GOP War on the Spirit of Christmas

24 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Management Practices, Politics, racism, Religion, Respect, Taxes, Universities, US History, Women

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115th Congress, Christmas, Congress, corporate tax cut, corporations, Donald Trump, gloating, GOP, government rape, hate, racists, Recession, recession of 2018, Republicans, tax cut for wealthy, tax giveaway

GOP celebrates destroying Christmas 2017

The Republican party has gone to war with Christmas. It’s not just that they disrespected people’s desire to enjoy Christmas by ramming through a disgraceful and unpopular bill during the holiday season. That would have been bad enough, but what they did is craft changes to our tax code that violate almost every Christian belief at a time when a majority Christian nation sought to celebrate one of their most significant holidays.

I believe they did this just before Christmas for three reasons.

Distraction
First, the Republicans in Congress hoped to use the holidays as cover for their anti-Christian deed. They hoped that people would be so wrapped up in the excitement of Christmas that they would be distracted from a sacrifice of citizens and government to appease the GOP corporate gods.

Before We Knew What Hit Us
Second, the Republicans hoped that by acting quickly, people couldn’t find out all the details of the legislation before an effective campaign could be mounted against it.

A 2018 ‘Nice Guys’ Makeover
Finally, Republicans needed to allow time to do a personality makeover before the 2018 elections. By passing this bill in 2017, they can begin to pass minor, but popular legislation to make them not look like stooges of corporations and the wealthy.

Now we are left with a dark cloud hanging over the holidays. The wealthy will be allowed to steal more money from the government. Corporations will be able to use all the resources the government provides (roads, infrastructure, law enforcement, etc.) and pay little or no taxes for that service. Money and exemptions that were meant for the poor and middle class have been stripped away in order to give the wealthy lower taxes and more money.

Republicans won the war on Christmas. With laughter they destroyed the foundation of our country. The new year will dawn with Trump and Putin still laughing at us. They won. The United States of America lost.

Journalists Using Uneducated, Uninformed Opinion As Fact

16 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Higher Education, Journalism, Politics, racism, Religion, Science, Taxes, Traditional Media, Universities, US History, Women

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CBS News, democracy, Fox News, HuffPost, journalism, journalists, MSNBC, News media, npr, Opinion, republic, Trumpsters

There is a growing crisis of legitimate news organizations interviewing an uninformed person and presenting it as news. The person-on-street interview is justified by journalists as a citizen’s opinion, using the logic that all citizens are equally informed and knowledgeable; therefore, his or her opinion is valid.

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one.

Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry

However, an opinion is limited by the person’s real experience and knowledge. Few people are qualified to speak intelligently on significant topics like foreign policy, and economic and legal issues. An unqualified person should not be giving their opinion on local or national news without clarifying his or her background on the subject matter.

Journalists Going For Entertainment, Not Fact

The problem of unqualified opinions being presented as news has become more severe as the opinions have become more outrageous. Trump supporters have had an entertainment value for some news organizations because their statements are often contrary to known facts and/or logical reasoning.

We do not go to first graders and ask them to design the best and most effective educational methods because they have no qualifications or skills to offer an opinion. They may have an opinion, but having recess all day long is not a legitimate answer to the question.

Opinions of uneducated, uninformed citizens destroy democracy because it circumvents intelligent discussion. An irrational person’s opinion does not lead to a rational debate of the issues.

School Vouchers Are About Religion and Racism, Not Choice

15 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Aging, College, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, racism, Religion, Science, Taxes, Universities, US History, Women

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Catholic Church, charter schools, Conservatives, GOP, Immigration, President Trump, President Ulysses Grant, private schools, Protestant Church, religion, religious schools, Republicans, schools, taxpayer funded, The Blaine Amendment

School vouchers are a campaign to steal money from the public school system and give it to parents to spend on private religious schools. It is born out of ignorance and racism in an attempt to take our country back to segregated schools. Schools consisting of well-financed white religious-based schools, and poorly funded minority public schools.

Nevada’s Illegal School Voucher Bill

In May of 2015, the Nevada conservatives won a major victory with a bill that stole money from the public school system and gave it to parents to use for alternate education, including school operated by religious organizations. The following month Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, whose children had attended a Catholic school, signed the bill into law, even though it clearly violated the Nevada Constitution that forbids taxpayer funding for a church-operated school.

The Klan Doesn’t Support Education for All

Fortunately, the Nevada Supreme Court stepped in and nullified the law, ending conservative’s attempt to steal money meant to offer education for all, and redistribute it to those in favor of education for a privileged few.

Public School Evolution

Public schools were established in the early and mid-17th century to overcome the problems created by parent-based education. (SEE: The Atlantic October 2017 on Public Schools) Parent-based education limited the advancement of future generations to the ignorance of their mother and father, who were both working full-time to maintain needs of the entire family.

Unfortunately, the early public schools primarily served white males. Over the next two hundred years public schools were refined to; 1) become compulsory, 2) include female students, 3) promote women as teachers, 4) expand curriculum, and 5) ultimately require education regardless of race.

The Protestant Conflict

Ironically, most early public schools were influenced, if not run, by Protestants. Their beliefs included the idea that children should have a broad-based education. The problem arose when a flood of Catholic immigrants created a conflict in the public education of children. When public schools became battlegrounds of differing church doctrines, it caused pointless disruption of the goal of education for all. Ultimately, the issue was indirectly resolved by President Ulysses Grant and Congressman James Blaine.

President Grant called for an amendment to the United States Constitution to forever separate church and state interests in education and forbidding public money to be spent on private schools. Congressman Blaine sponsored a bill to do exactly that and it passed in the House of Representatives. The Senate; however, failed to pass it by a two-thirds majority and the bill died.

However, individual States passed amendments to their Constitutions and eventually all but ten States adopted Blaine-type laws.

A Return to Past Mistakes

The post-Blaine Amendments environment have been an era of astonishing success in elevating the education of United States citizens. In 1950, only 34% of adults in this country graduated from high school. By 2010, the number of high school graduates increased to 90%. The miracle is that the increase in high school graduates occurred during the same period when the nation’s population doubled.

Despite this success, conservatives have made public education their target (SEE: Slate.com November 2016 on Trump Gutting Public Schools) for three reasons. First, conservatives don’t believe in paying taxes, especially when the money doesn’t directly help them, nor their families.

Second, conservatives believe that public-funded secular, unbiased education is biased because it doesn’t promote their personal egocentric and/or religious beliefs.

Third, conservatives are overwhelmingly white, and the idea of paying for the education of another race is repugnant to many of them. They advance the ideas that education is wasted on minorities. It is noteworthy that white people demanded that schools be segregated in the south. When the courts ruled that schools must be desegregated, white people began characterizing public education as failures. That was the beginning of the push for alternative school choices.

The Nuclear Amendment

30 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Public Image, racism, Religion, Respect, Science, Taxes, US History

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115th Congress, Affordable Care Act, Amendment, citizenship, Donald Trump, GOP, Republican, Republicans, tax reform, United States of America, US Constitution

Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America by at least two-thirds of all states and/or territories of the United States of America, all acts of the 115th Congress and of the 45th President shall be nullified and repealed retroactively. This amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America supersedes all other past and current federal, state, and local laws to the contrary.

In addition, upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, all members of the 115th Congress who voted in favor of any legislation relating to adversely changing and/or the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and/or who voted in favor any tax reform bill shall have all personal assets seized, here and abroad, and shall lose citizenship to the United States of America.

In addition, upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, the 45th President shall have all assets seized and shall lose citizenship to the United States of America.

In addition, upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, all official and unofficial political appointees and/or advisors of the 45th President, including those nominated by of the 45th President, regardless of whether or not they are still holding the office, shall have all assets seized and shall lose citizenship to the United States of America.

In addition, upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, all businesses and/or organizations that gained favored treatment, or profit on measures passed by the 115th Congress, or on actions, policies or, executive orders of the 45th President or any or his advisors, nominees, or appointees, shall forfeit twice the value of the actual, or estimated financial value of said action.

Six Facts About Manufacturing Jobs

22 Monday May 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Aging, Business, College, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Education, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Management Practices, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Taxes, Universities, US History

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Donald Trump, Employment, jobs, Manufacturing jobs, Sierra Nevada Corp., Trump, Trump supporters, unskilled workers

Manufacturing jobs do not just appear or disappear, and the government is not the bad guy.

It is sad to hear Trump supporters to be interviewed about anything, but when they start talking about the lack of manufacturing jobs is when they really start looking like adults in diapers. They act like the government is supposed to force private manufacturers to build a factory and make something so that Joe Blow, with a high school degree, in Small Town USA can drive two miles to the local factory and earn $150,000.

Here are the facts:

1. Manufacturing jobs go overseas because consumers in the USA want to pay less for goods, and labor is cheaper in many places outside the United States, which makes the cost of manufacturing less, which makes the price of the product less.

2. USA, state, and local taxes have almost no impact on good manufacturing jobs. For example, the Sierra Nevada Corporation (a private version of early 1960’s NASA…before we had a successful launch) has its headquarters in Nevada, but all of their non-executive jobs are in Colorado. Colorado has higher taxes than Nevada, but Colorado also has a better, more skilled, higher educated workforce. Nevada is the headquarters only so the executives don’t have to pay taxes, but the jobs are in Colorado. If the issue was about taxes, the jobs would be in Nevada, not Colorado.

Job fairy or much ado about nothing?

3. There is no manufacturing jobs fairy. Manufacturing jobs REQUIRE someone who wants to buy the product. The NEED for a manufacturing job is determined by the consumer. You don’t build a factory, then hang out a sign saying you’re open for business. Manufacturing jobs are “secondary jobs” meaning that before a manufacturing job is created, a product that people want to buy must exist.

4. Most unskilled manufacturing jobs don’t pay well regardless of where the factory is located. CONSERVATION OF COMPENSATION: If anyone can do the work, the jobs go to the people who are willing to be paid the least amount of money. Whether the job is in the United States, or elsewhere, pay is driven by the supply of workers who can do the job.

5. Small towns rarely attract high paying manufacturing jobs. While some factories have moved to rural locations to reduce labor costs, it is rare, and factories still need enough potential workers to avoid a labor shortage, which would increase labor costs.

6. Good business REQUIRES government regulation. Government regulations protect the employee and the consumer. Many countries don’t have rules of against abuse of workers and don’t require manufacturers to abide ethical business practices, and result is always unethical business practices. Remember the Samsung Galaxy Note 7?

1968: The Year of Fear and Hate

04 Thursday May 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Crime, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Respect, Taxes, Traditional Media, Universities, US History, Women

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1968, Alabama, Civil Rights, Democrat, Democrats, Elections, George Wallace, Governor, Hubert Humphrey, Protests, Richard Nixon, Riots, Robert Kennedy, Vietnam, Vietnam War

October 1968. Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and George Wallace, and were desperately trying to win the Presidential election. Former Vice President Nixon had moderate conservatives and war-hawks backing him. Vice President Humphrey had Democratic core voters and intelligent liberals backing him, and Alabama Governor George Wallace was the darling of racists and right wing extremists.

1968 Democratic Convention (The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

1968: A Year of Chaos
In 1967, most had assumed President Lyndon Johnson would run, and likely win reelection. Those in his administration’s military leadership offered an optimistic view of the Vietnam War, with one of his recent close advisors publicly saying that the enemy was losing their will to fight.

Despite the rosy picture, over 70,000 U.S. soldiers had been killed or wounded during the war, and 1,000 more were being killed each month. Opposition to the war was tearing the Democratic party apart, and it overshadowed almost all other political issues.

In late January 1968, North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive. Ultimately, the invading armies were beaten back, but the offensive shocked the United States. Those confident of Johnson’s ability to bring a successful end to the war waned in their support, and in March, the New Hampshire primary gave Johnson an uncomfortably narrow win over Eugene McCarthy, who was considered a relatively minor candidate that focused on an anti-war campaign.

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (AP Photo/Dick Strobel)

Soon after the primary, Robert Kennedy entered the race, and Johnson ended his campaign. (Although Johnson probably dropped out because he doubted he could beat Kennedy, it is noteworthy that President Johnson’s decision to drop out was heavily influenced by his health concerns. Specifically, that he would likely not live through another term.) Without Johnson in the race, there was no single, obvious choice for President.

The year became more chaotic after Johnson dropped out. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4. Robert Kennedy was assassinated on June 6. Anti-war and civil rights protests and riots, along with mounting U.S. casualties in Vietnam dominated the news everyday.

Baltimore, Maryland, 1968 (Photo by Afro-American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)

By October, voters were reacting to the the presidential election as the prescription moment in the United States. The next President would either cure or kill our country, depending on the point of view. People who sought a calm return to normalcy were split between Nixon and Humphrey.

However, there were people who sought a disruptive choice for President, in the hopes that he would revive the Confederacy’s goal of remaking the United States into a white dominated government that would undo decades of work to create equal rights for all citizens. Their choice was George Wallace.

While many may believe that Wallace was a bigger threat to Nixon’s campaign, the reality was that the Governor from Alabama was luring as much as half of the support of the unions that normally support the Democratic ticket. Uneducated, Caucasian, blue-collar workers were taken in by Wallace’s hardline racist positions.

The civil rights riots generated fear among white voters, many of whom, felt they were not racist, but were of the opinion that life for the African-American would be fine if they would just settle down and accept their lot in life.

In the end, Nixon won with less than half the vote, and was in a statistical tie with Humphrey, but he had a significant electoral college margin. Wallace won over almost ten million voters, and certainly had an impact on the outcome.

Both Nixon and President Johnson used last-minute tactics to sway voters in the final weeks. President Johnson publicly suggested that a Vietnam peace deal was imminent, and Nixon’s campaign used back channels to interfere with those peace efforts, coupled with a spy in the White House that kept the Nixon campaign informed of Johnson’s diplomatic efforts.

NEXT: A hard look at the Wallace voter

Conversations With Conservatives: The 37 Year Lie

13 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Communication, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Human Resources, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Religion, Respect, Space, Taxes, Technology, US History, Women

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conservatism, Conservatives, economic growth, economy, Employment, GDP, Gross domestic product, high paying jobs, Iran Contra Affair, Iran Hostage Crisis, job growth, jobs, President Richard Nixon, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Watergate

(NOTE: This is Part II of this article. Read Part I, here.)

The social and economic issues that people are concerned about in the United States of America don’t necessarily fall along party lines. Some issues, like immigration and applying religion to public policy, have a distinct political division; however, many other issues cross the lines of the ideologies.

In conversations with conservatives I learned that the deep division between conservatives and liberals can be traced back 37 years, to when Republicans managed to break the hold of Democratic leadership of our country in 1980. For 37 years, conservatives have been able to maintain control of our country by singing one anthem, ‘Everything is the government’s fault, and business is the solution.’

Ronald Reagan: Founder of the Cult of Conservatism

Ronald Reagan was elected on the idea that Democrats had failed the country. It was an easy story to sell for one reason. The Iran Hostage Crisis. Every night the news reminded our country of how many days our citizens had been held and humiliated by a group of Iranian students. Most in the United States did not understand the complexities of the situation, and were angry that we didn’t go to war with Iran.

The result was to give Republicans an early opportunity to erase the shame caused by Richard Nixon’s illegal involvement in fixing the 1972 presidential elections during the Watergate affair. The Hostage Crisis ended at the exact hour that Reagan was sworn in as President, a coincidence that causes questions of Republican collusion with the Iranian government during the crisis. Suspicions of collusion were raised again when Reagan’s administration worked a bizarre deal to sell arms to Iran several years later during the Iran/Contra Affair.

The Big Lie
Reagan is famously quoted in his first Inaugural speech when he said:

….government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem…”

Ronald Reagan, January 1981

The demonization of government was necessary for conservatives to achieve their goals. Government is the ethical referee that prevents business from underpaying employees, polluting for profit, abusing and endangering the customer, engaging in banking practices that protect the account holder, etc. Government oversight and regulation keeps business from devouring itself in greed.

Additionally, government collects business taxes for the privilege of having access to our country’s rich consumer markets. By eliminating these taxes, business could keep more of the spoils of capitalism and drain revenues from the entity that kept business fair and ethical.

The other shoe dropped by conservatives was to preach that the solution to our problems was business. In the holy corporate world, business was the shining light on the hill for all to worship.

37 Years Later: The Cult of Conservatism
In my conversation with average conservatives I have discovered that conservatism has now become a cult. The code word for a conservative is ‘fiscal conservatism.’ Ask anyone who votes for a Republican candidate why they vote for the party they will automatically answer, “I believe in fiscal conservatism.” They don’t even pause.

For conservatives, issues are caused by government and solved by business. Among the issues discussed with conservatives I learned the following:

Finance regulation: Conservatives believe that the government is at fault and less regulation will solve the problem, even though a lack of regulation and business greed caused the 2007-8 financial/bank crisis.

Housing Inflation/Bubbles: Conservatives that government is the problem because…I didn’t get an answer on this, but the free market will solve the problem, even though the bubbles that occur with rapid housing price increases are caused by capitalisticitic factors, not government involvement.

Economy: Conservatives believe that business is the creator of jobs and growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and government inhibits both. The evidence contradicts this as job and GDP growth have been anemic under almost 35 years of Republican economic policies, and the pre-conservative period of government initiated infrastructure projects and the space program generated massive job and GDP growth.

Healthcare: Conservatives believe that government has been the cause of uncontrolled price increases in healthcare and drug prices, even though it’s the lack of government regulation that has allowed the price increases, especially in the prescription drug market, where Republicans pushed for, and passed an end to competitive market that would help to restrict price increases.

Trump and Republicans have succeeded in creating a cult-like status around the concept that government is the problem and business is the solution…and like any cult, the believers surrender themselves to ‘faith.’ Truth and facts are fiction to a conservative.

The Republican party has no need to be logical, compromising, or reasonable. Their believers have no choice but to hate government, and worship business.

Conversations With Conservatives

12 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Crisis Management, Customer Service, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Taxes, Technology, US History

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2008, conservatism, conservative, Conservatives, corruption, deregulation, Drug prices, economy, GOP, Healthcare, healthcare reform, Housing crises, Housing inflation, jobs, Regulations, Republican, Republicans, Unemployment

Recently I have had a couple of face-to-face, civil conversations with conservatives. The conversations gave me a better understanding of how Donald Trump and the Republican party have managed to stay in power for the last 37 years.

The Issues
Among the issues we discussed:

Finance regulation: Banks unethical practices
Housing inflation: Housing prices increasing too fast
Economy: Not growing fast enough
Jobs: Not enough good paying jobs
Healthcare: Taking care of people who can’t afford healthcare, keeping healthcare costs down
Drug pricing: Prescription drug unfettered pricing

Government or Business Corruption?
There are many more issues; however, the ones discussed offer insight to the driving attitude of conservatives. It was not surprising that conservatives believe that the government is inherently corrupt. They also have an unshakable opinion that business and capitalism are the solution to almost every social and/or economic problem.

When asked about the above issues, conservatives will automatically assume the problem can be attributed to government corruption, interference, or mismanagement. They also believe that government is holding back, or preventing from business solving the problem.

It is admirable that most conservatives don’t need, nor care if their opinions have no proof, or facts to support their position. Even when it is apparent that business is/was the cause of the problem, conservatives have the ability to double down on the fallacy and ignore anything that contradicts their opinion.

Cause of the Housing Crisis: Business as ~~Usual~~ Unethical

Regulation: The False Enemy
In one conversation I was told of how a bank sold the fixed rate housing loan of this person to another bank and the new bank raised the interest rate without the consent of the owner. Though the person kept paying on the loan, they were finally told that they were in arrears on the loan because they had failed to pay the additional interest on the new loan. Ultimately, the person was forced into either spending thousands of dollars on legal fees, or walking away from the house.

Three factors are key to this situation. First is the greed of the banks to make more money for the investors. Second is the lack of ethics by the bank. Finally, the lack of government oversight over the banks to prevent them from selling the loan, remaking the loan, and then forcing the homeowner into foreclosure.

Business was the corrupt party in this situation, and a lack of government oversight was the contributing factor; however, to the conservative, this was another example of a corrupt government.

NEXT: The Thirty-Seven Year Lie

The Self Destruction of the Caucasian Race

16 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Crime, Ethics, genealogy, Generational, Government, Health, Higher Education, History, Lessons of Life, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Religion, Respect, Taxes, US History

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Caucasian, DNA, DNA testing, Donald Trump, Immigration, KKK, Mike Pence, race, racism, racists, Republicans, Trump, white culture

My DNA analysis from Ancestry.com

Ninety-eight percent (98%) of my DNA comes from Europe. While the term ‘Caucasian‘ refers to a race from a larger region than just Europe, I am about as Caucasian as one can be on this planet.Caucasians have done many great things. Our history is rich with progressive development of our society. In a relatively short period, my race has moved from tribal societies to rich urban cities where many people from other regions of the world come to live and work.

KKK Then

While my race does not dominate the world in art, literature, philosophy, mathematics, or science, we have made major contributions in all these areas.

But now, I am embarrassed by the people of my race. My culture was the key to electing a President and a political party that is overtly trying to erase centuries of advancements in society, like fair working conditions and fair wages, and healthcare is for everyone.

KKK Now

My culture has traditionally led the way in limiting the corruption and greed that is inherent in business. My culture has often avoided the mistakes of other countries where governments fail to regulate and control unethical business practices of private corporations.

Today, my culture is ready to sacrifice this planet for our children and our children’s children so that energy companies can employ a handful of rural people. And each one of those jobs hand down less to each subsequent generation.

Caucasians proud of their stupidity

There is a price that my culture will have to pay for their stupidity. We could be embracing people from all cultures and solving all the world’s problems together. Instead, my culture is tearing apart families of other races and throwing them out of the country. Building walls and cancelling the economic treaties that have brought new prosperity and virtually ended wars.

This is not amusing or smart. My culture will pay a price. Yes, the smallest minds of my culture have won the day in the belief that they are invincible, but they are digging a hole in which the rest of us will be buried.

We Don’t Need More Service Jobs

14 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, College, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Respect, Science, Space, Taxes, Technology, Travel, Universities, US History

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economy, government programs, government spending, high paying jobs, job creation, job growth, livable wages, Moon landing, NASA, presidential terms, Presidents, private business, service jobs, Space Program, technical jobs

Putting people on the Moon meant jobs on Earth

During President Lyndon Johnson’s second term (1965-1969,) the space program was booming. At almost four percent job growth, his administration exceeded any other presidential term since World War II, including President Jimmy Carter’s impressive 3.2% growth. These were high paying, skilled jobs that created a demand for workers that enticed many young people to choose engineering and scientific careers.

PRESIDENT	PARTY	TERM YR	JOB GROWTH
Herbert Hoover	R	1929–1933	-5.41%
Franklin Roosevelt	D	1933–1937	4.97%
Franklin Roosevelt	D	1937–1941	2.53%
Franklin Roosevelt	D	1941–1945	5.00%
Roosevelt/Truman	D	1945–1949	1.61%
Harry Truman	D	1949–1953	2.93%
Dwight Eisenhower	R	1953–1957	1.34%
Dwight Eisenhower	R	1957–1961	0.87%
Kennedy/Johnson	D	1961–1965	2.64%
Lyndon Johnson	D	1965–1969	3.90%
Richard Nixon	R	1969–1973	2.23%
Nixon/Ford	R	1973–1977	1.68%
Jimmy Carter	D	1977–1981	3.21%
Ronald Reagan	R	1981–1985	1.47%
Ronald Reagan	R	1985–1989	2.80%
George H. W. Bush	R	1989–1993	0.45%
Bill Clinton	D	1993–1997	2.85%
Bill Clinton	D	1997–2001	2.33%
George W. Bush	R	2001–2005	0.02%
George W. Bush	R	2005–2009	0.24%
Barack Obama	D	2009–2013	0.23%
Barack Obama	D	2013–2017	1.85%

CHART 1.0 – Job growth during Presidential Terms (1929-2017) Growth over 2.5% is in green. (DATA credit: Wikipedia)

Service jobs were a byproduct of the main engine driving the boom in the rapid expansion of the space program. Service jobs did not offer the wages or the excitement of the space program, but they did provide employment for those who lacked motivation to qualify and/or seek out better paying, higher skilled jobs.

And then we landed on the Moon.

After we had achieved the primary objective, people who didn’t understand what a large government project means to employment, began questioning the space program. Over time the naysayers effectively killed the program, leaving private business to reinvent what NASA had accomplished in the 1960’s (landing on the Moon) and the 1980’s (a reusable rocket system.)

Today, we are trying to sustain and expand a service industry that lacks the main component of job growth, namely, a major public project that creates high paying and highly skilled jobs. Since NASA wound down its Space Shuttle program, job growth has flat-lined.

Private business does not exist to create jobs. It exists to put money in the pockets of the executives and owners of the business. Creating jobs cuts into profit. Paying higher wages cuts into profit. Private business is never going to create significant job growth, nor improve wages and benefits for the worker.

If we want job growth and livable wages, it is the government that will do it, not private business.

Babble Blog

17 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Branding, Communication, Ethics, Generational, Government, Higher Education, Honor, Management Practices, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Respect, US History

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babble, Communication, contentless communication, Donald Trump, nonsense, Republicans, Trump, Trump supporters

I’m working on an article that you are going to really enjoy. The article is going to come out tomorrow, or maybe next week, or sometime, but you are going to love this article.

People, so many people, have wanted me to write this article, and they come to me, everyday, I’m telling you they come to me every day. Every. Day. And they want me to write this article.

This article is so important. So. Important. I can’t even tell you how important this article is, but believe me, this is an important article. And I’m not just saying that. Other people, smart people, these people are so smart it will blow you away. Blow. You. Away. And these smart people are saying that this is the article that needs to be written, and I’m going to write it, because the people want me to write it.

There is such a mess out there, you don’t even know how bad of a mess there is, but once I write this article you will see how big of a mess there is, and the media, the liberal media has been hiding this mess, hiding this mess. I’m telling you they have been purposely hiding this mess from the public, because I’m telling you that they’ve been hiding this mess, and I’m going to tell you about it, because I’m not going to let the liberal media hide this mess anymore. We’re going to fix this mess and were going to make everything better because you deserve better. You. Deserve. Better. Better than what these other people have been giving you.

This is what the people want. They want me to write this article, and they want me to do it because I am the best person to write it. You can’t find a better person than me to write this article. I write. It’s what I do, and I’m great at writing. I’m the best. You will not find anyone more qualified than me to write this article, and this is why I’m the one who the people want to write this article. So this article will come out in the next few weeks, or next year, at the latest.

The End of Reliable Polling?

07 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Education, Government, Higher Education, Opinion, Politics, Technology, US History

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2016, Conservatives, Donald Trump, Election, Election 2016, Elections, Hillary Clinton, polling, polling data, Presidential candidates, Presidential race

Latest Huffington Post poll

Tomorrow night the United States of America may be in for a shock. Donald Trump is going to lose, but the question is by how much. I think the loss will be surprising. I am not a statistician, nor do I have access to polling data, but there is a reality that polls don’t take into account for in today’s world. Intelligent people don’t like to respond to polls.

Phone calls at home are annoying to everyone, but decades of abuse by telemarketing companies and caller ID technology have made answering the phone without knowing who is calling a vestige of the past. Polls rely on talking to people on the phone, and when people don’t answer, polls don’t work.

This impacts this election year because there is a bias in those who support Donald Trump and those who support Hillary Clinton. Just look at interviews of Trump supporters. These people can’t shut up. They have no ability to filter themselves, and they are desperate to tell people how much they don’t know. Trump supporters are begging for attention, and when someone calls them to ask them their opinion, they leap at the opportunity.

Clinton supporters are not as eager to make a spectacle of themselves. You don’t see Clinton supporters trying to be seen by the news media, and it would be logical that they don’t want to answer annoying, twenty-minute phone calls that ask them personal questions.

In addition, many conservative campaigns are putting out manipulative polls that force people into answering the questions in their favor, so they can appear to be leading. Intelligent people can recognize this, while Trump supporters fall for it.

I predict that Trump will lose by twenty points or more.

Liberals Didn’t Conspire Produce the 2016 RNC

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Ethics, Government, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Public Image, Women

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GOP, Melania Trump, National Republican Committee, Republican National Convention, RNC, Rudy Giuliani, Trump

Donald is impressed by Melania rendition of Michelle Obama's speech

Donald is impressed by Melania’s rendition of Michelle Obama’s speech

Liberals are blamed for almost everything, but we are not responsible for the fiasco at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland this week. We did not make a secret deal with Donald Trump to destroy everything Republican. We didn’t pay Rudy Giuliani to do an impression of Hitler speaking to a Nazi rally. We didn’t make Melania Trump look like a Stepford wife and upload her with a speech that was plagiarized from Michelle Obama’s convention speech from eight years ago.

We didn’t do it!

It, of course, pleases us that the 35 years of madness is coming to an end, but most liberals would actually prefer an intelligent, organized, Republican opponent because it helps our nation make subtitle course corrections in our nation’s policies that keep our country moving forward.

However, the circus that is taking place in Cleveland this week is not intelligent, nor is it organized. It is the result of decades of conservative degeneration that has lost all sense of what our country has stood for, and is now distilled down to a mockery of what it means to be a citizen of the United States of America.

Republicans are aware of the depth of their depravity. Many conservatives have bitterly fought to keep Trump from becoming their candidate to represent the conservative cause; however, Trump has managed to politically eroticize enough desperate people to capture the nomination, and now conservatives have to either abandon their dignity and support Donald Trump, or admit that they have been wrong.

Conservatives can never admit they were wrong.

A Return to the United States of America

15 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Crime, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Respect, Taxes, Universities, US History, Violence in the Workplace

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Customer Loyalty, Democrats, Nevada, United States of America, victim, victimization

We have to stop pretending we’re victims. There are problems in the world. There are problems in our country. But there are always problems and problems don’t make us victims.

A victim needs to be rescued. A victim is looking for a hero to save them. We don’t need to be rescued, nor do we need to be saved.

In the United States of America, we have attempted to educate all of our citizens because people who can solve their own problems do a better job of it, and education gives a person the ability to solve their own problems.

Too many people in this country are looking for a political figure that is going to save them. They are like moths to the flame. They are drawn in by the politician that dazzles them and they surrender their intelligence in order to believe that they can be rescued.

We forget that we are not witnesses to the acts of violence that we see on television or online. We are shocked and repulsed, but the real victims are those who were there, and the families and friends who knew someone who was there.

Our impulse to be a victim, makes us feel helpless to do anything, but we are not helpless. Just being a citizen of this country makes us part of the solution. By selecting intelligent politicians, by paying taxes, by being watchful, we help to defeat acts of violence.

Some delude themselves that a gun in their hands empowers them to respond to a violent event. With little or no training, they believe they can improvise a defense in an urban environment, and stop a mentally ill person who has likely been planning their attack for weeks or months. They cannot.

Only trained law enforcement can adequately respond to a violent situation, and private citizens carrying guns in an urban environment can only make a bad situation worse.

However, we don’t have to be the victim. There is violence, and there is corruption, in this country, but we are not on a path to chaos as long as we remember for over two hundred years, we have a consistent record of defeating threats to our country.

Many of those threats did not come from outside our borders, but inside them. The worst of those threats occurred when a group of our own citizens decided to reject the results of a legitimate elections. and betray our country and our Constitution. They failed because we didn’t respond as victims, but as proud and loyal citizens.

After all we’ve been through, we are still here. Working, raising families, enjoying life more than most of the rest of the world. We are not the victims. We are the solution. We are the United States of America.

Brexit Vote A Win For Stupidity, Not Democracy

27 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Communication, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Politics, Taxes

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Brexit, British, British Pound, democracy, Economic disaster, England, European Union, Great Britain, gullible, Ireland, Nigel Farage, Scotland, stupid, Stupidity, United Kingdom, Vote, Wales

The Brexit Cliff: British pound to US dollar

There are some that are trying to spin the disastrous vote by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union as a victory for democracy. It is not.

The people behind the effort to leave the European Union used lies and deception to convince the most gullible Brits to support them. Expert opinions predicted the negative impact of leaving the European Union, but those experts were countered with a “No it won’t” argument that had no basis in human reality.

Nigel Farage: Proud Hero of the Stupid

The demographics of those who voted to leave the European Union was defined by three criteria. They tended to be 1) less educated, 2) older, and 3) rural. The demographics of those voting to leave indicate they were more easily persuaded by arguments without logical or factual information. This is the weakness of democracy. The unintelligent should not be the decision makers of a society.

Advocates of leaving the European Union, like Nigel Farage, suggested that Great Britain would be able to win its independence, which is a ridiculous argument. Great Britain was and is a self-governing nation. The European Union determined issues of trade requirements, which it will continue to do with or without Great Britain. If Great Britain wishes to obtain access to the European Union’s markets, they have to negotiate those terms, or not trade with other European Union countries. By leaving the European Union, Great Britain has put themselves in a weak position to negotiate, and will likely have to compromise more as a non-member, than the would have had to as a member.

Immigration was portrayed as a ‘keep-the-immigrants-out’ issue by the proponents of leaving the European Union; however, it is Britons who have taken advantage of the ‘no passports needed’ policy of the EU, that will now lose the right to work outside of Great Britain. It was the gullibility of the uneducated, older, rural citizen that allowed them to be lured into throwing England over the cliff.

Democracy is always hailed as the best form of government; however, even the Roman ‘democracy’ did not allow everyone to vote. Only citizens were allowed to vote, and that excluded much of their population. While limiting the right to vote is not acceptable in a free society, allowing people to vote who are either unable, and/or unwilling to understand the issues they are voting for or against is a model of stupidity, not democracy.

Sanders Supporter’s Big Blunder

31 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, College, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Politics, Pride, Taxes, Universities, US History, Women

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2016, Bernie Sanders, Congress, Conservatives, Donald Trump, Election 2016, House of Representatives, Presidential candidates, Presidential election, Senate, Senator Bernie Sanders, supporters

The biggest mistake of Sander’s supporters is the ignoring the opportunity they have in front of them.

Sanders has lost the nomination, and the attempt to destroy the Democratic Party is not going to change that fact. Beyond whining, the main message I hear from Sander’s supporters is that it is time for changing the status quo.

Liberal and progressive people are unified in investing our money in people, not corporations. They are unified in maintaining strong government regulations that level the playing field in every commercial endeavor, including the banking and finance industry. Most Clinton supporters would completely agree that current government established by conservatives, for conservatives, and against the citizens of the United States, must be fixed.

The problem is that neither Hillary Clinton, nor Bernie Sanders can get anything done if both the House of Representatives and the Senate are run by conservative.

This is the big blunder of Sander’s supporters. Hillary Clinton will be ruled and regulated by Congress. If Sander’s supporters really want to see change, they need to stop wasting time on a lost cause, and start identifying the politicians that will focus on fixing our country, not shutting it down.

If Congress voted for a law to force banks to be smaller, and added new regulations, Clinton would have to accept it. To go to war with her own party would end her Presidency. If Clinton feels that Congress is too liberal, she will have to either get on board, or be humiliated.

Sanders supporters don’t understand this, because if they did, they would be one hundred percent focused on Congressional races, and not drooling at the idea of destroying the Democratic National Convention. There is nothing that will happen in Philadelphia this July, because it is meaningless. National political conventions are all show, and no substance.

The alpha and omega of positive changes in our country will be in the hands of Congress. If the dust settles in November and the Republicans still have control of either the House or the Senate, nothing, absolutely nothing will change.

Ironically, the real catalyst for change is in the hands of the Sanders supporters, but they have no idea of what to do with what the power they have in changing Congress.

Trump Supporters: The Brown Stain On USA’s Underwear

21 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, College, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Religion, Taxes, Universities, US History, Women

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Conservatives, Donald Trump, lies, New York Times, Politico, Republican, Republicans

There are two things that are true about this Presidential election year. First, Donald Trump is a pathological liar, and second, that his supporters represent the worst examples of citizens of United States of America.

Lies of a Political Whore

Donald Trump says: the man who rushed the stage at him in Dayton, Ohio, “had chatter about ISIS, or with ISIS” in his social media posts.

Donald Trump says: “GDP was zero essentially for the last two quarters.”

Donald Trump says: Under the Iran nuclear deal, “we give them $150 billion, we get nothing.”

Donald Trump says: Common Core is “education through Washington D.C.”

Donald Trump says: The wives of the 9/11 hijackers “knew exactly what was happening” and went back to Saudi Arabia two days before the attacks to watch their husbands on television flying the planes.

Donald Trump says: Mahatma Gandhi once said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Donald Trump says: “the New York Times can write a story that they know is false” yet “they can’t basically be sued.”

Donald Trump says: “We (Trump University) have an ‘A’ from the Better Business Bureau.”

Donald Trump says: “If it weren’t for me … (illegal immigration) wouldn’t even be a big subject.”

Donald Trump says: On the Iraq war, “I said it loud and clear, ‘You’ll destabilize the Middle East.’ “

Voldemort’s Big Lies

Donald Trump says: “I don’t know anything about David Duke.”

Donald Trump says: Ted Cruz “said I was in favor in Libya. I never discussed that subject.”

Donald Trump says: that in the Philippines more than a century ago, Gen. John Pershing “took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pigs’ blood,” and shot 49 Muslim rebels. “The 50th person, he said, ‘You go back to your people, and you tell them what happened.’ And for 25 years, there wasn’t a problem.”

Donald Trump says: “Don’t believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5 percent unemployment. The number’s probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42 percent.”

Trump Speaks the Lies of the Uneducated, Old, White

Since 2007, the only Presidential candidate that has a worse record than Donald Trump of lying, is Dr. Ben Carson, and Trump has twice as many “Pants on Fire” lies as even Carson. Donald Trump has built his campaign on incitement of the older, less educated, white people who see themselves as victims based on lies and misconceptions they created. Trump is loved by his supporters for ‘speaking the truth’ and ‘saying what no one else will say,’ which is to say, he is gaining their love by saying what they want to hear. Trump validates their view of the world, even though everyone else knows he’s lying.

The demographics of Trump supporters are the people the type of people who blame everyone else for their lot in life. Only 19% have a college degree. More than 80% are over age 45. Only 15% of Hispanics said they support Trump, and only 9% of African-Americans favored Trump.

Trump supporters are the opposite end of the model citizen, and based on multiple incidents and media interviews with them, they are violent and susceptible to the type of incitement that Trump offers in his rallies. They are misfits who don’t believe in anything that doesn’t match their dysfunctional view of the world.

Every time Trump lies to gain their support, they interpret it as a confirmation of all that they want to believe to be true. They believe they are the chosen ones by birth and through Trump, they will take their rightful place as the superior race, and the rest of us shall fall to our knees and worship them.

TRUMP: Product of 35 Years of Conservatism

29 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Religion, Taxes, US History, Women

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Cliven Bundy, Conservatives, Donald Trump, George W. Bush, GOP, John Boehner, Mitt Romney, Republican, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Tea Party

President Ronald Reagan: Actor, Cowboy, FBI Informant, Destroyer of Good Government

On January 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan became President. Before he was elected this actor, FBI-informant, dictator-like Governor was a minor figure in national politics. His rise to power came after the collapse of the Republican party in the post-Watergate era. Reagan became the new face for disgraced conservatives. He rose to power by becoming the Great White demigod for Caucasian males.

After Nixon proved the lack of morals of the Republican party, there were two choices. The first choice to would be to humbly accept the failure of ethics within the party and commit to an honest approach to serving our government. The second choice would be to double down and make the party even less ethical than it was before Nixon’s gang of Dirty Tricksters.

The party chose to double down and go for the gullible voter. Conservatives became two-faced. The outward face was a facade of saying anything to suck in the weak and the stupid, and the other face was the hidden face of power and corruption that steered the true agenda of the party.

Conservatives Made Government Corrupt
Federal, State, and local government had brought us out of the depression, created the interstate highway system, and put us in space. Those achievements set the stage for a prosperous country that had a new power infrastructure, 20th century transportation system, and was on the leading edge of technology. In addition, cities and towns had new water and sewer systems, and new schools to elevate the level of education for everyone in the United States.

President John F. Kennedy: Making Big Government Do Great Things

Our country was great, because our government was great.

However, our government also maintained the balance of fairness for all citizens. Our government held corporations to higher standards. If an airline wanted to have a route that was a financial goldmine, they also have to serve a smaller community that wouldn’t have air service under the typical business greed motivation. Conservatives had to make government evil in order to gain public support to destroy it.

Undercutting Government
The first step was to bankrupt the government. That was a job for the Reagan administration. To the public he railed against the size of government and proclaimed that taxes were too high. In 1981, he cut taxes for the lowest wage earners by 3%, (from 14% down to 11%,) but slashed taxes on the super rich by 20%, (from 70% to 50%.) along with slashing estate taxes and corporate taxes for the rich and powerful.

Then in 1986, he slashed taxes again for the super wealthy from 50% to 28%, but INCREASED the taxes on those least able to pay from 11% to 15%. In the end he had increased taxes on the lowest wage earner by 2% and decreased taxes on the super wealthy by 42%.

At the same time, Reagan increased federal spending through massive and wasteful military spending that put the country’s economy on the brink of disaster. This would all be sold to the public as the failure of our government, not the insane policies of a conservative economic madman.

Radicalized Right

Cliven Bundy – Created in Ronald Reagan’s Image (photo credit cnn.com)

With the humiliation of the Nixon presidency, conservatives had to find support in citizens who were susceptible to manipulation, as they had lost the trust of most of the intelligent citizens of our country. They began seeking out false problems that would win favor with the lesser intelligent white person.

Issues like gun ownership, Christian extremism, racism targeting Hispanics, demonizing public education, and laws targeting women, minority voters, and gays became the banner of the conservatives. All of these issues appealed to the least intelligent white male who sought to blame others for their failures.

By raising these false issues, the people who were gullible felt empowered and believed that conservatives had become their voice for issues that existed only in the minds of weak, insecure, racists. The white male and his spouse saw conservatives as angels of a mythical God of white people who would bring back the United States to be something it never was before.

Obstruct, Obstruct, Obstruct: Do Nothing Conservatives
George W. Bush became the final straw in our country to expose the failure of conservatives. He followed the conservative ideology to the letter and when it all failed, conservatives distanced themselves as quickly as possible. By 2008, every idea of conservatives was proven to be a failure and had destroyed our government and our economy.

The GOP’s Biggest Loser, To Become Their Last Hope?

Trump’s Chump?

Speaker John Boehner’s Puppet Master

Conservatives: Go F**k Yourselves America

Ted Nugent: America’s Epic Fail

John McCain still bitter about 2008?

Senator Mitch McConnell: “Election, what election?”

Rove’s laughing now.

Bush Logic: Trust me. I know what I’m doing

Rick Santorum – Extremist’s Lap Dog…but he’ll support Romney…didn’t you get his eamil?

Conservative Investigation: Celebrate males testify about women’s contraception

Rush Limbaugh Wants Sex Videos

Bachmann, Perry, Cain all served up what Evangelicals wanted

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley

Angle: Manning up in stupid

3rd Place in Miss Alaska, attended five different colleges in four years (one of them twice,) and 1/2 term Governor of Alaska (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Donald Trump: The anti-American candidate

Still, conservatives refused to accept reality and took the one action left for them. Try to sabotage any program or law that would repair our country. During their reign of terror on the United States they had managed to gerrymander districts across the country to keep a conservative majority in the House of Representatives. That was enough to give conservatives the ability to prevent any effective action to fix our government, which allowed them to promote the myth that our government was broken, even though it was conservatives who were breaking it. Any attempt to circumvent this tactic was declared to be an affront to the Constitution and the separation of powers.

The Product of Conservative’s Lunacy

Trump: The Political Whore of Stupid, White People
Thirty-five years of conservative politics and distilled out all rationality in the Republican party. The party has degenerated to the point that the most successful candidate to win the Republican presidential nomination has to incite the worst elements of our country into believing that we are doomed and that the best course of action is to elect the people who have consistently failed.

Trump is the bastard child of Reagan’s legacy. He is the champion of the citizen with the mentality of a eight-year old boy. He enables stupidity as a way to govern our country. He will give his supporters whatever excites them as long as he doesn’t have to be around them too much. Trump is what happens when an ideology refuses to accept its own failure.

The Joy of No

01 Tuesday Dec 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Club Leadership, College, Communication, Consulting, Crisis Management, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Education, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Government, Higher Education, Honor, Human Resources, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Membership Recruitment, Membership Retention, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, The Tipping Point, Tom Peters, Universities

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bosses, committees, dictators, Human Interaction, meetings, No, organizations, Social Interaction, workplace

No is a perfectly acceptable answer….providing,

The idea or suggestion lacked thought or had no basis in fact. (e.g.; Would Donald Trump be a good President?)
The idea or suggestion has obvious flaws. (e.g.; Should we let a gun be in a room with a bunch of 2nd grade children?)
Is a matter of personal opinion or seeks personal approval. (e.g.; Would you go out with me?)

But when an idea or suggestion doesn’t fall under any of these categories, the “no” answer becomes a potential weapon of personal destruction for the person saying it, and a beautiful opportunity for the person on the receiving end.

Being the youngest of four boys, my brothers and parents became accustomed to telling me ‘no.’ I was constantly asking questions and making suggestions, and the ‘yes’ answer was likely to encourage me. In those situations where I actually had a good idea, it was enough that as the youngest member of the family, a ‘no’ answer was valid.

As an adult, I never had any expectations that my ideas and suggestions would be better received, so hearing ‘no’ was an irritation, but I accepted it as part of life.

However, I as grew older I noticed that some people seemed to enjoy telling other people ‘no.’ Often these people were in leadership positions and their tactic was to dominate and/or intimidate others. In some cases people would act as a dictator within the organization, silencing the ideas and opinions of others with a type of ‘no’ answer that implied dire consequences if the person didn’t drop the subject, or the idea was treated so lightly as if the person was unintelligent for making the suggestion. For years I thought that part of being a good manager was to have the privilege and responsibility to tell others, “NO!”

Then several years ago I joined a service club and became very involved in the organization. I served on several Boards and committees. I discovered that I could manipulate some people because I always knew their response to whatever I suggested would be, ‘no.’

It was then I realized that when someone says ‘no,’ it is a gift. The “No-ee” has done all they are required by making the suggestion or asking the question. The “No-er” has put their reputation and respectability on the line. The ‘no’ answer gives them all the responsibility, and, as a situation plays out, their failure to consider someone else’s idea or suggestion may be the fatal decision that brings them down.

I still find enjoyment of sometimes asking a perfectly legitimate question of someone I know will give me a ‘no’ answer. It is even more interesting to do this when I have more information about the issue or situation than they do and they can’t help but give me an answer that will eventually haunt them.

Still, I have learned that organizations and relationships with ‘no’ people are typically doomed. There’s a time to experience the joy of ‘no,’ and then there are times it’s best to walk away and shake the dust off your sandals.

If I Were Speaker of the House of Representatives

28 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Education, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Religion, Respect, Taxes, US History

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Congressional Districts, Democrats, House Freedom Caucus, House of Representatives, Neo-Republicans, Paul Ryan, Republicans, rural

This House is Out of Order

It seems that Paul Ryan (R-WI,) has the bid to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives sewn up, but before anyone makes a significant mistake, allow me to offer myself as the alternative choice.

As Speaker, I can guarantee you that the dignity of the United States House of Representatives will be restored. To accomplish this, the following steps will be taken on Day One:

The 38 members of House Freedom Caucus will be declared to be a neo-Republican party, independent of the Republican Party. Anyone joining their caucus will also be declared to be neo-Republicans.
The House will be divided into three parties. The Republicans, the Democrats, and the neo-Republicans. Each will have their own leadership.
Congressional committees will be all be reorganized with the two largest parties determining who will be given a proportional number of members on all committees If a third-party caucus has enough representatives to equal or exceed fifty percent or more of the of the second largest party, the majority leaders of the two largest parties will vote to select one Representative from the third-party to sit on that committee.
When Congress is in session, the leadership of the two largest parties will meet the first day of the week for breakfast to determine the agenda and issues to be addressed that week.

That’s it. Four steps to put the House of Representatives in motion again.

The House Freedom Caucus: The Rotten Apples in the House
The problem in the House is not bad politicians. There have always been bad politicians and always will be in almost every form of government. The problem is that the Republicans have let the worst 38 Representatives to determine what does and does not get done. The have let the House Freedom Caucus bring down everyone to their level because the Republican leadership knows that if they lose the support of these 38 members, they lose their majority.

What the Republicans don’t understand is that they are on the verge of allowing the House Freedom Party destroy the GOP if they don’t rid themselves of these 38 members (36 according to the Pew Research Center.) Here are the members according to Wikipedia and the Pew Research Center:

Jim Jordan of Ohio, Chair
Justin Amash of Michigan
Brian Babin of Texas (Not on the Pew list)
Rod Blum of Iowa
Dave Brat of Virginia
Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma
Mo Brooks of Alabama
Ken Buck of Colorado
Curt Clawson of Florida
Ron DeSantis of Florida
Scott Desjarlais of Tennessee
Jeff Duncan of South Carolina
John Fleming of Louisiana
Trent Franks of Arizona
Scott Garrett of New Jersey
Paul Gosar of Arizona
Morgan Griffith of Virginia
Andy Harris of Maryland
Jody Hice of Georgia
Tim Huelskamp of Kansas
Raúl Labrador of Idaho
Barry Loudermilk of Georgia
Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming
Mark Meadows of North Carolina
Alex Mooney of West Virginia
Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina
Gary Palmer of Alabama
Steve Pearce of New Mexico
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Ted Poe of Texas (Not on the Pew list)
Bill Posey of Florida
Keith Rothfus of Pennsylvania
Matt Salmon of Arizona
Mark Sanford of South Carolina
David Schweikert of Arizona
Marlin Stutzman of Indiana
Randy Weber of Texas
Ted Yoho of Florida

Rural Districts Running America

Congressional District map for Freedom Caucus membership of the 114th Congress (Credit: Wikipedia Commons)

These 38 are Representatives of primarily rural Congressional districts that often feel impotent in the political arena. Residents of rural areas find that their simplistic, socially conservative, sometimes racist, ultra-religious, anti-education view of the United States of America is often ignored because it is contrary to the Constitution and laws of our country. Despite this, residents of rural areas often see themselves as superior to urban residents, even though they lack the knowledge to make informed opinions. This makes them easy targets for unethical politicians to win their vote because rural voters typically listen only to what they wish to hear.

NEXT: Paul Ryan’s Legacy of Failure

A Failure of Communication

06 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Branding, Business, Communication, Crisis Management, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Education, Generational, Government, Higher Education, Information Technology, Internet, Management Practices, parenting, Print Media, Public Image, Public Relations, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Technology, Traditional Media, Universities, Website, Women

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CAS, charter schools, Communication, Coral Academy of Science, Education, elementary, emal, Facebook, Gulen movement, Gulen Schools, high school, Iman, Instagram, K-12, middle school, Nevada, Reno, Teaching

“What we got here is a failure to communicate“
Prison Warden in Cool Hand Luke

Organizations should use extreme caution in employing anyone over forty-five for handling public image and public relations. I fall into that bracket and I’ve been studying social media since 2007, but I only know enough to understand that most ‘professionals’ of the traditional media don’t have a clue when it comes to communicating information to people in this century.

Traditional media professionals reminisce about the glory days when the game was to be on good terms with the editor of the local newspapers, have drinks with the news directors of the local television stations, and talk shop with the other local public relations (PR) directors at the bigger companies. Those were the days when a phone call could land a big story for the local news that would launch a new product or service. Top management would pat the PR guy on the back (or on the butt if the person was female) and tell him or her what a great job they did.

Those days are over.

The Internet, Facebook, customer reviews, Twitter, Yelp, and a thousand other media channels severely wounded traditional media and the old ways are never coming back. Yet, talk to an old PR person and say that nothing has really changed. It’s all about who you know. Old PR people don’t have a clue at how silly they sound.

I was at a school board meeting for a public charter school last week where a self-professed ‘expert’ in public relations announced that she was at a conference and learned that people no longer used websites to obtain information. She said that parents of school-age children only paid attention to Facebook and Instagram.

Actual “Principal’s message” from current school website….written at least three years ago

It should be noted, and that the school’s website is one of the worst on the Internet, and that the school is known for its severe deficiency in communicating information to parents.

Public Communication 2015
As part of the out-of-touch generation, take my advice with a grain of sodium chloride, or whatever water retaining additive you choose, but here is what I have learned in the past eight years.

It is true that many people from different generations tend to engage in social media at varying levels; however, there is no one single media that can reach everyone regardless of their generation. Education level, social economic status, and language all play a role in where people gather information. To declare that there are one or two media sources that parents of school-age children rely on is arrogant at best, and more likely, ignorant.

Any organization’s strategy has to be to use every possible form of media delivery to reach the stakeholders. In the case of a school, information has to be delivered through student folders, phone call announcements, in-school announcements, school website, parent emails, mail, Public Service Announcements (PSA,) school’s Facebook page, etc. Information must also be repeated in order to reach people when they’re listening. A single Facebook post is like going to a street corner at 6:00 AM and yelling out information and then assuming that everyone who passes by that street corner that day will hear the message.

But just sending out the same message through all the channels is ineffective. Social media channels are best used as a ‘reminder’ or ‘alert’ forum with a link back to one source (e.g.; the school website.) Long posts on Facebook make the information less likely to be read both now and in the future. Short posts with a link to more information for those interested is the most efficient method of delivery.

The website is NOT dead. In fact, it is more vital than ever. A charter school’s website is an information source for those considering enrolling their children, a primary source for parents for detailed information, and it establishes the public image for the school. A Facebook page is vital, and if you have a brilliant administration, Twitter can be the inside source for parents who want to know the inside scoop of what is happening now, but the school website will always be the 24/7/365 place for vital information.

It will take a decade or more to weed out the old PR professionals who live in the past; however, it doesn’t take a sixteen-year-old to know when someone doesn’t understand how to communicate in this century. If the stakeholders say they are not being adequately informed, it’s obvious the organization has a problem.

Rebirth of the Liberal

25 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Education, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Religion, Respect, Space, Taxes, Technology, Universities, US History

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anti-American, Bernie Sanders, conservatism, Conservatives, Elizabeth Warren, Liberal, liberalism, liberals, Pledge of Allegiance, President Barack Obama

Liberals, Inc.

The values and traditions of liberalism in the United States of America is experiencing a Renaissance. This is a not a time for a cautious return to a government by and for the people. It is a time to boldly stand up for intelligence in political office.

The disastrous policies of George W. Bush, coupled with decades of conservative efforts to put our country in retreat have met with consistent failure. Those failures have forced conservatives to put up artificial issues that appeal to a distinctly anti-American segment of the population, but that has only driven them into a corner.

Conservative politicians strain to win applause from the stupid and the ignorant, but the United States needs and deserves smart, not stupid. Liberals must now step up and engage our citizens and remind them that politics in our country is not to be entertainment for small minds. We have to expose the absurdity of 2015 “conservative values:”

When everyone has guns in public, innocent people die. Gun ownership without rules is anarchy. Laws protect people from those who are too stupid to know better. It’s not about taking guns away; it’s about protecting the innocent from the stupid.

Our government is a blessing, not a curse, and we pay for the privilege of living in this great country by paying our taxes and doing so without complaint.

Unregulated business is the playground of the unethical and immoral. Business is motivated by greed and destruction of competitors. Without government, ethical businesses can’t survive.

If a group of people on an island were running out of fresh water, the liberal mind would determine how to obtain more water, and the conservative mind would begin planning on who they can kill.

The confederate flag is the symbol of racists and traitors who tried to steal part of America away from then attempted to overthrow our country. The confederate flag is a heritage of losers and has no place among a nation of winners.

Government is not a place for religion, nor a country where a majority religion is to dictate the beliefs and morals for all citizens. America is a country that offers freedom FROM religion, not slavery to a religion.

War is the opium for the 2015 conservative. When in doubt the conservative wants to wage war, but war never results in a quick and easy peace. War devastates all involved and it is rarely the leaders who started the war who pay the heaviest price.

The time to coddle the wealthy is past. Money is not the measure of a human, nor does it give special privilege to a person in a country where all citizens are created equal.

For 35 years conservatives have been shouting down common sense and intelligence with false accusations, deceptions, and biased fear mongering. It’s time that loyal Americans regained their voice.

To be liberal is to be an American that loves our country and our government. We believe that all humans are created equal. We believe that our country becomes stronger, not weaker through diplomacy and respect for other countries. We believe that education is the foundation to a better life and schools should be more than a cheap training ground for dead-end service jobs. We believe that when government spends money it provides jobs and needed infrastructure that helps grow our economy.

The call of liberalism is not for everyone, nor is it restricted to one party. Our country’s founders were liberals who broke away from conservatives who wanted to stay loyal to the English King. Republicans were liberal when Abraham Lincoln stood up against domestic enemies that sought to defile our Constitution. Franklin D. Roosevelt was liberal when he made our citizens believe in the greatness of our country. Dwight D. Eisenhower was liberal when he made the Interstate Highway System a reality. John F. Kennedy was a liberal when he said we could go to the Moon and back.

Elementary school children can grasp the values of conservatives. The egocentric concept that everyone else exists to serve their needs is a common attitude of children and conservatives.

However, it takes significant maturity and intelligence to understand liberal values. It requires the person to see themselves as part of a greater society. A liberal knows that respect, cooperation, humility, and honor cannot be compromised for a free society to function. Our original 1942 Pledge of Allegiance reinforced these values:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the UNITED States of America, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands, ONE NATION, INDIVISIBLE, with liberty and justice FOR ALL.

We are a republic, not an oligarchy. We are one nation that shall not be divided. We shall have liberty and justice for all, not just for those with the most money, nor the most guns.

We are a nation founded by liberals, built by those who believed in “Yes We Can.” Liberal ideals have been a part of every great achievement in our country. Conversely, conservative leadership has maligned and crippled this nation. It’s time we took our country back.

J. K. Rowling: The Unexpected Author

13 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Book Review, College, Communication, Education, Ethics, Fiction, Generational, Higher Education, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Lessons of Life, Opinion, parenting, Passionate People, Public Relations, Science Fiction, Traditional Media, Universities, Women

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books, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, Jo Rowling, Joanne Rowling, library, Literaray, readership, reading

jkr-photo_new_debra-hurford-brown-j.k.-rowling

Jo Rowling A.K.A: J. K. Rowling

This week my son’s Elementary school is engaged in a venture into the world of Harry Potter. The teachers of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades have divided the students into the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is an opportunity to look back on the single person who created a series of fictional children’s books that revitalized reading for millions of people of all ages.

Any story of great personal success is characterized by being the correct person, in the correct place, at the correct time. That is a requirement. The story of J. K. Rowling is more compelling for why she was the correct person.

Her birth name is Joanne Rowling and she uses “Jo” in casual environments. She has no given middle name but was asked by her publisher to disguise her name so that young boys would not know that Harry Potter was written by a woman. Since she had no middle name she used her grandmother’s name, ‘Kathleen,’ and thus became, “J. K. Rowling (her last name is pronounced, ‘rolling.’)

Rowling accomplished the unthinkable. At a time when reading books was declining and the Internet was blossoming, the idea that one person could ignite a renaissance of book reading was considered absurd. Rowling’s first publisher told her to get a day job because writing children’s books would never provide enough income.

Like William Shakespeare, there is no significant indicator in Rowling’s pre-Potter life of her eventual rise to the top of the literary world. Still, there are earlier experiences that probably contributed to her success. Among them are the following:

Her parents met at King’s Cross Station in London, which became the fictional departure point for the fictional train station departure point to Hogwarts. [Potter influences]
As a child she was known to write out a story and read it to her sister, Dianne. [Early fiction writing]
Her mother, Anne, was a science technician and also taught science at the Secondary school that Rowling attended. [Priority of education]
She speaks English, French and studied German in Secondary school. [Broad-based education]
She read and is an admirer of Jessica Mitford, a British-turned-American journalist, author, and political activist. [Ethics, writing, and honor]
She has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in French and the Classics from the University of Exeter. [Writing and knowledge]
She studied a year in Paris. [Broad-based education]
She taught English in Portugal [Life experience]
Her mother had multiple sclerosis (MS) and died while she was writing her first Harry Potter book. [Life experience]
Rowling suffered from depression triggered by several life events (Unemployed, her mother’s death, her divorce, etc.) [Life experience]

The idea for Harry Potter apparently came in 1990, during a four-hour train delay to London. She began writing as soon as she reached home and among the first chapters written was the final chapter of the last book. The first book was not finished until 1995. It was submitted and rejected by twelve publishers before it was finally accepted by Bloomsbury Publishing in England the follow year.

She went from living off of State benefits to a millionaire in five years. Since then, she has devoted a large portion of her fortune to philanthropic causes.

Though remarkable, Rowling’s financial success is not as significant as what she did for slowing the decline of children reading for fun during the period her books were published (1996-2007.) According to a study by Common Sense Media, 9-year-olds reading for fun at least one to two per week dropped only one percent from 1984 to 2004; however, by 2012 that dropped by another four percent (76% in 2012.) For 13-year-olds the decline in reading for fun from 1984 to 2004, was six percent, but that decline nearly doubled five years after the last Harry Potter book was published (down an additional eleven percent in 2012 to 53%.)

No one, including possibly Rowling, herself, could have expected anyone to capture a worldwide audience, as did the Harry Potter series. She brought new readers into the literary market that had no interest in reading. Her unexpected achievement is a reminder that what is possible extends beyond the impossible.

Common Core: Are You A Good Switch Or A Bad Switch? Part III

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, College, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Internet, parenting, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Science, Taxes, Technology, Universities, US History

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Common Core, Conservatives, conspiracy, funding, math, parent protests, reading, Republicans, school districts, school funding, teachers, Teaching, writing

PART III: An Answer to the Question: Good? or Bad?

Implementation of Common Core

THE VERDICT
In the past year significant political forces have targeted Common Core. The protests have been at near hysterical levels in many communities around the country. The complaints about Common Core are as follows:

Standards create a factory-like environment that attempt to put all students in one ‘box.’
Teachers focusing on test scores, not educational achievement
Parents don’t understand math methods
United States history under Common Core is un-American because it includes both positive and negative aspects of the history of our country
A belief that parents should define school curriculum, not the school, district, state, or federal government
A belief that President Obama is behind the implementation of Common Core and other conservative conspiracy theories

Many of the issues have been generated by conservative voices after a push by Republicans during the past election cycle to ignite anger and votes against public education. Almost all of the complaints would have occurred from any attempt to improve and refine American educational techniques, especially when those improvements involve standardization for all American schools.

If you believe that setting minimum standards in reading, writing, and math is bad, then Common Core is bad. If you believe that children in your community should graduate with similar skills to other students around the country, then Common Core is good. If you believe that a high school degree should be the end of a person’s education, then Common Core is bad. If you believe that every student should receive an education that would prepare them for college, then Common Core is good.

THE REAL PROBLEM
Despite the politicizing of Common Core, there is a real issue in implementing any change in education. Funding.

Any business that seeks to upgrade or improve their methods knows that there is a real cost to any change. Yet, even smart business people seem to forget that to improve our educational system requires a major funding commitment. It takes money to research and establish new programs. It takes money to train school districts, principals, and teachers. It takes money to create new teaching materials, and it takes money to educate parents.

What Common Core is missing is the funding needed to make it a success. Until we can accept the fact that a commitment to education requires a commitment to funding, then we will continue using 20th educational techniques in a 21st century world. America’s efforts to update our educational system will cost money and Common Core is a victim of a society that has abandon quality education because it costs too much.

THE HYSTERIA OF THE LOUDEST VOICES
Unfortunately, Common Core lost a lot of support in the past twelve months. Much of that was due to the political rhetoric during last year’s campaigns, but some teachers are also pulling back support. This is not surprising. As parents become more vocal in opposition, few teachers are willing to oppose parent sentiment even if they are wrong.

Common Core is not a perfect educational system, but it does attempt to better prepare America’s children for a higher level of achievement. Most of the real issues can be resolved with better funding. Just as a school built in the 1950’s is no longer relevant for 2015, education methods of the pre-information era are not relevant today. Our population is continuing to increase and the skills our children must have to thrive as adults are going to advance. Education is going to be expensive, but if we don’t pay now, we will pay more later.

PREVIOUSLY: Part I: A Primer in American Education
Part II: What is Common Core?

Common Core: Are You A Good Switch Or A Bad Switch? Part II

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, College, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, parenting, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Taxes, Technology, Universities, US History

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Asian learning methods, Common Core, K-12, learning, math, mathematics, New Math, No Child Left Behind, parent involvement in school, parent reactions, students

PART TWO: What is Common Core?

Cartoon in Chicago Tribune about parent reaction to Common Core

The Third Generation of Standardized Education
The basic premise of the George W. Bush (43rd President) administration’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate was that reading, writing, and math are fundamental to all learning. This is a sound concept; however, these basic skills cannot supplant other subjects traditionally taught in K-12 schools, nor can they be isolated from those subjects. Our society, both business and personal interactions, require an adequate understanding of a wide variety skills and knowledge that exceed the basic skills of reading, writing, and math.

Common Core is an attempt to refine the concept of NCLB by creating standards for all schools that focus on reading, writing, and math, but it also folds these skills into other subjects that impact personal success in the 21st century. Common Core emphasizes teaching methods and outcomes, but leaves it to the State, school district, and school on how to incorporate the program into the curriculum.

Why Some Parents Dislike Common Core Math
Some of the methods adopted by Common Core have angered parents and politicians. In particular, the approach to teaching math. The math issue centers on bewildered parents who don’t understand the revised math teaching methods and why equations seem to be more complicated than when they attended school. The assumption by parents is that whatever they were taught is good enough for their children; however, that is not necessarily true.

Almost every adult in this country was taught that the symbol for a number (e.g.; ‘7’) was everything we needed to know about the number that it represents. We were taught to memorize how the symbol ‘7’ multiplied by the symbol ‘9’ equals the symbol ’63.’ That teaching method does not mean that the student understands that ‘7,’ ‘9,’ and ’63’ are symbols representing a group of objects.

This is a subtle, but important understanding in math functions. The equation ‘7 x 9 = 63,’ means that we are taking a group of seven objects, adding eight more groups of seven, and determining the total of objects. That is much more complicated than just memorizing that 7 x 9 = 63, but it helps us realize that multiplication is a shortcut to manually counting out 63 objects individual, rather than grouping them.

The weakness of memorization of relationships between symbols also creates confusion as a student moves into higher mathematical equations. In algebra, geometry, and calculus the numeral symbols become less relevant. For example, X = (X+1) and Y = (X-3) can be confusing because ‘X’ stands for EVERY number.

The Credit Card Example
A man is given ten credit cards, but he is NOT told that each credit card represents an amount of money in the bank and, that if used, the money is replenished the next day. He is told how to use each credit card. One card is to buy gas, one to use at the grocery store, etc. Today, he’s at the gas station and it so happened that two of his friends are already there. He decides to pay for his friend’s fuel, which they appreciate. They go on their way, but when he tries to pay for his fuel, the credit card is declined. He didn’t understand that the card represented a limited amount of money, he just assumed it could be used for any amount of fuel. That is similar to how math has been taught in the past. We may have known what to do with the numbers (symbols,) but we may not have fully understood that numbers are just symbols.

Good News, Bad News
Parents objections to the new math teaching methods are a good sign that our children are gaining a deeper understanding of mathematics than their parents did in school; however, parents need to be able to assist their children with homework.¹ This means parents need to be taught the new methods, but few if any schools have developed programs to teach parents because there is no funding available to accomplish the task.

Who Came Up With the Common Core Math Techniques?
Despite the belief that Common Core math techniques were invented in the past few years, the techniques were modeled off educational programs in certain Asian countries where they have been more successful at preparing students for college. In 2009, a coalition of State Governors and Educators worked together to build an educational program that would serve as a ‘best practices’ guide for American schools, which was the birth of Common Core.

NEXT: Part III: An Answer to the Question – Good? or Bad?
PREVIOUSLY: Part I: A Primer in American Education

¹Most studies indicate that students perform better when parents are involved in their children’s education. At the very least it indicates to the child that their parents place a high value on becoming educated.

3rd From Sol

~ Learn from before. Live now. Look ahead.

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