Public employees

On our recent trip to California we encountered a number of state and federal employees.  We arrived at Lincoln’s home in Springfield just before closing, but we found the National Park Service guides to be welcoming and patient.  We visited the Empire State Mine in Grass Valley, where the staff was helpful, and the volunteer docent was one of the best guides I have ever encountered.

We also had lunch with our daughter and three of her friends who work at the Far Northern Regional Center in Chico  They handle clients who have mental or physical problems and need assistance.  We had lunch on a Friday--it was a furlough day that the employees must take once a month because the state has run out of money. 

None of the four women complained about the forced day off.  What they discussed was the difficulty of working with increased case loads and the problems referring clients who needed help to agencies that have cut back.  They were frustrated with their jobs not because they had more work, but because they were seeing clients who weren’t getting needed assistance.  

Public workers--teachers, liquor store operators, EPA employees, road crews--are under attack everywhere.  Defend them.  The next time someone starts in on how the road crew stands around, note that it might not be too easy working with hot tar on summer day.  When people attack teachers, mention some of the good ones you had.  Change public perception. 

In the interests of full disclosure, I was a public employee myself.  I taught at various community colleges, at Hayward State and San Francisco State, and at San Jose State for 29 years.  When I moved back to Pennsylvania, I taught at LCCC and East Stroudsburg State.  I was always aware that my paycheck was from the taxpayers, and I always did my best to give them good value.  I am proud to have been a public employee.

The election for magistrate

I sent off a letter to the Times News tonight on the upcoming election for magistrate.  Just in case the letter is not printed, here it is.

     All the members of the judiciary in Pennsylvania, from local magistrates to the state supreme court, are selected in partisan elections.  Although many experts believe this system leads to all sorts of abuses, we seem to be stuck with it.

     In any case, candidates for judicial offices often try to project an aura of non-partisanship. They avoid party gatherings and overt partisan activities and often cross-file.

     It is with dismay, therefore, that I read that district magistrate candidate Kissner attended a rally sponsored by the Carbon County Republican Party to honor Rep. Lou Barletta.  Mr. Kissner won both the Republican and Democratic primaries, yet I have seen him at the Republican Party booth at the county fair, and he was hobnobbing with  Sen. Toomey’s staff last month.  Now he appears at a rally for a man who I believe owes his position to attacking minorities and representing the interests of Wall Street.

     I am a environmentalist, feminist, pro-labor union liberal Democrat.l  I wonder whether or not someone like me could get a fair hearing before a magistrate who is obviously following Republican ideology.  I don’t think so.

Are Democrats Doomed?

An on-line dating service called “OK Cupid” (no, I am not a subscriber; I read about it in the New Yorker) has looked at the data collected to determine how political opinions affect the choice of dating partners.

The findings were that Republicans have more in common with Republicans than Democrats have in common with Democrats.  This has led one researcher to conclude:  “The Democrats are doomed.”

My take on this is just the opposite.  I think Democrats will sleep with just about anybody.

Pep talk

Tonight a large group of activists from Summit Hill, Nesquehoning, Palmerton, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Albrightsville, Mahoning, Lake Harmony, and Towamensing met in Jim Thorpe to hear Mike Morrill, Executive Director of Keystone Progress, an on-line advocacy group.

Mr. Morrill explained that in a state where the Republican Party controls the executive branch, both houses of the legislative branch, and the state supreme court, we are seeing efforts to rig the presidential election by changes in the Electoral College and new requirements on voting.  We are witnessing efforts to break unions with “right to work for less” proposals.  We have energy companies given a license to pollute with Marcellus Shale drilling.  Efforts continue to privatize liquor stores and state parks.  School vouchers, which will divert up to a billion dollars from public schools, are advanced.  

Mr. Morrill then noted that these policy changes are in the works.  They have not yet been signed into law.  There is still time to oppose.  People left the meeting with determination.  We can fight this. 

Remember, knocked down four times, rising up five.

Working together

Towamensing and Lower Towamensing Township officials share equipment, workers, and a belief that the zoning regulations in the two townships need both updating and improvement.

Tonight representatives from the two townships met at the Towamensing Township municipal building with consultants from Hanover Engineering to develop a work schedule.  If all goes according to plan, the end product will be a zoning ordinance as well as a Subdivision and Land Use ordinance for each township.

The Towamensing representatives include two supervisors and three planning commission members, one of whom is also the zoning officer.  The Lower Towamensing representatives include three planning commissioners, the zoning officer, and a local businesswoman.  The gender breakdown is 50/50, unusual in a Pennsylvania local government body.

The hard work on storm water runoff, stream buffers, development rights, and industrial zones is yet to come.  Nevertheless, from what I observed at the first meeting, these are people who want to solve problems.  I think this process will succeed.  

The Holocaust Conference in Morocco

Usually what I do falls under the rubric of “content aggregator.”  I look for stuff to write about, and I share it with my readers.  Occasionally, like tomorrow when I report on the Lower Towamensing and Towamensing joint planning effort, I am a “content provider,” reporting original news.  

The reason we need content aggregators is because in a world of information overload, we may miss some important developments.  Perhaps the Holocaust Conference was played up on NBC or Fox, but I doubt it.  In the New York Times the item appeared in yesterday’s issue on page 19, not exactly front page.

The story:  A Moroccan college student named Elmehdi Boudra became interested in the history of Moroccan Jews.  At Al Akhawayn University he and other students formed a club to study Morocco’s Jewish heritage and history. A conference was organized with scholarly presentations, museum visits, and kosher food.  The students learned that the King of Morocco, Mohammed V, refused to cooperate with the Vichy French authorities who tried to deport the country’s Jews.  

Mr. Boudra wrote last week:  “What upsets me about this subject is some people’s claim that the Holocaust never took place.  It is simply absurd to hear such claims in the light of the historical evidence the world has today.”

To read more go to <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/us/distinctive-mission-for-muslims-conference-remembering-the-holocaust.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Remembering%20the%20Holocaust&st=cse>.

Solyndra

In the second “Red Scare” in the Fifties, Senator Joe McCarthy often badgered witnesses who, on the advice of their attorneys, “took the Fifth” at Congressional hearings.  It was good advice.  Any statements that would later found to be less than 100% accurate were subject to perjury convictions; the smart legal strategy was not to answer anything.

McCarthy, of course, saw this as evidence of guilt.  If the witnesses weren’t guilty, why not answer?  I thought of McCarthy when the executives from Solyndra invoked the Fifth Amendment at a House hearing yesterday.  The interrogators were not interested in solar panels or saving federal money.  They were interested in attacking the Obama administration that made a $535 million guaranteed loan to Solyndra, which has now filed for bankruptcy.

Why was the loan made?  it was an attempt to invigorate an American company to compete successfully with the Chinese.  Over half the solar panels in the world are now made in China, and the Chinese share of the market grows every year.  When we put solar panels on our shed roof next year, they will no doubt be made in China, not Fremont, California, where Solyndra was located.   

China has an industrial policy.  The government invests in high tech industries and innovative technologies.  We also have an industrial policy, supported by the Republican Party.  That policy is to ship industries and jobs to China.  

Tomorrow:  Moroccan college students hold a conference on the Holocaust