What a novel idea!!!! The Gates Foundation could have saved $45 million of there Foundation funds by asking a small group of common sense people in Peoria to advise ivory tower types what works in the classroom. Here is the major part of what the survey concluded:
Teachers who maintain control in their classroom.
Teachers who correct students mistakes as they make them.
"Our classroom stays busy and doesn't waste time."
Administrations that allow the question to the kids, "what works best for you to benefit you now and in the future, in the classrooms, in the hallways, the gym, the athletic fields, language classes, art classes, bands, extra-curricular activities, personal associations, etc.
A number of years ago I mentored three eighth grade students. My first question was "do you like to read"? One said yes. then I asked what they thought they would like to do after their school days were over. Th student who was he like to read said he would like to be an engineer. Of the two who said they didn't like to read one said he wanted to be an attorney and the other said he wanted to be a pilot. We then discussed why it was so important to read to qualify for these positions. General agreement was to reach their goals would would indeed need to be good readers. For any teacher, the question and dialogue about the importance of being good readers is one of the best ways to find out from the student as to what works in the classroom.
What novel ideas. This article doesn't give much credence to all those thousands who "teach for test".
Good grief.
Merle
*******************************
From the New York Times [Online], Friday, December 10, 2010. See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/education/11education.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadli
*******************************
What Works in the Classroom? Ask the Students
By Sam Dillon
How useful are the views of public school students about their teachers?
Quite useful, according to preliminary results released on Friday from a $45 million research project that is intended to find new ways of distinguishing good teachers from bad.
Teachers whose students described them as skillful at maintaining classroom order, at focusing their instruction and at helping their charges learn from their mistakes are often the same teachers whose students learn the most in the course of a year, as measured by gains on standardized test scores, according to a progress report on the research.
Financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the two-year project involves scores of social scientists and some 3,000 teachers and their students in Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; Denver; Hillsborough County, Fla., which includes Tampa; Memphis; New York; and Pittsburgh.
The research is part of the $335 million Gates Foundation effort to overhaul the personnel systems in those districts.
Statisticians began the effort last year by ranking all the teachers using a statistical method known as value-added modeling, which calculates how much each teacher has helped students learn based on changes in test scores from year to year.
Now researchers are looking for correlations between the value-added rankings and other measures of teacher effectiveness.
Research centering on surveys of students' perceptions has produced some clear early results.
Thousands of students have filled out confidential questionnaires about the learning environment that their teachers create. After comparing the students' ratings with teachers' value-added scores, researchers have concluded that there is quite a bit of agreement.
Classrooms where a majority of students said they agreed with the statement, "Our class stays busy and doesn't waste time," tended to be led by teachers with high value-added scores, the report said.
The same was true for teachers whose students agreed with the statements, "In this class, we learn to correct our mistakes," and, "My teacher has several good ways to explain each topic that we cover in this class."
The questionnaires were developed by Ronald Ferguson, a Harvard researcher who has been refining student surveys for more than a decade.
Few of the nation's 15,000 public school districts systematically question students about their classroom experiences, in contrast to American colleges, many of which collect annual student evaluations to improve instruction, Dr. Ferguson said.
"Kids know effective teaching when they experience it," he said.
"As a nation, we've wasted what students know about their own classroom experiences instead of using that knowledge to inform school reform efforts."
Until recently, teacher evaluations were little more than a formality in most school systems, with the vast majority of instructors getting top ratings, often based on a principal's superficial impressions.
But now some 20 states are overhauling their evaluation systems, and many policymakers involved in those efforts have been asking the Gates Foundation for suggestions on what measures of teacher effectiveness to use, said Vicki L. Phillips, a director of education at the foundation.
One notable early finding, Ms. Phillips said, is that teachers who incessantly drill their students to prepare for standardized tests tend to have lower value-added learning gains than those who simply work their way methodically through the key concepts of literacy and mathematics.
Teachers whose students agreed with the statement, "We spend a lot of time in this class practicing for the state test," tended to make smaller gains on those exams than other teachers.
"Teaching to the test makes your students do worse on the tests," Ms. Phillips said. "It turns out all that 'drill and kill' isn't helpful."
*****************************************************
--
Jerry P. Becker
Monday, January 17, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Diane Ravitch - More Comments on Public Education
Another thoughtful comment on our public education system. For the new reader, i have closely followed the Peoria Public School system since 1994 when I ran for the board. At that time there were 6 applicants for one position.
I have posted many factual blogs based on my experience. I also taught in the public school system. I read widely about public schools all over the world. This is a comment by Michael Goldenberg on Diane Ravitch that is worth reading for those interested in improving our local and national systems.
Merle
[http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2011/01/dear_deborah_i_have_been.html#comments]
that was earlier posted. Mr. Goldenberg sent this comment to the
MathTalk list, Wednesday, January 5, 2011.
************************
I'd say that today's post by Diane Ravitch is an excellent summary of
a host of bad ideas floating around from the usual anti-public ed,
school deform/privatization crowd, along with some of the best recent
articles, opinion pieces, and research results that give the lie to
the nonsense we're constantly being bombarded with by enemies of
public education.
To be clear, I make NO excuses for bad teachers, bad principals, or
bad district administrators. Neither does Diane Ravitch or Deborah
Meier, or anyone else I respect in this debate. But there's a big
difference between what I generally term criticism from the Left and
criticism from the Right when it comes to public education - the
former criticizes that with which it may disagree in specific ways
and instances, whereas the latter looks to pick and choose examples
with which to destroy the entire system.
Thus, the problems of inner city and rural poor schools are used to
bash the entire teaching profession, teachers' unions as a whole,
public education EVERYWHERE, etc. I have argued that the primary
motives for such a move are not humanitarian concern but greed and
self-interest. I stand by that position and believe that much of what
Ravitch says and cites supports my beliefs.
That doesn't mean we don't try every day to do our best and to
improve matters as best we can no matter what the obstacles (within
human limitations - everyone has better and worse days, after all).
We don't use the problems as an excuse. But neither do we sit by
passively and let others, most of whom have little or no experience
in or contact with the communities and schools they're routinely
bashing, pretend that there are no problems that wouldn't be fixed
(with no money!) by
firing teachers, doing merit pay, breaking unions, going to all
direct instruction all the time, more tests, and a host of other
dead-headed ideas, all of which will fail and pave the way for
vouchers, more charters, and the control by Wall Street of all US
public schools.
*******************************************
--
Jerry P. Becker
Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
625 Wham Drive
Mail Code 4610
Carbondale, IL 62901-4610
Phone: (618) 453-4241 [O]
(618) 457-8903 [H]
Fax: (618) 453-4244
E-mail: jbecker
I have posted many factual blogs based on my experience. I also taught in the public school system. I read widely about public schools all over the world. This is a comment by Michael Goldenberg on Diane Ravitch that is worth reading for those interested in improving our local and national systems.
Merle
[http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2011/01/dear_deborah_i_have_been.html#comments]
that was earlier posted. Mr. Goldenberg sent this comment to the
MathTalk list, Wednesday, January 5, 2011.
************************
I'd say that today's post by Diane Ravitch is an excellent summary of
a host of bad ideas floating around from the usual anti-public ed,
school deform/privatization crowd, along with some of the best recent
articles, opinion pieces, and research results that give the lie to
the nonsense we're constantly being bombarded with by enemies of
public education.
To be clear, I make NO excuses for bad teachers, bad principals, or
bad district administrators. Neither does Diane Ravitch or Deborah
Meier, or anyone else I respect in this debate. But there's a big
difference between what I generally term criticism from the Left and
criticism from the Right when it comes to public education - the
former criticizes that with which it may disagree in specific ways
and instances, whereas the latter looks to pick and choose examples
with which to destroy the entire system.
Thus, the problems of inner city and rural poor schools are used to
bash the entire teaching profession, teachers' unions as a whole,
public education EVERYWHERE, etc. I have argued that the primary
motives for such a move are not humanitarian concern but greed and
self-interest. I stand by that position and believe that much of what
Ravitch says and cites supports my beliefs.
That doesn't mean we don't try every day to do our best and to
improve matters as best we can no matter what the obstacles (within
human limitations - everyone has better and worse days, after all).
We don't use the problems as an excuse. But neither do we sit by
passively and let others, most of whom have little or no experience
in or contact with the communities and schools they're routinely
bashing, pretend that there are no problems that wouldn't be fixed
(with no money!) by
firing teachers, doing merit pay, breaking unions, going to all
direct instruction all the time, more tests, and a host of other
dead-headed ideas, all of which will fail and pave the way for
vouchers, more charters, and the control by Wall Street of all US
public schools.
*******************************************
--
Jerry P. Becker
Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
625 Wham Drive
Mail Code 4610
Carbondale, IL 62901-4610
Phone: (618) 453-4241 [O]
(618) 457-8903 [H]
Fax: (618) 453-4244
E-mail: jbecker
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Peoria County Adminstrator Resigns
I'll make my first New Year's prediction. Urich will be soon hired, after preliminary interviews, perhaps, of other candidates as may be required by law, etc., as City manager of Peoria. This position will be re-designed, with perhaps a new title, to give Urich more power than other City Managers wielded. Urich is the most logical person to attempt to bring Uni-Gov to Peoria which may be the only way out of the financial mess the City has created.
Urich has made many friends in Peoria and is friends with most council people and council candidates. Also, he would be recommended by Caterpillar and City Interim Manager, Hollings.
No way is Mr. Urich going to leave Peoria at this time. He would not take his children out of school at mid-term.
He has also accomplished his main goals, a balanced budget, a new County Nursing Home and ownership of the the new museum building.
Suggested successor to Urich? He would recommend Scott Sorell as interim administrator and if Scott does a good job, he will eventually become the full time County Administrator.
Reporting to you from sunny Florida, playing tennis almost every day and where I find I do not miss being a Peoria County Board member at all.
Urich has made many friends in Peoria and is friends with most council people and council candidates. Also, he would be recommended by Caterpillar and City Interim Manager, Hollings.
No way is Mr. Urich going to leave Peoria at this time. He would not take his children out of school at mid-term.
He has also accomplished his main goals, a balanced budget, a new County Nursing Home and ownership of the the new museum building.
Suggested successor to Urich? He would recommend Scott Sorell as interim administrator and if Scott does a good job, he will eventually become the full time County Administrator.
Reporting to you from sunny Florida, playing tennis almost every day and where I find I do not miss being a Peoria County Board member at all.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Facts? Disturbing, You Bet!
Forwarded to me by a friend. I am aware of most of these facts as I have blogged on them. My future is growing to an end but I recommend more young people need to understand where this country and the world is heading.
Heading more likely than not.
Merle
Happy New Year
This is really scary, especially, the 19 points at the bottom. The United States and it citizens is like a deer caught in headlights, frozen with absolutely no control over it's impending doom.
There is nothing political about this email.. It simply points out very probable changes that are in our future.
CHANGES ARE COMING ---- Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come!
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business..
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man.. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music fromiTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.
All we will have that can't be changed are Memories.
Nineteen Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America . Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us. The United States has become bloated and spoiled and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was. Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world. If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?
Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.
So what happens when the debt bubble pops?
The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.
For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001.. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.
#2 Dell Inc., one of America 's largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem , North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States ? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul , Minnesota . Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products.. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
Heading more likely than not.
Merle
Happy New Year
This is really scary, especially, the 19 points at the bottom. The United States and it citizens is like a deer caught in headlights, frozen with absolutely no control over it's impending doom.
There is nothing political about this email.. It simply points out very probable changes that are in our future.
CHANGES ARE COMING ---- Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come!
1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business..
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man.. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music fromiTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes
6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.
All we will have that can't be changed are Memories.
Nineteen Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America . Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us. The United States has become bloated and spoiled and our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was. Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world. If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?
Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation? We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.
So what happens when the debt bubble pops?
The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.
For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them. Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001.. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.
#2 Dell Inc., one of America 's largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem , North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States ? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul , Minnesota . Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products.. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Better to Live in Smaller Cities?
By Melissa Russo
NBCNewYork.com NBCNewYork.com
updated 1/4/2011 11:45:49 AM ET 2011-01-04T16:45:49
Share Print Font: +-An equipment glitch may have caused scores of Sanitation Department plows to fail during last week's blizzard, sources said.
The Sanitation Department has ordered field units to readjust their plowing equipment, as new concerns mount over machinery purchased last winter, sources said Monday.
While the new equipment performed well early last year, it but may have been overwhelmed by the massive amounts of snow that fell during this past storm.
When these plows hit a big snow mount or sewer cap, it triggers a tripping mechanism, which could explain why so many plows were left stranded in the snow instead of digging out side streets, sources said. It also could explain why some Sanitation workers were spotted riding around with their plows raised, a sight that infuriated snowed-in New Yorkers.
A January 2 memo from DSNY Equipment Chief Anthony Marino obtained by NBCNewYork includes diagrams, showing Sanitation workers how to readjust the plates on their plows today. A Sanitation spokesman could not immediately explain whether the so-called "trunion plates" were being used in the wrong position.
Whether or not equipment failures played a role, New Yorkers are still demanding answers about a rumored work slowdown by disgruntled Sanitation supervisors.
An investigation is underway and Sanitation managers are being brought in for questioning. Senior DSNY sources tell NBCNewYork that nobody has admitted to a labor slowdown so far, but it's "likely certain supervisors were making trouble causing scattered slowdowns."
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.Still, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Sanitation boss insist there were no across the board sickouts or slowdowns.
"It was not that," said Mayor Bloomberg.
Commissioner John Doherty added "I never got the sense there was any type of slowdown."
Sanitation officials confirmed Monday that about 800 workers were "out sick" for last Monday morning's shift, Dec. 27th -- about 200 more absences than usual.
The Sanitation commissioner says he attributed the high sick numbers to the fact that many workers simply could not get to work because of the snow.
Sources tell NBCNewYork that some sanitation workers reported to work at locations close to their homes instead of their assigned locations, and were sent home.
One supervisor tells NBCNewYork "Management told them 'go sick or take an emergency day' instead of just putting them to work. Now does that make sense?"
The investigation will hopefully determine if there was a labor slowdown. But some skeptics wonder how City officials could have been oblivious to it, if true, and why Bloomberg would have taken days of heat from an angry city when he could have blamed the labor unions.
Political strategist Dan Gerstein speculated that Bloomberg might have been afraid of pointing the finger at the union because perhaps there was some larger mismanagement by his administration that could come back to haunt him.
"Either that or it's third-term-itis," Gerstein said.
Sanitation sources say they hope to reveal the preliminary findings of their investigation at a City Council hearing on January 10th.
NBCNewYork.com NBCNewYork.com
updated 1/4/2011 11:45:49 AM ET 2011-01-04T16:45:49
Share Print Font: +-An equipment glitch may have caused scores of Sanitation Department plows to fail during last week's blizzard, sources said.
The Sanitation Department has ordered field units to readjust their plowing equipment, as new concerns mount over machinery purchased last winter, sources said Monday.
While the new equipment performed well early last year, it but may have been overwhelmed by the massive amounts of snow that fell during this past storm.
When these plows hit a big snow mount or sewer cap, it triggers a tripping mechanism, which could explain why so many plows were left stranded in the snow instead of digging out side streets, sources said. It also could explain why some Sanitation workers were spotted riding around with their plows raised, a sight that infuriated snowed-in New Yorkers.
A January 2 memo from DSNY Equipment Chief Anthony Marino obtained by NBCNewYork includes diagrams, showing Sanitation workers how to readjust the plates on their plows today. A Sanitation spokesman could not immediately explain whether the so-called "trunion plates" were being used in the wrong position.
Whether or not equipment failures played a role, New Yorkers are still demanding answers about a rumored work slowdown by disgruntled Sanitation supervisors.
An investigation is underway and Sanitation managers are being brought in for questioning. Senior DSNY sources tell NBCNewYork that nobody has admitted to a labor slowdown so far, but it's "likely certain supervisors were making trouble causing scattered slowdowns."
advertisement | ad info
Advertisement | ad info
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.Still, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Sanitation boss insist there were no across the board sickouts or slowdowns.
"It was not that," said Mayor Bloomberg.
Commissioner John Doherty added "I never got the sense there was any type of slowdown."
Sanitation officials confirmed Monday that about 800 workers were "out sick" for last Monday morning's shift, Dec. 27th -- about 200 more absences than usual.
The Sanitation commissioner says he attributed the high sick numbers to the fact that many workers simply could not get to work because of the snow.
Sources tell NBCNewYork that some sanitation workers reported to work at locations close to their homes instead of their assigned locations, and were sent home.
One supervisor tells NBCNewYork "Management told them 'go sick or take an emergency day' instead of just putting them to work. Now does that make sense?"
The investigation will hopefully determine if there was a labor slowdown. But some skeptics wonder how City officials could have been oblivious to it, if true, and why Bloomberg would have taken days of heat from an angry city when he could have blamed the labor unions.
Political strategist Dan Gerstein speculated that Bloomberg might have been afraid of pointing the finger at the union because perhaps there was some larger mismanagement by his administration that could come back to haunt him.
"Either that or it's third-term-itis," Gerstein said.
Sanitation sources say they hope to reveal the preliminary findings of their investigation at a City Council hearing on January 10th.
Shanghai Schools' Approach Pushes Students to Top of Tests
By David Barboza
SHANGHAI - In Li Zhen's ninth-grade mathematics class here last week, the morning drill was geometry. Students at the middle school affiliated with Jing'An Teachers' College were asked to explain the relative size of geometric shapes by using Euclid's theorem of parallelograms.
"Who in this class can tell me how to demonstrate two lines are parallel without using a proportional segment?" Ms. Li called out to about 40 students seated in a cramped classroom.
One by one, a series of students at this medium-size public school raised their hands. When Ms. Li called on them, they each stood politely by their desks and usually answered correctly. They returned to their seats only when she told them to sit down.
Educators say this disciplined approach helps explain the announcement this month that 5,100 15-year-olds in Shanghai outperformed students from about 65 countries on an international standardized test that measured math, science and reading competency [see http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/education/07education.html ].
American students came in between 15th and 31st place in the three categories. France and Britain also fared poorly.
Experts said comparing scores from countries and cities of different sizes is complicated. They also said that the Shanghai scores were not representative of China, since this fast-growing city of 20 million is relatively affluent. Still, they were impressed by the high scores from students in Shanghai.
The results were seen as another sign of China's growing competitiveness. The United States rankings are a "wake-up call," said Arne Duncan, the secretary of education.
Although it was the first time China had taken part in the test, which was administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/organization_for_economic_cooperation_and_development/index.html?inline=nyt-org], based in Paris, the results bolstered this country's reputation for producing students with strong math and science skills.
Many educators were also surprised by the city's strong reading scores, which measured students' proficiency in their native Chinese.
The Shanghai students performed well, experts say, for the same reason students from other parts of Asia - including South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong - do: Their education systems are steeped in discipline, rote learning and obsessive test preparation.
Public school students in Shanghai often remain at school until 4 p.m., watch very little television and are restricted by Chinese law from working before the age of 16.
"Very rarely do children in other countries receive academic training as intensive as our children do," said Sun Baohong, an authority on education at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. "So if the test is on math and science, there's no doubt Chinese students will win the competition."
But many educators say China's strength in education is also a weakness. The nation's education system is too test-oriented, schools here stifle creativity and parental pressures often deprive children of the joys of childhood, they say.
"These are two sides of the same coin: Chinese schools are very good at preparing their students for standardized tests," Jiang Xueqin, a deputy principal at Peking University High School in Beijing, wrote in an opinion article published in The Wall Street Journal shortly after the test results were announced. "For that reason, they fail to prepare them for higher education and the knowledge economy."
In an interview, Mr. Jiang said Chinese schools emphasized testing too much, and produced students who lacked curiosity and the ability to think critically or independently.
"It creates very narrow-minded students," he said. "But what China needs now is entrepreneurs and innovators."
This is a common complaint in China. Educators say an emphasis on standardized tests is partly to blame for the shortage of innovative start-ups in China. And executives at global companies operating here say they have difficulty finding middle managers who can think creatively and solve problems.
In many ways, the system is a reflection of China's Confucianist past. Children are expected to honor and respect their parents and teachers.
"Discipline is rarely a problem," said Ding Yi, vice principal at the middle school affiliated with Jing'An Teachers' College. "The biggest challenge is a student who chronically fails to do his homework."
While the quality of schools varies greatly in China (rural schools often lack sufficient money, and dropout rates can be high), schools in major cities typically produce students with strong math and science skills.
Shanghai is believed to have the nation's best school system, and many students here gain admission to America's most selective colleges and universities.
In Shanghai, teachers are required to have a teaching certificate and to undergo a minimum of 240 hours of training; higher-level teachers can be required to have up to 540 hours of training. There is a system of incentives and merit pay, just like the systems in some parts of the United States.
"Within a teacher's salary package, 70 percent is basic salary," said Xiong Bingqi, a professor of education at Shanghai Jiaotong University. "The other 30 percent is called performance salary."
Still, teacher salaries are modest, about $750 a month before bonuses and allowances - far less than what accountants, lawyers or other professionals earn.
While Shanghai schools are renowned for their test preparation skills, administrators here are trying to broaden the curriculums and extend more freedom to local districts. The Jing'An school, one of about 150 schools in Shanghai that took part in the international test, was created 12 years ago to raise standards in an area known for failing schools.
The principal, Zhang Renli, created an experimental school that put less emphasis on math and allows children more free time to play and experiment. The school holds a weekly talent show, for example.
The five-story school building, which houses Grades eight and nine in a central district of Shanghai, is rather nondescript. Students wear rumpled school uniforms, classrooms are crowded and lunch is bused in every afternoon. But the school, which operates from 8:20 a.m. to 4 p.m. on most days, is considered one of the city's best middle schools.
In Shanghai, most students begin studying English in first grade. Many middle school students attend extra-credit courses after school or on Saturdays. A student at Jing'An, Zhou Han, 14, said she entered writing and speech-making competitions and studied the erhu, a Chinese classical instrument. She also has a math tutor.
"I'm not really good at math," she said. "At first, my parents wanted me to take it, but now I want to do it."
--------------------------------------
Bao Beibei contributed research.
--------------------------------------
PHOTO SIDEBAR: Discipline issues are rare at the middle school linked to the Jing'An Teachers' College in Shanghai. The city is thought to have China's best schools. Ryan Pyle for The New York Times
--------------------------------------
PHOTO SIDEBAR: A teacher instructed students in class at the middle school associated with Jing'An Teachers' College in central Shanghai. Ryan Pyle for The New York Times
*********************************************
--
Jerry P. Becker
By David Barboza
SHANGHAI - In Li Zhen's ninth-grade mathematics class here last week, the morning drill was geometry. Students at the middle school affiliated with Jing'An Teachers' College were asked to explain the relative size of geometric shapes by using Euclid's theorem of parallelograms.
"Who in this class can tell me how to demonstrate two lines are parallel without using a proportional segment?" Ms. Li called out to about 40 students seated in a cramped classroom.
One by one, a series of students at this medium-size public school raised their hands. When Ms. Li called on them, they each stood politely by their desks and usually answered correctly. They returned to their seats only when she told them to sit down.
Educators say this disciplined approach helps explain the announcement this month that 5,100 15-year-olds in Shanghai outperformed students from about 65 countries on an international standardized test that measured math, science and reading competency [see http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/education/07education.html ].
American students came in between 15th and 31st place in the three categories. France and Britain also fared poorly.
Experts said comparing scores from countries and cities of different sizes is complicated. They also said that the Shanghai scores were not representative of China, since this fast-growing city of 20 million is relatively affluent. Still, they were impressed by the high scores from students in Shanghai.
The results were seen as another sign of China's growing competitiveness. The United States rankings are a "wake-up call," said Arne Duncan, the secretary of education.
Although it was the first time China had taken part in the test, which was administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/organization_for_economic_cooperation_and_development/index.html?inline=nyt-org], based in Paris, the results bolstered this country's reputation for producing students with strong math and science skills.
Many educators were also surprised by the city's strong reading scores, which measured students' proficiency in their native Chinese.
The Shanghai students performed well, experts say, for the same reason students from other parts of Asia - including South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong - do: Their education systems are steeped in discipline, rote learning and obsessive test preparation.
Public school students in Shanghai often remain at school until 4 p.m., watch very little television and are restricted by Chinese law from working before the age of 16.
"Very rarely do children in other countries receive academic training as intensive as our children do," said Sun Baohong, an authority on education at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. "So if the test is on math and science, there's no doubt Chinese students will win the competition."
But many educators say China's strength in education is also a weakness. The nation's education system is too test-oriented, schools here stifle creativity and parental pressures often deprive children of the joys of childhood, they say.
"These are two sides of the same coin: Chinese schools are very good at preparing their students for standardized tests," Jiang Xueqin, a deputy principal at Peking University High School in Beijing, wrote in an opinion article published in The Wall Street Journal shortly after the test results were announced. "For that reason, they fail to prepare them for higher education and the knowledge economy."
In an interview, Mr. Jiang said Chinese schools emphasized testing too much, and produced students who lacked curiosity and the ability to think critically or independently.
"It creates very narrow-minded students," he said. "But what China needs now is entrepreneurs and innovators."
This is a common complaint in China. Educators say an emphasis on standardized tests is partly to blame for the shortage of innovative start-ups in China. And executives at global companies operating here say they have difficulty finding middle managers who can think creatively and solve problems.
In many ways, the system is a reflection of China's Confucianist past. Children are expected to honor and respect their parents and teachers.
"Discipline is rarely a problem," said Ding Yi, vice principal at the middle school affiliated with Jing'An Teachers' College. "The biggest challenge is a student who chronically fails to do his homework."
While the quality of schools varies greatly in China (rural schools often lack sufficient money, and dropout rates can be high), schools in major cities typically produce students with strong math and science skills.
Shanghai is believed to have the nation's best school system, and many students here gain admission to America's most selective colleges and universities.
In Shanghai, teachers are required to have a teaching certificate and to undergo a minimum of 240 hours of training; higher-level teachers can be required to have up to 540 hours of training. There is a system of incentives and merit pay, just like the systems in some parts of the United States.
"Within a teacher's salary package, 70 percent is basic salary," said Xiong Bingqi, a professor of education at Shanghai Jiaotong University. "The other 30 percent is called performance salary."
Still, teacher salaries are modest, about $750 a month before bonuses and allowances - far less than what accountants, lawyers or other professionals earn.
While Shanghai schools are renowned for their test preparation skills, administrators here are trying to broaden the curriculums and extend more freedom to local districts. The Jing'An school, one of about 150 schools in Shanghai that took part in the international test, was created 12 years ago to raise standards in an area known for failing schools.
The principal, Zhang Renli, created an experimental school that put less emphasis on math and allows children more free time to play and experiment. The school holds a weekly talent show, for example.
The five-story school building, which houses Grades eight and nine in a central district of Shanghai, is rather nondescript. Students wear rumpled school uniforms, classrooms are crowded and lunch is bused in every afternoon. But the school, which operates from 8:20 a.m. to 4 p.m. on most days, is considered one of the city's best middle schools.
In Shanghai, most students begin studying English in first grade. Many middle school students attend extra-credit courses after school or on Saturdays. A student at Jing'An, Zhou Han, 14, said she entered writing and speech-making competitions and studied the erhu, a Chinese classical instrument. She also has a math tutor.
"I'm not really good at math," she said. "At first, my parents wanted me to take it, but now I want to do it."
--------------------------------------
Bao Beibei contributed research.
--------------------------------------
PHOTO SIDEBAR: Discipline issues are rare at the middle school linked to the Jing'An Teachers' College in Shanghai. The city is thought to have China's best schools. Ryan Pyle for The New York Times
--------------------------------------
PHOTO SIDEBAR: A teacher instructed students in class at the middle school associated with Jing'An Teachers' College in central Shanghai. Ryan Pyle for The New York Times
*********************************************
--
Jerry P. Becker
Friday, December 31, 2010
Trillions Spent on Incarceration - Millions Spent on Drug Use Education and Prevention and Rehabilitation
A NATIONAL AND WORLDWIDE DISGRACE TO THIS COUNTRY AND IT'S CITIZENS.
US Has the Most Prisoners in the World
by James Vicini
Reuters
WASHINGTON - Tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates have contributed to the United States having the largest prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world, according to criminal justice experts.A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.
According to the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000.
The U.S. incarceration rate of 737 per 100,000 people in the highest followed by 611 in Russia and 547 for St. Kitts and Nevis. In contrast, the incarceration rates in many Western industrial nations range around 100 per 100,000 people.
Groups advocating reform of U.S. sentencing laws seized on the latest U.S. prison population figures showing admissions of inmates have been rising even faster than the numbers of prisoners who have been released.
"The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's incarcerated population. We rank first in the world in locking up our fellow citizens," said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports alternatives in the war on drugs.
"We now imprison more people for drug law violations than all of western Europe, with a much larger population, incarcerates for all offences."
Ryan King, a policy analyst at The Sentencing Project, a group advocating sentencing reform, said the United States has a more punitive criminal justice system than other countries.
MORE PEOPLE TO PRISON
"We send more people to prison, for more different offences, for longer periods of time than anybody else," he said.
Drug offenders account for about 2 million of the 7 million in prison, on probation or parole, King said, adding that other countries often stress treatment instead of incarceration.
Commenting on what the prison figures show about U.S. society, King said various social programs, including those dealing with education, poverty, urban development, health care and child care, have failed.
"There are a number of social programs we have failed to deliver. There are systemic failures going on," he said. "A lot of these people then end up in the criminal justice system."
Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in California, said the high prison numbers represented a proper response to the crime problem in the United States. Locking up more criminals has contributed to lower crime rates, he said.
"The hand-wringing over the incarceration rate is missing the mark," he said.
Scheidegger said the high prison population reflected cultural differences, with the United States having far higher crimes rates than European nations or Japan. "We have more crime. More crime gets you more prisoners."
Julie Stewart, president of the group Families Against Mandatory Minimums, cited the Justice
Department report and said drug offenders are clogging the U.S. justice system.
"Why are so many people in prison? Blame mandatory sentencing laws and the record number of nonviolent drug offenders subject to them," she said.
Posted by sforrest at 9:29 AM Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz
Reactions: I've blogged or written avout this national disgrace for years. It is past time to have a natiobal debate on the growing use of drugs of all kinds in our country.
Merle
US Has the Most Prisoners in the World
by James Vicini
Reuters
WASHINGTON - Tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates have contributed to the United States having the largest prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world, according to criminal justice experts.A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.
According to the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000.
The U.S. incarceration rate of 737 per 100,000 people in the highest followed by 611 in Russia and 547 for St. Kitts and Nevis. In contrast, the incarceration rates in many Western industrial nations range around 100 per 100,000 people.
Groups advocating reform of U.S. sentencing laws seized on the latest U.S. prison population figures showing admissions of inmates have been rising even faster than the numbers of prisoners who have been released.
"The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's incarcerated population. We rank first in the world in locking up our fellow citizens," said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports alternatives in the war on drugs.
"We now imprison more people for drug law violations than all of western Europe, with a much larger population, incarcerates for all offences."
Ryan King, a policy analyst at The Sentencing Project, a group advocating sentencing reform, said the United States has a more punitive criminal justice system than other countries.
MORE PEOPLE TO PRISON
"We send more people to prison, for more different offences, for longer periods of time than anybody else," he said.
Drug offenders account for about 2 million of the 7 million in prison, on probation or parole, King said, adding that other countries often stress treatment instead of incarceration.
Commenting on what the prison figures show about U.S. society, King said various social programs, including those dealing with education, poverty, urban development, health care and child care, have failed.
"There are a number of social programs we have failed to deliver. There are systemic failures going on," he said. "A lot of these people then end up in the criminal justice system."
Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in California, said the high prison numbers represented a proper response to the crime problem in the United States. Locking up more criminals has contributed to lower crime rates, he said.
"The hand-wringing over the incarceration rate is missing the mark," he said.
Scheidegger said the high prison population reflected cultural differences, with the United States having far higher crimes rates than European nations or Japan. "We have more crime. More crime gets you more prisoners."
Julie Stewart, president of the group Families Against Mandatory Minimums, cited the Justice
Department report and said drug offenders are clogging the U.S. justice system.
"Why are so many people in prison? Blame mandatory sentencing laws and the record number of nonviolent drug offenders subject to them," she said.
Posted by sforrest at 9:29 AM Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz
Reactions: I've blogged or written avout this national disgrace for years. It is past time to have a natiobal debate on the growing use of drugs of all kinds in our country.
Merle
Beasley, Ransburg, Rand and IMAX and the PRM
I thought I might call attention to the fact that IMAX stock is up from $11 low to $31 a share today. Had the PRM taken the 2 million dollars they had accumulated in the past 4 years and bought $11 stock in the IMAX they so strongly believed, they would now have $6 million of the needed $16 million needed to HELP fund the museum once it is opened.
Yes, I know they know claim to have $5-6 million in the Endowment fund but most of that came from the taxpayers and perhaps a little creative bookkeeping or fund shifting.
When Endowment money was available, those in charge of the money ought to have put these dollars, approximately $2 million, in related stocks like Caterpillar and IMAX. Just where was the Endowment money donated by the private sector invested by the "movers and shakers" in this community? It is apparent those investors didn't do very well.
Even in year 2010 when almost anyone with money to invest should have done quite well.
Remember, readers, the sales tax referendum was strongly promoted to help fund a museum with a then highly touted IMAX. Since then the three gentlemen mentioned above have played down the IMAX draw and said they were searching for better, cheaper big screens since IMAX was not the only 'fish' in the Illinois River.
My question to these three community leaders and other strong PRM promoters is the stock of the other possibly "better" big screens that few in Peoria area has heard of, done as well or better than IMAX stock? If they are 'hot' like IMAX, has their stock tripled in three years? If I could find them listed on the stock exchanges, I could look them.
Other than the fact that SONY is interested in buying this particular 'fish'; IMAX instead of the 'other similar or better and cheaper big screens', maybe the other reason that IMAX stock is rising so dramatically, is because the gentlemen mentioned above have 'cut' a deal for a second tier IMAX for PRM?
Again, remember that Caterpillar representative and PRM Board member,Doug Beasley told the Peoria County Board, the owners of the property and building, that the PRM was in 'intense' negotiations with IMAX but wouldn't release any details to this County Board member. That was approximately 6 months ago with, to my knowledge, with no progress info released to the public. Also, how is Ransburg doing in raising the $10-20 million from the private sector needed to finish out the roughly $94 million PRM?
Hmmmmm.
Happy New Year
Yes, I know they know claim to have $5-6 million in the Endowment fund but most of that came from the taxpayers and perhaps a little creative bookkeeping or fund shifting.
When Endowment money was available, those in charge of the money ought to have put these dollars, approximately $2 million, in related stocks like Caterpillar and IMAX. Just where was the Endowment money donated by the private sector invested by the "movers and shakers" in this community? It is apparent those investors didn't do very well.
Even in year 2010 when almost anyone with money to invest should have done quite well.
Remember, readers, the sales tax referendum was strongly promoted to help fund a museum with a then highly touted IMAX. Since then the three gentlemen mentioned above have played down the IMAX draw and said they were searching for better, cheaper big screens since IMAX was not the only 'fish' in the Illinois River.
My question to these three community leaders and other strong PRM promoters is the stock of the other possibly "better" big screens that few in Peoria area has heard of, done as well or better than IMAX stock? If they are 'hot' like IMAX, has their stock tripled in three years? If I could find them listed on the stock exchanges, I could look them.
Other than the fact that SONY is interested in buying this particular 'fish'; IMAX instead of the 'other similar or better and cheaper big screens', maybe the other reason that IMAX stock is rising so dramatically, is because the gentlemen mentioned above have 'cut' a deal for a second tier IMAX for PRM?
Again, remember that Caterpillar representative and PRM Board member,Doug Beasley told the Peoria County Board, the owners of the property and building, that the PRM was in 'intense' negotiations with IMAX but wouldn't release any details to this County Board member. That was approximately 6 months ago with, to my knowledge, with no progress info released to the public. Also, how is Ransburg doing in raising the $10-20 million from the private sector needed to finish out the roughly $94 million PRM?
Hmmmmm.
Happy New Year
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Frauds All After Your Money
Passed on to me by a friend. True or not be on the lookout for ANYTHING AND ANYWAY to scam you.
Merry Christmas
Merle
Just a heads up for everyone regarding the latest in Visa fraud. Royal Bank received this communication about the newest scam. This is happening in southern Alberta right now and moving.
This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want..
Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it.
This information is worth reading By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself. One of our employees was called on Wednesday from 'VISA', and I was called on Thursday from 'MasterCard'.
The scam works like this:
Person calling says - 'This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460, Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona ?' When you say 'No', the caller continues with, 'Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?' You say 'yes'.
The caller continues - 'I will be starting a Fraud Investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number.. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. 'Do you need me to read it again?'
Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works - The caller then says, 'I need to verify you are in possession of your card'. He'll ask you to 'turn your card over and look for some numbers'. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the last 3 are the Security Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the last 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, 'That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card Do you have any other questions?'
After you say no, the caller then thanks you and states, 'Don't hesitate to call back if you do', and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back. Within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we were glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card. We made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master Card directly for verification of their conversation..
The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit; however, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.
What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a 'Jason Richardson of MasterCard' with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA Scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is happening. I dealt with a similar situation this morning, with the caller telling me that $3,097 had been charged to my account for plane tickets to Spain , and so on through the above routine.
It appears that this Is a very active scam, and evidently quite successful.
Pass this on to all your family and friends
Merry Christmas
Merle
Just a heads up for everyone regarding the latest in Visa fraud. Royal Bank received this communication about the newest scam. This is happening in southern Alberta right now and moving.
This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want..
Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it.
This information is worth reading By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself. One of our employees was called on Wednesday from 'VISA', and I was called on Thursday from 'MasterCard'.
The scam works like this:
Person calling says - 'This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460, Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona ?' When you say 'No', the caller continues with, 'Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?' You say 'yes'.
The caller continues - 'I will be starting a Fraud Investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number.. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. 'Do you need me to read it again?'
Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works - The caller then says, 'I need to verify you are in possession of your card'. He'll ask you to 'turn your card over and look for some numbers'. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the last 3 are the Security Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the last 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, 'That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card Do you have any other questions?'
After you say no, the caller then thanks you and states, 'Don't hesitate to call back if you do', and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back. Within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we were glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card. We made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master Card directly for verification of their conversation..
The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit; however, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.
What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a 'Jason Richardson of MasterCard' with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA Scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is happening. I dealt with a similar situation this morning, with the caller telling me that $3,097 had been charged to my account for plane tickets to Spain , and so on through the above routine.
It appears that this Is a very active scam, and evidently quite successful.
Pass this on to all your family and friends
Monday, December 20, 2010
Widmer - "Search For a Connected Earlier Blog"
You should find this feature on the upper right side of all my 1550 blogs I've written. For example to see what I've previously written about combining election commissions, just type in "combining election commissions" and you will be given a lead to these articles.
Many of the blogs I've written such as blogs about the new BelWood Nursing Home and of the Peoria Riverfront Museum are easily found.
I will be doing less blogging over the holidays so you may wish to look up some of my older facts that inspired me to make me research and write my blogs, interspersed with opinions, published for all to read.
Few bloggers are original. We try to gather the facts that are factual and pass this information along, often with our own comments to the reader. Much of what I blog on will not be found in the local media as they usually put a twist on the local news to fit their beliefs and not offend their advertisers.
I have been retired for 18 years. Most of my older friends are dead or in nursing homes. If what I write offend some people, they should be honest with themselves and look hard in the mirror.
I do not "run" with the elite who often have special interest agendas. I'm not often influenced by special interest groups but have long had a true interest in the direction this community is heading. I feel studied facts show that all the non-tax paying enhancements we have added or in the process of adding to this community will have little value if any at all, in influencing more people to live in Peoria City and County.
Higher taxes will influence people to move out, if they can sell there homes at a decent price, our local public school system has caused hundreds to leave the District, a growing number of unemployed black youth ( an alleged 44% nationally)cause a reasonable amount of concern to home owners combined with what appears to be a rising number of drug related homicides.
Safety doesn't appear to have improved with a council more interested in funding libraries and museums than public safety. In the meantime most school age druggies can tell anyone seeking drugs where to buy them and within minutes.
To attract new business both the city and county continue to lend money to upstart new businesses, businesses often in competition with the same type of already existing businesses who did not seek taxpayer backed loans. No one on the city or county boards are qualified to be loan officers yet they continue to lend taxpayer dollars to businesses approved by local banks with the kicker being that if the business goes bad, the bank gets their investment back as witness the defunct Firefly while the county is third in line gets little or nothing of the taxpayer money they invested with a strong belief that lending money to businesses is "part of their duties".
Next board meeting the county Board will approve an $150,000 loan, 3rd position to a furniture company who will compete against established local furniture dealers, many struggling or already forced out of business.
After recently losing large sums on FireFly, Globe Mfg, In-Play and Riverstation, the City and County is anxious to lend more low interest money replacing venture and private capital.
Being loose with OPM (other peoples money) has put this country in the sorry state it really is in.
Merry Christmas
Many of the blogs I've written such as blogs about the new BelWood Nursing Home and of the Peoria Riverfront Museum are easily found.
I will be doing less blogging over the holidays so you may wish to look up some of my older facts that inspired me to make me research and write my blogs, interspersed with opinions, published for all to read.
Few bloggers are original. We try to gather the facts that are factual and pass this information along, often with our own comments to the reader. Much of what I blog on will not be found in the local media as they usually put a twist on the local news to fit their beliefs and not offend their advertisers.
I have been retired for 18 years. Most of my older friends are dead or in nursing homes. If what I write offend some people, they should be honest with themselves and look hard in the mirror.
I do not "run" with the elite who often have special interest agendas. I'm not often influenced by special interest groups but have long had a true interest in the direction this community is heading. I feel studied facts show that all the non-tax paying enhancements we have added or in the process of adding to this community will have little value if any at all, in influencing more people to live in Peoria City and County.
Higher taxes will influence people to move out, if they can sell there homes at a decent price, our local public school system has caused hundreds to leave the District, a growing number of unemployed black youth ( an alleged 44% nationally)cause a reasonable amount of concern to home owners combined with what appears to be a rising number of drug related homicides.
Safety doesn't appear to have improved with a council more interested in funding libraries and museums than public safety. In the meantime most school age druggies can tell anyone seeking drugs where to buy them and within minutes.
To attract new business both the city and county continue to lend money to upstart new businesses, businesses often in competition with the same type of already existing businesses who did not seek taxpayer backed loans. No one on the city or county boards are qualified to be loan officers yet they continue to lend taxpayer dollars to businesses approved by local banks with the kicker being that if the business goes bad, the bank gets their investment back as witness the defunct Firefly while the county is third in line gets little or nothing of the taxpayer money they invested with a strong belief that lending money to businesses is "part of their duties".
Next board meeting the county Board will approve an $150,000 loan, 3rd position to a furniture company who will compete against established local furniture dealers, many struggling or already forced out of business.
After recently losing large sums on FireFly, Globe Mfg, In-Play and Riverstation, the City and County is anxious to lend more low interest money replacing venture and private capital.
Being loose with OPM (other peoples money) has put this country in the sorry state it really is in.
Merry Christmas
Peoria City Taxes - Don't Blame The City??
Probably most of you have forgotten that the Peoria City Council approved the building of one new public library and the remodeling of at least 3 more. The amount the city approved to borrow was $27,000,000.00. Plus interest of probably $12,000,000.00. Expect the libraries high possibility of asking the City Council for more money to buy computers, mainly for those people who can afford their own computer but dole off taxpayer dollars. Remember in an earlier blog I wrote that I saw a friend using a library computer on a regular basis and asked him if he didn't have his own. His answer? Yes, but I can use these public library's free. Others do not want the information they are seeking to appear on their own computers, some who come in to surf, play games or just get in out of the cold.
Remember that I saw 3-4 young guys standing around a computer looking at naked women performing. Where? At the now newly remodeled Downtown Library, the library the Library Board was considering closing because of falling usage until Caterpillar interceded back in 1999. And probably the protest of a few folks now residing in condos downtown.
Couldn't they have used the very costly expanded Lincoln Library soon again to revert to its previous category. Underutilized. Somebody should use Lincoln besides the employees and Common Place who has its own library.
Remember, Lincoln Library had never been visited by City Councilman Eric Turner BEFORE he put his name on a publicly circulated document complaining about how the bad condition of Lincoln Library. When I called him on it, he said he would visit the library with me because "there sure was a lot he didn't know about libraries".
He was being modest in his statement. Also, he never did visit the library with me.
I still believe it was my efforts to take a couple of city council people to visit the library system and see how little they were used except for computers, that the council decided not to spend an extra $5 million to remodel Lakeview BEFORE they saw the effects of the new Library North.
That was my point and it is proved daily if you are honest about the "crowded" Lakeview library. Neither is the relatively new Heights Library, about a mile and a half away. Nor the new Dunlap Library where you often see more workers than patrons.
As a frequent visitor to Lakeview, I have yet to see more than a 2 minute waiting line, maybe at the start of school openings and the start of summer. Not even when the downtown library was closed this fall.
City taxes are certain to escalate. Expect more money to be requested by the Library Board as soon as the next budget year. Remember the outlandish city pensions growing every year? Drive certain areas of the city and view the crumbling infrastructure. Unless residential new building picks up and more tax paying private businesses start moving in, unless the sewers aren't renovated, if Eagle Point and the Warehouse Districts are more of dream than a reality, city tax collections, one means or another on the existing population of property tax payers, have no where to go but up.
Peoria Public School District #150 bonds payments will start soon and continue for 20-30 years while the district plans new buildings, find the need for increased maintenance on the new buildings, lots of glass, plus updating the dozen or so schools in need of updating, as school pensions escalate and unions and management demand increasing rising salaries, buses need replacing, etc...........
Anyway you can blame a City who has not a great deal of regard for the property taxpayer, an ability to favor the elite who can afford higher taxes or they themselves live in property tax depreciated areas.
Remember, it was a city council with then Mayor, Dave Ransburg, that voted unanimously to NOT combine the election commissions, that an honest study of the records would show a saving of up to $300,000 despite the protests of present City Election Administrator, Democrat Tom Bride, who says there would be a saving but not that much. Overlooked is the vacating of the City Election building and leasing it or selling to a private tax PAYING entity. Like a law firm, etc..
Overlooked also, is employing fewer people resulting in taxpayer supported future benefits; healthcare, pensions, elimination of at least one high paying job, etc...
No attention was paid by the City Council and Mayor that the JS had printed an article titled, "Merger has worked in Springfield" (JS, 3/9/04) with a savings of over $1.5 million in six years.
Maybe the council is getting a little more cost conscious since they even gave the Humane Shelter with it's accompanying $500,000 a year loss to Peoria County, who currently has a balanced budget.
Now if they could just pass the big-time money losing Springdale Cemetery to the County......
Merry Christmas
Remember that I saw 3-4 young guys standing around a computer looking at naked women performing. Where? At the now newly remodeled Downtown Library, the library the Library Board was considering closing because of falling usage until Caterpillar interceded back in 1999. And probably the protest of a few folks now residing in condos downtown.
Couldn't they have used the very costly expanded Lincoln Library soon again to revert to its previous category. Underutilized. Somebody should use Lincoln besides the employees and Common Place who has its own library.
Remember, Lincoln Library had never been visited by City Councilman Eric Turner BEFORE he put his name on a publicly circulated document complaining about how the bad condition of Lincoln Library. When I called him on it, he said he would visit the library with me because "there sure was a lot he didn't know about libraries".
He was being modest in his statement. Also, he never did visit the library with me.
I still believe it was my efforts to take a couple of city council people to visit the library system and see how little they were used except for computers, that the council decided not to spend an extra $5 million to remodel Lakeview BEFORE they saw the effects of the new Library North.
That was my point and it is proved daily if you are honest about the "crowded" Lakeview library. Neither is the relatively new Heights Library, about a mile and a half away. Nor the new Dunlap Library where you often see more workers than patrons.
As a frequent visitor to Lakeview, I have yet to see more than a 2 minute waiting line, maybe at the start of school openings and the start of summer. Not even when the downtown library was closed this fall.
City taxes are certain to escalate. Expect more money to be requested by the Library Board as soon as the next budget year. Remember the outlandish city pensions growing every year? Drive certain areas of the city and view the crumbling infrastructure. Unless residential new building picks up and more tax paying private businesses start moving in, unless the sewers aren't renovated, if Eagle Point and the Warehouse Districts are more of dream than a reality, city tax collections, one means or another on the existing population of property tax payers, have no where to go but up.
Peoria Public School District #150 bonds payments will start soon and continue for 20-30 years while the district plans new buildings, find the need for increased maintenance on the new buildings, lots of glass, plus updating the dozen or so schools in need of updating, as school pensions escalate and unions and management demand increasing rising salaries, buses need replacing, etc...........
Anyway you can blame a City who has not a great deal of regard for the property taxpayer, an ability to favor the elite who can afford higher taxes or they themselves live in property tax depreciated areas.
Remember, it was a city council with then Mayor, Dave Ransburg, that voted unanimously to NOT combine the election commissions, that an honest study of the records would show a saving of up to $300,000 despite the protests of present City Election Administrator, Democrat Tom Bride, who says there would be a saving but not that much. Overlooked is the vacating of the City Election building and leasing it or selling to a private tax PAYING entity. Like a law firm, etc..
Overlooked also, is employing fewer people resulting in taxpayer supported future benefits; healthcare, pensions, elimination of at least one high paying job, etc...
No attention was paid by the City Council and Mayor that the JS had printed an article titled, "Merger has worked in Springfield" (JS, 3/9/04) with a savings of over $1.5 million in six years.
Maybe the council is getting a little more cost conscious since they even gave the Humane Shelter with it's accompanying $500,000 a year loss to Peoria County, who currently has a balanced budget.
Now if they could just pass the big-time money losing Springdale Cemetery to the County......
Merry Christmas
Omnibus Bill 2011 Pinata
Tucked away in this $623 million per page x 1,924 pages = $1,300,000,000,000.00 (trillion in case big figures numb your mind like they do mine) is $8,000,000,000.00 earmarks masquerading like monasteries instead of like the "cathouses" they will really fund.
People say "well, 8 billion isn't very much out of a $13.4 trillion dollar national deficit. True, but it 'ain't" peanuts, either. What is really means is that if you support my $5-10 million for the underfunded Peoria Riverfront Museum, I'll support your $5 million to study whether having sexual intercourse "naked", (you know what I mean) versus using a condom results in making more or less usually unwanted babies. Unwanted at least by the guy that's naked. Or more bicycle trails or walking trails. Reduces pollution, you know. Or taxpayer money for studying the effect of mutant arthropods on the Nevada desert.
You will be surprised how lot's of small charges on your credit card add up or how much a 1/4% tax hike adds up in Peoria City or County, like $3-4 million per year.
You want more beefsteak for your constituents, then "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" is a practice older than the birth of Muhammad, the 1st. Did I just insult some people? Too bad.
I applaud the efforts of Tea Party types in getting "new" blood elected to Congress but I won't start cheering loudly until I see how these newbies react to special interests pressures, big money supporters and pressure to bring home the beefsteak to the communities they come from. Very few can resist the temptation no matter what they promised on the campaign trail.
You can bet Kirk and others have already received lists of "absolute" priorities such as a $5 million new parking lot and entrance to the Glen Oak Zoo, money that a generous public failed to contribute before the zoo opened 18 months ago.
By way, I thought I would just mention that Build America Bonds were ORIGINALLY intended to be used to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, sewers, storm water retention, etc but somewhere the got sidetracked to musuems and union employed county owned nursing homes and possibly parking lots for zoos.
There is so much governmental debt in this country that being on the taxpayer dole is like belonging to an exclusive club. Elected officials are going around saying "you tell us what you owe, or are going to owe (hint, the bonds for the $80,000,000.00 School District #150 bonds, payments starting to come due in 2013-14 from property tax payers; taxed yearly for at least 20 years, BelWood nursing home bonds (and interest) that will be repaid by property taxpayers for 30 years $3,200,000.00 last year and I'll brag about how much or little we owe.
Now.
Kind of like a dating couple comparing credit card balances vs. what they estimate to inherit BEFORE they make a trip to the altar, planned or unplanned.
Merry Christmas
People say "well, 8 billion isn't very much out of a $13.4 trillion dollar national deficit. True, but it 'ain't" peanuts, either. What is really means is that if you support my $5-10 million for the underfunded Peoria Riverfront Museum, I'll support your $5 million to study whether having sexual intercourse "naked", (you know what I mean) versus using a condom results in making more or less usually unwanted babies. Unwanted at least by the guy that's naked. Or more bicycle trails or walking trails. Reduces pollution, you know. Or taxpayer money for studying the effect of mutant arthropods on the Nevada desert.
You will be surprised how lot's of small charges on your credit card add up or how much a 1/4% tax hike adds up in Peoria City or County, like $3-4 million per year.
You want more beefsteak for your constituents, then "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" is a practice older than the birth of Muhammad, the 1st. Did I just insult some people? Too bad.
I applaud the efforts of Tea Party types in getting "new" blood elected to Congress but I won't start cheering loudly until I see how these newbies react to special interests pressures, big money supporters and pressure to bring home the beefsteak to the communities they come from. Very few can resist the temptation no matter what they promised on the campaign trail.
You can bet Kirk and others have already received lists of "absolute" priorities such as a $5 million new parking lot and entrance to the Glen Oak Zoo, money that a generous public failed to contribute before the zoo opened 18 months ago.
By way, I thought I would just mention that Build America Bonds were ORIGINALLY intended to be used to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, sewers, storm water retention, etc but somewhere the got sidetracked to musuems and union employed county owned nursing homes and possibly parking lots for zoos.
There is so much governmental debt in this country that being on the taxpayer dole is like belonging to an exclusive club. Elected officials are going around saying "you tell us what you owe, or are going to owe (hint, the bonds for the $80,000,000.00 School District #150 bonds, payments starting to come due in 2013-14 from property tax payers; taxed yearly for at least 20 years, BelWood nursing home bonds (and interest) that will be repaid by property taxpayers for 30 years $3,200,000.00 last year and I'll brag about how much or little we owe.
Now.
Kind of like a dating couple comparing credit card balances vs. what they estimate to inherit BEFORE they make a trip to the altar, planned or unplanned.
Merry Christmas
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