Hey Teacher! Leave them kids alone!

Sorry – this is a little late to market but noteworthy.

The recent Texas School Curriculum Board decisions really point up how far down the road to ruin America has gone. A cabal of right wing conservatives and Christian Fundamentalists have the disproportionate and misplaced power to adversely affect the education of the nation’s children. The entire nation.

The state of Texas is the largest purchaser of school textbooks in the country and as such, the book publishers cater to their State School Board when they assemble to decide what the State’s educational requirements are going to be. Every year they have gotten more an more conservative and this year they have struck a blow fore the right! A blow for ignorance! A blow for idiocracy!

The Board’s obvious right wing agenda included the removal of Thomas Jefferson. He coined the phrase ‘separation of church and state’ and is not much liked on the Fundamentalist right. He is also quoted as saying many things about religion that are worth noting. For a very good resource on Jefferson, please click on the following compendium of his quotes::

http://www.nobeliefs.com/jefferson

(I’m not endorsing the site as a whole, just relaying this collection of Jefferson’s quotes)

They replaced Jefferson with Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and William Blackmore. Aquinas believed that man is incapable of doing anything without God’s assistance, thereby relegating mankind’s destiny to a preordained, confined set of actions. This sows the seeds of dependence on God and paves the foundation for a theocracy. Calvin was influenced by Augustine but then split from the Catholic church during the Reformation. Augustine’s teachings are echoed in Calvin’s beliefs on predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God. Once more we see the foreshadowing of a Christian theocracy. While the degree of Calvin’s antisemitism may be up for debate, he did not view Jews in a favorable light saying, “I have had much conversation with many Jews: I have never seen either a drop of piety or a grain of truth or ingenuousness—nay, I have never found common sense in any Jew.”^[1] In this respect, Calvin differed little from other Protestant and Catholic clerics of his day. Calvinism, which is on the rise in the world, has morphed to include the utter dependence on Christ applies not only to the acts of piety and prayer, but to all everyday mundane tasks. The roots of the theory of capitalism are also cited as having their origins in Calvinist thinking. William Blackstone was influential in defining and documenting Common Law, including property rights and was an ardent anti-Catholic – another paragon of intolerance. Once admired by Jefferson, the latter criticized Blackstone for his views.

They also opted to exclude Archbishop Oscar Romero, an outspoken critic of the right wing oppression in El Salvador. Romero was assassinated in 1980 by a Salvadoran Death Squad while conducting mass. He had been recommended to the curriculum as an example of standing up to oppression and because of his place in Latin American history. One member of the board objected to his inclusion because he wasn’t well known. The Board acceded to the objection in a near unanimous vote.  Apparently it’s no longer a good idea to teach people things they don’t about.

Revisionist history is intellectual dishonesty regardless of the author or the intent. I would equally lambaste progressives for such cultural corruption. History, they say, is written by the victor. Have we already lost the battle for the soul and conscience of this nation? I don’t think we’ve surrendered this nation over to a theocracy but they are rewriting history in Texas nonetheless. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. But what happens when the historic record is changed? Any lessons learned from one period in time are lost as the alteration yields different lessons. Since the actual course of history is generally determined by actions rather than words, might the course be a mismatch to the expected result? Or worse, altering the actual record can bring about actions of a different sort which could be to the detriment of the American destiny.

The we have the infamous No Child Left Behind law that sets a  universal standard of education and then punishes schools by denying funding when students don’t meet that standard. So now the teachers are teaching to the test, not fostering an environment where the material can be presented in a well paced manner. My own kids were introduced to some new math concepts on a Monday were administered the standards test on Wednesday just so the school could say the material had been covered. The 8-3 school day is a holdover from the days when accommodation for farm kids was made. A longer school day with longer or multiple sessions for each class (morning & afternoon math) would give more time for the concepts to be reviewed and for questions to be asked. In exchange, we can give the kids less homework so they can have time to unwind and engage in the activities they enjoy or o take care of their house hold responsibilities. This might allow them to actually have a childhood  – one that doesn’t feel like a compromise of available time. As a result, we might see the science an math scores rise in comparison to the rest of the world where we are in 15th and 9th place, respectively according to the last TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) which is given every four years. While the necessity of emphasis on science and math can be debated, there is no doubt that the global, technology driven world our kids face is increasing in complexity and the issues of ethical and political import they will have to vote on in the future demands an understanding of these subjects.

We are beset on all sides by distractions – an increasing number of social network tools, the increasing content volume available on the Internet, American Idol, reality TV, corporate reporting of pablum and sound bites. Intellectualism is sneered at by the segment of our population that is failing to grap the new world of complexity. We have a bifurcated philosophy on education in America. We lament the shortcomings of the system but we continue to underfund it and not pay quality teachers what they are worth. Given the role they play in shaping the minds of our children I’d think we would demand the best from our teachers and show our appreciation for them by adequately compensating them. This could eliminate the problems that arise from the union side of the equation (I’m not against unions – just how they protect the incompetent). There’s never any training geared toward how to cope in this overwhelming sea of technology and information overload. Education should include developing skills for researching this huge amount of data so we can begin to sort out the truth from the lies, the important from the inane. This is definitely a valuable skill to have in a world that is increasingly on-line. The world of globalization will march on and our identities as citizens of the world versus of any particular nation will continue to evolve. It does not mean the loss of individual cultural essence but it does demand a greater sophistication. Why not equip them for the 21st century rather than continue training them for the 19th?

1. ^ Lange van Ravenswaay 2009, p. 146

How to annoy Glenn Beck in five minutes or less

How to annoy Glenn Beck in five minutes or less

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What’s Wrong With the Liberal Media?

In a recent exchange I had with a conservative blogger regarding the evils of the Hollywood influence on the younger generation and society as a whole, he complained that kids knew celebrities better than historical figures and that we have a false and inappropriate obsession with celebrities and their doings. What he fails to comprehend is that this is very much the American culture, not the liberal culture. And it stems from a lack of real information.

The lack of what we can call general knowledge is less an indictment on the deleterious effects of Hollywood and more to the failure of the educational system, corporate owned and sponsored media and parents’ lack of knowledge and resources. I grew up with the same Hollywood influences – the studio star system was in full swing and yet through better (read private) educational systems, a family that spawned a sense of curiosity and a more engaged, less corporate controlled media.I was also blessed with a natural curiosity – if I’d had the Internet growing up, I’d be ruling the world today. Everyone wants to, you know.

I also had the help of news broadcasts of substance. Edward R. Muro, Walter Cronkite, Huntley & Brinkley – these were real journalists with genuine integrity. These are the guys who told you the truth. We trusted them because of their integrity. We didn’t mind a little honest editorializing either, like when Cronkite broke down and grew teary eyed as he announced that President Kennedy was dead. Nor did we object to his honest excitement when the lunar lander touched down and Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon. It was real. And the information was factual. Contrast this against Wolf Blitzer, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly and  you’ve got to be asking yourself, “WTF?!!!??”

The 24 hr news cycle, the ascendancy of tabloid journalism and corporate control of the media are huge factors contributing to the lack of information available to the population. Do you remember when people would laugh at you if you cited a story reported in the National Enquirer?  Aren’t you just a tad bit appalled when it is the Enquirer that breaks a major news story that rightfully belong on the pages and broadcasts of responsible outlets of journalism? I surely am.  And because the media have to fill, fill, fill, they’re repetitive, redundant and they trivialize everything because they focus only on tantalizing sound bites. Context is lost along with the true meaning and, by extension, the information is lost or so badly diluted as to make it meaningless.

Yellow journalism (what tabloid journalism used to be called) has its roots in the newspaper rivalry between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. As they both sought to drive up the circulation of their respective publications with sensational headlines, they each pushed the envelope further. Both are credited/blamed with pushing the country into the Spanish American War with their inflammatory and sometimes false headlines. Hearst is reported to have responded to the news that there would be no war with Spain (in Cuba), “You provide me the pictures, I’ll provide the war.” Later, separate columns appearing in Hearst publications calling for the assassination of President McKinley allegedly provoked the assassin to action when McKinley was shot in 1901.

This tradition is very much alive today with Fox news and their coverage of the Tea Party. (more on this fringe element and astro-turf movement in an upcoming blog). Their continuous drumbeat of fear mongering and rhetoric plays on deep seated frustrations, long held prejudices and ignorance in some individuals. What these borderline crazies or misguided zealots hear is validation for the worst parts of the human psyche and it is not hard to imagine them taking the next leap of pretzel logic that ends in violence. When doctors who provide health services which include abortions are repeatedly vilified as ‘baby killers’ by seemingly respectable talk show personalities or when unfounded claims of socialism or communism in our government whip people who have been told that someone is going to take something away from them. Sometimes people’s reactions are over the top. Sometimes these people hurt someone. Of course the personalities are then quick to point out that their hate speech, for that’s what it is, wasn’t aimed at causing the terrible act. Oh, they never intended for anyone to act out their rhetoric. They divorce themselves of responsibility or culpability.

Once the media outlet is owned by a major corporation whose primary function si NOT reporting and the parent corporation treats the new divisions like any other business unit – expecting it to earn a profit – then all objectivity is lost. That news division isn’t going to be allowed to report anything negative about he parent company or the advertising clients, so that news is suppressed. Their competitors aren’t likely to report the negative story because there’s going to be something in the competitor’s corporate hierarchy that the other guy will report on. All of it is bad for business so for the common corporate good, silence is truly golden. Money is to be made from all this tripe. The more lurid and sensational the story, the more eagerly we lap it up. Blame it on the American psyche, not Hollywood.

What’s wrong with the Liberal Media, you ask? You’d be more accurate to ask What Liberal Media?

Praise for the Unpraiseworthy

2010 marks the 40th Anniversary of the song “Back Porch Boogie” which I wrote around mid-1980. The opening was actually inspired by a riff from a 1968 arrangement of the 1967 hit Expressway To Your Heart by the Soul Survivors. I wrote the lyrics in 1990-91. I was playing bass in the 1968 band that covered Expressway. BPB is one of my favorite tunes. It’s fun and you can jam to it (I give it a 75, Dick). Songwriting – decent songwriting – is a challenge and you really need the creative and inspirational juices flowing. Unfortunately for me, working really shuts down that part of my brain from which the wellspring of my music flows. Somebody give me a bunch of money real quick and I’ll go and crank open those creative juice valves!

Racing headlong to my doom!

We are so in love with the fear factor. Not the reality show but the emotional construct. We seem to need something to be afraid of in order to get through the day. You’ve got a lot to be afraid of too, to hear some folk. Let’s look at a few of them – terrorists (foreign and domestic), bankers without hearts, frolicking hedge fund managers, health care reform, a black, Muslim, Hitlerian, communist in the White House, religious fanatics (all sects), a vanished (and imaginary) idyllic America, crushing credit card debt, a flagging economy, corporations without conscience, greed, massive reductions home values, lunatic fringe radical right rhetoric, anybody with a progressive thought in their head, educated people, democracy, fair play, and so on. And now I have to be afraid of my car too.

My car. My own physical manifestation of my personal space, my place of refuge, my fortress of solitude where I can sing, swear, talk to myself, rant, cry is now a new threat. Other people and their cars have always have always been something to, at best we wary of and at worst, avoid at all costs. But not my car. Yet there it is… just outside my door… lurking, lying in wait… ready to hurl me to my death in a horrifying, bone and metal crushing, high speed fiery crash!!!

Yup. I drive a Toyota. A 2008 Highlander Hybrid. So any day – any minute – now, I may find myself held hostage by Christine, except that instead of possessing a single vehicle, evil has somehow found a way to infiltrate a whole brand. But are these really the coffins on wheels that the media has portrayed? Sure Toyota is to be faulted for their handling of the problem, both before the story broke and in the aftermath. What we’ve learned about how the parent company, Toyoda, one-way handled the reports coming out of the regional markets in the US, the delay in deciding on a recall given the cost consequences, the lack of faith in the Toyota engineering staff who aren’t certain that their fix will work, etc., certainly shakes confidence in this company.

But wait a minute – we made them the biggest seller of cars in this country for a reason They gave us cars with features that we wanted but that our hubris-ridden American car companies refused to acknowledge for decades. And all the newest and tastiest of features – the things that really make these cars do all their really neat things – are all driven by electronics. By computers. Anyone with a bare minimum of experience with computers will know how variable their operations are, how unstable they can be. IT professionals will immediately acknowledge that the complexity of code and hardware, the multiplicity of manufacturing sources can easily lead to instability. All it takes is some little typo or misstated logic somewhere in tens of millions of lines of code and a random coincidence of typing, mouse click, writing to some remote corner of memory and KA-BLOOEY!! System crash! So why would a vehicular computer be expected not to crash? Crash!

So if we really want to continue with all the neat features that give us iPod connectivity, great sound systems, dazzling informational dashboards displays, DVD player(s) for rear seats, auxiliary power sources, controlled fuel consumption and engine performance which gives us the better gas mileage we insist on, there is no going back. There is no crash proof computer system. There is only our reactions to our self engineered realities.

Robert Wright wrote in the March 10th Opinionator of New York Times on-line about the probability of actually dying in a Toyota caused crash versus any other automotive cause (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/toyotas-are-safe-enough/). He lays out the math very nicely and shows us the risks in perspective and echoes the theme of this blog.

So pull back on the fear throttle, folks. We’ve got all those other terrible things to worry about – to be fearful of. Pretty soon we’re going to have difficulty managing and prioritizing our fears. A whole new industry will crop up providing us with guidance and wisdom on when to focus on which fear. Fear for fun and profit is on the horizon. No, wait… it’s already here! Fear=$$$

Conservatives Without A Cause

All these conservative who are lamenting a lost America that increasingly slips away from them… who are they!!?? What America do they actually come from? As a people who are and pride themselves in being a nation made up of strengths and weaknesses from all aspects of the human condition, how can we be so exclusive in our view of the world?

The white dominant America is gone and people are going nuts! They can’t reconcile the nuanced differences that make up an individual. They can only see the outer shell. Growing up in the 60′s with a flair for “unusual” clothing, I saw the gap first hand. I was seen as the oddball, the ‘outsider’ to these blue collar folk who were convinced that all this was just some incomprehensible fad. Their kids were OK, were ‘normal’. It was that other, weird kid with the single mother and no discipline that was the troublemaker. If only I’d had a father figure around to keep me straightened out.

Sadly, I’d had a father figure who was extremely violent and unimaginative when it came to discipline. His leaving when I was at the age of 5 was a blessing and even though my insane years (17-24) were the deepest challenge for me, somehow I managed to turn out OK. I won’t go so far as to say I grew up – I’m still waiting for that chestnut. But I digress…

Authoritarian conservatism is a very real, very dangerous reality. Here is a definition:
Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) is a personality and ideological variable studied in political, social, and personality psychology. It is defined by three attitudinal and behavioral clusters which correlate together:

1. Authoritarian submission — a high degree of submissiveness to the authorities who are perceived to be established and legitimate in the society in which one lives.
2. Authoritarian aggression — a general aggressiveness directed against deviants, outgroups, and other people that are perceived to be targets according to established authorities.
3. Conventionalism — a high degree of adherence to the traditions and social norms that are perceived to be endorsed by society and its established authorities, and a belief that others in one’s society should also be required to adhere to these norms

Sound like some folk we’ve been hearing from lately? The increased intolerance toward alternate lifestyles and different religions and the “populist” hate speech that is being used by the right as talking points clearly aimed at inciting the baser elements of our society are clear indicators.

Is this the America you grew up being proud of? Is this the America you want for your children? Is this you?

Olympic Commercials – Don’t miss ‘em!

Have you seen those really great Olympics commercials? Some of them are really spectacular!!! You might not have been paying attention and they are easy to miss. For example, there was the commercial where Apollo Ohno beat Bonnie Blair’s medal count record. And the one where Shaun White soared hundreds of miles into the air while gyrating and spinning and doing things no one in their right mind would attempt. Bodie Miller’s redemption progression from Bronze to Gold was seen fleetingly.

All these cool advertisments were snuck in between the regular programming: the AT&T show, the Verizon is better than AT&T show, the Meg for Governor hour (CA market only), the NBC Self-Aggrandizment Of Its Emmy Count program, the Windows 7 telethon and a whole host of other quality presentations.

You can really see the extent of the commercial glut as you attempt to fast forward through them on your DVR. You might actually miss an event as you lose your mind and focus in the blur of soul sucking consumerism, hypnotically sucked into a whole new level of hell heretofore unknown to Dante.

Apparently there are athletes from countries other than the United States competing in these games. Some of them are actually more skilled in these sports than the US. Isn’t that incredible!? Instead we get the personal bios of the American atheletes over and over. Don’t get me wrong – their stories are truly inspirational. It’s just too bad that the rest of the world’s athletes are so boring. And let’s not forget those NBC commentators patting each other on their backs – how would we know which three themes were worth repeating over and over again?

Back in ’92, there was a Pay-per-View option that allowed you to watch events 24×7 on three channels. It cost about $60 for the 2 weeks and it was really great. If you weren’t interested in one event, you could flip over to one of the other channels and satisfy your voyeuristic atleticism craving. NBC has consumed Olympic coverage and they really suck at it. GIve us back the PPV option and let us decide what events are worth watching.