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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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.

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

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

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

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classroom, college graduates, Common Core, Education methods, federal mandates, George W. Bush, graduation rates, high school graduates, job standards, K-12, NCLB, No Child Left Behind, President Barack Obama, Race to the Top, school districts, school vouchers, students, teachers, Teaching, Teaching methods, Teaching standards

School’s should welcome diversity of ideas but shouldn’t tolerate political agendas

PART I: A Primer in American Education

Who’s Afraid of Common Core?
Education in America is often the centerpiece of someone’s agenda, and the newest chapter of the how-to-fix-our-schools controversy is called Common Core. Conservatives have apparently decided that Common Core is the path to Satan. Liberals have reservations about Common Core because it smacks of a factory-like environment that assumes every student and school is the same.

The problem is that the most vocal critics of Common Core have no authority to speak on effective educational methods. Common Core is a significant paradigm shift in education, and opinions of untrained, uneducated, unhelpful ‘experts’ do nothing to move forward the debate on how best to prepare our children for Life 3.0.

The Cost of Achievement
In 1950, only one-third of the population in the United States had a high school degree or better, and only six percent had a college degree or better. In 2010, almost ninety percent of Americans had at least a high school degree, and thirty percent had at least a college degree. That increase is impressive, but what is astounding is that in the same sixty year time frame, America’s population doubled.

To accomplish that feat cost money. A lot of money. As the bandwagon to attack government spending gained steam, education loomed large in the sights of conservatives. The real cost of the success of American educational achievement has been to become a target of the post-Reagan agenda.

Public school in Panama: Seeking to achieve the American dream

A Historical Perspective
In the pre-Information age, schools were isolated in their own districts. How well the students of any given school performed was a local issue, not a state or national issue. In addition, a relatively small percentage of students sought out a college degree, and there were few school districts keeping track of college bound students.

The goal for most school districts in the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s was graduate as many students as possible, which sometimes opened the door to unethical practices, such as giving diplomas to students who clearly did not meet reasonable expectations (ability to read, write, etc.) to graduate.

However, by the 1990’s, the idea that all schools in the United States should be able to measure academic success through a unified set of academic standards began to take hold. As the Internet became the backbone of our society, the resulting information explosion forced us to accept that adequate math and reading skills were vital for success as an adult in a technologically advanced society.

First Generation of Educational Standards
By the beginning of this century, plans had been put into motion to establish a set of educational standards for all schools and testing of all students to determine a school’s success or failure. Under President George W. Bush, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB,) was mandated and it required States to establish standardized testing, teacher qualifications, and annual academic progress reporting. This was one of the most sweeping federal intrusions into public education. The primary focus of NCLB was to improve reading, writing, and mathematics in schools nationwide, while allowing States to establish the educational standards that would have to be met.

The catch was that rather than investing in those schools that needed help, No Child Left Behind focused on punishing schools that didn’t meet the artificial standards. Almost ever reputable educational review of NCLB has given it a failing grade. Some of the reasons are as follows:

The emphasis on reading, writing, and math during a time when States were cutting funds for kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) created a shearing effect on other programs (language, history, music, arts, etc.) as money had to be reallocated to the studies under the NCLB Act.
Politicians had little understanding of education and the variables in a classroom environment and they attempted to apply factory-like operations to school systems that failed to address the real issues that impact the ability to learn.
NCLB assumed that teachers were mostly at fault for poor educational performance and politicians sought to intervene by imposing punishments for schools rather than actually acting in the best interest of the students.
The education of higher performing students was sacrificed in order to devote more resources for the poorer performing students.
Students with special needs were not excluded from the testing standards creating a population of students that automatically counted as failing against the school.

Educational Standards – Second Generation
Soon after taking office, the Obama administration began to move away from NCLB by introducing “Race to the Top.” This program flipped NCLB by seeking to reward States for adopting standardized programs rather than punishing them for not meeting federal standards. States competed for additional federal education funding; however, not every State rushed to play the game that offered no guarantee of financial carrot at the finish line.

The most searing problem with Obama’s Race to the Top program may have been the requirement that a teacher’s performance had to be linked to the student’s test scores. This concept of Pay For Performance suggests that teaching professionals must be threatened with a financial stick, forcing teachers to teach students to be successful on the tests by sacrificing all other educational values. It also discourages teachers from working with groups of challenging students who will not be able to produce the test results of more privileged and economically stable students.

NEXT: Part II: What is Common Core?
To be published Wednesday, 25 March, 0700 PDT/1400 UTC

NEXT NEXT: Part III: An Answer to the Question – Good? or Bad?
To be published Wednesday, 25 March, 1200 PDT/1900 UTC

Epilogue : The 2010’s

20 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, College, Communication, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Religion, Respect, Science, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Space, Taxes, Technology, Traditional Media, Universities, US History

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Caucasian, college graduates, Conservatives, Equality, GDP, high school graduates, poor, racism, racists, Reagan agenda, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, The 1%, un-wealthy, wealthy, White politicians

The 2010’s – End of Civility

White Conservatives: “Go F**k Yourselves America”

Population: 308.7 million
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $47,805
Median Annual Income: $47,793
Life Expectancy: 78.7
Average Age at Marriage: Men 28.2, Women 26.1
% of pop. w/high school degree or higher: 87.0%
% of pop. w/college degree or higher: 30.0%

REAGAN: The Killer of America’s Prosperity
From 1950 to 2010 the population of the United States of America doubled (+104.0%.) The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) tripled (+218.1%.) The median annual income is eleven times more than 1950 (+1028%.) Life expectancy has increased by over 15% (15.4%.) Men AND women are marrying an average of over five years older in 2010 than they did in 1950 (men +23.7%, women +28.6%.) The percentage of people with at least a high school degree is now almost 90% versus 34% in 1950 (+153.6%.) Today, 30% of our citizens have at least a college degree versus 6% in 1950 (+383.9%.)

Something went right for America in the last 60 years. But that is changing.

Prior to the Great Depression, Republicans controlled the House and Senate for the majority of the previous 70 years. After the Great Depression both the House and Senate was under Democratic control until 1980. In 1980, America began folowing the conservatives agenda (Reagan 1980-1988, Bush 41 1989-1992, Republican control of Congress 1994-2008) of dismantling the government at all levels, start more wars, give more money to the wealthy, and give less help for the un-wealthy. Since 1979, the wealthiest 1% after-tax income has increased by 200%.

U.S._Income_-_Changes_by_Income_Group_1979-2011

The 1% are 200% wealthier since conservatives took control of the government

Since 1980, annual increases in U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has stalled and fallen.

ANNUAL GDP GROWTH: Post World War II, U.S. annual GDP began a steady growth until shortly after Ronald Reagan became President.

GROWTH SACRIFICED FOR GREED
Post-war prosperity was spurred by significant federal government projects and programs. Conservatives derailed that by blaming government for economic issues that were caused by corporate and business greed.

Despite the obvious failure of the Reagan agenda, conservatives have taken a position of complete denial and fantastical thinking. They no longer believe they have any obligation to acknowledge or respect the rest of America. Conservatives are behaving as a child would behave when they are not getting their way, even though their request is completely inappropriate. Rather than accepting that President Obama was elected twice by a majority of Americans, Republicans have blocked all efforts to move forward on measures proven to generate American prosperity because it would make those that have more, give more.

Reagan conservatives have failed and they are backed in a corner of failure. They will not accept reason, nor facts. Civility would force them to accept their failure, so they must be uncivil. They are willing to destroy America, rather than acknowledge failure.

WHY ARE WE HERE?
America has experience massive change in the past 65 years. Most of that change has been good, but the one aspect of the American concept, the idea that we are all created equal, is the one issue in our country that has cast a shadow over us for centuries. White males believe that they are superior to all others and as our demographics have changed Caucasians have worked to obstruct equality rather than accept it.

Segregation was not considered racist until it became obvious it was motivated by whites who were racist. Dismantling government programs that benefit the poor and those in need may not be considered racist, until we realize that these ideas have been pushed forward almost exclusively by white politicians. Telling America that the rich are too burdened to pay a fair share of their taxes is not considered racist until you examine the loop of rich white people giving money to white politicians to pass laws that will reduce taxes on the wealthiest who are almost all white.

America is a country that has yet to commit to everyone being equal. In the 1950’s, white people took their money and ran away to the suburbs. In the 1960’s, the federal government finally stepped in and paid attention to the unequal treatment of African-Americans. In the 1970’s, we became distracted by unethical leaders, war, oil shortages, and inflation. In the 1980’s, we were conned into the idea that our government was to blame for all our problems in the 1970’s, while the Reagan spent money that America didn’t have to spend. In the 1990’s, the conservatives regained control of Congress and began dismantling the federal government and ending ethical business oversight. In the 2000’s, Republicans led America down a path of war and destruction that almost wiped out our economic system.

Why we are here is because we have become weak. We have listened to fools and we know they are fools. They are willing to tear America apart for greed and their own racist ideals. To a racist, compromise is unthinkable, and that is why conservatives will never work towards a unified nation.

THE SERIES: The 1950’s The 1960’s The 1970’s The 1980’s The 1990’s The 2000’s

This is Why (2015 vs the 2000’s)

19 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, College, Communication, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Politics, Pride, Print Media, Privacy, Public Image, Public Relations, Religion, Respect, Science, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Space, Taxes, Technology, Traditional Media, Universities, US History

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2004 Tsunami, 9/11, Afghani, Amazon.com, Anthrax, Assault weapons ban, Conservatives, Election 2000, Facebook, Florida vote counting, George W. Bush, Global Financial Disaster, Global warming, Hurricane Katrina, Iraq, Mars, NASA, Opportunity, Pope John Paul II, President, President Barack Obama, Republicans, Rovers, Saddam Hussein, Smartphone, Space Shuttle Columbia, Spirit, Supreme Court, Texting, Twenty-ohs, Twitter, Virginia Tech Massacre, Wikipedia, YouTube

The 2000’s – The Defeat of America

Decade of Fear: Y2K, 9/11, WMD’s, Katrina, Banking Collapse, Unemployment, Global Warming

Population: 281.4 million
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $44,492
Median Annual Income: $40,703
Life Expectancy: 76.8
Average Age at Marriage: Men 26.1, Women 23.9
% of pop. w/high school degree or higher: 80.4%
% of pop. w/college degree or higher: 24.4%

TWENTY OH’s
If the 1990’s were a seismic event of technological and social change, the twenty-oh’s is when the tsunami of change hit. Had nothing else happened but the advancement of the Internet, the changes by that alone would have drastically remade the world as we knew it; however, the twenty-oh’s were not content in merely redefining society and the way we communicate, the first decade of the new millennium was going to do an extreme makeover of all our expectations in life. Here are twenty things that made us say Oh!

Y2K, the disaster that never came (Jan. 2000)
Elections of 2000
1. Florida election fiasco (Nov./Dec. 2000)
2. Supreme Court appoints George W. Bush as President (Dec. 2000)
Attacks of September 11, 2001
Anthrax letters
Wars of Just Because
1. Afghanistan (2001-2014)
2. Iraq (2003-2011)
Rise of Smaller and Smarter Technology (Entire Decade)
1. Smartphone
2. Texting
Space Shuttle Columbia destroyed on reentry (Feb. 2003)
Mars Rovers bounce to successful landings and missions
1. Spirit (June 2003)
2. Opportunity (July 2003)
Saddam Hussein captured (Dec. 2003)
Assault weapon ban expires (Sept. 2004)
Online Wonders
1. Amazon.com
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. Google
5. YouTube
6. Wikipedia
Indian Ocean Earthquake/Tsunami (Dec. 2004)
Pope John Paul dies (Apr. 2005)
Global Warming
Hurricane Katrina (Aug. 2005)
Virginia Tech Massacre (Apr. 2007)
Global Economic Disaster (2007-08)
1. Financial giants collapse
2. Housing market collapses
3. Auto industry collapses
4. Massive unemployment
Price of gas soars, and falls….as a function of conservative politics
Barack Obama elected as President (Nov. 2008)
Nuclear weapons
1. Iraq
2. North Korea

The Twenty-oh’s began with the most bizarre Presidential election in American history, followed by the most shocking attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, followed by two United States initiated wars that would be fought simultaneously, followed by the loss of the Space Shuttle and its crew on reentry to Earth, followed by an earthquake/tsunami that would kill almost a quarter of a million people in 14 countries in one day, followed by a massacre at Virginia Tech, followed by a near meltdown of our global financial system, followed by an African-American being elected as President.

THE GREAT CONSERVATIVE FAILURE
Despite all that happened, it was politics that defined the 2000’s. Keeping with the two-faced Reagan policy of “America Can’t” and money must be taken from the poor and given to the rich, President George Bush took the cost of running two wars off the books so that he could look like he was cutting government spending when he was, in fact, putting the government deeper in debt and running massive deficits.

Behind the scenes, a decade of conservative-driven deregulation in the financial industry created a bad debt bomb that exploded in 2007-08. Almost overnight, America’s economy was devastated by greed and a lack of common sense. People who saw the disaster coming took the attitude that everyone else was unethical, so why should I be the only good person? When the curtain fell on Wall Street, Republicans, who created the environment for the disaster, quietly stepped away and whistling as if they were unaware there was a problem.

Bush 43, was completely out of his league in dealing with the problem. To repair the damage to our economy would require taking actions that was would essentially prove that the Reagan doctrine was the cause of the disaster, and President Bush was not willing to take the necessary actions. Fortunately, Barack Obama had just been elected and, with Bush impotent in action, the 44th President stepped up and began to manage the crisis and establishing a plan of recovery.

The Republican caused disaster did not cause conservatives to humbly acknowledge their failure, but rather pushed them to further deny the facts. As the economy began recovering, conservatives began blaming Democrats for not making the recovery happen faster. As conservative predictions of Democratic policy failure began to be proven wrong, conservatives began raising absurd and meaningless issues to redirect people’s attention (e.g.; Obama was not an American, Obama was a Muslim, Obama had a secret plan to take everyone’s guns away, etc.)

Because the Reagan doctrine was based on white, 1950’s suburban thinking, the hate for President Obama came naturally to the white, male voter. Instead of a political correction for the failed Reagan agenda, conservatives became even more rabid and illogical. By the end of the decade America was heading for defeat at the hands of conservatives who had taken away American prosperity and were unwilling to accept any idea that didn’t match their failed version of the world.

NEXT: Epilogue

THE SERIES: The 1950’s The 1960’s The 1970’s The 1980’s The 1990’s

This is Why (2015 vs the 1990’s)

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, College, Communication, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Politics, Religion, Respect, Science, Space, Taxes, Traditional Media, Universities, US History

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The 1990’s – A World Turned Upside Down

An Explosion of Change

Population: 248.7 million
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $35,145
Median Annual Income: $28,149
Life Expectancy: 75.4
Average Age at Marriage: Men 26.1, Women 23.9
% of pop. w/high school degree or higher: 77.6%
% of pop. w/college degree or higher: 21.3%

POLITICS: The Clean Up Man
George H. W. Bush was sworn in as President on January 20, 1989, as the 41st President of the United States. Having served as Vice President under Ronald Reagan, he was loyal and didn’t interfere with President Reagan’s destructive agenda. As President he then was left to clean up the messes created by Reagan and deal with new problems. Despite all that he had to deal with, President Bush managed to restore some of what Reagan had destroyed. This angered extreme conservatives who then refused to support him in his second term election.

Bush dealt with 1) an inflated deficit left by Reagan, 2) a revenue shortfall that required higher taxes, 3) restoring democracy in Panama and capturing Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, and, 4) liberated Kuwait and drove Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army back in a humiliating defeat. In addition, President Bush pushed through Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Immigration Act of 1990, that opened the borders for a 40% increase in legal immigrants. He maintained a conservative stance on most issues; however, President Bush did not hesitate to act against Wacko conservatives. When the National Rifle Association (NRA) sent out material slandering Federal Agents as “Thugs,” he ended his lifetime membership to the organization.

POLITICS: Clinton’s Capitulation
From a political standpoint, the Presidency of Bill Clinton was a study in contrasts. His election was considered a victory for Democrats and liberals, yet he constantly compromised his positions to pacify aggressive conservatives. Almost all efforts for additional programs to help Americans in need, including healthcare reform, failed to move forward during the Clinton administration. Conservatives, who were disappointed at Bush 41’s rollback of Reagan’s efforts to dismantle the federal government, were determined to win Congress and reignite the agenda that favored white and wealthy Americans.

In 1994, conservative Republican Newt Gingrich was elected on the basis of his Contract With America. This document (co-authored with Republican Representative Dick Armey) outlined several reasonable goals to bring more accountability to Congress and the government, but was laced with several goals that followed Ronald Reagan’s vision to cut funding and eliminate the government’s role of overseeing fairness in business. President Clinton was faced with vetoing all legislation, or caving in to conservatives. In his 1996 State of the Union address Clinton delighted conservatives when he announced that “the era of big government is over.”

As a result of Clinton’s capitulation, many laws were passed in his second term that continued Reagan’s destruction of good government. The financial disaster in 2007-08 can be directly traced to legislation passed and/or repealed in the 1990’s during the Clinton administration. Congress removed federal government eyes off of key areas of financial interactions. The laws and rules that had set standards on key banking and investor interactions were eviscerated allowing a ‘no questions asked’ environment. The natural evolution of this environment was for greed to take priority over common sense, which is exactly what happened.

THE SEISMIC EVENT IN PERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Outside of the political landscape, the rest of America was becoming comfortable with the concept of owning ‘personal’ computers, and the new World Wide Web offered to interconnect computers creating a digital network of communication. It’s hard to overstate the impact of the marriage of computers and the Internet. It turned everything we knew upside down. Consider the following:

While personal computers increased the efficiency of certain tasks, it was the computer hooked into the Internet that made world-wide instant communication and sharing of information commonplace.
Television, radio, and newspapers shaped the public perception of world events until the Internet gave access to massive numbers of people who often had more timely information than traditional news media sources.
Younger generations adapted quickly to the possible uses of the Internet while older generations scoffed at its impact. As young generations rode the tide of the Internet, Older generations were left aground, looking foolish and ignorant.
Unethical governments and corporations would discover too late that their version of events would be exposed as lies and distortions by citizens who had access to the truth and shared it through the Internet. It literally brought down some governments.

The tsunami of change caused by the Internet wouldn’t hit the world until the next decade, but the earthquake of the Internet was felt in the 1990’s.

NEXT: The 2000’s

THE SERIES: The 1950’s The 1960’s The 1970’s The 1980’s Epilogue

This is Why (2015 vs the 1980’s)

15 Sunday Mar 2015

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1980, 1980's, Afghanistan, American Hostage Crisis, civil war, Cold War, Communism, FBI informant, George Bush, Grenada, Iran, Iran-Contra, Lebanon, Libya, Middle East, patriotism, Ronald Reagan, Russia, Soviets, USSR

The 1980’s – Political Con Game

President Ronald Reagan: Actor, Cowboy, FBI Informant

Population: 226.5 million
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $28,957
Median Annual Income: $16,354
Life Expectancy: 73.7
Average Age at Marriage: Men 24.7, Women 22.0
% of pop. w/high school degree or higher: 66.5%
% of pop. w/college degree or higher: 16.2%

THE COWBOY PRESIDENT
The Republican leadership had been tainted by President Nixon’s Watergate scandal. In order to move back into power they needed a fresh face, and Ronald Reagan, an experienced actor, became that face. Reagan mostly had played nice guys and cowboys in the movies which formed the basis of his political persona. He was twice elected as Governor of California but twice (1968 and 1976) failed to gain the Republican party nomination in his quest to be President.

Ronald Reagan, who, in 1976, had fallen just short of winning the Republican nomination from incumbent President Gerald Ford, had finally won the party’s nomination and found himself as the beneficiary of the perfect storm of political crisis in 1979, that sunk President Jimmy Carter. As if to emphasize his luck, the American hostages in Iran were released on January 20, 1981, the same day that Ronald Reagan was sworn into office as President.

THE ERA OF WE CAN’T
President Reagan believed that government was to blame for America’s woes. Despite the role of the American corporation in damaging the our public image in the Middle East and their greed in price gouging that spurred inflation, Reagan proposed that it was the government that was at issue, not American business. He sold the idea to the public that America Can’t, meaning that government can’t and shouldn’t help its citizens to a better life. Reagan convinced the public that the wealthy are to be worshiped and the poor are guilty of laziness, so the government shouldn’t interfere with the natural order.

In his first year as President he pushed through tax cuts for those in the upper tax brackets (70% down to 50%) and in the lowest tax bracket (14% down to 11%,) buying him goodwill with all citizens; however, in 1986 he pushed through additional tax reform that cut the upper tax bracket down to 28% and increased the lower tax bracket to 15%, making the lowest wage earners pay more in taxes than they did when he took office. The irony of his tax increase on the lowest tax bracket was that his “Supply Side Economics” depended on people having more money to spend, which they didn’t by the end of his second term.

FALSE PATRIOTISM
Like many conservatives, Reagan’s patriotism was limited to only those who were of the same mindset. He was staunchly against communism and during the late 1940’s, he and his wife served as FBI informants, ratting out anyone in Hollywood they thought to be sympathetic to communists. This hate for communism manifested during his presidency in massive funding of weapon systems that forced the Soviet Union into military spending that they could not afford while they were also in an active war in Afghanistan.

Reagan, like most post-Vietnam war conservatives learned that showy patriotism for the American soldier as a warrior was vital in keeping the younger generation at bay when they were sacrificed to protect American business interests around the world. Reagan involved America in the invasion of Grenada (1983,) Lebanon Civil War (1983, ) and the bombing of Libya (1986.)

Reagan’s administration also defied Congress by secretly selling weapons to Iran, the country that held Americans hostage for over a year, and gave the money to an anti-communist group in Nicaragua. Later investigations could not prove Reagan’s direct involvement in the scandal; however, the reasoning behind the incident matched Reagan’s staunch anti-communist sentiments.

REAGAN’S TOPPLING OF THE CARDBOARD SOVIET UNION
President Reagan biggest con with the American people was his two-faced position on spending. He wailed loudly about the government spending too much and took money out of the hands that needed it the most, but in reality he was the Big Spender when it came to the military. He tripled the deficit during his eight years as President leaving his successor, George Bush, to try to find ways to pay for Reagan’s uncontrolled military spending.

Fortunately, for President Reagan, America was able to survive his addiction for spending, which was not true for the Soviet Union’s effort to keep pace with the United States. After spending too much on the Soviet space program, (that failed to advance technology for the common Russian citizen,) Soviet involvement in a 10-year war in Afghanistan, (that sent the mighty Russian army home without any significant achievement,) and building up the military might to match Reagan’s excessive spending, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic went bankrupt.

The internal economic meltdown in Russia had a chain reaction with all of the Soviet aligned countries. Desperate East Germans sought to flee the economic disaster in their country and rejoin their cousins in West Germany. This eventually forced the East German government to either kill millions of their citizens, or open the borders completely. The fall of the Berlin Wall within a year after Reagan left office was quickly credited to him by conservatives who lauded his prowess in defeating a cardboard empire. The fact that it was self-inflicted wounds that caused the collapse of USSR and the other communist countries was ignored by those who wanted to glorify a cardboard President.

A LEGACY OF DEFEAT
As Reagan passed the conservative baton to George Bush at the end of the decade, America was fading as the world’s economic and technological leader. Government had been the catalyst in bringing America out of the Great Depression, beating the odds in World War II, improving our roads, building dams and power lines, and in countless other projects that no private business would dare attempt. The money spent by our government went directly into the hands of the private contractor, who then used it to pay employees and buy services and equipment from other private businesses.

But President Ronald Reagan ended that by using the government as the scapegoat for the misdeeds of the corporation. Without any proof the public accepted his premise that government was the problem and then he began to dismantle government and give the money to the wealthy. It was a master deception by the actor/cowboy who pulled off one of the greatest political cons since Hitler.

NEXT: The 1990’s

THE SERIES: The 1950’s The 1960’s The 1970’s The 2000’s Epilogue

This is Why (2015 vs the 1970’s)

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Taxes, Traditional Media, Universities, US History

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1973 oil embargo, Afghanistan, American Hostage Crisis, Arab, Conservatives, Democrat, Egypt, fuel, GOP, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Munich Massacre, Munich Olympic Games, OAPEC, oil, oil prices, oil shortages, OPEC, petroleum, President Gerald Ford, President Jimmy Carter, President Richard Nixon, Republican, Russia, Soviets, Syria, USSR, Watergate, Yom Kipper War

The 1970’s – American Implosion

The Decade of Oil Domination

Population: 203.2 million
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $23,381
Median Annual Income: $7,559
Life Expectancy: 70.8
Average Age at Marriage: Men 23.2, Women 20.6
% of pop. w/high school degree or higher: 52.3%
% of pop. w/college degree or higher: 10.7%

ENEMIES DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
America was rocked by the internal conflicts during the 1960’s, and the 1970’s did little to sooth the hearts and minds of the citizens. Inflation slowed slightly in 1970, only to be followed by recession. Then the White House was rocked in 1972, by an ever-growing scandal called ‘Watergate’ after the place where Republican operatives attempted to break into Democratic headquarters. Over the next year it would be revealed that the Republican party, including President Richard Nixon played dirty politics during the President’s re-election campaign and then used power tactics to cover up their misdeeds.

In the Fall of 1972, the world was shaken by a group of Palestinians that took Israeli athletes hostage in Germany’s Summer Olympic Games. The Palestinians were given logistical assistance by German Neo-Nazis which helped them penetrate the athlete’s living area and capture eleven of the Israel delegation (two of the eleven were killed during the invasion of the Israeli rooms.) As the world watched, the Germans eventually attempted a botched night rescue as the hostages were moved to an airport. The German snipers were untrained and had no night vision equipment. Every aspect of the German rescue plan was flawed and the Palestinians eventually made a decision to kill all hostages during a stalemate in the fighting.

In October of 1973, Israel responded to a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria (the Yom Kipper War) with a counter attack. The United States and Russia quickly began resupplying their allies (US/Israel and USSR/Syria-Egypt) with arms and materials. In response the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC, later OPEC) began a six month oil embargo that created massive fuel shortages in the United States. This caused the price of oil to rise from $3/barrel to $12/barrel and sparked a new round of inflation.

OUTCOME: American Politics
By the late 1974, the Watergate scandal had ended in resignations by the Vice President and President. Gerald Ford, who had just replaced the Vice President, became the President and limped his administration through the end of Nixon’s term. By the 1976 elections people were done with the Republican party and Jimmy Carter was thrust into the job of restoring faith in government.

OUTCOME: Oil, Greed, and the Middle East
The OPEC oil embargo and the Munich Massacre sent a message that America should be focusing on the Middle East, but the Watergate scandal had caused an information overload, so many Americans still saw Russia as the main foreign threat. However, because the Middle East had massive oil reserves it became the most strategic region in the world for oil consuming countries. This caused the governments of Russia and the United States to attempt to secure the region for each country’s own self-interest.

The questionable tactics of unscrupulous American oil companies opened new wounds in the Arab world. Our public image had been defined by U.S. business and political interference in internal matters of many Arab countries. Americans were caught off guard by the festering hate for America in the Middle East.

OUTCOME: Economic Instability
The roller coaster of inflation, recession, inflation left Americans with a sense of fear about the economy. The typical American was caught by surprise in 1973 when the oil embargo practically put the United States on its knees. The pride America had after beating the odds in World War II and putting a man on the Moon were all erased by one unethical President and our country’s economic vulnerabilities.

THE NEW HOPE EXTINGUISHED
Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976, brought a new hope to America. That produced a new fear for Republicans. Nothing could hurt conservatives more than to have a Democratic President restore America’s self-confidence. President Carter focused on peace and humanitarian initiatives that conservatives said made America look weak. Fortunately for conservatives, the Middle East would be what they needed to derail the Democrats and return to power.

In 1979, Russia invaded Afghanistan and students in Iran overran the American Embassy and took hostages. At the same time a mythical oil crisis (world oil supply dropped by only 4%) drove oil prices up to $39.50 per barrel in one year. The events dominated the news and overshadowed Carter’s re-election campaign. Republicans successfully used political ads to paint Democrats as out of touch during the worst political crisis of Carter’s administration. The events of 1979 could not have been more perfect for the resurgence of the disgraced conservatives.

NEXT: The 1980’s

THE SERIES: The 1950’s The 1960’s The 1990’s 2000’s Epilogue

This is Why (2015 vs the 1960’s)

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Business, College, Communication, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Health, Higher Education, History, Lessons of Life, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Religion, Respect, Space, Taxes, Technology, Traditional Media, Universities, US History

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African American, Blacks, Civil Rights, Cold War, Communism, Inner City, JFK, John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, Riots, Russia, Selma, Soviet Union, space race, Suburban Life, Suburbs, USA, USSR, Vietnam, WIN

Note: This series premise is that we tend to see today’s world based upon what we experienced in the past. Different generations have different experiences, which can lead to different perceptions of what is happening in today’s world.

In this article we look at the 1960’s.

The 1960’s – The Three Americas

The Decade of the Roar

Population: 180.0 million
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $16,986
Median Annual Income: $5,600
Life Expectancy: 69.7
Average Age at Marriage: Men 22.8, Women 20.3
% of pop. w/high school degree or higher: 41.1%
% of pop. w/college degree or higher: 7.7%

AMERICA AS THE TECH AND COMMERCE GORILLA
The space race continued technological advancement for both the Soviet Union and the United States; however, USSR kept even the most simple advancements secret from everyone, including their own citizens. The space-related advancements for the United States were often generated by private contractors. The advancements that were not ‘Top Secret’ could be applied in open commerce and available to the private citizen. USSR didn’t lose the Space Race when an American stepped on the Moon, they lost it when millions of Americans were able to buy consumer goods that incorporated technology generated by sending a human to the Moon.

This thrust America into the center of technological advancement in commerce. In addition to space technology, new super highways, power grids, and phone lines increased commerce. The capitalist system of “build only what we know will sell” was replaced with a new space age economy of “solve problems that no one ever thought of before.”

The downside of a growing economy is that when people have more money to spend, then greed steps up to take their money. It’s one thing for a business to raise their prices to cover additional costs, or to pay for improvements to their products or services, but when prices increased for the sake of greed, then worker wages must increase to help them pay for a higher cost of living. That was the root cause for the upward spiral of inflation in the 1960’s.

AMERICA AS THE WORLD’s POLICE
Communist aggression and American pride clashed as China and Russia sought to halt the threat of bottom up government (self determinism) to their model of top down (power to the few.) The space race was fueled by Russian moves to claim the ultimate higher ground. Russia, China, and the United States began winning over developing countries in a blatant attempt to win control of strategic regions around the world. Military might became a primary resource in diplomacy. Those who stood to make money through weapon development and sales were strong proponents of meeting aggression with aggression. Governments found that the concept of small wars as a means to prevent larger wars were more palatable to the public.

With the onset of smaller wars came the utilization of forcing young men into fighting wars, while those who made the decisions to fight went home to their families every night. The gap between those who sacrifice and those who benefit from war became crystal clear. Civil unrest across the nation against the Vietnam war created a split that was widely visible through national television news. America was no longer in a post-war honeymoon.

AMERICA FACING ITS OWN FAILINGS
The Civil War purchased an end to institutionalized slavery, but it didn’t end white domination of African-Americans. Societal tools to humiliate and dominate black people created a divided America based on skin color.

Determined to no longer be oppressed, African-Americans began to challenge white society. This caught many white Americans living in communities outside of the South by surprise. Meanwhile in the South, some white groups committed heinous crimes in an effort to derail any African-American challenge to the dual-class society that protected white supremacy.

Few people fully understood how the United States of America could become so divided in the two decades following the World War II. Small town people sought simplistic solutions to issues for which they had very little understanding. The complexities leading to the chaos of the 1960’s were two much for a ‘Mayberry RFD’ mind.

With the boom in suburban living, the segregation of the races led to a flash point in many major cities. Whites choose to run away from inner city issues to live a sanitized life that sucked taxpayer money out of the neighborhoods that needed it the most. From the comfort of their new recliner in their new subdivision, white people embraced small-town thinking. Nuke Russia, nuke Vietnam, nuke Cuba, war protesters were just drugged out hippies, Blacks were responsible for their own failings, etc. were typical of positions of the 1960’s Caucasian.

NEXT: The 1970’s

THE SERIES: The 1950’s The 1980’s The 1990’s The 2000’s Epilogue

This is Why (2015 vs the 1950’s)

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Crisis Management, Education, Generational, Government, Higher Education, History, Lessons of Life, Politics, Pride, Science, Space, Technology, Traditional Media, US History

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1950, 1950's, post depression, post war, Space, space race, television

Why is the world like it is?

It is an interesting question. Unfortunately it is the wrong question. The world is what we perceive it to be and our perceptions are based largely on our experiences…or at least the experiences we tend to remember. This is why attitudes about the world are vastly different between generations. This doesn’t mean that age determines attitude, just that age contributes to attitude.

So why do different generations tend to see the world differently?

The 1950’s – The Calm After the Storms

Mass Production of New Technology

Population: 151.3 million
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: $15,029
Median Annual Income: $4,237
Life Expectancy: 68.2
Average Age at Marriage: Men 22.8, Women 20.3
% of pop. w/high school degree or higher: 34.3%
% of pop. w/college degree or higher: 6.2%

POST DEPRESSION, POST WAR

If you were an adult, you just survived through the most massive conflict in history. Millions died directly or indirectly because of the war. The United States of America was expected to fold after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Instead, Americans pulled off a miracle by sacrificing normal daily life for a united country at war.

With victory in World War II came a fierce pride, but nobody was ready to rush into another war anytime soon. Despite that, a growing fear of Russia’s aggression put everyone on edge that they might be plunged into even a more horrible war than the one they survived.

Children of the 1950’s were witnesses to a traumatized adult population. Their grandparents lived through the Great Depression where the unthinkable financial disaster became everyone’s reality. Both grandparents and parents survived World War II. An event that stopped normal living and put everyone under the shadow of death and fear. Children also became a victim of the Cold War where fear of a global extinction event was a real possibility.

NEW ECONOMY
The massive industrialization for World War II created new jobs, more money, and a sudden burst of growth in the economy. Companies grabbed up anyone with advanced training or knowledge to incorporate advancements in technology created during the crisis of the war. People suddenly could afford luxuries like televisions, phones, cars and new homes. This prosperity was juxtaposed against the horrors that the world had experienced in the previous 20 years. It was truly the best of times and the worst of times.

NEXT: The 1960’s

THE SERIES: The 1970’s The 1980’s The 1990’s The 2000’s Epilogue

Republicans Violated Sedition Act of 1918

10 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Ethics, Government, Higher Education, Politics, Public Image, Respect, Universities

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Benjamin Netanyahu, Congress, Conservatives, Fraternity, Frats, GOP, Homeland Security, Iran, John Boehner, nuclear weapons, OU, Republican, Republicans, SAE, Sedition Act of 1918, Ted Cruz

There comes a point where it is clear that the line has been overstepped. Unfortunately, the realization comes after the offender(s) have not only crossed the line, but they have gone way beyond it.

Such is the case with the Republicans in Congress.

Congress was established to be a deliberating body of government. Issues are to be brought before the members, researched, debated, and a unified outcome reached. That doesn’t mean it is a consensus, just that every voice is heard. If it were not to be this way then our forefathers would have just had the losing party of each election stay home while the winning party runs rampant without listening to opposing voices.

However, Republicans in Congress have decided to act as if they represent the only voice in America, and as if they are in charge of the world, while placing Americans in peril. Of note:

Republicans have obstructed funding for Homeland Security and threatened to make the employees work without pay.
Republicans have invited Benjamin Netanyahu, the most hated person in the Arab world, to speak before all of Congress in order to provoke a new war in the Middle East.
Republicans have threatened the leaders of Iran with hostile acts if they agree to a nuclear arms deal with….the United States of America.

The last act can only be interpreted as an act of sedition, because for Republicans, not Congress, to make threats to a foreign country in order to derail diplomatic relations of the State Department and the President is not allowed. It violated the Sedition Act of 1918.

“…the use of “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the United States government, its flag, or its armed forces or that caused others to view the American government or its institutions with contempt.” (Sedition Act of 1918)

The Act was repealed in 1920; however, the fact that the Republicans who signed the open letter to Iran’s leaders could have been charged with sedition demonstrates how far over the line that they have gone. They have the behavior of OU Frat boys happily singing songs of hate and firm in the belief that they are the Master Race.

“Chicken Little” Netanyahu Again Foretells Doom, Betrays Israel

05 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Government, Politics, Public Relations, Religion

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Adolf Hitler, Benjamin Netanyahu, Congress, fear, fear mongering, Iran, Iraq, Israel, John Boehner, nuclear weapons, Sheldon Adelson

John Boehner and Benjamin Netanyahu in 2011

Fear is the tool of aggressors to overcome common sense. Fear enabled Adolf Hitler to rally his country into a war that cost millions of lives. Ironically, in World War II, allied countries did not go to war in fear, but in reaction to real events and real threats.

In 2001, America was devastated by the acts of terrorism on September 11th, but we were not ready to leap into a war. For that, conservatives sought to generate fear. We were told that “weapons of mass destruction” were in Iraq and that another attack was imminent. At least that is what Benjamin Netanyahu told us in 2002.

Now, in 2015, we find that same Israel voice standing before Congress, with the same prediction of doom about Iran. Why?

He was not speaking to Congress as a slap in the face to President Obama, although Speaker John Boehner was hoping to insult the President. Nor was Netanyahu before Congress to have a substantive discussion of Iran and nuclear weapons. This was all about making Netanyahu look like an important world leader just before the Israeli elections. Boehner, who actually invited Netanyahu to come in February, was told the invitation needed to be closer to the March Israeli elections. The only reason for “Chicken Little” to come to Congress was for a plumage display for the voters in Israel.

As for Speaker Boehner, if ever a politician looked like he was on his knees servicing his master it was when Boehner set up the Netanyahu visit in order to please Sheldon Adelson, the money behind conservative and anti-Arab causes.

However, the political favor may have a significant cost for both Israel and conservatives. For decades the antagonist in the Arab world has been Benjamin Netanyahu. He has been the architect of inhumane acts that were designed to provoke Arab reaction. His appearance before Congress using the same fear tactics he used in 2002, defined him as the problem, not the victim. Conservatives greeted Netanyahu as if he was the Rush Limbaugh, which made it clear to a reasonable person that this was not a speech of fact, but of a charlatan looking to play to conservative fear mongering, which is the heart and soul of wacko, right-wing conservatives.

The result of this has been to further isolate conservatives, and it has offered evidence that Israel has been playing all of us for far too long. If Netanyahu is successful in his re-election, it may finally wake up people of common sense that the way to bring peace to the world is to stop letting Israel to call the shots.

The Beginning of the End For Starbucks?

11 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Public Image, Public Relations, Social Media Relations, The Tipping Point

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*bucks, caffine, Coffee, coffee brewers, Coffee retailers, Oprah Chai Tea, SBUX, Starbucks, tea

WTF? Even Jasmine is disappointed

There are always people who hate Starbucks. It’s easy to do. A person can find retail coffee brewing houses that make as good, or better espresso drinks, and the die-hard loyalty of Starbucks customers, like myself, can be obnoxious. Even the term, ‘barista,’ can seem pretentious to some.

Still, Starbucks has always done one thing right: exceed customer’s expectations. Note some of their highlights:

When coffee drinking was dying out with old people who were raised in the era of the peculator coffee pot, Starbucks revolutionized coffee drinking with espresso drinks that created a new generation of caffeine consumers.
When other food and beverage businesses were trying to get the customer out the door as fast as possible, Starbucks was offering free WiFi and encouraging customers to enjoy a non-work, non-home, ‘third place’ to spend time to relax and enjoy.
When the coffee/tea/snack menu was becoming boring, Starbucks re-designed their menu and name to become known for more than just beverages.

Starbucks has always tried to do a little more than their competitors, which is why they have stood out.

But lately it seems Starbucks has fallen victim to the accountants and investors. This is to be expected. The average Fortune 500 or equivalent corporation last only between 40 to 50 years. Smaller companies have a much shorter life span.

“The average Fortune 500 or equivalent corporation last only between 40 to 50 years”

Typically a successful company manages become established and then after a period of time it catches fire. This is usually a combination of having a great idea at an unexpected moment. Customers often have a feeling of relief and joy associated with the product or service, a “WOW!” feeling. It can take twenty years or more for a business to have this kind of impact in a market.

If the business can survive the explosive growth phase, the next phase is coasting or reinvention. Coasting companies usually don’t make it to forty years. Competition is always ready to go after the market share of the leader who thinks they’re unbeatable. Anyone can copy and improve upon an idea.

However, the business that works to keep ahead of the competition by offering their customers something extra tend to outlast those who only copy them. Certainly, Starbucks fits this mold.

But at some point the accountants and investors start chipping away at a successful enterprise. They start by whispering, “We can save five cents per unit if we don’t do this. Why should we offer this, it doesn’t bring in revenue!” Soon managers are focusing on saving money to look good, not creating new sales.

“We can save five cents per unit if we don’t do this. Why should we offer this, it doesn’t bring in revenue!”

That’s when the wheels come off. As the company ‘saves’ money the customer begins to wonder why they do business with them instead of the competition. As revenue shrinks, investors get nervous, accountants ring the alarm bells and the pressure to do more with less boils the great people out of the company. At this point the fate of the company is set. The people left don’t know how to offer the unexpected to the customer and if they did, it would be against company policy.

Starbucks became forty on March 30, 2011. Today they are almost 44 years old. So where is Starbucks now?

A few years ago I noticed that most Starbucks stores took away all the trash cans from outside the store. Starbucks offers drive through service and outdoor seating a most of its stores, so it is obvious that outside trash cans are needed, but somewhere someone said, “Why do we offer to take care of people’s trash? It doesn’t provide revenue!” That was the first sign of a change in attitude.

This past holiday season Starbucks was again offering their ‘Sticker’ program for the holiday drinks, offering a free drink for every five holiday drinks sold. At least a week before Christmas Starbucks began running out of the holiday drink syrups. This was in contrary to past years when some of the holiday drinks were available until well into January. Why would Starbucks miscalculate how popular the holiday drinks would be, and how hard would it have been to order more from their supplier?

Of course, without holiday drinks, Starbucks saved money on the Sticker program. Obviously, an accountant projected the maximum loss of free drinks through the Sticker program and cut off the supply when the maximum benefit was reached in holiday drink sales.

The final evidence for me was subtle, but obvious.

Many Starbucks offer a ‘Puppachino’ (whipping cream in a kid’s cup) for people who have a dog. This is an off-menu free service and it caused our dog to go from barking at the Starbucks window attendant to quietly and anxiously anticipating her Puppachino. Today, our Puppachino was water in a kid’s cup with a little whip cream on top.

The simple change in a free service was a deafening moan of a company that is hemorrhaging goodwill from cuts to the veins of good management. No one would offer a cup of sticky, whip cream-laced water to their dog inside a car. It was a slap in the face of the customers. The manager is saying, “we can’t afford to offer this service, but we know you’ll bitch if we stop it, so here, pour this on your backseat.”

Starbucks is in full retreat and is following the spiral downward to be just another company that we will reminisce about in ten years.

Confessions of a Closet Wine Snob

09 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Public Image

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CA, California, Del Dotto, Del Dotto Historic Winery & Cave, Napa, Napa Valley, wine, Wineries, Winery

The wine cave at Del Dotto’s Historic Winery

In my defense, I didn’t know I was a wine snob. I thought that wine was a beverage that assaulted your mouth, overwhelmed the taste buds, and left your palate like it had just been mugged. I was happy to drink hard cider or craft beer.

Then my spouse suggested we go to Napa to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. Then we visited the Del Dotto Vineyard’s Napa Historic Winery. Then I discovered I was a wine snob.

There are some things you need to know about Del Dotto Vineyards. First, they are not trying to make wine for the huddled masses. Sutter Home, Beringer, Robert Mondavi, Inglenook, etc., are the vineyards that have massive quantities of wine and seek to put a glass in everyone’s hand. Del Dotto Vineyards are microscopic compared to the 800 pound gorillas of California wine country. Instead of producing commercial wines, they produce fine art wines.

Del Dotto also does their wine tastings from the barrel for most of the tour. They do have wine that reached its prime bottling date and can be purchased the same day; however, a guest should note that they are probably not going walk away with wine in hand. If you wish to purchase the wine from any barrel, it will be shipped to you when the wine is bottled. The wine we tasted was anywhere from two weeks to three months from being corked.

Del Dotto’s sculpture at the entrance to the wine cave

Finally, Del Dotto has two wineries. The one in Napa has the wine caves that were carved out in the 1800’s. We did not visit the other winery in St. Helena, but it offers both barrel tasting in a wine cave and bar tasting in the winery.

Our tour included wine aged in two different barrels. So what?

It was that exact same wine, or blend of wines, but they were aging one in a barrel made of French charred wood, and the same wine aged in American charred wood. I enjoyed the wine from all the barrels I tasted, but I preferred the French wood barrels over the American wood barrels. It is a great lesson in how the barrel influences the taste of the wine.

What I also discovered is that wine doesn’t have to make you feel like your mouth was taken down the alley and violated. The wines we tasted were full of flavor, but didn’t rampage through the mouth, nor feel like an oak moth just visited your tongue and left a deposit.

Later we visited another, well known winery, and they paraded out their best wines that were as expensive as the ones we tasted at Del Dotto’s. All of them reminded me of why I don’t drink wine.

I am not a wine expert. Nor do I have enough experience with the Napa area wineries to rank Del Dotto Vineyards with the cluster of wine tasting options in the region. What I do know is that their is a difference in the quality of wine and price is not always a good measure of quality.

At least I now know that I’m a wine snob and I know of at least one place I can find great wine.

Is Taylor Swift Planting Pity Stories?

31 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Honor, Internet, Public Image, Public Relations, Social Media Relations, Women

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#katyperry, #superbowl, #taylorswift, HollywoodLife.com, katy perry, Music, pity, pop, Super Bowl, Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift: Queen of Pity

Taylor Swift has always been a pity hound. Her ‘woe-is-me’ songs¹ about her failed relationships and enemies have one common denominator, namely, Taylor Swift.

But in the past few months stories about Katy Perry planning to “Diss” Taylor Swift at high-profile events, including tomorrow’s Super Bowl, have been surfacing. Hollywood Life ran almost identical headlines:

Katy Perry & Rihanna Plotting To Diss Taylor Swift At MTV EMAs (Hollywood Life, September 24, 2014)

Katy Perry Planning To Diss Taylor Swift During Super Bowl Performance (Hollywood Life, January 3, 2015)

Multiple media outlets picked up both stories, but all pointed back to Hollywood Life’s story without further evidence of fact. In addition, the actual source of the accusation is never revealed by Hollywood Life, so one can only speculate as to who has the most to gain by planting a ‘woe-is-me’ story.

Based on Swift’s history of pity pimping, it would seem more likely that she is planting stories about Katy Perry, than the Queen of Pop actually conspiring to use her Super Bowl honor to acknowledge the lesser wannabe pop star.

¹Songs and who the song is allegedly about (source):

Forever & Always – Joe Jonas
Better Than Revenge – Camilla Belle
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Again – Jake Gyllenhaal
Dear John – John Mayer
Out of the Woods – Harry Styles
Bad Blood – Katy Perry

Boehner Commits Near Act-of-War

24 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Ethics, Government, Opinion, Politics, Religion, Respect

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Benjamin Netanyahu, Congress, House of Representatives, Israel, John Boehner, Nevada, Sheldon Adelson

Shledon Adelson: Speaker John Boehner’s Puppet Master

John Boehner (R-Ohio) was elected with less than 127,000 votes last November. On Wednesday, the Speaker of the House decided that was enough to make him President and commit a foreign policy mistake that will be construed by many Arabs as an act of war.

Speaker Boehner is desperate and he is not very capable. He also hates President Barack Obama, (the guy who won his election with almost 66 million votes and who is in charge of our foreign policy.) He would do almost anything to attack the leader of our country, even if it put American lives at risk.

Speaker Boehner is also owned by big money contributors and in this case, Sheldon Adelson, Nevada’s Queen of the Desert, owns John Boehner. Adelson is the CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. He is the master of The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, Palazzo hotel, and the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America. He also is the lord of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Adelson makes a lot of money off people who come to his properties under belief that they are going to win money.

Sheldon Adelson doesn’t pay income taxes in Nevada. He, nor his con-businesses pays corporate taxes in Nevada, nor do they pay capital gains taxes. In fact, the main source of taxes from his casinos are the ‘winners’ who must pay a share of their take to the state, so Adelson contributes almost nothing for the privilege of emptying people’s wallets in Nevada.

So what does Adelson do with his money? He buys political power, mostly for Israeli and Jewish interests. Adelson’s money is banked in conservative measures all over the world. If it is anti-Arab and good for conservatives, Adelson’s money will be close by.

Considering the power that Sheldon Adelson has over Speaker John Boehner, it is easy to understand why the Congressman from Ohio invited Benjamin Netanyahu, possibly the most hated man in the Arab world, to speak to Congress. Speaker Boehner’s invitation would be similar to inviting the leader of the Klu Klux Klan to Congress in order to spite African-Americans.

Boehner’s insult to the Arab world is under the guise of learning about the ‘threat’ of Iran’s nuclear program. This is a lie. There are many true experts that could address the reality of an Iran threat, but those experts are not going to say what conservatives want to hear.

The March 3rd invitation (moved back from February 11) for Netanyahu is also timed to put the leader of Jewish military oppression against Arabs in the spotlight prior to the Israeli elections. A direct link between Adelson and Netanyahu’s invitation would be difficult to prove, but you can smell Adelson’s money all over Boehner’s act.

No one can know if Boehner’s insult to Arabs will result in an American body count, but the Speaker of the House has certainly put Americans in danger in order to make a payment on his debt to Adelson.

It would be an appropriate response to Boehner’s stupidity if all the Democrats held a conference on the same day regarding the reality of Iran’s threat with real experts who don’t have a political election in the balance.

Boehner’s Mismanagement of Politics

22 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Management Practices, Politics

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Congress, Conservatives, Epic Fail, John Boehner, Republicans, Speaker of the House, Tea Party

Speaker Boehner: A political epic fail

During Tuesday night’s State of the Union Speech, Vice President Biden could have worn a “I’m with stupid” t-shirt with the arrow pointing to the left and Boehner wouldn’t have understood the joke.

John Boehner is possibly the most clueless, out-of-date Speaker of the House in the history of America. Here is a man no one respects, no one likes, and in which no one believes. He is in a position of great power and yet he is a cartoon of power. His ineffectiveness is only exceeded by his inability to grasp the larger vision of his duties. He is the definition of epic fail.

We can make a lot of excuse for his failures, but he sits in political bath water that smells like urine because he peed in it. He simply lacks the intelligence of independent thought and is incapable of doing anything that is unexpected.

Certainly Speaker Boehner is confronted with a difficult position. While everyone talks about how the Republicans now run the House and Senate, the fact is that Boehner’s failure to put right-wing extremists in their place has created a three party government consisting of Democrats, Republicans, and wackos.

There is a segment of America that loves wackos…right up until someone exposes their stupidity and then wackos become everybody’s joke. Boehner is the one person in a position to expose the right-wing extremists as the buffoons they are, but rather than do that, he has coddled them in order to promote the myth of a united Republican party.

If Speaker Boehner extended a alliance to moderate Republicans and Democrats he could end the rhetoric, slap down the wackos, and make the Republican party look like leaders. More importantly, he could become an effective Speaker of the House crafting legislation that President Obama would have to take seriously. Instead, he tries to wear a mantle of stupidity in order to appease the stupid, and employ meaningless posturing that makes him look foolish and President Obama look even more intelligent.

Speaker Boehner will be the reason that Republicans will find 2016, to be even more disappointing than 2012.

How to Choose Your Favorite Son or Daughter

20 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Lessons of Life, parenting, Pride, Relationships

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children, Colorado, daughter, Denver, Favorite child, love, Nevada, offspring, parent, Parent Development, parenting, Reno, son

And the favorite child is?

Every family that has more than one child faces a question as to which one is the favorite child. When asked, a parent will typically say, “They’re all my favorite,” which is BS and we all know it. Every parent should be able to know which child is their favorite, even if they can’t be honest about it.

Evaluating Your Offspring

Trying to determine which is your favorite is not as easy as it sounds. Flight attendants giving the pre-flight safety briefing on Southwest Airlines sometimes encourage parents of flying with more than one child to determine which child has the best earning potential in case they have to choose one to give oxygen in the event the cabin depressurizes. This is funny the first 20 times you hear it, but that doesn’t stop them from delivering the joke 100 hundreds of times.

However, earning potential is a poor criteria for determining a favorite child…unless you have a binding contract that gives you a kickback as a quid pro quo for favorite child status. Quite frankly, successful adults often start out as horrible offspring, so I would not use earning potential as a factor.

Ease of child-rearing is also not a reliable criteria. Often it is the badly behaved child that teaches us the most about ourselves and our skills as a parent. Bad children can also become grateful adults, although one shouldn’t bank on that either.

Children who are ‘Mama’s boy’ or ‘Daddy’s girl’ should not be considered as an indicator of favorite child status. Sweet young children can become Satan’s spawn as teenagers, leaving the parent to wonder what they did wrong…as if the parent is at fault.

Children who remain in constant contact, calling their Mom or Dad daily, may seem like candidates for the favorite child, but this stalking technique is illegal in most states, so it doesn’t seem prudent to consider it as a factor?

So how does a parent determine the favorite child?

I have two adult daughters and a nine-year-old son. My daughters have successful lives, wonderful children and selected husbands that are more intelligent than their (my daughter’s) father. My son works hard to do his best and constantly impresses me with his development out of conservative it’s-all-about-me behavior into liberal, make-the-world better behavior. It would seem I would have a difficult time choosing the favorite….

….but I don’t.

The secret to choosing your favorite child is remembering that life is made up of moments. Every moment (in person or by phone or text) with one or more of my children is a moment with my favorite child or children. Our offspring don’t often understand why ‘family gatherings’ are so important to parents because they don’t realize that it is a time when a parent is rich with favorite children.

This doesn’t mean any of our children fall out of favor just because they are not with the parent at any given moment. Children are part of a parent’s life at all times, but when we have the opportunity to interact with our children, the moment is special.

Children are our legacy and we can move on in our lives reassured that we have accomplished all we needed to when we have raised a child. Our offspring become the painting of life we create as parents.We are artists and when we spend time with our children we can admire the grace and creativity of work that we did without a manual, training or degree. We can’t take credit for everything our children become, but we can smile and be content in that role we played in their lives….even if they don’t realize it.

This holiday season, remember to enjoy your favorite child and know that you are not limited to just one. Happy Holidays!

A Glimpse of Education in Panama

22 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by Paul Kiser in Customer Relations, Education, Information Technology, Internet, parenting, Passionate People, Technology, Travel

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Centro Educativo, children, Coronado, Educacion, elementary school, Panama, parenting, San Jose, school

The Principal in the classroom in Panama

Teaching children is a challenge anywhere in the world. Culture, government, and environment all affect the quality of education. Still, it seems that the foundation of any great school is the dedication of the staff to the students.

Recently I was on my second visit to a community about 90 km (60 mi.) from Panama City, Panama. While in the area I decided to research their education system by dropping in on a local school, the Centro Educativo San Jose elementary school.

It should be noted that to truly understand the education system in Panama, I should first be proficient in Spanish, and second, I should visit multiple schools, both private and public, over a period of weeks or months. A thirty minute conversation with the Principal, who does not speak English, and a teacher acting as my interpreter is only enough to give a first impression.

However, there are clues about the quality of education that are instantly obvious and transcend language barriers.

Laughing children. It is difficult to bridle the enthusiasm of children, but some schools seem to manage to stifle the joy of childhood. Centro Educativo San Jose has not made this mistake. At this elementary school the children were well-behaved, but laughing and smiling. It was obvious they understood discipline, but they were obviously happy to be at school.

Panama celebrates Thanksgiving

Helpful children. When I arrived I first met an adult with several children. I wasn’t sure of her role in the school (she may have been a parent,) but when I asked if she spoke English, she said, “No.” Instantly a young girl at her side pointed at one of the teachers and indicated she spoke English, then the girl quickly ran to the teacher and brought her to me. This girl knew she could help and did so without hesitation. That tells me that the school encourages critical thinking that empowers children with the ability to respond quickly to a situation.

Professional Staff. In the tropics the temperature is near 30° C (86° F) year round and the humidity wraps around you like a wet towel. There is no air conditioning at this school and any breeze is welcome in the classroom. Despite these environmental conditions, the staff at the school looked and acted professional.

What I learned during my visit surprised me. The students have access to computers and they have a ‘Technology Room” filled with computers. I couldn’t tell if the computers were connected to the Internet; however, I did not expect an 80 year-old public school to have dozens of desktop computers with flat screen monitors.

This school is funded by government support, which limits the per/student resources; however, most schools in Panama are private where parents pay $1,500 to $3000 per year for tuition.

Many schools in Panama operate double sessions with one group of students attending in the morning and another attending in the afternoon. At this school the morning session is 7 AM to 12 Noon, and the second session is 12 Noon to 5 PM.

While most private schools are open twelve months a year, public schools are in session March through December, and have ‘summer’ break in January and February.

I asked about homework and parent involvement and heard what I expected. Once the students leave the school they are not expected to do homework and parents are not typically involved in assisting the staff in school. In an environment of low pay and long working hours, parents likely have no time to be involved in their children’s education.

I was told the biggest challenge is teaching English to the students. The impact of being bilingual is significant in a working adult’s life in Panama, and anywhere else. Yet, It is hard to explain that to a child in rural Panama whose only encounter with another language is in the school.

I’m grateful to have the opportunity to visit the school, and hope to do it again the next time I’m in Panama. I apologize to the Principal and the teacher who interpreted for me. I failed to write their names down before I left. Both graciously gave me valuable time out of their schedule and I appreciate it.

It was a pleasure meeting dedicated professionals who are changing lives every day by caring about the future of the students in their school.

Espanol Version (Using Google Translate)

Enseñar a los niños es un desafío en cualquier parte del mundo. Cultura, gobierno, medio ambiente y afectan la calidad de la educación. Aún así, parece que el fundamento de cualquier gran escuela es la dedicación del personal de los estudiantes.

Hace poco estuve en mi segunda visita a una comunidad a unos 90 km (60 mi.) De la Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá. Mientras que en la zona me decidí a investigar su sistema educativo por meterme en una escuela local, la escuela primaria Centro Educativo San José.

Cabe señalar que para comprender verdaderamente el sistema de educación en Panamá, que primero debería ser competentes en español, y en segundo lugar, que debe visitar varias escuelas, tanto públicas como privadas, en un periodo de semanas o meses. Una conversación treinta minutos con el director, que no habla Inglés, y un profesor que actúa como mi intérprete sólo es suficiente para dar una primera impresión.

Sin embargo, hay pistas sobre la calidad de la educación que son inmediatamente obvias y trascienden las barreras del idioma.

Niños de risa. Es difícil de frenar el entusiasmo de los niños, pero algunas escuelas parecen manejar a silenciar la alegría de la infancia. Centro Educativo San José no ha cometido este error. En esta escuela primaria los niños estaban bien atendidos, pero riendo y sonriendo. Era obvio que entendían la disciplina, pero eran obviamente feliz de estar en la escuela.

Niños útiles. Cuando llegué por primera vez a un adulto con varios hijos. Yo no estaba seguro de su papel en la escuela (que puede haber sido uno de los padres), pero cuando le pregunté si hablaba Inglés, dijo, “No.” Al instante una chica joven a su lado señaló a uno de los profesores y indica que hablaba Inglés, entonces la chica corrió rápidamente a la maestra y la trajo a mí. Esta chica sabía que podía ayudar y lo hizo sin dudarlo. Eso me dice que la escuela promueve el pensamiento crítico que permite a los niños con la capacidad para responder rápidamente a una situación.

Personal Profesional. En los trópicos la temperatura es de cerca de 30 ° C (86 ° F) durante todo el año y los abrigos de humedad a su alrededor como una toalla húmeda. No hay aire acondicionado en esta escuela y cualquier brisa es bienvenida en el salón de clases. A pesar de estas condiciones ambientales, el personal de la escuela parecía y actuaba profesional.

Lo que aprendí durante mi visita me sorprendió. Los estudiantes tienen acceso a computadoras y tienen un ‘Room Tecnología “lleno de computadoras. No podría decir si los equipos estaban conectados a Internet; Sin embargo, no esperaba un 80 años de edad de escuelas públicas para tener docenas de computadoras de escritorio con monitores de pantalla plana.

Esta escuela está financiado por el apoyo del gobierno, lo que limita los recursos per / estudiante; Sin embargo, la mayoría de las escuelas en Panamá son privadas donde los padres pagan $ 1.500 a $ 3000 por mes para la matrícula.

Muchas escuelas en Panamá operan sesiones dobles con un grupo de estudiantes que asisten por la mañana y otra que asisten por la tarde. En esta escuela la sesión de la mañana a 7 de la mañana a 12 del mediodía, y la segunda sesión es de 12 del mediodía a 17:00.

Aunque la mayoría de las escuelas privadas están abiertas los doce meses del año, las escuelas públicas están en sesión de marzo a diciembre, y tienen descanso “verano” en enero y febrero.

Le pregunté acerca de la tarea y la participación de los padres y escuché lo que me esperaba. Una vez que los estudiantes salen de la escuela a la que no se espera que hagan los deberes y los padres no suelen participar en la asistencia al personal de la escuela. En un entorno de bajos salarios y largas horas de trabajo, los padres probablemente no tienen tiempo para participar en la educación de sus hijos.

Me dijeron que el mayor desafío es la enseñanza de Inglés a los estudiantes. El impacto de ser bilingüe es importante en la vida de un adulto que trabaja en Panamá, y en cualquier otro lugar. Es difícil de explicar que a un niño que sólo el encuentro con otro idioma es en la escuela.

Fue un placer conocer a los profesionales que están cambiando vidas todos los días por el cuidado por el futuro de los estudiantes en su escuela dedicada.

Smoke Adds To Global Warming

18 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Ethics, Green, Health, Politics, Science, solar, Universities

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atmosphere, children, environment, Ethics, Global warming, infrared, King fire, Nevada, Reno, Rim fire, smoke, solar, Sun

September morning smoke haze over Reno, Nevada caused by California King fire

Seventy-eight percent of the Earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen, and twenty-one percent is oxygen. Both of these gases do not absorb infrared radiation. The heat from the Sun passes through nitrogen and oxygen. When scientists refer to global warming they are not talking about the two gases that make up 99% of our atmosphere.

Global warming is what happens in one percent of the atmosphere. Carbon, water vapor, and other trace gases/particles absorb infrared radiation from the Sun, and from solar infrared radiation that.is reflected off the Earth’s surface. One percent of our air holds the balance between continuity of our climate and rapid variances.

Some are proud of their role in causing devastating environmental change.

This summer one of my friends, Dr. Narayan Adhikari, completed his doctoral theses. He studied the rate of infrared absorption in the atmosphere by using instruments that regularly measured the air over various locations in northern Nevada. His research included two significant events that impacted the air quality in the Reno, Nevada area. One event was a dust storm in June of last year and the other was smoke from the Rim fire in California in August of 2013.

Both of these events gave him the opportunity to measure the impact of infrared absorption when the atmosphere has a dramatic increase in amount of aerosol particulates. The results of his studies indicate a significant increase in heating of the atmosphere by infrared absorption during such events.

This debunks the idea that clouds, smoke, and other ‘sun-blocking’ events might help cool the atmosphere. Smoke from fires, such as the King fire currently burning in California will trap more heat and cause increased global warming.

Thank you Apple!

08 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Information Technology, Management Practices, Opinion, Public Image, Public Relations, Technology

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account, Amazon, Apple, Google, Google Play, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, Kindle Fire, Music, music library, password, scam, security, security questions

Apple’s end product without iTunes, a useless piece of technology

Recently I was freed of my Apple conflict. Thanks to Apple’s security policy regarding my iTunes account, I no longer use it for buying music.

Like most people I have always used a PC. Apple computers were interesting, but I was always leery of the Apple agenda. I did have iTunes and an iPod and purchased songs through iTunes for most of my musical entertainment.

A few years ago I was given a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I began buying some music from Amazon, but then I had a split music library. One with iTunes. One with Amazon. Fortunately, I quickly discovered that my Kindle Fire couldn’t handle storing my songs, apps, and movies in the Kindle, so that ended my brief affair with Amazon music.

Then last year I was introduced to Google Play. I found that with their service I could play all the songs from my computer on my Android phone. Still, a question remained about the iTunes service I’ve used since I transcended from CD’s to digital.

In this past year, Apple made the decision for me. Apple has created a password security process that is complex and leads the customer to being locked out of his or her iTunes library with no recourse but to start a new iTunes account.

Here’s the way the scam works. During a purchase of an iTunes product, Apple forces the customer into a convoluted process that requires her or him to change their iTunes password and answer a limited choice of possible questions about the customer’s childhood memories. For several months after the customer has been forced to go through the new password procedure Apple allows him or her to make purchases from iTunes without giving the new password. The customer has no cause to recall the password until sufficient time has passed to make the customer forget the new password

However, after six months or so, Apple will spring the trap and make the customer give the complicated password before a purchase. Upon failing to give the correct password, Apple then requires the customer answer the questions about their childhood memories, which are so lame that most people won’t remember the answers.

So, then you contact Apple and get help, right?

Contacting Apple’s “Support” is where you find out how deep the password rabbit hole goes. They will ask for your password. You already tried that and they will, surprise, surprise, also find you don’t know it. They will ask for the answers to the childhood questions. You still don’t know the answers. After that they will ask you for the original credit card number with which you set up your account iTunes account. When you can’t produce that number, they will ask for the serial number of the first Apple product you owned. In my case, this is the 1st generation iPod that was recalled several years ago.

R.I.P. iPod

That’s it. Because you can’t answer any of their ridiculous questions they will tell you they can’t do anything more for you. You must set up a new iTunes account and the past digital downloads must be repurchased.

So now I must thank Apple. I no longer have a conflict with my digital music libraries. Google Play is the best choice and I won’t be purchasing anything from iTunes.

I suppose that someone will file a class action lawsuit with Apple in a few years. Apple emails will probably reveal their strategy to make customers repurchase their digital libraries and a settlement of a few dollars per customer will be made while the attorneys make millions of dollars.

In the meantime, I will listen to ALL my songs I purchased through Google Play.

Forest Service Waved Off Early Air Support of Hunter Falls Fire Near Reno

27 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Crisis Management, Government, Management Practices, Public Relations, Recreation

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air tankers, Fire, fire boss, fire management, fire retardant, forest fire, Hunter Falls fire, KRNV, U.S. Forest Service, USFS, Washoe County Sheriff's Department, WCSD

12:04 PM Hunter Falls fire from Reno

On Saturday evening, May 17, the U. S. Forest Service was informed that there was an uncontrolled fire in the Hunter Falls area west of Reno, Nevada. Because it was dark and the area was difficult to reach by vehicle, the Forest Service elected to wait until dawn to attack the fire. On Sunday noon a ground crew still had not reached the fire and winds had picked up. The fire was rapidly growing sending smoke towering over Reno, Nevada.

According to an anonymous source it was 2:15 PM on Sunday before an air attack on the fire would begin and by that time the U.S. Forest Service had known about the fire for at least 15 hours. The lack of rapid response occurred on an active fire where high winds from an incoming front were predicted by the National Weather Service.

When asked about the delay in air support, a spokesperson for the U. S. Forest Service had said that air support was not available. According to the KRNV News in Reno, the Washoe County Sheriff”s Department, helicopter, capable of making water drops on a fire, was available. Another source said that two air tankers from California were in process of being repositioned Sunday morning to the Stead airport north of Reno to attack the fire.

4:55 PM Hunter Falls fire continues to grow

Apparently those resources were waved off by the Forest Service on Sunday morning. According to the source, the rationale for waving off the air tankers was to avoid dropping fire-retardant in the local watershed. There was no apparent reason for not using water drops from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department’s helicopter.

The choice to send in ground crews, rather than air support, is also questionable. In 1994, a fire on Storm King Mountain fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado killed 14 firefighters when high winds kicked up and trapped them.

Colder temperatures and precipitation over the next few days allowed the fire to be controlled; however, there are many questions that need to be answered regarding the decision to wave off air support considering the weather forecast and the difficult terrain of the Hunter Falls areas.

The Grade Negotiation Season

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, College, Communication, Education, Ethics, Generational, Higher Education, Internet, Opinion, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Respect, Universities

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college credit, Email, financial aid, grade point average, Grades, negotiation, professors, semester, student loans

Spring brings forth the failures as well as the flowers

Most people don’t realize that we are in a new season. It happens twice a year at the end of a semester when college professors are bombarded with emails from their students trying to beg, borrow, or steal a few points for a higher grade. It should be noted that the majority of these emails are not coming the students who attended class, turned in assignments on time, and studied for the tests. No, these are the students that missed class, turned in assignments late, and had a party to go to rather than study.

The emails are typically as follows:

Hi,

Could u look @my grade. I need 2 have a c n u’re clas or i lose my finansal aide. i was sure i had a c n u’re class.

Rach

The student often assumes that the professor knows in which class the student was enrolled, and writes as if she or he is texting a friend. The student probably knows that they didn’t deserve a “C” in the class; however, they hope that the professor will feel sorry for them and bump them up. Usually, nothing changes, but the student can say to her or his parents that they were sure they had a “C” in the class and that they even complained to the professor, but he or she wouldn’t change it.

For the professor, these emails take pointless hours of time to review the scores, confirm the grade, and respond. It turns the end of the semester into a circus where all the clowns come out of the woodwork after being absent most of the semester.

There is nothing wrong with a student questioning their grade; however, if a student is at the borderline of losing her or his financial aid, and/or falling below the required grade average for enrollment, the problem is not about one grade, but the overall performance in all classes.

Sadly, professors are not allowed to offer an appropriate response such as:

Rachel Smith
Student
ENG 203 – Writing For Business

Dear Rachel:

Thank you for your email. Your grade is based on your participation in my class and reflects the work you performed. The “D’ you received is not only correct, it is generous. I’m pleased to see that a student like yourself will no longer be offered financial aid, so that a better quality of student can now be a recipient.

I wish you well on your future in the world of menial labor for which you may or may not be qualified.

Sincerely,

Edward Terrell
Professor
University of Higher Education

Stop Using the Fahrenheit Scale

19 Monday May 2014

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Communication, Education, Generational, Government, Lessons of Life, Public Relations, Science, Technology

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Celsius, Centigrade, comfort, degrees, Fahrenheit, scale, temperature

I know you think it’s hard. We were taught temperature in the Fahrenheit scale. It’s all we know. Now forget it.

The problem in understanding the Celsius scale us that we try to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, or the other way around and it becomes too confusing. I say it again, forget the Fahrenheit scale. It’s the best way to understand the Celsius scale.

Why? Because most of the time we only care about the temperature to know how to dress, so try this:

-20°C – Why are you outside?
-10°C – It’s really cold. Gloves and a muffler with your winter coat.
0°C – It’s cold. You need a winter coat.
10°C – It’s cool. Jacket weather.
20°C – It’s comfortable. Maybe long sleeves.
30°C – It’s getting hot. Short sleeve and shorts.
40°C – It’s really hot. Find the nearest air-conditioned room.

That’s it. If you can count by 10’s you can understand the Celsius scale. Okay, I’ll let you see the corresponding temperatures in Fahrenheit:

-20°C – Why are you outside? (-4°F)
-10°C – It’s really cold. Gloves and a muffler with that winter coat. (14°F)
0°C – It’s cold. You need a winter coat. (32°F)
10°C – It’s cool. Jacket weather. (50°F)
20°C – It’s comfortable. Maybe long sleeves. (68°F)
30°C – It’s getting hot. Short sleeves and shorts. (86°F)
40°C – It’s really hot. Find the nearest air-conditioned room. (104°F)

If it helps, just remember that 20°C is comfortable if there is no wind. Every 10° up or down from that temperature is going to be a significant change in comfort level. It’s that simple.

Okay, if you’re a cook, the Celsius scale is a little more challenging, but baby steps, baby steps.

Five Signs That Should Be A Dealbreaker When Purchasing A Pre-owned House

13 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Honor, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Public Relations

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buying, home, housing, housing costs, housing prices, investment, Money, price, realtor, realty, Selling, value

Greed is NOT good when purchasing a home. The ethics of selling a house have reached new lows and some realtors are little more that used car dealers looking to take advantage of the gullible and the inexperienced. Here are five things that should encourage you to walk away from a sale.

The Angry Realtor
Regardless of the circumstance, the sale of a home should not be a cause for anger. Terms are either acceptable or not, and an overly emotional or condescending realtor is a good indication that he or she is trying to distract the buyer (and sometimes the seller.) The ethical realtor understands that buying a home is one of the big decisions in life and everyone should be happy when the check is exchanged.

Unfortunately, the past decade has seen ruthless and unethical realtors gain a foothold in an otherwise, honorable profession. If a realtor accuses you of being unreasonable, they may be trying to attack your sense of self and create doubt so that you’ll back away from your convictions. Again, the terms are either acceptable or not, and if not, a counter offer or a polite decline are the only appropriate responses.

Buying a home can be a win-win, or win-lose depending on the ethics of the seller

Flipped Houses Tricks
Buying a cheap house, fixing it up, and reselling it used to be an honorable vocation. It is no longer.

When profit is the primary motive, ethics of the seller and their realtor become meaningless. Anything in a house that needs fixed or replaced will likely be done at the lowest price with the least amount of quality and work. Here are some tricks in remodeling for profit that you should be wary of when buying a home:

Single pane, aluminum frame windows are great if you like high heating bills and wasting energy

New windows trick – Insulating dual pane windows are a standard in today’s home. Homes with single pane windows should have been updated in the during the last 20 years. Rather than updating all the windows, unethical sellers will only replace the windows on the front of the house, which improves its curb appeal, but doesn’t fix the problem.
Landscaping trick – Landscaping is a key indicator of how the house was maintained. People who didn’t take care of their yard, probably didn’t take care of their house. The unethical seller will plant a few new trees or bushes, and some decorative stone to cover the weeds and dead lawn. If everything looks new, ask about the drip system for the plants. If their isn’t one, then you know they are just trying to disguise poor maintenance with rock and mirrors.
Plumbing fixtures trick – New toilets and faucets make a house look updated, but that can mean it is updated. The unethical seller will use the cheapest toilets and fixtures at Home Depot or Lowe’s and pay an unlicensed handyman to install them on the lowest bid. Run every faucet, flush every toilet, and look for leaks, and/or sloppy installation.
New carpet trick – Worn floors and carpet will cause most buyers to walk away from a house. Enter cheap tan carpet. The quickest and cheapest fix is inexpensive tan carpet. A house that has new tan carpet gives the feel of a well-maintained home, but this should cause the potential buyer to look even closer at the home. It is worth the trip to a carpet store before a buyer begins home shopping. A home buyer should know the look and feel of high quality carpet versus cheap tan carpet.
Electrical outlets trick – A home with ungrounded, (AKA: two-prong outlets,) is in desperate need of updating. It means that the house should be rewired (See Outdated Systems.) To disguise this issue, the unethical seller will change the two-prong outlets with three-prong, (AKA: grounded) outlets, but they won’t replace the wire, nor will they have run a grounded wire to each outlet.

Bidding Wars
Bidding wars on a home is a win for the seller and always a loss the buyer. Home buying is not a game. The pressure of people bidding against each other drives the price up, and the value down. Walk away from a bidding war.

Getting a great deal is a matter of being in the right place at the right time. By shopping for homes over a period of months, the chance of being at the right place and time increases. There is a name for people who expect to spend only a week looking for a new home: Suckers.

Outdated Systems
Because everything wears out, and because newer house systems (heat, light, plumbing, electrical, appliances, etc.) are more efficient, buying a home with outdated equipment means, 1) that the previous homeowner didn’t do the maintenance they should have, and 2) the real cost will be much higher as you will be burdened with the cost and inconvenience making it current. Here are some systems you should ask about before you buy:

Water Heater Tanks – The life span of most water heaters is ten to thirteen years. If the heater is older than 2001, it needs to be replaced.
Furnaces – A well-maintained furnace can last 25 years. A furnace installed before 1990, is not only at the end of its life, it is costing you money because it is inefficient.
Electrical – The electrical system has about a 40-year life span. Any home built before 1975, should be rewired. It’s a tough job and expensive. It is not a job that should be done on the lowest bid.
Plumbing – Metal pipes can last for 70 years or more. Newer PVC (plastic) pipe has a much shorter life (25 to 40 years.) Clay pipes (used for sewer pipe in the mid-1900’s, is past its lifespan. A good home inspector can verify the state of the existing plumbing and their advice should be heeded.

High Pressure Sale
Anytime the buyer or their realtor is applying undo pressure for a decision the buyer should be ready to walk away. Used car salesmen have used this tactic for decades to push people into a deal that they don’t want. It also means that the seller may have significant problems with the house that they don’t want the buyer to discover.

Certainly the buyer needs to make timely decisions, and a seller should not expect to have to pass up other offers while waiting for another buyer to decide, but if the seller is demanding an immediate decision, then warning bells should be going off in the buyer’s mind.

3rd From Sol

~ Learn from before. Live now. Look ahead.

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