
"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time-when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agenda or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."

This is a powerful sentence, which needs to be dissected.  In the fifteen years since it was written America has shipped most of its manufacturing overseas.  We have become more of a service economy, which is why it has taken so long to recover from the Great Recession.  There is no forward-looking leaders in America.  The politicians look only to the next election.  Corporate leaders look only as far as the quarterly or annual earnings reports.  There is no investment in the future. There is no vision of an interstate highway system, a transcontinental railroad or an Erie Canal.  The governor of Florida could not see how high speed rail could connect the cities of the state and certainly not how those cities could be connected to the rest of the country.  He was looking back to "Americans love their cars."  In the few months since he killed high speed rail in Florida the price of gas has risen to nearly $4 a gallon.

"When awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few" is coming with the attacks on public education.  Only those who are able to attend elite private schools will be able to experience those powers. The programs will be cut from public schools because of declining budgets.  Only the privileged, like Bill Gates, who was able to spend 16 hours a day on his private school computers, will have access to the latest technologies.

I am not sure if anyone in public office can grasp the issues or if they are just being paid to look the other way. The Great Recession was caused by irresponsible lending by banks, backed by Wall Street investment banks, yet no one was held responsible for this catastrophe.  Instead, the tax payers paid to cover their mistakes.  When the Republicans were in charge, they preached the value of debt and deficit but now that the Democrats are in the White House debt and deficit spending  is evil.

As for questioning authority, most Americans get their news from television, who reduces everything to 30 second sound bites.  How can the problems that plague us be comprehend in 30 seconds.  Those who do not get the news from television get it from an unfiltered Internet.  You do not what the author's agenda is.  Some are in the pay of the people who would benefit by the writing.  Most people, particularly the young, scan the Internet and do not read objectively.

I write this the day after the world was to come to an end, according to the pseudoscience of religion.    Many people were duped by his seemingly supportable mathematical calculations.  Others believe in Mayan calendar to point to 2012 as then end of the world.  It raises the question, has the slide into superstition and darkness begun.

Thoughts on the killing of Bin Laden

At first I was very excited by the news of the demise of Osama Bin Laden but then I began to think about the cost.  First there is the economic costs.  The Republicans preach about the deficit but one of the major causes of it is the "war on terrorism."  We are spending billions in Afghanistan and Iraq (which was not a source of terrorist activity).  Was Osama worth the economic cost?  We are spending billions in a country that is home to 100 al Queda operatives.  Second there is the cost is American life.  1500 Americans have died in Afghanistan.  I do not think there sacrifice was worth it.  Third there is cost of American values.  To fight terrorists Bush told us we needed to give up certain civil liberties, habeus corpus, unwarranted wiretaps, unreasonable search and seizure and unlawful detention. Lastly there was the cost to American prestige.  The wars in Iraq was the first time that America invaded a country that had not attacked us.  Since 911 we have become a diminished nation.

Political Musings

When I came of political age it was morning in America.  Reagan had replaced the Carter pessimism with optimism.  Politicians argued the merit of their beliefs, acknowledging the philosophical differences.  They were enemies on the floor of Congress but shared cocktails after hours.  It was how compromise was achieved.  It was a time of change- I thought for the better.  I was working in the mortgage banking and Republicanism was a natural fit.  I was living in Maryland - a Democratic stronghold.  I was in the minority, fighting the status quo.  I remained in the party through business school.

I moved to Arizona, birthplace of Barry Goldwater founder of American conservatism.  It was at that time that the Republicans took control of the House.  I realized that their agenda was not mine.  I knew that I would not be able to change it.  To paraphrase Reagan, I did not leave the Republican party, the Republican party left me.  I had read Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead, so I joined the Libertarian Party of smaller government.  In presidential elections I have voted third party, trying to end the failed two party system.  Unfortunately, Perot's presidential attempts were the closest a third party candidate has been in winning an election.

I grow dismayed when I see what is being put out by both parties.  The lunatic fringe of both parties have taken over.  There is no more debate.  It is just invective, spewed back and forth.  The intellectual caliber has certainly diminished in Congress.  They cannot argue the merits of their case but simply attack others.  I wonder what this people did before they entered politics.  They have no connection with the real world.

Views on Presidents
Ronald Reagan restored dignity to the office.  He always wore his jacket in the Oval Office, as a sign of respect for the office of the presidency. Reagan had a strong team of ad visors, who had a unified vision for America.  They believed in  limited government, lower taxes and the end of communism.  Reagan never veered from that vision.  Also it was the beginning of the shift of income to the rich and the end of the middle class.

George H.W. Bush had an impressive resume but lacked vision and conviction.  He broke his vow not to raise taxes, which lost him the election.

Bill Clinton's policies should be the role model for presidents.  He was a centrist, who governed from the middle.  His moderate policies reformed welfare and provided the country with a budget surplus.  His personal behavior was his downfall.

George W. Bush was not qualified to be president and needed to be watched over be his father's friends.  He entered office with the largest budget surplus and left with the largest deficit.  An so-called opponent of big government, Bush enacted the large prescription medicine entitlement for seniors.  He cut taxes for the wealthy. Bush is the first president to invade a country without provocation.  He used the 911 attacks to destroy American freedoms, such as habeus corpus.  Once the government labels you as a terrorist you lose your rights.  "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."  The administration loosened regulations leading to the banking and housing crisisses.  The government bailed out the large banks and Wall Street gets its bonuses while the country suffers.