Unions Strong

The Buffalo News' bias against the working class is showing again.

Not like in the old days when a person would walk up to a female and say quietly to her “Your slip is showing.”

I'm talking about a Who concert from the 1970's that could drown out a jet engine. (I'm showing my age, not my hearing aids.)

Today's News front page says it all: “Organized labor flexes its muscles to influence Buffalo school vote.”

Yes, NYSUT got active and Governor “Status” Cuomo pushed back the date when those overpriced and useless Common Core tests would be used against teachers in unfair evaluations. (No other career has exams like that or used in that manner.) And this is evidently wrong and the News makes sure that the world knows that they have a problem with it.

The News has no problem with Carl PaladiNO – a private, government subsidized businessman who makes money by leasing property he owns to private charter schools. There's no problem there. No conflict of interest.

But unions – and not just teachers – I'm talking the Communication Workers of America, some of whom are on strike against Verizon and fighting to preserve their income and benefits against greedy Wall Street tycoons and the AFL-CIO and it's member unions - this is who the News has a problem with.

The News has a problem because they do not believe that tax-paying teachers should have a voice or vote on who serves on the School Board.

Let's remember – Teachers pay taxes in Buffalo and many of them live in the city. But according to the News, that should not matter. They need to vote for people that are going to put them out of a job – at worst – or cut their wages and benefits -at the least. Add in a longer work day and you have the perfect recipe for a teaching job that people are going to want to get out of. (Perhaps the News executive board should prove to us that this works to improve a situation by implementing it on themselves first.)

And the unions understand that this is part of a larger war on the unions and working class.

And they are mad as hell and not going to take it any more. (Pardon the cliché.)

So they have done what unions mean and do best – organize and work for the benefit of all. They understand that what happens to one union will affect them all – domino effect style. (And I'm not talking about the pizza chain with the mass produced mediocre pizzas.)

The unions from in the city and across Erie County (and hopefully outside too) have joined together in the fight against the wholesale privatization of the second largest school district in the state. And they mean to win.

And they have set target #1 on the man who makes it no secret that he wants to destroy public education so that he can take more taxpayers money and put it in his pocket: Carl PaladiNO. This man has publicly made many racist (and I believe misogynist, if not misanthropic) comments. He does not belong in a publicly elected office that determines the fate of our children.

The unions have also set their eyes upon other members of the so called “majority” 1% that want to destroy public education through privatization.

And they are doing it by organizing across labor lines.

This school board election is all about the class war that is being waged in this country (and world). It is between the 1% that want to own us and control us and the 99% that want the freedom that the American rebels fought for in 1776 (against the British) and again in 1860 (against the slave-holders).

So residents of Buffalo need to get out and vote.

They need to vote against those that want to take their schools away from them and vote for the people who want to keep the public in “public education.”

I like the quote NYSUT President Karen Magee gave the News - “We will push back against those who want to change public education but don't know a damn thing about public education.”

The other quip that I liked is that the word “school” is not spelled with a dollar sign. ($chool.)

Whoever came up with that one deserves something.

So, united we stand against those that want to take our schools away from us.

I don't normally endorse candidates, but I encourage anyone who lives in the Park District to vote for Austin Harig and against the Donald Trump clone. If you can't vote for him, donate, phone bank, or knock on doors. And if not for him, then for those that want to keep the public in Buffalo schools.

Unions understand that an injury to one is an injury against all.

The Buffalo School battle is a war to break the power of the working class.

Let's support ourselves by supporting those that want to keep public schools public.

Buffalo News Injects Politics into School Board Race

The Buffalo News is injecting and infecting the Buffalo School Board Race with politics.

Plain and simple.

Anyone that is opposed to their pro-privatization schemes are political agents that are working against the “best interests” of the students, parents, and taxpayers.

So the people that have challenged the petition signatures of several board members are working against the best interests of the community. So laws and democracy don't count? If the signature challenge would have removed someone that was opposed to the privatization of the Buffalo School system would the Buffalo News still be crying tears?

So there is a faction of candidates running that is looking to put Buffalo Schools under the control of the mayor – in this case Mayor Byron Brown whom the News skewered when he gave his “State of the City” address. Read the analysis. 

If the Buffalo News is opposed to mayoral control,  then they need to say why and with specifics.

The Buffalo News is a pro-PaladiNO publication. Their articles on the Buffalo Schools are nothing more than PaladiNO talking points. Quite honestly, I have looked at his credentials and nothing in them says that he has any knowledge of how to run a school system, let alone one school. If he wishes to dispute this, then let him earn a Masters in Education Administration and run a public school with all its problems.

Never mind that there is not one study that shows that private charter schools succeed better at helping students learn or that they are serving the students any better.

And if private charter schools are so great – then why isn't the News advocating that they be required to take the lowest achieving students in the district rather than the highest?

If the Buffalo News was serious about improving Buffalo Schools for the students, they would be highlighting the high levels of poverty that the community faces and the problems that follow that.

If the Buffalo News was serious about education they would be looking at all the tax breaks that we are giving companies and corporations and asking them “Where are the jobs?” Carl PaladiNO! Received $1.4 million in tax breaks from the state on the premise he would create jobs. He created one (1) job.

Let's give $1.4 million to BCSD and see how many teachers they hire. How that drives down class sizes. And – by the way – studies show that smaller class sizes increase achievement. Even among the poor.

If the Buffalo News was serious about education they would be asking teachers what they need to succeed in the classroom. And work to provide it.

If the Buffalo News was serious about education they'd be taking a critical look at private charter schools and the turnover that they have in teachers. A fellow teacher that I work with that came out of a charter school says that all the teachers that they knew were trying to get out and into public schools because the environment was better. And the pay as well. (Even with the so called “performance bonuses.) Almost every teacher worked a night job to pay their bills and make ends meet. I'll bet that tired teachers improve student achievement.

So, injecting politics into the School Board race means being anti-Buffalo News.

It also means being pro-student and pro-teacher.

Brownfield Remediation? R U Sure?

A developer in Amherst wants to re-mediate the former Westwood Golf Course of chemical contaminants at the taxpayers' expense. Or at least 50% of it. (That will be $3 million of a projected $6 million job. Provided it is approved.)

The former golf course is contaminated with lead, arsenic, mercury, and zinc from the excessive use of chemical pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides.

And all that ran off the course and into our water supply.

And we wonder about the cancer rates in our communities.

How many golf courses are there in Western New York?

In urban and suburban areas?

And people walk all over these places and leave a path of those chemicals wherever they go.

And now they -the private corporations- want us to pay for the mess that they made.

How?

Brownfield clean up laws and legislation.

The company contaminates the land, walks away claiming bankruptcy (but shielding their profits in creative ways) and pass the buck of clean up to whoever follows in their footsteps.

Honestly, I don't want to walk in lead contaminated (or any of those other chemicals) footsteps.

Socialists and Environmentalists demand a change to Limited Liability Incorporation laws that pass the cost of environmental clean-up onto taxpayers. Former owners of the property must be required to contribute towards the cleanup of the property that they contaminated.

Bankruptcy laws for LLCs need to be amended so that it really means bankrupt – no money. Nothing hidden in offshore or shielded accounts.

Socialists and Environmentalists also demand the end to the use of deadly herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers that contaminate our environment. There are much more ecologically friendly ways to deal with the issues that those deadly chemicals are designed to address. And they (long term) cost less than the current methods.

We need to stop poisoning our environment like this.

Worse part is – the new owners want to build condos on that land.

And guess how they are going to keep the grass green?

Media Monopoly

The FCC and the Justice Department have just put the stamp of approval (with provisions) on the merger of Time-Warner Cable (Remember when they were two companies?) and Charter Communications.

Charter will own TWC and further consolidate corporate control over the Internet and broadband technology. This is in an age when people rely more on the Internet for services and less on traditional broadcast and print media.

The combined companies have restrictions on what they can not do – enter anti-competitive agreements for with programmer that would keep shows off of streaming services and violate Net Neutrality rules, among a few other restrictions on limiting broadband speed.

Bothering me: Net Neutrality has to be respected for seven years only. Also the limit on data cap shas that same time line.

So what happens after those seven years are up? Do the consumer lose?

The next consolidation deals with Gannett Co's (pronounced “Money”) offer to purchase Tribune Publishing for $815 million. I'm going to be honest here – Gannett publishes the USA Today. This is the blandest newspaper I have ever read. It's worse than eating white bread. (It turns into glue in my mouth and has no flavor at all. Give me whole grain any day.)

Tribune Publishing, which owns the LA Times, the Chicago Times, and other newspaper resources, is a media hub for many communities and their reporting is used in many newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, the whole spectrum of news media. This consolidation under Gannett will result in layoffs and cuts because Gannett needs to make more money for Wall Street.

This consolidation of information resources is a direct threat to American Democracy.

First we have Gannett taking over the creation of the news. Then we have Charter/TWC controlling the distribution of the news. With corporate capital controlling the manufacture and flow of information the types of news we receive will be limited to what the 1% decide the mass of people need to know.

The old joke in media criticism is “If a tree falls in the forest and the NY Times doesn't report on it, did it happen?”

From the Iraq war – did anyone know about the days of action protesting the war before it started? Many people did not even know there was opposition to the war (international at that) because the American media failed to report on it.

Media criticism is what started me on the road to being a socialist. I started seeing the limited nature of the information that we were receiving and I wanted something else, different. I found The Nation and Democracy Now for weekly and daily news. Other media followed: In These Times, The Progressive, Z Magazine, Monthly Review, Project Censored, and many others. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting was actually one of the first sites I began digging into on a daily basis.

It is also how I found about Socialist Action.

I think Thomas Jefferson said “I'd rather have newspapers without government than government without newspapers.” (Or words to that effect.)

With the corporate media grab, we are closing in on his worst fear.

Socialists (and democracy minded people) demand: No merger between Time Warner and Charter Communications.

We demand that media giants be broken up and that newspapers, TV and radio stations be put into the hands of the people in the “media markets” that they service.

To preserve democracy we need more information.

The consolidation of media will give us less information.

I was turned off of corporate media by the media's fixation on the death of some reality show personae. (All I can remember is blonde female with an ample bosom and a daughter that no one was sure who the father was.  Seriously.  That was the news focus.  And Brittany Spears not wearing panties.  Like I said,  "This is news?")

The media fixation on the death of Prince (a very talented musician) is reminding me of why I left corporate media in the first place.

That and all the Donald Trump coverage.

No serious journalism organization would (or should) be paying attention to him.

Then again, show me a serious corporate media organization.

Independent Book Store Saturday

Blatant plug here – or advertisement, which I rarely do.

This Saturday (April 30) is Independent Book Store Saturday.

Rather than going out to some Wall Street owned and controlled book store, find the store in your local neighborhood – be it new or used – and spend some time (and hopefully money) there.

A friend of mine has hijacked me to go check out two in the neighborhood where I will be relocating to, so I will not be making the Buffalo circuit this year – Talking Leaves, Rust Belt Books, the comic shop on Main Street near UB whose name is slipping my mind as I type this up off-line, Burning Books, and the plethora of others that exist in the Buffalo area.  I will have to get to them on another date.

The one shop (Burlingham Books) allows you to create an account with them and every $100 (?) you get a $5 in store credit. They also serve coffee & tea in house. I think you buy 10 and get 1 free? I'll have to check into it. The other shop is a college book store that he likes because of the esoteric stuff they carry. Better than other shops I guess. Plus it's near a college (SUNY Geneseo) so who knows what it has.

So take some time and break away from the stranglehold that corporate America has on your reading list and hit your local bookstore.

Who knows what gems you might find.

Hopefully it's interesting.

Update:  The comic book store is called Queen City Books.  My apologies for forgetting that.
I bought my first graphic novel there.

Capitalist Health Care

Or the actual lack thereof.

I'm seeing it more and more – Fund raisers for people to be able to afford medical treatments.

In the school where I work a student's family recently held a BBQ so that he could afford medical treatments for the Type 1 diabetes that he suffers from.

A friend of mine from high school has a brother that has MS. The pancake house that the family own is doing a fund raiser this Saturday to help pay for his treatments.

I just saw on the news where a boy needed a special wheelchair so that he could get around on the farm where he raises pigs. He suffers from cerebral palsy (I believe). And for what it is worth – they used a “Go Fund Me” drive and GFM takes a percentage cut of whatever is raised. I've heard that it is in the realm of 10%. To be fair, I am not sure and given that this is for a person's ability to live life, I might get angrier than I already am if the percentage is higher.

There are more stories like this and all of them unnecessary if we had a socialist health care system – a system that was focused more on a person's right to life rather than Wall Street's need for greed or an administrator's need for a new Mercedes or multi-million dollar mansion.

Then again, I had a student complain about socialist health care because he doesn't want to give up his family's “perfectly good high quality” health care. Seriously? He obviously has never dealt with the paperwork his parents have to handle. Scheduling the doctor's appointment, the co-pay due at time of service. Any additional after the fact fees.

And he has never dealt with Emergency Room visits (without the authorization of a doctor) or out of service area visits and costs. These are totally different from in-service areas and participating doctors. His youthful optimism and ignorance is excusable to a degree. Rather than relying on corporate propaganda he should be asking his parents about the health insurance that they have and its inadequacies. Then again, his parents might think it is good too.

I just had a tooth extracted and a partial extended to cover the gap, (Annoying gap at that.) I am going to be shelling out quite a bit for that even though I have (according to the insurance firm) up to $1000 in coverage until the end of June. I have (to date, after the extraction and partial work) $480 left between now and the end of August. 

I could go into the issues facing women's health care issues,  but that would be manspalining and I really would prefer a female to comment on the capitalist system's inability to meet her needs.

So what would a socialist health care plan look like?

We could look at Europe, Canada, the former Soviet Union for examples of what it might look like. From what I have been able to gather about these systems, they work decently when properly funded. People have co-pays for services, but they can go to the doctor that is convenient for them, not to a limited list. And referrals for advanced medical needs are better and easier than over here. (According to my dental plan – after an extraction the replacement of the tooth is optional? Braces for a nice smile? Covered. Replacing a tooth so that the formerly braced teeth can remain looking nice? Optional.)

And out of pocket costs are lower. After all, you are not paying for Wall Street's excesses or some bureaucrat's expensive life style. Look at how much the head of the VA system makes and then look at the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield, Independent Health, or any other privatized health care system. The head of the VA (or even Health and Human Services) makes less than the CEOs (presidents, or totally useless vice presidents) and they provide for more people at a much lower cost.

So, if we are talking about lower costs for health care – we are talking socialism.

If we are talking about providing for a person's needs – we are talking socialism.

If we are talking about a person's ability to live life - we are talking socialism.

So, what's the problem?

April Socialist Action Newspaper is out

The April Edition of the Socialist Action Newspaper is out and, as always, is a good read.

It's also the alternative to the corporate mess-ages that we receive on a daily basis.

This month features articles on:

• Teacher strikes and other labor actions and conferences
• Racial Justice
• US – Cuba policy
• US Foreign Policy on the Middle East
• US Election Deception and Fascism
• Canadian Socialist Newspaper
• Socialist History
• Ecological News

The CanadianComrades are having their bi-annual international conference on May 20 and 21 in Toronto. Just a short (4 hour) drive away and there are reasonable hotel rates available. (Not to mention good Canadian food and brews – for those that enjoy Canadian beer. It is different than American beer.)

The article on fascism in America is short but deep. A good read when one thinks about the rise of Donald Trump and the apparent triumph of personality politics in this election.

Speaking of fascism, one of the things that I like about being a socialist and being a member of Socialist Action are the educationals that are held. We do them via phone and through the Internet (Google Hangouts. It's free and works pretty decently (Google probably records us and listen to it later – wishing they didn't have to sell their souls for loose change.)

When I was in the capitalist parties we had nothing like this. No meetings. No education. Just show up at the polls and vote for the party candidates. Skip the critical thinking.

So, if you need a good read, subscribe.

If you find it that interesting and want to join the future revolution – consider joining.

You have nothing to lose but your chains.

Articles on Fascism:

The Struggle Against Fascism

FASCISM: What It Is and How To Fight It

 

Undemocratic NY

The Buffalo News periodically publishes an article that spells out a truth that the public needs to know about but doesn't grasp. Even after reading the article.

The article in question brought up the issue of Republican control over the NY Senate even though Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state by nearly a 2 to 1 advantage. The article soes not tell us the number of registered voters, or those registered outside of those two parties.

So how does a small group of people seize control over the state government and its agenda in the face of a potential majority opposition?

Gerrymandering.

It's that simple. The corporate leadership of the Republican Party have a better grasp on Leninism, the concept of a vanguard party, and the works of Saul Alinsky than the Democrats and the left opposition do. And because of that they know how to game the system so that they can control the state government during the census years when the redistricting of the state must occur.

Because they know all this and (more importantly) do it – they control the fate of the state, for better or ( or more likely) worse.

And the same corporate controllers that own the Republican Party also donate heavily to the Democratic Party, so it is very unlikely that they will ever mount any sort of opposition to the status quo.

So how do we break this lock on power that the corporate controlled powers that be have?

We force a vote on proportional representation and keep pushing the issue until they relent.

It's a very simple concept. If a party reaches a certain threshold of voters – 5% is the standard that I have seen across Europe and I believe that Canada uses the same standard – they receive that percentage of representation in the government. This could be both in the Assembly and Senate. Though I see no reason why we would need both chambers under this system.

This would open the doors to the alternatives to the two corporate parties and the third parties could run their own candidates rather than being stuck endorsing the two major parties and hoping to get them to listen to anything the third parties say. (I'm thinking of the Working Families Party and Conservative Party. Both are basically additional lines for the Democrats and Republicans respectively.)

This would help break the corporate hold on power because there would be too many parties to control. The Republicans would not only have to campaign against the left, they would have to deal with the Constitution Party and those pesky Libertarians that don't exactly fit into the conservative mold but fit into the smaller government is better routine.

The Democrats would have to deal with the Republicans and their ilk and also deal with the Green Party and the various socialist parties that we have here in NY. So the lock that they have on the left would be broken and people that are tired of the Democrats making promises and failing to keep them would have somewhere else to turn to.

And yes, it would be messy during the election season.

But I would not call the discussion of the various ideas a mess.

It's actually called “democracy.”

And I think we could use some about now.

A gun toting black Republican & $20

A gun toting, law breaking black Republican woman will be gracing the new twenty dollar bill.

Yes, Harriet Tubman will be the new face staring at us from our wallets.

She was a law breaking woman. She liberated herself from slavery and worked tirelessly to lead others away from a wretched life style and economic system that needed to be ended. She broke laws that mandated that run away slaves be returned to their masters. Heck – she helped slaves run away from their masters.

She was a gun-toting law breaker too. Probably not the type of person that the NRA wants to put as the friendly face of gun ownership today. After all, the NRA supports the use of guns for self defense and putting an end to crimes. I'm not sure how many lives she ended or how many people she wounded. But from what I understand from history, she knew how to use a gun to put an end to unjust laws that violated peoples' rights. Specifically Black peoples' rights. And she put an end to crime – the crime of slavery.

She was black. A descendant of African slaves – she did what capitalists say that the poor should do – stand up for themselves and work their way out of the wretched situation that they are in. Well, she did that and helped others. Herman Cain and Dr Ben Carson should be proud.

She was a woman. A strong woman. With attitude. Probably make Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton shake in their high heeled shoes. Certainly not a pushover, according to the wanted posters.

She was a Republican. And the Republican Party should be boasting about this fact. Yes, she was a part of the party that worked to put an end to slavery and would agree with the Black Lives Matter movement today.

But the Republican Party of that time was founded by and controlled by liberals and reformers. They were abolitionists, people who worked for womens suffrage, socialists, communists, and other left leaning types that wanted to change the system and not for the 1% (or less) of that time period. They were more for the 99%. (That is until the 1% took them over in the 1890's.)

So, are we going to hear support for this from the Republicans?

Probably not.

Doesn't fir their version of history.

Or in this case – herstory.

Buffalo School Privatization in Peril

Instead of praising NYSUT – the NY Teachers Union – for upholding the democratic rule of law, the Buffalo News is lamenting that a “special interest group” has stuck its nose into the Buffalo School Board election and messed up the so called “reform agenda” of the school privatizers.

The goal of the privatizers is to close public schools that they claim are failing to perform (without looking for the reasons that the students are failing, like they don't speak Englsh) and converting them to for profit private schools that do not have to report to the taxpayers via a democratically elected school board.

According to election law candidates need 500 signatures to be on the ballot and run for a position. NYSUT challenged several of the candidates petitions and two if them came up short.

James Sampson, the swing vote and president of the board, was apparently 31 signatures short of the 500 needed. Sampson was part of the “PaladiNO!” block that was fighting to privatize Buffalo Schools. This block also forced out the previous superintendent and was greatly disappointed in their hand picked successor – Interim Superintendent Ogilve, who stepped down and disappeared after one year. (Evidently he didn't want the job or the heat from the powers that be?)

Patricia Elliott was also short by six signatures. She was sympathetic to the privatization movement and was counted as part of the block of five. (Reminds me of the Gang of Five in Maoist China.)

While neither name will be on that ballot as of the writing of this blog, it does not preclude a write-in campaign by either member.

Now the News should be praising NYSUT for making sure that the law is followed. After all, there are rules and they need to be followed, correct?

Except when the rules get in the way of the powers that be and their agenda.

The powers that be want the Buffalo Public Schools privatized so that they can take the money and line their pockets with it. There is no real (peer reviewed) research that shows that privatization actually increases achievement and graduation for those that attend,

Private schools, such as religious schools and college prep programs, do well because they are serving a specific clientèle – the wealthy and the religious – that wants a specific ideology pumped into their children's heads. I've worked with students that have left those institutions and some of them were just about clueless about actual history, science, and anything dealing with reality. They were good at memorize and regurgitate. Not much else.

When looking at what the school privatization movement advocates, what they do not want is want is what Buffalo and other poor urban areas have – a high percentage of low achieving students with special needs. Charter schools actually have in their rules and codes of conduct spelled out methodologies that make it very easy for them to push these high needs students out of the charter school and back into the public schools. The whole goal of the privatization movement is to skim the best and the brightest off of the public schools and leave the low achieving students behind to struggle and suffer in poorly funded schools with over sized classes where teachers can not give the students the attention they need to succeed.

The Buffalo News supports this privatization agenda, which is why they are lamenting the success of NYSUT's challenge to the nomination petitions of board members.

Put the shoe on the other foot – What if people who were opposed to privatization had their names taken off the ballot because they did not have enough signatures.

What story would the Buffalo News be writing then?

I'm sure it would look nothing like what we have been reading all week.

Corporate America won the NYS Primary

It's the day after the NYS Primary and it is evident that corporate America won.

On the Republican side – Donald Trump won the most votes. It is painfully obvious that he is for corporate America and will put their agenda forth with the usual media pomp and circumstance of a realty show TV star. I won't waste any more time on this.

Ted Cruz came in second. As expected. And he will shill for Wall Street and company. He'll just put that Bible-thumping Christian morality over the capitalist agenda. (Sad to say – the Bible says more about taking care of the poor than driving people into poverty. Then again, most Christians don't actually read the Bible. They own it. They only read what their pastor preaches about on Sunday morning. And most of the time they are preaching out of the historical context. I won't get into the horrible translational issues of bringing an ancient language into modern English.)

John Kasich came in third as expected. The compassionate conservative governor of Ohio that cut and gutted the state and has not much to show for it.

On the Democratic side – Hillary won and she is just the “friendly face” of corporate America. As I have stated before, in Bill and her own words, she is an Eisenhower Republican. Except this is not the 1950's. It is 2016 and the world has changed a great deal since that time. Except the “cold war” that we are manufacturing with Russia and China. The more things change …

Hillary will speak all the populist rhetoric and positions of the liberals and progressives. In the end, she will still be a corporate Democrat. Just like President Obama. Just without the flowery speaking style that he has. Or the personality. I have heard way too many people speak about how terrible she is at public speaking and how cold she comes across.

I don't care what she says or how she says it. If she wins the presidency, all we'll get is more of what we are getting now – the rich getting richer and everyone else getting poorer.

Sanders came in second. I know many people that are disappointed. Several of whom have said that they would not vote for Hillary in the general election in November. They can't bring themselves to do it for whatever reason is personal to them. And I'm hearing them all.

Then again, I have a fellow teacher that is a Hillary supporter. (To the extent that she actually believes in Hillary.) She gives me all this “strong woman” feminist stuff that I don't buy. Hillary, in my book, has been a political opportunist from day one.And a disaster for the American working class from day 2.

I don't buy her senatorial experience and backtracking. (Iraq was a mistake from the day President (sic) Bush mentioned it. She failed to fight against No Child Left Behind, which is destroying our schools. And the list goes on.

I don't buy her foreign policy experience. Libya is a basket case and a human rights nightmare. It was under Qadafi and even more so under the lack of government that it has in Tripoli. The Trans Pacific Partnership will be a disaster for America and the countries that sign on to it. How much of that work was done under her guidance? And every analysis that I have read on the TPP and other trade deals that the Obama Administration wants the US to enter into would be economic suicide for the working class.

But my fellow teacher, as educated as they are, refuses to cut the umbilical cord to the corporate American media and buys the two party paradigm with the infamous “lesser of two evil arguments.” Trump will be terrible for the US. No questions about that. He will be blatantly open about it.

Hillary will be the lesser of two evils. She is still evil. She'll just have the nice polished veneer that Trump lacks. The working class will still get screwed over. It's just that she'll stab us in the back.

At least when the Republicans stab us, it's in our chest and we can see them smiling as they do it.

And as far as lesser of two evils – I'm voting for the greater good.

I'm voting socialist.

Primary Day for what?

So it's Primary Day in NYS and I have been graced by the NYS Board of (or Bored with) Elections not recognizing my political affiliation or party with the inability to cast a vote for anyone running for president.

Not that I really see anyone on the ballot worth voting for.

Bernie has been argued as the “best of the bad choices” with his reformist social-democratic ideas. Great. His end point is my starting point. Even if he could get his agenda through the Congress it would suffer death by a thousand cuts from succeeding politicians. Look at FDR's “New Deal” and LBJ's “Great Society” for great examples of this.

The joys of reformism.

Hillary? No thank you. I voted against Bill. Twice. They called themselves “Eisenhower Republicans” back in the 1990's and the DNC is so controlled by big business that I really don't see much difference between her and her Republican rivals. Social issues are one thing. The only reason she is singing the song she is singing right now is because of Bernie and his popularity. It will die soon enough if she wins the nomination.

Trump? Heavens no. Bankrupt four times and how do you lose money running a casino? Plus I don't much like his rhetorical style. He strikes me as an “Arnold Schwarzenegger” candidate – Look at what Arnie did to California and that's what I fear Trump doing to the US.

Cruz? America is still reeling from the last time we let a one term Senator run the country. Inexperienced and too conservative on too many issues.

Kasich? The friendly and compassionate face of Republicanism. Look at Ohio and that's what he wants to do writ large. What Kasich did to Ohio is nothing worth repeating. Plus I already turned down three candidates that shill for big business.

So … I have no one to vote for.

However listening to people discuss the policies of the capitalist candidates I am reminded of how history books are written and the many theories of how history is written. (Aside from the obvious – by the victors.)

There is what is called the “Great Man (or Woman)” Theory of history. Basically put, a country is in dire straights (the band was much better) and along comes a great person to lead them out of their troubles and on to prosperity and / or success.

Look at the kings of Europe and Ancient times. Look at modern American politics and campaigns.

All the economic problems we have – and they tell us how they will solve them.

Look at the social crises that we are facing – and they tell us how they will solve them.

Look at the foreign policy, environmental (unless you are a Republican. Then this doesn't exist.), etc – and they tell us how they will solve them.

Sad but true, they never do.

There is a school of history that goes along with the Marxist interpretation of history.

It has a different answer to the “Great Man (or Woman)” of history.

It goes like this: The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workers of the world unite!

The only way for the working class to save itself from the perpetual crisis of capitalism is to overthrow capitalism altogether.

So we can play along with the capitalist game of super-hero coming to save us from the current crisis, hoping that we forget that they created it.

Or we can put an end to the system and its defenders and move on to something better.

Your choice.

Who gets the Revolution?

I wonder who gets the ideas of Lenin and revolution better sometimes.

I understand Lenin to advocate a bottom up revolution. There is the vanguard that educates the workers/masses and builds up the movement so that at the right time, they set the revolution in motion and power changes hands.

If I understand the Russian Revolution correctly, Lenin had the parallel government set up before October, so that when the revolution started, he had a power structure in place to help the Bolsheviks. I know this is a rather simplistic statement on the revolutionary structure, but for the purpose of a blog, it suffices.

Who gets that idea here in America?

The capitalists via the Republican Party.

While the Democrats mindlessly waste time trying to hold onto power in Washington DC, the Republicans are working to seize power at the local and state levels.

Read the Powell Memo for some eye opening plans and ideas.

Their “revolutionary leadership?” ALEC – The American Legislative Exchange Council. Read up on them and their work on the Center for Media and Democracy web site and ALEC Exposed. Some great research there. If only the media would report on it.

Except that conservatives have rewritten the media ownership rules and basically own the print and broadcast media (TV, radio, satellite, newspapers, and magazines, and Internet Service Providers).

In any event, ALEC writes model legislation that they get their Republican and conservative/corporate Democrats to introduce at the local and state level. It becomes law and now we have back door corporate rule.

Republican controlled state governments redraw gerrymandered voting districts every 10 years to keep themselves in power and push blacks, Hispanics, and other majority-minority groups into districts where their power is diluted into near powerlessness.

I just read an article in In These Times that shows how the Republicans and Democrats have introduced enough proposals for a Constitutional Convention on a “balanced budget amendment” that they are about 1 state short of the goal. If it gets that far and succeeds (via voter disenfranchisement laws) then the budget will be balanced on the backs of the poor instead of eliminating the corporate welfare state and overly expensive (and extremely useless) military budget.

I know the idea/analysis needs some more work and hashing out, but I think we on the real left have our work cut out for us.

We can't count on the compromising reformist Democrats to help us. Look at how far Presidents Clinton and Obama have sold us down the river.

So lets roll up our sleeves and start pulling the curtain on the wizards that are hiding behind it.

It's time to outsmart a smart ALEC and put them out of power.

New Power to Huntley

The more I read the “Letters to the Editors” the more I find good ideas that need to be implemented. This is is in opposition to some of the drivel that passes for news.

I will be generous with the word “news.”

A letter today (April 18 2016) proposed that the US follow a project that was successfully done in Ontario, Canada. They closed down a coal fired power plant, just like Tonawanda is in the process of doing with the Huntley plant, and converted the coal storage bins/area to a “solar field.”

They put up a solar array that was easily wired into the existing power plant and the former coal plant now provides renewable energy to the community. Loss to the tax base? Zero.

Now, let's look at Huntley see if we can repeat the same thing here.

What problems did Ontario have when they made the conversion? Can they be prevented or mitigated? Let's learn form what they did successfully, the problems they encountered, and the mistakes they made. It will save us time, money, and frustration.

Furthermore, could we plug wind power into it somehow? Is is close enough to the Lake Erie shore that we could do a “Steel Winds” project off the shoreline and away from the boating/shipping lanes?

I also read last week about these small turbines that get mounted on the peaks of houses. They look like small heaters. Instead they generate wind energy from the wind that blows off the roof the the house that it is on. From what I read the wind speeds up near the peak and these little units do generate a bit of power. Is this the urban alternative to the tall wind towers? (I read about them on Earth 911.)

WNY is in a good location to use multiple sources of renewable energy – both wind and solar. We need to capitalize on both and use them to replace these carbon polluting and inefficient power plants.

We have Solar City going up, which could provide the solar panels.

Could we get the roof mounted wind turbines built here too?

And Tesla Car Co has open sourced the battery template for a house based version of their car battery. Can we get a plant building that too?

So a person has the mini turbine on their roof top. It charges the Tesla house battery, which periodically discharges itself (for conditioning purposes) by disconnecting the house from the grid and running until low. (At that point the house is back on the grid.) Then again, during a blackout, if a family only runs on what is needed, we won't need those noisy, polluting gas/diesel generators in people's backyards.

Blackout? Yes, With power lines above ground and all those nice trees, a power line will come down. Unless we work to get the lines put underground. Like the telephone lines are.

WNY could be the center of the energy revolution. And with the right laws in place, we could put the power back in the hands of the people instead of Wall Street.

Pardon the pun.

Buffalo News - More of the same

Buffalo News posted an editor's statement on election coverage.

Basically they are going to do nothing new. S why they wasted the space, paper, and ink is beyond me.

They are going to cover the Democrats and Republicans from now until Election Day. Mindlessly.

Never mind the real reason people need newspapers – to give them information and ideas beyond the comfortable. To challenge the way they think on issues. To hold the people in power accountable.

None of that this election season.

We will only hear about the Democrats and Republicans in the same old he said-she said format. No one fact checking and calling out lies. No one questioning the candidates in a serious manner.

Then again, no third party coverage either.

The Constitution Party had their convention this weekend. I'm not interested in them in any way, but they were ignored by the media. And the Libertarians will be ignored as well when they have their convention over Memorial Day weekend. The Green Party will be ignored when they (bravely) h have their convention in Dallas, Texas this summer.

That's OK. The media ignored the two socialist parties that have announced their candidates already: the Socialist Party USA and the Party of Liberation and Socialism. So I guess fair is fair? Unless you look at the mission statement of the Buffalo News and realize they are ignoring it.

That's OK. They ignore many things until it is too late. And then wonder why people don't take them seriously.

I can guess their nominee right now. I'm going guess the Democratic candidate, whoever it may be. The News' owner – Warren Buffet – seems to like the Democrats, so that is the way the editorial board will go. (I mistyped “bored” there. Then again, that describes me after reading the paper. Except the comics section. They need more. On some days it is the only part worth reading.) b

So here we go – get ready for seven months of the same old boring.

If you are lucky, when you get your paper, you will get some milk, cookies, and a blanket too.

Skip the coffee – it won't be strong enough to keep you awake.

VoteSmart or Vote How?

So I needed some help this weekend and called up my friend who can turn any conversation into the direction he wants. BTW – If you are interested, he has a line on some ocean front property (or soon to be) in Nevada. Real good price too.

So he started talking about Project Vote Smart – another voter quiz and information site that helps people sort out the candidates based on the issues.

OK. I had to take the quiz. I think there were 14 issues with between 1 to 3 questions under each category. Very black and white answers though. Pro-Choice or Pro-Life. No fuzzy grays. And it allowed yo to weight each question according to importance.

I came up Bernie & Jill Stein. Again.

I'll have to dig into the history of the site to see if they allow third parties in and how. If they are allowing Jill Stein and Gary Johnson in, then there must be a protocol for other third party candidates to get in.

Re-read my rant on iSideWith about how socialists need to use this site to help get the word out on their presidential candidates. Heaven knows that the capitalist controlled media won't do us any favors.

There were other tools on the site that I found interesting, if not useful.

The Political Galaxy was a graphic ride through the candidates in my area or the ones I would up looking at. I found it a bit difficult to find my local candidates in. I did find them eventually. I was hoping for faster.

The political I Spy was an eye opener. I decided to start looking at the candidates that the Vote Easy aligned my up with. (No one got 100%. I think the best match was 83%.)

So I looked at Bernie Sanders' biography, how he voted on bills listed, his positions on various issues, how he was rated by different social and political organizations, I looked at a list of his speeches (can I find Hillary's speeches to the big bakers here? Probably not.), and his funding.

That was an eye opener and so much for being funded by small contributions. Unless you consider the following small as compared to what the other candidates have received from these same groups:

Organization Amount

Alphabet Inc	$254,814.00
University of California	$139,633.00
Microsoft Corp	$95,296.00
Apple Inc	$85,576.00
Amazon.com	$63,385.00
US Postal Service	$59,368.00
Kaiser Permanente	$56,363.00
US Navy	$52,803.00
Boeing Co	$47,206.00
AT&T Inc	$41,983.00

Since when is corporate America a small donor?

And Alphabet Inc is the parent company of Google, who is trying (quite successfully) to build a monopoly on the search engine business.

As if all this won't have an impact on any policies he tries to put in place.

Ans as far as being pro-union, Boeing tried to move its unionised plant in Washington(?) to non-union South Carolina. Strange that they show up in the money list.

AT&T is fighting to break Verizon's control over wireless and colluded with the NSA on tapping the Internet for NSA spying. They are also fighting against Net Neutrality.

Amazon? Like they are pro-union. I've read how terrible they are towards their suppliers and workers. Those cheap prices come at a cost.

US Navy? Are we building up support for the next war?

I'm sure if I went to OpenSecrets, where this information is culled from, I could find out more.

So, I made the (free) MyVoteSmart account and I am tracking my pols and digging into their positions and following the money. And relevant information will be sent to me via e-mail.

I'm liking this site because it helps make my research into the government and the people running for positions much easier. Enough to seriously think about a donation.

Of course I would like to see a socialist candidate in their VoteSmart program.

That's up to the candidates to get them the information.

It's free. It just costs time.

I can spend that quite easily.

Can socialists afford not to?

Election Quiz - iSideWith.com

I was talking to a friend yesterday about an election year quiz he uses with his students:  iSideWith.  It's a quiz that asks questions on various issues and gives quite a bit of answer choices (unlike other quizzes that I have seen) for the person that takes the quiz to choose from.  OK.  That's a choppy sentence.

I actually called him up to see if he had any information on another topic.  He's good at steering conversations in a direction he wants it to go.  He could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo.  Actually given global warming and climate change,  that's getting much easier.  I'm going to need an new analogy for describing a good salesperson.....

In any event,  after talking to him about it,  I was curious enough to sit down and take the quiz.  I liked the questions.  Each question provided a "learn more box" that was pretty decent in the description of the issue and as neutral as possible.  And I could go with the plain vanilla pro-con or get into the "grey areas" that provided a more nuanced answer.  I used many grey area answers and typed up a few of my own responses.

The topics of the quiz were grouped together and covered a wide variety of issues:  elections, education, the environment, the economy, crime, domestic policy, etc.  Depending upon the central theme there were a few or many questions.  Some of them dealing with very current news issues (the Panama Papers, ISIL, Syria, the Supreme Court nomination).

I was impressed with this part.  It took me a bit to get through,  but I liked the thoroughness of the questions and topics.

The results:  Well,  according to the quiz I line up with Bernie Sanders and Dr Jill Stein.  Then a whole bunch of Libertarian candidates that I am not familiar with.  Then the Republicans and Constitution Party.  I am ignoring Hillary Clinton & the Democratic Party completely.  I don't care what any quiz results say,  I will not vote for her.

For political parties - Green then Socialist Party USA.  Then the rest of the pack.  Percentages are given that show how close you and the candidate/party match up.

On the positive side,  third parties are included and I did have a socialist party come up as #2.  So I can get away with calling myself an eco-socialist.  I don't know that I would vote Green as they advocate environmentally friendly capitalism.  I have a hard time wrapping my head around that concept.  I think that I agree with a good chunk of their platform?  It's their philosophy I struggle with.

My question is why do they list the Socialist Party USA and not have their candidates listed?   And I noticed that the party answers didn't always come from the SP-USA. Some came from the ISO and other socialist organizations.  Are they using the SP-USA as an archetype?  I wish this was made clear.

I looked at the requirements for being on the site and it looks like they were met by the party and the candidates.

The Party of Socialism and  Liberation was on the NYS ballot in 2012.  They aren't listed on the quiz either.  Neither are their candidates.  Perhaps I am reading too much into the requirements.  I don't know how many state ballots the SP-USA and PSL were on in 2012. 

I like the "News" feature as well.  The socialist news sources are skimpy though.   We need to get more socialist news sources on this list so that people can get a different perspective on the capitalist controlled press. 

So,  I like the quiz in as much as it does have good questions with plenty of choices for answers and includes a good number of political parties that are outside the two capitalist controlled parties.  And the News feature is a nice touch on top of that.

My question:  Why are socialist parties not using this and getting involved with it?
It costs us no money at all,  unless we want to donate and support their work.
It does cost us some time for the party and candidates to fill out the questionnaire and submit a picture.

For however much time that takes we would get our information out to every person that takes the quiz or has taken the quiz and goes back to the site & keeps up on it. To date (April 15 2016) that is over 35.6 million people.  (How many do we get to talk to in a day? And this site is offering this to us for nothing?)

So,  let's get involved with it.  I looked into the history of the site and they have the whole site set up for the 2014 mid term election disaster.  (36% of the electorate participating.  Can we have a quorum rule for elections?  50 +1% must vote or the election results don't count.)  State specific elections and candidates were covered.  As long as they were on the ballot,  they were put into the quiz.

And what do we have to lose?  Some chains?

Striking against Verizon

Verizon workers went on strike to protect the benefits that they have worked long and hard for.

Who are they striking against?  Wall Street, capitalism,  and the ever growing demand for profit.

The front lines of the working class are the CWA and other unions that are fighting to protect the incomes that they have earned building the company and keeping it solvent.

The overpaid and under worked CEO wants the workers to give up their salary and benefits so that he can give himself a pay raise some time down the road.

We must support the unionized workers and say (a firm and resounding) NO.

NO to wage cuts for the workers.

NO to insurance cuts and premium increases on their insurance.

NO to retirement benefit cuts.

If you look at it properly,  the current CEO and administration (presidents, vice-presidents, etc) did not even build the company.  They came on later and padded their salaries and benefits at the expense of the workers.

They are also the ones that build over priced office buildings that cost the company dearly in profits.

They are the ones that buy the expensive mahogany desks,  nib pens, and other overpriced luxuries that do nothing for the company.

If there are salary cuts,  then take it out of their (the administrative) salaries.
How many telephone lines do they service?
How many houses do they connect?
Do they go out in the crappy weather to service someone's lines when a phone is  not working?

If there are to be benefits cuts, then cut their (the administrative) salaries.
After all,  how much insurance do you need for a paper cut?

If there are retirement benefit cuts,  take it off the top.
Regular workers have to fund their own retirements,  why not the top?
Who are they that they deserve something special?

And the non-unionized workers need to stop picking up the slack for the strikers.
All they are proving is that fewer workers can do all the work that the striking workers normally do.
So fewer workers doing more work for the same money is a recipe for a workplace disaster.
Think about it - they are slicing their own throats.

So we need to support the CWA and other unions that are striking.

An injury against one is an injury against all.

Update:  I would like to add the IBEW to the list  of unions that are on strike.  For some reason I could not remember them when I was hashing this out in 5 minutes.

Testing Testing

So this is the week of math testing for NYS.

And I hear it all the time about how all this testing is going to be good.

It's going to improve the teachers - their classroom instruction will get better as a result of the tests.

And student achievement will go up.

I heard this from the school psychologist.

Then I opened my mouth and never heard another word from them.

I said, "I'd like to read a peer-reviewed study that shows that all this testing will improve instruction and achievement."

They turned around and walked away from me without saying a word.

There was nothing to be said.

Because the needed information - a peer reviewed study - doesn't exist.
Anywhere.
Texas' improvement was found to be a fraud.  All the low achieving students dropped out of the school system and went into GED (Graduation Equivalence Diploma) Programs or just disappeared into the unskilled labor workforce.  Do the math - It explains the improvement. 

We've been doing all this testing since 2002-2003.  And there is no proof that it does anything but take up time and spend valuable tax dollars on exams that do ... what exactly?

And I'm sending students out that have been tested since third grade and they are requiring remedial classes in college - math, writing/composition, and reading/literature.  These are high school level courses taught in the college.  No credit - just additional college tuition and debt.

I thought all this testing was going to solve that?
Why is it getting worse?

Then again,  I had a student give up on day one of the English portion of the test last week.  He didn't even finish the test.  He told the principal he didn't care about it when he was asked about why the test was left unfinished.

How is testing going to solve that problem?
Or is he one of the ones that is supposed to go to the GED Program?
And is that really a solution for the so called "education crisis?"

Socialists support the Opt-Out Movement.
This is demoralizing for students and teachers and shows little of what they are capable of.

It is also a waste of money that could be used to purchase new materials,  class supplies,  or hire more teachers.   The last choice would decrease class sizes.  And that has been shown to improve instruction.

Let's make some real educational goals.

Update:  1:27 PM
I haven't looked at the test,  but from what I hear from the proctors - it's a mess.
The questions are confusing and unclear.
One said that they could comfortably answer about 5 questions.
Of course the math teachers could figure out all the answers.

Update April 14 2016
I was talking to a dental hygienist  yesterday and her  daughter came home and sat in her bedroom with a migraine because of the test.  She was afraid that if she didn't take the test that her teacher was going to be punished.

The parent has the letter all signed.  The student does not want to turn it in.

NYS needs to make it clear - There is no consequence to teachers if students opt out.