Dear John Young:

You asked for this. Please cut and paste at will.

Barack Obama
President of the United States.
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr President:

There is something you need to know. I would be happy to tell you in person or get a group of educators to discuss the problems we are having with pursuing your education policy. It is a situation where communication is key.

I want to be clear. We have the same goals. It is just that the methods being prescribed are steering us away from those mutual goals, instead of towards them.

Honestly. This is a case of middle management gone awry. This is a case I feel, where the top and the bottom are on the same page, but those in the middle, are not to be trusted.

As member of a school board, one that is struggling to do it’s best to bring a district from behind, who has achieved progress in a way sort of like you have on the economy where we both started so late and so far behind, that we are being accosted as failures though if one actually took time to account for our progress, as well as yours, we’ve both done a pretty good job… I think for your legacy, you need to hear from us….

We are in Delaware’s Race to the Top. Those of us here and in Tennessee are having the same problem.

The specific problem, is that you and those in the top echelon are not getting the truth. You may actually think we are making progress. As the person most accountable, I think you would want to hear that perhaps the glowing reports you are getting, are not entirely true. This is something obviously which cannot be passed up through the chains of commands, because it involves them.

Truth in reporting is the issue. The truth is that what we are being fed, is not working at the interface where student meets teacher. In fact, the pressure all are being put under to fulfill these arbitrary deadlines, inane quotas, and poorly thought out trackers, actually is taking away from the time we spend with students. I repeat it is a negative influence on the results expected….

We originally approached this with an open mind. We wanted to reform our schools too. But, somewhere up the ladder, things went bad.

The prime issue is that we are being force to follow a system poorly designed. When we bring concerns to the table, they are dismissed and we are treated as inconsequential, and dismissed, accused of being the source of trouble. Instead, we were simply trying to establish an environment of mutual respect, where problems can be discussed and probed, and workable solutions can be found, and tested before implementation. It’s as if someone designed the cooks line of a restaurant and put all the necessary tools on the other end from where they were needed. It seems to make sense to talk to those who actually will be expected to provide results during the planning stages, instead of wondering to use the example above, why all the food always took so long… It can be prevented if we can be part of the planning process.

Our concern is our students.

We sincerely would like to discuss ideas that can keep the good parts of these programs moving forward, and utilize all the tools that we, as highly trained professionals, can apply to this worthy cause.

As every leader should know, the truth will not stay buried. It always surfaces, even if it is after the implosion has occurred, even if it is found by specialists sifting through the wreckage to find the cause. Simply put, we would like someone to listen to us on the bottom: the teachers, administrators, parents, students, and particularly a school board…..

It could positively affect the entire campaign.

Sincerely:

All of the below……

kavips.

Chik-Fil-A …Hate Da Gays…..Chik-Fil-A …. Hate Da Gays…..

It’s from a video spoof called Sheik Fil A….. Delaware Liberal introduced to us a week and a half ago.

A lot of people, especially men have trouble dealing with anal penetration of the buttocks, especially when that anus belongs to another man.

For that reason,  their squeamishness causes them to be against da gays.  Those most adamant against this act usually come from areas where if that act is done, it is not done in love, but is instead used as a brutal weapon.  Bluntly put, it is used in rural America,  Arab nations, and areas of the inner city, as rape, … a crime of violence and not mutual respect.

Therefore those from areas where this constantly occurs ( a more violent version of Mitt Romney pinning a boy down and cutting his hair,) tend to be consistently  against that act.   Ironically, most often none tend to see anything wrong when that practice occurs between heterosexual couples.  It is safe.  It is harmless.  It is exploratory, and it is consensual.   Most often, those who are violently against da gays, see nothing wrong with two old ladies living together.  They never venture to wonder what goes on in that old house.  But they have no problem with them being roomies.  Likewise they see old men living together as acceptable.  They are old.  Surely nothing goes on inside that old house…

Because of the horrible trauma that they have endured,  they fail to see that marriage equality is about love… nothing more.   People don’t stay together for years just to get off.  They stay because that person is who they want to spend their time with.   Every day they face a question?  Do I want to go to a club and hook up, or do I want to go home to my best friend, and every day they choose to go home to their best friend.

To be fair the same choice exists for hetero-sexual couples.   Should I take this easy lay being offered at work, or should I go home to my life-partner… It appears now that 50% of us choose to go home to our spouses.  The other 50% take the easy lay.   Based on divorce figures that is…

The more you look at it, the more two gays in a relationship appear better if not as good, as a man and a wife in a relationship.   It certainly isn’t about sex in a hetero sexual marriage.   Those of you who have been married forty years…. how often do you have sex now?  How about thirty?  Twenty?   Sadly there are an awful lot of people out there not having sex these days… despite the invention of viagra…

So why is it “only” about sex in a single sex couple?  It isn’t.  It is about finding someone you love, and choosing to last long enough together to see what that love will grow…..

So if you are against single sex marriage, you are against love.   And in the words of our Lord and Saviour, being against love,  is not where you want your heart to be when you pass over to the other side…

So what do you do about Chik Fil A appreciation day.  Their chicken is soooo good,  like butter… butter it is..  It is the only thing worth waiting for in a Drive Thru line…  So how does one balance ones innate desire to support something soo good you can’t do without, versus  someone else’s problem with someone expressing their freedom of speech…..

What if instead of gays, Chik Fil A was busting on Christians?..  What if they were busting on Muslims?  What if they were busting on Catholics?  What if they were busting on Jews?  What if they were busting on wet backs?  What if they were busting on Spics?  What if they were busting on Pollacks?  What if they were busting on Talley’s?  What if they were busting on Indians?  What if they were busting on Mexicans?  What if instead of gays, we were in the deep south of the 60’s, and they were busting on blacks, saying blacks shouldn’t get married; saying blacks can’t vote; saying blacks can’t go to restrooms with whites; saying blacks have to sit on the back of the bus;  saying blacks can’t sit at the part of the counter that plainly says…. “white’s only”?   Would you be one of those southerners laughing it off as something them northern city-fied liberals were instigating, and damn it, someone with southern pride was gonna buy every piece of chicken that Chik Fil A put down in the grease?

If so… I hope you choke on your chicken……..

At What Price, Loyality?

This is going to my hard core Republican friends. Why are you still supporting Romney?

1) You know he is not going to win.
2) You know as the election heats up, his Bain Capital experience will make Republicans untouchable for decades.
3) You can’t pin down where Romney stands on anything.
4) He tied his dog to a car.
5) He stands with black people and says “Who let the dogs out, woof, woof.”

Most of you are telling me, “I certainly can’t vote for Obama. I guess I’m not voting for President this time.”

Let’s say, just for argument sakes there was a presidential candidate out there who says to have good government you need: …………………

1. Become reality driven. Don’t kid yourself or others.
Find out what’s what and base your decisions and actions
on that.

2. Always be honest and tell the truth. It’s extremely
difficult to do any damage to anybody when you are
willing to tell the truth–regardless of the
consequences.

3. Always do what’s right and fair. Remember, the more
you actually accomplish, the louder your critics become.
You’ve got to learn to ignore your critics. You’ve got to
continue to do what you think is right. You’ve got to
maintain your integrity.

4. Determine your goal, develop a plan to reach that
goal, and then act. Don’t procrastinate.

5. Make sure everybody who ought to know what you’re
doing knows what you’re doing. Communicate.

6. Don’t hesitate to deliver bad news. There is always
time to salvage things. There is always time to fix
things. Henry Kissinger said that anything that can be
revealed eventually should be revealed immediately.

7. Last, be willing to do whatever it takes to get your
job done. If you’ve got a job that you don’t love enough
to do what it takes to get your job done, then quit and
get one that you do love, and then make a difference.

Honesty. Integrity. Principal.

Sounds good so far. Let us say just for argument, he had chief executive experience. Let us say just or argument that he once ran a state, one of the fifty in this union. Let us say while governor, this is what he did…..

During his tenure, New Mexico experienced the longest period without a tax-increase in the state’s entire history.

1) He cut the rate of government growth in half,

2) Left the New Mexico state government with a budget surplus and 1000 fewer employees (without firing anyone),

3) Privatized half of the prisons in the state,

4) Brought a state-wide school voucher system to New Mexico.

5) Vetoed 750 bills (more than all the vetoes of the other 49 Governors in the country at that time, combined) with only 2 overrides, earning him the nickname Gary “Veto” Johnson.

6) In 1999, Johnson became the highest-ranking elected official in the United States to advocate the legalization of drugs.

7) Shifted Medicaid to managed care.

ISN’T THAT WHAT YOU WANT? ISN’T THAT WHAT WE NEED?

Can you not think of a better way to show your lack of enthusiasm over a wealthy capitalist buying his way to the top of your ticket, by voting for someone who has character, who does what you’ve always wanted, a doer, not a talker?

And to think…. you were simply just going to throw your vote away.

His name is Gary Johnson. He is the new party’s candidate for President.

Remember Republicans. It is your values that are important. If your party has given up and moved on from your values, don’t think you have to be loyal to the word…. “Republican”… What you have to be loyal too, is yourself. Always. Never lie to yourself.

You don’t need to waste your vote on Romney. You probably need to find more about this guy, Gary Johnson, and then throw your support behind him.

Don’t worry it is not one of the two parties on whose ticket he is running. Remember, at one point in time, the Republican Party was a once a third party too. One that went mainstream because of its core values, its principles resonated with everyday American People.

GM Is Growing; Bin Laden Is Dead

And what have the Republican’s done?

Shut Down government.
Dropped America’s Credit Rating
Cut over 700,000 high paying jobs

What works America? Bain capitalism?

Bottom line,

GM is growing, Bin Laden is dead. Don’t forget it…

As Republicans Get Sick, They Start To Realize Why “Obamacare” Is Good

This story is making it’s way up the charts… It is about the perils of navigating the private insurance labyrinth, being kicked out, and finding salvation in what?…… A government run Health Care Program.

“Obama-care To The Rescue”

Bottom line… Private Insurance ain’t what it was under Clinton’s 1990’s… If you haven’t gotten sick lately, then talking smack about Governmental Healthcare, makes you a stupid-ass hypocrite.

Bottom line.

70 Years of Infamies…..

Photo Courtesy of the horse’s mouth

Closing remarks of FDR’s declaration of war:

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese government also launched as attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Wake Island.

And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As commander in chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. .

Then There’s Newt Gingrich….

Again, lifted from Der Spiegal

The current favorite? He’s a political dinosaur, dishonored and discredited. Or so we thought. Yet just because he studied history and speaks in more complex sentences than his rivals, the US media now reflexively hails him as a “Man of Ideas” (The Washington Post) — even though most of these ideas are lousy if not downright offensive, such as firing unionized school janitors, so poor children could do their jobs.

Pompous and blustering, Gingrich gets away with this humdinger as well as with selling himself as a Washington outsider — despite having made millions of dollars as a lobbyist in Washington. At least the man’s got chutzpah.

The hypocrisy doesn’t end here. Gingrich claims moral authority on issues such as the “sanctity of marriage,” yet he’s been divorced twice. He sprang the divorce on his first wife while she was sick with cancer. (His supporters’ excuse: It’s been 31 years, and she’s still alive.) He cheated on his second wife just as he was pressing ahead with Bill Clinton’s impeachment during the Monica Lewinsky affair, unaware of the irony. The woman he cheated with, by the way, was one of his House aides and 23 years his junior — and is now his perpetually smiling third wife.

Americans have a short memory. They forget, too, that Gingrich was driven out of Congress in disgrace, the first speaker of the house to be disciplined for ethical wrongdoing. Or that he consistently flirts with racism when he speaks of Barack Obama. Or that he enjoyed a $500,000 credit line at Tiffany’s just as his campaign was financially in the toilet and he ranted about the national debt. Chutzpah, indeed.

Yet the US media rewards him with a daily kowtow. And the Republicans reward him too, by having put him on top in the latest polls. Mr. Hypocrisy, the bearer of his party’s hope.

“I think he’s doing well just because he’s thinking,” former President Clinton told the conservative online magazine NewsMax. “People are hungry for ideas that make some sense.” Sense? Apparently it’s not just the Republicans who have lost their minds here.

Taxes and The Wealthy

Right click to open full image… Pictograph Courtesy of Viral..

So, can someone tell me again, why we shouldn’t tax the rich, and instead, balance the budget on the backs of everyone else?…….

I seem to be missing that little detail where that all makes sense……

Who YOU Beating Up Now? Huh?

Here is the blog that has been quoted recently by the mainstream press, especially after the video went viral, and they had to scramble to cover up the fact they originally tried to whitewash the incident.

“DUMB COLLEGE KIDS”, the right wing pundits squeal…

Not so…

Try an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, who organized the peaceful demonstration.

Or try an Associate Professor of English, who was grabbed by her hair, thrown on the ground.

Or try Associate Professor Geoffrey O’Brien who was injured by baton blows.

or try Professor Robert Hass, former Poet Laureate of the United States, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner, who was also struck with a baton.

I wonder how this child’s mom feels right now: One of them, forty-five minutes after being pepper-sprayed down his throat, was still coughing up blood.

Or the dad who was there, bedside, to welcome this bundle of joy into the world.

Or the Grandparents of these children… When students covered their eyes with their clothing, police forced open their mouths and pepper-sprayed down their throats.

What’s the point? What were you trying to prove, Mr Rogue Policeman? Ohhhhh, that you were sooooooooo tough… I bet all the women flock to you now, don’t they?

What were you trying to prove, Chancellor Katehi? That you have an iron will? Or that you didn’t care? You had to appease the wealthy donors. The tents were such an eyesore and had to be removed, even with the potential for a loss of life?

What were you trying to prove, Republicans? Cutting taxes. Underfunding institutions of learning. Trimming school budgets so the wealthy wouldn’t have to pay their fair share of the cost of living in American society…

Go ahead. Save them a couple of pennies…. Beat the student’s senseless.. Fill their lungs with pepper spray… Ram their lower abdomens with your batons. Make them unable to ever bear children…. Do it for your wealthy master. All so millionaires can save one more penny on the dollar they’ve already taken from us…

Oh, no… Wait… Why didn’t we think of that before… If you kill us all off now, you won’t get back your student loans we borrowed from you at those exorbitant amounts of interest you so graciously parted your money for….

Delaware Liberal and the Progressive Meltdown

Today the jobs bill got sent to the House.

Obama wants taxes on the wealthy, He wants increased taxes on corporate profits to help pay for his jobs bill…

As one reads the bill, one remembers that these same ideas, these same concepts were in last November’s finance bills, which passed the House, and got stalled in the Senate…..
One remembers these same ideas, these same concepts, were in the $4 Trillion Deficit Reduction Act, and all parties were excited that finally something good was coming out of Congress, ….. that is until the Eric Cantor contingent stormed out of the meetings because of higher taxes, and the votes fell short…

Metaphorically speaking it is like Obama (truth) keeps running into a brick wall(stupidity)… and we, keep blaming Obama for not being tough enough….

We should be focused on tearing down that wall…..

‘Tear Down that Wall, Delaware Liberal, Tear Down that Wall..”

Instead, in our frustration (exactly what it is) we blame the very one person on the attack….. ????

I remember a story told here once before, of a charge across “no man’s land” in WWI, where everyone was mowed down except one lucky person… as he stormed the trench, he looked around and noticed he was the only one facing a trench full of weaponry. In disgust, the threw down his weapon and walked away back to his own lines… In the strange code of soldiers honor, no one fired a shot…..

The wall has never been weaker. It is time to chip away at the Republican base, just like we did in 2006… We have facts.. they have Eric Cantor extolling them to remain firm… Our way gets America back on its feet; their way lets them keep their extra 5%. It would be wise to remember, that even Hitler had his dedicated youth during the last days… They have their Young Republicans… blindly following directives that make little if any sense.

Everyone needs to call them on it…

Now is the time to pull out every chart showing that Republicans ruin everything they put their hands on.. Whether it be the United States, the State of Delaware, or Sussex and Kent Counties… Republicans do no good at all..

Which is why they are so well funded….

If you were doing something obscenely illegal, wouldn’t you be paying off the law as well?

So look into yourselves and decide whether you want to be part of the problem… or solution…

The solution is to turn Republicans into a joke. And to do it publicly… The battle is independent voters. And they get hit with shit from both sides… Our shit, simply has to smell a little better….

Focusing on our frustration, only strengthens the other side; that other side which created the deficit, destroyed the global economy, lost 1 out of 10 American jobs, cost you 30% more in insurance premiums, Increased your gas prices 3 times, cost you 60% more for your electrical power, raised the cost of your prescriptions 450%….

Start tearing down the wall………………….