High Stakes in Niagara Falls

According to the US Air Force (or Chair Force as some of my students that have sold their lives to other branches of the military call them) the proposed windmill project in Lake Ontario is a “high stakes” situation for the military base.

The communities of Somerset and Yates aren't buying into the project either. Sad to say that.

The Air Force is concerned that the windmills will interfere with the flight paths of the C-130s and the killer drones that fly from the base.

According to APEX, the company behind the windmill project, the windmills will be just under 4 miles away from training flight areas. (3.8 miles to be exact.) Also the windmills will be between 495 and 550 feet high. Any aircraft flying in that are are (right now) supposed to be flying over 4000 feet.

So, what's the problem?

Windmills being a little ugly and unsightly? Agreed. They are. And they generate electricity that we won't need to from fossil fuels. Know that global warming situation that keeps coming up in the news? And the refugee crisis that is starting to happen because of global warming and climate change? Earlier adoption of this and solar technology would have slowed that down big time. Who knows. Perhaps the adoption of this technology in the 1960's and 1970's would have been able to stop this crisis from blowing up the way it has.

There's always that NORAD base down in Dansville. I never knew it was there. That makes me feel real safe now. A prime terrorist target is in a small rural community that has next to no major military infrastructure anywhere near it for protection. Niagara Falls is two hours away by car or bus. Much faster by flight except that the Dansville Airport isn't big enough to support C-130s. Chinook helicopters it could handle. But those are slower and carry less than a C-130. And the Syracuse Marine Reserve unit … Reserve says it all. It's not a full blown unit. Neither are the Army – National Guard units in Buffalo and Rochester. And again, they are too far away to be of any use should something happen to the site.

The wars that we are fighting in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, and other oil rich areas for control over their oil and mineral supplies? Yes, blowing 60% of our discretionary spending and numerous other budget bills added on later in the year because we don't have the money to fund the government because we are wasting so much money on unneeded wars… That's making us safe. And more in debt to whoever is willing to buy our debt. Like China. But if foreign nations refused to buy our bonds, then what? There goes out fiscal security.

And then the climate change issue – the hotter summers, lower rainfall amounts (or torrential storms that wash away the topsoil), the wacky winters – and all the chaos that comes from that. We had at least two major frosts in the south towns in May alone. And farmers haven't even had a good chance to do any serious planting. I've already heard some concerns about rain and crop failure this year. (There goes your food bill. And discretionary spending money that is necessary to keep the capitalist economy afloat.)

And then those drones – the Reapers – which rain death from the sky. How soon before some terrorist organization decides to make WNY a target because of the Niagara Falls base? Way too many schools, shopping malls, and other soft targets for any nut job to choose from. (I have a friend that does security analysis. I asked them about WNY. They asked if I had any migraine medication.)

So what are these risks that the Air Force is concerned about?

Training flights or civilian lives?

Seems to me that the planes and flight paths can be adjusted to meet our energy needs.

And the sooner we liberate ourselves from fossil fuels the more safe we will be from the high stakes of terrorist threats and foreign wars.

Seems to me to be an easy decision.

Out of Left Field, Almost.

I was surprised by an article that I read in today's Buffalo News (May 30 2016).

Then again, maybe I shouldn't have been.

The Buffalo News actually ran an article (from the Tribune News Service) that actually mentioned the Socialist Party-USA candidate, Mimi Soltysik. Granted it was in an article that was being critical of Bernie Sanders. But an actual socialist was mentioned in an pro-capitalist newspaper.

And even interviewed. Now the article wasn't exactly flattering for Soltysik. Rather than focusing on policy positions that the SP-USA has in this year's campaign, it focused on the apartment cluttered with alt-rock memorabilia and cat toys. (I have 4 cats. Can I get a member of the news media to interview me? Please?) This negativity is not surprising.

Now, to be fair, there was some criticism of Sanders from the SP-USA perspective – he's a warmonger, imperialist, supports Israel's wars, and evidently he also supports some issues that are incompatible with socialism. What exactly? I would like to know specifics. This is not discussed.

And the Tribune paints a horror story of socialism (by which I think they mean Stalinism) – strict collectivism, no military, and no centralized police force. As a socialist I support worker owned cooperatives, community owned utilities like gas, electric, cable, and Internet (BTW – These have been shown to save the community members tons of money, something the pro-Wall Street media won't tell us). I see a need for police, as crime will exist. I see a police force that is accountable and responsible to the community in which it serves, has community oversight, and is opposed to racism and racist methods and practices.

And no military? Until the entire world is socialist we will need defense forces. What military we will have will be more along the lines of the National Guard and not a tool of large multi-national corporations. It will serve the needs of the people in times of disaster and other threats.

The entire article is not about the SP-USA though. There is more from the Green Party, an environmentally conscious party that supports some socialist policies, like single payer health care, immigrant rights, women's rights, and rights for LGBTQ individuals. I'm sure there might be a few more. They, however, advocate “green capitalism” - or environmentally friendly capitalism. I've heard Dr Jill Stein and other environmentalists talk about how if energy companies realized how much profit they (the capitalist companies) could make from promoting green technology, they would go into it much faster.

And the Green Party is given no space to talk policy in the article at all. Instead they (Dr Jill Stein & Howie Hawkins) talk about the Green Party members that were lured into the Democratic Party by Sanders and his rhetoric and how they are now starting to walk away now that they realize that the Sanders revolution is not going to change much given the Democratic National Committee's hostility to anything but capitalist policies in the party platform. They also talked about the Nevada Democratic Party problems – the delegate problems and the infighting at the Nevada convention were a bit much for some people. That and how if enough people defected from the Democratic Party & voted Green, the Green Party could qualify for federal election funding.

None the less, Sanders is committed to keeping his followers in the Democratic Party and away from revolutionary organizations that would change (or threaten) the status quo. The powers that be will tolerate Sanders social-democratic talk. But that's about it.

Sadly, this is about all we are going to hear about socialism and socialist policies in the Buffalo News. Never mind that in the 18-30 year old demographic socialism is more popular than capitalism. And that these people don't read newspapers but go on-line to find their news. If the News and other media organizations were serious about increasing circulation, etc, they would give more coverage to socialist candidates, parties, and policies. And not the negative Cold War rhetoric either. They would seek out alternatives to the capitalist pawns that spout off (wrongly more often than not) interpretations of what is going on and why.

But that doesn't support their agenda – prop up capitalism in any way possible for as long as possible.

The Green Party might get some more coverage as it gets closer to their convention in August. (Gutsy move on their part – having it in Austin, Texas. Then again Texas does generate a significant part of their electricity from wind energy.) But that's about it. I'm not counting on any more coverage of the SP-USA or any socialist party that runs a candidate in this election. Be it at federal, state, or local level.

So, socialists received some coverage in the News today. 

It wasn't very flattering and was more anti-Bernie than explaining socialist policies.

Then again, what should we have expected from a capitalist owned and controlled press?

The fact that we received even this much is amazing.

Memorial Day Thoughts

It's Memorial Day and we are reminded to remember the sacrifices made by the men and women that have served the United States with solemnity and respect.

The original holiday was to commemorate the soldiers that died in the Civil War. A war fought to preserve the geographic structure of the United States and, secondarily, end slavery. That's a hard pill to swallow but ending slavery was not on the top of Abraham Lincoln's reasons to fight the war. It was added on at a later point to recruit soldiers for the Northern cause. Fortunately the Northern states won and slavery was ended, though the South has fought for Jim Crow laws and racist ideas about those of African American ethnicity still dominate in some communities. Sad to say.

Then there are the men that died in the wars against the First Nations peoples. Those that fought o take their ancestral lands away from them and force them into reservations and away from their traditional ways of living. Nothing worth celebrating there. According to some historians there are 60 tribes that no longer exist. I refuse to celebrate genocide.

The Spanish-American War and other wars against Mexico were all about imperialism. The Cuban, Puerto Rican, Philippine people, and other Pacific Islanders did not want us to take over their nations. They had worked hard to liberate themselves from Spanish rule. Why did they want us to barge in and rule over them. They wanted self-determination and democracy, something the US has held back from them for over a century and still cripples their lands.

And then comes World War I. The Great Imperialist War. Americans wanted to stay out until President Woodrow Wilson used slick advertising techniques, via Eduard Bernays, to convince Americans to go to war against the German-Austrian-Turkish Alliance. Never mind that we were in a bit of a depression and men that signed up to fight or were drafted did not count against unemployment levels. That and munitions and arms manufacturers were making too much money from illegal shipments to the UK and France.

I could go into the US intervention against the Soviet Union in 1919-1922, but that was a small contingent. But still, we were fighting against the democratic aspirations of a people that had been oppressed by dictatorial monarchy that was increasingly out of touch with reality. (Sort of like the British monarchy. Why do they even have that still? Seriously?)

Likewise there were the numerous invasions and occupations of the Caribbean and Latin American countries with numerous slaughters of people that wanted the very democracy and freedoms that we professed to have.

World War II is a tricky situation. The Nazis needed to be put out of power and Imperialist Japan needed to be shut down as well. Had the socialist revolution of Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebnecht been successful would the Nazis seized power? And did the US provoke Japan into being an imperialist power? I've also heard WWII called WWI, Part II. The brutal Treaty of Versailles is often cited as a reason why the Nazis seized power. And this war led to the many independence movements that began the end of direct imperialist domination of Asia and Africa.

I don't understand the whole Koren War and, therefore, won't say much about it. Other than it was tragic for all involved and it is still not over. It's in Armistice mode. No outright war. Just not peace.

Vietnam was a 100% avoidable war. We had no reason to send in troops or anything. There was a UN negotiated treaty that set the stage for the democratic election of a unified government and we didn't like the fact that Ho Chi Mihn would have won it. So we did everything we could to stop the election from happening. 58,000+ Americans died to stop the reunification of Vietnam. Plus countless Vietnamese. I could go into the whole disaster of Cambodia and Laos – both extensions of the US involvement in Vietnam.

Let us also remember all the servicemen and women that died from drug abuse, alcoholism, and other forms of suicide from serving in that disastrous war. And the victims, both American and Vietnamese, of Agent Orange and other defoliants. (Ever use RoundUp(TM)? Same stuff. Different name and formulation. Still deadly.)

There was that little incident in Grenada. Why were we even there? No reason.

The 250+ Marines that died in Lebanon from a truck bomb. We needed to be there because? I remember it being reported on the news. I was in high school. Even my history teacher had no explanation as to why we had troops in Lebanon. Maybe if Israel would stop invading and bombing the country it would stabilize. Also, if they let the Palestinians the ability to return to the homes that they built and took care of. After all, refugees have the right of return after a war and are entitled to their property.

There are the misguided forays into Afghanistan and Iraq.

All we needed to do was provide evidence that Osama bin Laden was responsible for 9-11. And the Taliban wanted to get rid of him but wanted to follow international law. They wanted a tribunal where the US would provide evidence. Nope. President (sic) George Bush wanted a body. (It took Obama to get it.) And Afghanistan is still a basket case and nowhere near a stable ad secure country.

Iraq was a war based on lies. It's this generation's Vietnam. 5000+ dead and more from post service suicide. And then we have those that are homeless and other tragedies from serving in a war for oil. 13 years later and the country is still a mess. No closer to democracy than before the war. Then again, if the US did not overthrow the democratically elected government back in 1968 perhaps we would never had this war.

Then again, that's would require the US to follow international law.

There's Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and so many others where we have military forces acting in some capacity.

Why?

General of the Marine Corps Smedly Butler wrote that the only reason he saw for all the wars he was involved in was corporate America. Industrial interests. Money.

Is that why we have the world's most expensive military and over 1200 bases scattered throughout the world?

And then there is the $1+ trillion that we are going to spend on modernizing the nuclear weapons stockpile.

And I could go on about all that the US spends and does that relates to the military.

All gave some. Some gave all.

I hear that said all the time in relation to this day.

I ask, what for?

Where's the peace?

Jim Crow Buffalo

Truth is stranger than fiction is the old quote. Sometimes truth is just plain stupider too.

Case and point: Joe Mascia.

As has been reported all over the Buffalo media he was recorded on a road trip to Albany using the N-word to describe Buffalo City politicians that he either does not like or have a high opinion of.

I'm going to type the next part verbatim from the Sunday May 29 2016 Buffalo News. Please be seated and have your jaw resting on something. I do not want to be held liable or responsible for an avalanche of broken jaws.

Section C Page 1-2

Title: Mascia blasts mayor as a 'coward' and 'elitist.'

Paragraph 6: " Mascia's comments, Cohen said, were directed only at people with whom he had political disputes, and are therefore, political speech."

For the record: Steven M Cohen is Mascia's attorney in this case. He may want to get more.

To borrow a line from Sheldon Cooper in an early episode of The Big Bang Theory “In what universe?”

I'm sure that somewhere in the former Confederacy (and the states of Idaho & Montana where there seems to be a high concentration of white supremacists) there are people that are agreeing with him wholeheartedly. And I know (sadly and unfortunately) a few people here in WNY that hold racist opinions that would agree that the use of the N-word is “protected political speech.”

I sincerely doubt that any court in the land is going to agree with Mascia and his legal team.

I dislike and disagree with Governor Andrew Cuomo. I do not use a derogatory ethnic slur to describe my attitude towards him. I refer to him as “Status” Cuomo – a play on the Latin phrase “status quo” that implies that nothing has changed in NY. Our taxes are still being used to protect and subsidize the 1% while we get nothing out of it. Nothing dangerous there.

I call and refer to President Obama as “O-Bummer” because for all his hype about hope all he has done is extend the policies of former President (sic) George W Bush and continue policies that protect and project the power of the 1%. Nothing racist there.

I can go on with all the nicknames that I have used and have heard comedians and other commentators use to describe politicians over the years. (Anyone remember Ronald Ray-Gun & his “Star Wars” defense program?)

There was no need for Mascia to use a racial epithet to describe Mayor Byron Brown and the other African-American politicians that he has disagreements with. He could have called the Mayor “Lyin' Byron” and then talked about all the promises that the Mayor has made about public housing and failed to delver. I'm sure there are other examples as well.

The key point here is that there is no need for the use of the N-word to describe the Mayor – a politician that I disagree with on many policy issues – or any of the other African-American representatives in the Buffalo city government.

This is Buffalo in the 21^st Century, not post Civil War Jim Crow South.

Then again, given the way this might get dragged out in the courts, it might be Joe-Crow Buffalo.

Joe Mascia needs to do the respectable action and apologize for the slur he made. He also needs to allow the people of the Marine Drive Apartments to elect someone without the baggage that he brought upon himself with his unfortunate choice of words.

And for the record: I do not like it when African-Americans use the N-Word and dislike its (too prolific) use in rap song either. Some things just need to be let go of and buried. Those uses of that word are just helping to keep the racist monster alive.

Libertarianism - Free from ... What?

This Memorial Day weekend the Libertarian Party will be holding their Presidential Primary/ Convention. They will, in one weekend, narrow down 18 candidates to 1.

Why it took the Republicants so long to narrow it down to an unelectable blow hard is beyond me. And personally I am scared of the candidate that just received the 1238^th needed delegate to win the nomination.

I shall not go into anything about the Democratic race as it is still undecided (officially) thought the corporate controlled media has settled on Clinton.

But I digress.

The Libertarians hold to the line that “less is better.” Less government is better for the people. Lower taxes are better for the people. Basically, government can do no right and privatization will solve all our problems.

And I wonder how much of that wacky weed that they want to decriminalize have they been smoking.

And for how long?

One only need to look at the austerity measures that the Eurozone is imposing upon Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain and one would know that privatization is a disaster waiting to happen. Look at all the poverty that austerity has created.

One only need to look at the Roaring Twenties, the Reagan Years, the Clinton policies on deregulation, and the reign (of errors) of George W Bush and we can see how no rules or regulations leads to chaos and bigger problems than the rules and regulations supposedly create.

And privatization of public goods has brought nothing good to the public. Higher costs are better for the public? Fewer hospitals and clinics are good for the public? Privatized schools are better for the public? Less choice has always led to higher costs.

The basic Libertarian economic philosophy, if fully implemented, would put this country back into the Gilded Age, if not worse.

Furthermore, we as a society evolved to where we are because we cooperated and worked together. Survival of the fittest sounds nice in theory. But it never happened in reality. One only needs to look at the ancient and primitive societies and realize that they had rules regarding the care of the poor, infirm,and elderly. And they needed to cooperate in order to survive against the elements.

Now Libertarians and socialists will agree on some things – gay rights, decriminalization of drugs, and many other social issues. We will also agree – somewhats- on foreign policy issues. Both Libertarians and socialists opposed the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other misguided US adventures into foreign countries.

But on economic issues and the responsibility of society towards the individual – we disagree on many things. Single payer health insurance is better than everyone for themselves and the attitude that some compassionate individual will help out a sick person in need of health care. I can look at all the mason jars being filled up with loose change at restaurants and stores around where I live that are waiting for some rich person to say “I'll pay for the cancer treatments that this kid needs.” Some of these people are still waiting and for some it is far too late.

Libertarianism as an ideology sounds nice in fiction. It's where Ayn Rand wrote her philosophy out. And it makes a nice story. In the fiction section of any librarary.

However Rosa Luxembourg said it best when she said we had two choices – socialism or barbarism.

Socialism is everyone working together for a common good.

Barbarism is every person for themselves.

Under that rule, everyone loses.

Going? Finally Mascia's GONE!

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown finally got a backbone and dismissed Joseph Mascia from the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority for racist remarks made last year during the elections for Common Council.

How long did it need to be investigated before action was taken? Seriously?

According to the evidence he was caught using the “N-word” in describing members of the Buffalo City administration while on a car ride to Albany. The person recording him was thought to be a friend. Probably not so much now.

However, this “friend” - Paul Christopher – is a bit of a hero to the African American community because, having become sick of hearing Mascia's racist tirades, decided to record one and make it public. During an election campaign no less.

Now everyone knows the truth and Mayor Brown, having his hand forced by evidence and time, decided to remove Mascia from the BMHA board. Right before the new elections for board members.

Sad to say the request for removal was made on August 4^th. Of 2015. It's May 28^th. Of 2016.

My question is: What took so long?

The evidence was there. Recorded evidence.

The evidence was there. A personal and close friend that witnessed the racist tirades over years.

And now Mayor Brown decides to act.

Why did justice take so long?

And now with elections going on, two positions will be filled by residents of the complex.

Hopefully they will be more open minded than the man (and the Mayor) that held the position.

Back Door Privatization

The Buffalo City School District is “relaunching” five under-performing” schools next September. They are announcing it now so that they have sufficient time to sell the parents and students the lie behind each of the schools.

The lie?

Bennett High School is being relaunched as a school with a focus on computer science and engineering. Students will focus on computer programming and other software applications. This will prepare those “lucky” enough to attend to be able to walk into careers that are focused on computer science and engineering. From what I have read, many of the 43 North competition companies are focusing on software and programming. Graduate from Bennett & join a 43 North company.

The South Park High School Solar Pathways program will allow those that graduate from the school and its program to walk across the stage, receive their diploma, and then walk right into Solar City – the “local” company that is helping with the program.

The Bioinformantics and Life Sciences Research Lab, located on East Delevan, is a college prep school that it teaming up with SUNY Buffalo and Buff State, and Empire Genomics to prepare students for the burgeoning medical campus and medical industries that are coming to Buffalo and WNY. Graduate, go to UB,get your degree, and walk right into a medical research job in downtown Buffalo.

Lafayette High School, which is noted for its struggles with ELL students (that's English Language Learners) is going to be transformed into a school that serves the immigrant population and prepares them for degrees in international business, law, and teaching. What a better use of an immigrant's native language. Teach them how to act as front men (and women) for US corporations that want to build factories in their countries and exploit the cheap labor costs and non-existent environmental regulations.

And East Community High School will teach its students about law, corrections and security, and public safety. Presumably to help with all the law enforcement issues that Buffalo and Erie County is having?

And in all (or most of these cases the taxpayer is footing the bill for educating students that are going across the stage and right into the private sector. It's almost like the schools are attached directly to private industries that the Buffalo Billion is bribing companies to come here and start.

And the students that used to attend these schools? Anyone that researches these schools will notice that they are all the “turnaround” schools – they were performing so poorly on state mandated exams (that have no validity anywhere in educational theory) that either Buffalo did something with them or the state was going to come in and take them over. So Superintendent Kriner Cash took the schools and made them publicly funded private schools that march students across a stage and right into the open arms of private corporations. Except East, East graduates will be policing the streets and keeping the city and county “safe” from trouble makers.

And the students that were attending these schools and not meeting the expected standards? They will be shipped off to other schools where they might make it or drag down the school's rating so that the Superintendent can make those schools publicly funded private ventures.

No where in this privatization plan is there anything that looks at the students that are failing, asks why they are failing, and works to address or remedy their situation. Instead they will be shuffled around Buffalo where the district hopes that, at best, they will be able to be swept under the rug and lost in the shuffle or drag the school down so that the state forces a change.

Or to be less than kind, sacrificial pawns in the chess match of school privatization.

So this plan draws the best and brightest out of the schools that they are attending and puts them into programs that prepare them for specific careers after school. It replaces the high performing and highly interested students with under performing students that will drag the school down.

I'd say I smell a rat, but I have had pet rats and they are quite intelligent animals that are very clean.

This is something worse and it will only serve the interests of the corporate class that is looking to privatize and take over the Buffalo City School District any way it can. If not by outright coup, like what happened in New Orleans after Katrina, then by more subtle and secretive means.

Either way, the public schools are being privatized and students are losing out.

Could we communicate better?

Are we dong it all wrong?

Sometimes I wonder about all the things that we do as activists and think that we've done stuff to “be busy,” “to be doing something” but we're more spinning our wheels on ice .

I'll be out and be given this 2 sided sheet of paper with tons of written information that I don't do anything with because I don't have time to read the information on it.

What if the information could be rendered better on one side with a graphic and the other side with key information that I could quickly scan and act upon?

Don't get me wrong – I love a good read and will sit down with a good book or magazine article and mow down on it for however long is needed.

At a protest or an action – who has time for that?

So, how to boil down and do?

Enter the “Dubunking handbook” located at http://sks.to/debunk

Hopefully.

It's a “how to” of debunking the myths of the ruling class. And short at just 7 pages. And it includes an example of a good debunk sheet along with step by step of what to do, why, & how.

I love a good essay, but the average person on the street needs something a little different sometimes.

This is a good (free) resource on fighting back against a media system that looks to shut us out and off.

And then there are the books.

I like sitting down and reading a good long book but sometimes that isn't practical or even interesting to some people,

And then there are my students that sit around reading graphic novels. (BTW – When I was growing up we called them “comic books.” Not anymore. A multi volume collection of a series of comics that centers around a specific story line is now called a “graphic novel.” )

So when reading the May 2016 Monthly Review (backwards I might add. Last article first. Just to be different.) I read a review of the Worker's Guide to Health and Safety. A 576 page book that focuses on organizing in the work place around safety issues.

OK. 576 pages is a little bulky, but it covers workplace safety issues and is field tested to make sure that it is practical. I love reading Lenin & Trotsky, but sometimes I feel like I'm scratching my head wondering “What do I do with this?” (BTW: It usually comes to me much later than when I really needed it. We all get the “Oh – Now I get it” moments.)

It is written by workers in the field and field tested by them. It's a “what to do book” that is sorely needed today. Granted it's about health and safety issues, but could we adapt the ideas to other areas? Probably. At $35 a pop, it seems well worth the investment if it helps workers take the steps needed to make the workplace safer and hopefully lead to more worker agitation on other issues.

And it uses plenty of graphics to make its points rather than tons of text.

Information is only usable if it is accessible.

Sometimes I think we as socialists forget that.

After all, Thomas Nast wasn't feared for his essays.

And he did what to NYC politics?

Could we do more?

Note: A little lighter today. This heat warning and ozone is taking a toll on me.

And it's not even summer yet.

Anyone that says that global warming / climate change isn't real isn't outside and trying to breathe.

Over & Behind. As usual. On our dime.

Solar City is over budget and behind schedule.

As usual.

Governot “Status” Cuomo used $1 Billion of our tax dollars to bribe the company to locate a solar manufacturing plant here and, in typical NY style, the project has run into snag after snag after snag.  

And we are getting stuck with the bill.

The Republic Steel site had to be cleaned up of environmental toxins first. This includes radioactive waste from the Cold War. And we, the taxpayers, had to pick up the tab for that entire project while the executives that knew that they were contaminating the soil, land, and potentially water walked off with how many millions of dollars in profits? (Not to mention Wall Street before the corporation went belly up from mismanagement by the 1%.)

Then construction began and that fell behind schedule as well. Right now to the tune of over $50 million. (It will go much higher. The contingency line for the project is over $200 million tight now.)

And now the Assembly and Senate is holding up $485 million that Solar City needs to complete the project. This includes money for the contingency line. Evidently they are as skeptical about the whole project as the rest of NY is.

And the executives of the company say that they are committed to $5 million of their own money to make sure the project is completed. Seriously? I may have that number wrong. It may be billion. But if they have that type of money, why are we bribing them to come here in the first place?

Meanwhile other financial backers are pulling their money out of the project because they lack the confidence that the project will pull a profit for them.

And we are going to be left holding the bag and the bill.

And what will we have to show for it?

Look at the schools that are short money that they need to hire teachers, upgrade computers, buy books, and improve the condition of the buildings where students are expected to learn. (For a real horror story, go into Rochester and look at some of their schools. Buffalo has some real bad schools as well. No arguments there.)

Look at the roads and bridges that need repairs. And we don't have the money for them. But municipalities have to come up with the money for car repairs if a pothole causes damage to a car between May and October (or November? I mix up the date.)

What about the public libraries that need repair? In this economy people use the public library more for help with going back to college, job searches, and career work. One library near where I live has a whole column of books dedicated to job retraining and searching. Rather than digging through the whole collection, it's all right there. Books on the SAT, ACT, GRE and other college exams ; books for the various public exams, like police, fire fighter, EMT, and other public services; and then all the different general career books so that people can learn more about them before jumping into preparation. But these books are getting dated and need updating. The branch doesn't have the money for career books and general collection materials. But people need the help that this collection provides.

And then there are the hospitals and public health clinics that we need. Some communities are that poor that they can't afford the health care that they need and the clinics close. This is especially true in the south towns and rural areas. A 20 minute longer car or ambulance ride is a life or death situation. (More likely death, sad to say.)

And yet we are committing $1 billion to bribe corporations to come to NY and set up shop and hopefully make that money back.

Pardon my scepticism, but I'll believe it when I see it.

All the companies that I have seen come here have their headquarters out of state, so guess where all the profits are going?

And most of the jobs will require bachelor degrees or better. That cuts out a whole group of people that could benefit from the jobs as well.

So here we are. Same as always.

Or as my military friends say, SNAFU.

Let the F stand for whatever you want.

Think Tanks vs Reality

The aphorism goes “Everyone is entitled to their opinion.” It doesn't mean they need to say it. Or that it needs to be published. But the Buffalo News (in order to be “fair and balanced,” whatever that is supposed to mean) allows people to have their opinions published in the Viewpoints and Op-Ed section.

And, again, we have an article in the News from a person that basically demands that we tie education funding to performance. It comes from Doug Mesecar, who worked in the US Department of Education and US House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee.

Does that make him qualified to comment on matters of education? How many years of teaching does he have under his belt? Not mentioned in the article. Does he even have a teaching degree or any teaching certificates? Not mentioned. It would certainly bolster his argument.

Where does he work? At the Lexington Institute. A think tank. I don't have much of a positive opinion of think tanks. They keep advocating capitalist ideas that, over time, always fail.

What is he advocating? “Performance based funding” aka “pay for success.” If it works, you'll get money for it.

One (major) problem. And any teacher will tell you this – every student learns differently. So what works well with one student might not work well with another. Or what works well with one class might epically bomb with another.

I have a student that thrives on flash cards. Loves them. Math equations, definitions, history dates, you name it. If it can be slapped on a flash card, they'll learn it.

I have a student that really blew at math. They needed an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) for math that showed little to no improvement in the student's math scores or ability. The father, in a fit of “I've got to try something” found this Vedic Math series on DVD. (It's how the people from India learn math from what I have been told. Goes way back to ancient times according to the student.) Did the program over the summer and is now killing math class. The only problem is that when they explain how they solve a problem, it is not in the way that Common Core says it should be solved. And they explain it in this Indian voice. The student has a comedic sense of learning (I guess) and anything that they can impersonate or make fun of they remember with near photographic ability.

The kicker: The student gets the correct answer on virtually every math question posed. But because they are not solving it in the proscribed Common Core method, they can not receive full credit on the test. The student's attitude towards Common Core is that it can go engage in an act of self copulation. (Stated in much less kind words.) That earned them a detention for use of profanity in the classroom. And people find the Indian voice that they use to explain things very insulting. (I watched the introduction to the video series. The student matches the scansion, intonation, and accents of the Indian professor that teaches the video series.) But it's wrong for the student to use this method because it does not comply with the standards.

Never mind that the student is in 9^th grade and is helping students in pre-calculus and calculus class solve their math problems.

I have another student that does their best work while walking around and talking to themselves. Quietly. On the street people think they are crazy. Nope. They have a more physical and verbal learning style. And they have to sit still and be quiet during the exam.

There are the artists – You should see the one Biology notebook. The work is amazing and the student spends time in study hall and after school going over the notes and turning them into images so that they can remember the information. (The 3-D picture of a cell and all its components is amazing. And in color.)

I can go on.

Is this something that Mesecar would advocate for? Teaching teachers how to work with different learning styles so that each student can succeed based upon their own individual strengths?

I doubt it.

That would take too much time and cost way too much money.

The sad thing is that people that advocate for education “reforms” are rarely teachers themselves and have next to no teaching experience whatsoever.

And at that, they see students as widgets on a factory line waiting to be assembled. In reality, information is not dumped into students' heads waiting to be regurgitated. That's far from reality. In reality knowledge is constructed and then applied.

Something that Mesecar probably doesn't know or realize because he is more of an administrative desk jockey than an actual teacher.

The other side of the story is that “pay for success” punishes those that need the funding the most – poor schools/districts and/or schools with high levels of poverty. So school districts that are wealthy and tend to do better on the standardized tests will see more money sent their way. Meanwhile, back in reality, schools that need the money are going to be ineligible because their students are performing poorly on the tests.

Mesecar could look at Michelle Rhee and her experience in Washington DC with the testing scandal. Somehow she is still allowed to be a spokesperson for education reform. Then again, she is all about privatization of schools, so…

Or he could look at what happened in Atlanta with the testing problems that happened there.

In both cases teachers were caught changing answers on exams.

Is that something he is willing to pay for?

While he advocates for “pay for success” he never tells us that it really works. Not in education or in the real world, Everything that I have read on carrot and stick motivation always fails. And that is exactly what Mesecar is advocating. A failed motivational philosophy.

He never addresses the major underlying problem in student achievement – Poverty.

In another article in the same section a Professor in Education talks about the impact of poverty on education.

Somehow I don't think that Mesecar will want to read that article or address that problem.

Until that is addressed, there will be no success for many students.

The Problem is Poverty, the Cause is.....

School budget time brings out the worst in education critics. And by critic I mean those that find all sorts of things wrong with the education system and are not credentialed educators. Translation – They are not teachers because they lack the necessary degrees to teach.

I love telling them that if teaching s so easy, why don't they get the degree and get into the classroom. After all, with all their “real world knowledge” and masterful abilities, they would make a great and positive impact on some students' lives.

Listen for the crickets.

That being said, NPR – the tax payer funded, pro-corporate news service (by and large) – runs a series on education called “School Money” that looks at all the money that is spent on education and the results that we receive. And it is largely negative from what I can gather.

M. Fernanda Asitz PhD responds to this capitalist propaganda and hit piece in an article in the”Viewpoints” section of the Sunday Buffalo News called “There's no 'silver bullet' for fixing low performing schools.” It's decently written too.

In a nutshell, there are many different ways that have been shown to improve education, student achievement, whatever cliché you want to use but there is really no perfect one because each school community is different.

One thing that is common to all under performing schools though – poverty. All the educational gimmicks in the world will do nothing to address this problem.

That's because it is not a problem of the educational system.

It's a necessary part of the capitalist economic system.

In order for the 1% to be the 1% and for the paper and pencil pushers on Wall Street to make their profits, the working class have to be squeezed of every possible penny. Profits must be maximized so workers' wages and benefits must be minimized.

This leaves people without adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and anything else necessary to make life livable.

So the problem in education isn't teachers or students. It's capitalism.

Capitalism denies workers the wages they deserve for the products and services that they make possible because someone else needs to be rich.

Capitalism, in driving people into the prison of poverty, keeps communities poor and lacking the resources necessary to make education and improvement a possibility.

So, what is to be done? (To blatantly borrow a title from Lenin.)

First: $15 NOW is a good start, but that leaves capitalism in place. We need to transition into a socialist economic system that gives the workers ownership of the means of production and control over the profits. We can look to Richard Wolff and Gar Alperovitz's writings on worker owned and worker run cooperatives for ideas on what to do. Mondragon is a nice example to look at. We need to move from cooperatives working in a capitalist economy to a socialist economy. Places like GM, Ford, Chrysler, Boeing, and other large manufacturers need to be turned over to the workers as well.

Second: Food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and education must be seen as human rights and society has a responsibility to help people when they fall down. It's not possible? No seriously. How fast did we bail out Wall Street and the banks in 2007-08? We can cough up that type of cash for them every time they face plant in a pasture patty, we can help the least in society. And it will cost us so much less.

I want to type more, but I have more doctors coming to do more tests to figure out why I have been blacking out and have been having massive chain headaches, so I will leave it up to you to add to Lenin's line while I play human needle cushion.

We need to remember – capitalism is the problem and socialism is the solution.

Ending Overtime Abuse

So the Obama administration finally did something to end the abuse of salaried workers. The President finally changed the rules on overtime so that salaried workers can earn more for the time that they put in on the job.

Overtime for hourly workers means that after forty hours they earn time and a half. When I worked in the restaurant industry years ago, this overtime was the difference in making ends meet or losing my life to working two jobs.

Now salaried people can see their wages go up to almost $50,000 if they work overtime.

And that is a good thing because I know many salaried people that are working 50 to 60 hours a week and getting nothing for it. Supposedly they make it up in the weeks that they work under 40 hours, but few of them actually work under 40 hours.

Back in the late 1980s my one manager heard us complaining about how poorly we were paid compared to management and the higher ups in the corporation. So he kept track of his hours one week, and it was a very busy week. For the $3.85 I made per hour of work, he made $2.65 an hour. (And the wait staff made even less than him. Tips don't always get tehm up to minimum wage.)

And in all things that the capitalist presidents do, there has to be a down side to it.

After all – look at the “Affordable Care Act” that was supposed to help end the health insurance crisis in this country. What did the Obama Administration do? Basically forced people to buy insurance from private health care corporations. It increased their profits and used our tax dollars to do it. This was good for us because? And there are still millions without health insurance that need it. And communities without access to hospitals and health clinics. A single payer, Medicare-for-all system funded by a revision in the Social Security tax code would have solved the insurance aspect of that problem better.

So, I am waiting to see who gets screwed over by the change in overtime rules. Obama serves the capitalists well when he does something. I'm waiting for someone to pull the curtain back.

I know that it changes nothing for teachers. That was to be expected.

One change that I did notice was in an article in the Business section of the Buffalo News. In order to avoid paying overtime, some businesses are going to be hiring more workers. So the workers that are on salary might not even be able to benefit financially from this change.

Then again, hiring more workers means that unemployment will go down. This will give workers some leverage against the capitalist owners of businesses because the workers will tend to want to go where they are paid better and receive better benefits. So there might be some increase in these areas.

But I'm still waiting for the curtain to be pulled back. There is always something that benefits the capitalist class. It just has not been found yet.

So let us cheer and celebrate the fact that salaried workers can now at least receive overtime wages. No more being pushed for hours beyond 40 for nothing extra in their pockets.

Discovering Forgotten History

So I am recovering today after helping chaperon a field trip to Fort Niagara yesterday.

And the students kept telling me that they never knew that the fort existed.

Seriously? How?

Well, the last time they had received any history about NY was 4^th grade for some of them. Possibly 7^th, depending upon what NY has does to the Social Studies curriculum.

So, what have they been learning in history class in either 4^th or 7^th grade for all these years? The same old boring stuff.

Reminds me of the aphorism – repeat a lie often enough and it becomes truth.

So they have not been hearing about the history in their own back yard.

They were excited to meet a member of the Tuscarora Tribe who was a reenacting as a First Nations member that was loyal to the British rather than the rebels. (Evidently the First Nations peoples thought that the British would screw them over less? Pardon my snark.)

Next year the students are talking about going up to Victor NY and visiting Ganandagah (sp?) which is a First Nations museum that is dedicated to preserving the history of the Hodinöhsö:ni' people. We all learned that “Iroquois” - the French word for the First Nations tribes – meant “snake people” or something similar to that. And in the Christian culture that the French settlers lived in “snake” is a derogatory symbol that is associated with Satan or the Devil. So Iroquois means “Devil people,” I'm guessing? I'd love some more information on that.

So, why spend time on this?

Up in Rochester was the hotbed of the anti-slavery movement. How well does that get covered? Frederick Douglass is buried up in a cemetery and his grave site is now being preserved. Other notables in the fight against slavery were in the area as well.

Over in Seneca Falls is the Women's History Museum with some of the documentation of Susan B Anthony and others in the fight for women's suffrage. I say some because she burned most of her work because when she offered it to museums and other organizations they declined it. That is how much opposition there was to women voting in that time period.

Over on the East Side of Buffalo, on Broadway (I believe) is the Colored Musicians club. Want to know some of the best jazz players from 1920 on? (Possibly earlier. I need to go and visit.) Go visit that. My High School music teacher has never heard of it. Should he have? Should students be informed of this history that is in their backyard?

Then again, pull out a history book and look for the Ludlow Massacre and other working class uprisings of the mid to late 1800s. Not much, if any coverage of the workers. Tons for the men – the Carnegie Famil JP Morgan, and other capitalists – that had the workers' camp burned and women and children murdered. That used private detectives and hit men to harass and murder union organizers.

Nor will you find the history of the early socialist movement that shaped and influenced history from the Civil War on.

Eugene Debs ran for President from prison and won nearly one million votes in a society and age when only males 21 and older could vote. And African Americans had to pass ridiculous voting tests and other Jim Crow legislation in order to vote.

Look to the militant workers movements of the 1930s that forced the government to do something about chronic unemployment. We call it the New Deal. It died with the war and aftermath.

Look at the anti-war movement in the 1960's. Socialists aren't even mentioned and yet they had a strong voice and organization that fought against the war.

We won't read or hear about any of that.

Then again, on the way home from the museum students were talking about all they had learned about history – what they called real history and not the textbook crap – and it was pretty interesting.

So was the conversation about the primary that is going on. The die hard conservative of the group was of course attacking Hillary. It's too easy honestly. But he was also going after Trump too. And was not too keen on the Republican Party or leadership. And the lefties were more into Bernie and his ideas than into Hillary and the Democratic Party.

And I think there is a door open to other ideas with this generation. They are tired of the same old story and want something new. Or at least something different.

For people ages 18-30 socialism is more popular than capitalism. We have been at war since 2001 and they are tired of it. They are tired of the way the government protects the capitalist system and those that profit from it. They want something else.

We can do something with this. If we want to.

They are talking about our ideas – fair wages, health insurance for all, equality for the different genders. environmentalism, and so much more.

Let's reach out and use what they are telling us they want to build the movement they need to succeed.

Another BN Bad Opinion

The Buffalo News' anti union bias is showing again. Blatantly. On the “Opinion” page.

Good thing it's an opinion and on that page because it has no basis in fact or reality.

The opinion, which they are entitled to, deals with the fact that teachers and their union, NYSUT, have become very vocal and active in the fight against the privatization of the public school system. The one we pay for with our taxes that Wall Street can't make much of a profit off of.

Of course they are using that tired old lament that our students are not performing well on the “standardized” tests.

First – Whose standards? Were they developed by content area specialists and professionals? And people that actually had teaching degrees? That actually currently teach in schools? On top of that – are also developmentally appropriate? (Hint: The answer is no on all counts.)

Second – Have the people making the tests made one that actually measures something useful and goes beyond simplistic regurgitation of material? Seriously. I had an Eighth Grader show me how to score a 4 with simple copying from the essay. You and I would call it “plagiarism.” They called it passing the test in the easiest way possible. (This is success? Achievement?)

And the News is fearful that the teachers have finally found their voice and are pushing up the chain of command in order to be heard and listened to.

So Albany is starting to make changes because they realize that all the changes that the Bush and Obama administrations made were bad from the beginning and needed to be more thought out before being implemented, if at all. After all – the Buffalo News and all the pro-privatization forces still have not proved that all this testing and the the Common Core Learning Standards have improved anything.

Let's remember – The so called “Texas Miracle” of former President (SICK) Bush was found to be a fraud. All the testing pushed low scoring students out of school and into GED programs (if they chose to get a GED). So if you take a school and remove all the “bottom feeders” from the scoring pool, of course the test scores are going to improve. That does not mean that education has improved. It only means that the students that do not do well in a rigidly structured assembly line education system have left.

And the News keeps ignoring (rather deliberately I might add) a key reason why students do poorly in school. And pardon the pun, but the News refuses to write about poverty. Economically poor students generally do not perform well in school or on tests. This is logical. If you don't know where home is going to be and the only food you are going to get is in school, then you are probably not going to do well in school.

And if you are in a community that has houses that are loaded with lead paint, which science shows to be brain damaging, chances are that school performance is going to be less than stellar.

And if your parents are working two jobs to make ends meet, or parent because the other one is in jail or prison, then guess what the studies show? Need a hint? Look at the previous paragraphs and follow the pattern. It's OK to do that. It's how students do well on the Common Core ELA exam.

The Buffalo News refuses to address the crisis that capitalism creates when it pushes income down to as low a level as possible. After all, it's all about the profits and whatever is good for business is good for society.

That seems to be the News agenda – The privatization of education so that Wall Street can take more of our money and give us next to nothing appreciable in return. They can show us all the fancy charts and graphs, but none of that means anything if a student feels unprepared for college.

Actually, the number of students that I have taking remedial courses in college is rather disgusting. Then again, Testing started in the 2002-2003 school year. 2012 is the first year that students graduated after all that testing and college achievement is nothing to write home about.

So if all this testing were working, then graduation rates would be going up and and college dropout rates would be going down.

The News wants us to buy their pro-privatization platform and the people of WNY need to let the News know that while we may buy their paper (mostly for the comics and coupons), we do not buy or believe their ideas that fail to address the underlying causes of the problems that s chools, teachers, and students face.

Socialists demand:

An end to the useless daze of standardized testing and allowing the teachers to teach their students.

An end to the privatization of public schools.

No tax payer funding for schools that are not accountable to a publicly elected school board. (And have people on the Board with education backgrounds and experience. After all – do you really think the Buffalo News wants me on their Board of Directors? I have no experience in newspapers but I have a whole ton of opinions on what they need to be doing and aren't.)

Parents, students, teachers,and taxpayers all want successful schools.

They do not want the mess that we have now that is killing inspiration and hope for the future.