The Race for the State School Superintendent's office.

The two T's : TUCK and TORLAKSON . Either
one who wins election faces the same educational  bureaucracy
that made them.

The November election in California brings a number of issues . First who will be our Governor and who will succeed in the office  of (1) >  State School Superintendent . From my point of view  at a public school it means that we have to scrutinize  on who succeeds  . (2) >  Here too it's all about who spends the most , mostly at the hands of the super PAC's and the UNION dues .  ( SEE check out our campaign finance app here. )By law, donors are limited in how much they can directly contribute to candidates. Individuals are allowed to contribute up to $6,800 for a primary election and another $6,800 for a general election. All other donors, such as political action committees and businesses, are capped at $13,600 per primary election, and the same amount for a general election.  Right NOW Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson is in the fight of his life against upstart challenger and fellow Democrat Marshall Tuck.  Marshall Tuck means to "Overhaul" the system that he says is ignoring our children.  "If you're happy with California public schools, vote for the incumbent and vote for the status quo," Tuck said in an interview. "If you think our kids can do better and we need major change in our schools, vote for someone who's actually delivered that." Tuck's view is the obvious it is similar material  spouted by far right Republicans that California that wealthiest and most innovative state in the nation, and yet according to recent national test scores,  (6)> our students rank 45th Education is a serious matter, BUT  I am just asking my self , just what if any of these State School Superintendents have done ? Going back to (5)> Delaine Eastin in 1995 . Most of the individuals who have had this office stay in that position almost longer than the  State Governor . I am sure that they over the last decade the (3) > BIG STATE EDUCATION SUPS  have gotten already cozy over the years  with the bureaucratic establishment that has already become a tremendous burden on  California state revenues . Our Education system has been cited by critic's as a failure  *** ( That's not my view ) State spending in California exceeds the flow of revenues  , which  has been a constant battle with late budgets over the years between Governor's Davis and Schwarzenegger . The Current Gov. Brown has solved the problem with taxation to keep up with (4)> Prop 98 funding guarantees  which now have brought education spending overboard to nearly equal the State's own yearly budget . I  don't know how long that is going to be sustainable like the Federal Deficit , but Educators are more worried about the state test's yearly API rather than the costs and bankruptcy . School solvency issues are not solved  without raising property taxes and state taxes . The battle has drawn national attention, along with millions of dollars from traditionalist teachers unions on one side and from those who want to wholly overhaul the way schools are run on the other. The result could reverberate far beyond California. Tuck, who built much of his campaign around the case, has repeatedly criticized Torlakson for his position, decrying it as a political move to assuage the California Teachers Association, a powerful political force in Sacramento and the biggest financial backer of Torlakson’s campaign. EITHER case I am seeing a repeat of the same bull on who win's the office . If Tuck get's it he is mostly going to make changes that will put him line with some ideas of the Republicans on education reform, its a double edge sword providing that Kashkari Brown's opponent wins the Governorship of the state . The other alternative reality is that  Torlakson will win the race . This is why everything is so cozy , how it REALLY will  last mostly depends on the state's revenues coming to support the same bureaucracy .
 Missing Candidate : 
There is a third candidate that was not mentioned by is running for the same office , but since the media attention has been on the  two Democrats .veteran teacher Lydia Gutierrez, a Republican with unconventional views, has been unable to attract comparable funding. She supports current job protections for instructors, much like Torlakson. But unlike Torlakson and Tuck, she would undo state learning goals, called the Common Core, adopted by California and 43 other states. Read the dotted line did I say "Republican"?

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 

 (1) > The HISTORY of the Office of   California  Superintendents of Public Instruction believe it or not goes back to 1851 . (2)> With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, the race for California state superintendent of public instruction has been fueled by a combined $24 million in total campaign spending for incumbent Tom Torlakson and candidate Marshall Tuck. Outside groups not affiliated with either candidate represent the bulk of that spending – close to $19.4 million on ads and mailers on behalf of the candidates. Another committee, “Great Public Schools Los Angeles PAC” – largely formed to support Los Angeles school board candidate Alex Johnson ­– gave $117,450 to the Tuck committee. The Los Angeles PAC is financed by many of the same individuals funding the Tuck committee. ***  I BELIEVE TEACHERS WORK HARD , and deserve the resources that they need to fulfill their obligations to teach . Often the problems are not in the classroom  they mostly have been in the Administration office , which is  mostly through out the whole State of California's school Districts. The term   "top heavy" with more management positions, and less support staff , less teachers . Is now the norm .Cost wise  Twenty-one “Top-Heavy States” employ fewer teachers than other non-teaching personnel. Thus, those 21 states have more administrators and other non-teaching staff on the public payroll than teachers. Virginia “leads the way” with 60,737 more administrators and other non-teaching staff than teachers in its public schools.There are significant differences in total employment ratios across states. Vermont, Maine, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia each have fewer than six students per public school employee. That compares to more than 10 students per public school employee in Idaho, South Carolina, Arizona, California, Utah, and Nevada. (3)> With California’s public school system facing economic uncertainties – even with the passage of a tax increase under Proposition 30 – some of the most financially troubled districts have been elevating the payroll for top administrators, a review of district data shows.In the 2012-13 school year, a record 188 districts – with about 2.6 million students – have landed on a special California Department of Education list designed to sound the alarm on possible financial peril (see this report : http://californiawatch.org/k-12/despite-budget-woes-superintendents-pay-rises-18791 ) (4)> California education spending is almost 50 % of the state budget , it's the most expensive of any American state , any attempts to cut have been futile . It's costly , and it is one of the reasons California has one of the highest rates of taxation . The education department has an annual budget to oversee $70 billion a year  in education funding. Remember yearly state is  "budget" is 108 billion dollars a year ! (5)>  Delaine Eastin  might be "remembered" for stance pro- Gay agenda which she received much criticism and accusation of indoctrinating children as  State Superintendent .Much of it is found here : http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Kids-Not-Focus-of-Race-for-Schools-Chief-2982952.php  AND ALSO THIS OLD NOTE . http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/society/out.htm  (6)> The "rankings" have been a matter of debate . The Teacher's Union is justifiably against "rankings" of any kind , and in some cases unfair to some schools with struggling students . 

Russia's Putin On America .

Russian President Putin's speech at the Valdai Club
this week hosting a gathering
of Western and Russian
journalists .

You can't say that I  don't blame  Russian President Vladimir Putin, this week as  he gave a fiery speech accused the United States on Friday of trying to “reshape the whole world” for its benefit, in a fiery speech that was one of the most anti-American of his 15 years as Russia’s paramount leader. (1)>  Look at what our country did in the last decade since the "war on terror" began . All of the Middle-East has been a mess , our nation's leaders have gone back to "cold war antics " against Russia that in true reality don't make any sense . Putin said that “is not asking anyone for permission” in its conduct of world affairs . “It never ceases to amaze me how our partners have been guilty of making the same mistakes time and again,” Putin said, accusing the United States of breeding terrorists by upsetting the established order in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. What he is saying is true . It’s a story that should take your breath away: the destabilization of what, in the Bush years, used to be called “the arc of instability.” It involves at least 97 countries, across the bulk of the global south, much of it coinciding with the oil heartlands of the planet. A startling number of these nations are now in turmoil, and in every single one of them — from Afghanistan and Algeria to Yemen and Zambia — Washington is militarily involved, overtly or covertly, in outright war or what passes for peace. Garrisoning the planet is just part of it. The Pentagon and U.S. intelligence services are also running covert special forces and spy operations, launching drone attacks, building bases and secret prisons, training, arming, and funding local security forces, and engaging in a host of other militarized activities right up to full-scale war. But while you consider this, keep one fact in mind: the odds are that there is no longer a single nation in the arc of instability in which the United States is in no way militarily involved. America my own country that I live in ,  is looking more like a aggressor nation ( not just policing the world )  , but HARDLY A PEACE MAKER.  Here also is a key note what Putin also said as to why we as Americans should pay attention what our leaders are doing in regards to foreign  policy making  . Here Putin addresses the current problem he says  “The system of international relations needed some changes, but the USA, who believe they were the winners of the Cold War, have not seen the need for this.” He added that the US has been trying to create the world “for their own gains." The Russian President added that because of this, regional and global security had been weakened. Relations between Russia and the US have been plummeting for months; however Vladimir Putin accused the US of using the EU to further its own gains against Russia. He hit out at the numerous sanctions that have been imposed on Moscow, saying, "This was a mistake, which has a knock-on effect on everyone."“The USA, which has implemented sanctions against Russia, is sawing at the branches, upon which they are sitting,” President Putin added.The reduction of nuclear arsenals was another issue, which was high on the agenda for the Russian President and once again, he was not afraid of having a dig at Washington for their reluctance to cut the number of nuclear missiles. He mentioned that unfortunately many countries see the only way to preserve their sovereignty is, "To make a nuclear bomb."The reduction in nuclear arsenals was initially proposed by the Obama administration and Putin admitted it had potential, before talks about decreasing weapons stockpiles collapsed."Russia has been all for the continuation of talks about the reduction of nuclear arsenals," and according to President Putin, "Moscow is ready for serious talks, but without “double standards."

 ***Let's end this new cold war .

The Russian President said that there is no truth whatsoever in claims from the West that Russia is interested in empire building and that Moscow is looking to destabilize the world order. With relations between Russia and the West at a very low ebb, Putin also hinted Russia will look to develop allies further afield."Russia has made its choice – we want to develop our economy and develop democratic values. We work with our counterparts in the Shanghai Cooperation, the BRICS union for example. We want our opinions to be respected likewise. We all need to be cautious to not make hasty and dangerous steps. Some of the players on the global front have forgotten about the need for this," he said in another barb directed at Washington.

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 

(1)> The Obama Doctrine on the Middle East was hinted at in the president's 2009 Cairo speech, during a Middle East tour in which Obama did not visit Israel.  Obama apologized for our war on terror.  "The fear and anger" after 9/11 "led us to act contrary to our ideals," he told the Egyptian crowd.  In a speech in France, Obama declared that America must make deep cuts in our nuclear arsenal, because otherwise we don't have "the moral authority to say to Iran, don't develop a nuclear weapon." The United States is now involved in wars in six arc-of-instability nations: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. It has military personnel deployed in other arc states, including Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. Of these countries,Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates all host U.S. military bases, while the CIA is reportedly building a secret base somewhere in the region for use in its expanded drone wars in Yemen and Somalia. It is also using already existing facilities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates for the same purposes, and operating a clandestine base in Somalia where it runs indigenous agents and carries out counter terrorism training for local partners. *** The "blame" for the new cold war lies at the foot of the Obama Administration. There is a diplomatic way out. Putin did not begin or want this crisis; among other costs, it obliterated the achievement of his Sochi Olympics. Nor did he initiate the unfolding Cold War, which was inspired in Washington years before he came to power. Western policy-makers should therefore take seriously the adage, “There are two sides to every story.” Is Putin right, as he also asserted that Russia “has its own national interests that must be taken into account and respected,” particularly along its borders? If the answer is no, as it has seemed to be since the 1990s—if Putin is correct in angrily protesting, “Only they can ever be right”—then war is possible, if not now, eventually. But if the answer is yes, proposals made by Putin’s foreign ministry  could be the starting point for negotiations.

The "Midterm" elections is coming!

The mid term's are around the corner . There is a lot of anxiety and desperation in the political front . ALSO it's going to be a wall-up  in spending as the "rich" donations   pour into both the coffers of the democrats and Republicans with billions wasted to fraud the American people even further..  The total price tag for the 2014 midterms -- an election which almost no one is paying attention to -- will be nearly ***$4 billion, according to projections released Wednesday by the Center for Responsive Politics. That would make it the most expensive midterm election in history and set the stage for a 2016 presidential contest that could approach double-digit billions in spending. The American public by now should have all the fog cleared from their eye's , sure we have the power to vote , but we don't have the power of the dollar in our hands , so the election process is certainly bought with cash by the biggest donation Example President Obama's fundraising may have raised 1 billion dollars , that money is not from an average taxpayer , but the spending leaps like a frog . "So far, at least $663.3 million has been spent by outside groups like super PACs and 527s (a figure that is current within the last 48 hours), but CRP’s projections based on the pattern in the 2012 cycle indicate that at least another $233.5 million remains to be spent in the 12 days before Nov. 4," according to the Center."That’s a rate of $19.4 million a day." Political missteps by President Obama are unnerving Democrats just two weeks before the midterm elections. NO democrat candidate wants Obama nearby; BLACKs walk out on his speeches; Republicans and Democrats are struggling for control of the Senate in this November’s midterm elections. But there is no real fight for control of the House of Representatives. The Outcome?  on November 5, this will be seen as an anti-incumbent election first and foremost.  That means that Democrats may well lose the Senate (they will almost certainly lose 4 or more net seats) and some net House races and that GOP and Democratic incumbents - or incumbent parties - will lose Governor's mansions across the land.I see the GOP losing Alaska, Wisconsin, Florida, PA, Maine and Kansas on November 4 while Democrats lose Massachusetts, Arkansas and Connecticut.  Dems hold on in Illinois only because Bruce Rauner blew a winnable race with his business antics and Hickenlooper pulls out the narrowest of wins in Colorado.  Rick Snyder survives in Michigan by a percentage point or two because Dems didn't quite get out enough votes in Detroit to win it.  It's all about the practicability of the outcome , Politico is predicting a loss of 10 seats for Democrats, with 14 toss-up races not included. Larry Sabato is predicting a “strong and increasing chance” for the GOP to gain control of the Senate, but a House map that “isn’t really expanding to a great degree.” The Washington Post is predicting a gain of 8 seats in the House for Republicans and seven seats in the Senate. 

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** The issue isn't just whether money can help win races. The issue is to whom the candidates are accountable after they win. It's naive to believe that elected officials don't have some sense of what will happen to their campaign funding if they vote one way rather than another, and it's unquestionable that those who fund campaigns get far more access to the political system.

Drilling the CDC: Ebola.

Welcome to Ebola-gate . A subcommittee hearing, and
scandal . How safe are we , how
much are they are letting us believe?

With a potential crises looming . The Federal Government has begun "hearings" in a "sub Committee" . There is always a red herring in these "Watergate" type investigations it reveals a symptom of gross negligence on our government , it also reveals that the nation has no safety protocol on protecting it's citizens. (1) > Even though the treat of Ebola was known to the CDC for over 40 years since it was identified . A House panel sharply questioned health officials Thursday over the U.S. response to the Ebola virus, as well as steps to prevent an outbreak of the disease in the United States. FIRST of ALL I have said before on this blog that "sending infected people to civilian hospitals for treatment only raises the level of exposure to the public." I am telling  you my readers this has a "genie out of the bottle effect" . It's creepy for sure , I liken it to the Stephen King novel " The Stand" I fear that nothing would stop it , as our government would like us to believe in these hearings that they know how to contain it . To contain it it would require isolation at a military facility.No body understands that Ebola is highly  contagious , and in some documents going back in the 1970's it was one of the viruses that was considered for weponization before the official banning of any world wide "bio-weapons" .NOW the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden and other government officials faced tough questions from members of both parties after a second Texas nurse was diagnosed with Ebola, but the line of questioning from Republicans and Democrats on the investigative committee pushed two contrasting paths to keep the disease from spreading in the U.S. Is there any politics at play here? Note ,Congresswoman Diana DeGette, (D-Colo.), faulted the House subcommittee charged with investigating the spread of Ebola for failing to act on her request to hold a hearing on Sept. 2 – more than two weeks before Thomas Duncan, the first patient to be diagnosed with the deadly virus in the U.S., traveled to Dallas from Liberia. “I’ve been on this committee for a long time: I’ve seen SARS, I’ve seen bird flu, H1N1, and I knew this could be happening,” DeGette told msnbc’s Chris Hayes Thursday. “So on Sept. 2, I asked the chairman if I could have a hearing on Ebola. We’re not having a hearing now until two and a half weeks before the election.” All the while acknowledging that because of the 21-day incubation period, someone could pass pre-takeoff and post-landing screenings without yet  exhibiting symptoms.  Having a hard time understanding the logic here.   And I am sorry but the Reps that brought up the "Government shutdown" and funding cuts are despicable politicians.  Perhaps we should dig into some of the stupid things NIH and CDC have spent money on versus priorities... Budget stagnation “for more than a decade” was cited by some Democrats as the reason an Ebola vaccine has not yet been developed. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) blamed funding woes on the lack of vaccine progress. The NIH budget increased by $1 billion in fiscal year 2014. BioLink Genetics, a division of American-based company, BioProtection Systems, licensed the rights to a potential Ebola vaccine developed in Canada. The Ebola vaccine is currently undergoing human trials at Walter Reed. The Defense Department reportedly has a contract with BioProtection Systems. HOW about a travel ban? This is another political punching point , is treated as if such a "ban" would insult minorities ,(2)> But the administration’s top health officials were reluctant to embrace a travel ban on citizens of the most affected countries, saying limited official options will only force travelers to go underground to cross borders. With air travel, the U.S. tries to spot travelers who come from or through Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, take their temperatures and try to monitor them later. If they are banned from traveling to the U.S., they will take more circuitous routes that get past screenings, said(3)>  Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's obvious that the CDC can't stop Ebola from coming into the U.S., we don't need the head of the CDC to keep coming out and apologizing for his "fool proof" plan every time someone is getting infected. Nevertheless, the government's response, no matter who was in charge, was typical: FEMA did not perform any better following Superstorm Sandy in 2013. The reason? Bureaucracy is bureaucracy, no matter who is sitting in the White House. The only difference is the kind of press you get.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)> The Ebola outbreak has spun out of control in three countries in West Africa, where more than 4,000 people have died from the virus. Now, some lawmakers have raised the question of imposing a travel ban for those coming from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. (2)> What he's saying is that a travel ban from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will force people to sneak across borders in Africa in order to travel from their unrestricted airports here.This is a ridiculously stupid argument because people can't just board a plane in, say, Nigeria without a passport, and the surrounding countries in Africa have sealed their borders from citizens of ebola ravaged countries. Stupid argument from a stupid administration.Ebola needs to be eradicated, but so does the left. (3)> And that is why Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Dr. Thomas Frieden keeps changing his story regarding the burgeoning Ebola outbreak in Texas: Because neither he nor his agency a) were prepared to deal with it; or b) have any idea what to do next. They are simply winging it, as evidenced by the director's own recent admission.

Paperless Classroom : An opinion.

TIME magazine had an article that caught my attention . It's title is obvious "The Paperless Classroom is Coming".  A new A national push to get a computer into each student's hands will upend the way American children are taught  . I am sure every teacher is jumping for joy . As of now , most classrooms use new technological advances , which is in hope that it will further the learning of the students. Some say this is over-hyped at best, an outright fad at worse. Well let's get down to it and see what it all takes to do it. Like  it or not technology is becoming a big part if not of  teaching then definitely of students learning. Now digital textbooks are everywhere and the number of  school districts adopting  iPads & chromebooks  as learning tools in classrooms is exponentially increasing, but where is this going ? (1)>  Is there a catch-22 here ? I fear that the educational system may be pressing too much tech into the learning environment . If it's going to one day replace paper , textbooks . Its heading to replace the "teacher". You might call the new instructors " techies" , because of  the so called new ways of delivering classroom instruction via a computer , sure most teachers go to collage and get a 4 year degree , but that might not  be good enough . The instructor has to be well versed in the new advances . The pen ,paper and chalk ( white ) boards are dustbin . As many schools and districts are now rushing to buy every student a digital device, I’m concerned that most one-to-one implementation strategies are based on the new tool as the focus of the program. I have observed, the one-to-one computing plan puts enormous focus on the device itself, the enhancement of the network, and training teachers to use the technology. Then, teachers are instructed to go! But go where? I see that there is a lot of potential for instruction of use of devices , but I don't think educators should replace the text book , and the paper .Computers can help students learn at their own pace, based on what they know rather than on whatever class they are in.   There is one other problem that could SOON put these devices to a test .  The Coachella Valley Unified School District has handed out so many iPads this year that the schools have begun draining Internet bandwidth from neighboring districts, causing slowdowns and crashes in schools throughout the desert.Thousands of student tablets and a widespread malware infection have caused Internet consumption in the district to skyrocket to nearly three times as much as Palm Springs Unified or Desert Sands Unified districts, according to the Riverside County Office of Education.The connection problems were particularly frustrating for teachers .
Goodbye textbooks ?

The rush for schools to buy tablets and other computers comes ahead of a looming deadline for new online standardized tests, scheduled to be introduced next year in 45 states. that signed on to the new national Common Core learning standards.But many advocates for education reform, including U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, see the scaling up of classroom technology as a much bigger opportunity to rethink schools, to untether them from a calendar designed in an agrarian era, a bell schedule that tells students when and where to go, and a teacher in the middle of the classroom who is considered the source of all knowledge. Those who proclaim that computers will replace teachers often naively reduce teaching to mere instruction and assessment. In doing so, they forget the true breadth and complexity of the job teachers perform. Computers are becoming better at providing customized direct instruction and at assessing student mastery of foundational knowledge and skills. But good teachers do much more than present information and drill the fundamentals. High-quality teachers guide their students through activities and projects that stretch them to analyze, synthesize, and apply what they have learned across academic subjects and into the real world. They provide personalized, qualitative feedback to help students develop their critical and creative thinking. They create a classroom culture that intrinsically motivates students by honoring their hard work and by making academic achievement socially relevant. Going above and beyond the call of duty, many of the best teachers are driven by a “whatever-it-takes” attitude to ensure that all their students receive the resources and support needed to put them on a path to success in life. Those human aspects of good instruction are not going to be replaced by machines anytime soon.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

*** Technology creates a disparity in learning and potential. If education is the great equalizer then technology is the great inhibitor. (1)> This makes no sense. No offense to but unless we're REALLY good with computers or I.T professionals most of us adults don't know TOO much about technology i mean sure we can use it, but show a kid an Ipad they could learn more about it in a few hours than many adults know about them already. Children are innovative and not as stupid as many people think if they put their minds to something they can do it. There currently aren't many good ways to set up a security system on a network of Ipads and the parental controls out there now are literally child's play for them to beat. That's why I don't agree with it I would if there were a way to keep them off of gaming but right now there isn't, so the solution to getting children to stop playing videogames at school or home is not to hand them a free tablet without a real security system yet. SEE this article that was written back in 1998 in the heyday of Computers in the Classroom http://muse.tau.ac.il/maslool/boidem/boidem22.html . 

The Politics of Christopher Columbus.

Christopher Columbus is so
hated now many public
schools are demonizing
him.

With Columbus Day drawing near I wanted to write a piece about the famed  explorer . My pondering on this was recent news that some lost papers of  traveler (2)> Marco Polo were discovered  that appear to show North America's Pacific coast and Alaska almost 200 years before Columbus set sail in 1492 . The significance of this has yet to be proven . AS I have said I've read my history books , yes Columbus was not the first to "discover the new world aka America" . We have had the Vikings who had attempted to settle the tip of Newfoundland , we had reports of Chinese,Romans and Phoenicians . For the average (3)>  Mormon the "lost tribes" of Israel , or at least a family of Jews named Lehi and Nephi came to America in 600 BC as the "promised land" . For the most part for Native Americans today Columbus is public enemy  no # 1, most native tribal leaders see Columbus as the start of the native genocide . I am not going to side with the native view that Columbus came to the new world just to kill natives and spread the Christian religion as did the later Spaniards the Conquistadors , but Columbus was in search of new lands in the west . He used mere trickery to get Queen Isabella and Ferdinand to agree on a voyage across  to the Atlantic as an easy route to China . He fooled the monarchs , but his real aim was to search for a mythical island called*** Antilla , which there are in  Columbus's logs record of sailors being swept out to sea in the west and finding a tropical island just were Cuba lies .  (1)> The Pre- Columbian voyages were known as far back as the 2nd Century AD , and ancient Historians like Strabo have hinted that some islands existed in the Atlantic,and were visited  , there was a lucrative trade with the natives . No one in those 1000 years before Columbus ever knew it was a continent. 

They Beat Columbus to America.

Even under the best of circumstances, the national Columbus Day is a beleaguered holiday (twenty-two states don’t give their employees the day off, South Dakota calls it Native American Day and Hawaii celebrates Polynesian Discoverers’ Day), but the water is getting even rougher this year.Trouble has long been brewing, mostly because Columbus WASN’T the first European to “discover” the New World and because of the downside of European exploitation/colonization of the Americas. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, three St. Louisans are trying to change Columbus Day to Explorers Day, honoring everyone from Leif Ericson to Neil Armstrong.  Discover's Day as long as Chris get's his due. Whether or not Lief or a Chinese navigator or Amerigo or who ever discovered the Americas on behalf of the other 4 occupied continents it was Columbus who opened the area up for the rest.

Columbus a hated Man.

Liberal educators are
removing Columbus
from the history
books.

With all that Columbus did he was a hated man . He was brought back to Spain in chains , later he returned on his last voyage to find the American Continent it's self  . His last voyage he was seeking a way to the Pacific trying to cross Panama . Public schools seldom now bring up Columbus , I remember in 3rd grade , my teacher would show us films and in the history books then we had to read a vary sided view of Columbus unlike what we know of him today . Despite all this, it's not correct to simply demonize Columbus. He was a brave man, We have been distorting Columbus as  launching his ships into an uncertain fate, driven by greed, faith and hope. biggest problem was that everything they taught about Columbus was wrong. You don't need to go into super detail, but at least ensure that the details you are teaching are correct. It shows the sad state of the education system when we cannot even teach the children basic truths about Columbus. Today as recently Columbus was put off.  In a unanimous decision, (4)>  a school board on Wednesday passed a resolution requiring public schools to observe “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” on the same day as Columbus Day – the second Monday in October, according to Fox affiliate KCPQ. It is as  crazy as prohibiting the US  flag from being displayed on Cinco De Mayo . Most School Districts are going over board to put Columbus out of the books , the history books in a political correct way. Yet there is a new psychology emerging which is anti-western in America , the Ayn Rand Institute put it right about the core value of Columbus :

"On a deeper level, therefore, Columbus Day celebrates the rational core of Western civilization, which flourished in the New World like a potbound plant liberated from its confining shell, demonstrating to the world what greatness is possible to man at his best. On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose philosophers and mathematicians, men such as Aristotle, Archimedes, and Euclid, displaced otherworldly mysticism by discovering the laws of logic and mathematical relationships, demonstrating to mankind that the universe is knowable and predictable."

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY

NOTES AND COMMENTS:
***Antillia (or Antilia) is a phantom island that was reputed, during the 15th-century age of exploration, to lie in the Atlantic Ocean, far to the west of Portugal and Spain. The island also went by the name of Isle of Seven Cities (Ilha das Sete Cidades (Portuguese), Septe Cidades). The island makes its first explicit appearance as a large rectangular island in the 1424 portolan chart ofZuane Pizzigano. Thereafter, it routinely appeared in most nautical charts of the 15th century. After 1492, when the north Atlantic Ocean began to be routinely sailed, and became more accurately mapped, depictions of Antillia gradually disappeared. It nonetheless lent its name to the Spanish Antilles. ( 1)> Stories of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, legendary and otherwise, have been reported since classical antiquity.^[1] Utopian tales of the Fortunate Islands (or Isles of the Blest) were sung by poets like Homer and Horace. Plato articulated the dystopian legend of Atlantis. Ancient writers like Plutarch, Strabo, and, more explicitly, Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy, testified to the existence of the Canary Islands. The names of some real islands re-emerged as distinct mythical islands with associated legends, e.g. capraria (the island of goats) and canaria (the island of dogs) are often found on maps separately from the Canary Islands (e.g. Pizzigani brothers, 1367) (2)> The only record of his 13th-century odyssey through the Far East is the hot air of his own Travels, which was actually an “as told to” penned by a writer of romances. But a set of 14 parchments, now collected and exhaustively studied for the first time, give us a raft of new stories about Polo’s journeys and something notably missing from his own account: maps. If genuine, the maps would show that Polo recorded the shape of the Alaskan coast—and the strait separating it from Asia—four centuries before Vitus Bering, the Danish explorer long considered the first European to do so. Perhaps more important, they suggest Polo was aware of the New World two centuries before Columbus. (3)>  The "story" of Lehi and Nephi are told in the BOOK OF MORMON which may be a 19th century forgery for non Mormon's  , but for Many Mormons it is a book that is held as scripture of an inspired story of Ancient America.  I find the book interesting , and how it came to be produced is one of the mysteries of the 19th century . Joseph Smith takes credit as the " author" and "translator" of the book , it has had many cultural significance to America'a spiritual traditions . The Book of Mormon alludes to Columbus as being led by the Holy Spirit to discover America . Archaeological studies in the New World that tie Book of Mormon places and peoples to real world locations and civilizations are incredibly difficult since there are generally no landmarks defined in the Book of Mormon that can unambiguously identify real world locations. Generally non-Mormon archaeologists do not consider there to be any authentic Book of Mormon archaeological sites. Various apologists have claimed that events in the Book of Mormon took place in a variety of locations^[122] including North America, South America,^[123] Central America, and even the Malay Peninsula^[124] These finds are divided into competing models, most notably the Hemispheric Geography Model, the Mesoamerican Limited Geography Model, and the Finger Lakes Limited Geography Model. (4)> The Seattle School Board unanimously voted Wednesday to have public schools observe “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” on the second Monday of October–the same day as the Columbus Day federal holiday.The resolution, in part, said the board “recognizes the fact that Seattle is built upon the homelands and villages of the Indigenous Peoples of this region, without whom the building of the City would not have been possible.”The resolution also says the board “has a responsibility to oppose the systematic racism towards Indigenous people in the United States, which perpetuates high rates of poverty and income inequality, exacerbating disproportionate health, education and social crises.” The Seattle School Board must by as dumb as educators can be , for one Columbus did not institute any "racism" toward natives the  Real genocide of Native American's began with the establishment of the United States in 1789. Real education no longer exists in today's schools. It's all about far-left indoctrination, this "responsibility to oppose the systematic racism towards Indigenous people in the United States, which perpetuates high rates of poverty and income inequality, exacerbating disproportionate health, education and social crises.” being an example.

Jimmy Carter & Leon Panetta.

Former President Carter ripped President Obama on the ISIL( Islamic State ).Watching Obama's foreign policy unfold, particularly in the Middle-East, has been gut wrenching, the flip flopping on policy is the source of Mr. Obama's problems .A president who presided over the fall of the Shah of Iran and the capture of American embassy staff in Tehran, a global oil crisis, and Soviet incursions in Afghanistan, West Africa, and Central America is now taking full advantage of Barack Obama’s fumbles. Carter, a president whose approach to foreign affairs was once an interchangeable synonym with weakness, has taken to berating Obama over his own displays of impotence and vacillation in defense of America’s interests overseas.  Hearing Jimmy Carter criticize Obama is a big thing , but it shows how support for  (1)> President Obama is eroding . In an interviewed published Tuesday in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the 39th president said the Obama administration, by not acting sooner, allowed ISIL to build up its strength. *** Carter said “[W]e waited too long. We let the Islamic State build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” he said, using an alternate name for the terrorist group. “Then when [ISIL] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn’t object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned. This week has been noting but startling revelations,

 Former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s critical book on the Obama administration might be the Achilles heel .  In his book Panetta says he argued behind the scenes for a small number of troops to be left to continue training Iraq's military. To no avail. "Those on our side viewed the White House as so eager to rid itself of Iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve our influence and interests,” he writes. It was politics at its best.What damaged the Iraqis and our own interests most when we pulled out was the dismantling of the intelligence systems, operations and activities that our military had put together over the years. Clandestine networks put together with the loyal Sunni tribes had infiltrated the enemy effectively, and the Iraqi special operations forces who had been trained by and operated alongside our special operations teams were capable of continuing the targeted operations with the support and assistance of the residual element we could have left. There is another issue that also prevails on who our nations leaders are handing the foreign policy. After sacrificing over 4,600 American lives and almost $2 trillion over nine years, we were out, leaving behind a still fractured country and a leader we had supported since he took office in 2006 and over whom we still had a modicum of influence. In August 2014 , the White House leaked a classified special forces operation to rescue American hostages in Syria. The reason: political cover. The cost: so far, unknown.But this much, we know: The politicized leak of this operation cut through the fog of war to let our enemies know exactly what happened that day in the desert, and because of that, future attempts to free American hostages will be more difficult to plan, farther between, and more dangerous to carry out. Panetta also handed out a clue , much to being President Obama's stubbornness on his part ( or weakness ) he was warned In coming out swinging at the White House’s (2)>  “inner circle” for failing to secure an agreement with the Maliki government,Panetta makes us wonder who this small group of people are who have set our country on a difficult and long course that will cost us more money and lives. And we must wonder about a president who rejects advice from the very military and civilian leaders who are sworn to serve him and the American public. Panetta gives us some insight. I have  argued before that the "blame " just is not the "president" alone as far as an indecision maker , but his whole cabinet of his  is making him look incapable of leading the nation , but on foreign policy it might be what Jimmy Carter is saying when he means “It changes from time to time,” he said of the president’s Middle East strategy. It looks obvious for anyone to cast stones first at the President . ( may be ).

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

***During the end of the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain charged that then-Sen. Barack Obama “didn’t know the difference between a tactic and a strategy.” The current U.S. military mission in Iraq is evidence that McCain was right. Airstrikes by themselves without a larger goal or objective are a tactic, not a strategy. What are we trying to achieve? The threat posed by the Islamic State far exceeds the localized conflict taking place in northern Iraq, on which the administration has been hyper focused. But few in the administration seems to either understand or care. It’s a reflection of the lack of experience, over-politicization of national security matters, and trying to control everything at the White House. (1)> The list of Democrats who have spoken out against Obama’s handling of ISIL now include both living former Democratic presidents, both of his former secretaries of defense, and a possible future president and former secretary of state, not to mention several members of Congress. (2)>members of the president's inner circle had obviously not discussed a key question they both knew they would be asked speaks to the same problem  The White House seems unable to convey to an anxious and angry electorate that has just lived through one of the most unsettling decades , the idiocy, connivery and outright incompetence of the Obama administration is coming to light … 

Poor Governor and the Rich Governor.

The Poor Governor and Rich Governor:
Who took the most donations , and
out spent his rival .

The "special interests" have out done the donations to the re--election of Gov Jerry Brown. Brown for sure is the winner already,but here is my critical opinion.Reported Monday that he has nearly(1)>  $24 million left for his re-election campaign after spending very little so far this year, while his Republican challenger,(2)>  Neel Kashkari, has about $680,000 left for the final month of the campaign. Brown out spent his competitor . Just where is this money going as far as it is coming from is the big question. Brown's largest expenses were for campaign consultants. He is not outwardly campaigning for his re-election, instead focusing his efforts on a pair of ballot measures he is promoting: Proposition 1, which would spend $7.5 billion on a variety of water projects; and Proposition 2, which would strengthen California's rainy day fund.The committee for both reported having $6.6 million on hand Monday. Among its largest donations are $3.8 million from the California Teachers Association and $1 million each from the Service Employees International Union and former Facebook president and Napster co-founder Sean Parker. The special interest list does not end with the teachers union as far as contributions Gov. Jerry Brown reported Monday that he returned campaign contributions from six Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials, as the utility released more emails in the controversy surrounding its close ties with state regulators.The company said Monday that it had been notified by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco that it has begun an investigation into the private communications.Emails released by PG&E on Monday showed the Governor’s Office also was involved in the negotiations. Returning the donations “seemed prudent due to the inquiry,” said Dan Newman, a spokesman for Brown’s campaign.  For (3)>  Kashkari's bid for governor was always going to be an uphill battle, however, money is a serious problem. His latest financial report shows him with about $680,000 in the bank, with $142,000 in unpaid bills. That’s trouble for a little-known candidate in California, where it can cost $1.5 million or more a week to run a statewide television campaign. The source of the the two candidates’ cash adds to the contrast. In the most recent finance period, almost all of Kashkari’s money came from individuals, including a maximum $27,200 each from both Henry and Wendy Paulson of Chicago and William and Nancy Thompson of Newport Beach (Orange County). Another major difference is the financial support from parties and other partisan groups. While Kashkari received $1,000 from New Majority California, the state’s largest Republican political action committee, the state Democratic Central Committee gave $450,000 to Brown’s campaign. # Kashkari is spending the final weeks of the campaign talking about his opposition to high-speed rail. And poverty, which he sees as the root of many of California’s problems (4)> ."I feel like I am demonstrating a path for not just not myself but for other candidates, to unite not just Republicans, but people across the political spectrum," he said. Still, it's going to be a tough fight this time around.

The election is on Nov. 4.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:
> In a report filed with the secretary of state's office, the Democratic governor says he has $23.6 million in the bank and has spent just $402,000 this year.The spending included about $36,000 in returned contributions between July 1 and Sept. 30. Brown spokesman Dan Newman did not immediately return a call seeking details about the returned money. Will Brown has twice the spending money of Kash-karyi , there has been vary little political propaganda from either candidate that I have seen , mail flyers have not gone out as I know in my neighborhood . (2) > Republicans get rich then run for office  democrats run for office then get rich. (3)> The California GOP is a party that could use some help. Just 28 percent of the state’s registered voters identify as Republican. Democrats dominate the state Senate and Assembly. And there are no Republicans in statewide elected office. (4)> Kashkari who is so desperate to win the governorship of California has  done a number of demonstrations how far he would go to get to the "average joe's '' attention , here is some examples.Without the resources to get his message out, Kashkari has relied on attention from the press through a variety of stunts.He lived as a homeless man for a week in Fresno to bring attention to issues related to poverty.When the governor was considering the state's ban on plastic bags, Kashkari sent him boxes of paper bags and urged him to veto the ban. (Instead, the governor's dog Sutter sent a message to Kashkari via Twitter.)On a recent afternoon, at a gas station in Burbank, Kashkari reminded voters of his opposition to high-speed rail by handing out gas cards and asking supporters to smash plastic toy trains.  The stunt drew a few television cameras and supporters, like John King of Westwood. "He has great interpersonal skills. Definitely has the gift of gab. Bright guy and has a lot of great ideas," King said. # I strongly "recommend" contrary to my Union to vote for Kashkari . I am just not willing to see  Gov. Jerry Brown's "speed train" that will cost 97 billion dollars. It's unjustifiable,  spending it would become California's  second most expensive expenditure  after education spending and take years to finish .

Ebola . It's here and now what?

Hazardous Materials  crew are at
a apartment of a Ebola infected
man who may have exposed
a 100 people.

Ebola is finally here. Incredibly our government is hardly issuing warnings  because it looks as  if  the CDC has all "contained" it.  I am a BIG SKEPTIC on how the government is handing the Ebola issue. The government is treating this with caution , not trying to panic the public as much as they are handling the  so called ## >  respiratory enterovirus EV-D68 .There are a couple of things I find disturbing.First the infected people are being treated in civilian hospitals . Where any of the victims are  quarantined? As in an isolated military complex?  any one of then can spread it to others .   One *** physician in Missouri is accusing the Centers for Disease Control of being “derelict in its duty,” saying the agency is not leveling with the public about the potential for Ebola to spread in the United States.Dr. Gil Mobley says there has been a lack of planning on the CDC’s part to head off the spread of Ebola now that it has made its way to the U.S. through air travel. IN THEORY we are to believe Unlike those illnesses, Ebola cannot be spread through the air, and a person has to come in contact with bodily fluids such as blood, feces or vomit in order to catch the virus. Also, a person infected with Ebola is not contagious until symptoms show up, according to the experts, unlike the measles which can be contagious up to four days before symptoms emerge. Just recently  (1)> A man who recently visited Liberia, where the disease is active, has brought the illness to Dallas. The man apparently exhibited no symptoms of the disease when he boarded his flight, and in fact symptoms did not appear until four or five days after he arrived home, according to the CDC. The patient was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on Sunday. It is not believed that any other individuals have been infected, although it remains a possibility. Officials have admitted that he was sent home after an initial visit to the hospital where he could have infected others. It wasn't until two days after his initial visit that he was admitted as an Ebola case. There is a lot of carelessness on the part of the CDC . I am  sure my readers we will not hear the last of Ebola in America . A study, published in the scientific journal PLOS Currents: Outbreaks, used data supplied by the World Health Organization on the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Here is an outrageous remark by a government official on Ebola . (2)> Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, retweeted the USA Today article pooh-poohing the risks of Ebola Friday. The article asserts that the Ebola virus is “rare, difficult to transmit and kills fewer people than flu, measles.” Question now , is this a terrorist attack under our eyes? a little-noticed report, the Israel News Agency says the deadly Ebola virus may be spreading among IS fighters in Syria. The report refers to a study by Israeli security forces that notes the likely source of the infection. Meanwhile an article in  (3)> Global Research makes several interesting points . A Cover up?

" A public tweet from a large government supplier of emergency response products specializing in “high risk events” says that Disaster Assistance Response Teams were told to prepare to be activated in the month of October. The shocking revelation, made on the Goldenstate Fire/EMS Twitter page, suggests that not only did someone know that the Ebola virus would be reaching America, but that they knew exactly when it would happen.
“What we are now hearing is just the tip of the iceburg (sic) as we enter October,” noted the company’s Twitter spokesperson. “Ebola virus will cripple EMS and hospitals.”
When Future Money Trends, a follower of the page, asked what they meant by this statement, Goldenstate Fire/EMS responded with a shocking revelation.
“DART teams were notified months ago they would be activated in October. Timing seems weird. Source: current DART member.”
What we are now hearing is just the tip of the iceburg as we enter October. #Ebolavirus will cripple EMS and hospitals. The wait is over!
— GoldenStateFIRE/EMS (@GoldenStateEMS) September 30, 2014 "

 So here is the final twist about Ebola in America , which is more disturbing , and likely to spread panic . Dr. Gil Mobley says there has said that there has  been a lack of planning on the CDC’s part to head off the spread of Ebola now that it has made its way to the U.S. through air travel. Mobley is advising people to get a flu shot this year.“I believe in flu shots more now than ever with the impending Ebola threat because if you run a fever they could slam you into an infectious disease center with other potential Ebola patients,” he said. Mobley said doctors are wondering what the next step should be in Ebola response now that a cluster of up to 100 people have potentially been exposed to the virus in Texas.“The infectious disease doctors in Springfield were wondering, if the first symptom is fever, when this becomes person to person it’s going to be a real difficult challenge to discern the symptoms of Ebola from the symptoms of the flu,” Mobley said. “So if it goes into emergency rooms, are we going to quarantine everyone in that room?”

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 

***  Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/10/cdc-lying-to-public-about-ebola-doctor-says/#3DazTKZfbkSZz8bf.99 (1) > Thanks to the unbelievably incredible bungling in Dallas, we may just be on the cusp of a full blown Ebola pandemic. Ebola infected man who told hospital he had just come from Liberia, now with Ebola symptoms, sent home with antibiotics (useless against a virus), out and around for three days before checking into another hospital, exposed all he was staying with, vomited on sidewalk , and now unprotected workers pressure wash the sidewalk spattering infected vomit all over nearby cars and flushing it down a storm drain to run into the nearest river. How stupid can you get? Pandemic looks very possible, the guy in Dallas came into contact with a 100 people, perhaps more. (2)>  The first Ebola diagnosis in the U.S. has raised concerns about whether the disease that has killed 3,400 people in West Africa could spread in the U.S. Federal health officials say they are confident they can keep it in check. It contradicts how the ebola virus is spread , so it just can't spread with contact with vomit and other bodily fluids . So there is a chance of air- borne exposure as well. (3)> Global Research : http://www.globalresearch.ca/ebola-in-the-us-disaster-teams-were-notified-months-ago-they-would-be-activated-in-october/5405789 ## > Now, in addition to measles, more than 1,000 children in 10 states -- Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Georgia -- have suddenly become infected with a rare respiratory virus, not seen in the U.S. since the 1960s, called human Enterovirus EV-D68. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that the rare strain is related to the same rhinovirus responsible for causing the common cold.