If Jesus Was An American

Periodically, I hear Jesus' name mentioned by politicians and political pundits who love to claim if he were alive today, Jesus would be a member of their political party. In their ignorance, they assume if Jesus were alive today, he would be an American. At any rate, I thought I would weigh in with my thoughts on the matter and tell you where I think Jesus would stand on the issues we face today.

Let's assume, for argument's sake, if he were alive today, Jesus would be an American citizen. How would he feel about our country?

For starters, would Jesus be part of the ninety-nine percent or one percent? I believe he would be part of the one percent. Jesus would be far wealthier than the average American if he had any desire to spread his message. In today's world, if you do not have money, or access to someone else's money, your voice goes unheard. I believe Jesus would make full use of today's technology. He would tweet away every chance he got. He would also appear on as many television news and talk shows spreading his message of love for all. He would command large sums of money to speak at universities or private functions. There would be a slew of books authored by him in which his sermons would appear and you could go into any Wal Mart or Target and buy his line of apparel which would be splashed with his message. Finally, his web site would be among the most, if not the most, viewed web sites on the planet allowing him to not only spread his word but to bring in millions of dollars every month.

In this regard, Jesus would not be much different than Oprah, Rush, or any other well know personality who seems to pop up everywhere. However, I also believe that with this wealth, Jesus would use that money for the betterment of all mankind rather than sinking it into get rich quick scams that add to his wealth while bilking innocent people of their hard earned money.

I also believe Jesus would be outraged over the number of Americans who live a glutenous life, both rich and poor, while others around the world starve. He would not like seeing a nation as wealthy as ours fail to deliver affordable health care to its citizens or to the citizens in other nations. I believe he would tell our citizens who make a life of living off of the welfare system to get off their butts and start contributing to our society rather than bleeding it dry.

Jesus would have little positive to say to those who do not vote but are quick to complain about the job their leaders do. While he would sympathize with the occupy protesters, he would also remind them there are plenty of jobs that need doing in this country if they can swallow their pride and do the dirty work that seems to to only be done by illegals or go undone.

I also think Jesus would be troubled by people who claim it is okay to bring harm to those who provide abortions while doing little to curb the number of people killed each year by hand guns or assault weapons. He would tell us it does not take a village to raise a child if that child has parents who put him before their career goals or material desires. Jesus would look at our schools and ask our leaders how can they expect so much from our children when few expectations were placed on them when they were young.

And in the end, Jesus would deliver a simple message, one that is easy to follow but all too often lost in a world made complicated by leaders who fail more than they succeed. He would simply tell all of us, male or female, young or old, rich or poor, black or white, to treat one another the way you want to be treated in return.

However, I also believe if Jesus were alive and living in America today, he would not live to see old age. You see, we have had plenty of others deliver a message of love and hope who have all to often been struck down too soon. Do the names Martin, Bobby or John ring a bell?

The world we live in can seem like a crazy place but it does not have to be. All we need is to live life by the golden rule and the rest will take care of itself. It was that way 2,000 years ago when Jesus first graced this planet and can be that way today if we allow it to happen.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game? No Thanks

I used to be a fan of the San Francisco Forty-niners but they lost me after eight years of crap. I did not bother to watch their Monday Night victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers and know it will take a lot more than one winning season to bring me back into the fold. I want to see how they do next year when they have to play a first place schedule for a year or two rather than this year's last place schedule. In fact, I am to the point where the off season of any sport is more enjoyable than the actual season.

The Boston Celtics, another team I used to follow passionately, also no longer interest me. I really lack any interest in the coming NBA season. I actually liked what I saw out of Boston's Jeff Green last year but now he is done for the season and perhaps forever. Here is a tip to Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge: The next time you sign a guy like Green to a one year nine million dollar contract, try making it contingent on passing a team physical. You now get to pay him to have heart surgery. If it is successful and he can resume his career next year, he will be a free agent again and maybe then you can sign him for 20 million. Brilliant move.

I stopped following baseball when they went on strike some time in the 80's. That sport is another one where the regular season is a waste of time. Six months of ESPN highlights of guys on steroids hitting home runs or players on speed making acrobatic catches gets old real fast. So does the obligatory nightly replay of a team mascot in an argument with an umpire and getting tossed out of the game. And to think, baseball wants to expand the playoffs because they think it will make the regular season more relevant. Maybe if you are a fantasy geek but the more teams that make the playoffs just makes the 162 regular season games less important in my opinion.

NCAA basketball is another sport with a pointless regular season. Just put every school in the frickin tournament and let the winner choke the life out of Dick Vitale. I will give them credit. At least they have a national champion based on a playoff system. However, how many years do we have to listen to talking heads spout off about Cinderella and her glass slipper? It's basketball. The players where free 200 dollar Nike shoes and shorts that hang down to their ankles. Every coach is a quality guy who really cares about his players and their education until another school offers him more money.

Maybe I should go back to watching the National Hockey League. Again, another pointless season with too many teams making the playoffs. Only now, we get to watch guys with scrambled brains play the game. It turns out hockey players receive more concussions than football players. Hmmm. I wonder if they are caused by the ice, the tiny helmets they wear, or the fact that they have been playing the sport since they fell out of their Canadian mother's womb? I love the missing teeth. That has to be a real turn on to the women and I am sure it is just a matter of time before the look catches on with the general public.

NCAA football is just the opposite. They actually have an exciting season and I enjoy watching the televised games. Too bad their post season is the most pointless thing on the planet. I am hoping that USC's Matt Barkley decides to come back for his senior year rather than joining the No Fun League where he can legally get paid to play a game. Am I the only one who has no interest in the Dell Computer Poinsettia Pubic Hair Bowl or whatever other bowl game they come up with? What can be more fun than watching a bowl game that amounts to nothing more than an exhibition game coached by interim coaches because the participating schools have either already fired their coach or lost him to another college?

And forget about any sport where female athletes are the participants unless it is beach volleyball. Let's face it, that's all us guys care about when it comes to women's sports. We want to see them get all hot and sweaty and live for the hope of a wardrobe malfunction. However, if that were to happen, we would probably be shocked to see that woman we were perving over sporting a three inch boner as a result of all the PED's she has been doing. You see, female athletes cheat just like males.

Okay, there is still high school sports. They provide affordable fun for the entire family, right? The last high school basketball game I attended was at Hemet High School a few years ago. The school had to call for a squad of sheriffs to break up a fight between rival groups that attended the game. You couldn't leave the gym because the combatants did not have enough sense to take their fight across the street. No, they had to brawl right outside the main exit in the school's hallway. If I wanted that as part of my sports viewing experience, I'd go to a Raider game.

I think this winter vacation, rather than watching sports on television or attending an actual game, I will just take out my old electric football set and play a game between the Packers and the Jets. By the time I set up the offenses and defenses, run the plays with all the stopping and starting of the on off switch, I figure I can get in about 20 to 25 plays a day. At that rate, I may actually squeeze in two games during vacation. Best of all, I will have the best seat in the house, can drink all the cheap beer I want, won't have to worry about work stoppages, will enjoy the free parking, and know that I won't get beat into a coma by rival fans.

If, as many people say, sports is a reflection of our society, then like everything else, it is in need of major repair.

Meet The Real Republicans

The Republican party has shown Americans what it really stands for recently and for most of us, it isn't pretty. There is a reason why Newt Gingrich is their front runner and will remain so unless he does something really stupid.

To show what Republicans really represent, lets begin by looking at those who wish they were the front runner.

First, there is Mitt Romney, a former governor who has experienced great success in both government and the private sector and who for a long time was the Republican front runner. It is hard to imagine why republicans would not want Romney as their choice to square off with President Obama. He has no skeletons in his closet or they would have come out by now and he has been happily married to one woman and raised a family any parent would be proud to show off. Sure, he is labeled a flip flopper, which may be true but then again, it may also show that he maintains enough of an open mind to know when and why to change his positions. Besides, if you look at most candidates, you can find some position they have changed on and could call them a flip flopper too.

Romney is not the choice of the big money wing of the Republican Party -- Christian Fundamentalists -- because they do not want to see a Mormon in the White House. It is that simple. If Romney were a Catholic or Protestant he would be a shoe in for the party nomination.

"That's not true," is the cry of Republicans. They claim to be an open minded party and love reminding us they are the party of Abraham Lincoln. That may have once been true but they more closely resemble the party of the Taliban with their hatred of anything that goes against their Christian beliefs and the Book of Mormon is right up their with the Koran on their burn list.

So Romney is out.

Why not Herman Cain? Okay, he has suspended his campaign amid allegations of a long time affair and reports of sexual harassment dating back to the nineties. I am not sure why this is a big deal to a political party who is supporting a guy on his third marriage and who actually left one wife after she was diagnosed with cancer. However, that is no big deal to republicans because A) Newt claims to have since come back to his Christian faith in the process of getting his life back in order, and B) Newt is not black.

"Wrong again," claim Republicans. "Newt is one of the smartest and most articulate politicians out there and that is what makes him our guy."

I will admit, Newt is quite intelligent and well spoken and seems to be the only candidate who actually answers the questions he is asked in debates rather than just rattling off talking points. However, if you ever listen to John Huntsman, you would find him just as intelligent and well spoken as Gingrich and he has served as a governor and government representative to several nations. Oh, but wait, he is also a Mormon so scratch him off the list of the party of the open minded.

Republicans could go with Governor Rick Perry of Texas but lets admit it, he is down right stupid. For this, I applaud the Republican Party for not backing a guy who continually reminds us he is the commander and chief of 20,000 troops. The Texas governor should have locked up the nomination by now but every time he opens his mouth in a debate he proves to us his predecessor, George W. Bush, was a rocket scientist compared to him.

Alright, so no Mormons, no blacks, and no stupid Texans. Well, how about an older guy like Ron Paul? "Not a chance," says Republicans. "We don't need some geezer who speaks his mind and breaks with the party line like he does." They're right. If they did, they could just run John McCain again and save money on campaign posters in the process.

Hey, how about running a female as your candidate? "Just as long as it is not Sarah Palin," you say. Actually, Republicans like Palin but lets face it, her priorities are focused on herself and her bank account. She can't afford to be the president. Besides, she does not have the kind of family you want to show off to the country. "Let's keep her on FOX where she can serve as a better looking Rush Limbaugh."

That leaves Republicans with Michelle Bachman, who for some reason, even they find to be a crazy lady. The only other viable female candidate the party has to offer is Condoleezza Rice but we all know wealthy, white, Christian males don't want to see an intelligent black woman calling the shots.

Okay, so no blacks, no females, no Mormons, no independent thinkers, and no stupid Texans. That just leaves Newt or Rick Santorum to choose from.

Newt has years of experience working in congress and has since gone on to make millions of dollars off of his "consulting" expertise. He knows how the game is played in Washington D.C. and will ensure the money wing of the Republican Party stays satisfied. He also will not hesitate to use our military in more pointless wars while insisting taxes do not need raising when there are plenty of programs left to cut.

Rick Santorum just hasn't been around long enough to master all that Newt has so I predict Republicans will run a Gingrich/Santorum ticket with the hope Newt mentors Rick as well as Obe Won mentored Luke in Star Wars. Together, in the ideal world of the Republican Party, they will lead our nation for sixteen years and guide us to the kind of greatness that only a real Republicans can appreciate; the kind that continues to benefit the one percent at the expense of the rest of the nation.

Reform Welfare Before Raising Taxes

Below is my full response to the Riverside Press Enterprise newspaper's recent article regarding polls showing California voters are likely to approve tax hikes to help support our public schools.

As someone who has spent the last twenty-eight years teaching in three different school districts in three different parts of our state, I want to urge voters to reject any proposals to increase taxes to improve public education.

Over the last three years, the state has been brutal to public education. Budget cuts have resulted in massive teacher layoffs, the elimination of performing arts programs, and the realization that our public schools are not getting the job done.

This mess is the result of decisions made by our elected leaders who now want to see hard working taxpayers clean it up by increasing their taxes. This is not a solution to a problem as much as it is a punishment for being employed in this state.

If our leaders want to create more money and ear mark it for public education, they can start by ending the incentive to be a life long recipient of welfare. Rather than rewarding welfare recipients for bringing more children into the state who flood our schools with their low skills, lack of desire to improve, and even less parental support, we need to cut their benefits and encourage them to find another state to live off of.

Student enrollment would quickly decrease relieving school districts of the pressure to hire more teachers and implement programs for people who give us little to no return on our tax payer investment.

Test scores would also increase as would graduation rates and our state could marvel at seeing the percentage of college ready students go through the roof. California might even return to the top tier of states on the education front rather than remain at the bottom.

Ridding the state of its massive welfare population will also allow school districts to place a halt on new construction and allow them to better utilize existing campuses. With fewer campuses also comes the need for fewer administrators whose six figure salaries dwarf those of any teacher and save districts even more money.

Our schools can no longer be education centers for children from supportive and motivated families while also serving as glorified day care centers for parents who are unfit to have children in the first place.

If we eliminate the welfare problem that is sucking this state of much needed resources and replace it with a system that is designed to help those in temporary need rather than reward people too lazy or unskilled to work at all, we instantly improve our public schools.

Ten Things To Be Thankful For

1. Freedom: How do you think Occupy Wall Street would fly in China or the Middle East? Freedom of religion, free press, and the right to bare arms is not tolerated in most other nations of the world either.
2. Peace: We are only experiencing because we went looking for it in some other part of the world. It's not knocking at our door like it is in many other nations.
3. Wealth: Yes, unemployment is high but the poor in our nation enjoy a far better way of life than the poor in other countries. You do not see poor Americans lining up at our boarders looking to leave but how many poor people from other parts of the world would love to come to America?
4. Education: It is easy to criticize a system whose test scores pale when compared to many other countries. However, no other nation provides a free education to as many children from as many diverse backgrounds as we do.
5. Celebrity: We worship it, strive for it, and love to bash it all at the same time. Without it and those who achieve it, just think how miserable we would be without all the distractions it provides us.
6. Debate: Sure, our candidates lie, get their facts wrong, and sometimes just draw a blank when called upon. However, we at least get to make our candidates sweat before deciding who we want to run the country.
7. Black Friday: American consumerism at its best and worst depending on your shopping desires. It does give us a great chance to score some great deals even if we have to wait all night in the cold for stores to open but for many, that beats watching another football game.
8. Competition: Americans love it in all forms. Yes, it leads to scandals, questionable decision making, and creates a lot of stress. Still, it is what keeps this country continually moving forward in search of new ways to remain relevant and influential far beyond our borders.
9. Justice: Lawyers may be among the most despised people in our country for the way they twist and manipulate the law but our justice system has a way of getting far more right than it gets wrong. It's just that when it fails, it makes headlines.
10. Information: Today, we have more information at our fingertips than all the libraries in the world held twenty years ago. Our minds should never have to be idle unless we choose to shut them down.

Merit Pay Will Hurt Education

I recently watched a CNN special report on public education in which an hour was spent examining all that is wrong in our nation's public schools and concluded with what they felt were alternatives to the current solutions being used. As a teacher, the solution that struck me the most was the use of merit pay.

Many experts believe merit pay is needed when it comes to determining a teacher's salary and claim it will reward the good teachers while weeding out the bad ones. I do not believe this to be the case.

In a school district like mine, you can have teachers who teach anywhere from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Personally, over the course of my 28 year career, I have spent time teaching all grade levels and can tell you no two are the same. There is no equitable way to determine whether or not a kindergarten teacher of twenty years is doing a better job than a colleague of the same experience who teaches high school history. No two children are alike, no two grade levels are alike, and no two subjects are either.

Merit pay will only place a greater emphasis on test scores which we all know have driven our education system off the tracks. What do you do with a teacher who teaches a subject that is not tested by the state? Do you drop performing arts and other elective classes? Do you get rid of physical education? Do we just teach reading, writing, and arithmetic?

It is not that difficult to evaluate any teacher who is assigned to teach a single subject. They have the opportunity to master their craft and you can evaluate them on student progress, classroom management, and creative lesson plans. However, when that teacher is assigned to teach a period in another subject area because they hold more than one teaching credential, they now have double the prep time compared to their colleagues who merely teach one subject all day long. Performance is bound to suffer.

There have been years when I did not know what my teaching assignment was when the first bell of the year rang. One year, I ended up teaching seven different courses over a six period day. Figure that one out. Just last year, a week before the start of school, I was informed I would be teaching high school Behavior Health full time. A few days later, my principal, who I had yet to meet, called to tell me my schedule was changed to two periods of PE in the morning followed by three periods of Behavior Health. Then, when I reported to work, no one informed me my schedule had been changed again to four classes of Behavior Health followed by an afternoon class of PE. Three weeks into the school year, I was notified less than one hour before class, my schedule was being changed yet again. I was now losing my Behavior Health classes and being given four new classes of Geography.

If the same people assigned to evaluate my performance are unable to come up with a master schedule by the first day of school, how can they be relied upon to provide accurate teacher evaluations?

Some teachers hold a single subject credential and can only teach one thing. This allows them to master a subject and teach it year after year. Many work at their trade and continually shake things up in an effort to provide a quality education for their students. Still, others relish knowing they can go on cruise control and do what they have always done.

Other teachers, like myself, are credentialed in several areas. As a result, we get moved around a lot to fill in where needed, much like a utility baseball player who one day plays first base, the next, he is in the outfield, and then that is followed up by playing third base. Baseball teams need utility ball players but these players do not make as much money or receive as much recognition as their colleagues who master one position.

Schools are no different. They need utility teachers who can do a little bit of everything but are never given the chance to master any one thing. Without them, schools could not function.

In 2007, I was teaching middle school PE where my management skills allowed me to effectively teach classes of more than sixty students. When a new middle school opened up in

2008, I was moved and assigned seventh grade Social Studies, the subject I first started teaching in 1984. In 2009, I volunteered to teach elementary PE because I was looking for a challenge I had never done before. However, my district closed the school I was at when the year ended and I was then moved in 2010 to teach high school Behavior Health and later Geography. When that school year ended, my district dropped the Geography and Behavior Health requirement so I was then assigned to teach PE full time.

Five years and five different teaching assignments. Is it fair that my pay be tied to student progress over that time? Should I be rewarded for the multiple assignments I took on or punished because as a result, I did not have time to take on additional duties beyond the teaching day?

If the person assigned to evaluate me likes me, I may end up among the highest paid teachers in the district. However, if they don't, or if they go by the book and base it on strictly student performance, I may be working a second job to pay for my kids college tuition. Is it really fair to place my financial state in the hands of someone who may not like me or who may be upset because I do not blindly follow No Child Left Behind? While it may be easy to chart the progress of students on a year to year basis, you can not do the same with the teacher whose assignment continually changes. And before you say I am the exception, you may want to check and see how many teachers there are out there like me. You would be surprised.

Too often, our "best" teachers are given the "best" students and the "best" classes to teach. Any principal who dares to change their teaching assignments will have to face the wrath of that teacher, their Union, and scores of parents.

Other teachers are rewarded with choice assignments because they coach or over see other extra curricular programs that are not mandated or required by contract. The rest are left to fend for what we call the table scraps and as a result, some years are good and some not so good.

Merit pay for teachers will never work in making our public schools better. It will only drive away teachers who want to know in advance what they stand to earn so they can financially plan for their family's needs rather than having to sweat out an evaluation from an administrator who may be unable to make a master schedule while earning more money than the teacher affected by it.

Thoughts From A November Bike Ride

1. I am not as concerned about whether or not Herman Cain sexually harassed women in the 1990s as I am the fact he is a cancer survivor. If he is elected president next year, he better have a strong person as his Vice President.
2. Steve Jobs last words were, "Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!" In other words, his reaction toward dying was the same as Apple customers reactions are to the release of a new product.
3. While the news has been covering the Occupy Wall Street story, we should be more concerned with how many shoppers occupy Wal Mart and other retailers on Black Friday. If shoppers stay home this year, 2012 will be worse for all of us than 2011.
4. I still do not understand why we observe day light savings time. Each day is still twenty-four hours long so where is all the savings?
5. If I were the Republican party's 2012 presidential candidate, I would select Newt Gingrich as my running mate. He is the only person among the current candidates with both the intellect and Washington experience necessary to get things done but no one will elect a guy who once divorced his wife after she was diagnosed with cancer.
6. Conan O'Brian's shows last week from New York were brilliant. No one on television is as funny as he is. How you you not crack up over his masturbating bear or Triumph the insult comic dog?
7. Why are college football games more exciting to watch than NFL games? One, the enthusiasm of a college crowd can not be duplicated by NFL teams that charge the prices they do to attend their games. And two, there is a lot more ingenuity on display in the college game than in the No Fun League.
8. I will always root for athletes that do the kind of things skier Lindsey Vonn did this week. To take the time out of her busy schedule and accept the invitation from a shy 15 year old boy to his prom is a class act that will provide that boy with a fantastic life time memory.
9. Why is it when Lance Armstrong passes every drug test known to mankind he is still under investigation for cheating long after retiring but when the 2010 Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador, fails a drug test he is still competing a year and a half later while authorities decide his case?
10. I wonder how tolerant the Chinese government would be if their citizens decided to occupy Tienanmen Square...again?
11. As long as the ninety-nine percent focus on the one percent who make up ninety-nine percent of our news and entertainment, we can continue to expect to see one in every fifteen Americans living in extreme poverty.
12. Our government spends far too many resources on other nations problems that should be spent solving our own. Where would we be today if England had taken that approach in 1776?
13. Americans are addicted to the quick fix which is why we have so many long term problems piling up on us today.
14. A four hour bike ride up and over a mountain wearing the season's first snow fall is something I'm glad I experienced.

Occupy This

Now that the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to cities and towns across the country it is clear there are scores of unhappy citizens, especially twenty and thirty somethings, who are demanding change and are voicing their anger at the wealthy. I suppose if I was just out of college and trying to navigate my way through the current job scene, I would have more than a little frustration. Add to that, a generation that is use to instant gratification and who were drilled with the concept that we are all winners, it's natural for their anger to spill over.

I get that Wall Street represents all of the greed and disregard the wealthy seem to have toward those struggling to make ends meet, pay off college loans, and enjoy the American dream. However, for this movement to be taken seriously by working middle class people like me, we need to see some different occupying.

For starters, occupy Exxon Oil headquarters now that they have announced quarterly profits of 41 billion dollars while I pay $4.00 a gallon for gas to drive on dilapidated roads because they find tax loop holes to keep from paying their taxes. You could also occupy Apple headquarters, and all the other hi tech giants, who have managed to make you addicted to electronic devices so you can constantly listen to music, watch movies, text your friends, or browse your favorite web sites while you occupy Wall Street.

Maybe you could also occupy the central valley of California and demand first shot at jobs picking vegetables or harvesting fruit. You will have to work so hard you won't have the time or energy to text friends but can rest comfortably at night knowing you are helping provide low cost food for the nation.

Rather than occupying financial centers where the wealthy look down on you from their high rise offices and laugh, go occupy the Pentagon and insist they stop occupying foreign soil at the cost of billions of dollars and loss of lives. Insist our government use the military budget to create jobs repairing and improving our country's infrastructure. You could also go occupy the Peace Corps and volunteer your time and talent giving back to third world countries that have taken jobs from us only to make the bulk of their citizens live in filth we could never imagine.

Then again, you could just go occupy the U.S./Mexican border and keep illegals from entering our country to take all of the jobs you blame them for taking. Once they are gone, besides applying for their now vacant migrant field jobs, you can go after their cleaning jobs or take over their yard maintenance businesses. You could also occupy the neighborhood streets and patrol them now that we have fewer people in law enforcement to protect us.

Even though you have a college degree, go back to your college and occupy it. Do what your grand parents did in the 60's and occupy University president's offices and demand more affordable college tuition for future generations so they are not saddled with the debts you face.

I don't mean to be so harsh on what some call your movement. However, if all you are doing is complaining and demanding without doing something besides taking to the streets, yours is not a movement as much as it is just a gigantic whine fest. I understand it is jobs that you want. Feeling productive and making a contribution to society is something most of us want to do with our lives. However, this just doesn't fall into our laps and it is not something we are automatically entitled to. I must admit, there is a big part of me that senses you just want to start out at high paying jobs so you can not only pay off your college loans, something I think you really hope the government just does away with, but so you can purchase more toys and distractions.

Go organize new political parties and elect people who will change our laws, tax codes, and priorities to your liking rather than just demand the people currently in power do it for you. They do not care about your interests as much as they do their own political selfishness and you are a fool if you think otherwise.

But if all this sounds like too much of an undertaking for you, then I suggest you go occupy North Dakota. They are in a jobs growth boom where for every job that gets filled, one and a half new jobs go unfilled. Truckers can earn as much as $80,000.00 a year there and they do not have to deal with urban congestion. Oil rig workers are earning up to six figure salaries and the energy industry there will lead to a housing boom, need for more schools, law enforcement, medical personnel, and just about anything else you can think of.

North Dakota can be your gold rush if you really want to work and feel like a productive member of society. It can provide you with a lifetime of satisfaction that comes from knowing you helped create something from the ground up and made a difference in this world.

However, I am willing to bet most of you would use excuses like the harsh winters, lack of city life, and sacrifice involved in such a change as excuses for not going. In that case, I suggest you go occupy a library and read a history book and learn what your ancestors have done.

The Wisdom of Andy Rooney

Although he may have retired from 60 Minutes, the words of Andy Rooney are still worth enjoying.

1. Anyone who watches golf on television would enjoy watching the grass grow on greens.
2. Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make easier do not need to be done.
3. Death is a distant rumor to the young.
4. Don't rule out working with your hands. It does not preclude using your head.
5. Elephants and grandchildren never forget.
6. Happiness depends more on how life strikes you than on what happens.
7. I didn't get old on purpose, it just happened. If you're lucky, it could happen to you.
8. I don't like food that is too carefully arranged; it makes you think that the chef is spending too much time on arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting.
9. If dogs could talk it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one.
10. Making duplicate copies and computer printouts of things no one wanted even one of in the first place is giving America a new sense of purpose.
11. Nothing in fine print is ever good news.
12. People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe.
13. The 50-50-90 rule: Any time you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90 percent probability you'll get it wrong.
14. The average dog is nicer than the average person.
15. The only people who say worse things about politicians than reporters do are other politicians.
16. Vegetarian - that's an old Indian word meaning lousy hunter.
17. We're all proud of making little mistakes. It gives us the feeling we don't make any big ones.
18. All men are not created equal but should be treated as though they were under the law.
19. I like ice hockey, but it's a frustrating game to watch. It's hard to keep your eyes on both the puck and the players and too much time passes between scoring in hockey. There are usually more fights than there are points.
20. If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.

Nightmare Act

I voted for Governor Jerry Brown in California's last gubernatorial election. In fact, recently, I have voted for more democratic candidates than republican, including President Obama, because I believe they have shown a desire to do what is best for all Americans more than their opposition. However, this could change if I see more actions like Brown signing off on the Dream Act which now makes a college education available to illegal citizens.

I understand the anger and frustration of the Tea Party who have grown tired of seeing tax payer money being spent on citizens disinterested in improving their lives (lifetime welfare recipients) or who do not live here legally. Our country has enough struggling citizens of its own to deal with that it does not need to require tax payers to flip the bill for the education of an illegal immigrant.

I have three children in college and I do not expect their tuition to be paid for by the citizens of Mexico, Honduras, Nigeria or any other nation. I resent seeing the tuition expenses I pay increase by as much as 20 percent a year while the services my kids receive decrease. There is no argument anyone can make that says we should provide for non citizens before we provide for our own. None! And it is especially irksome to people like my wife and I who hold steady jobs, pay our taxes, and began setting aside money for our children's college before we began having kids.

However, I do not see myself jumping on the Tea Party band wagon. While I understand their anger and frustration, all too often it is aimed at the wrong people. I do not understand the level of hatred they blindly express and their desire to see more of a police state in which law enforcement can blindly ask to check our identification if they suspect we look illegal (think of Nazi Germany and the targeting of Jews).

As long as there are an over abundance of lazy Americans who prefer collecting a welfare check over an honest day's pay and who impart that philosophy in their children's minds then we will have a need to hire illegals who are willing to do the work that our own citizens will not do. Still, that does not mean these illegals, or their children, are entitled to attend our colleges, especially at the expense of honest tax payers who struggle to send their own children to school.

Lets's Hear It For Yellow

I am boycotting the color pink. In fact, I am boycotting anything that comes close to resembling pink so fuchsia, you're out too. You can also toss in the singer, Pink because I am sure she loves what is going on.

October used to be one of my favorite months. The days shorten and the leaves turns numerous colors but never pink. The weather cools off and there is Halloween to celebrate at month's end.

It used to be when October arrived you saw lots of orange, brown, and black. Now, it's just pink.

Go to a grocery store and your favorite brands of food are colored with pink labels. Turn on a Sunday football game and the players are wearing pink wrist bands, shoes, and chin straps. Heck, even my morning paper was printed on pink paper yesterday.

Why? Because somehow we have allowed breast cancer research to steal an entire month and paint our nation pink. I'm surprised the White House is not painted pink this month or that congress does not require all government buildings to fly a pink, white and blue flag dawned with 50 pink ribbons instead of stars.

Go to any store and try buying a product in its original label instead of pink. Women will look at you as if you are Satan. The female clerk at the checkout stand will remind you when you buy pink labeled items part of your money goes to breast cancer research hoping to shame you into submission.

However, I will not be broken. It's not because I oppose finding a cure to breast cancer. I hope and pray we do. I also hope and pray we find a cure to colon cancer (my mother), rectal cancer (also my mother), prostate cancer (my father), stomach cancer (my grandfather) and all other cancers for that matter.

One of the biggest supporters of a pink October is the National Football League. They devote an entire month trying to sell pink NFL replica jerseys, wrist bands, and anything else they can stamp NFL on because it helps them expand their fan base to women.

You say I am being cynical. Then why hasn't the NFL selected another month, say September, and another color, perhaps blue, to devote to finding a cure to childhood leukemia? I say it is because they know children do not have the money to purchase NFL jerseys, season tickets, or cable television game day packages and could care less about curing a disease.

And am I the only one who notices that if an NFL player tries to wear pink any other month he gets find thousands of dollars for being out of uniform. Why is it okay to wear pink cleats one month but not another?

I will, however, wear yellow. I proudly wear my yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet and support Lance Armstrong's efforts to rid the world of all cancer. July should be the month of yellow. It represents the month in which Armstrong won seven straight Tour de France titles. Yellow is also the color of the leader jersey worn in the Tour de France and it represents the sun which without there ceases to be any life on this planet.

Join me in my pink boycott this month. Wear yellow instead. Watch college football instead of the NFL. Listen to any musical artist except Pink (you may have to do without Pink Floyd too although they were around long before pink Octobers). Remember, none of us are exempt from any of a number of cancers and we should be working toward finding cures to all and not just one.

__________________ AMERICAN

I am a white, heterosexual male of 56 years who now realizes I am a dinosaur. I have been married to the same woman for 30 years and two of our three grown children have graduated from college while the third attends. Somehow, we have managed to save enough over the years to pay for their tuition as well as the tuition for people in this state illegally.

I do not abuse my wife except for the occasional loud fart. My alcohol consumption consists of one ice cold beer with my dinner. You won't find a criminal record attached to my name and I have recently retired after a thirty year career in public education. That should be just enough to make me nearly extinct. At the very least, I deserve placement on the Endangered Species list.

You see, today, it means nothing to be a white, middle aged heterosexual male in a stable marriage with financial security. If I was gay, I'd be set because in the process of my becoming endangered, I have seen same sex marriage legalized, Ellen DeGeneres dance and talk her way into our living rooms, and Chaz Bono likely to become the next face chiseled on to Mount Rushmore.

I do not mean to bash gay people. I am just lamenting the loss of my time and place in American society.

Once, when I was the Associated Student Body Director at a local school, I was told that as part of my job, I was responsible for the recognition of "certain groups" and their contribution to American society during the morning announcements. It began with Hispanic History month in which most of those recognized were never American citizens but none the less, they were on the list with a brief bio to read to the middle school students.

Next up were famous American women, all of whom were white. They included the likes of Helen Keller, Amelia Erhard, and of course Madonna. Fortunately, this was pre-Snooki or I might have had do dedicate an entire month to the women of reality television.

We then moved on to Black history month, which I noticed was February. No one complained they were given the shortest month of the year but then the announcements were filled will bios on the great works of people like Kobe Bryant, Richard Pryor, and Huey Newton. I bet, if it had been March with its 31 days, I would have been talking about Urkle. Fortunately, there was no White American Male History Month or I might have been left talking about the Elvis Presley's, Anthony Weiner's, or Pee Wee Herman's of the nation.

What I am trying to say is we have yet to get to the point where we are just Americans. "American" is all too often prefaced with words like, African, Hispanic, Gay, or my favorite, Ugly. Rodney King, who some day may be recognized as a great African American, once asked, "Can't we all just get along?" I'd like to add to that and ask, "Can't we all just be Americans?"

NCLB About To Be Left Behind

Reports this week surfaced that President Obama was prepared to end No Child Left Behind, the landmark education legislation from his predecessor, George W. Bush. While it is clear NCLB has led to many children being left behind and our public schools dependent of following its strict guidelines in order to receive federal funding, what is unclear is what is next for education.

President Obama should be applauded for attempting to improve our failing education system but if anyone thinks the next great educational reform will result in much change, they are wrong.

To begin with, no matter what plan the President puts forth, Republicans will balk at it. Why would they give up on their plan for Obama's? "But this will be another chance for the two parties to come together in the name of bipartisanship and put forth a better education system than is currently in place," you say. Actually, this is more likely to lead to another game of political chicken. If you really think the Republican Party would not shut down our public schools before signing off on a new education act then you really have not followed what goes on in Washington D.C.

With the 2012 election campaign in full swing, the president has fired a volley to all who want his job. He is telling them, "Let's hear your plan" and it better go beyond the Republicans desire for more charter schools (private schools at the tax payers expense).

With the economy still in tatters and Obama's poll numbers in decline, the president will put forth a plan that reminds voters that despite the sagging economy, he is still the candidate who has the best interest of all in mind. Let Republicans and Tea Party members argue about school prayer, tenure, and the dangerous agendas of special interest groups taking over our schools. These are mere smoke screens meant to make voters forget there is no real education plan being presented by Republican candidates.

When the president puts forth his plan for education, it will be a plan and not an attempt to force our schools to capitulate and teach all our children in an overly managed, under budgeted, and formulated manner; something the Republicans can claim credit for today. However, by the time our representatives in congress fight over what to include and toss, it will neither resemble the President's plan or lay down the real ground work necessary to improve the futures of our children. And in the end, it will be our children who lose out.

American Complacency

As the tenth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 approach, I am reminded of all we have lost and all we have failed to learn as a result.

We lost more than innocent American lives when al Qaida launched their multiple attacks. We lost ourselves and today seem no where near finding who we are as we sit on the brink of economic ruin.

While we, as a nation, had no difficulty uniting together after the initial terrorists attacks, we have since disintegrated into a nation of whiners, unable to draw on the same strength we found and showed to the rest of the world immediately after being attacked. Following the 9/11 attacks, America stood united along racial, gender, age, and economic fronts. Sadly, today we are divided along each, either unable or unwilling to join together in overcoming another unseen enemy ready to take us down.

It finally seems America has reached a point where no matter what we do, we can no longer have it all. As a result, we have turned on ourselves and begun to destroy what al Qaida could not do, our greatness. A nation that once stood side by side and arm in arm, willing to sacrifice all that was necessary to defeat an enemy who dared to attack us, now is all too quick to point the finger at one another and sacrifice whoever they can to keep what we feel we are entitled to.

In 2001, our leaders, still licking their wounds from a bitterly contested 2000 presidential election, managed to put aside their differences and work together to seek justice and extract retribution against our enemies. As a result, they jointly got us involved in two wars we are economically unable to sustain and have no hope for a clear or victorious conclusion.

At first, Americans were fine with all of this and were willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary, even if we were not sure what they entailed. Now, a decade later, those sacrifices have hit virtually everyone in this country and our leaders can offer no clear solutions, only more finger pointing.

In World War II, when we were attacked at Pearl Harbor by Japan, all of America sacrificed. Young men, like my father, put their lives on hold and on the line to serve in our military. Even older Americans, people like my grandfather, were quick to serve even though they were well past the military’s fighting age. Even our best professional athletes placed their careers on hold to sacrifice for a cause greater than their own personal interest.

Women took over the war machine at home and were found working long hours on military assembly lines in an effort to do what was best for the nation. Every ethnic group, including those of Japanese, German, and Italian ancestry, served with honor and in heroic fashion to defeat enemies intent on bringing us down.

Today, it is a very different America. Our leaders will not unite and work through their differences and are too willing to sacrifice the lives of the people who elected them just to score political points within their own party. Our citizens expressed more concern over the shut down of the National Football League than they have over the possible collapse of our entire economy.

Questions abound but go unanswered. Should the rich pay the bill because they can afford to pay more taxes or should we cut them a break and hope they will create more jobs? Should senior citizens pay by forfeiting some of their social security benefits even though they sacrificed earlier by paying into a system their government told them would be there for them? Maybe our youth, those under the age of twenty-five, should pay the price. Most do not serve in our all volunteer military so rather than risking their lives in war they can pay by sacrificing their education, and in the process their entire future. Do we cut back on welfare knowing that if we do we run the risk of alienating those who already feel disenfranchised while also upsetting the ethnic disparity that our welfare system helps to create?

While our nation has benefited more than any other from constant advances in technology, we have also grown lazy and developed a national sense of entitlement. Hey, we are the United States. We shouldn't have to sacrifice. We shouldn’t have to face hard times. We shouldn’t have to give up what we have grown accustom to. That’s what weaker countries do.

Well, welcome to the real world, America. We are like much of the rest of the world and if we do not want to see a repeat of what took place in London last month in cities all across our country, we better find a way to reunite just as we did following the attacks of 9/11 and defeat another hard to find enemy bent on bringing us down. However, this time, the enemy does not go by the name al Qaida. It is simply called complacency.

State Leaders Wash Their Hands of Blame

The following is a copy of a piece I wrote for the Valley Chronicle.

Recently, the California state budget passed with language that makes it difficult for financially strapped school districts to lay off teachers. In theory, this allows state leaders to claim they support lower class sizes and value the work of teachers, both of which are what voters like to hear. However, this does not solve the financial mess school districts face thanks to a decrease of state and federal funding. So what are school districts to do?

State leaders have developed a way to wash their hands of blame by allowing school districts the right to shorten the school year by as many as seven days. Now, financially struggling school districts will be forced to either cut more nonessential programs (think of high schools without athletic or performing arts programs) or eliminating school days altogether.

A kindergartner who enters school in a district whose school year is seven days shorter than a financially stronger one will, by the time he graduates, have lost half a school year of education.Since state testing dates are predetermined for the spring, the eliminated days will most likely be taken off after the testing schedule is completed, resulting in an earlier start to summer break. This way, students, teachers, parents, and officials can be assured a maximum amount of time is directed to readying students for the annual state exams.
But what if shortening the school year is not enough to balance school district budgets? What then? Are we to assume today’s students are better equipped to thrive in a world that offers them fewer academic and extracurricular opportunities?Are today’s kids less at risk to drug, criminal, or sexual activity than the generation who is making these decisions? Is our society so much better off today that we can afford to offer an entire generation less than we received?

All our budget has done is succeed in letting our leaders pass the buck on to others. They have effectively ridded themselves of the responsibility they have been elected to do simply because they lack the courage to tackle the many challenges we face.

We simply cannot afford to blindly re-elect our leaders when they refuse to work together and solve our problems. Do not let them off the hook simply because these are difficult times. Remember, our leaders are living far more comfortably than the rest of us. It is not expecting too much then to demand the same high level of excellence from our leaders that they are expecting of a generation they so easily disregard.

Tea Party Victory Will Hurt Republicans

Much has been made about how the Tea Party can claim a huge victory over the recently completed debt ceiling agreement. Much has also been made about how President Obama gave away too much to the upstart wing of the Republican party and how he turned his back on the democrats. I disagree with both.

It is entirely possible, by allowing the Tea Party to taste victory today, Obama has assured himself and his party of a big victory next fall. And in doing so, he and his followers will get to enjoy watching the Republican party implode in the process.

Most democrats will never vote for a Republican presidential candidate. Don't ask me why but they just don't. "But what about a moderate Republican," you ask? Forget it. Republicans do not want a moderate candidate because he or she might end up caving in to democrats the way Obama just gave in to republicans.

Democrats know who their man is already and Obama has over a year to shape the presidential debate to his liking. Meanwhile, the Republican Party may well have a mutiny on their hands.

The Tea Party will not be going away in the next year. They will insist they have a larger voice when it comes to formulating the party platform and will argue their time has justly arrived based on Sunday night's agreement.

However, with the stock market showing little faith in the debt ceiling plan, if the economy continues to falter guess who will now be blamed? The onus is now on the Tea Party who will in turn argue we didn't go far enough with the cuts if the economy does not turn around.

Republican presidential candidates will also be pressured to identify themselves as either representative of the Tea Party wing or traditional wing of the party. Sitting on the fence and trying to placate both will no longer meet the needs of either group. Both will want to get behind their own candidate and fight it out through the primary process. By the time the primaries are done, the Republican Party should be pretty well split into one of two camps and this split should make for a fractured convention. It is even quite conceivable to see the Tea Party break away and run their own third party candidate if they feel the Republican Party is working to silence their movement.

All of this plays into the hands of President Obama and the democrats. While the Republican Party fights their own civil war, democrats will have had plenty of time to mount an efficient raid on retaking the house which would hand Obama all any president could ever hope for in a reelection; both houses of Congress and a splintered opponent.

So while the Tea Party may have won the battle over the debt ceiling debate, they may well have started a civil war within the Republican Party assuring democrats another four years as the majority power broker which would only make Sunday's short term victory a long term defeat.

Sacrifice Leaders And Not A Generation

Recently, the California state budget passed with language that makes it difficult for financially strapped school districts to lay off teachers. In theory, this allows state leaders to claim they support lower class sizes and value the work of teachers, both of which are what voters like to hear.

However, this does not solve the financial mess school districts face thanks to a decrease of state and federal funding. So what are school districts to do?

State leaders have developed a way to wash their hands of blame by allowing school districts the right to shorten the school year by as many as seven days. Now, financially struggling school districts will be forced to either cut more nonessential programs (think of high schools without athletic or performing arts programs) or eliminating school days all together.

A kindergartner who enters school in a district whose school year is seven days shorter than a financially stronger one will, by the time he graduates, have lost half a school year of education. Sure, he will get to enjoy a cumulative total of three additional months of summer break. However, he will also be expected to master all state required offerings in less time.

Since state testing dates are predetermined for the spring, the eliminated days will most likely be taken off after the testing schedule is completed resulting in an earlier start to summer break. This way, students, teachers, parents, and officials can be assured a maximum amount of time was devoted to readying students for the annual state exams.

But what if shortening the school year is not enough to balance school district budgets? What then? Are we to assume today’s students are better equipped to thrive in a world that offers them fewer academic and extra curricular opportunities?

Is today’s youth less at risk to drug, criminal, or sexual activity than the generation who is making these decisions? Is our society so much better off today that we can afford to offer an entire generation less than we received?

All our budget has done is succeed in letting our leaders pass the buck on to others. They have effectively ridded themselves of the responsibility they have been elected to do simply because they lack the fortitude to tackle the many challenges we face. Democrats and republicans are equally to blame and what we are seeing in this state is simply a microcosm of what is playing out on the national stage.

We simply cannot afford to blindly reelect our leaders when they refuse to work together and solve our problems. Do not let them off the hook simply because these are difficult times. Remember, our leaders are living far more comfortably than the rest of us. It is not expecting too much then to demand the same high level of excellence from our leaders that they are expecting of a generation they so easily disregard.

Thoughts From A Vacation

After a nice two week vacation to Lake Tahoe, Chico, and the Bay Area, I realize the following:

1. July and August in Lake Tahoe are hard to top. You get perfect weather with plenty to do and it is tremendously affordable when you compare it to other popular vacation spots.


2. Congress and the debt ceiling issue shows us just how little our elected leaders do for us. They prefer to play a game of political chicken knowing the only losers will be the people they represent.


3. I may have to enter next year's Death Ride. 139 miles and five passes; each more than eight thousand feet above sea level now seems possible with my new bike.


4. Roger Goodell is not so honorable after all. How can he claim an agreement is in place when he has not run it past the people he is negotiating with? Al Davis and the Raiders were actually right for once by being the only team to not vote on the agreement.


5. This year's Tour de France is shaping up as one of the best ever in its history. Tomorrow's final time trial will determine the winner. The top three places are separated by a mere 57 seconds and that's after two thousand miles of racing.


6. I can't feel sorry for three tourists who ignore a posted sign and set foot in a raging river to get a photo taken only to be swept over Vernal Falls in Yosemite. How long before their families sue the National Parks for not preventing their act of stupidity?


7. The space shuttle flew its final flight and now what? Maybe we can make education, health care, job creation, and poverty our next frontiers.


8. U.S. women come up short against Japan in the Women's World Cup final but somehow I think there will be a lot of advertisers looking to sign Hope Solo to deals.


9. Breaking Bad began its newest season last Sunday and my DVR did not record the opener. I'm hoping it records a replay before this week's show.


10. I've said it before and will say it again: Do republicans really think they can win a presidential election next year with the group they have right now? Like many others, I am beginning to think they are doing everything they can to wreck a second term for Obama just so they can win the White House in 2016. Bipartisan politics is dead.


11. The NBA has a labor lockout too. No one cares. In fact, no one will care if it continues into next year. However, if the NFL does not start up in September, Americans will insist the president gets involved.


12. Back to the dept ceiling and the NFL. How uninformed are we? Most Americans can tell you how they feel about the NFL and its labor issues but don't have a clue as to the ramifications of what will happen if our debt ceiling is not raised.


13. A balanced federal budget sounds great but is not possible in our present form of government. When presidents have a line item veto to eliminate pork from bills; when we stop getting ourselves into so many costly wars; when we understand the difference between needs and wants; when we quit thinking we are entitled to everything we want; maybe then a balanced budget becomes possible.


14. I still do not like the idea of making the rich pay more taxes. Why? Because they are on the receiving end of almost all tax loop holes. Lets just make them pay their fair share like the rest of us. I still think a flat federal tax rate is in order and it is to be collected monthly and not yearly.


15. Tiger Woods fires his caddie. Why is this news? Are we so desperate for controversy that we can not let a golfer make a change as to who carries his clubs? The Giants fan who was beaten on opening day in the parking lot of Dodger stadium just had to have more surgery. Two more men were arrested and yet we make a bigger deal about Tiger looking for a new caddie.


16. Who do you find more repugnant, Casey Anthony or Nancy Grace?


17. I caught Justin Timberlake on Conan the other night. How can you not like this guy? He can sing, dance, act, and he more than held his own in the humor department with Coco. Now if only women found him good looking he'd have it made.


18. So Charlie Sheen will be getting a new television show based on the Jack Nicholson character in Anger Management. Lets hope this does for Charlie what the movie did for Jack. That way we won't have to listen to Charlie any more.


19. I caught Bristol Palin's interview with Dr. Drew last night. If she was an honor student in Alaska then that state is leaving a lot of its children behind. She has no business being a spokesperson for anything.


20. If you are a bicycle enthusiast like me, then South Lake Tahoe is the place to ride, especially if you enjoy climbs. Angora Lake Road, South Upper Truckee Road to the top of Luther Pass, Meyers Grade to Echo Lake, and Heavenly Valley will all leave you in awe while gasping for air. Also, not to be out done is the climb up Honey Run Road from Chico to Paradise. In two hours, I saw three cars and one deer.

New York State of Mind

If you want to know what is wrong with this nation, look at New York. It's bad enough their state dragged us through Weiner Gate by electing a tool to congress. Voters in Anthony Weiner's district continued supporting his remaining their representative despite his texting photos of his wiener. He did not have the decency to listen to party members who told him to resign. No, he waits until his wife returned home so he could have a face to face with her. Why he did not text her for and answer is beyond me.

Next, state representatives had no trouble giving their okay to a request made by one of the members of the Flying Wallenda Family when he asked their permission for a tight rope stunt across the top of Niagara Falls. I can only assume they felt such a stunt would be a tourist boon for their economy and with any luck, the tight roping Wallenda might fall to his death allowing the state to cash in on DVD sales of the event. Ever notice how these stunts are a good idea when times are tough but when states are swimming in money they turn them down?

However, somewhere between Weiner Gate and Wallenda Falls, the state of New York managed to drag out making a decision on legalizing gay marriages. It's not like New York was the first state to have to deal with this issue. It's been around now for the last ten years and any elected state official is asked their position on it so it's not like it's a complicated matter. You either support gay marriage or you don't. It's that easy.

Still, New York found a way to take two weeks to decide the matter while demonstrators gathered, television networks converged, and news papers wrote front line stories. The real issue should not have been gay marriage but rather how it could take "leaders" so long to decide the matter. Instead, they took five minutes to grant a stunt request they think will make the state easy money while dragging their feet to decide on an issue where they already have clearly stated opinions.

Unfortunately, New York is no different than any other state in our union. The simple and clear end up being complicated by elected officials who only think in terms of money and their own re-election rather than what is in the best interest of the electorate. It's a wonder our government gets anything done.

NICK CHARLES: Lessons For Us All

Nick Charles, the original and long time sports announcer at CNN, finally lost his battle to bladder cancer. Nick, along with his broadcasting partner, Fred Hickman, were the faces of CNN sports for two decades. How popular were they? Well, they consistently beat whoever ESPN threw in front of the camera with their nightly highlights.

Nick Charles was also was designated as one of the most handsome men in America but will be forever remembered as one of the nicest people whoever graced this planet. He held a special affinity for boxers and was a good friend to Mike Tyson from the early days of Iron Mike's career and remained so right up to the very end.

However, you need not be a fan of sports to appreciate Nick Charles. All you need to do is view Dr. Sanjay Gupta's CNN special on Nick's battle with cancer, "No Regrets, Lessons From The Fight," to know Nick Charles was a special human being. Instead of despairing his death sentence, Nick embraces the challenges, fears, and uncertainty in a way that makes the viewer realize how much all of us have to be thankful for, no matter what is thrown at us. To know you will be leaving behind your wife and five year old daughter is enough to make anyone angry, bitter, and question their maker. Instead, Nick teaches us all how to be thankful for all we have.

At one point, he says, "I wake up every day expecting to have a good day. It may sound trite, Sanjay, but life as you get older is about 20 percent of what happens to you and about 80 percent how you react to it." Nick Charles reacted to life in a way that few of us do even when we have our health.

He goes on to say, "People won't remember who you are or what you said. It's really about are you going to be remembered as a good person. That's victory to me. That's success."

If more of us, myself included, could embrace life as Nick Charles did, this world would be so much better off. Thank you Nick Charles for the life you lived and most of all for the lessons you left all of us.

Thoughts That Wake Me Up At Night

1. What is the greater national concern, the fact we expect six year old children to be able to write cohesive paragraphs or that a third of them are all ready over weight and headed toward diabetes?





2. Why do leaders who grew up enjoying three months summer vacations want to increase the length of the school year?





3. Is the war on drugs still being fought?





4. If performance enhancing drugs for adult athletes is wrong, why is it okay to prescribe drugs that boost academic performance for our children?





5. A fast food diet will make you run slower and for shorter duration but a slow food diet will help you run faster and for a longer duration. Why the hurry to eat?





6. When auto manufacturers produce a mistake, they order a recall. When doctors make a mistake, we sue. Why?





7. Golf and life are both far more enjoyable when you do not keep score.





8. I wonder how my boss would react if I danced around and thumped my chest after completing an ordinary task like a football player does after catching a pass or making a tackle?





9. There are not very many jobs out there that pay you a guaranteed wage of more than one million dollars a year while allowing you to grab your crotch, chew tobacco, and spit sun flower seeds all over your work space while rewarding you for being successful only one-third of the time. No wonder baseball is our national pastime.





10. Cats are only good if they eliminate a gopher problem.





11. Have you noticed it is easier to get a traffic ticket when the economy is not doing well and the price for those tickets cost more than when the economy is thriving?





12. During difficult economic times, cities lay off cops and crime increases. I am sure this is just a coincidence.





13. Why are people who are in charge of public money more wasteful with it than they are with their own money?





14. How come the cost for health insurance and college tuition increases at a time when personal income drops off but they continue to rise when the economy turns around?





15. Why do we have drugs for people who are bipolar but not for people who are bisexual?

120 Days Served

In February, a middle school girl was held down by a group of classmates in a city park and raped multiple times in Banning, California. It was the type of crime that drew multiple front page stories and over the ensuing months we have had a chance to see our judicial process play out.

For three of the rapists, each thirteen years old, it served to initiate them into the reality that our justice system hands out nothing more than slaps on the wrist for horrific crimes. The courts have decided the three are free to return to their parents or a group home after just 120 days of timed served in juvenile hall.

It appears we have lowered our standards of expected behavior so much that now thirteen year old boys may gang rape a young girl and be free to live their lives after just two months. Sure, they are on parole which means nothing when you realize how over loaded parole officers are with cases to follow. Meanwhile, these rapists are free to return to their normal lives, participate in school activities, and maybe, although highly unlikely, even rehabilitate themselves while their victim is left with a lifetime of emotional and physical scars to overcome.

On top of this, each of these monsters will be afforded their right to privacy given that they are minors. Teachers, classmates, and parents of classmates will not be allowed to know what these sick deviates have done because it might interfere with their right to live a normal life. It does not dawn on the courts that normal thirteen year old boys do not go around gang raping classmates. A normal thirteen year old knows the difference between right an wrong. They know what lines can never be crossed and never think to approach those lines.

Our courts, in their wisdom, have decided to release these predators while crossing their fingers they do not go on to lives of violent criminal activity that result in additional innocent lives being destroyed. What they fail to admit is any thirteen year old who participates in a gang rape is not worthy of living, let alone being allowed a normal life. They do not deserve to move forward in life and enjoy all our society has to offer while their victim is left to live with nightmares, depression, and a feeling of why hasn't the system stood up for her. These thirteen year old rapists have already proven beyond any doubt they do not respect or value human life. Why should they be spared theirs?

Perhaps these three were wired wrong at birth or were raised in a horrible environment. That is no excuse. Maybe if these young rapists were tossed in a cell with criminals twice their age, they might begin to realize the severity of their acts. Then again, why not just expand the use of the death penalty and show everyone we will not tolerate or support the lives of people who have no appreciation for it.

When our society allows citizens of any age to destroy the life of another person in the manner these teenage mutant predators have done, we all become guilty of raping that young girl. 120 days served; what a joke.

Debates Don't Tell Us Anything

I caught the recent Republican presidential debate on CNN the other night and came to the conclusion they serve no real purpose. Seven republican hopefuls stood in front of the cameras for two hours and told us nothing new, gave us nothing controversial, and said nothing worth pondering. It is not because they are republicans. I am certain if there was a republican in the White House, the democrats would have put on the same show.

The problem with these debates is they provide viewers with little new and only serve as an opportunity to give a national stump speech. Candidates rarely answered the questions they were asked. Instead, they rehashed those positions they want to get across to voters.

Instead of debates, why not just give them free television time to make a monthly fifteen minute speech on a specific topic? One month, candidates might be asked to speak about the economy, another education and so on. Let candidates get the information out to whoever is interested and be done with it. This allows all candidates the chance to go before potential voters without having to raise boat loads of money. Those that still want to raise cash and hit the campaign trail can do so but it will allow money to be less of a player in our election process.

Televised speeches can also be linked to instant national survey questions providing us with immediate feedback on what we thought of the speeches. Since the people who will watch these televised events are the ones most likely to vote in elections, it provides an accurate take on how Americans feel about each candidate.

To still rely on the same system of televised debates to elect candidates who do not stray from already known positions is like still relying on foreign oil to fuel our energy needs. Neither one is doing us any good so perhaps it is time to shake things up a bit.

Palin: Another Nixon

So what's the big deal? Sarah Palin made a historical mistake when she claimed Paul Revere's ride was as much to warn the British soldiers as it was the colonists. She is not the first politician to get her historical facts wrong and certainly will not be the last. Still, I find this to be terribly unsettling.

Again, I have no problem with her error. We all make mistakes like this from time to time. However, the real problem is she feels she has to go to such great lengths to prove her statement was actually right when in fact it is not. I find such behavior troubling from someone who many hope will some day become the most powerful person in the world.

Her behavior reminds me of Richard Nixon who could not admit to his role in the break in of the democratic headquarters that became know as Watergate. An early admission of his wrong doing would have played out much better for him and the country. Instead, Nixon made matters worse with the cover up that led to his eventual resignation from office. Richard Nixon, as brilliant of a man as he was, was brought down by his own insecurities and nothing else.

Sarah Palin is no different. She fails to see how admitting to a simple error makes her seem more human in the eyes of voters. She could have taken a non event and made it go away for good. Instead, she makes matters worse by trying to prove herself right, as if she knows more than the rest of us.

Jerry Ford, when he was not tripping over his feet was hitting spectators in the head with errant golf shots. Jimmy Carter ran so hard in a 10K that he overheated and had to be pulled out by secret service agents. And George H.W. Bush once threw up on the Prime Minister of Japan. Each of these events made these leaders seem more human. Of course, each also went on to lose re-election which may be why Palin is working so hard to prove she is right about Paul Revere.

When a person goes to so much trouble to prove they are right on a matter as minor as the ride of Paul Revere, how far will that person go to hide their more serious mistakes? Sarah Palin needs to quit trying to prove to us she is something none of us are - perfect - before she becomes another Richard Nixon.