It's enough to make you...

#7 - Nothing makes a party like a Narcissistic Hedonist

2012-01-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

Now that you know sex with your children (or allow them to have sex with each other), not providing the basics, or physically abusing your children will probably result in civil servants on your front porch you are ready for the more subtle issues that will trigger alarms in the local office of your state child protection services. For instance, knowing who comes first in the household is the next key and critical step in parenting. It's a delicate balance, since too little attention and you'll find a state worker on your front porch, while too much "child first" (too much of anything as pointed out before) can turn you into a "helicopter parent."

Alllllllmost ready for college...

But hovering around controlling a child's life is not necessarily grounds for CPS to become involved. If anything, some parts of our culture sees this as a plus.

Remember, it wasn't abuse because the children were successful.

The other extreme, the parent too involved in their own life to be bothered with the children, can be a bit of an issue. How do you identify them? Sometimes, it's on sight:

Before the "Slutwalk" folks get all up in arms that I'm "gender stereotyping" and insulting this woman just because she's taking a photo of herself in her underwear in the mirror in front of her child, I have no problem with the activity MINUS THE CHILD. If anything those folks should be agreeing with me. If she's sexualizing herself then he's watching his mother do it and which sends a more powerful message - a playboy magazine with some random, unknown person, or your own parent? And yes:

the kid could see the same (or even more on 'top optional') beaches
it's not like she's engaged in simulating a sex act
one incident does not a case for CPS make...

Clearly this could be a mistake and it's not like other women have...

Yea, yea, yea, Fryar, so you found two...

Okay, so three, it's not like...

...

So you found some self-absorbed white...

....okay, notice that you've only had women...

ha. ha. But he's a baby, not like a child that will remember...

But that...

....you have got to be kidding me...how are these people parents?

"Daddy, why is Uncle Rick eating that naked woman?"

.... wrong on so many levels...

Remember:

Not everyone was meant to be a parent.

Let me make several things clear:

There are literally hundreds of these out on the internet. I've become convinced that there is a market for half-naked parents with their children on camera.
Children should feel comfortable with their bodies and nudity, but not in a sexualized manner.
Exposing children to sexualized behavior does teach them something.
This is different from incest since the activity does not result from an issues such as pedophilia, but from a parents focus on themselves to the exception of others.
Children are simple and do not buy into your complex bullshit explanations. So no matter how hard you try to justify dancing around on video in your underwear, all the kid is going to remember is that you were doing something weird.

This is not about people making stupid decisions (we all do that) but about parents who are so focused on themselves that the children come second. Examples other than posing for the next baby-daddy?

Cursing a child with a bizarre name because the parent wants to make a point.

Dear Mr. Jillette: Any regrets on naming your daughter "Moxie Crimefighter"?

Thinking you're above those silly "rules."

Even she knows that she is just there to hold the dish receiver safe.

Or, the very worst offenders, parents who think that they are above reproach and know all there is to know about parenting. You've met this smug, self-assured, maniacal windbags. And wanted to punch them in their respective privates hard enough to make them explode. For no other reason than as a culture we recognize that there is no absolute authority on anything. Our entire country is built on the concept that however it was done before can always be improved

usually with a robot.

Once someone has crossed the line and fully believes that he/she is the absolute authority on something as vague and incomprehensible as "parenting" there is no way this could end well. You can imagine how badly this would go with a group of adults, so why do we, as a culture, automatically assume that children are so different and willing to put up with this type of ignorant bullshit?

Right. Because there is no screening process for who can be a parent. I keep forgetting.

#8 - Anger = Stupid Decisions

2011-12-31T16:48:00.000-08:00

It is tough to understand what someone goes through without living that life. One no more understands the thinking of a Bengalese fish plucker, than an Australian aboriginal koala shearer if you haven't spent time actually living the lifestyle. Parenting is the same - so the single folks who want to give advice because they once babysat for a cousin for a few hours on a Friday...kindly drop dead.

A single mother, three children, four sleep deprived nights, and a baby that just can't be comforted will push any human being to their limits. And if you haven't been there, you have no right to judge.

It's easy to be the one on the outside brushing it off with a "Well, you shouldn't have had all the kids." but the reality is that our society has become one of encouraging single parenthood on a grand scale and setting people up for massive failure..

If this were true we could give her credit for at least taking some of the financial burden...

On television parenthood looks wonderful when it's well lit and edited properly. What is kept in the background are the intense moments where the parents are close to emotional breakdown and the child pushes that one last button.

Most parents, when asked, will go on at length about the wonders of parenthood, while their eyes seek out any reassurance that you want to hear the truth. The answer is always no; most people are just being polite and don't want to hear the truth.

So where our society has agreed that corporal punishment is an accepted form of discipline (as many as 96% of parents either use it or accept it) it is not surprising that parents who are stressed will take it too far and either bruise or harm a child when they snap in anger and frustration. And CPS will become involved.

(And this is the reasonable parents. This isn't looking at the mentally ill, or the parent who enjoys causing pain in children. More on that in another blog.)

Here's the reality: corporal punishment doesn't work. Period. At best it's a lazy, ignorant way to deal with disciplining children performed by people who either don't know what they're doing (which is every parent at some level), or are just not thinking things through. Unfortunately, when you have been laid off, can't provide food for the family, and the child who loves you is pestering for your attention to play with him or her, it is not when you feel the most creative or patient.

I have never struck one of my children. It's never occurred to me to do it. This puts me in the 6% minority of American parents who have never struck a child as a form of discipline. My nine year old has gotten maybe four time-outs in her life. On the other hand, my two-year old has a well worn groove to the time out chair, which is a clear message that it's not fulfilling its purpose.

We have not resorted to more extreme measures...yet.

I have never had to strike a child in my care. And that has been, literally, well over a thousand children from all walks of life, all mental capacities, and suffering all forms of trauma and mental health issues. Whether in a classroom, in public, or in a hospital setting, I have never needed to strike a child to discipline them.

Ever.

The issue with striking a child is that it doesn't work on a whole lot of levels. From an article on Corporal Punishment in Children - What Does it Accomplish:

Given that violence against adults, animals, and criminals to change their behavior is illegal, Gershoff questions why violence against children to change their behavior should be socially sanctioned, especially without clear and compelling evidence that it results in desirable outcomes.

Gershon looked at 60 years of studies on corporal punishment and noted many common elements from the study, including:

Immediate Compliance – She found that CP is associated with increased immediate compliance.
Moral Internalization – She found that CP decreases internalization of moral rules. This is concerning in that parents are more likely to use corporal punishment when they believe the child is at fault for some misbehavior. Thus, using a method that decreases moral internalization to respond to a failure to adhere to internal rules the child should have known is likely to perpetuate the problem.
Aggression – She found that CP is associated with increased aggression. This is especially troublesome, she notes, in that parents are more likely to use aggression to stop aggression. However, one study showed that use of corporal punishment to halt aggression increased risk for aggressive behaviors by 50%, regardless of whether the parent or the teacher rated the child’s behavior. Use of aggression after being physically punished for aggressive behavior is likely to be seen as an escalation of misbehavior, which was also associated with greater use of corporal punishment. Thus, corporal punishment is likely to perpetuate the problem.
Antisocial Behaviors – She found that CP is associated with increased antisocial behaviors. This was found most strongly for boys, and for children between the ages of 10 and 12. This is also troublesome as boys were more likely to be spanked, and if spanking increases antisocial behaviors, spanking to stop them is likely to perpetuate the problem. Gershoff in fact did find that CP is associated with increased risk of adult criminal behavior.
Quality of Parent-Child Relationship – She found that CP is associated with decreased quality of the parent-child relationship. This is more troublesome because most spankings happen between 5:00PM and bedtime, which comprises the majority of parent-child time together for most children. Spankings were also more likely to happen if the child’s misbehavior placed them at some risk for harm, and protecting the child is part of the parent-child relationship. This is also more troublesome, as spanking can lead children to think that aggression is common in relationships with loved ones. Gershoff in fact did find that CP is associated with increased risk of victimization from abusive relationships in adulthood.
Mental Health – She found that CP is associated with decreased mental health outcomes. This is concerning, as children ages 5 to 8 are most at risk for severe corporal punishment, ages at which significant emotional, social, and cognitive development happens.
Adult Abusive Behavior – She found that CP is associated with increased adult abusive behavior. She reports studies have shown that 2/3s of abusive parent-child incidents begin as an effort to discipline the child and “teach them a lesson.” If this means that adult antisocial behavior is more likely after being spanked as a child, given that other research shows antisocial parents are at greater risk to abuse children, then this could mean that spanking one’s child may increase the risk of abuse for one’s grandchildren.
This does not mean that no corporal punishment is recommended, in the same way that alcohol should be banned because of alcoholics, but there is still a demand that it should be shown to be effective, rather than ineffective.

In other words, let's keep doing it because, while no one has shown that it actually works, no one can prove that it does permanent harm either.

The same reasoning used by Meth addicts everywhere.

But many states allow for the striking of children as punishment as long as it meets a host of criteria.

But not douchebags. Where's the justice?

Missing the criteria means that a parent will probably end up in front of a CPS worker trying to explain a bruise, or a cut lip, or a comment that a child made at school to a teacher.

Remember that whole description above about the stressed parent with a lot on his or her plate?

If CPS were truly a supportive organization there to help the parent, then assistance with the stressors would be provided. This would allow the parent to relax more and actually parent children.

Remember the comment above about people who aren't parents judging parents? Guess who makes up 80% of the population of front line CPS workers?

Yea graduation! And for our first jobs, we'll tell parents how to parent! As soon as we finish off the keg!

So a stressful situation is made worse by an invasive state agency represented by a young college graduate quoting platitudes and reading parenting tips out of a manual. If the parent is lucky the issues that led to the physical abuse are obvious and one of the other 10 in this countdown and can be dealt with.

Actually dealing with the core issue, that society needs to come to grips that corporal punishment does not work, but parents need to be better trained, will go much further than spending more and more money on services.

#9 - Children require a bit more than watering and the occasional bowl of food

2011-12-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

Children, like animals or plants, require some basics to grow and thrive. Food and shelter, for instance, arenecessaries, but not game systems or $300 sneakers. This is especially an issue in the Hartford area because of the amazingly high poverty rate among children.

Seriously, a meal on occasion would be better developmentally...

It's easy to see how these two might getconfused by people with no basic parenting skills. Wanting your son or daughter to be cool isgreat if you're feeding them regularly. Lettingthem eat cake for breakfast once in a while may be fun, but candy is not one ofthe food groups, no matter how much they say they will "love" you forit.

Please substitute "steroids" for "candy" in the professional athletes home.

It's understood that 100% of couples that walk down theaisle to get married do not plan on becoming a divorce statistic. Similarly, people who have children do notplan on hearing that knock on the door from Child Protective Services toinquire as to why little Janie hasn't been in school for a year, but has beenin police custody more than once.

There are websites that will tell you, in hippy-huggy termswhat your child needs, but not providing these sorts of needs will not have CPS suddenly interested inyou. It is actually difficult to findwebsites that list out a child's core basic needs because, well, it just seems to becommon sense that you don't give cigarettes and beer to a five year old.

and yet...

The traditional list of basic needs for a child is:

Food, Water, Shelter,Clothing, Sanitation, Education and Healthcare.

Food

While typically we expect that CPS becomes involved with families of the children are starving, we have seen recently, CPS will also become involved if yourchild is obese.

No jokes about fast food being a "growth" industry.

While this is also asituation defined by Healthcare (more on that in a minute) it is also aquestion of nutrition. A simple internetsearch will turn up stories about people either losing custody of children, or childrendying because of poor nutrition. It's sobad that there is federal money available just to serve breakfast to children who, otherwise, would go without.

So why do people who cannot afford to buy food havechildren? Because the government willmake sure that no harm comes to them, and, in fact, the parents get manybenefits from having the children, such as more money and better housing. Sowhy are people who cannot afford to purchase food allowed to have children?

Future Democrat voters!

Water

Fortunately we live in a country where fresh water is free and plentiful. Sothere should be no issue here, right? Well, water may be free, but it is not the drink of choice for somepeople. It does not contain vitamins (which aren't any good for you it seems), sugar, or come in hip bottles. Itcomes out of a tap, it goes in a cup, you drink it and move on.

Sometimes advertising isn't the best thing to rely on...

Shelter

This is a tougher one, since any family can find itself onhard times and at the mercy of friends or the state to provide them withassistance. Living in a homeless shelter,at a friends home, or even in your car with your child is not necessarily areason for CPS to become involved. However, if the other needs of the child are not being met (educationfood), then the agency may have grounds.

Aside from the "horror" story of a well off familyfinding itself in dire straits, there are parents who decide, whether they havethe means or not, to have children. Teenparents whose own parents turn them out, homeless people or those without jobswho find themselves pregnant, prostitutes that don't use protection and findthemselves without the support of their pimps.

Although some turn it into a career move...

There is no discouragement from not using protection andhaving children because the state will support the parent and child with freerent (supportive housing, also known as Section 8) for as long as the childrenare living with the parent.

Clothing

We're not talking $300 sneakers or the latest fashion toappear on that reality show. We're nottalking $25 for nails every two weeks, jewelry or tattoos. We're talking about basic clothing needs thatcan be met at any Salvation Army, not the mall.

That's not a dig. The SA has some FABULOUS stuff...

And yet, in my experience, this is the one area wherechildren are not neglected. They may nothave food, attention, or education, but they are incredibly well dressed. One of the reasons is that this is the only outwardappearance of parenting and they don't want other people to question theirparenting skills because a child is not dressed in the latest andgreatest. Your typical person wouldquestion the friends they kept if this were the priorities, and yet we're nottalking about "typical" people.

Formal wear for the typical wealthy child.

Sanitation

This is not just the housing issue of is the place clean anddoes it have enough toilets, but also is the child clean and actually using thetoilet. If you went to a public schoolin the United States, at some point you were in class with the"smelly" kid. Some people havea body odor. Some parents do not insistthat their children bathe.

This may be cultural (French) or medical (don't bathe toooften) so don't need the intervention of CPS. On the other hand, if the issues lead to medical or social issues, thenit may begin to move into the realm of CPS.

CPS becomes involved with the odor issue is a result of either a disengaged parent, or achild suffering from neglect. When the kid is actually physically unclean this makes it an easier issue to determine.

Cultural issue or neglect. CPS will be the judge...

Education

"People educate for survival, they do not survive toeducate." Homeschooling has become more and more popular as public schools continue to break down and not offer basics to children. I will not be judging either. Or the benefits of private school. The reality, though, is that children need an education if for no other reason than they need basics in order to get a job.

Fortunately not to protest.

While we used to have truancy officers, we now have court systems, CPS and "educational neglect" statutes. The secret in Connecticut is to get them to 16 and then hope for the best.

The better the rap, the better the handout!

Healthcare

The 1996 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act included a landmark exemption for parents who do not seek medical care fortheir children for religious purposes. While all states give social serviceauthorities the right to intervene in cases of child neglect, criminal codesin 30 states also provide additional protection for parents who forgomainstream medical treatment.- When Parents Call God Instead of the Doctor

The line between a parents right to practice his or her religion and the child's right to survival will always be a hot topic. Putting this issue to the side (not enough room here) medical neglect occurs when the parent has no reason other than "can't be bothered" to get the child to the doctor.

"We'll get you that insulin shot just as soon as Daddy reaches the next save point, darling."

#10 - Incest is NOT best, even relatively speaking

2011-12-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

As odd as it sounds, there are people that need to be toldthat incest is not only very illegal, it will get children removed from a household.Despite something that should be common sense, some parents and relatives insist onengaging in behavior that will cause intense emotional damage to their victims,destroy families, and get them arrested, locked up and put on a sex offenderregistry.

On the other hand, there's always the prison shower to look forward to.

Incest does not always involve pedophilia. A household with boundary issues, or with childrenthat have had sex crimes perpetrated on them (the origin of the term"perped"), may see child-on-child incest as well. In the seven years I have worked in this areaI have represented clients that were either accused of assault, or claimed tobe the victim of assault, with acts ranging from the common inappropriate touchto depraved acts of sex and babies conceived from acts of incest.

Incest can be far more damaging than rape or single-incidentmolestation (both very traumatic incidents) since, in addition to the violation itself, victims ofpedophile-incest are doubly tortured both by the incident and the fact thatthere is nowhere to go to escape the torture. It is no shock, whatsoever, thatthe ramifications of this crime goes far beyond just the nature of the act.

Not only is the victim traumatized by the incident and continued living with the perpetrator, other members of the family have an incentiveto not just disbelieve the accuser, but to actively discourage them fromworking with the police or authorities. After all, if it is a parent to child issue then that parent will needto leave the home to separate from the victim. This can mean the loss of income, a home, and a family if (believe it or not, only if) there is adivorce. If the family believes the victim, then the family may ultimately be destroyed. Siblings will put pressure on siblings not tosay anything, parents will not support accusers, and even family outside thehome will look at accusations as "attention getting" rather thangiving them any credence whatsoever.

This is why Child Protective services needs to becomeinvolved as quickly as possible and separate the victim from theperpetrator. If there is an incident,the victim needs to be protected and begin victim treatment. If it is an accusation for attention sake,then the family needs counseling as to why it is that a child has to stoop tothis form of attention getting behavior.

Try getting a typical kid to talk about sex with anadult. Not gonna happen without a lot oftoe shuffling and embarrassment. Nowimagine that child accusing one of his or her parents of trying to have sexwith him or her. Ick.

So even if it is a baseless accusation, what is going on so that the child would be willing to make that accusation in thefirst place has to be determined .

Incest tends to be multi-generational as well. So if a person's parents were molested, theyare more likely to either molest their children, or to allow inter-siblingincest to occur. This, of course, canresult in pregnancy and further complications.

Sadly, to some, this is a romance novel...

It's a terrible mess that needs intervention and until someone comes up with something better, we're stuck with CPS dealing with it in their ham-fisted way.

The DCF way of handling it is to immediately separate the victim from the accuser and then bring in experts to interview the victim to determine if the accusation is true and to what extent. This will also be used as evidence in a criminal procedure so it is very important that the only people to interview the victim are the experts. Any accusation that could be made of "tainting" the victim's testimony will aid the defense should it go to trial.

And there are example after example of children that were NOT victims of molestation but who had ideas planted due to improper questioning.

Awareness of this issue, and the impact it has on not just the families but all involved, grew over my legal career. I was introduced to the issue early on in my legal career. I worked as a clerk in a courthouse during law school. Wewere randomly assigned to judges each day to swear in witnesses and keep trackof evidence as it is introduced in trial. This particular day involved a convicted pedophile who was appealing theintroduction of evidence used at the trial where he was convicted. A video tape was introduced and he, throughhis attorney, was claiming that this violated a rule prohibiting personaldocuments from being used against someone. On the video tape, as we came to find out, was the convicted pedophileat a party, sliding his finger inside the vagina of a 6 month old infant andexclaiming "Guess she's not a virgin anymore!"

Metal Detectors in court are a good idea for a lot of reasons.

The court sat in stunned silence. Not only was this man brazen enough to dothis, not only was the family either so used to it or so supportive of it thatno charges were filed from the incident (it was a separate incident he stoodtrial for, this was evidence brought afterward), but he was arrogant enough todo it on video in front of not just his family, but the parents of the infantthat he violated.

Who did not react. What came out at the prior trial was the story of a family paralyzed to move for fear of the ramifications it would have on their family and relations. So, despite the horrific nature of the crime, they chose to ignore what happened and just continue on, rather than tear the family apart over bringing a family member to justice.

This was my introduction to the realities of pedophilia andincest. I would come to find out thatnot only was this incident not an unusual one, but that it represented the trueissues with the crime - so few victims are either able or willing to testifyagainst the people who assault them.

If an incident is reported in Connecticut, then DCF immediately becomes involved. Not to investigate the reliability of theclaim or information, but to protect the victim and stabilize the situation sothat an investigation can begin without being tainted. At least, that's the theory.

One of the last cases I had as a DCF social worker, and the reason I left the agency, involved the victim of pedophilia. The child was removed from her birth family due to issues of incest and pedophilia. She was adopted by a foster family who raised her. DCF became involved in her life again as a young teen when she became pregnant. A year later she made horrific accusationsabout her foster father and was removed from the home. I was the social worker assigned to thecase. The young lady was not placed withher infant and she had to be transported daily to the home of her child. As the social worker, this was myresponsibility. Also my responsibilitywas ensuring that all of her medical and school records were up to date and accessible.

The accusations made included physical abuse, sexual abuse,and acts of torture. The first place Iwent was the school to find out how it was that this young lady could haveendured such acts without a mark on her or the school being aware that therewas something wrong. I went to thenurses office and requested to see her medical file. They brought out a three-inch ringbinder. I asked for her record and notthe entire grade. This binder was justfor her. She was in the nurses officedaily with various complaints. If therewas a test, a quiz, an assignment she didn't complete, gym class, anything thatshe didn't want to deal with, she suddenly had a pain and went to the nursesoffice. Despite this amazing volume ofcontact, they had never seen or heard any signs that anything was wrong. No bruising, no reports of any kind of mistreatment at home, nothing.

The foster father showed me police report after police reportthat they collected since she was adopted dueto her out of control behavior. My continuedinvestigation showed a very disturbed, very sexually active child, that was manipulative and willing to claimwhatever she needed to in order to get what she want, or retaliate againstthose that denied her what she wanted.

And I was the social worker assigned to the case. And, as the social worker, I had to transport her, alone, to seeher child or for therapy, or anything else deemed necessary.

I approached my social work supervisor, laid out everythingI had discovered, and asked that I have someone with me during thesetransports. I was told absolutely not.

"The foster father is a judicial marshal. All police and marshals are violent andliars. I will believe her before Ibelieve him."

I resigned from DCF within a week rather than be placed inan untenable situation.

This is why it is difficult to find foster families to foster or adopt the victims of sex crimes. The trauma is bad, the likelihood of the victims in turn becoming perpetrators themselves is high, and the issues of dealing with accusations that may be unfounded too much for the foster parents to deal with.

The third and final incident was as an attorney. I represented yet another victim of incest whosfamily had abandoned her after accusations were made by other family members. The only family member that was interested inraising her was the accused perpetrator. Shedesperately wanted to live with the perp and my job, as her attorney, as tofight as hard as I could to get her back to his home and hope that anyone elseinvolved with the case would do a better job than me. In child protection cases, the children areassigned an attorney, who is the child's voice in court, and a Guardian AdLitem, who looks after what is in the child's best interest.

So, for instance, if a child in a foster home decides thatthey want chocolate ice cream every night for dinner, the Attorney files amotion and argues for it, while the GAL recommends if it is really good for thechild to have it.

The idea that I would have to fight the best I could toreturn an alleged victim to the accused perpetrator flew in the face ofeverything I had worked so hard for over the previous years and, after somesoul searching, I realized that I could not emotionally survive this professionfor much longer. This case, and somesimilar, are what forced me end my career as an attorney and begin the UConnMBA program.

I was barely involved in these incidents, did not have tolive with them, could escape them at any point. But they were so horrific and the ramifications were so wide spread thatthey actually forced me, someone truly involved at a tertiary level, to quittwo different careers.

The impact that this has on the victim and the immediate family is as unimaginable as it is interminable, causing suffering for decades, if not generations.

Top Ten: How to get the attention of Child Protection Services

2011-12-23T10:53:00.000-08:00

Warning: Thefollowing series of blogs uses humor to help deal with the dark and depressingnature of the material. If you areoffended stop, close the browser, go put on a helmet, wrap yourself in bubblewrap, and turn on some cartoons.

Second Warning: Thereis no legal advice here. Call anattorney. If you rely on the informationin this blog for legal decisions then you are a moron and got exactly what youpaid for.

Third Warning: Seriously, this is meant to beinformational. Don’t email to say you’rethe exception, or the statistics are off by 1/2%, or you know someone who knowssomeone and they told you that something is wrong.

After 20 years working with kids, seven of which spent workingwith parents and children caught up in Child Protective Services (CPS), I get aquestion or two on occasion. The commontheme I have heard is "How does a family get involved with CPS?" The short answer is: be stupid. Unfortunately this is not a satisfying answerfor a lot of people and there is usually a conversation on the topic that canbe summed up as:

Be Stupid.

The longer explanation is...well...longer so most people aren't interested. But it needs to start with a background on CPSand how it came to be. You can't understand the nightmare unless you understandthe roots.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty toAnimals (ASPCA) was created first in New York in 1870. Yes, as a culture we care more for our petsthan we do for our children (this will be a recurring theme, have no fear). The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ASPCC) came to be after people realized that maybe,possibly, children should be treated at least as well as animals.

Now, while you would think that 137 years later we would bein better shape, you'd be sadly mistaken. That's only four or five generations of people and, seriously, that'sjust not enough time to get people to consider a different approach to raisingthese short human beings that are running around.

There are a lot of things we haven't solved in that time...

Up to the 1980's in Connecticut, the offices of DCF werestill in ASPCA offices. I like topicture the same cages used for either animals or children andpeople walking up and down the aisles to view and select one or the other totake home. I like to picture thisbecause it reminds me that our government has no compassion at all for anindividual unless it means a vote or campaign contributions.

It's not that big a stretch, believe me...

Someone, at some point, realized that this continued to showan open contempt for children (the same contempt that led to the creation ofthe ASPCA before the ASPCC - we love our pets more, remember?) and someone decided thatmaybe it would look better if they separated the children from the animals. Connecticut built or rented separate officesand, much like gilding a pile of vomit, they took on the appearance of reformingthe DCF system in the late 1980's without actually challenging the underlying issue- that children actually need to be protected. And they've been "reforming" that surface ever since, carefulas possible to avoid actually engaging the real issue.

In a radical move that almost made a difference, theConnecticut Judicial branch decided that they didn't like how the state handledthese delicate cases and hired attorneys under contract to represent parentsand children involved with DCF in an attempt to keep DCF in check. The averagepay for this type of work was $8.50/hour, but a dedicated core of attorneystook on the challenge of the work to help the most defenseless of ourpopulation. The model was successfulenough to warrant a separate agency with a larger budget in 2008. Unfortunately, this still meant that thestarting social worker for DCF made more than the attorney sitting at the tablefor the children, but the attorneys, dedicated to the their clients, perseveredwith the hope that at some point the state might actually be forced torecognize that it was cheaper to pay the attorney than to constantly deal withan out of control state agency. Unfortunately,the attorneys proved SO successful that the legislature, fearing actual reformof the system, dissolved the agency and moved the contract attorneys over tothe Public Defender's office who reduced the contract attorneys to $9.00/hour.

We got rid of those pesky attorneys! Now, back to placing children with child pornographers!

If you think that this is a bit of a rant, pleaseunderstand, the flagrant disregard for children by the state comes through eventoday. Look at the requirements foradopting a pet. To get an animal from ashelter you need to: be over 18, have a home, a valid state id, may needreferences, and you can be rejected at any stage of the process for making thepet adoption agency nervous.

To have a child you need:

Functioning genitalia.

You could look at this one of two ways - either the state istoo afraid to regulate who can have children, or the state loves pets far morethan children. I'm going with the lattersince Connecticut has clearly shown that it's willing to regulate anything from whatwe eat to what we can buy, to how we can drive.

Besides, PETA has hot, naked women. That's a lot more fun than dealing with murdered and disfigured children.

But Connecticut is not the only villain in this drama. Worse than an uncaring government, a person decidingthat he or she can parent just because they have a child is the same asclaiming you are an expert mechanic because you own a car.

Working on the one present from her husband was complicated by the other present from her husband.

So, how exactly does CPS become involved in parents lives?

It's a start...

A side note - to understand my point of view, I think it'simportant that you understand my approach to parenting. This way you can angrily disagree with me andnot bother reading on without guilt. Tome, children are like little adults suffering from amnesia. It is my job, as a parent, to protect themfrom harm as they learn what is dangerous (stoves, drugs, strangers in vans),help them learn to be independent (walking, working, stock investing), and loveand support them while making it clear that their time at home is limited. This is because each child has a personality,their own approach to life, and the only way to learn is experience. Try reading a book on motorcycles and then gohop on one for a ride and you'll see what I mean.

The point is that they are independent, autonomous humanbeings that need help, assistance and guidance in order to become fullyindependent functioning adults. Becausethey are little people, they instinctively resent intrusions into their space,or attempts to "control" their existence. Most children have a very balanced feelingfor fairness and justice and if they are not allowed to verbalize theirfeelings will find other ways to communicate resentment at their treatment. So each day in our household is a newexperience in where the lines are drawn between parent/coach anddictator/authoritarian.

To other parents it might not be as clear. Or worse, the lines become battle lineswhen parents don't view their children as people but as objects or things attheir mercy. Any adult can appreciatehow they would react in just such an environment, so why do we think thatchildren are any different?

So far, three children later, it seems to be working. Only time will tell.

But it takes more than poor parenting to get the attentionof child protection services. You haveto be pretty stupid. So here, for youreducation, are the top 10 reasons that CPS becomes involved with families.

Next #10:

The poor are poor for a reason...

2011-12-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

"You'll always have the poor..." Jesus (John 12:8)

Poverty is a product of civilization and results from the introduction of the city. In a hunter-gatherer society there is no room for poverty. The close-knit design of society does not allow for unproductive members. Either you hunt or you gather or you don't survive.

Of course, life expectancy was about 22 then...

When large groups of people began to congregate in one place, this allowed some people to specialize in tasks such as metal working or prostitution (it is the oldest profession), while others continued with the more traditional tasks of hunting or gathering. But the more people that came together in a city, the more that the work is spread out among those gathered, until there were individuals that could not contribute at all.

These individuals, initially, having nothing constructive to contribute, formed the first governments. But soon even these individuals ran out of jobs to give to relatives and neighbors and there were suddenly a significant number of people were left standing around with nothing to do.

These were our first poor. People who, either had no marketable skill or were crowded out of the hunter/gatherer market. Some cultures supported them, some drove them out to form other cities, some used them for sport in elaborate ceremonies that usually ended with dented skulls or well fed captured animals.

"THIS is what happens when you eat all the Dorito's and hog the TV for a week, Uncle Mark!"

But in the history of our civilization, we have not found, nor will we find, a solution to ending poverty. So the real question becomes, how do we accommodate the poor among us?

First: What is "poor"?

This is tough to describe since it is far more than being about money. Some people have very little but do not identify themselves as "poor." They work hard and don't want a new shiny car, or top line clothing so they feel they have enough to be happy.

Let's call them "dirty hippies" for future reference

Then there are those that find themselves in a hard spot. A trained worker that is laid off, or a college graduate that is fired and suddenly has trouble making the rent. This is also not someone regarded as poor since they have the potential to recover.

Oh how will she EVER afford her pot now?

Nor is it the individuals that devote themselves to family or public service rather than employment, since this sacrifice allows others to contribute more directly to society.

Let's call them "City Council members" for future reference.

No, the poor that will be addressed here are the chronically unemployed. Those offered every opportunity, but who choose time after time to not work, contribute, or in any way make themselves useful to society.

We're looking right at you, "Occupy Wall Street"

Second: How many "poor" are there?

Again, this is not as simple as looking at the number of families on food stamps or using supportive housing to afford apartments. There are families in those statistics that genuinely use those services to help themselves out of tough spots. This is a deeper issue - one of generational welfare, of sponging off the government, of using services to ensure that work is something left to "suckers."

The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) provides monthly data about labor force participation, income sources and amounts, and health insurance coverage of individuals, families, and households. The US Census released a report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in September of 2011.

What is Poverty

According to the federal government, if you are a single person you need to earn less than $10,890/year. With minimum wage set at $7.25 an hour, this means you would need to work 27 hours a week at minimum wage to meet this standard.

$7.25 x 27 x 50 = $10,150

(Figure two weeks for vacation since even the impoverished need time off.)

If you are taking care of a child (and in Connecticut there is Care for Kids, so child care is free while you are working) then it is $14,710 a year, or 40 hours at minimum wage.

$7.25 x 40 x 50 = $14,500

How many people meet this standard?

In 2010, 46.2 million men, women and children were in poverty, up from 43.6 million in 2009—the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty. This is the largest number (but not the highest percentage) in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published by the census bureau.

There are currently ~307 million people living in the United States - so this is 15% of the population.

Does Poverty equal Poor?

The short answer is - no. Not everyone wants the same standard of living. Some are happy without a television, some have a television but do not need 500 channels at $250 per month for cable. There are individuals, believe it or not, that do not value commercial goods in order to be happy. I have a friend who's only luxury items are a computer and a cell phone. He has Hulu and Netflix for television, goes to the library for books. His total monthly bills are less than $1500 a month, including rent and food and, most importantly, he's HAPPY.

So while there are people that would look at his income/expense ratio and say "poor" he's actually wealthier than most people I know. And he sleeps peacefully every night.

So how many of this number living in poverty are "poor" by the standard of this blog?

This is the critical question - how many people either find themselves in a situation that they can, potentially, recover if offered the proper opportunity, and how many are just here because they want nothing more from life?

I propose the following:

The Solution to "Poor"

“I can think of no one objection that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom.” - Jonathan Swift, "A Modest Proposal"

Let's look to the Romans and their treatment of the poor through the program of Panem et Circenses (Bread and Games).

"This was the Roman program of distribution of food, public baths, gladiators, exotic animals, chariot races, sports competition, and theater representation. It was an efficient instrument in the hands of the Emperors to keep the population peaceful, and at the same time giving them the opportunity to voice themselves in these places of performance."

The problem can be defined as coming to terms with the population of people who do not want to work or in any way contribute meaningfully to our society. I propose that we purchase 10,000 square miles of a wide open state (say Kansas) and build a city of apartments and services. We equip each apartment with a television, computer, and game system. Meals are prepared and dropped off to each apartment four times a day. The residents have no responsibility. They are not even required to move from their couches, if they choose not to.

The only two requirements in exchange for this arrangement are 1) that they give up the right to vote as long as they live in the community, and 2) they are not allowed to procreate. This is easy enough to arrange, since sterility drugs can be added to the food that is distributed.

Medical services are provided in the housing, while education services are provided online. If they choose to better themselves they can absolutely rejoin society to become productive members.

The argument against will be what happens when you gather a large number of people in one place with nothing to do. Won't a group of bored, uneducated, individuals just destroy the environment and commit heinous acts on one another?

Much like homosexuality is not an indicator of pedophilia, (despite what the United Way wants you to believe) just because you're poor there is no indication that you are a criminal.

I'd rob that bank, but that means actually standing up...

Normally the argument would be that it would lead to some form of chaos. The reality is not much of anything.

In order to be classified as "poor" for this placement, chances are that the individual is neither energetic nor creative. Remember, this is someone that has no interest in contributing so there is little concern that they will be any trouble if they are provided with enough to be happy.

The reaction from the general population will be...not much. It will actually cost society less to support this arrangement, and the people who participate will not be missed at any level since it's not like they are contributing now.

If anything, the real issue would be limiting the number of people who could participate. Sadly, anytime I bring this idea up to someone, their eyes inevitably light up and they want to know if I'm serious and when will this be built.

So as the United States tracks the path of the Roman Empire, really, a program like this is only inevitable. Why not kick it off in an organized manner?

Why DCF will be with us forever.

2011-12-12T09:17:00.000-08:00

The absolute lack of awareness beyond the immediate moment in life. (Keep in mind that soldiers do get leave and this could legitimately be his child. Sadly, in our Jerry Springer world, I don't think anyone would be surprised to find out that it's not...)

GUEST BLOGGER - The untold story behind the famous rise -- and shameful fall -- of Jaime Escalante, America's master math teacher.

2011-12-09T08:39:00.000-08:00

(In the tradition of 'no one follows suggested links,' here is an article that explains that no matter how much is done in Hartford to reform education, it is low hanging fruit to claim that it will fail. Why?

Jaime Escalante was rumored to be a Conservative Republican, one of the reasons attributed to the eventual collapse of what he took years to build. Fellow teachers, and the teachers union itself, worked against him, as you will read. Now that Hartford has quieted its conservative voice, what hope does the current education system have?)

Stand and Deliver Revisited
The untold story behind the famous rise -- and shameful fall -- of Jaime Escalante, America's master math teacher.

by Jerry Jesness from reason.com

Thanks to the popular 1988 movie Stand and Deliver, many Americans know of the success that Jaime Escalante and his students enjoyed at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. During the 1980s, that exceptional teacher at a poor public school built a calculus program rivaled by only a handful of exclusive academies.

It is less well-known that Escalante left Garfield after problems with colleagues and administrators, and that his calculus program withered in his absence. That untold story highlights much that is wrong with public schooling in the United States and offers some valuable insights into the workings -- and failings -- of our education system.

Escalante's students surprised the nation in 1982, when 18 of them passed the Advanced Placement calculus exam. The Educational Testing Service found the scores suspect and asked 14 of the passing students to take the test again. Twelve agreed to do so (the other two decided they didn't need the credit for college), and all 12 did well enough to have their scores reinstated.

In the ensuing years, Escalante's calculus program grew phenomenally. In 1983 both enrollment in his class and the number of students passing the A.P. calculus test more than doubled, with 33 taking the exam and 30 passing it. In 1987, 73 passed the test, and another 12 passed a more advanced version ("BC") usually given after the second year of calculus.

By 1990, Escalante's math enrichment program involved over 400 students in classes ranging from beginning algebra to advanced calculus. Escalante and his fellow teachers referred to their program as "the dynasty," boasting that it would someday involve more than 1,000 students.

That goal was never met. In 1991 Escalante decided to leave Garfield. All his fellow math enrichment teachers soon left as well. By 1996, the dynasty was not even a minor fiefdom. Only seven students passed the regular ("AB") test that year, with four passing the BC exam -- 11 students total, down from a high of 85.

In any field but education, the combination of such a dramatic rise and such a precipitous fall would have invited analysis. If a team begins losing after a coach is replaced, sports fans are outraged. The decline of Garfield's math program, however, went largely unnoticed.

Movie Magic

Most of us, educators included, learned what we know of Escalante's experience from Stand and Deliver. For more than a decade it has been a staple in high school classes, college education classes, and faculty workshops. Unfortunately, too many students and teachers learned the wrong lesson from the movie.

Escalante tells me the film was 90 percent truth and 10 percent drama -- but what a difference 10 percent can make. Stand and Deliver shows a group of poorly prepared, undisciplined young people who were initially struggling with fractions yet managed to move from basic math to calculus in just a year. The reality was far different. It took 10 years to bring Escalante's program to peak success. He didn't even teach his first calculus course until he had been at Garfield for several years. His basic math students from his early years were not the same students who later passed the A.P. calculus test.
Escalante says he was so discouraged by his students' poor preparation that after only two hours in class he called his former employer, the Burroughs Corporation, and asked for his old job back. He decided not to return to the computer factory after he found a dozen basic math students who were willing to take algebra and was able to make arrangements with the principal and counselors to accommodate them.

Escalante's situation improved as time went by, but it was not until his fifth year at Garfield that he tried to teach calculus. Although he felt his students were not adequately prepared, he decided to teach the class anyway in the hope that the existence of an A.P. calculus course would create the leverage necessary to improve lower-level math classes.

His plan worked. He and a handpicked teacher, Ben Jimenez, taught the feeder courses. In 1979 he had only five calculus students, two of whom passed the A.P. test. (Escalante had to do some bureaucratic sleight of hand to be allowed to teach such a tiny class.) The second year, he had nine calculus students, seven of whom passed the test. A year later, 15 students took the class, and all but one passed. The year after that, 1982, was the year of the events depicted in Stand and Deliver.

The Stand and Deliver message, that the touch of a master could bring unmotivated students from arithmetic to calculus in a single year, was preached in schools throughout the nation. While the film did a great service to education by showing what students from disadvantaged backgrounds can achieve in demanding classes, the Hollywood fiction had at least one negative side effect. By showing students moving from fractions to calculus in a single year, it gave the false impression that students can neglect their studies for several years and then be redeemed by a few months of hard work.

This Hollywood message had a pernicious effect on teacher training. The lessons of Escalante's patience and hard work in building his program, especially his attention to the classes that fed into calculus, were largely ignored in the faculty workshops and college education classes that routinely showed Stand and Deliver to their students. To the pedagogues, how Escalante succeeded mattered less than the mere fact that he succeeded. They were happy to cheer Escalante the icon; they were less interested in learning from Escalante the teacher. They were like physicians getting excited about a colleague who can cure cancer without wanting to know how to replicate the cure.

The Secrets to His Success

How did Escalante attain such success at Garfield? One key factor was the support of his principal, Henry Gradillas.

Escalante's program was already in place when Gradillas came to Garfield, but the new principal's support allowed it to run smoothly. In the early years, Escalante had met with some resistance from the school administration. One assistant principal threatened to have him dismissed, on the grounds that he was coming in too early (a janitor had complained), keeping students too late, and raising funds without permission. Gradillas, on the other hand, handed Escalante the keys to the school and gave him full control of his program.

Gradillas also worked to create a more serious academic environment at Garfield. He reduced the number of basic math classes and eventually came up with a requirement that those who take basic math must concurrently take algebra. He even braved the wrath of the community by denying extracurricular activities to entering students who failed basic skills tests and to current students who failed to maintain a C average.

In the process of raising academic standards at Garfield, Gradillas made more than a few enemies. He took a sabbatical leave to finish his doctorate in 1987, hoping that upon his return he would either be reinstated as principal of Garfield or be given a position from which he could help other schools foster programs like Escalante's. He was instead assigned to supervise asbestos removal. It is probably no coincidence that A.P. calculus scores at Garfield peaked in 1987, Gradillas' last year there.
Escalante remained at Garfield for four years after Gradillas' departure. Although he does not blame the ensuing administration for his own departure from the school, Escalante observes that Gradillas was an academic principal, while his replacement was more interested in other things, such as football and the marching band.

Gradillas was not the only reason for Escalante's success, of course. Other factors included:
The Pipeline. Unlike the students in the movie, the real Garfield students required years of solid preparation before they could take calculus. This created a problem for Escalante. Garfield was a three-year high school, and the junior high schools that fed it offered only basic math. Even if the entering sophomores took advanced math every year, there was not enough time in their schedules to take geometry, algebra II, math analysis, trigonometry, and calculus.

So Escalante established a program at East Los Angeles College where students could take these classes in intensive seven-week summer sessions. Escalante and Gradillas were also instrumental in getting the feeder schools to offer algebra in the eighth and ninth grades.

Inside Garfield, Escalante worked to ratchet up standards in the classes that fed into calculus. He taught some of the feeder classes himself, assigning others to handpicked teachers with whom he coordinated and reviewed lesson plans. By the time he left, there were nine Garfield teachers working in his math enrichment program and several teachers from other East L.A. high schools working in the summer program at the college.

Tutoring. Years ago, when asked if Garfield could ever catch up to Beverly Hills High School, Gradillas responded, "No, but we can get close." The children of wealthy, well-educated parents do enjoy advantages in school. Escalante did whatever he could to bring some of those advantages to his students.

Among the parents of Garfield students, high school graduates were in the minority and college graduates were a rarity. To help make up for the lack of academic support available at home, Escalante established tutoring sessions before and after school. When funds became available, he arranged for paid student tutors to help those who fell behind.

Escalante's field-leveling efforts worked. By 1987, Gradillas' prediction proved to be partially wrong: In A.P. calculus, Garfield had outpaced Beverly High.

Open Enrollment. Escalante did not approve of programs for the gifted, academic tracking, or even qualifying examinations. If students wanted to take his classes, he let them.

His open-door policy bore fruit. Students who would never have been selected for honors classes or programs for the gifted chose to enroll in Escalante's math enrichment classes and succeeded there.

Of course, not all of Escalante's students earned fives (the highest score) on their A.P. calculus exams, and not all went on to receive scholarships from top universities. One argument that educrats make against programs like Escalante's is that they are elitist and benefit only a select few.

Conventional pedagogical wisdom holds that the poor, the disadvantaged, and the "culturally different" are a fragile lot, and that the academic rigor usually found only in elite suburban or private schools would frustrate them, crushing their self-esteem. The teachers and administrators that I interviewed did not find this to be true of Garfield students.

Wayne Bishop, a professor of mathematics and computer science at California State University at Los Angeles, notes that Escalante's top students generally did not attend Cal State. Those who scored fours and fives on the A.P. calculus tests were at schools like MIT, Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, USC, and UCLA. For the most part, Escalante grads who went to Cal State-L.A. were those who scored ones and twos, with an occasional three, or those who worked hard in algebra and geometry in the hope of getting into calculus class but fell short.

Bishop observes that these students usually required no remedial math, and that many of them became top students at the college. The moral is that it is better to lose in the Olympics than to win in Little League, even for those whose parents make less than $20,000 per year.

Death of a Dynasty

Escalante's open admission policy, a major reason for his success, also paved the way for his departure. Calculus grew so popular at Garfield that classes grew beyond the 35-student limit set by the union contract. Some had more than 50 students. Escalante would have preferred to keep the classes below the limit had he been able to do so without either denying calculus to willing students or using teachers who were not up to his high standards. Neither was possible, and the teachers union complained about Garfield's class sizes. Rather than compromise, Escalante moved on.

Other problems had been brewing as well. After Stand and Deliver was released, Escalante became an overnight celebrity. Teachers and other interested observers asked to sit in on his classes, and he received visits from political leaders and celebrities, including President George H.W. Bush and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This attention aroused feelings of jealousy. In his last few years at Garfield, Escalante even received threats and hate mail. In 1990 he lost the math department chairmanship, the position that had enabled him to direct the pipeline.

A number of people at Garfield still have unkind words for the school's most famous instructor. One administrator tells me Escalante wanted too much power. Some teachers complained that he was creating two math departments, one for his students and another for everyone else. When Escalante quit his job at Garfield, John Perez, a vice president of the teachers union, said, "Jaime didn't get along with some of the teachers at his school. He pretty much was a loner."

In addition, Escalante's relationship with his new principal, Maria Elena Tostado, was not as good as the one he had enjoyed with Gradillas. Tostado speaks harshly about her former calculus teachers, telling the Los Angeles Times they're disgruntled former employees. Of their complaints, she said, "Such backbiting only hurts the kids."

Escalante left the program in the charge of a handpicked successor, fellow Garfield teacher Angelo Villavicencio. Escalante had met Villavicencio six years previously through his students -- he had been a math teacher at Griffith Junior High, a Garfield feeder. At Escalante's request and with Gradillas' assistance, Villavicencio came to Garfield in 1985. At first he taught the classes that fed into calculus; later, he joined Escalante and Ben Jimenez in teaching calculus itself.

When Escalante and Jimenez left in 1991, Villavicencio ascended to Garfield's calculus throne. The following year he taught all of Garfield's AB calculus students -- 107 of them, in two sections. Although that year's passing rate was not as high as it had been in previous years, it was still impressive, particularly considering that two-thirds of the calculus teachers had recently left and that Villavicencio was working with lecture-size classes. Seventy-six of his students went on to take the A.P. exam, and 47 passed.

That year was not easy for Villavicencio. The class-size problem that led to Escalante's departure had not been resolved. Villavicencio asked the administration to add a third section of calculus so he could get his class sizes below 40, but his request was denied. The principal attempted to remove him from Music Hall 1, the only room in the school that could comfortably ac-commodate 55 students. Villavicencio asked himself, "Am I going to have a heart attack defending the program?" The following spring he followed Escalante out Garfield's door.

Scattered Legacy

When Cal State's Wayne Bishop called Garfield to ask about the status of the school's post-Escalante A.P. calculus program, he was told, "We were doing fine before Mr. Escalante left, and we're doing fine after." Soon Garfield discovered how critical Escalante's presence had been. Within a few years, Garfield experienced a sevenfold drop in the number of A.P. calculus students passing their exams. (That said, A.P. participation at Garfield is still much, much higher than at most similar schools. In May of 2000, 722 Garfield students took Advanced Placement tests, and 44 percent passed.)

Escalante moved north to Sacramento, where he taught math, including one section of calculus, at Hiram Johnson High School. He calls his experience there a partial success. In 1991, the year before he began, only six Johnson students took the A.P. calculus exam, all of whom passed. Three years later, the number passing was up to 18 -- a respectable improvement, but no dynasty. It had taken Escalante over a decade to build Garfield's program. Already in his 60s when he made his move, he did not have a decade to build another powerhouse in new territory.

Meanwhile, Villavicencio moved to Chino, a suburb east of Los Angeles. He had to take a pay cut of more than $7,000, since his new school would pay him for only six of his 13 years in teaching. (Like many districts, the Chino Valley Unified School District had a policy of paying for only a limited number of years of outside experience.) In Chino, Villavicencio again taught A.P. calculus, first in Ayala High School and later in Don Lugo High School.

In 1996 he contacted Garfield's new principal, Tony Garcia, and offered to come back to help revive the moribund calculus program. He was politely refused, so he stayed at Don Lugo. Villavicencio worked with East Los Angeles College to establish a branch of the Escalante summer school program there. This program, along with more math offerings in the district's middle schools, allowed Villavicencio to admit even some ninth-graders into his calculus class.

After Villavicencio got his program running smoothly, it was consistently producing A.P. calculus passing scores in the 60 percent to 70 percent range. Buoyed by his success, he requested that his salary be raised to reflect his experience. His request was denied, so he decided to move on to another school. Before he left, Don Lugo High was preparing to offer five sections of AB calculus and one section of BC. In his absence, there were only two sections of AB and no BC.

Meanwhile, after seeing its calculus passing rate drop into the single digits, Garfield is experiencing a partial recovery. In the spring of 2001, 17 Garfield students passed the AB calculus exam, and seven passed the BC. That is better than double the number of students passing a few years ago but less than one-third the number passing during the glory years of Escalante's dynasty.

And after withering in the absence of its founder, the Escalante program at East Los Angeles College has revived. Program administrator Paul Powers reports that over 1,000 high school students took accelerated math classes through the college in the year 2000.

Although the program now accepts students from beyond the college's vicinity, the target pupils are still those living in East L.A.

Nationally, there is no denying that the Escalante experience was a factor in the growth of Advanced Placement courses during the last decade and a half. The number of schools that offer A.P. classes has more than doubled since 1983, and the number of A.P. tests taken has increased almost sixfold. This is a far cry from the Zeitgeist of two decades ago, when A.P. was considered appropriate only for students in elite private and wealthy suburban public schools.

Still, there is no inner-city school anywhere in the United States with a calculus program anything like Escalante's in the '80s. A very successful program rapidly collapsed, leaving only fragments behind.
This leaves would-be school reformers with a set of uncomfortable questions. Why couldn't Escalante run his classes in peace? Why were administrators allowed to get in his way? Why was the union imposing its "help" on someone who hadn't requested it? Could Escalante's program have been saved if, as Gradillas now muses, Garfield had become a charter school? What is wrong with a system that values working well with others more highly than effectiveness?

Barn Building

Lyndon Johnson said it takes a master carpenter to build a barn, but any jackass can kick one down. In retrospect, it's fortunate that Escalante's program survived as long as it did. Had Garfield's counselors refused to let a handful of basic math students take algebra back in 1974, or had the janitor who objected to Escalante's early-bird ways been more influential, America's greatest math teacher might just now be retiring from Unisys.

Gradillas has an explanation for the decline of A.P. calculus at Garfield: Escalante and Villavicencio were not allowed to run the program they had created on their own terms. In his phrase, the teachers no longer "owned" their program. He's speaking metaphorically, but there's something to be said for taking him literally.

In the real world, those who provide a service can usually find a way to get it to those who want it, even if their current employer disapproves. If someone feels that he can build a better mousetrap than his employer wants to make, he can find a way to make it, market it, and perhaps put his former boss out of business. Public school teachers lack that option.

There are very few ways to compete for education dollars without being part of the government school system. If that system is inflexible, sooner or later even excellent programs will run into obstacles.
Escalante has retired to his native Bolivia. He is living in his wife's hometown and teaching part time at the local university. He returns to the United States frequently to visit his children. When I spoke to him he was entertaining the possibility of acting as an adviser to the Bush administration. Given what he achieved, he clearly has valuable advice to give.

Whether the administration will take it is another question. We are being primed for another round of "education reform." One-size-fits-all standardized tests are driving curricula, and top-down reforms are mandating lockstep procedures for classroom instructors. These steps might help make dismal teachers into mediocre ones, but what will they do to brilliant mavericks like Escalante?

Before passing another law or setting another policy, our reformers should take a close look at what Jaime Escalante did -- and at what was done to him.

Adam Carolla Explains The Occupy Wall Street Generation, or, the "everyone gets a trophy" chickens are home to roost!

2011-12-01T14:33:00.001-08:00

GUEST BLOGGER - Why Money Can Buy Happiness

2011-12-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of linking to worthwhile articles..but so, it seems, is everyone else and, as a result, links are regularly ignored. But occasionally an article comes along that you should really, really read. And this deserves more than a link. It deserves to be recreated as skywriting over the entire country...nay...planet.

I like this article for a lot of reasons, but here's two to motivate you: 1) It is a well written spin from a realistic perspective on the issue. 2) Having spent seven years working with clients who fall below the poverty line, every word rings true.

Enjoy

as originally published on Cracked.com

5 Reasons Money Can Buy Happiness

One of the ways rich people make poor people feel better about being poor is to bombard us with songs and movies reminding us that, at the end of the day, money isn't what's really important.

These stories seem to feature people who have homes and cars and food, for whom all that extra overtime at work is all about getting a second summer home in the Hamptons. "Damn it, honey, your children are more important than those material things!"

OK, how many of you reading this have that problem? The, "I have so much cash in my life that my biggest problem is spending it on the wrong things" issue? Well, all of you can stop reading.
For the rest of us, I'm calling bullshit on the messages like...

#5. "Money Can't Buy Peace of Mind!"

Ah, the simple life. If you're greedy and shortsighted enough to worry about "bills" and your "career", you'll have inspirational email forwards like this one letting you know you're letting life pass you by.
That one details a conversation between a hard-driven investment banker and a poor subsistence-level Mexican fisherman. The banker is made to look like an idiot, because he's worrying himself to an early grave while the "poor" Mexican fisher man is really rich, because he knows what really matters is kicking back and watching the tide roll in.

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"Ahhhh... the simple life of poor people. Relaxing in the grass outside of my 2 million dollar home."

The lesson of the story is clear: All this hustle and bustle of the rat race is completely optional; the wise man turns all that shit off and knows that all the worry isn't worth it. In the end it can't buy you the peace of mind that those simple poor people have.

But I've Been Poor, and...
Hey, email forward writer -- did the Mexican fisherman guy have fucking teeth? When they broke or got cavities, did he have to go to a dentist? Did the dentist make him pay? How about his kids, did they have teeth? Because kicking back and watching the sun set is a little harder when you have a stabbing, constant pain in your jaw -- or when you have a toddler at home screaming about the same. Of course when I say "at home" I'm assuming that they have a home and are required to pay fucking rent.

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"Hell no! This baby's paid for in full."

See, I've lived that goddamned "simple life" and guess what: every day of every month is mental torture because your mind is constantly fixed on

A) how you're going to pay the bills and
B) what you'll do about the ones that are going to be unavoidably late.

That life is a constant battle of stacking your basic services like electricity, phone, gas, rent and water on a scale, and trying to figure out which one will allow you leeway on your payments without cutting you off. It's keeping track of which bills were late last month and switching off to a different one this month to avoid building up too much of a hole with any one creditor.

You spend every pay period, figuring out what you can physically survive without. Cable, telephone, internet, pool boy. You learn to manipulate your checking account, using the overdraft system to pay off immediate debts and buy groceries, racking up $25 fees for every check you bounce... which puts you further in debt on your next pay period.

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That $50 worth of groceries just cost you $75.

And you spend every second knowing you're on a tightrope with no net -- you hold your breath every time you turn the key on your shitty used vehicle, knowing you can't afford to fix it if it decides not to start. If you get sick or chip a tooth or need new glasses, you're just shit outta luck because down here in the poverty hole, you don't get fancy things like insurance, and just the tests to see what's wrong with your bad back and the follow-up visits cost every last penny you make for the next three months.

The prescriptions they give you to actually treat it would wipe out half of every paycheck.
So, you just ride out the pain and hope it gets better on its own. Or wait for a dipshit tourist investment banker to come along, then you can stab his ass and sell his organs on the black market.
But add in some money...

A few months after getting my first non-terrible job, I splurged and paid my electric bill early. When she said what I owed, I told the woman on the phone they had made a mistake. "Wait, the number you're giving me is less than what my bill says. WHAT SCAM ARE YOU RUNNING, BITCH?" After a moment she realized that I was looking at the "late payment" section of the bill, where they warn you about how much you'll have to pay if you don't get it in on time. Because that's what I always paid before. I was so used to my shit being late that I grew to just automatically look at that number, completely ignoring the normal part of the bill.

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"You're kind of fucking stupid, aren't you?"

The fact that I suddenly wasn't "in trouble" with the power company and that they no longer had a guy with his finger hovering over the cutoff switch to my house, was like a knot untying in my gut. It was peace of mind.

When you've spent your entire adult life worrying about whose couch you can sleep on if you get evicted, or how to explain to your kids that they can't come over this weekend because there's no water or power... you're goddamn right money buys peace of mind. Anxiety is the whip society uses to keep you paying your bills -- they'll send you threatening letters, they'll call you, they'll sue you, they'll threaten to turn off your heat in the middle of winter. You know what made that go away? Fucking cash.

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Sometimes, I just sleep on it. Sometimes, I fuck the Abe Lincoln right off of it.

#4. "But Money Can't Buy the Simple Pleasures of Life!"

The saying used to be, "The best things in life are free!" but modern bumper stickers have modified it to the more clever, "The Best Things in Life Aren't Things."

Via Hippieshop.com

You'll get hammered with that message around the holidays. You'll see A Christmas Carol about the rich, bitter old cocksucker who works all through Christmas instead of enjoying the simple pleasure of his friends and family. Or look at Fight Club's Tyler Durden, portrayed as the coolest dude on planet earth because instead of taking some tedious job in a cubicle, he dropped out of society to live in an abandoned house (the narrator boasting about how after a month he didn't miss television). Shit, even the hero in Avatar is leaving a futuristic Earth behind to live the simple, tribal lifestyle of the CGI aliens he's befriended.

It's a timeless message: Money and frivolous modern comforts are nothing compared to the simple pleasures of life.

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Like a game of baby football.

But I've Been Poor, and...

What simple pleasures are we talking about? A good night's sleep after an honest day's work? An evening spent with family and friends?
OK. Here's what they were sleeping on in Fight Club:

You know, because they're manly men who don't need any fancy "beds." And really, a worn old mattress recovered from a dumpster is all you really need. Sleep is free, and all those extras are bullshit wastes of money.

Only I've slept on mattresses like that. Because they're cheap, the padding is thin and wears out fast. And when it wears out, you have sharp metal springs digging into your back. You toss and turn, you wake up feeling like shit. Yes, when you're a teenager you can fall asleep anywhere. Wait until you're approaching your 40s, with chronic back problems. An expensive mattress and a cheap mattress is the difference between extreme pain and no pain.

Okay, how about an evening with good friends, just hanging out and talking? That's fine if you're not planning on feeding everyone and, more importantly, if your friends happen to live within walking distance.

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Like if you live in the field beside their house or something.

If your best friend moved two hours away because that's where his job took him, that's $40 in gas for the round trip to experience this "best things in life are free" simple pleasure. And when you're living check to check, that means the $40 is coming out of another of life's little pleasures -- groceries, or another bill that will generate harassment from bill collectors, etc. And this is assuming both of you can get time off on the same evening. The ghosts of Christmas Fucking Past can lecture me all he wants, but if my job offered me holiday overtime to work on Christmas, I took it so I could keep the heat on.

But add in some money...

The sleep thing is a great example, because in all of these parables about money not mattering, the people are strong and healthy and, if left alone, would be comfortable. But me? I'm an insomniac, so getting to sleep is hard enough on its own, let alone factoring in a hand-me-down mattress with a human-shaped hole in the padding. I'm also six feet three inches tall -- not quite as tall as Michael Swaim, but about twice as tall as Dan O'Brien. That means the wrong mattress leaves my feet hanging off the end. You can bet that one of my first real paychecks went to a goddamned king-sized mattress. And some sleeping pills.

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And an elderly couple.

And hey, what do you know: the simple, "free" pleasure of sleeping after a hard day was suddenly available to me. For the cost of hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

Oh, and suddenly, budgeting in the extra gas to see my best friend who lives two and a half hours away isn't an impossibility. Hell, once I'm there we can even eat dinner and rent multiple copies of The Minis without the stress of mentally doing the math to figure out which utility company was going to put a hit out on me. And having a good job means that I can afford to take a day or two off without being fired or setting off a financial crisis that takes three months to fix.

"The best things in life aren't things?" No, but they all require things, you fucking hippie.

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"The best things in life are free. Except this guitar, that's an exception. And these beaded necklaces. And these sunglasses..."

#3. "Your Children Are More Important Than Money!"

Find me an 80s family movie that isn't about the career-driven Dad who is too obsessed with success to attend his kid's Christmas play. There's a whole TVTropes page listing the films and TV shows and songs (like "Cat's in the Cradle") about what fools we are to toil away at work when no paycheck can compare to the joyous smiles of our children.

But I've Been Poor, and...

This is either the work of childless song writers, or wealthy screen writers who think that being broke means you have to go to Disney World instead of Paris for vacation this year. Yes, your children are more important than that choice, you shallow douchebag.

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Well, everyone except her. Fuck that kid.

But in neither case are they really grasping that poverty isn't a number on your bank statement. It's a state of living that your kids are subjected to every day -- not only are you living in a shitty home, but you're living in a neighborhood with other shitty homes, populated by other poor people. People who are living with the same constant stress as you. Everyone handles that stress differently -- some do it with meth, some get drunk and smack their wives around until the screams echo for blocks.

In my experience living in these neighborhoods, police sirens are as common a sound as birds chirping, or a woman screaming in orgasm outside of my house as I change my shirt near an open window. You just don't let your kids play outside in these types of neighborhoods without being right there with them. They don't need to be exposed to the sound of some drunken bastard screaming the word "cunt" at his wife while beating her senseless. You don't give the drug pushers an opportunity to approach them, you don't give them alone time with the twelve year olds who have spent multiple sentences in juvenile detention for burglary.

No, they go out and play when you have time and energy to watch over them. And that's when your own depression isn't kicking your ass so hard that all you want to do is lay around and pray for it to go away, getting frustrated and barking at them every time they spill the milk.

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"I will fucking PUNCH YOUR DICK OFF!"

But add in some money...

Does this all sound obvious to you? Well, that probably means you've been poor at least once in your life. Because that's the thing -- everybody else, all of the middle class people who want to lecture me about the meaningless nature of material goods, is assuming a shitload of things that still cost money -- free time, safe neighborhood, peaceful evenings, an absence of chronic pain or anxiety.

So yes, all those rappers who rap about how awesome life was in the 'hood, as soon as they got their record deals they got the fuck out of that hell. So did I, and as you drive off with your last load of furniture, you raise your arm out the window, extend your middle finger, and never look back.

I'm not saying that everyone in the nice neighborhood is farting rainbows and singing Disney songs to gathering forest animals. But that constant stress just isn't there, and you can feel it. When I step out to check the mail, my neighbors greet me with a smile and a wave. The only police car I've seen on the block is the one parked in front of an actual cop's house. If the 80 year old couple across the street is cooking meth, they're doing it respectfully under the radar.

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"Ahhhh... time for my morning X."

My kids now have a freedom that took them a while to get used to. They can go outside without me being right up their asses. They can play with the neighborhood kids without any of us worrying that they'll end up coming home with knowledge on how to construct pipe bombs. When they break out the Nerf guns and start shooting each other in the living room, I have to remind them that we have a yard big enough to build three basketball courts on, and it would be much more fun to do it in that big open space, far away from my collection of priceless Faberge Eggs.

#2. "The Best Hobbies Don't Cost a Thing!"

In that inspirational email forward about the investment banker and the Mexican fisherman, they made sure to portray the fisherman as playing the guitar in his spare time. In Titanic, when Rose leaves the stuffy rich people (quietly sipping their brandy and smoking their cigars) she goes below deck to find the poor passengers rocking out with their crude instruments:

Via Titanicmovie.com

Likewise, Phoebe in Friends was the poorest of the group (and was homeless in the past) but that's okay, because she had her guitar to keep her sane. The message is the same every time, of course: It doesn't matter how poor you are, nothing is stopping you from singing a song, or writing a poem, or sculpting some meaningful shit out of clay.

But I've Been Poor, and...

First of all, there's the time issue. I write for a living now, obviously, but when I was trying to do it as a hobby? Yeah, ask me how much I felt like writing after 12 hours of work/commute and then all the other time spent doing home shit after that (eat, shower, tend to the kids, etc). Unless you wanted an article on "6 Ways I'd Like to Fucking Punch All the Truck Drivers in the Cock", all you'd get out of me is some low moans about my aching back while I stared sleepily at some internet boobs. Creativity takes energy. Energy that a waitress or roofer or warehouse worker isn't going to have at the end of the day.

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"Man, I can't wait to get home and do more shit."

And that's assuming that your hobby is the sort that doesn't require supplies. My fiancee loves to paint, but when we were living in that funk, paint and canvas were luxuries that we could only justify as a birthday gift. Most people don't make their own paint by extracting pigment from berries and squids, and a nice set of oil paint will run you several hundred dollars.

But add in some money...

I've written more in the last six months than in the entire 36 previous years of my life. Why? Because I got a fucking paycheck for doing it. Not because creativity requires money, but because time costs money -- the paycheck allowed me to drop the non-writing work so I would actually have time and energy to put into the writing.

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"What's 182 other words for 'cock'?"

And even though you think of writing as one of those free hobbies, it's sure as fuck not if you want people to actually read it. That requires an internet connection and web hosting, both of which were at the bottom of the priority list when it came time to decide what utility we were going to get turned off this month. You can talk about how money is a bad motivation for creativity and how commercialism ruins art, but all I know is now I don't have to choose between expressing myself and what flavor of Ramen Noodles I'll be serving for every meal this week.

#1. "Money Can't Buy Love!"

In Titanic, the hero was poor, the villain was rich and whenever there are two dudes competing for a woman, we're supposed to be rooting for the poor guy (also see: Dirty Dancing, Some Kind of Wonderful, Pretty in Pink and a shitload of others). The message is always the same: when it comes to love, money doesn't matter.

But I've Been Poor, and...

Let's start with the obvious: the less you're able to take care of yourself, the harder it is to find someone who will accept you into their lives, romantically. I'm not talking about gold diggers or materialistic assholes here, either -- I'm talking about the common sense that scares us away from somebody in a constant state of financial insecurity. Being poor obviously doesn't take you out of the running, but it does make it harder, as you're removing a part of that equation and relying on the rest of you to reel them in. Looks, personality, charisma, etc. Let's face it, you can't pay for dinner with a sweet crotch bulge.

But then you just have the practical matter that if your lover doesn't live in the same town as you, it fucking costs money to get close enough to them to touch their boobs. This comes up all the time now in the internet age -- like millions of couples, my fiance and I met online and I found out she lived a few states away.

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And also, she is a polar bear.

Shit, there was a time in my life when I couldn't even have afforded the webcam or internet connection to do video chat with her. Bus and train rides are a couple hundred bucks over that distance, on top of sucking days out of your work schedule, and don't even mention flying -- when you're poor, you might as well be suggesting I just buy a helicopter.
But add in some money...

Or, in my case, when my fiancee and I decided to live together, it meant her coming to a state where I was the only person she knew. That meant she had no job, which in turn meant I had to support both of us until she got one. That quite simply wouldn't have been possible before we started climbing out of the poverty dungeon.

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Careful. Before we left, we shit all over the place.

No, money can't buy you the actual state of being in love. But a lack of money can most certainly fucking prevent it. It can keep you physically separated, and the unfortunate truth is that the overwhelming majority of long distance relationships don't last terribly long, for obvious reasons. So forget the romantic movies, forget the love songs about how no obstacle can stand between us. Bringing us to the same physical location required a shitload of cash.

I understand why those songs and movie plots exist. They're written by people with money to remind other people with money that money can't solve 100% of their problems. But they have nothing to say to people like us. Because even if you're a deep, thoughtful soul who appreciates all of the simple pleasures in life, money still fucking matters.

GUEST BLOGGER - Why Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican.

2011-11-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

Link to original article here.

Why Martin Luther King Was Republican

by Frances Rice

08/16/2006

It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S's: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism.

It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. The Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan to lynch and terrorize blacks. The Democrats fought to prevent the passage of every civil rights law beginning with the civil rights laws of the 1860s, and continuing with the civil rights laws of the 1950s and 1960s.

During the civil rights era of the 1960s, Dr. King was fighting the Democrats who stood in the school house doors, turned skin-burning fire hoses on blacks and let loose vicious dogs. It was Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools. President Eisenhower also appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court, which resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation. Much is made of Democrat President Harry Truman's issuing an Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military. Not mentioned is the fact that it was Eisenhower who actually took action to effectively end segregation in the military.

Democrat President John F. Kennedy is lauded as a proponent of civil rights. However, Kennedy voted against the 1957 Civil Rights Act while he was a senator, as did Democrat Sen. Al Gore Sr. And after he became President, Kennedy was opposed to the 1963 March on Washington by Dr. King that was organized by A. Phillip Randolph, who was a black Republican. President Kennedy, through his brother Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy, had Dr. King wiretapped and investigated by the FBI on suspicion of being a Communist in order to undermine Dr. King.

In March of 1968, while referring to Dr. King's leaving Memphis, Tenn., after riots broke out where a teenager was killed, Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.), a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a "trouble-maker" who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Given the circumstances of that era, it is understandable why Dr. King was a Republican. It was the Republicans who fought to free blacks from slavery and amended the Constitution to grant blacks freedom (13th Amendment), citizenship (14th Amendment) and the right to vote (15th Amendment). Republicans passed the civil rights laws of the 1860s, including the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Act of 1867 that was designed to establish a new government system in the Democrat-controlled South, one that was fair to blacks. Republicans also started the NAACP and affirmative action with Republican President Richard Nixon's 1969 Philadelphia Plan (crafted by black Republican Art Fletcher) that set the nation's fist goals and timetables. Although affirmative action now has been turned by the Democrats into an unfair quota system, affirmative action was begun by Nixon to counter the harm caused to blacks when Democrat President Woodrow Wilson in 1912 kicked all of the blacks out of federal government jobs.

Few black Americans know that it was Republicans who founded the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Unknown also is the fact that Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen from Illinois was key to the passage of civil rights legislation in 1957, 1960, 1964 and 1965. Not mentioned in recent media stories about extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is the fact that Dirksen wrote the language for the bill. Dirksen also crafted the language for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which prohibited discrimination in housing. President Lyndon Johnson could not have achieved passage of civil rights legislation without the support of Republicans.

Critics of Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater, who ran for President against Johnson in 1964, ignore the fact that Goldwater wanted to force the Democrats in the South to stop passing discriminatory laws and thus end the need to continuously enact federal civil rights legislation.

Those who wrongly criticize Goldwater also ignore the fact that Johnson, in his 4,500 State of the Union Address delivered on Jan. 4, 1965, mentioned scores of topics for federal action, but only 35 words were devoted to civil rights. He did not mention one word about voting rights. Then in 1967, showing his anger with Dr. King's protest against the Vietnam War, Johnson referred to Dr. King as "that Nigger preacher."

Contrary to the false assertions by Democrats, the racist "Dixiecrats" did not all migrate to the Republican Party. "Dixiecrats" declared that they would rather vote for a "yellow dog" than vote for a Republican because the Republican Party was know as the party for blacks. Today, some of those "Dixiecrats" continue their political careers as Democrats, including Robert Byrd, who is well known for having been a "Keagle" in the Ku Klux Klan.

Another former "Dixiecrat" is former Democrat Sen. Ernest Hollings, who put up the Confederate flag over the state Capitol when he was the governor of South Carolina. There was no public outcry when Democrat Sen. Christopher Dodd praised Byrd as someone who would have been "a great senator for any moment," including the Civil War. Yet Democrats denounced then-Senate GOP leader Trent Lott for his remarks about Sen. Strom Thurmond (R.-S.C.). Thurmond was never in the Ku Klux Klan and defended blacks against lynching and the discriminatory poll taxes imposed on blacks by Democrats. If Byrd and Thurmond were alive during the Civil War, and Byrd had his way, Thurmond would have been lynched.

The 30-year odyssey of the South switching to the Republican Party began in the 1970s with President Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy," which was an effort on the part of Nixon to get Christians in the South to stop voting for Democrats who did not share their values and were still discriminating against their fellow Christians who happened to be black. Georgia did not switch until 2002, and some Southern states, including Louisiana, are still controlled by Democrats.

Today, Democrats, in pursuit of their socialist agenda, are fighting to keep blacks poor, angry and voting for Democrats. Examples of how egregiously Democrats act to keep blacks in poverty are numerous.

After wrongly convincing black Americans that a minimum wage increase was a good thing, the Democrats on August 3 kept their promise and killed the minimum wage bill passed by House Republicans on July 29. The blockage of the minimum wage bill was the second time in as many years that Democrats stuck a legislative finger in the eye of black Americans. Senate Democrats on April 1, 2004, blocked passage of a bill to renew the 1996 welfare reform law that was pushed by Republicans and vetoed twice by President Clinton before he finally signed it. Since the welfare reform law expired in September 2002, Congress had passed six extensions, and the latest expired on June 30, 2004. Opposed by the Democrats are school choice opportunity scholarships that would help black children get out of failing schools and Social Security reform, even though blacks on average lose $10,000 in the current system because of a shorter life expectancy than whites (72.2 years for blacks vs. 77.5 years for whites).

Democrats have been running our inner-cities for the past 30 to 40 years, and blacks are still complaining about the same problems. More than $7 trillion dollars have been spent on poverty programs since Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty with little, if any, impact on poverty. Diabolically, every election cycle, Democrats blame Republicans for the deplorable conditions in the inner-cities, then incite blacks to cast a protest vote against Republicans.

In order to break the Democrats' stranglehold on the black vote and free black Americans from the Democrat Party's economic plantation, we must shed the light of truth on the Democrats. We must demonstrate that the Democrat Party policies of socialism and dependency on government handouts offer the pathway to poverty, while Republican Party principles of hard work, personal responsibility, getting a good education and ownership of homes and small businesses offer the pathway to prosperity.

Ms. Rice is chairman of the National Black Republican Association (NBRA) and may be contacted at www.NBRA.info.

Our School Budget or, I know why the caged bird bangs it's cup on the bars and yells "ATTICA!"

2011-11-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

Fast Facts about the 2011-2012 budget:

The school board budget for 2011-2012 is $395 million dollars. The City of Hartford only takes in ~$295 million in taxes, fees and other revenue. This is only 75% of our education budget. So Hartford starts out $100 million in the hole before our first police officer is paid or our first trash pick-up is made.

We can't be THAT far under water - I can still see light!

The city budget is $550 million dollars, of which is $283 million dollar for education. You notice a bit of a difference there? Because not only does the federal and state government give us money to help with our education budget ($112 million) but the city also gets an additional $248 million in "inter-government revenue" So, in total we get ~$360 million of our $662 million dollar true budget from other resources.

Unfortunately we don't get cheese at the end if we solve it.

There will be an upcoming blog that will (try) to explain how the budget works, so more on this later.

The city claims that it has 25,974 students enrolled. Dividing this amount by the budget gives us $15,238 per student to run the school system. After you take out salaries, benefits and cost of running the buildings, what is left over is $384.62 per student to spend on books and materials, such as paper, chemistry supplies, computers, etc.

Yes, you read that correctly, only 2.5% of the board of education budget is for actual teaching materials. Everything else just provides a building for the students to sit in and someone to stand in front of them.

Clearly the Board of Education has never heard this quote since the students don't seem to have much available to purchase things to learn with.

Although there is also a great argument that the textbook industry is an even worse joke with no punchline.

If you've never read it, find a copy. It's as funny as it is scary.

The bulk of the expense in the budget is for salaries and benefits:

$279 million for 3,017 - full time positions. That works out to 8.6 full time professionals for every student enrolled, or $10,741 (1/3) per student is earmarked for salary and benefits for staff. Clearly if you go into a classroom of 26 kids you won't see three adults. So who are all these people? And how much, exactly, do they cost?

And do all of them get the optional spinning rims on their gold jet skis?

The expense to the school, at an average per position, works out like this:

72 Principals and asst. principals $8.8 million average expense: $176,533*
89 cert./non-cert administrators $9.7 million average expense: $132,533*

1,709 Teachers and guidance at $138 million average expense:$103,533*

258 support staff at $12.5 million average expense:$ 71,533*

889 Asstd (medical, security, etc) at $41 million average expense:$ 69,533*

Average cost of 3,017 full time professionals $116,000*

*This is an average based on the budgeted amount for salary for the position and the total benefits cost in the budget of $71.5 million. The average benefit cost works out to be $23,533 per professional. Without looking at it on a person to person basis, this is the only way to quickly approximate the cost.

All of this for a 40% drop out rate and a system that is, at best, described as a "leaky ship barely off the rocks."

Worse, guess the percentage of that professional population that actually resides in Hartford. You guessed too high. So all this money goes to pay people to fund their lifestyles in other cities and towns where they own homes and cars and pay property tax in other towns. So the cycle of money is:

Federal/State Government to Hartford to Salaries to support other towns.

So, in a way, Hartford helps to fund the surrounding cities and towns by contributing directly to their coffers through property tax paid by education professionals that live there.

Thanks Hartford!!

So this is going to be fixed...right?

If I knew what I was laughing at, I would really be crying.

In order to break this cycle it would mean hard negotiations with multiple unions and a hard look at generating revenue and cutting expenses. In other words, it would take a team of fiscal conservatives elected to office.

Instead the city elected a team of Democrats and pro-union socialists (how's that Occupy Hartford support coming, Larry?) who owe their election, if not their souls to the unions and have no working understanding or background in fiscal matters. So, no, the situation will not be resolved anytime before the state or federal government becomes tired of it (again) and ousts the board of education (again) and then tries to fix the situation (AGAIN) and the city then goes right back to electing the same people into office that screwed it up in the first place.

The only difference is...when the state finally tires of it and cuts off funding, forcing property owners to pay triple or quadruple their property taxes in order to support a broken system that they no longer want part of...well, here's hoping when they do that it's closer to an election year.

An Obiturary for the Hartford Republican Party

2011-11-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

Brethren:

We gather here today to mourn the passing of a once great institution. An organization that fought for civil rights, for equal justice and for individual liberty. A long tradition that began with members such as Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver and continued through with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. before the 70's and a sharp fall from grace. I speak of the Republican party, specifically the Republican party of Hartford.

Republican Marin Luther King, Jr. assassinated by Democrat James Earl Ray. The beginning of the end.

The Republican party actually fell from favor in Hartford over 50 years ago to became a minor player in the politics of the city. Some blame "white flight" or the movement of middle and upper class whites to the suburbs on decline of the party as well as the "decline" of the city of Hartford. I believe this to be a racist statement, essentially saying that minorities cannot run a successful city without whites. This is not true. It was proven time and again during reconstruction in the 1800's and beyond that race or national origin do not matter as long as opportunity is present. And it was Republicans that, traditionally, provided that opportunity.

This is why it is Democrats, not minorities, that are responsible for the collective failures in not just Hartford but in many other urban areas as well.

Urban development, Democrat style.

Unfortunately the citizens of Hartford continued to believe Democrats claims about Republicans and, despite Republicans not having a majority since before collective living city memory, the Democrats drag the Republican Boogie Man, dusty, battered and worn, out each year to scare the population with threats of what might be if they dare to vote for Republicans. Then, each year after getting a majority of votes, the Democrats put the battered and dusty Boogie Man away and continue on screwing the city up.

It is like a sleepy town in a bad B-movie where the mustachioed evil land owner has the population cowed with threats of land seizure, and the citizens fall for it and continue to elect a group of inexperienced, unqualified people looking for health insurance, or ego satiation, or whatever it is you go into politics for other than public service.

Where's Clint Eastwood when you need him? (A true Roosevelt Republican)

But the citizens cannot be blamed entirely, since the Republican party itself has done nothing to dispute these claims. In fact, given the events leading up to the passing of the Republican party, it can truly be claimed that, from the point of view of the average citizen of Hartford, there was little if any difference between the Democrat party or the Republican party in the city.

I speak of the cross endorsement and the attempt to have Democrats appear on the Republican voting line.

So heads I win, heads you lose. Ready?

But even preceding this the Republican party themselves seemed to believe Democrats claims and, rather than educate the population on the exceptional history and achievements of the party, accepted second run status. So it comes as no surprise at all to many that the party met it's ineveitable end.

The fallacy of this thinking was demonstrated by the rise of the Socialist/Communist Working Families party. While a vast majority of the city is Moderate to Conservative, all three minority positions with city council were taken by an extreme left wing of the Democrat party. This, I believe, goes to show that the city of Hartford is looking for something OTHER than the traditional choice. Had the Republican party, instead of looking for scraps from the Democrat table, positioned itself as separate and apart from the Democrats it may have been able to get more than three positions elected in this current political climate.

Seriously, how who could mistake an elephant for a jackass anyway?

So the Republican party is gone from Hartford. It is reduced to an occasional meeting (if quorum can be found) among the ~20 members representing just 346 voters in Hartford. As no Republican currently serves in elected office in Hartford (the registrar would have been replaced prior to this if not for a state law that requires there to be a Republican registrar of voters) or is appointed to a position in Hartford, it is understandable that even that small number of voters will dwindle and die off.

But the true loss is to the city of Hartford. It has lost its conservative voice, the balance that kept spending in check and the mil rate reasonable. As inevitable as the fall of the Republicans party was in retrospect, so is the continued spiral of spending and out of control excess of the city. Given that over half of our budget is supported by the state or federal government (this blog will examine the budgets of both the city and the board of education), spending is out of control and more than once the argument "Well, we can't pay our bills now, so why stop spending?" has been made. There is no incentive to meet our current debt and it is as easily predictable that, with the fall of the Republican party, the fall of the city of Hartford is not far behind.

Meet Councilperson Cynthia Jennings or Why Hartford will never have a residency requirement

2011-11-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

Atty. Jennings is one of our newly elected officials to the Hartford City Council. During her interview for endorsement by the Hartford Courant, she told the editorial staff that she had resided in Hartford for the past 18 months.

If we take this at face value, then Ms. Jennings committed voter fraud in November of 2010 when she voted in the Windsor election. Given the crimes committed by so many in positions of power in Hartford, this little oversight pales in comparison and it's clear why it's not worth anyone's time to bother looking into it.

What's far more interesting is that her registered address for voting in Windsor, CT at that time was her business address, 340 Broad St., Windsor, CT. (The Judicial Branch website and Atty. Jennings website lists her business address as 340 Broad St., Suite 208). She changed her voter registration to the home she co-owns with Sinclair Jennings in Windsor, 55 Filley St., on February 9, 2011 (yes, this year) as a Democrat.

So was she a business owner who registered in Windsor to vote in the town where she does business? Should local Hartford business owners take her example and start registering to vote in Hartford? Then answer is, simply, no. This is also a form of voter fraud. (That's two for those keeping track.)

She only registered as a voter in Hartford as of August 19, 2011. The address she used to register to vote?

86 Hartland St., Hartford, a one family, three bedroom colonial owned by her brother Maurice Jennings.

So. Either Attorney Jennings was a resident of Windsor and voted there legitimately only to register to vote in Hartford in August using her brothers address and lied to the Courant, or she's been a resident of Hartford and voting in Windsor. Either way it's confusing, but not really the point. Seriously, no one cares about this, right?

Well.....

If I were, say, the Chairman of the MDC, or a union going into negotiations with the City of Hartford and someone from City Council or the Mayor's office were to bring up an issue with "residency" I would simply point to Atty. Jennings and ask, nicely, "If the elected officials of Hartford don't need to live here, why should we?"

*Residency is where employees of the city can be required to live within the city where they work. Some cities require police, fire and even teachers to live within the city limits. Hartford currently only requires a small percentage, some management, to live within the city. There is talk of changing this requirement, but that just became almost impossible.

Why over-regulation kills a small business economy

2011-11-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

Imagine you are in a parking lot for a mall, but there are no parking lines, no lanes, no rules. Just perfectly open space where it's left to you, and every other shopper, to park however anyone chooses. Chaos, as you can imagine, ensues. Given that scenario, you probably don't even want to chance trying to make it from your car, creatively parked as you may have it, to the mall with all the other maniacs roaring around the parking area being equally creative. So you may not even leave your home to go to the mall for fear of what might happen.

We all understand that structure, such as rules speed limits, lanes for travel and lines for parking, are required to protect us from one another. Freedom actually comes from rules and structure, whether it is shopping in a mall, or living in a city.

On the other hand...

If the parking lot has a dozen signs per pole with small print, if you have to spend literally days to read and digest all the rules for traveling through the lot, if all your time is spent trying to figure out HOW to park in the lot, then you've lost your freedom. While rules can ensure your freedom, too many rules will take it away.

There are a great number of reasons that business is vacating Hartford. It's beyond the taxes that are levied, because they would gladly be paid if there was enough business to afford them. It's beyond just a traffic issue, because effective marketing and advertising can bring customers to a business even when it is in the middle of nowhere.

Full Throttle Saloon is open 10 days a year in the middle of no where South Dakota and generates $20-50 million a year in revenue. I wonder what their secret is...

It is beyond the safety issue, because the people from outside Hartford who work and dine downtown know that the downtown area is patrolled and safe.

But when you begin to combine the three, it becomes tough to succeed. Businesses that are facing tough economic times and these three issues (among others) need the assistance of the city. And when you add a city that is not friendly to new or established business, you can see why storefront after storefront remains empty, mall space has no poured concrete floors, and entire buildings remain vacant.

I can point to a specific space on Pratt Street where three businesses have attempted to open in the past six months. Each business failed to open in Hartford not because of economic issues, but because the city itself turned the businesses away.

Economic Development has gone as far as to tell potential business owners to look outside the city to open their business.

That's correct - there are people attempting to open businesses in Hartford and the city itself is actually turning them away.

NO NO NO! Hartford doesn't need your tax dollars! We're just fine without it!

So even if the economy turns around, the streets develop a reputation as the safest in the country, and the tax rate lowers, with city hall actively deterring new business from opening, there is no hope of moving forward.

Welcome to the Republican Party

2011-11-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

I recently asked my friend’s little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be president some day. 

Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked  her, "If you were president what would be the first thing you would do?" 

 She replied, "I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.." 

Her parents beamed. 

"Wow… what a worthy goal." I told her, "But you don’t have to wait  until you’re president to do that. You can come over to my house and mow  the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I’ll pay you $50. Then  I’ll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guys hang  out, and you can give them the $50, you earned, to use toward food and a  new house." 

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight  in the eye and asked, "Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the  work, and you can just pay him the $50?" 

I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party." 

Her parents still aren’t speaking to me.

Meet your new government Hartford! (Star Wars Style)

2011-11-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

	Mayor Segarra as Emporer Palpatine While I think this is an unfair comparison, the comments made by many residents about the Republican endorsement of Mayor Segarra requires it. After all, we all know how evil, evil, evil Republicans are.* *Note: I'm going to keep beating this drum since it's so odd to me that the Republicans have not been in control of Hartford for over 60 years, but people continue to insist that everything the Democrats have done is the Republicans fault. People continue to vote in Democrats while nothing improves, but balk at the idea of electing Republicans despite how succesful surrounding towns contine to be. Bizarre.
	Attorney Ken Kennedy as Darth Vadar. Kennedy is an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Connecticut. When DCF removes a child from a home, it's an AAG that argues the child shouldn't go back. If you've been denied a check, a right or a procedure, it's an AAG that's been on the other side from you fighting against you, preventing you from getting what you want. This and Atty. Kennedy's insistence that he has never voted for a tax increase make's him sound suspiciously...Republican.
	Attorney Shawn Wooden as Jar-Jar Binks Not every member of the council is evil (not every member has ties to the Republican party, after all) but Attorney (...wait, another attorney? That's three so far!) Wooden wins the award for "What the heck is he doing here." Rumor has it that Governor Malloy got involved in the selection process and tapped Wooden thanks to the votes Wooden helped deliver for the most recent gubernatorial election. It was the selection of Wooden that threw the Democrat slate into a tizzy and ultimately denied any women from appearing on the Dem slate for city council.
	Attorney Alex Aponte as Count Dooku (holy...ANOTHER attorney? That's four for four!) I'm not a fan of the prequels, but this comparison is too perfect. Not just because of the corruption issue (Dooku went to the dark side, Aponte was found to have violated five separate codes of conduct as an attorney) but the relationship between Segarra and Aponte could be seen as one of apprentice and pupil.
	Attorney Cynthia Jennings as the Death Star (Okay, five for five. This has to be a joke - so far half the government of Hartford is made up of attorneys??) It may seem unfair to compare someone to an inanimate object, but Attorney Jennings reputation of "scorched earth" makes the comparison justifiable. If there is an opposite to "mediation" she seems to have found it. While there are some people who may be referred to as "sand in the gears" Atty. Jennings shows up with four pounds of C-4 and a sledgehammer for whatever might be left intact after the explosion.
	Kyle Anderson as Trade Federation Viceroy Gunray Mr. Anderson (Wow...NOT an attorney - imagine that) has a background in business and, like the character, seems to have an affinity for hats. But the comparison isn't that shallow. He will most probably find himself just as lost (and just as much of a pawn) amidst the maneuvering and machinations of the council as Gunray was of Palpatine. Hopefully, when he finds out just how much he's being used, Kyle won't self-destruct in quite as spectacular a manner as his counterpart.
	Raul DeJesus as "the storm trooper that hit his head on the door" Much like Mr. DeJesus, the storm trooper is someone that everyone is aware exists, but people don't know who he is or why it is that he's known other than just being in the right place at the right time. The storm trooper brought whacking his head on a low hanging door to the movie. Raul brings...being 24.
Luis Cotto as random Ewok Mr. Cotto is dedicated to the parks and arts of Hartford. He is a self-admitted socialist (bordering on communist given some associations) and is likeable in his earnest commitment to betterment of the city for it's residents. So while the unemployment number may be 19% and the mil rate is 72, we do have nice places to go and sit while we contemplate losing our homes and businesses.
	David MacDonald as Willie Scott from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Yes, she is a character from another film entirely, but this fits MacDonald perfectly as he seems to have shown up to watch the Yankees play at Giants stadium. No one seems more out of place, or "deer lost in headlights" than Mr. MacDonald. There's a persistently annoying feeling that the character of Willie was a last minute addition to the film and seems to serve no real purpose to the plot of the film. MacDonald seems to be the last minute "Dammit, we need a white guy" addition to the ticket and really seems to serve no other purpose.
	Dr. Larry Deutsch as...Emporer Palpatine/Darth Sidious(?) Yes, I already used it for Mayor Segarra, but remember - I did it because of reaction to the endorsement. The person that embodies the character is Deutsch. Palpatine moving from the Republic to the Galactic Empire was the shift from capitalism to socialism and you can tell by listening carefully to him that Deutsch would be more than happy lead that same transition in the United States, especially with him in charge. Shudder.

Why socialism will always fail

2011-11-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

This story was told to me tonight. Too good not to share.

A professor teaches a class in political thought and philosophy. He offered his students the opportunity to discuss and debate the merits and negatives of capitalism and socialism. The class decided that socialism, with redistribution of wealth, was the best way to go. Shortly thereafter the students took a test on the two topics. The professor stood in front of the class with the results of the test, then "redistributed the grade points" among the class in order to balance everyone's score.

The students laughed and the laughed harder when the professor said this is how the test scores would be done for the rest of the semester.

On the next test, everyone of the students bombed it. The high scorers had no motivation to study and score high because they were just going to lose points anyway. The low scorers had no motivation, because they would just get points from the high scorers and didn't need to make any additional effort.

This was the point of the exercise and it was, apparently, quite a learning moment for the students. One was bright enough to make the connection. " So this is what happens when you take money away from the wealthy and give it to the poor."

Day Zero - Welcome to the People's Republic of the Socialist State of Hartford

2011-11-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

At the end of the evening, when the dust settled, nine individuals were left standing as the new city council for Hartford. Six Democrats and Three Working Family Party members (or liberal-Democrat) make up the new council. The city has, essentially, gone from two parties to just one - Democrats - with two labels in an effort to capture all 9 seats. There are no Republicans left anywhere in Hartford government. This was cheered (loudly) by many in the city who see Republicans as an evil scourge that should be removed from the Earth by putting them all on a rocket and shooting it into the sun. Profit, business, and commerce are evils that should not be tolerated and are quickly being eliminated from the city. They will not rest until all for-profit business are removed to outside the city limits and every citizen is employed by the city.

Before you think I've lost my mind - look at the voter situation: there are 124,000 people in Hartford but only 7,000, or 16% of registered voters, voted. So it's not such a shock that a fringe element dominated the polls. That's right, while perfectly normal, average, rational individual citizens went about their day not voting, a group showed up at the polls and elected in the current Council. And now we have to live with the results for the next four years.

And if you think this is the group that will deal with big issues like pensions, pay raises, contracts and cutting spending, you clearly aren't paying attention to who they are and from where their support comes.

Of the six Dem's only Ken Kennedy is a returning incumbent from the 2007 election. Alex Aponte was appointed to replace Mayor Segarra when he stepped forward to replace Mayor Perez. Four Democrats are new to the council - but who are they and what are their politics? To the average person it's a big unknown. Since they were selected by the Democrat town committee in a shadow meeting in the deep dark of a sweaty summer night, voters were not offered a choice and there was really no need to look at who they are beyond the Democrat label.

Of the Working Families, both Cotto and Deutsch return along with Cynthia Jennings who either moved to Hartford this summer to run for office, or committed voter fraud last year, depending on who is to be believed (she claims she moved here 18 months ago, but voter roles showed she voted in another town in 2010 other than Hartford. But Hartford has a tradition of not caring where people actually live, so this was ignored by the Hartford Courant...and everyone else for that matter).

But because the WFP were running for office, they actually had to put themselves out there - and out there they are. But when you spend thousands of dollars to hire people to go door to door (the one that came to my door was from New York and making $150 a day) you can reach a lot of people pretty quickly with a general message that can combat facts. And when their supporters show up at the polls while everyone else stays home, they get elected because of, not despite their, political backgrounds.

Politic's aside, these nine folks are taking on a herculean task to turn Hartford around financially. This task would be difficult if it were a group of highly experienced business people with an understanding of contracting, a good concrete grip of what the city spends and what it owns, and what small businesses need to succeed in Hartford.

What the city got is a group of people, while enthusiastic and well meaning, they have little to no clue what they are doing. If the election was run on resume's only, there is no way that any (maybe Kyle Anderson - his family has some background in small business) would have made it through the first round. But this was not a job interview, it was a popularity contest, and that is the way it fell out.

This blog will be looking at the qualifications and philosophies of each member of the council over the next few weeks in order to construct a working model of what the future will bring. But based on the candidate presentations and material, the only thing that's for sure is Hartford will soon be able to apply for third-world status.

Welcome to the People's Republic of the Socialist State of Hartford. Hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Day....last - Twas the night before election, and all through the city

2011-11-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

If you're hoping for inspired creativity and nuttiness, it's beyond me right now. I'm exhausted. Between getting the mailing out, walking the streets to pass out notices of my endorsements, meeting with groups and individuals to secure votes, and life...exhaustion has set in.

Day 104 (I think) - Down to the wire

2011-11-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

#1 - I'd like to thank all the generous donations I have received in the past week. Your help has ensured that I am able to get the word out farther and faster before the election. Your faith in me is not misplaced and, according to the Hartford Courant and the Hartford Federation of Teachers, it is a good decision.

#2 - This past week we have played host to a good number of friends who are without power. We have washed clothes, hosted dogs (the cats are not happy) fed, bathed and entertained people who were without. My hope is that, after this week, this trend will continue and people will step away from their electronics a little more and interact socially. Game night is always an option at the Fryar household.

#3 - I will be around and about over the next several days - if you want to meet for a cup of coffee (or tea) and talk, please let me know. If you want to meet for a beer, I'll buy.

#4 - "Where the heck have you been for a week?"

Saturday - when the storm hit I was doing a survey for a project at work. I headed home, changed into my uniform and headed to the unit to help make sure that gear and trucks were in order. In the middle of it I headed home got the family hunkered down with warm drinks and watched the pretty snow through the living room window. When the first branch cracked and slammed into the ground.

Uh-oh.

Jack (9 months) went down on time that night but Ryan (2 1/2) did not and every loud sound outside jolted her awake. So we sat with her until she finally drifted off, then I sat up in the living room and waited while the branches continued to rain down. We have several large trees and if something dramatic happened to the house I would rather be awake when it struck.

To this end I was testing the power by staying up late to play Batman: Arkham City on the playstation while I waited. So it's not like I was anxiously sitting in the dark listening for sounds. I was busy solving the Riddler's death traps and trying to catch the Joker in his latest convoluted plot (spoiler: he's not the main villain).

Sunday we still had power, but the streets were snowy and blocked off by branches. I helped neighbors clear them from the road, shoveled the walk, then played with the kids and studied for not one, but two tests this week - Calculus and Accounting.

Yes, there is nothing like having two different tests both dealing with formula's you have to memorize, but have nothing in common.

Monday was a non-work day, but a gearing up for election day. That meant creating a page announcing my endorsements to hand out, finalizing the design of a tri-fold that is being mailed, and coordinating volunteers for next Tuesday. Tuesday was a day back at work to catch up, continue studying for the tests, clean up the yard, and play with the kids.

Wednesday ran like this: 6:30 am up. 7:00 on the road to Storrs. 8:00 Take calculus test. 9:30 presentation to client #2 on findings from survey. 11:00 Coffee/Tea with a very interesting Hartford resident. 12:30 meet with consulting team for client #1 regarding change in direction. 1:30 Find out class is cancelled for tonight due to storm, so no mid-term. 2:00 Get call from client who is arrested (this seems to be the story lately. I get calls from clients when they are in jail. Can't you call before you get arrested to give me a heads up?)

Thursday (today) was much the same.

The election is very exciting (and the posts will deal with specifics from now on) there is NO saying "I can't wait until it's over" because after I am elected, it will only get busier!

Day Ninety-seven part two - The Hartford Courant Endorsements are in and they are...

2011-10-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

The Hartford Courant posted their endorsements for Hartford City Council tonight here. I'll save you the click - yes, I am one of the endorsed six. Add to this the Hartford Federation of Teachers endorsement and it looks like some very smart, educated and sophisticated people think that I would make a good addition to the Hartford City Council.

Day Ninety seven - Life happens

2011-10-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

Life updates -
Jackson is getting hearing aids! Unfortunately the little guy has a "flat hearing loss at 55db's" which means he can hear sound but normal conversation would not get through. So to make sure that his speech develops normally we will be getting him hearing aids.

Now, they're expensive ($6,000) and the state passed a statute that requires insurance companies to cover at least $1000 of the cost for the aids. So they cover $1000 of the cost of the aids. I contacted Birth to 3 to speak to them about it and, wow, they cover whatever the state cannot. It is awesome that a parent in Connecticut does not have to choose between finances and their child hearing. I would like to find the people responsible for that funding/decision and kiss each one for no other reason that it restored a good amount of my faith in humanity.

Tropicana Hotel
If you recall from some time ago I had an issue with the Tropicana in Atlantic City and a false advertising issue. I tried to work it out with the hotel chain, going as far as calling their main corporate office in Las Vegas and they offered to have legal look at the ad and make it up to me. When I followed up with them I was...ignored. So I filed a false advertising complaint with the New Jersey Attorney Generals office and the mediator just called the other day to let me know that they were talking to legal at the Tropicana and an offer would be forthcoming.

I did also file a complaint with the FCC (which is nothing but a database until enough people complain) and with New Jersey Gaming Enforcement. I haven't filed a complaint with the BBB or filed for suit in small claims court...yet. I do want to give the company a chance to own up, compensate for the error and look at its advertising practices first. If they continue to ignore me, I'll just have to start using legal avenues to make them stop doing the wrong thing.

School
I took a closer look at finances and the program and realized that I will actually graduate in December of 2012 - one year from now. That's three months earlier than the best estimate and means I only took 2 1/2 years for the MBA. Now...I just need to find an employer that wants to take on a teacher/lawyer/mba person. Hoping that there might be a CTO position open somewhere in Connecticut, but we'll see what shows up on lifes shores soon.

Campaign
I have completed a brochure for a mailer, which will be out next week, and the party is doing a mailer for all three of us, which will be out next week. I'll be traveling neighborhoods over the remaining 11 days and meeting with people to explain why one of their six votes should be for me. Now...to prepare all those mailing labels...

Day Ninety-six - What's a nice Republican like you doing in a situation like this?

2011-10-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

I've tried my best to explain it in various ways, but it seems to fall short each time. I am a Rockefeller Republican - social liberal/fiscal conservative. From wikipedia:

Rockefeller Republican (often termed "moderate Republican") (hold) moderate to liberal views similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller. Modern Rockefeller Republicans are typically center-right, reject far-right policies, and are culturally liberal. (i.e. pro gay-marriage, for instance). Many espouse government and private investments in environmentalism, healthcare and higher education as necessities for the nation's growth, in the tradition of Nelson Rockefeller, Alexander Hamilton and Theodore Roosevelt. In general, Rockefeller Republicans oppose socialism and the redistribution of wealth while supporting some pragmatic regulation of business and federal social programs in matters pertaining to the public good. They represent a diversity of views on foreign policy, but historically most were considered "hawks" against communism and strong supporters of American business abroad. Richard Nixon (disregarding for a moment what he managed to do wrong) founded the Environmental Protection Agency, and cooled tensions with China and the Soviet Union.

While many will point to that description and say "ah-ha! Libertarian!" that would be inaccurate and Libertarians would be MORE than happy to explain why.

So, here I am, a lawyer/businessman finishing his MBA and running for public office and the number one question I get, is why? Why would you put things on hold just to help the city of Hartford?

Well, it's selfish, actually - I want to live in a city that I'm proud of and happy to call home. Where my children can attend good schools and we can walk through a downtown filled with interesting shops and a multitude of restaurants offering every form of exotic food from around the world. A city that is a flagship not the butt of regional jokes.

And, since it just seems to be getting worse, this is the time to try and jump a-board, help pull the brake on the run-away train that is Hartford spending, and get the city under better financial control. Then introducing programs, such as my small business incubator, and getting the public schools under control so that we build, together, a foundation for what Hartford can truly be.

"So..." the next question comes, "what will you do if you're not successful?"

My plan is to win and then move forward to help the city. I have absolutely no plans for not being elected. That is a bridge, like so many others, that will have to be crossed should it occur. But no one I know is planning on it happening, based on the feedback I've gotten from voters and other candidates. But all things are possible.

Day Ninety-four - West Indian meet the Candidates and...the Governor?

2011-10-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a busy day, what with picking Karissa up in the morning, playing for a few hours, performing Kenny and Rachel's wedding (Karissa took some awesome photos), playing for a few hours, then going on the Haunted Hike in Milford before returning home.

Then up early this morning to get her to the dance studio, then back home to set up for friends to come over to watch football, then...woof...off to the North End of Hartford to the meet the candidate forum hosted by the West Indian Social Club.

The forum was interesting, but a little frustrating since they had all 23 candidates for Mayor, Treasurer and City Council lined up and, after a 2 minute introduction, we were allowed to field questions from the audience. That meant you had to about rush the microphone in order to get an opinion in. And since some of the remarks involved some personal comments, the individual in question then had to get to the microphone to rebut some of the information.

After two and 1/2 hours I had to leave because, as mentioned before, I had kids and friends back at home that needed my attention.

It's unfortunate, since I feel like the audience there got no real flavor for who I am as a candidate. It was lost in the scuffling and positioning of the other candidates as the forum ran on. I'd be interested to see the election results from that part of the city and see if there is any correlation at all between the position statements and the outcome.

Day Ninety-three - Weddings are so much fun

2011-10-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

It was a happy day for Ken and Rachel Ramey and I was proud to be a part of it. Good luck to the newly weds.

I am sorry I couldn't make the Hooker parade this year, but marrying two soldiers that I serve with just took a higher priority. And there will always be next year!

Day Ninety - First major endorsement - Hartford Federation of Teachers

2011-10-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

I am proud announce that the Hartford Federation of Teachers has decided to endorse my candidacy for Hartford City Council and I have accepted.

Yes, you just read that correctly. A union has decided to endorse a Republican candidate. There's precedent and it's a good decision (I may be biased).

Keeping in mind that I was a classroom teacher for seven years, an education consultant, and that I continue to teach college courses it's a no brainer that I understand the needs of a teacher in a classroom. Add to that my previously stated position on unions: that they are necessary to offset the harms caused by bad management, and my background with unions (enunciated in other posts) and it's easy to understand why a teachers union would be interested in me as a candidate.

But what did I "promise" in exchange for the endorsement? A member of the Hartford City Council has little direct control over the board of education or the education budget. While the council writes the check, it is the mayors office and the board of education that sets the budget. The only direct impact that City Council has over the board of education is the approval of the five candidates that the mayor appoints to the board of education. Both the Hartford Federation of Teachers and I understand this. However...

This does not mean that I am quiet with regard to our classrooms, and that I cannot be a voice for the teachers of Hartford. So while I might not have direct influence over the budget, I can certainly draw attention to issues, discrepancies and problems. Loudly.

A good example of this came up during my interview with the Hartford Courant editorial board (they are also considering who to endorse). I pointed out that the average per student spending in Hartford was nearly $14,000 while a number of very successful towns get by on much less than that. When asked if there was truly a correlation, can you really compare town to town what is spent on education, I asked what Hartford classroom they had walked into that looked like $14,000 was being spent on each student there. If you ask a teacher what they need to educate a student it comes in at far less than that. As a matter of fact, there are teachers that would be happy just to have a $100 to start the year to buy supplies for bulletin boards and materials for the students. Lord knows that one school in Hartford is demonstrating what you can do with dedicated staff and parents now at Jumoke Academy.

It's not always a fair comparison for a lot of reasons, but when you spend money you want to be able to see the result. Shoveling more money in after more money does not solve a problem, especially when the result is computers that don't work and out of date texts. Examining success, however, is always worthwhile. And looking at Jumoke Academy and seeing how they are able to achieve so highly is worth far more than any budget increase.

Day Eighty-six - Hartford = Corruption?

2011-10-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

In a city with a self-image issue (new branding, anyone?) , a self-esteem issue (if you open a business here, it will make front page of the paper!), and a penchant for the occasional shooting, yet ANOTHER issue has popped up regarding questionable decision making by a city official.

Holy cow.

For those of you new to Hartford or who just appreciate the drama of it all, here's a little history:

2009:
Former State Senator William DiBella appointed as MDC chair despite not residing in Hartford, a requirement for the position. (this becomes pertinent) Information here. Rumor is that the concern was that the MDC is a regional organization and if Hartford could not put forward a chair, the position would fall to another town.

2010:
Former State Senator William DiBella (appointed MDC chair) agreed to pay $800,000 to settle charges regarding a fee he received on a state pension fund deal. Information here.
Democratic Town Chairperson Sean Arena caught registering his car in another town to avoid paying property tax at 73 mil rate. Information here.
Mayor Eddie Perez was found guilty on 5 of 6 charges, including bribery and 1st degree larceny. This is under appeal.
Councilperson Veronica Wilson received accelerated rehabilitation while facing a charge of tampering with evidence (AR is not an admission of guilt, but a way of avoiding trial.)
Information on both here.
State Representative Hector Robles is fired for allegedly falsifying time cards claiming he was on the job as a police officer, while he was working private jobs. He was re-elected as State Representative. Information here.
(By the way, this isn't a comprehensive list. There are a number of issues also dealing with former employees, such as Corporation Counsel John Rose, information here, for instance)

2011:
Councilperson Alexander Aponte is reprimanded by the State Grievance Committee for five rules of professional conduct for issues stemming from before he was appointed to replace Mayor Perez. The grievance complaint is here and a history and backstory can be found here.

Treasurer Adam Cloud sends emails, as Treasurer, to leaders of city banks requesting donations to a specific charity. Information here.

It all comes home:
CEO of TicketNetwork Donald Vaccaro, (a donor to the Hartford Democratic Town Committee) hired the lobbying firm owned by William DiBella (Chairman of the Board of MDC) and will pay them ~$26,500 this year. Counsel for DiBella's lobbying firm is, oddly enough, ALSO counsel for State Representative Robles. Robles, in a fortunate turn of events, has landed himself a job with TicketNetwork. Why is this strange?

TicketNetwork is a recipient of Governor Malloy's "First Five" economic development program and could receive up to $6.3 million in loans. Full story here.

It's understood that life is about who you know and what connections you have, but shouldn't it also be about the company you keep?

While there are dozens of demonstrations ongoing throughout the country demanding that our nations banks and corporations be more accountable to the people, why are we ignoring the institution over which we have so much control? Our elected officials?

Day Eighty-four - This shouldn't happen with attorney's involved...

2011-10-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

The Hartford Courant published a story today with the headline "City Takes Lenient Stance on "Occupy Hartford" protest." I'm not going to sum up the article for you, really, this you have to read yourself. But I'll wait until you get back.

Doo da doo....back? Okay.

Now, based on this article and the comments made, there's a bit of a schism. If you want to have a party on city property you have to get permission, you need to have grills inspected, etc. If you want to have a protest, you don't need permits.

The city is going to be hard pressed after this decision to attempt to enforce certain ordinances without ending up looking foolish. If it's a tea party gathering and the police attempt to break it up, then the city is politically motivated. If it's a civil rights issue and they attempt to demand permits, the city is coming out against that ethnic minority/nationality.

Worse still, since the COO of the city was doing food runs for the camped out folks, pointing out the discrepancy becomes even more extreme. From this point forward, the bar has been set as to the standard for the city to respond to protests. And who is the city to determine what is, or is not, a legitimate protest?

So, the next time you want to have a party, just make it a protest and, seemingly, all permits are waived. Put out some signs, advocate a position, issue a press release and voila! you have a permit free gathering.

(Wait. Is the Republican encouraging civil disobedience?)

This can of worms, you would think, wouldn't escape the notice of the attorneys involved, and, quite frankly, I wasn't at the meeting and there may have been sound legal advice that was just as soundly ignored. But, worse, it shows an inconsistent and arbitrary approach to enforcing city ordinances.

Add this to the recent corruption issues the city went through, and the allegations coming out about Treasurer Adam Cloud, and it leaves one wondering...just what is going on with the leadership of the city? Is this, truly, a "do as we say not as we do" situation?

Day Eighty - Something fell...

2011-10-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Two parter tonight - one is about issues that are starting to haunt the Treasurer race in Hartford and two is about right wing think tanks and union endorsements.

I'll try to punch it up a bit so it's readable :)

One comes up because my wife Michele is a candidate for Treasurer of Hartford and one of the only women on the ballot. For those keeping track, that's NONE on the Democrat line, while 50% of the Republican line for City Council and Treasurer are women.

Makes you wonder 'bout the Dem's a little? Right, right, right, I know, you could come across a Republican feeding homeless children in Hartford and s/he would still probably get tarred and feathered, while the crowd stands around pointing out that the food was probably tainted and someone sends a letter into the Courant about how all the Republicans in Hartford are trying to poison the children.

But I digress.

Adam Cloud is the Democratic candidate for Treasurer of Hartford. Nine months ago he was appointed to fill the role and this is his first campaign. Unfortunately, his first campaign is quickly becoming fraught with ethics issues, and they are not the small kind.

Yea, yea, yea, a politician with an ethics dilemma. Finding a politician without one would be as likely as finding a vegetarian leopard. But I digress...

The first time I became aware of Adam was when Michael McGarry, chair for the Hartford Republicans, let the council and candidates know that he was going to approach the Democrats to negotiate a deal for a "cross-endorsement." While I have heard story, rumor and speculation (and it's all gathered for a book that I'm writing about this experience - no sneak peeks!) as to what happened with the deal, it's been public knowledge for some time that all but Mayor Segarra rejected the proposal.

(By the way, I sit at 2B and the mayor at 1B. But I digress...)

It was explained that Cloud (alright, a little sneak peek) wasn't interested in the endorsement because he was concerned about his "political future" and how it would look to have either endorsed, or been endorsed, by a Republican.

I know...evil of evils, right? Republicans are true scum of the earth and responsible for Connecticut's fiscal issues, working poor, drug addicts, low morale, self-esteem issues, and rainy days in the summer. It's amazing, because Republicans haven't had a majority in the state in over 50 years, but when you have a scapegoat ride it for all it's worth!

But I digress...

Cloud announced his decision and the situation disappeared from out of my mind. I have my own campaign to run and my wife has hers and we are doing our best to keep them separated - we don't share anything including materials or signs.

Until tonight when Jeff Cohen of NPR sent me a message asking for my wife's contact information. I thought the name sounded familiar and, after a moment realized that I had seen the name on Kevin Brookman's Blog "We the People." Brookman did a couple of blog entries (I responded to one, which is why it was in my memory at all) about Cloud's woes. Apparently, Cloud supervises his wife in the office and Cloud has been hitting up businesses with whom the city deals for donations for a political supporter.

Devastatingly poor decision making for someone who is thinking about a political career, (hell, just all around bad decision making for any professional) so I've now discounted the information as to his reasoning for rejecting the endorsement for the Republicans. Because no one with that sort of baggage this early in the game could hope to weather such charges in a larger arena, especially coming from a city that has already suffered through trials on corruption charges that have lead to the Mayor and a Republican City Councilwoman resigning.

Waterbury can be seen as the model for this - when you think about it, given the line of political corruption that has occurred in that city (or from politicians that came from the city, if you want to count Governor Rowland into the mix) have tarnished some very good people coming out of that city and it could be years before the dust has settled enough so that anyone who even appears to have impropriety can survive public scrutiny.

In Hartford it's not exactly unusual for our public servants to commit actions without considering the impact and consequences of those actions. It goes to such a level that when the Chief Operating Officer for the city of Hartford (for those of you that aren't sure what that means...a wikipedia entry:

A Chief Operating Officer can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite". The COO is responsible for the daily operation of the City of Hartford and routinely reports to the highest ranking executive, in this case the Mayor. The COO may also carry the title of President which makes s/he the clear number-two in command.)

who is an unelected professional (re: employee), and essentially the second in command for the city, self reports that he dropped donuts off for the "Occupy Hartford" protesters this past weekend no one even blinks. Just about any other city this would create an amazing commotion for the second in command of the city to not just give the tacit support of the city, but to actually provide food delivery for the protestors. There may be a line of proper and professional behavior, but Hartford just doesn't seem to think that it applies. Mainly because the citizens of Hartford don't hold them accountable. I believe that while other municipalities would be horrified at the actions of our COO, Hartford applauds his actions. However, while the citizenry is patting him on the back, his action did NOT go unnoticed by executives at the large banks and companies in Hartford, but then either did Cloud's letters and phone calls for money mentioned in Cohen's article either.

Two - right wing organizations and endorsements

I have been contacted by several right wing organizations who are very interested in whether I am seeking union endorsements (I'm telling you, the book idea isn't idle...this whole process has been fascinating.) I have the following union background:
I was a union steward in college and negotiated the student worker contract.
I was very involved with the Connecticut Education Association and became a regional representative.
I was in the middle of converting my position at the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities into a union position with AFSCME when I left it.
I was fired from a job in 2007 for union activities (as an attorney).
I was runner up for Contracts manager with University of Connecticut Professional Employees Association in February.
I was runner up for Executive Director of UConn's American Association of University Professors in July.
I have an intense pro-labor background.

Why are right-wing conservative organizations interested. Because they feel, that someone with my background should be an automatic approval for endorsement from a union. And if I can't get an endorsement, then there is only one reason, and one reason only.

Because I am a Republican.

And, for a lot of reasons, that's very important. Because it moves the fact that unions only support Democrats from speculation to proof. (Trust me there aren't a lot of Republicans with my labor background. Shocking.) I've explained that they shouldn't get all worked up, because, if anything brotherhood is important to unions. But I've contacted a number of locals and we will see what happens.

Day Seventy-six - How much can happen in one day?

2011-10-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was supposed to be a quiet day, quick trip to the doctor, meeting with Senator LeBeau and home for family time.

Whooo-eee.

It started with a hearing test for Jackson (7 months). Three tests in and they couldn't get a reading on his hearing. So we got him up early and fired up his routine ahead of time so that we could get him to sleep during the hearing test. We were mostly successful, but his ears, unfortunately, weren't. We now have to see an ENT to discuss the possibility of hearing aids to ensure that his speech doesn't lag. Once he is older and can speak a more thorough assessment can be done.

Once again, I'm struck by how lucky we are to have health insurance. I can't begin to imagine how we would go about paying for those if we didn't have coverage.

So I drop the family off to run to the meeting. Peter, our child care specialist (sounds better than "baby sitter" because he is AWESOME with kids and really works with them - and it shows!) arrived. Michele and he spoke for a bit and, around 12:30, she took Ryan (2) to work with her while Peter loaded up Jack to take him on a quick walk.

What we didn't know is that one of the neighbors has had our house under surveillance for a while and knows who is who and when the house is empty. Spotting an opportunity, s/he got in through a first floor window, went into the kitchen and unplugged the alarm from the phone jack (which means they know the house well enough to know where the alarm is or quickly identify what it is - AND, by the way, should send a signal to the alarm company and didn't. Another bone to pick...) went into the dining room, took Peters briefcase, rifled through it, loaded my lap top and power cord into it, then went upstairs. At this point, while in the upstairs bedroom loading my jewelry (rings, watches), cash, camera's and some other odds and ends into the briefcase, I came home from the meeting. Whoever was in the neighborhood watching out for this (probably for Peter to come back, so I was unexpected) alerted whoever was in the house, who then high tailed it out of the house through the back door while I was coming in the front.

That is a lucky, lucky burglar.

How did we figure out all of this? Because there was only a 15 minute window between when Peter walked away from the front of the house to when I drove my car into the driveway of the house. The rest is based on some supposition based on what was taken and the pattern they moved in, as well as some physical evidence and details that I'm leaving out.

The officer first on scene was excellent, as well as the CSI that showed up THAT night (which is particularly awesome given how busy they are and this was a pretty low key burglary). All friendly, polished and professional - once again very impressed with the Hartford Police.

Sadly, before anyone goes "Score!" with regard to the homeowners insurance - nope. Watch this:

We have "replacement value" and caps on parts of our policy. The laptop is "replacement value" and it was 2 year old. The cameras were also older - one digital, great camera, but 10 years old. The cash cap is $200 and the jewelry cap is not much more than that. So we lost about 5x what we will get in replacement. Then there's the $500 deductible.

It gets worse.

As I noted in a prior blog (too lazy to link) when we were robbed before (this is the fourth (or fifth? I lose track) break-in, second robbery in 5 years) the insurance company will now put us in a "pool" and we will have to pay an increased rate for the next three years.

The combined rate increase and deductible will be more than the check that the insurance company will send us.

So, to recap, we lost all of our stuff and we will end up having to pay the insurance company a few hundred dollars in order to say "Awwwww, too bad." Add that to the cost of the alarm upgrade and higher monitoring fee and the damage from the robbery is

Value of what was taken + money to insurance company + new security = serious negative to us.

So, if the robber is reading this...no, we will not be replacing anything. We just can't afford to do it. However, we now have a much more sophisticated alarm system so at least you'll have that as a challenge to deal with before you get in the house and find that we had to sell everything in order to afford the new system.

But you'll probably figure out a way to steal that too.

Day Seventy-four - Take a break from technology - it's a good thing

2011-10-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

So I took a week off from the computer and, almost, my phone.

With two pending mid-terms (Accounting and Calculus) it was much needed. But more than that I realized that all reading is being done electronically. And while I'm usually on the cutting edge, I'm specifically resisting getting an e-reader (kindle type) because I LIKE the feel of paper and the weight of a book in my hands. Standing in front of my wall of books (I have an actual library in the house, including a complete set of the original MASH novels, among other gems) I thought back to the last time I had read one. And immediately swore off electronic reading for a week.

Well, I still checked Cracked.com. And Courant.com for news. But that was pretty much it. The rest of the free time, which meant pretty much after 9 pm every night, was dedicated to reading a 5 books randomly selected from off the shelves.

I was a voracious reader at one time, but only kept books that I want to re-read. Everything else either is given away as gifts or donated to used book stores or random "reader libraries" that pop up in doctors offices and the like.

So...the five books I read in the last week (while under the covers in bed with a glass of milk) are...

5) Piers Anthony Split Infinity - "On the technological, decadent world of Proton, someone was trying to destroy Stile, serf and master Gamesman. His only escape lay in Phaze, a world totally ruled by magic. Soon he learned that his alternate self had already been murdered, and that he was next. On Proton, his fate depended on winning the great Games. On Phaze, he must master magic to survive. And if he used any magic at all, his friends were determined to kill him at once! (summation by Amazon - hate trying to sum up novels)

Very interesting book - a 'go to ' book for writing since so much of the novel is description with little to no dialogue for almost the entire thing. (One of the main characters doesn't speak at all.) An interesting exploration of prejudice in an unusual pattern (the main character is under 5' tall) and with an incredibly creative subplot involving the "Game" that makes you wish we had the technology to create it right now!

4) John Brunner "Stand On Zanzibar" - There are seven billion-plus humans crowding the surface of 21st century Earth. It is an age of intelligent computers, mass-market psychedelic drugs, politics conducted by assassination, scientists who burn incense to appease volcanoes ...all the hysteria of a dangerously overcrowded world, portrayed in a dazzlingly inventive style." (summation from Amazon - still hate to sum up novels)

John Brunner is best known as the writer that predicted the Computer Virus in 1972. This novel, published in 1968, is almost frightening in its prediction of 21st century life because it's so damned accurate. Flawed characters and a troubling ending makes one wonder what is in store for us in the next few years.

3) Edward Rice - Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A biography
What else can you say about the man who was the first white man inside the holy city of Mecca (for which he took a spear through his face during his escape), translated The Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra into English (in Victorian England, mind you) and discovered the source of the Nile River?

Wow. This is the 4th or 5th time I've read it and, aside from The Agony and the Ecstasy, one of the most inspiring life stories I've ever read. Humbling what one person can accomplish while pursuing their dream with abandon.

2) Christopher Moore: Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
This book should be offensive, certainly the author expected people to find it so, but it's actually used in religious education classes. And one read through will explain why. It's not done as a joke, or a lark, but as an amazingly thoughtful and caring look at the development of not just Christianity, but at other major religions and their commonalities.

Of course, done with classic Christopher Moore humor which is both engaging and disarming so that you can't get mad at him no matter HOW offensive you might think you should be.

1) Terry Pratchett - Small Gods. I get choked up now when I read any of Pratchett's work. He is suffering from Alzheimer's and, this brilliant and creative man, knows that he is deteriorating and is trying to create as much as possible before he can't create anything further. His approach to simplify incredibly complex societal issues (such as the economy in Making Money) by viewing it through the lens of a "primitive fantasy society" allows the reader to weigh and assess their own prejudices and preconceptions as to how and why things work they way that they do.

Religion is a common theme in Pratchett''s work, but the main theme of Small Gods. It's not his best work, definitely not his worst (although you really can't use that word with him - everything he writes is a gem) but does make you think about the difference between being religious and participating in a religion.

Day Sixty-seven - Aargh - the sins of our youth have a way of coming back to haunt us...

2011-09-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

I had fun as an undergrad. Keep in mind that I was having fun before that. I started the "Comic Book Emporium" at 15 so it was running a few years before I headed off to college. A few bucks in the pocket of a teenager with access to New Orleans was pretty much a guarantee that someone was having a good time.

There was no way that college was going to put an end to years of fun.

Several decisions I made while in college were made to balance free time against work against class against fun. I have always worked full time while going to school, which pretty much takes up most of your hours during the week. 40 hours plus 15 hours of classes plus homework and you pretty much where you're going to be from Monday to Friday. Although somehow I managed to do a weekly column for the newspaper and serve on student government.

Mulitple intensive classes that required a huge amount of homework just weren't possible in the same semester. Sacrifices had to be made and one of those ended up being Calculus. I managed to graduate with a bachelors with a basic math class.

This came back to haunt me when I applied to the MBA program where Calculus is a requirement. This is why, halfway through, I am now driving up to Storrs to take an 8 am class three days a week. This makes for a long day because I work full time (why should that change? I've done it through three degrees, no reason to change horses for the fourth). So two days a week are now 16 hour days, wake up at 6 am and not home until after 10 pm. Then there's the homework, of course, for Calculus and the other two classes.

As I've mentioned before, this requires an intense amount of scheduling and discipline to the schedule to ensure that I have family time, friend time and fun time. Although, honestly, that's redundant since all three go together.

Fun when you're 20 and fun when you're over 40 are very different. Fortunately the only sin I'm paying for all these years later is a missed math class.

Day Sixty-five - These boots are gonna walk all over you...

2011-09-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, so I supposed I should post SOMEthing about the campaign. It's amazing how much goes on that can't be talked about, so, as I've mentioned before, I'm keeping a second journal with all the behind the scenes stuff that may or may not come out after the election.

Honestly, it just depends on how motivated I am to write something up in-depth for the 3 or 4 people who might be interested.

Today was about getting out to meet people and talk to Hartford residents about supporting me for office.

First - while I have been walking and talking for a bit now, today was the first time I could talk to people about Democrat support of the Republican ticket. It was announced last week in the Hartford Courant that the Republicans were endorsing certain Democrats for election in Hartford. The Democrats, in turn, could decide whether or not to accept the endorsement. If they accept it, then the Democrat name will appear on the Republican line.

This is usually done by smaller third parties, who do not run candidates, or that do not run full slates of candidates. This created an issue this past election cycle with Governor Malloy. He appeared on multiple lines so that voters could vote for him as a Democrat or on the smaller third party line.

The issue is that people voted for him on MULTIPLE lines. He doesn't get more than one vote, but the question is: was it a Democrat that voted for him or a member of the smaller third party? The decision was to go with every double vote as from the smaller third party, which created a LARGE turnout for the smaller party. It was such an issue that rules about how to handle it were introduced into legislation this past session.

We are currently waiting to see who, if anyone, on the Democrat ticket will accept the Republican endorsement and how Row B, the Republican line, will read.

But it makes for an interesting conversation with people and now there are a lot more watching the newspaper to see what will happen and what decisions / announcements will be made in the next week or so.

Second - I did not refer to myself as "running" for office but as "interviewing" for office. This also got a little attention and, in turn a few questions. It was VERY interesting to see residents, even clearly left-leaning liberals, who do not like the direction that the city is going in and were at least interested to hear how the Republicans were going to turn things around. More than once, after discussing some ideas I have, I was asked "So, if you're not elected, will you still do something?"

I pointed out that each idea I had was designed to generate revenue and that, if the city didn't want the idea, I surely wouldn't turn the money down. The city still benefits by the introduction of new business and events, but rather than "City of Hartford" projects, they are "Michael Fryar" projects.

This seemed to get their attention...

Third - Republicans in Hartford are islands unto themselves and are overjoyed to see someone come knocking on their door as a Republican candidate. True, it's more of a gripe session about how poorly the city is doing and how we could be doing better, but that's good information to be cataloged.

It is 45 days until the election and most of my time will be spent either knocking on doors or engaged in "guerrilla marketing." Maybe that second journal won't be so boring after all...

Day Sixty-three - So a Cherokee, a Scotsman, and a surfer walk into a bar...

2011-09-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

I am not the first person in my family to "graduate early" from high school. My paternal (I know it sounds awkward, but lets agree to use the titles JUST to keep everything straight) grandfather wanted off the reservation so bad that he accelerated high school so the family could move.

And when I say "off the reservation" I'm not using a turn of phrase or speaking about the military. My grandfather is Cherokee and grew up on a reservation in Oklahoma. His family wanted to head west to California in the 1930's but wouldn't leave until their youngest was done with school. My great-grandfather went on to prospect for Uranium in the mountains of California while the family lived among the orange groves of what would one day be downtown Los Angeles.

(Funny story, when my great-grandfather passed they emptied out his garage, filled to the brim with all sorts of stuff. Underneath the frame of a Model-A car was a case of dynamite. The nitro had LONG settled out and the LA bomb squad was called out to deal with the "if we breathe heavy on it, it will go boom!" situation.)

Fryar's have been in the country since the 1600's when one immigrated to this country, escaped debtors prison, and got lost in the wilds of the New World. There are Cherokee Fryar's, black Fryar's, white Fryar's, and everything in between. We're all related, thanks to that running felon from 350-some odd years ago, some by blood, some by marriage, but all by our passion for America.

My paternal-grandmother (just to keep it all straight) was from the Oklahoma border of West "by-god" Virginia and also had some Native American ancestry. How much is hard to ascertain as, following the trail of tears, many Cherokee said "to heck with it" and denied their ancestry. Who could blame them after the way they were treated by the government for so many years?

It's not surprising to find so many Native Americans who are Republicans. You'd be for smaller, less involved government if you had been on the receiving end of so many of the government's pogram...I mean PRograms.

My p. Grandmother (better?) ended up in LA after divorcing her first husband after stabbing him. The family does not have all the details, but if you met her, you're first thought would be "He probably deserved it. Anyone that messed with her should see it coming."

Following his service in World War II, they settled in LA. My grandfather bought land, built a home (literally) and got two jobs (because that's a Fryar tradition, apparently). He was a city manager for LA, (which, as he liked to point out, gave him all the keys to the fallout shelters - so the family was safe no matter what happened) and worked in a boat yard building small row boats and working on the larger ones.

He worked for years for the city of LA until he became too expensive and, in the ways of city management back then, was accused of doing something illegal. The union, because it was a crime, would not support him. The fact that they were being paid off to allow the city to dump it's more expensive employees had NOTHING to do with their position I am sure. He did not answer the accusations of the crime, did not make a statement, but did request a hearing for the formal charges. The city attorney got up and read off the accusation - theft of city property.
"What did I steal?" he already knew, but Grandpa appreciated a good set-up.
"Paint."
"For what?"
"To paint your boat."
"From where?"
"Maintenance closet at the high school."
"What kind of paint?"
"What do you mean, what kind of paint? What does it matter?" the attorney blustered.
"It might. It might not. What kind of paint?"
"Wall paint that was supposed to be used for classrooms." He crowed, confident that he had the evil-doer that would steal from the poor children their bright and shiny walls from the coming year.
(Some of you already got the punchline...for the rest...)
"So you're accusing me of stealing water based paint to paint my boat...which goes in the water."
Long pause. Shuffling of papers. Offer of early retirement, which he took.

(I don't know that that is how the conversation went. The facts are accurate, but this is how I like to picture the confrontation in my head.)

My father grew up in LA watching it erupt from the desert and orange groves. The dirt road of the house he grew up in was paved, then connected to a major thoroughfare. At one end was a new theme park, Disneyland, that he would ride his bike out to watch them build. At the other was the ocean where he spent as much time as possible. Deeply tanned, in bandana, he was often mistaken for an Arab or Mexican. The family grew tired of correcting people about their ancestry.

My maternal-grandfather was born in California, the first generation immigrant of a Scotsman. His father and his uncle had started out in Keith, Scotland, the sons of the owner of the last private ironmongery in the country. The youngest son, an accountant (because that's pretty much it for professions in Scotland. Accounting or Engineering. At least that's what I'm told) decided that the family business really wasn't what he wanted to do. So he, literally, fled the country. Great-great-Grandpa pointed west and told his oldest son "fetch."

They arrived in New York. The chase went across country and I really wish that, at some point, someone had gotten a good account of what had happened between Scotland and California because it MUST have been a serious adventure. But it ended with younger brother hopping a ship in California for China and older brother taking one look around Southern California and deciding..."HELL no, he wasn't going back."

He also fought in World War II and, following the war, met my maternal grandmother. She was a model and accountant for MGM, hired by Gene Kelly himself (he walked in for the interview, took his toupee out of his pocket, put it on to interview her, thanked her, got up and, while walking out, took it off and put it back in his pocket). My grandmother married my grandfather, in her words, because "You should marry an unattractive man because he will never leave you."

To her credit, in the entire family, she and grandpa were the only one's who had never had a divorce.

Both grandparents had two children each. Both had a boy and a girl. My father was friends with my uncle in high school. They surfed, hung out, and generally enjoyed the southern California climate and all the adventures that it offered.

One summer day, for instance, my dad and uncle decided to go surfing in Mexico. Their usual third had to work and begged out for the weekend. Not one's to take no, my uncle pulled his VW bug (the one he later put a porsche engine in and used it to drag race up and down Pacific Coast Highway) into the gas station while my dad, all 6'2" and 190 pounds of him, jumped from the passenger seat, grappled their friend (my dad was an all state wrestler, so when he grabbed you, it was all over) and threw him in the back seat. Essentially, they kidnapped him in broad daylight, in front of witnesses, and took him to Mexico. It does sound like the beginning of a bad day for someone.

It was, since the police officer, sitting across the street watching the action, immediately found a phone and called grandpa to ask if he wanted them arrested for it. Everyone knew grandpa, and, in turn, his kids on sight.) Grandpa said no, but it was a fun morning on Sunday when my dad came rolling in bleary eyed after two days of surfing and partying to see grandpa sitting at the counter with his coffee waiting...

My parents met because my dad was friends with my uncle and his sister, my mom, was pretty hot. I can say that because, well, I've seen the photos and she WAS the daughter of a model and a Scot. Red head beauty. In addition, she was an accomplished concert pianist and very intelligent.

So. Fast forward to the wedding rehersal dinner and the punchline of the joke.

The two sides of the family are present. My paternal side, working class, hard-fought Native Americans who had moved across nearly the entire country that had been taken from them. There's my maternal side, white collar, proper, immigrants and new to the country and culture.

And then there was the 60's. And my dad, deciding to honor the occasion, comes walking in, wearing a silk outfit, pants and shirt, made from an American flag. (No joke. Did I mention it was the 60's?) And it really did bring both sets of grandparents together, because they agreed that they needed at least one more round of drinks before anyone was leaving the bar area with the red, white and blue apparition.

There are far more family stories about my family and far more lost to time. My p. grandfather passed in 2004, (we went through his garage, no dynamite) so those are lost forever. I'm fortunate in that I still have three grandparents puttering along (both sides of the family are LONG lived.). But I know that there were incidents, occasions, and adventures that will never be known, forgotten to time or repeated to anyone that can now not recall the details.

In our digital age this is almost unforgivable. It is probably what has inspired me to keep a journal for most of my life. I'm hoping that my children, my grandchildren, and so on will find some interest in the adventures that we have had. Are the interesting because they are so grand? Probably not. It's really more the fascination with who we are, where we come from, and who is it that blazed the trail that led to us existing.

Although, some of the stories will have to wait until they are older. A lot older...

Day Sixty-two - It's all George Lucas' and Steven Spielburg's fault

2011-09-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

For those of you that missed it, Hartford Republican Town Chairman Michael McGarry announced today that he withdrew from the run for Hartford mayor, and the Republicans are endorsing the Democrat slate,. This announcement was, in turn, met by several as either the sign of the apocalypse or with an overt, but not well informed, "that's impossible."

It is possible because, according to Attorney, and well-informed Republican, Rich Wearing:
"Democrat party rules state that a party-endorsed candidate cannot be a party-endorsed candidate of another party. Party-endorsement is a term of art and refers only to the persons endorsed by town committees for nomination. Once there is a primary (or if there is no primary b/c there were no successful petitioners) a successful candidate is a "nominee" of a party not a "party-endorsed" candidate. This was fought about 10+ years ago when Kathleen Palm was put on the Republican line. In any event, Title 9 governs how people become candidates for office and nothing in Title 9 prohibits anyone from being the candidate of more than one parties (hence WFP's ability to cross-nominate D's). Local party rules can't trump the General Statutes, nor can they force anyone to relinquish a nomination they obtained in a prmiary (sic)."

So what does this mean to the average voter? Stay tuned for more on how this will play out. I am sure that the issue, only reported today by the Hartford Courant, will not end with just one or two exchanges. The question really becomes how loud, and how far, will it travel.

What does this have to do with Lucas/Spielburg?

The movie industry was plugging along, producing a broad range of movies from the superbly awful to the amazingly artsy. Along comes George Lucas and a film called Star Wars, and a marketing campaign that included toys, posters, and an R2-D2 aquarium. This, unfortunately, showed the potential for money to be made from film and licensing. Spielburg comes along, the two start making high grossing movies, and suddenly film is shifted from an art form to a money making enterprise. Cue the east coast money people and the end of artistic integrity.

This is not a lone opinion, although there are different takes on it, such as the creation of the franchise (although there was James Bond long before), or that they saved film in some form from drifting too far from the mainstream. The point is that they have impacted film without question, but may have turned it into an industry in the sense that product is stamped out and shipped without soul.

If Spielburg/Lucas have ruined film, then the child of their unholy union is Michael Bay, who might be responsible for creating the worst film of all time. It's not even style over substance...because that's trying to give it credit that it has some substance. It has none.

Culture has adapted to this form of film-making and, much like with Stockholm syndrome, we have come to accept it with open arms. We can look throughout out culture for the signs that we no longer care about story, character, or even opinion. (I'm looking at you Jersey Shore.) In a way, we have become so culturally devoid that we celebrate people who have accomplished nothing more than, well, breathing.

Why would anyone be surprised that our politics has followed suit? How often do people actually do research on the candidates running for office, as opposed to just stepping into the voting booth, closing eyes, and poking around at the sheet until there are six bubbles filled in on the form.

Or worse, voting for someone just because they are a certain race, sex, or party.

It should be no surprise to anyone that the end result of our politics is the same as our film industry. How long until the natural conclusion is the creation of a political situation equivalent to Transformers II?

Day Sixty - At least I didn't lose to chickens!

2011-09-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the haitus, but life does not always allow for free time for posting blogs. Particularly when you have three children with minds and lives of their own.

The next few days will be filled with rants about how Lucas Spielberg destroyed the film industry, how writing for the internet is good for you, and why everyone should do a turn of military service.

For now I'm going to go and enjoy some time with my family.

Night!

Day Fifty-six - If I claim to know one thing, it's that I don't know anything...

2011-09-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

Philosophy was a weird subject in college. Well, it's a weird subject anywhere, quite frankly. I'll always remember the time a philosophy major tried to convince me that the entire world was an illusion of our own making. I told him to prove it by jumping off the third floor balcony. He balked, not having the faith of his own conviction.

Most philosophy doesn't stand up in the face of simple logic. Most religion doesn't either, but at least there believers have the "faith" argument and then everything is right again. Faith can be used to answer even the most damaging questions about religion. Philosophy doesn't quite have that as a defense.

One of my favorite paradoxes of philosophy was asked by the greek philosopher Zeno. Zeno is credited with the creation of stoicism which believes that "Virtue, reason, and natural law are prime directives. By mastering passions and emotions, it is possible to overcome the discord of the outside world and find peace within oneself. Stoicism holds that passion distorts truth, and that the pursuit of truth is virtuous." http://www.crystalinks.com/zeno.html

One of his three famous paradox's asks that you consider the following;

"Suppose Homer wants to catch a stationary bus. Before he can get there, he must get halfway there. Before he can get halfway there, he must get a quarter of the way there. Before traveling a quarter, he must travel one-eighth; before an eighth, one-sixteenth; and so on. This description requires one to complete an infinite number of tasks, which Zeno maintains is an impossibility.

This sequence also presents a second problem in that it contains no first distance to run, for any possible first distance could be divided in half, and hence would not be first after all. Hence, the trip cannot even begin. The paradoxical conclusion then would be that travel over any finite distance can neither be completed nor begun, and so all motion must be an illusion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%27s_paradoxes

The awesome thing about philosophy is that, like statistics, you can twist it to whatever definition you want. So while brilliant and learned people argue the metaphysical and mathematical nature of the paradox, I like to look at it a little differently (I'm just not that learned or brilliant so it's not like I have a choice.)

This is the difference between thinkers and doers, ivory tower dwellers and dirt level producers. You know. The people that come up with ideas and the people that have to execute them and realize that the ideas have NOTHING to do with reality.

Everything from engineering, to our modern education system, to politics, to warfare can be explained by understanding this principle: That great and profound theories have no basis in reality.

In Zenos paradox it seems like flawless logic that someone can't move from the chair in which they sit. The math is irrefutable. Communism was like this. It sounds great, there aren't too many flaws in the logic. Well, excepting that, when reality hits the fan, it just doesn't stand up. Basic human nature destroys any hope for the success of communism, just as standing up and walking through the door destroys Zeno's paradox.

Want to know why our schools don't work? Zeno's paradox. Why is government a mess? Zeno's paradox. Why is it that these golden ideas sound SOOOO good when someone speaks them, but as soon as someone tries to take action they fall apart like shredded newspaper?

Either that or the guy in college was right and we can all fly off that balcony and never hit the ground. One or the other.

Day Fifty-five - Organization is about the last thing we have around here...

2011-09-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

This is gonna be one long complaint session. Run while you can.
(sidenote, this actually has nothing to do with politics either)

There are people who will not believe, under any circumstances, that I am competent to tie my own shoe laces given a diagram and recorded instructions. From time to time we all run across people like this and the measure of satisfaction an individual achieves in life is in direct proportion to the ability to ignore these drooling idiots.

I gave up on trying to impress people with charm and wit, demonstrations of knowledge, and accomplishments a long time ago. The fact of the matter is that when someone wants to get to know you they'll take the time, and, in turn, take the good with the bad. When someone can't be bothered, they'll jump for the first negative thing they can and just run with it, like a kid with a kite on a string, until they feel fully justified for whatever opinion they've made up in their minds, whether it has any basis in reality or not.

Am I an idiot? Absolutely. I have stories about some amazingly idiotic things I have done as recently as yesterday. I embrace that about myself - if it weren't for the stupid things I do, the lazy moments in thinking, or the results of just not caring, the moments of clarity and competence wouldn't seem quite as satisfying. Besides, who wants to hear a story about doing something right? Stories about screwing it up, and the results, have always been far more interesting.

For instance, a few weeks ago my car was hit and I had to get it repaired. I took out the registration and the insurance card while it was in the shop. It wasn't until I was an hour away from the house, with two kids, trying to get onto a military base, when I realized that both were now sitting on top of my desk at home, just where I put them so that I wouldn't forget to put them back into the car. I got home and could only find the insurance card, no sign of the registration, so it was off to the DMV for a replacement. Wasted two hour drive, wasted $20 for the registration, just because I couldn't keep track of a piece of paper.

This type of waste led me to develop an organizational system a long time ago (yea, yea, CLEARLY effective) to deal with the surprises of life.

Because I move in so many directions doing so many different things, I have to be amazingly organized and the days of the week are plotted out well in advance. For instance, I am taking Calculus at UConn in Storrs. I have all my math materials in a back pack specifically for that class. When I do homework, all the materials come out and everything goes right back into the pack so that it's all located in one place. For the rest of my classes I have a black three ring binder with sleeves in it, one for each class. Each sleeve has the syllabus taped into the left side with check marks to note when I have completed homework or a reading assignement. Each assignment is done twice - so a Wednesday night class assignment is completed once between thursday and saturday, and once again between Sunday and Tuesday. There is time blocked out on outlook with alarms to remind me that it's time to open a book and get cracking.

While I own my own business, I maintain regular hours for normalcy. This allows clients to find me, while I can return emails and phone calls. Homework is normally blocked out of these hours as well, so that I am sitting at a desk if someone needs something, but doing something productive if not.

I also have regular office hours for the courses I teach, as well as to correct assignments, answer questions and respond to emails.

I could go on, but I'm sure you get the picture. Today was a 16 hour day that began at 6 am and is just wrapping up now. (If you've ever wondered why the blogs are done so late at night, it's because this is when the time is blocked out. :) )

People who know me know all of this - and there is an air of some respect and a lot of belief that I'm insane. When it all works, to anyone who doesn't know me, I look like a relaxed and casual person. A stranger wouldn't know that I've got anything going on other than what is happening at that moment. Because, in the back of my mind, I know it's all structured and organized and years of it have given me confidence in the schedule.

But years have also taught me that no matter how organized, how efficient, or how competent it may seem, sand has a way of working into the gears and when you're juggling 7 plates, the crash can seem spectacular.

So when someone is looking for a hook to hang a hat, it's not that hard to find. If I was sensitive to criticism I suppose I would focus on those crashing moments and dwell on them, listening to the critics who go on about how awful I must be to let so many plates fall.

But I treat each crash as a learning moment and try to perfect the act so that it's one more crash that won't happen again. And while I'm learning to balance all that, I've noticed that the loudest people, the one's who pick on my foibles the most, usually have trouble just keeping one in the air.

Day Fifty-four - Meetin' and Greetin'

2011-09-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Day fifty-four was marked by the first meet and greet for the campaign. We set out to Vito's by the Park with signs, posters, hand-outs and sign-in sheets in a box. The event was promoted mainly through facebook, but flyers were handed out copiously around the downtown area at several events.

It was to take place from 7 pm to 9 pm. We got there at 6:30 to find out that someone had cancelled the reservation. But it was a Tuesday night and the staff and management at Vito's kicked into high gear and got food out and there was a drink special.

Thankfully I have friends who like free food and beer because that was basically all that showed up. I suppose I saw it coming having done events like this before. Even free food and cheap drinks isn't enough to get some people motivated to talk to a politician because, well, they feel like they have to actually engage with the politician.

Not so for the people on the sidewalk I flagged down and started handing pizza to (we had a lot of extra). Originally 19 said they were guaranteed to show and another 35 maybes. So I figured for 20 plus a few from the flyers. Grand total: 10. This includes 6 friends who came down for the pleasure of free food and seeing what happens at this sort of thing. The 10 do not include the random people I handed pizza to outside.

"What's this for?"
"We're having an event and we had a lot of no-shows."
What's the event?"
"Meet and greet for a politician."
Shuffle away with panicked look and a muffled thanks around a mouthful of pizza.

It's really odd that people complain that politicians are not more accessible but when offered the opportunity, don't want to talk to them.

It's also weird to me from a marketing perspective - sure I could offer incentives to show up...free giveaways, prizes, hot band...but why? I'm not trying to make money, sell something, or provide a service. I'm just giving people the opportunity to ask me a few questions and see what I'm like in person and what I plan on doing if elected to City Council.

If people aren't worried about me, then either my message is clear or they are planning on just entering the voting booth and playing pin the tail on the candidate with their eyes closed. Either way it's out of my control.

Day Fifty-three of campaign - Our kids are getting dumberer

2011-09-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Must be a slow newsday somewhere because, apparently, Spongebob Squarepants makes our children dumb and/or gay is making the rounds again and is top of the charts for news outlets. Here we go again.

On the one hand we have the "Your Baby Can Read" people that want the product banned because it is a horrible program that really doesn't actually teach your child to read. I agree - at best it teaches your child to decode. Reading comprehension is something that most adults don't possess so we shouldn't be too shocked that an 18-month old can't do it either. So they are concerned that children are being exposed to something using television because showing kids something on television doesn't actually teach them anything.

On the other side of that bi-polar fence is the group that is convinced that everything on television burns it's way into a young child's brain and influences everything they do. Excepting any form of good advice or warning that something is hot or that you shouldn't stick a penny in an electrical socket. Those gems that you wish they would learn somehow fly over their heads while "swallow everything in sight" and "smack other children and laugh" somehow is remembered despite not ever appearing in a tv show.

What bothers me about the spongebob study, aside from the fact that the group was the size of a typical classroom in Connecticut, is that there was no mention of how the children were chosen, if there were any pre-existing conditions, how they were tested to begin with, and what the post-viewing testing consisted of. I could go on. The study is flawed and that just cries out that it's being used for something. Don't worry, we'll hear it in a few days.

Like we've been hearing that emailing will create short...oh, right it didn't. But we heard that texting would cause kids to have short...what? It has actually IMPROVED writing and literacy?? Oh, well, twitter and facebook will...what? It's improving social interaction?

Hmmm...maybe the problem isn't with the kids...

Day Fifty-two - Why the heck does a lawyer join the Army as an enlisted soldier??

2011-09-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

At the tender age of 18, having dropped out of high school and owned the comic book store for a few years, I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. My family has a history of military service, Navy in particular, so I went down to the recruiter to have a conversation about what the Navy could offer me. The answer was "a lot" and, after a good conversation and a LOT of promises that he wouldn't put in writing, I was off to New Orleans and the medical processing center.

We were driven down the night before, cut loose on Bourbon Street, but with instructions to drink plenty of water and be ready at 5:00 am. Needless to say, most of the group immediately headed out (drinking age was 18) and ended up out all night long and pretty much rolled into the processing center right from the bars.

And promptly failed most of the testing. I'm not sure why they allowed everyone out, it must have happened all the time. Then again it could have been on purpose as a "self-weeding" exercise. Unfortunately I was one of the "failures," protein in my urine. Once home I was sent to a hospital to get prepped for a "24-hour urinalysis." basically I had to urinate in a big tupperware container for one day then take it back to the hospital to have them check it out.

I failed. The issue, on talking to the doctor since I was convinced that my kidneys were about to fail, was that I ran every day and my body couldn't keep protein. The doctor told me not to worry, but the Navy decided it was too much of a risk. I was told to come back when the issue cleared up.

Several years later, while in college, I bumped into a Navy recruiter who said that, even though I wore glasses, I could qualify as a backseater on a fighter/bomber and I joined. So off I went again, took the ASVAB, went to the medical and...was bounced because I had acne. There was a huge number of applicants and they were washing people out for minor reasons.

So there I was, two attempts, two rejections. I went on to become a teacher, serving the public in any way I could over the years. When 9/11 occurred I was 3 years past what I thought was the oldest age to enlist. I watched the coverage and wanted to join, to do something, but what could I do? Too old is too old. I donated time and money to help support troops, but regretted that I had been denied the opportunity to serve my country.

I was sitting in a New Britain Rockcats game sponsored by the National Guard when the announcement came that the age for enlistment was to 42. If it wasn't echoed on the backfield in writing I wouldn't have believed my ears. I was in the recruiter's office the very next day and signed up and enlisted within a month.

With a college degree I had the option of serving in the Army as an officer, but I intentionally signed up to go in as an enlisted soldier. One reason was that, as an officer you are sent to the unit that has an opening. I was specifically interested in serving as a Military Police soldier.

At the tender age of 38 I was off to Basic training with men and women literally 20 years younger. But that's a story for another time.

Day Fifty-one - National Guard Family Day

2011-09-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

Every five years or so the Connecticut National Guard hosts a "family day" event where every soldier in the state and their families are invited to meet, mingle, enjoy food and events, bouncy houses for kids and equipment for the soldiers to show off what they do for the Army to one another and to family members. It's an awesome opportunity for family to get a taste of what we do in our jobs.

It was also an awesome opportunity to see a new fallen soldier memorial, a brand new building opened up at the camp, and catch up with other soldiers who we don't see very often. It's a constant reminder that we don't just serve with our team or our company, but with every soldier in uniform.

After the day of sun and fun several groups broke up and headed out to spend more time catching up over beers. I ended up in Hartford at the 40th birthday party for a soldier. The Black Bear saloon laid out a great spread (kabob's!) and cake.

It was a great, relaxing day spending time with fellow soldiers that didn't involve cleaning, training, or filling out paperwork. A different type of reminder why we all serve.

Day Fifty of campaign - Sometimes a day is just a day

2011-09-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

This getting up early and staying up until all hours is getting old. Up at 6:00 and running until 11:00 three days a week. Unfortunately, the children don't let me sleep in the other four days so it's not like there's a day off. There is some down time, an hour here or there, between everything.

Wondering if I should chuck it all and just start teaching time management courses...

Day Forty-nine of campaign - Insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over...

2011-09-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

Every year Halloween comes around. And every year, as Lewis Black points out, we pop candy corn in our mouth like we're going to love it, only to remember exactly why you hate them. And it takes another year to forget it.

Fantasy Football is like that. As the year goes by you forget the negatives from the previous season and only the happy memories remain. The friends, the fun, the laughter, the food and the beer. Somehow the fist pounding frustration just leaks out of your memory. That time I drop kicked a laptop (it was broken, don't get all excited), all because of a "fantasy" game that a group of us don't even play for money. (The name of the league is "Bragging Rights.")

So once again, as I have in the past, I listen to the "Football Guru" and bench a player because "he won't have a good game against that defense." This, like everything else, happens every year. And the reminder why I shouldn't occurs in the first game, when the player I benched scores a phenomenal amount of points and I remember that the "Guru" usually comes in last place in our league.

Sigh.

Life is like that in so many ways. For four years I worked full time and went to law school 3 nights a week, summers included. People ask me how I managed it and I shrug my shoulders and say "It was fine" because I remember the good parts. The bad are in a journal, which I take out every now and again when I think about writing a book about it (but who would care? There are no celebrities, drugs, alcohol or weird sex involved. Away it goes again.).

So it's weird for me to be doing something that, while I know in the immediate I find frustrating, I know in the future will be a fond memory. This is probably why growing older leads one to become calmer. You know that, at the end of the day, it's just going to be happy memories for the most part.

Day Forty-eight of campaign - Wiring the modern home

2011-09-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

I finally broke down and installed a phone outlet behind the big screen tv in the living room. The phone outlet was necessary for me to install the DSL modem behind the big screen tv. Along with the modem goes the router, wireless with four inputs. The modem and the router allows me to hook the big screen tv to the computer, which then goes on the internet which means that I can watch internet programming on the big screen television. Yes, that's right, Youtube bigger than life.

So now the satellite feeds into the DVR, which feeds into the computer, which feeds into the surround sound receiver, which feeds into the television. Also feeding into the receiver, (and ultimately the television) is the DVD player, and the playstation 3(also feeding through the router so that I can beat up on noobs THAT much faster) which gets netflix. It looks like a wire factory threw up behind the television stand and the combined heat of all the devices could cook a small animal. The cats gather around to tan.

So now the entire world comes to me on a 64" screen. As soon as I have a free minute or two I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Of course, there are 6 remotes that go with the system and the only one who's figured it all out is the 9 year old. So if she's not around, we pretty much get to watch whatever station was on the last time the tv was on.

Day Forty-seven of campaign - Revitalizing Hartford one tent at a time

2011-09-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

Downtown Hartford has a Facebook page that is quite lively. Some of the discussion has been around revitalizing the downtown business district in order to attract more residents. Of course, you need more residents in order to attract business and so the dance goes.

If I might make a suggestion...

One of the notorious issues with downtown is the lack of ANY foot traffic or business on Sunday. We have a population of unemployed in Hartford and, recently, we have been given a loan of $500,000 to seed microloans. So...

If we identify people with an idea for a business, partner them with one of the schools offering business courses (Trinity, University of Hartford, UConn, Capital Community College...or even St. Josephs, Goodwin or Manchester Community College) to help them develop a business plan and then...

get them a tent in an open air market in downtown Hartford. The city (or another private company) supplies the table, the tent, and the space. The residents are also teamed up with experienced retail sellers from around the state offering art, jewelry, food, etc. all while music plays in the background.

A pipe dream? Absolutely not - a good idea that would drive traffic to downtown Hartford, get people to see what is going on, get foot traffic to businesses and maybe, if it works out for the new entrepreneurs, they can move up from a table in a tent to a storefront on Pratt St.

Day Forty-six of campaign - a recap

2011-09-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

It's labor day and, while there could be a post on labor and it's pros and cons, I've just hosted a huge party and I have homework to do. So, in the spirit or recognizing past labor, I'm going to repost the top 5 blogs that people have found interesting and go back through the posts.

The original intention was to just type away and do some minor edits. However, there are some pretty glaring grammar issues so I'm going to give all the blogs a once over and add a few things, including some photos to break up the text.

Enjoy!

5. Gay marriage is SO Republican.
4. Why I switched parties from Democrat to Republican
3. Look for that Union Label! (somehow appropriate for today!)
2. High School might just be the biggest waste of education time
1. National Guard and Hurricane Irene Response

Day Forty-five of campaign - Door to door - worth doing even after the election

2011-09-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today was a roam the state before a roam the neighborhood. So a day of constant motion.

First it was head to gymboree, then to the Groton submarine base to the commissary (military grocery store - good buys and tax free!), then back up with a stop at a farmers market before home. Grocery shopping complete for the labor day party and beyond, I settled in, grabbed my clip board and started the door to door round.

heh.

First of all - a lot more neighbors know me than I thought. Everyone was friendly, even the old, insane alcoholic with no teeth that talks WAY too close. There were rants, personal stories, penetrating questions and some accusations "Republican? You want to kill my President!"

If this sounds familiar, it's because it happened to me before at a meet and greet. No ma'am. I actually like the guy and think he's a great law professor. Just totally out of place in his current job.

Second of all - there's a lot of presumptions people have that are not based anywhere near reality. Fox news is not the mouthpiece to the Republican party. The Republican party is not necessarily representative of the Republican party. Like any very large organization there are disagreements with regard to policy and approach and the national scope does not always line up with the state scope which does not line up with the local scope. Or, in other words, what plays in Peoria is not the same that will work in Hartford.

Third of all - people love to have someone to talk to. While I had a few materials and some prepared comments, most of the time I spent just listening to people talk. And talk. They didn't really want advice, or suggestions, or necessarily even information ( suggesting going on the internet for some got me a lecture on the evils of the computer) but they liked having someone actually there that listened to what they have to say.

So I've made a decision. When the campaigning is over and the election dust has settled, if I'm fortunate enough to actually be working for the people of Hartford I'll continue to set aside time to go door to door. It may be the one thing that the citizens of Hartford truly want - to feel like someone is listening to them.

Day Forty-four of Campaign - How I came to realize that High School is a waste of time...

2011-09-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

WARNING: As with anything, I'm not writing this with the thought that someone will follow my lead. If someone is thinking about dropping out of high school it's worth a talk with someone who has already done it. There are positives and negatives about it.

School was physically painful for me. The best I can do to describe what it was like: strap yourself to a chair for six-hours while staring at the wall. But you can't have anything on the wall. Just a plain blank wall. For six hours. If you're not going out of your mind by hour two, you clearly have a high tolerance for sitting very still with only your own thoughts. Now do it five days a week for 12 years.

You can begin to understand why I started skipping school in the third grade.

To be fair, my first grade teacher, the principal and my parents all discussed skipping me from first to third, but my parents said no. My dad was concerned about socialization and being the small kid in the grade. Clearly he wasn't thinking of the impact of staring at a white wall all day would be.

What? No, not literally. It's what it felt like. And yes, I would skip school in third grade. I would walk to the bus stop, my parents would go to work, and I would go back home, watch tv, read, eat lunch, and then walk to the bus stop and then back home to my mom. I always cleaned up and left no sign I was home, but eventually the school noticed I was missing so much and called my mom at work to make sure I was okay. Imagine both our surprise when she came blasting through the front door in a panic wondering where I was. I was punished, but no one really cared WHY I was doing it. The reasons were not addressed. So they just kept beating away at me, the square peg they desperately tried to fit into that round hole.

By fifth grade I had checked out so far (seriously, staring at a blank wall for five years...who could blame me?) that my teacher thought I was profoundly mentally retarded. I would just sit in class and stare off into space. They had me tested. Oddly, I wasn't found to be deficient. But I had to take a second one because he was convinced I had somehow cheated on the first IQ test and he raised SUCH a stink about it. Yes, he was a stellar example of teaching.

My parents tried after school programs, private school, all sorts of things. But when you are so far beyond the material being taught in your grade, and the teachers and school will not adjust the material or the curriculum to fit the student, there's nothing else but trying to force that square peg. BANG. BANG. BANG.

We moved from New Haven to Baton Rouge, LA when I was 15. As bad as school was for me up until that point, it dropped off a ledge once down south. Halfway through sophomore year I spent more time outside of school than in it and was at risk of failing the year.

Louisiana State University is an open enrollment school. You didn't need an SAT/ACT score to get in. At the time anyone could literally just show up and start taking classes. My mother was doing her PhD there on a grant, but was not allowed employment outside of the school. After receiving notice I would have to repeat the year, we sat down and talked about alternatives. My mom was all for me taking classes at LSU instead of high school - I would have a bachelors degree by the time of what would have been high school graduation. In addition, the classes were shorter, the times more broken up, and I could take subjects that I wanted to study - all solutions to the blank wall issue.

I dropped out of high school and got my equivalency diploma.

But that would leave me with a lot of free time and she didn't want me just sitting around the house "eating potato chips and playing video games." So, in addition to college courses, we had to figure out something to do with my free time during the day.

While she was completing her Masters degree, my mother worked three jobs in New Haven. She was a piano accompanist for a music studio, a teacher, and she worked nights in a used book store. I worked at the used book store ordering, stocking and preserving comic books. The owner paid me in, well, comic books, because he couldn't pay me cash. It worked out better for him anyway, since it was cheaper.

I had amassed a good collection of comic books by the time we moved to Baton Rouge and loved playing games. So the business idea really didn't come about from any true inspiration but more of a "we're tripping over all these boxes of comic books are you going to to do something about them?" I had already worked for two stores with comic books (there was one before the book store - a pharmacy - same deal, I'd unwrap the new ones, stock the shelves, and he'd pay me in comic books for my work) so it was just about looking into what it would take to create a store.

We put ads in the paper that we were buying collections of comics. We opened an account with a comic book distributor. And karma being what it is, just at that time the city and a private developer were opening a boutique mall in a converted train station right on the Mississippi River called "Catfish Town." We rented a space and I, at the prime age of 15, custom built 10 comic book display cases, a front counter and 8 book cases for the store. We then ordered our first stock and, not knowing what would happen, we opened the gate and waited for customers.

Now, the grant my mom had, $10,000 a year, was our only income. And the program specifically barred her from employment anywhere else. So a lot was riding on this working and it was really more than "Hey, lets open up a fun hobby store and who cares if it makes money!"

In the first year we generated nearly $300,000 in revenue. We hired and employed several people. We marketed the heck out of a couple of innovative programs, special events, conventions, etc. I worked my butt off, with solid advice and support from my mother, who was busy with her program, classes, teaching, and everything else on her plate. She did everything she could within the constraints of her program that didn't allow her to work another job.

Classes were another issue entirely.

Imagine after staring at a blank wall for 10 years it slides away and the entire world is now laid out in front of you. Now imagine that that world is New Orleans and you may understand why class was third or fourth on my list of things to do, while working and heading out on the weekends was, uhm, a little higher on my priority list.

The reality is that after years of mind-numbing inactivity in the classroom I actually lacked some basic skills. So college courses were put to the side while I worked on basic things like how to research and write a paper. Fortunately there were a few PhD candidates around who took pity on me and I got some very good lessons, as well as on speech, argument and debate, math and various other things that I didn't master while in school and didn't need to pass the GED test.

So by the time I turned 18 I had a successful business and a good all around education behind me, and was better prepared for college. I returned to Connecticut to attend Southern Connecticut State University for no reason other than it was my mother's alma mater and had done very well by her.

So, yes, I am a high school drop out. Unfortunately, due to current legislation, this path is not available anymore. I count myself lucky that I was provided an opportunity and took advantage of it, but I am left with a bit of a stigma - I'm a high school drop out. People react to that when they hear it and not in a positive way. But like everyone, I am more than just a label if you're willing to look past it.

Day Forty-three of Campaign - This one will be offensive to some...

2011-09-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Warning: some people will find this blog offensive. If at any point you begin to feel this might be you, stop reading. It only gets worse as it goes along.

The following is an explanation of my "come to Jesus" moment when I switched political parties from Democrat to Republican. It is offered as a bit of explanation as to how I have so many "characteristics" of a Democrat (they're really Republican, as I've come to find out, but that's for another time) but belong to the Republican party.

REALLY short intro to set the scene:
No matter what you do for work you know the dirty, little secrets. The restaurant looks spotless, but you know what actually goes on in the kitchen. The company presents well, but you're aware that the books are cooked. The rehab center is all smiles and encouragement, but you know the success rate is less than 10%. Essentially, because of what you do you know more about it than anyone walking by on the street or who casually strolls in to buy or hire from your business.

Because school involves minors you never get to hear about what goes on there. It was one of these moments that led me to switch political parties. In a school in Connecticut a 7th grade student (12 years old) was running a prostitution ring in the school using an elaborate set of codes, notes, and signals. The children she was (pimping? madaming)? ranged in age from 10 to 13 and would service boys in the bathroom of the school.

"WHAT?" you cry out. "SURELY we would have heard about this!!" No, because everyone involved is a minor and it was in a school. The matter was handled discretely. Incidents like this happen on a daily basis. Kids sell drugs, bring weapons to school, commit not just misdemeanors, but felonies, all the time. And it does cross the line between urban and suburban towns (shocking that there's crime in suburbia??? Wait, read on...).

As a classroom teacher involved in the union we would meet regularly and stories were compared. Suburban towns, it seemed, were better equipped to handle it, although I will never forget the time I was told that, in a suburban school, students had approached faculty to ask for help with their own drug addiction only to have the principal call a faculty meeting and state, in no uncertain terms, that there was NO drug problem in the school and there would NEVER be one.

That's a way to deal with the issue, I suppose. In another suburban school, I home tutored a student (11) who was expelled from school for dealing pot in the bathroom. Don't let anyone fool you, this cuts across all socio-economic backgrounds, suburban areas are better at hiding it (more on THAT in a minute.)

As an attorney representing children involved with DCF and the juvenile justice system I became further acquainted with the darker side of our schools. The fights, thefts, drug deals, robberies, rapes and assorted other things that go on. Some don't even make it to court; they're passed over for "non-judicial handling" while the more severe cases are sealed due to confidentiality because of the age of both the assailant and the victim.

Occasionally you do hear about one - usually tied to a traumatic event. Sexting came to light mostly because of the drama attached to the suicide of several people attached to photos and the bullying that ensued. The interesting thing there is that it was the parents of the victims who brought it to media attention, the only adults capable of waiving that right to confidentiality that a juvenile enjoys. Also, if the crime is heinous enough, they may be tried as adults and the accused may lose their confidentiality at that point.

So. What does this have to do with a party switch. Back to the 12 year old madam.

My first reaction was to be almost physically ill that children were involved in something like this. But the next reaction, probably from a sheer need-to-come-to-grips with it through humor, was to think that it was such a waste of talent.

The plan was so elaborate, the business model was so complete, the process so well thought out, that this young lady, seriously, could have given any manager of any retail business a good run for their money. And that's the sad tragedy - she had no outlet for this creativity, energy, drive and ambition. Because "business is evil."

I don't say that in a "I'm a Republican and look at those liberals" way, I'm saying it in a "I was a Democrat and brought it up and was told that by other Democrats" way. In other words, I went to the school administration and pointed out that this sort of thing could be avoided if we'd let the students create businesses of their own within the school to vent this sort of creativity in a positive direction and was told that "business is evil."

I couldn't even ask for an explanation. That someone would rather have a prostitution ring run by children in a public school than allow the kids to run a legitimate business (maybe the person thought of them as the same thing?) was horrifying.

Because I don't see a problem with letting a kid sell pencils and paper, or Pokeman cards, or even snacks, at their desk during a specified time. It's a great lesson in math, supply and demand, can be turned into a savings lesson, etc. But..."business is evil." The more I tried to persuade people to the concept the more resistance I got. There was, truly, a real feeling that private business and industry was an evil to be tolerated among the faculty and staff where I taught. This insight didn't come just from the reaction to the idea of letting students run their own micro-businesses to create a classroom economy and the real life lessons this would provide. It was in the overall reactions, words, and arguments that people made. I was accused of being a Republican on more than one occasion. I finally realized that they were right. I am.

A comment was made today about "white flight," a term I find particularly abhorent because it makes it sound like minorities can't support a city or economy on their own. This term arose, and is still used, to create a "second class" citizen out of urban dwellers. "GIVE UP!" it cries out to people, "The best left the city and now you're all that remain." it says in no uncertain terms.

But like the students in that classroom, like the 12 year old girl who designed a business to sell the bodies of her classmates, I truly believe that in a different environment, with different leadership, Hartford can be better. It can offer far more opportunities to its residents than it does now.

I have four immediate plans that could resuscitate parts of the city, provide hundreds of jobs and millions in revenue. These plans come, not because I have a background in civil justice, but because of my background in business.

We are not second second class. We are first class. We are Hartford.

PS - crime statistics in Suburban areas. Crime statistics are based on arrest/investigation. I have talked to cops in more affluent towns who have said, in no uncertain terms, that arrests for certain crimes are tracked and are timed so that stats don't rise. So if a house is dealing drugs and the statistic for dealers is close to the line for that month, they will be instructed NOT to arrest anyone until the following month.

PPS - Always remember - it's easier to put a surveillance van on a city street than it is to put one in a suburban neighborhood. On a city street no one notices. In a neighborhood someone's calling if it's there for a few hours. Also, tighter packed housing means that people hear things like domestic violence or other issues. When you're neighbor is a mile away, there is no one to hear the fight or see the coming and goings of people buying drugs. There is crime everywhere - it's just easier to notice in a city.

Day Forty-two of campaign - Really, there's campaign stuff going on

2011-09-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

The Republican Town Committee met to go over super top-secret strategy stuff on Wednesday. Can't talk about it.

As I'm going to school full-time for the next year to give me an opportunity to focus on just school and the campaign, I'm working for the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, but everything we do there is confidential due to client issues so...I can't talk about it.

I can say that my classes are all excellent. My accounting class and teacher are both fun - I know, who knew that about accounting? - and Managing Information Systems is asking us to start a blog (check) a twitter account (check) and a wiki page (ch-what?). It's not just about managing IT in the workplace, but about making IT and social media work for the company.

That's two interesting classes. I think I can say that the CCEI is also a fascinating project - I don't think that statement breaches any confidentiality...

Calculus for Business is also interesting in that "I never learned much math because I dropped out of high school before it got interesting" way. Thankfully I spent the summer taking pre-calculus at Capital Community College. Unfortunately that $125 investment in a graphing calculator may go to waste because we are NOT allowed to use it in the class. There's also no Trig in business calculus so a lot of my worry is gone.

I DID do some campaign stuff tonight - I went out and put up signs in several locations around the West End. I will be putting signs in the car and distributing them around downtown and the south end tomorrow in anticipation of starting the door to door campaign on Sunday. As long as the weather holds out!

Day Forty-one of campaign - Ignorance is not bliss

2011-08-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

Argh. Twice today I had to deal with people painting with a broad brush. What's so fascinating is that, in the same breath, people will naysay racist comments and then make their own.

I would think, by this point, at least the educated among us would realize that there is a danger in saying "all of 'population x' is like 'y'" We know it's offensive to repeat stereotypes - all Hispanics are...all blacks are...all jews are... We've all come to that conclusion - stating that an entire population follows a certain characteristic is damaging and just an excellent example of the worst about us.

So why is it socially acceptable to say "All Republicans are...all Democrats are...All liberals are...All conservatives are...?" Why do we accept in conversation "All Red Sox fans are..." when the same people will get incensed if you replaced "Red Sox" with "Muslims"?

What's fascinating is that, when pointed out to the very people doing it, that they will actually argue that there is no connection. They can't see that their hateful speech is just that, hateful speech based on ignorance.

Time after time I have been 'forced' to unfriend people on face book or other social media that engage in this form of limited, thoughtless and spiteful line of reasoning because of what it represents: a willingness to paint an entire population of people with one broad brush. And there is no way off that slippery slope.

Day Forty of Campaign - What the heck happened to you this weekend?

2011-08-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Allright, so Saturday August 27th I get the call to get my gear together and report to the National Guard unit since we were activated for Hurricane Irene. That meant grabbing enough gear and personal equipment to last for 3 or 4 days. This meant that, in addition to issued equipment, I also have a bag filled with books, my laptop, movies, and assorted other things because once we are in the building, we can't leave again. Since we don't know when a mission can come in, we have to be in a constant state of readiness.

Yes, that means having the uniform either on or ready to wear within 2 minutes.

Fortunately we all, from our First Sergeant to our newest Private, get along really well so being cooped up together for a few days is not a big deal. There are rooms to get away from one another just in case things go a little stir crazy.

So we reported Saturday night, got cots, picked out some spaces, dropped our gear and then started getting the bigger equipment ready. This meant that I was out in the rain until 1:00 am getting trucks fueled up and ready to go. So, soaking wet, covered in diesel fuel, and physically exhausted, I made it back upstairs and collapsed in my cot early Sunday morning. The cot wasn't comfortable, so I ended up on the floor tucked under a desk in a cubicle. It was like a little fort with my sleeping bag, iphone alarm clock and snacks.

Fortunately we were not awakened Sunday early for missions. The day was spent either talking with other soldiers about their lives, completing paperwork that was coming due and, or watching movies, playing video games, or just in general staying 1/2 ready for the horror of Irene to hit us and to get called on to do whatever they needed us to do.

Aside from worrying about how my family was doing in the middle of the storm, it was a pretty relaxing day. Along with a couple of movies people brought, Netflix is available on my iphone and I watched:

Black Death (Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean) which was either a failed attempt to send up the Catholic religion circa 1348 or an interesting attempt to show that all religions were violent means to an end. It will hold your attention by developing good characters and leaving you guessing how it will turn out.
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Zombie Nightmare: What can anyone add to MST3K other than it's an institution and a sad day that it ended.
12 Monkeys - because for some reason I always forget how it ends, then go "oh yea!" and then promptly forget it again.
Blitz - Jason Statham actually doing some acting and not so much martial arts/ice dancing. Interesting movie and good for a rainy day.
The Hidden Fortress - I've been told over and over that I need to see it because a) it's a great film and b) it's the inspiration to a number of other great films. It lives up to all the hype.
Kung-Fu Hustle - because it makes me laugh harder everytime I see it.
Battle: LA - Marines repulse an alien invasion (only watched bits and pieces, want to watch it all the way through)

One of the soldiers also brought his x-box, four controllers and Black Ops so we rotated in teams and worked on our movement and close combat tactics. It's actually interesting how well real life training can improve your game performance.

So in between what was essentially cooped up down time, we checked on our equipment, kept an eye on the weather, and waited for the call for help. It finally came through Sunday afternoon when the canoes went over in Bristol and they needed our help to look for the missing canoer.

We showed up on scene, coordinated with the Fire Marshal who got us lined up and gave us some basic instructions. Route 72 was under nearly 3 feet of water and we drove up and back, through parking lots and behind buildings, carefully checking along the river for any sign of the missing man. We were cutting by a garage when I saw someone watching us in a window. We pulled the truck up in front and, when asked, they said they would appreciate a ride. Everyone had thought that the houses and businesses in the effected area were empty so our mission changed to going door to door in waist deep water to knock and see if anyone needed a ride off the street. After several trips everyone that wanted to go had gotten out and we headed back to the unit.

If you're keeping track that's two soaking wet uniforms and sets of boots. Fortunately, the Army is good about uniforms and, after another change, a shower, and a fresh pair of socks my boots were drying and I was relaxing playing Black Ops and snacking on an MRE.

We stayed over into Monday, awaiting a call that never came and, finally, a chunk of us were released while volunteers headed down to assist with the shoreline issues. Late Monday night soldiers began stumbling home, reeking of fuel, oil, swamp water and sweat, but happy that we had the opportunity to do something to help the people of Connecticut.

We were on standby to help, but, unfortunately, we did not get to do was as much as the firefighters, state and local police officers, and electrical workers doing all that they can to restore power to the state. Those folks deserve a serious thanks for the long hours and hard work that they are putting in to keep everyone safe and restore us back to normal.

Day Thirty-nine of Campaign - Released from Guard and exhausted

2011-08-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

I will post a complete update on the weekend, the storm and movie reviews tomorrow! Sorry, but I'm exhausted!

Day Thirty-eight of campaign - rescue in Bristol

2011-08-28T21:57:00.001-07:00

Will post more tomorrow after guard activation is ended and I'm back home. Hoping everyone is safe!

Day thirty-seven of campaign - activated and waiting for storm

2011-08-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Guard is activated and we're in standby awaiting the storm - that is all for tonight.

Day Thirty-six of campaign - My basic philosophy of government

2011-08-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

(deep breath)
Imagine you are in a parking lot for a mall. Although that may not take too much effort, since, with mobile internet, you might just be reading this in your car after parking. Why you would is beyond me, but the universe is a pretty weird place.

Right. Mall.

So you're at the mall, but there are no parking lines, no lanes, nothing. Just perfectly random and you're allowed to do whatever you want in the parking lot. Chaos, as you can imagine, ensues. If you really think it through, you probably don't even want to chance trying to make it from your car, creatively parked as you have it, to the mall with all the other maniacs roaring around the parking area being equally creative.

We all know that you need some structure, rules such as speed limits, lanes for travel and lines for parking to make our lives easier. Freedom actually comes from rules and structure, whether it is shopping or living in Hartford.

On the other hand...

If the parking lot has a dozen signs per pole with small print, if you have to spend literally days to read and digest all the rules for traveling through the lot, if all your time is spent trying to figure out HOW to park in the lot, then you've lost your freedom. While rules can ensure your freedom, too many rules can take it away.

This is one of the many issues facing Hartford now, preventing it from moving forward to greatness. Conversations with business people (and prospective business owners) shows this to be more true than most realize. Too many taxes, too much regulation, too many steps in the way of an entrepreneur opening a business except for those that are willing to brave the days spent dealing with it all.

It shouldn't be about the most dedicated, it should be about opportunity. People should succeed or fail based on their skill and ideas. They should not be prevented from even starting by too much regulation.

Day Thirty-five of campaign: Top 10 things I have learned playing video games online

2011-08-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry, the blogs can’t all be deep and thoughtful. Well, they can, but they don’t all have to be about political topics. Despite what you may have heard, video games have a lot of benefits. It really doesn’t matter what the genre, the type, or the style of the game: there are general lessons in life to learn from any of them. For those of you not familiar with online video games, here’s a quick one paragraph primer:

Some time ago several companies harnessed the internet to allow video game players to compete against other players from anywhere in the world. So no matter what the game, nowadays it comes with an option for playing a competitive version online. Some games only have an online version. So if it’s a racing game, a combat game, or a puzzle game, it is enriched by the ability to compete against players from anywhere in the world.

10 – Teamwork

No matter how good you are at the single player version of the game, it becomes incredibly obvious how critical team work and communication is about 35 seconds into a game when you can’t score a single point because your side is acting like five stooges running in five different directions while the other side is actually working together. For instance, if the goal is to get a team member to a specific spot and survive there for 30 seconds, the team that talks to each other, tells the other members of the team where they see enemy players, coordinates to work in certain areas, will win. And that’s against an organized opponent. When the other team is a disorganized group of individuals it really is like watching a group of chickens with their heads cut off.

9 – Racism is alive and well

Most online players have headsets and microphones to communicate with each other. They also have total anonymity, which means that they can utter anything that comes into their brains. The stuff said is nothing but a clear indication that racism is alive and well. It’s not just about any single racist or derogatory term you can think of – it’s the steady stream of commentary like someone is reading out of a hate filled manual. This stream of consciousness just goes to show that we have a long way to go towards race relations. And don’t go thinking it’s limited to one specific race beating up on another – the only thing that breaks barriers is that the racism cuts across all ethnic backgrounds.

Warning: contains foul language and racist commentary.

8 – Slow down

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Getting impatient and rushing leads to avoidable mistakes. Frustration leads to more impatience and more rushing and suddenly the game is not fun anymore. Much like life, when you take a moment to process things go so much smoother. There is a time and place to rush into things, but that’s a few and far between.

7 – Everything has a solution

Games are not real life – there are a finite number of possibilities and if what you’re doing is not working, when you are stumped to move forward, try something else. This is an excellent lesson for life where the universe is not finite and there is an infinite number of possibilities. In a game when you’re confronted with an inability to move past a certain point because the opposing team has a section or a path fully locked down, think around the blockage. When life is preventing you from a goal, get creative about a path around the blockage.

6 – age really is a number

If you listen to people as they talk online one thing becomes painfully clear – there are a lot of immature older folks and a lot of mature younger folks. Keep in mind that this anonymous environment where no one is “performing.” Everyone lets their freak flag fly and it’s pretty clear after awhile that maturity has nothing to do with age.

As before, not safe for work. Contains language and severe immaturity.

5 – short term goals hold attention

Short term rewards are far better than long term ones. There are times when your attention lags, your resolve waivers and the effort you need to complete the task to get the reward that is SO far off just doesn’t seem worth it anymore. Having smaller, short term goals, helps to revive motivation and focus for the player. This is true in real life. Knowing you’ll get a pay bonus at work in a year does you no good in month when you’re dealing with a difficult task. Having a small monthly reward gives you something more immediate to work for and, bonus, you're rewarded more often.

4 – people will “pay” you to work

It’s amazing the amount of repetition that goes into a good game and the “work” people will put into it. World of Warcraft is famous for this. In order to complete a task you need to gather X number of plants. So after each gathering you get a point, for instance. But if you keep collecting the plants, you continue to get points. This has come to be known as “farming.” Yes, people are paying $15 a month to play a game that involves them doing work, such as tailoring or cooking. They are doing this in a virtual world where there are no actual products…wait? What was that? They can sell the “pretend” items in the real world??

3 – people will spend money on imaginary things –

Virtual, or non-existent in the real world, goods are a $10 billion dollar a year industry and could become a $100 billion dollar a year industry. People put value on intangible things that they will never see, touch, or use in their lives. These are purely imaginary items that exist in a game that they pay to play every month. Even more strange is that there is a currency in every game. People will pay actual money to people who will then send them in-game currency. Hundreds of dollars. And then the game manufacturers issue an update to the game, making everything that they bought obsolete, and forcing them to spend…more money to buy newer better things. The weird thing is that the manufacturer doesn’t make money from these transactions, only other players.

2 – offline personalities mirror online

Aggressive is aggressive. People, it seems, do not turn from Dr. Jeckyll into Mr. Hyde just because they flip a switch on their computer and are now anonymous. Cowardice leads to bullying which leads to anger and frustration. Confidence leads to humor which leads to enjoyment and pleasure. Much like Oedipus, online gamers cannot escape their own personalities and are fated to make much the same mistakes online that they make in real life. Only real life doesn’t come with a God mode.
Cheating...because just as in real life, they can't seem to win fairly.

1 – learning to walk away for priorities

Dinners on and the game, even if in the middle, is over. Phone rings and I’m in the middle of a hot streak? It gets shut off. Baby wakes up? Playstation goes off. This is the magical thing about learning the difference between games and real life – one actually matters and the other is just fun. It would be great if everyone knew this lesson, but I can only assume that some people just don’t have “real” lives fulfilling enough to stop playing games for.

Day Thirty-four of campaign - Actual Campaigning!

2011-08-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

(Sorry the blog came in this morning, but Jack (6 months) is teething and the fever was upon us. You'll forgive me if family is first, I'm sure.)

While there was an event at the library last night only primary candidates could participate. This, of course, did not stop me from distributing materials and I handed out 30 business cards with campaign information, 20 posters and 21 flyers for the upcoming meet and greets. People really seem genuinely interested in the candidate and not the party so I'm seeing some hope!

I did make it to the downtown business after hours meeting and found them to be energetic, enthusiastic and deeply desirous to make Hartford what it once was - vibrant and dynamic. They are full of ideas to increase traffic, open more businesses, help with signage, etc. So my big question is - what's the hold up? Why are we not making more progress?

Day Thirty-three of campaign - Mighty, mighty Bostonions

2011-08-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

We have a tradition when we travel to walk as much as possible. In St. Louis we walked from the Worlds Fair to the Arch. New York we've walked from the Financial District to the Central Park Zoo and back. Washington, DC from the American History Museum up to Union Station, back round the Capital, and all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial and then back.

So in Boston there was no way we were going to break the tradition even with two young children in tow. A double stroller does help, especially when we're shopping.

Boston is an excellent walking city. Once upon a time, when they used to close off parts of the city and all of Storrow Drive on July 4 for fireworks, a group of us roller-bladed around the entire city in under an hour. It's remarkably small and compact. There's something every 10 feet to look at and so much history in almost every building that something new leaps out no matter how many times you walk down the same street.

This trip, as usual, we parked at the Boston Public Gardens. The public lawn was beautifully kept and there was a carousel at the top of the frog pond (a wading pool open to the public with a large spray fountain in the middle). After riding and playing we headed along the freedom trail past the old granary burial ground, the site of the molasses flood (12 killed, 150 injured), Faneuil Hall for dinner, then back to see the Boston Public Garden lit up at night. It's interesting to see that the Bull and Finch is finally officially Cheers. A walk up Newbury Street and window shopping, dessert and, finally, the kids asleep in the stroller, back to the car and return to the hotel.

But it's not just about rattling off history as we walk the city streets. The people are as much fun to watch. The 21 year old woman in a white and navy blue A-line tank dress with a waist belt and matching shoes. Very fashionable and conservative from the neck down. Neck up her hair neon pink and lime green, one eye heavy baby blue eye shadow, the other pumpkin orange and bright red lipstick. Punks walking with three piece suits. Homeless hustling for change, next to construction workers getting off work while college students walk by laughing in groups.

As the sun goes down and the street lights come on people shift to club outfits, dinner attire, and even street walkers commandeer corners with a weary look. It's a vibrant, alive city where colors, classes, educations and backgrounds mix together from street to street. But they all have one thing in common - they are mighty, mighty bostonians.

This is one of the things we lack in Hartford. We are North Enders, West Enders, Downtown, South End. We are Puerto Rican, Black, White, West Indian. We are wealthy liberals or we are poor democrats. It is no wonder that our children find comfort in gangs. We have taught them well to seek their identity by aligning themselves with a group in opposition to others.

One hope that we might have in our great city is to begin by putting aside differences and looking for commonality. Not in cultural heritage, or religion, sexual orientation or the color of skin, but in the one thing we do all have in common - we are children of Hartford.

Day Thirty-two of campaign - On the eve of travel, a Boston story

2011-08-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

I love the city of Boston and will travel there any chance I get. I even dated someone who went to Boston University once upon a time and had the car packed and was ready to move there when, literally at the 11th hour, a fateful phone call with a job offer, gave me pause. I would probably be a 17-year resident of Beantown instead of the great State of Connecticut if I had missed that call.

But Boston has some great memories for me. For instance:

Once upon a time I was an aspiring stand-up comic. I designed an act around "teaching" - portraying a frustrated teacher and treating the audience as my class, it was a great amount of fun and a lot of the frustration I built up while teaching I could vent through the routine.

(PS - I'm not worried about someone stealing the idea. You kind of have to live the teacher life to appreciate the jokes and make them work.)

My choice for Amateur Nights was pretty much limited to New York or Boston. Now, it's not that I don't like New York (I do!) but to me it seemed a little pretentious to decide to cut comedy teeth in a city that hosted major comedy talent. Boston, with its college community and off-off-off Broadway approach seemed like a much better way to learn if I could be entertaining for, say, 5 minutes. If I could get a good 4 or 5 solid laughs in that time I was sure I could expand that to a good 8 minutes and shift to New York.

So I called a friend who was studying at Berklee (for someplace to crash) and headed into my first amateur performance.
"How many with you?"
"Huhn?" The manager was a balding, pissed off looking guy who clearly was up to HERE with amateur comedians. He looked like he would rather have been slashing his wrists in a warm tub than standing at the entrance to the basement club with a clipboard.
"People. You brought people?"
"I'm out of Connecticut. I didn't bring..."
"Anyone." Huge sigh, roll eyes, drop clipboard to side. "You have to bring three people with you if you're going to get on stage."
"Can you make an exception?"
"After everyone has performed, if there is any time left, you can get on stage."

I figured out he was full of it when 1 a.m. rolled around and I hadn't gotten announced. I stumbled back to my friends apartment (there was a two drink minimum and I tried to entice the manager to let me perform by drinking eight drinks, or what me and three friends needed to consume. He wasn't vaguely impressed but I was a bit intoxicated.

While watching a night of amateur comedy I was impressed by several things.
1) People are not as funny as they think they are.
2) Confidence is everything in delivery - there is nothing worse than a performer who doubts themselves and still tries to press forward. The audience is painfully aware that the performer is not able to create an atmosphere of humor and invite the audience to join them. Instead we are all sitting, edgy, wanting the person to relax and feel better, but knowing full well that this could be the longest 5 minutes of our lives.
3) Karoke is funny when people fail. Comedy is not.
4) Attempting to imitate a famous comedian by "borrowing" a routine does not work. There is a reason it works for the comedian and, chances are, after a couple weeks of practice, you cannot imitate what they have taken years to perfect.

Time number two I brought several friends up (two from Connecticut, one from Boston. And not the Berklee friend. For some reason he was in a "comedy sucks" phase and everything was DEAD serious to him.) I sat and sat and drank and finally was invited to line up in the back. We were put in order that we would go on and then allowed to then sit around and wait our turn up. More lessons:

1) People are not as funny as they think they are before they go onstage.
2) A group of people who do not speak or perform in front of people regularly should not be grouped together in a small area. Nervous sweat really stinks and it only escalated everyone's nerves.
3) When you are the relaxed, confident one, nervous, antsy people get abnormally pissed at you.

So right before I thought someone was going to drag me in a dark corner and try to beat some nervousness into me, my name got called.

I'd love to go word for word of the routine, but it's been years and what I'd rehearsed wasn't quite what got up on stage. Besides, chances are SOMEone would find some of the humor offensive and that isn't the point of the story. After I got the first real laugh I played into it by mugging a little more, which got a harder laugh, and I started modifying the routine to accompany the laugh. The routine became more of a joint effort between the audience and myself as I worked the material based on their reaction. So, at the end, it was a unique experience.

After I finished, and I got a good amount of applause, I stepped off-stage to sit with my friends. We watched several more people perform. I'd love to say that I'd broken a little ice and the audience was more receptive to the next few, but that's unfair since there was some genuinely funny material in their routines.

Tomorrow I head back to Boston with the family. The only laughs I will get are from the tiny children as I wheel them around the city in our two-seat stroller. What happened with the stand-up and the comedy is another story and another city. But this is just one of the memories that, as we wander up and down the streets of Boston, will keep me smiling as we trundle along.

Day Thirty-one of campaign - Look for that union label to keep business healthy!

2011-08-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

1) I went out and put some of my signs next to signs for Mayor Segarra's since they looked all lonely on public property and nothing is worse than a lonely sign just hanging out under a streetlamp. So now there are two!

2) Since it is going to come out as a topic of discussion at some point during the campaign, I might as well address how it came to be that I was organizing a union and why I was fired for it.

Now...two caveats: 1) I won't be naming names or pointing fingers. This is about looking at a business situation objectively and explaining how a Republican attorney came to be in the position that forming a union was the best alternative. 2) Everything that follows either comes from personal experience or was explained to me by someone with firsthand experience. This doesn't mean that I'm claiming what they said was gospel, but just what contributed to the ultimate decision to unionize.

A quick overview of the organization:
The non-profit company, let's call it Bubbleguppies, Ltd. (BGL), serves professionals and staff in a specific type of business. BGL is run by a board of directors elected by the members and each representing a part of the state. The directors, in turn, elect officers to run BGL. The officers hire a Director to deal with the day to day operation of BGL and the director, in turn, hires staff. So while the Board of Directors and officers do not directly run the organization, they have an agent, the Director, that does and the officers set the expectations and direction they would like to see BGL move in.

Two years before I started, things were not going well for the staff and management at BGL. The inter-management fights were so out of control that meetings had to be held off-site to avoid distracting the staff. As in "shouting matches threatened to become fist fights" out of control. Morale was low among the staff and, afraid that they were not getting an accurate picture from their director, the officers commissioned a staff survey to find out just what was going on. Upon receiving the results of the survey the responses were immediately sealed and only a small handful of officers have ever seen the results.

Shortly after the survey, BGL was reorganized and several management positions were eliminated. The survey results were not released to staff, as promised, so staff were left guessing what happened as the changes implemented did not fall into line with what they had stated in the survey. It was not unreasonable that the staff knew each others results. The staff, around 24 people, all knew one another well and had spent years working together.

Shortly after the management was restructured BGL had an annual staff meeting. Lunch was provided, time in service awards were handed out and, as everyone was enjoying their dessert, the remaining management announced the restructuring, noted that some would keep their jobs and the rest would be able to apply for the new positions. Silence as people choked down their mouthfuls was followed by anger and outrage. In one swoop, the staff felt, what was supposed to be a confidential survey was used to weed out "undesirables." Morale, which was low enough to begin with, collapsed.

I was hired under the restructuring. I came into an organization with a little less than half the original staff remaining. Over the next year I watched as person after person quit. One year after I began, half the staff, 12 people, had all quit the organization, some to take other jobs, some just because the environment was so ugly, morale so low, and management so poor that they would rather be unemployed than return to work. Two years after the restructuring, only three of the original staff remained and the rest of the staff had, on average, less than a year experience.

Unfortunately, the issues created by management that created such a horrific work environment, were not improved so morale did not improve. For instance, meetings with my direct report would usually involve, at some point, the statement "If anyone disagrees with me I'll just fire them." Clearly, I did whatever I was asked and did not offer any opposition no matter how I felt.

The board of directors had taken notice and demanded reports on why so many were quitting. Four problems with this issue:
1) The results of the original survey were buried and the officers responsible did not want to admit to the results. They resisted any reports coming forward in which they might be found culpable to their part in the ongoing issue.
2) Management was responsible for reporting on why there was so much turnover and had no interest at all in being honest that it was, well, their fault.
3) Serving on the board of directors was, for many, a third or fourth activity. After running their own businesses, sitting on other committees, and paying attention to their families, they then had to deal with supervising BGL. They signed on to maintain an organization, not deal with a full blown labor issue and, in that situation, ignoring it and hoping that it just got better on its own seemed to be the best alternative.
4) The board of directors didn't meet very often and had a ton of other issues to deal with, so the labor situation was more of an after thought if it came up at all.

Meanwhile...
The clients of BGL were suffering as experienced people left and inexperienced people took over the jobs. Without good direction from management, and with low morale, the staff could not perform the jobs adequately. Orders were not shipped or shipped incorrectly, materials were lost, and clients could not get simple answers to questions without it taking days for the staff to find out information that would have beet at the fingertips of more experienced staff.

So as the situation deteriorated, those employees willing to remain, with no assistance from the board of directors or officers and under attack from management, turned to the attorney (me) and asked "What can we do to save BGL?

Company's need healthy management and staff to survive. Labor does not kill a company, it's just not that simple. An anti-union stance assumes that management is always competent. Anyone who has had at least one job knows that this is a fallacy. Bad management is the number one reason for unionization - and it can be healthy for the company when the staff bands together to save it from incompetent management. Good companies with competent management are not at risk of unionization - one of the reasons why unions are not universal.

Management is a skill set in and of itself (and I'm not just saying that because I'm working on an MBA). Companies, non-profits and the State of Connecticut (possibly the worst offender) promote content matter experts to managerial positions and then just assume that they have the skills to inspire and lead people. This is no more true than handing someone welding equipment and expecting them to go out and build a bridge. Just because you are the best person at something, say data entry, this doesn't mean that you suddenly know how to perform a proper, inspirational performance assessment.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

My first reaction, after getting the history and the issues, was to contact a member of the board of directors and raise the issues. It was met with a less than enthusiastic reaction. I met with past employees, attempted to get ahold of the original survey, attempted to request a new survey from another member of the board of directors, all for naught. No one wanted to help, no one wanted to be involved, no one was willing to even listen to the staff vent their issues.

With no help from the organization, the staff was left with no choice but to help itself and, in turn, help BGL. I approached each member of the staff individually, asked what they thought of the idea of unionizing and many were interested. Unfortunately, several went to management to tell them what was happening. So the day I returned to work with union materials, the day I had a lunch meeting and passed the materials out, within minutes following the meeting, I was fired.

This had the chilling effect, as planned, on the staff and any thoughts of unionization were killed. I would love to say there was a morale issue as a result, but when it's already zero...you can't get lower.

BGL is a non-profit organization that exists through dues paying members. So at its worse, the organization will trundle forward under horrid management, turning over staff constantly because, even if it delivers horrible service, it's the only game in town and with no competition. But that doesn't mean that there aren't ramifications to bad management.

In this case the result of ongoing terrible service and bad reputation is that many professionals refuse to join BGL. And with declining clients, this means declining revenues. At the end of the day, even a non-profit needs income, so finally, after years of poor service and management, the officers had to react and the management issues were finally addressed.

Unionization would have empowered the staff, protected them from the randomness of management, and allowed them to continue with their jobs without fear of immediate termination for speaking at the wrong time. This in turn would have given clients more experienced staff who were interested in making sure that BGL grew stronger.

While this didn't mean that BGL would grow and become offer more incentive to join, unionization would at least mean that it wouldn't remain a dysfunctional organization with little to entice membership.