Wake up Call to Taxpayers

I was reading a document prepared by the Intelligent Community Forum that generated an aha moment for me.  The quote is:

“Education has cultural, social, spiritual and aesthetic value, but its most tangible value is in preparing a young person for work.  Unless that young person successfully crosses the last mile from school to work – work in a prospering local industry that pays a living wage – the years of schooling produce little pay off.”

The “aha” was in realizing that we, the tax payers, were the ones being taken when youth fail to matriculate and be prosperous.   We are paying for their education.  We actually have a vested interest in said education.  If it is not working, we have a right to investigate.  We then should get involved.  We should admonish and encourage youth to take advantage of it.  They are wasting our money if they do not graduate with the skills the community needs.  We should actually be incensed when they flaunt ignorance and attitude because we have paid for a product we are not getting.

We should also take this same attitude to the schools and parents.  What are you doing, what is not working, what are the barriers?  Why do I feel like my tax money is going into a bottomless pit?

Let me also indicate that taxpayers also include renters.  Most renters do not consider themselves property taxpayers, but I suspect that part of their rent includes the taxes on the property in which they live.  Although they do not get the official tax bill they are probably paying at least a portion of it while living in the community that is getting short changed. 

As taxpayers, we are paying twice if they fail to receive gainful employment because our tax dollars support many of the services they will need to survive – WIC, various social services, etc.  So as taxpayers, the outcomes are financially important to us.  Do we need to stop paying?  No, but we really do need to pay attention, voice our outrage, and demand a better return on our investments than we have been getting.

Lights Out

       Recently we had an area wide power outage (over 700,000 people without power) for at least four days.  It also happened when we had 100 degree weather and were in the middle of a drought.  I was not happy about losing all of my frozen and perishible foods, but on the other hand, I sort of enjoyed the time off.  I missed my air conditioner, but I had battery operated fans and lights so except for missing the Internet and a few tv shows, I was pretty content. I work in an air conditioned environment so for most of the day I was cool.  By the time I returned home, the temperature had dropped a little.  I could enjoy quiet time - literally since nothing was running in the background.  I could read, play cards, use my Fire for electronic games (recharge it the next day at work).  Talk on the phone (recharged at work as well).  Or I could sit in the backyard and contemplate nature while dinner cooked on the grill.  At night, I slept like a rock.  The windows were up and there was a breeze aided by the battery operated fans. And all in all it was really quiet.
       When we regained power, I took the opportunity to change.  I did not turn the TV on - I read a book.  I also used my time to finish some craft and other projects.  Things seem to be slower now that I have let go some of the creature comforts. 
      I thought it was amusing to listen to others complaining about the lack of things to do and how tough this was.  I grew up before there was air conditioning for the masses; when TV went off the air at 6 on Saturday and I think it was not even on Sunday. The Grocery store also closed at 6 on Saturday and nothing much was open on Sunday - a few restaurants, maybe but busninesses were closed.  Somehow we survived and had a really good time doing it. I am not saying let's go back in time, but I do think there are a few things to be learned from surviving the past.

Why Black History Month?

Recently, I was asked the question, why it was still important to celebrate Black History Month.  I had wondered that myself once and after Obama was elected President, I remembered why.  I, too, had become complacent.  I sort of knew that his election was the upswing before the swift down swing of the political and cultural pendulum.  I sort of knew when I began to hear an on-going piece of rhetoric, the “take back our country” mantra, that we hear ever so often as if some foreign agent or country had invaded and taken America over.  I sort of knew that once his tenure is up, we would be in for a new day; a time very similar to that of post reconstruction era USA.   

The first real tell-tale clue was the incident where a member of Congress interrupted the President’s speech before the nation by yelling “you lie” as the President spoke.  You will find a nice list of the top 10 (so far) worst moments of disrespect towards President Obama here.  It was blatant.  This person felt comfortable enough not to just disrespect the man but the office he represented as well.  As if the office was no longer worthy of respect.  These are all major clues as to why Black History is still important but they are not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg, though.

What it is to be black in America is changing.  How do you even define being Black, or African-American when there is such an influx of refugees from Africa pouring in to America every day?  What do you call these people?  How will you define their history in America and differentiate it from that of African-Americans whose arrival to this country was mostly of a negative and inhumane nature?  Can most people even tell those who have adopted American (European) clothing styles, habits and accents from those of us who have deep roots in this country? 

Back to the Presidency.  President Obama was dealt the Old Maid in our political card game when he accepted the nomination.  He knew she was in his deck of cards and there was nothing he could do but accept his fate. And he did so with dignity and....Hope.  A Hope that he tried hard to instill in all of us.  He was taking over at a time that was so much like the Panic of 1873 that the only difference was the clothing style, technology and the color of the President’s skin.  The interesting thing about the Panic of 1873 is that it began during the middle of Reconstruction.  After Reconstruction, African-Americans were relegated to (in the best of times) second-classed citizens whenever they were remembered to be human at all. 

Do we still need to celebrate Black History?  Now more than ever.  Now that television shows like “Who Do You Think You Are” are popular and many Americans are trying to find out about their heritage.  Especially now since there is freedom of access to a lot more information about that heritage.  We need to make  sure that this information stays available, is not deemed folklore, myth  and legend, or obliterated all together.  We need to take up the slogan, "Never Forget", and instill in current and future generations the knowledge of where we came from so we do not have to go back there ever again.  Remember, those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it. The Panic of 1873 is just one of many examples of that.  Let's let it stop, now.

The Gym

I have finally decided to admit what I've known all along:  I hate the gym.  I don't want to "work out".  I don't want to "work" period.  I want to play.  I want a playground for adults.  I think it would be great to have large indoor playgrounds where the "ground" was a really tight trampoline (like a boxing rink floor?) so that if you fell down, you may not break anything, and getting up may be easier.  On this ground you would have:

•  swings (wide bench seats for one) and lots of them.  Nothing like stretching out in a swing to get height to your pendulous motion to work every leg and stomach muscle (not to mention arms) that you have.
• monkey bars (several sets to accommodate short, average and tall people) along with the climbing dome and a rock wall for those linear thinkers; 
• the horsey ride (work those abs!).  
• There could be dodge ball, volleyball, and of course badminton courts! 
• What great playground does not have a pool?  And, because we are adults, it would have a sauna and a hot tub!  
• I wouldn't mind a sandbox either for some creative outlet.
• Let's add a line dance hall as well.

It would not have showers.  Go home grimy. When you get there, take your shower or bath, relax and go to bed.  I bet we would be less stressed and a lot happier if we did this.

After a hard day at work, I'd rather go play.  What about you?

I Remember 9-11

     I remember 9/11.  It was a beautiful day and I had to work the 11 to 8 shift.  Usually I watched the Today show in the mornings, but this morning was so peaceful and pretty I did not turn the television on.  I did some housework.  I left the house and drove to work with the windows down and the radio off.  I was in a great mood and it was going to be a great day.   I remember I was coming in the library branch where I worked with a couple of big bags in my hands.  When I got in, I  noticed that someone had set the staff television set on the counter and it was on.  This did not happen unless something monumental happened.  As the manager I asked what was up with the set.  I was told it was to keep up and help customers stay tuned to the events.  I asked what events.  As usual they thought I was joking but soon discovered I had been in a media blackout and did not know about the air disaster. 

     Once I heard and saw what had happened, I must admit I had a pretty different reaction to that of everyone else, and I suspect what I am going to say next may make you think I am either crazy, unpatriotic or both, but here it is.

      Most everyone there was upset, angry or distraught.  I shook my head up and down and said, nice.  I had to give whoever did this respect.  It was well done. They had definitely gotten our attention. I was not angry, afraid or distraught.  I was intrigued.  Who did it and now that they had our undivided attention, why?  What did they want?  To my dismay, it did not seem as if anyone else, anywhere wanted to know this.  Everyone wanted revenge, especially our government.  Reacting like a one-eyed Cyclops, our government, whipped up by then President George Bush the younger decided to fight back – to lash out at the enemy yet to be named, but definitely some middle east group, hence the war on terror. 

     I thought then and still think now that America missed a wonderful opportunity to set an example of the positive kind (just what would Jesus do?).  Instead of lobbing bombs, toppling governments, losing thousands of young lives and maybe trillions of dollars on a cause we could not win and maybe should not even have attempted, maybe we should have called a time out, a truce.  Someone is really angry at us.  Let’s find out who, and why.  Are their issues valid?  Have we done some bad things (known or unknown)? How can we correct the issue without more deaths? How has our culture damaged another?  What is the problem?  Instead of looking for a peaceful albeit probably long term process (as if the war in Afghanistan, Iraq and all the other places we are fighting bans of Al-Qaida has not taken up a generation already) that would have had the opportunity to change the way we solve problems, communicate and do business, not to mention enhance our reputation in the entire international community, we chose to act like a wronged bully.  We are no closer to solving the war on terrorism than we are on solving the war on drugs, or poverty.  We are helping to create more terrorists.  People who never in their wildest dreams would have thought they would be taking up arms against the USA are doing so and teaching their children to take up the cause.  How is this to ever end with all sides blindly throwing punches?  What are we fighting against? 

     If their issues were not valid, prove it, make it transparent and work to cure the ills.  If it was an act of a few “terrorists” we could have honed in on them – localized attack to arrest and try them in a proper court.  Now we are stuck and being sucked in deeper and deeper.

     A while back I wrote a piece about terrorism (see Maybe We Need A New Song) in which I said they do not have to do another thing because they have already won.  America is no longer the carefree nation it was.  America has given up so many freedoms under the banner of making us safer.  Even as I write this I wonder if my freedom of speech and thought is still intact enough for me to express these views.  But if by being safer we are now afraid of our neighbors, are scrutinized everywhere, searched as if we are in a third world country, constantly looking for threats;  our lifestyle had been permanently changed for the  worst.  I think we missed a golden opportunity to right so many wrongs committed by past governments and maybe even current ones and really be the generation that says enough is enough.  We have to lighten up on the coveting and the greed, for the good of all.  We need to apologize and then forgive all including ourselves.

   
   

Too Bad We Can't Talk About This

     I was raised to understand that there were three things you could not talk about in polite company (during parties, any social event, maybe not even at home): politics, religion and sex.  Times have changed a little, but these three topics are still considered taboo in many circles.  Sometimes I wish not to be in polite social environs just so these topics could be thrashed and thrashed well.
       Glenn Meade really thrashes religion, specifically Catholicism, the Vatican and its role in promoting Christianity and tearing down religious barriers (something it has yet to do).  He does this in his latest book, The Second Messiah.
     This book revolves around the Catholic church, archeology, murder and keeping secrets.  Archeology plays a prominent role in this story as does what may be seen as an unnatural alliance between the Mossad and the Vatican working together. There are also cliche scenes throughout reminiscent of Indiana Jones, but the dialogs and thoughts expressed via the thoughts of the main characters about archeology and religion are very thought provoking.
     I attended Howard University in the early '70's.  One day, my boyfriend who was an artist, took me on a tour of "America's Catholic Church" aka the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  We had a difference of opinion about the church.  He thought it was a beautiful work of art.  I thought it was an appalling display of opulence that was almost vulgar when I thought about all of the poor Catholics that put their last pennies in the offering so that someone could design a church like this with gold walls and ceilings and other expensive trappings.  We argued about it for over a week.  I agreed that it was beautiful, but was an example of why I thought the church in general was failing those it claimed to serve.  A few years later I noticed a movement in mainstream religion that God did not want people to be poor and especially wanted the church to be an example of wealth so that folks would have something to emulate and would have leaders to represent them well.  "You don't want pastor to be driving an old beat up car when he goes to visit the sick and shut in do you?" Was something I heard from the pulpit as deacons encouraged the congregation to donate a "love" offering for the pastor or to donate to the pastor's car fund, or clothing fund, etc.
     I say all of this because Meade addresses just these issues and more in this book.  Here you have an accidental pope who upon being sworn in tells the cardinals that he plans to open the Vatican to all, especially the secret archives and provide full financial disclosure.  He plans to have no secrets, past nor future.  He even forsakes the vestments and accommodations of the Vatican for a sparse room in an abbey.  He wears modest monk wear.  He wants to emulate Jesus as Jesus wanted the church to do.  He is going to try to reach out to the other christian denominations and join the churches.  As one cleric cries, "what next, reaching out to other religions?!?!".  Maybe you can imagine what happens next, the mayhem that this stirs up.
     Throughout this book there are some very interesting discussions about the role of the Catholic church, archeology, culture and life itself.  Too bad we can't talk about them, but you can read them in The Second Messiah and form your own thoughts.  Who knows, you may even break camp and talk about them.

The Media's Responsibility

It never ceases to amaze me that whenever anyone mentions that the media may be at fault, they shriek that they (did not say, do, start it) just repeated what was said/done so that the people would know. I wonder if the people always need to know, and why the media no longer seems to be able to figure out what is really mentionable or newsworthy.

I had a lot to say when Imus spouted his words of wisdom. But here I will just dwell on my view of the media’s responsibility in it. My take on this is if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well we know it makes a sound, but if it does not have an audience, does it make a difference?

I don’t think it makes a difference until someone stumbles on it after the fall. At that time, maybe it has completely decomposed, or maybe it has become a safe haven for a variety of forest dwellers – large and small. But one thing for sure, it is no longer what it was before the fall.

So what does this have to do with the N-word, Imus, gangsta rap lyrics, etc? If the media did not amplify the sound so that all of the above was given an audience, where would it have been heard?

If the media had not continually repeated what Imus said, only that small population of Imus followers would have heard it. Since we really rarely hear much if anything from them or him usually, if the comment was contained or even ignored by the media at large, what power would it have?

What roll does the media play in supporting deviant behavior? If they did not popularize gangsta rap, would BLING be in the dictionary? Would bitch or ho be common terms in youth and younger adult language? Would young black males think that their life expectancy was less the age 21? Maybe for those who actually live the gangsta life, but for middle and upper middle class youth (and those with middle and upper middle class values) of all races should not even be aware of this life and should definitely not emulate it – but they do, thanks to the media.

There was a time when there were very few mainstream published black writers. Then self publication became popular and something else happened. We now have Connie Briscoe, Zane and Triple Crown. For a while, we only had Chester Himes and Donald Goines. Then Sister Souljah started the new wave of reality fiction readers. Now there is a tidal wave of baby mama drama and who did what to whom ghetto lore books.

Back in the day we called it blaxploitation, and although there was a lot of hoopla from the public about gangsta rap when it first came out, the media made sure that it was played enough to become mainstream, and to subliminally encrypt in the public mind that this is how black people live and think.

So what part of the blame belongs to the media? If they did not fan these issues then they would not become profitable. If these issues, behaviors, etc were not profitable, the proliferation of lifestyle, language, dress, etc, would lean toward something else – something that is profitable. Maybe that is where we come in by designing that which should be emulated.

I am not suggesting that we censure the media. I am saying that they are responsible for promoting negative behavior and presenting it frequently enough that people become immune to it and it becomes acceptable. They have a responsibility to the public to make sure that whatever then deem newsworthy is truly that. Also, that their role is to report that which is newsworthy, not to make news themselves.

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If the media has a mic planted in the woods, everyone hears the sound.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

I think that James Patterson and his protégés along with Michael Connelly are laughing themselves all the way to the bank. Actually, I think they just chuckle every time they get a notice that their royalty checks have hit. Their latest books are so much alike it’s ridiculous. Connelly attempts to use Patterson’s twisted psychotic outline for his latest book, Scarecrow. Patterson actually mentions Connelly in his book, Swimsuit (“At the time, I was an ex-cop turned mystery writer, but since my last book had gone almost straight from the shipping carton to the remainder racks, I was a third-strike novelist doing the next best thing to writing pulp fiction. I was reporting crime for the L. A. Times, which, on the upside, was hoe the highly successful novelist Michael Connelly got his start”) and appears to model his character on Connelly.

Connelly, on the other hand seems to want to be semi-autobiographical in his book, using a similar character, a soon to be dismissed writer for the L. A. Times who grasps his last assignment and turns it in to a new career, and a two-book deal so that he, too can leave the Times.

Another thread that loosely lashes both stories together is the demise of the newspaper industry as we know it. Technology has taken over. The online Blog and electronic quickly updated version of the paper is usurping the power of the print version, etc.

But getting back to the collusion theory, I sometimes watch the TV series Castle. This series revolves around a waning best selling novelist who has latched on to an opportunity to tag along with a real detective to learn what real police work is like so his next series of books (based in the detective) will be realistic. The connecting tissue here is that in a couple of episodes, Castle has a poker party at his house where he and Patterson, Connelly, Stephen J. Cannell, (all playing themselves) play poker and quickly give each other tips on writing. (Ka ching!!!! Ka ching!!!!)

Now I’m thinking that this new form of best seller production is sort of similar to the junk bond market or pyramid marketing, or predatory lending. Initially there is a great market for it, but once it becomes diluted, the bottom drops out of the market and a lot of folks will be finger pointing at the cause of the demise of reading. People will become bored with this cutesy form of old boy networking. They may actually become insulted by the lack of creativity being used to take their money. They may stop buying books.

Since the publishing industry is stoking this disaster, they will probably blame the gaming industry, the schools, the public and anyone but themselves for causing the death of reading as we know it, because they chose quantity over quality.

This is the type of greed that forces change. Assembly line production of books that are supposed to engage the reader does not work. The market becomes glutted and the consumer becomes sated. Now what? There is no anticipation. Although we sometimes wish our favorite author would write faster, we still want a well thought out, non-formulaic well written book.

Those of us who like a well crafted read may have to find alternative sources and venues. I see a market for self published e-books that can be downloaded to Kindle’s competitors for a price that mostly goes to the writer, a percentage going to the reader device producer. Why not Kindle? Because if it’s ties to Amazon. There has to be a cadre of lesser known writers who are producing well written police procedurals, murder mysteries, law and order books. We just have to support them.