The groupthink that is the modus operandi of political parties, candidates and elected officials has to end, particularly, when the groupthink is directly related to campaign financing. I do not vote for parties; I vote for individuals. What I expect from those individuals is integrity, honesty and intelligence. Therefore, I expect the individuals to do more than just follow their crowd. In fact, I expect those elected individuals to make decisions and provide leadership that is in the best interest of the community, instead of just the best interest of their political party, campaign financiers or friends. If their votes happen to align with their party, so be it, and if they do not, so what. There are never only two options or solutions to any issue. Typically, the options debated in the public forum indicate that no imagination or serious thought has been given to any particular issue. I expect that individual thought will go into each decision, and that individuals will offer innovative solutions to problems, not just a constant rehash of the same (supposedly only) solution to the problem. And I expect that those opposing a proposal will offer creative and innovative solutions that make the populace think and debate the alternatives. Real innovative solutions would engage the public and foster more participation in public life. Isn’t that what we want?
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Saturday, September 02, 2006
IPS - Let the students do it.
IPS should not have any difficulty finding crossing guards and they should not have to pay for crossing guards, other than supervisory personnel. As part of a comprehensive education, the student body of IPS could and should be the majority of the crossing guards. In order to make it more feasible, a restructuring of the IPS school system to provide for walkable neighborhood schools, with a shifting of the majority of their transportation money to sidewalk and other pedestrian improvements (crosswalks, etc.), should also be considered.
There is no reason that the necessary number of crossing guards could not be obtained from the junior high and high school student body. These students would be selected, obviously, for their character, scholarship, etc. In fact, I would be surprised if IPS would not be able to find a surplus of crossing guards from their student body. These students could also get some credit for their efforts either through bonus points in related classes, like Civics, or via community service or academic awards. Training could be coordinated with the traffic section of the Metropolitan Police Department. However, the students should want to serve their community and school, because of its intrinsic value. If I and my classmates were expected to be responsible enough to serve as crossing guards in third grade (Our elementary school consisted of three grades) in my hometown; it is the least we should expect from the older students of IPS.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Kernville - Perception is Reality
The recent article in Forbes magazine about Johnstown and the Tribune article about the proposed designation of downtown and Kernville as a community revitilization strategy area bring back memories of the importance of image. When I was a teenager and young adult, I found out that Kernville had a really negative image, which was surprising to me since I thought it was a pretty nice place to live. I remember the concern of my junior high classmates at the prospect of attending Greater Johnstown High School in Kernvile. I also remember a college classmate (who, at the time, lived in the West End) and a significant employee of the New Day organization (based in Kernville) giving me rides to my home on Yoder Street in Kernville. In both instances as we turned the corner from Millcreek Road, I heard comments about how surprisingly nice it was there. In fact, one of them specifically exclaimed that it was an "oasis!" I was thunderstruck that my little average street, with average to below average houses could be considered an "oasis" by anyone. But that made me realize how negative the perception of Kernville was in the late 70's and early 80's.
Honda in Indiana
Letter to the Editor:
Kudos to Honda for extorting 141.5 million dollars (okay, only about $40,000,000 directly in their pockets) from the taxpayers of
My first reaction to the request for incentive packages by Honda is that the location analysts for Honda should be fired for picking a site that can not meet their needs, without major infrastructure and other financial incentives being paid by someone else. So, why aren’t they picking a site that does not need massive infrastructure improvements, so that no one, including the taxpayers, has to spend millions of dollars beyond the cost of the plant? Either Honda really needs the incentives to make the project work, or they do not need it and just decided to steal some money from us. Of course, we were happy to give it, as “My Man Mitch” was grinning ear-to-ear, as were the Honda executives. Mitch, when you can get a company to locate in
Let's Get Our Swerve On - Modern Driving
Letter to the Editor:
It seems that a few people are still living in the Stone Age. Don’t they know that, when driving, one must ”Get Their Swerve On.” I am frankly amazed that the automobile manufacturers have not latched onto this latest trend and removed the turn signal mechanism from all new vehicles. With the removal of those unnecessary devices, eventually everyone would have to join in. Swerving is the only way to go. But some fuddy-duddies insist on signaling before they shift lanes, as if it was something that impacted traffic safety or something. Oh, well.
Amanda - Infrastructure and Investment
Hey, everybody, it's Amanda from
Well, after having a talk with our mayor, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't be excited about providing a sound infrastructure in our community to enhance our economic development and prosperity. Now I can't wait until I have civic class in eighth grade and can discuss these important issues with my peers and teachers. But now, I need to do my own research to find out what progressive communities are doing. My mayor said that I might have to look outside
Citizenship
Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, indicated below, should be amended to eliminate one of the arguments of the apologists for illegal immigration. Children born of illegal immigrants should not be citizens because their birth in our country was the result of an illegal act. The children of illegal immigrants should not be rewarded by the illegal act of the parents. Section One of the Fourteen Amendment should say that “All persons born, whose parents are United States citizens, and all persons naturalized in the United States.” With this amendment, there is nothing preventing the return of the entire family back to their country of origin.
Amendment XIV
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the
New Orleans
The
The old adage of "pay me now or pay me later" rings true in every disaster. While expense is used as a reason not to reinforce buildings, properly maintain levees, build elsewhere, relocate development or maintain and improved existing infrastructure; that expense is only delayed, not eliminated. It is much cheaper and easier to do it right the first time, then it is to retrofit or correct existing situations. Please just think about how we approach these issues in the future, as a city, state and nation.
Ilegal immigration
The apologists for illegal immigration do not know when to stop. They continue to ignore the real reasons that illegal immigration and abuse of the legal immigration policies are being ignored. As with most situations, follow the money and see who is benefiting from the current state of affairs. I guarantee that the working class is not benefiting from illegal immigration. Business is clearly benefiting from an influx of illegal immigrants who depress wages. And, of course, the working class is hammered a second time as the criminals among the illegal and legal immigrants terrorize their communities. Meanwhile, the children of those same working class people are off in
Now, if we want to get serious about illegal immigration, we should arrest all of the illegal immigrants and illegal “legal” immigrants, and as an alternative sentence, make them build immigration walls along our borders. We can do as the Chinese did (The Great Wall of China – 4,163 miles long), using natural materials found in the area to build the wall, thereby keeping material costs low and labor costs low. Since illegal immigrants want to work, let’s put them to work; but let’s make sure that they are on the exterior side of the wall when it is finished.