DEAR BIMBO

A message to the girl who kept me awake last night…

Dear Bimbo,

You have spent many hours roaming the street outside my home yesterday, crying about some pathetic event that happened whereby you were hit on by a girl., or some such thing. It was hard to hear the words even though you were shouting into your cell phone at midnight, smack on the street, as though your sorry ass was the only life worth talking about. It was hard to tell whether you had just been dumped, or something had happened more serious; whatever it was you walked the entire length of the street sharing your tale with everyone. You used the “F” word more times than I could count, along with the “C” version and of course “Bitch” as well as the many others that we have accepted in our screwed up society as normal conversation for a young lady to have at midnight on a street corner – especially since you were not apparently charging money!

Here is the thing. Unlike you, I do have a job, pay my property taxes and truly do deserve a good night sleep were it not for the likes of you and other of your ilk; ill bred teens who have such an overdeveloped sense of self importance that nothing matters to them. Take for example the young male (whose parents were not obviously married) in the crappy car that can only be described as one shade from the crusher, squealing tires on the street for no reason other than the testicle itch he was apparently having. And I have to wonder why no other people have issues with this, or your senseless wailing that would result in Dr. Phil telling you to shut up and get a life, you know the kind that respects that boundaries of decency and consideration.

Did you notice the other teen male running nude up the street a few hours later. I did. And let me tell you I would have thought that if size mattered he would have reconsidered.  You were likely still wailing into your phone at full volume because you are special and God only knows we all need to share your pain and misery.

I find that as summer approaches these acts of teen inconsideration remind me that we need a curfew and serious restraints upon our youth. This is not “kids being kids” these are thugs in training who will grow up to be totally inconsiderate adults – and do just like the many that we know.

I was raised with manners and courtesy but I confess that I am indulging in fantasies of a secret vigilante life, roaming the street with my bow and arrow (or Glock 9 mm) taking care of these street issues along with the drug dealers and the hygiene impaired tough guys that believe if they can intimidate you enough you will stay inside and leave them alone. I notice that many people are intimidated.

And so, dear Bimbo, deal with it because if I hear you wailing on my street again, I will, at the least, come out in my evening wear and break your phone after sharing my knowledge of international swear words with you. Don’t say you weren't warned.

MisterWriter

KIDFEST – MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY, FUN AND BATMAN – JUST ADD CHILDREN

from event organizer Jay Bedecarre:

The beautiful weather in Concord continues but the temps have dropped below 80 today so don't miss this final chance to bring your kids (or grandkids!!!) out to the 21st annual Bay Area KidFest in downtown Concord. KidFest runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Memorial Day.

In honor of the women and men who have served and are serving our country, there will be a noon Memorial Day ceremony on the main stage with a Marine Color Guard, Jr. ROTC units and a young singer performing patriotic songs.

DOZENS of free activities for the kids….Jumpers, crawls, carnival games, face painting, bouncers, Rock Band II, balloon art, KidArt. Lots of onsite and nearby parking.

After today, Mama Bear from the Berenstein Bears and Batman will be returning to Bear Country and Gotham City, respectively, so come out with a camera to get priceless yet FREE photos of them with your kids.

KidFest 2010 benefits the United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation to save high school sports and Mt. Diablo Music Education Foundation to preserve music in the elementary schools.

Enjoy a day filled with fun, excitement, adventure and learning while supporting our school children.

MEMORIAL…

 

 

 

 

“The remembrance is not for the loss of life that allowed us liberty; but rather the remembrance of the values of that liberty that gives meaning to the lives that were lost.”  -MisterWriter

 

 

 

 

 

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WHY?

Why do we pollute the water we need to drink? Why do we pollute the air we need to breathe?  Why do we insist that commerce is about selling the average schmuck a product that will leech some toxin that deforms and kills them over time, but thank the Lord they bought it at a bargain price? Why do I need to worry about plastic products giving me cancer? Why is my kid’s Tylenol on recall, again? Why can’t Toyota get brakes working? Why can’t the people drilling holes in the earth not stop the oil leak?  Why is our state government a bunch of chowder heads unable to balance a budget? And why are they stealing money from city redevelopment funds? Why are there no politicians running for office I want to vote for? Why is Willie Brown trying to get me to buy a raffle for an overpriced San Francisco home that I might win and get stuck paying property taxes on? Why isn’t the Bay Bridge finished? Why can’t we get a decent Mars mission going?  Why are cigarette manufacturers still allowed to manufacture cigarettes? Why do our soldiers and veterans not get everything paid for for the ultimate sacrifice thousands of them make on our behalf? Why are we fighting wars all over the world but cannot take care of our own problems?  How many nuclear bombs do we really need?  Why are we allowing our prisons to do better than our schools? Why have elected officials forgotten that they are public SERVANTS there to serve us?

Worse still…why do I have to ask why? This should be a no brainer.

I wrote this for my book “Signs You May Be An Idiot" but it continues to ring true… Why are more people not asking why?

As long as I live in a world where the strong take from the weak, where discrimination is a by-product of liberty, where oxygen-producing forests are stripped, oceans polluted, air soaked with cancer causing chemicals, and where countries fight wars in the name of a peaceful and loving God, I can never be called unreasonable.

Why are more people not asking why?  Why are there no riots in the streets, no protests about the absurdity of the situation that we find ourselves in? Why are we accepting that there is no money for schools, that we lost sports and we lost music and we are still in danger of losing more? Where are the pissed off parents who want better for their children?  Where are the people boycotting products because the greedy capitalistic owners are milking their profits at your expense?

Why do I accept shootings by my kid’s school? Why do I accept door to door people reportedly raping a 17 year old, or should I accept that the 17 year old was at fault? Why should I care given that television and movies and video games have made sport of immorality because some sucker will shell out cash for the pleasure of stealing cars and shooting drug dealers and running over prostitutes in the name of entertainment while in real life we allow the same to live on our street and protect their rights as though they were deserving of rights? Is the child molester next door deserving of rights? Don’t felons lose their right to vote?

I am very, very, very irritated that I have to keep asking why, and I am tired of the BS answers I hear in response. I do not have to be accepting of all deviant life forms. I do not have to accept that everyone has a right – even if we have yet to define it. I do not have to accept that running across the border to pop out a child gives you the right of citizenship? I do not have to accept that the money that could be spent on my child learning something decent in school is instead spent on illegal aliens and lawyer fees for people who want to sue everybody. I do not have to accept those endless TV commercials for lawyers plumbing for fools to sue someone. I do not have to accept that the law absolves personal responsibility. I do not have to accept that the normal people following the rules turn out to be the real losers in this country. Why should I accept that?

Why should I have to ask why?

MisterWriter

GOOD GRIEF – JULY 4th in CONCORD – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Good Grief Charlie Brown, It's the Concord 4th of July Jubilee & Parade!

Virginia Thomas (TSBA) needs volunteers for July 4th. Watch the video.

Todos Santos Plaza is THE place to be on July 4th!   Join us for Downtown Concord's Signature Events

* JUBILEE from 8am to 2pm   * COMMUNITY PARADE

Celebrate Independence Day with arts & crafts, Good Mornin' Pancake Breakfast and yummy food throughout the day, musical performances, kids' activities, educational displays, a special tribute to Charlie Brown & Friends, and MORE!

Parade Entry Form                  Vendor Application Form

 

MisterWriter

HAPPY MEMORIAL WEEKEND AND REMEMBER WHY…

…you get a long weekend!

 

So long as there are men there will be wars. -Albert Einstein

The purpose of all war is ultimately peace. -Saint Augustine

Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace. -Martin Luther

Enjoy the peace while it exists, safely and in remembrance of those unable to do so - MisterWriter

T’WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE THE NIGHT BEFORE KIDFEST AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE…

Did you know that the proceeds from this event go to the MDUSD athletic and sports foundations?  Go have fun… you know you want to.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday – Memorial Weekend at the Mt. Diablo High School grounds – click the link at the bottom to find out more.

Here’s organizer Jay Bedecarre chatting about it and I hope you don’t mind I added some YouTube videos of past events. 

Admission is $5 and bring a can of food for the Food Bank!!!!! Really. You know you have some just sitting there waiting for a good cause.

By the way The Concordian will be there – go find Brenda Aaron, she’s the grandmother we wrote about a few issues ago HERE who will be manning our booth and where you can get your current copy from. She will also have the soaps her granddaughters have made. They’re cute – go say hi and tell her you read it on this blog (or the paper.)

Click HERE for more on KidFest 2010

 

MisterWriter

THE PATCH PLAN – JUST ANOTHER NEWS SITE?

Just what we need, another venture into online local news. Sure the local paper has its online site, and the hyperlocal market has been left to bloggers like Claycord.com, but there is a reason for that.

Now comes PATCH, snapping up local bloggers and  journalists and wannabe journalists and doing with them what the newspapers stopped doing; paying them to run around town gathering all the news that they believe you want to read. Yes, they pay their people and for many, in this economy, it is at least a cash flow and I cannot fault them for their hopes.

The simple fact, in my opinion, is that this model has been done before and falls short of anything seriously worthy of my online time either as a reader or a writer. Case in point – Examiner.com which has been doing the same thing in all areas of the country without claiming too much. Rather it is citizen journalism where their Examiners post on every topic under the sun, both local and beyond. In fact, they start you with what you know.  Another online company Associated Content has been doing the same thing only longer and pays a very small amount of money which varies whether it is exclusive for them or not. And there are many others like that trying their best to be local and fall short using lots of external feeds to support the ad revenues.

So with Patch from America Online – you remember them don’t you? “You’ve Got Mail".”  They are the company that at one time fed us an endless stream of program disks promising 400 hours of Internet access for $9.95 a month. They were, at the start, the biggest in the market, a simple interface that everyone could use to get Online. Now, AOL hardly dominates and far simpler and more effective interfaces like social media Facebook wipes them off the grid. Still AOL has sunk some $50 million into this project.

Even Yahoo has its own Patch-plan – whoooo another one. oh boy! And there are lots of opinions about AOL’s Patch plan you can read HERE and HERE and HERE.

What is true about all of this is the slow death of print media by its failure to reinvent itself. And that has left openings for all the wizards of business out there who firmly believe that they all understand the workings of the Online world and how to make a buck from it. Good luck.

Even the Grand Poobah of newspaper ownership Rupert Murdoch was not so long ago bellowing about charging people to read the online news, original content, so that the newspaper industry could live on. Please! No one is going to pay for online content for several reasons, the first being that we have trained several generations that the Internet is FREE and the second that even if it wasn’t free, there are NO SHORTAGE of sites that have the same content for free.

The counter argument claims that these are not professional journalism sites, unverified sources and hardly to be taken seriously. And my response – the average Internet user does not care. This is the generation of the abbreviated sentence, the world of Tweeting news (even text messages are old hat) and the average concern of the younger generation is to read as little as possible and watch video and movies streamed to their phones. They do not have an interest in the old school reporting and they have grown up to a journalism industry so in competition with itself that it has tried to be “cool”  and “hip” and what would be an endless stream of George Carlin jokes. No one cares if a report is accurate so long as it is interesting and grabs them, the more sensational the better.

The reason the newspaper industry is dying is that there are fewer people left who read newspapers and no one to replace us. This is a case scenario that will get worse over time. This is true for books as well. When someone claims that the “Twilight” saga of books falls in the category of classical literature you know that you have reached your expiration date. We are the sum of the experiences we had from childhood and this generation does not read newspapers and have not made that tactile association of the pleasure of reading quietly and thoughtfully. That said there is nothing slow about what this generation does. It is a generation where social change can happen as fast as changing clothes, and we see this in the things that have become accepted as a norm that used to be considered totally unacceptable a short time ago.  And who is left complaining?  Us! Older people! Well…that is a short lived problem, isn’t it?

The second truism that these people all fail to see is that the answers are there – right in front of their faces. Just go rent any science fiction movie – say “Minority Report” or “Total Recall” – and see what the future of news information is all about. Like the day the gas powered engine replaced the horse and carriage; coming up with prettier horse and carriages would hardly save the industry. But naming your car the “Mustang” helped ease the pain.

Yes, people are interested in local news, but to muddle through an online site like Patch has launched – and the Walnut Creek has launched – is as tedious as slogging through the Contra Costa Times Website. At least the CCT is a legitimate journalistic outfit.

Instead, the reason blogs like Claycord.com get over a hundred thousand unique visitors a month (I believe that his stats are that high now) is because the format is quick and easy, enough information to fill me up (with no expectation that Walter Cronkite checked it over first,) along with visuals and timeliness. And the reason THAT works is not because Mayor of Claycord races all over town trying to sniff out the news; it happens because the news comes to him, from all walks of life, from officials in a field to the man on the street with a camera phone. And these people get to have a say, regardless how clever or unintelligent their comments may be. That is representation at its base level. Their voice is being heard.

So while this new Patch online web will no doubt cause a short term flurry of interest, as do all things, I predict that it will be as short lived as the Examiner.com idea when it first started. And like the print industry, of which I am one publisher, I see the end coming and also ponder the next step.

How do you get your news? How do you see the future of print and online media forming to make your read of choice?

MisterWriter

TEACHER WINS 1/4 PAGE AD IN THE CONCORDIAN – It’s about caring!

On May 4, The Concordian celebrated the Day of the Teacher by offering a FREE Quarter page Ad (black and white) to a teacher nominated by a parent or peer. This contest was announced here on the publisher’s Blog, MisterWriter.info with the intent that the teacher could publish a “Wish List” of needed supplies, of use the ad for whatever purpose would benefit the teacher’s classroom.


Carlee Smith and 8-year old Haley, her student.

The winning letter came from Denise Kropf-Rodezno who nominated Monte Gardens teacher Carlee Smith. Ms. Kropf-Rodezno wrote:
“I first met Mrs. Smith two years ago, when our daughter began second grade and was newly diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, a neurological disorder causing vocal and motor tics. We were
concerned for her best chance at school success. From the beginning, Mrs. Smith presented herself with a “how can I help?” approach, and from then on has been incredible... By educating classmates about
our daughter’s noisiness, she explained that “we all have challenges”, but they don’t define us. Over time, students stopped teasing and saw her for who she is— a great friend!

Mrs. Smith was reassigned to a third grade position. Luckily our daughter was assigned to her class! Third grade has shown tremendous growth for our daughter. She now sings in the Contra Costa Children’s Chorus. Over the holidays, while singing in the Walnut Creek Holiday Parade, she heard her name called from the crowd--only to see Mrs. Smith’s family cheering and waving! This show of support and encouragement goes WAY beyond school hours or performance requirements. A night our daughter will always remember.

As we all know—it takes a village to raise a child. And to this, we hold
tremendous gratitude towards Mrs. Smith. To us, she has become more than just an inspirationally amazing teacher, but also a dear friend.”

Congratulations to an exceptional teacher, Carlee Smith. The Concordian is pleased to offer you a FREE Quarter Page Ad in a future issue for you to use. Please contact me at andre@myconcordian.com and we’ll get that set up for you.

You can read this story in the JUNE 2010 issue of The Concordian HERE.

MisterWriter

THE CONCORDIAN’S JOB HUNTING GUIDE FOR GRADUATES IN THIS ISSUE NOW AVAILABLE

The June 2010 issue of The Concordian is now available online HERE and shortly at our street locations throughout Concord, Clayton, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Martinez and Pleasant Hill.

This issue features advice for graduates seeking jobs in this economy from our contributors including ABC-7 News Anchor Dan Ashley, Travis Credit Union and more.

Give a copy to a teen you know who is out job hunting.

MisterWriter

I’M CERTAIN IT IS UNCERTAIN. OF THAT THERE IS NO DOUBT.

Sometimes it is the sheer volume of news headlines that inundate the mind into a state of numbness. When in doubt we fall back to the safe zone, where we believe in the value of mom’s apple pie cooling on the kitchen window sill, in truth and justice and fair play, in our ability to stay true to the moral fiber by which we were raised. And then we watch or read the news and headlines that come one after another, like the tsunami, hiding in plain sight until the cresting begins and the sheer force drags everyone caught in the wrong direction.

Take for example a breaking story on Claycord.com regarding  John Fitzgerald running for Congress. His PR guy recruiting fliers sent out this email on how to get more people to accept the flyers: When there’s a rush of riders, I make eye contact with a middle aged African American woman, smile and ask “Democrat?” while holding out a leaflet. Once she takes it, everyone behind her will follow suit. This way, I’ve easily given out about 500 leaflets per day. You need to be proactive, though.

Thank goodness there are so many African American women out there for this guy to have developed his technique! I wonder how many will be cursing him out!

You can watch one of John Fitzgerald’s campaign videos here: I’m not sure Congress is ready for him.

 

The Solution is clear:

----------------------------------

An Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie (AFDB) is a type of headwear that can shield your brain from most electromagnetic psychotronic mind control carriers. AFDBs are inexpensive (even free if you don't mind scrounging for thrown-out aluminum foil) and can be constructed by anyone with at least the dexterity of a chimp (maybe bonobo). This cheap and unobtrusive form of mind control protection offers real security to the masses. Not only do they protect against incoming signals, but they also block most forms of brain scanning and mind reading, keeping the secrets in your head truly secret. AFDBs are safe and operate automatically. All you do is make it and wear it and you're good to go! Plus, AFDBs are stylish and comfortable. What are you waiting for? Make one today!

 

– MisterWriter

KidFest Concord this Saturday through Monday

Click HERE for more information.

MisterWriter

DO YOU REALLY WANT BLING ON YOUR DING DONG?

If California wasn’t so busy trying to find a bigger hole to dig, the state could follow D.C.’s lead and start influencing our youth with free Trojan magnum-sized gold wrapped condoms that the state is giving out to their teens. There are just so many jokes I can make about each part of this program, starting with every male teen’s fantasy that theirs is bigger than the next guy’s so of course they all need “magnum-sized” so that they can feel adequate because we just can’t make anyone feel small, now can we. But I could not have come up with a better quote than this one: "The gold package certainly has a little bit of the bling quality," said Michael Kharfen, a spokesman for the city's HIV/AIDS administration.

Yes, folks, those inner (and outer) city kids need some bling on their ding dong so that the women they sleep with will know how important they really are. The District began its publicly funded condom program in 2006, and with New York are the only cities in the United States with large-scale, publicly financed condom distribution programs run through health departments.

Since "NYC Condom" hit the streets in 2007, usage has soared, said Monica Sweeney, the city's assistant commissioner for HIV/AIDS prevention and control. Duh! The health department distributed 3.2 million last year, including about 15,000 in schools. The city, which has 600,000 residents, is on pace to hand out more than 4 million condoms this year, having distributed about 2.5 million so far.

That’s a lot of sex on the city! Click HERE for your bling.

As an aside (thanks Shauna for the question):  “The new 2008 study has some startling statistics. In two years time, the number of HIV/AIDS cases increased by 22 percent. Approximately ten percent of D.C. residents who are in their 40s are infected with HIV and, overall, African American males have an HIV infection rate of close to seven percent. In addition, almost three percent of African American females have HIV in D.C. The report also confirmed that most transmissions were through male homosexual sex and that heterosexual sex and drug use (with infected needles) came closely behind.” Read that HERE.

And New York which started the condom program in 1971 still has increasing rates of HIV/AIDS “New York City has the largest HIV/AIDS problem in the United States, and it is continuing to worsen.”

And an article called: “Condom’s dirty little secret” disputes the actual effectiveness.

So it seems the bling don’t mean a thing, especially if you don’t wear the raincoat to start with!

MisterWriter

HEY CONCORD – FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS – THE CUTS ARE COMING!!!

A press release below from the city says it all. One important thing to note is that all the items below only address HALF the deficit. So imagine what the next round of cuts will be.

Watching the news how the city of Oakland plans to cut 200 police officers, most of whom work the gang task force made me shake my head in amazement. Why not just put out a big sign that says “Crime welcome here.”  Well Concord is not Oakland. At least not yet. We’ve been fortunate to watch the demise of other cities and use that as a learning curve. The city of Antioch is looking at bankruptcy. Vallejo faces bankruptcy and a reduction of over 34 per cent with fewer officers meaning fewer arrests, while facing increasing crime. In fact the television news is so dominated by crime stories, murders, rapes, gang violence, assaults that we have become immune to the shock value. Even the arrest I witnessed a few days ago with police officers’ guns drawn on the suspect left me feeling like I was watching another television show. We have become numb to the effect of the quagmire in which we exist.

Concord has been fortunate to have a reserve fund, once twenty percent, now down to fifteen percent. This fund acts as a buffer, a rainy day contingency to buy some time and find some solutions. I read a lot of criticism of the city council and the policies in effect, usually by people with few active solutions. Of course, during an election  year who needs solutions when promises will do just fine.

I suggest attending or watching the meetings. Read on.

Concord City Council to consider painful cuts at budget hearings June 1 and June 22

The Concord City Council will consider a number of cuts to City services as well as new revenue sources at two budget hearings, June 1 and 22. The proposed changes were presented at the annual Budget Workshop May 11, and reflect input from the public gathered through surveys and at five Community Priority Workshops held in February and March.

At the Budget Workshop, Mayor Guy Bjerke and members of the Council expressed their hope that the public would weigh in on the proposed budget at the upcoming hearings.

The proposed cuts and new revenue sources are necessary in light of severe reductions in the City’s revenue from property and sales tax, which accounts for two-thirds of the City’s General Fund budget.

“We are continuing to see reductions in every revenue source,” said City Manager Dan Keen. “Over the last two years, we have cut the number of people who work at the City by 25 percent, but tried to maintain the same level of service to residents. Last year, we had mandatory furloughs for non-police employees, who took between a 5 percent and 20 percent cut in wages and benefits. At this point, with revenue continuing to fall and 25 percent fewer staff members, we have no choice but to make some painful cuts and look at new revenue programs to balance the budget.”

Some of the proposed cuts include:

• Closing the Police Department’s Southern Field Office
• Eliminating the children’s camp program at Camp Concord in 2011 and expanding the family camp program
• Reducing maintenance to parks, playfields and medians
• Withdrawal of City funding from the CARES after-school program and the community grant program
• Reducing front desk hours at the Police Department, Community & Recreation Services office and Finance
• Dissolving the Human Relations Commission
• Reducing funding for school crossing guards by 25 percent
• Broadcasting fewer community events on the Concord Cable TV channel

The Council will also consider several suggestions to increase revenue including:

· Installation of parking meters downtown
· Charging rent for the use of the community meeting room at the police station
· Charging a nominal fee for signing off on a “fix-it” ticket by police officers
· Initiating a new franchise fee for tow truck operators who do work for the City
· Charging developers for review of transportation plans

“These proposed cuts and revenue options will only address half of the City’s $13 million structural budget deficit and we will have to use more of the City’s reserve funds to balance the budget this year,” said Keen. “Closing the entire hole in the budget in one year would result in even more drastic reductions in public safety service levels, recreation programs, building inspections and maintenance of City parks, playfields and community centers.”

For a complete list of proposed service reductions and revenue options, visit www.cityofconcord.org and select “Budget Update” in the News and Events box.

The June 1 and 22 budget hearings will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at Civic Center, 1950 Parkside Dr. 

The budget hearings will be televised live on Concord Cable TV channel 28 (Comcast) and 29 (Astound), AT&T U-verse (Channel 99) and on the web at www.cityofconcord.org. (<—MisterWriter likes this one)

For more information, contact the City Clerk’s Office, (925) 671-3495.

 

MisterWriter

THE STRANGER AT THE DOOR – PART TWO. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Yesterday I reported on an arrest that I witnessed which ultimately turned into a rape arrest, although not without a few twists and turns. Click HERE for yesterday’s story.

Today the story has changed, as reported by Concord Police Lt. Garrett Voerge, that it was not forced rape but consensual sex, although the girl in question was age 17. Read the CCTimes report below…

“A conversation led to kissing and that led to sex,” it reads. So let’s get this straight – a stranger shows up at your door, the 17 year decides to have a chat and then kiss and then have sex with this stranger… is it just me or does anyone else have a problem with this story? Or is this just what our society has become?

I’m guessing there is more to this tale that will emerge. If nothing else, parents of teenagers (both boys and girls) should get a lesson on consent, restraint and the fact that statutory rape is taken seriously.

Parents: Thoughts? What do you think about this story?  You can click the CCTimes link above or Claycord’s reporting HERE.

MisterWriter

MEASURE C. WHERE DO YOU STAND?

The clock ticks closer to the June election where Measure C will either fly or crash, depending on the tone of the communities it affects. With lots riding on the outcome, expect to see more buzz on blogs and in print. The next issue of The Concordian, out May 27th will feature an extended piece on Measure C and the following week expect to see an interview on Concordian TV.

As I ready this issue for press I am struck by the sheer number of support groups that are struggling to raise funds for the school programs that have been slashed. These are ordinary people banding together to do things, raising whatever they do and adding that to the pot.

On the rainy Monday of this week, the Willows Theatre hosted a performance of You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown at the John Muir Amphitheatre in Martinez. Greeting the crowd of students that had been bussed in from several schools including 400 transported by the County Connection, Martinez Mayor Rob Shroder (not spelled like the Peanuts character) reminded the audience that the proceeds supported the schools. Likewise other performances are scheduled from a music festival at the Concord Hilton, to the MDMEF Music Festival that took place. It seems everywhere you look someone is raising money for  music and sports because they know we’ve all used up the pennies from the jars we have been collecting.

Offset that with the anti-Measure C voices that argue this board can’t spend money without wasting it, that the bond will cost us even more in the future, that education is unfixable and all those good points that are difficult to argue beyond saying simply… “What other choice is there?”

What are the answers that will fix the system? Perhaps the notion of a “free” public education is anachronistic, after all parents pay throughout for all those “volunteer” and “donation” items that increase over the years towards graduation.

Or does the answer lie in our overly permissive attitude when it comes to the behavior of the children – you know, the “teens will be teens” comments that always emerge, at least until some teens go the extra mile and turn ballistic, at which point it becomes the fault of the school, or bullying, or those pesky drugs that kids are using… but I digress.

So where do you stand on Measure C and what would change your mind, either way?

MisterWriter

THE STRANGER AT THE DOOR CAN HURT YOU – AND DID!

I witnessed an arrest today that brought the full wrath of the Concord and Clayton Police in a well executed sweep and search after a door to door person (of unknown origin), managed to force his way into a home and allegedly raped the lone female occupant.

Claycord has reported on this HERE so I won’t restate but for the fact that the message about door to door solicitors should be clear today. Do not open your door if you value your safety, one of the officers told me, adding that he wished we could do something about stopping door to door people.

I was also flattered that ABC-7 News wanted to do an interview about what I saw. I hope they were not too annoyed that I declined; what I saw is what you see in the picture above. My only other comment was how well the police responded and I do intend to write a letter to both Concord and Clayton Police Chiefs to that effect.  Those officers should sleep well tonight knowing that they likely spared a future victim.

MisterWriter 

[Update: 9:00 pm – Claycord is reporting that  “Concord PD has determined the alleged rape we reported on today was in fact consensual sex between the 17-year-old victim and the 20-year-old door to door salesman. Lt. Garrett Voerge says the 20-year-old man was arrested for having sex with a minor.” You can read that HERE

MisterWriter says: There is much more to this story; it just feels very, very strange, but regardless the outcome the message is the same – do not open your door to strangers and keep your children close.]

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE RALLIES AGAINST THE TERMINATOR’S CUTS? OR IS IT JUST HOT AIR?

Another day of action planned for Wednesday throughout the state as teacher and union groups along with parents and anyone else fed up with the massive cuts handed down from above protest in the hopes that this time someone will listen.

Now how many times has that happened in the last few years and how many changes took place? Well locally the MDUSD board of education revolt did change the board rule ultimately leading to a new superintendent, but on a statewide level, how many times has Conan actually listened? And those elected ones that enjoy their perks and benefits, smile, hold vigils and promise to walk with you – how many times have they listened to the protests during action events?

Don’t get me wrong; I am all for change. The education system is beyond broken; it’s held together by chewing gum and string at the moment. It seems to be that more than a day of action for a few hours is in order. It seems to me that the system needs a total reform. Throw the bums out. Really, how hard is it to make education a priority without it being a political toothpick?

The goals are simple: raise functionally literate children who can go to college without needing remedial classes, find an alternative to the dropout rate – it’s called training and labor because not everyone will get a high paying salary and no amount of whining or equal opportunity will change that. Welcome to the real world.

So I wonder just how effective these action events are or whether they serve merely to create a sense of empowerment; that your little voice might resonate through the marbled hallways of where the political powers yawn, nod off and drag out everything from passing a budget to whether they shouldn’t be out raising money for their own campaigns.

Who knows!

What do you think? Are you ready to stand up and join the party? 

Click HERE for more info.

MisterWriter

THE HOLY SEE JUST DIDN’T SEE IT – THEIR CASE AGAINST CLERGY ABUSE RESPONSIBILITY

“The Vatican on Monday will make its most detailed argument yet for why it is not liable for bishops who allowed priests to molest children in the U.S., in a motion that could affect other efforts to sue the Holy See in American courts, The Associated Press has learned.”

[Update: HERE, HERE, and some denial HERE]

Why should we be surprised? Like any other ultra large corporate entity, acknowledging responsibility is the equivalent of losing billions of dollars in judgments over the next few hundred years.

Citing “if the glove doesn’t fit” logic, the Holy See is expected to claim that bishops aren’t even Vatican employees because they are not paid by Rome and do not act on Rome’s behalf and are not controlled by the Pope. Huh?

Well if we were to take the Bible as authority, there is no such thing as a Pope either,

In fact, from the Bible, it was Jesus who asserted that two people sharing their faith would be acting as priests to each other. Matthew 18:19-20: "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (King James version).  But no Pope.

Back to the deluge of clergy abuse. So is the church turning the other cheek or turning a blind eye? I just don’t see how that works. And I ask…what would Jesus do and how does clergy abuse tie in with the scriptures?

No matter your faith, is there anyone out there who thinks that the massive clergy abuse within the Catholic Church is not the direct responsibility of the Catholic Church and its policies and ability to police itself?  And why is this institution that cites the Ten Commandments able to shirk responsibility on this matter?

I’m not out to offend those of the Catholic persuasion, but somewhere it needs to be stated that right is right and wrong is wrong and while sin may be absolved through confession, first must come the confession and not the excuse or the attempt at avoidance. Anything less speaks volumes about the tenet of that faith wiling to turn that blind eye in the first place.

What do you think?

MisterWriter

DEATH OF A BOOKSTORE – A CHANCE TO GET GREAT DEALS BETWEEN THE TEARS.

It is no secret that Clayton Books is closing its doors May 22, but what you may not know is that there are thousands of books left to be had at a bargain.

Buy 10 books and everything is 50% off, otherwise the discounts vary.

I bought the autographed copy of Gregory Benford’s novel that co-owner Joel Harris is holding in this video for a mere $3.99. An autographed hardcover. That’s a steal!

Stop by and support the store’s final days. Tell them that The Concordian/MisterWriter sent you. They even have a few copies left of my book “Signs You May Be An Idiot and other musings”

As a writer I am always dismayed when independent bookstores go under. This store had a long list of name writers who came by to read, autograph books and chat with people who were interested.

www.claytonbookshop.com

MisterWriter

IT’S ARNIE DAY CURRENTLY DEVALUED AT OVER $20 BILLION – LET’S PLAY “WHAT ELSE CAN WE CUT.”

There is no way to say this any differently; the state is f***d up! While the rest of the nation gets a glinting of a recovery, or at least steps in a more positive direction, the California hole keeps expanding. And each time Gov. Arnie opens his mouth, the ditch diggers get a larger shovel.

“A severe national recession has left California with a 12.6 percent unemployment rate, causing a severe drop in tax revenue that shows no sign of abating. Personal income tax revenue in April was down about $3 billion, or 30 percent, from the administration's projections,” says a report on the impending announcement of Arnie’s May budget revise, the one everyone from school officials on are holding their breath in fear of.

“Earlier this year, the governor threatened to eliminate the state's welfare-to-work program and health insurance for children from low-income families unless the federal government gave California an additional $6.9 million, which Schwarzenegger maintains is its fair share. So far, the state has received nearly $3 billion.”

The Gov has “vowed to protect education” as he slashes $20 Billion (more that past years) from the upcoming fiscal year. And just as he has protected education in the past, first by borrowing money assigned to the school, then not repaying it because there was no money to do so, and with his promises, moments before the bloodletting began, districts have tried being proactive in advance of the hole to shrink, cut back, reorganize and find other ways to raise money only to be blown away by the numbers coming from Arnie’s mouth, sounding more and more like the late Carl Sagan… “Billions and billions…”  Of course Sagan was talking about stars in the galaxy, not a level of stupidity that the state government has shown in the last few decades of planning and spending, banking on that happy pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow that never came.

In the MDUSD there are 200 teachers destined for layoffs over the next three years, from the May 11 Board of Education meeting which you can read about HERE. And let’s not forget the already in place, no sports, no music, no library, shorter school year, added class size.

And in the district the last election’s Parcel Tax failed to meet the 2/3 requirement to pass, although it had a majority vote. This June, a few weeks from now, Measure C is on the ballot to raise money through a bond measure. You can read my post on that HERE.

Also on Arnie’s chop list are the welfare programs including those that offer health insurance to the children of California.

It’s a wonderful state. At the bottom and still digging a hole. Who knows what we’ll find next.

“The fiscal strains have left California with the lowest credit rating among U.S. states,” reports Bloomberg. “A taxable California bond maturing in 2039 traded for a yield of 7.08 percent today, up from an average of 6.87 percent on May 6, according to Municipal Security Rulemaking Board data.”

So, my friends, get your popcorn now before the show begins today. You can get a large bucket of popcorn for $250,000 and a large soda for $55,000 all of which will go towards keeping our legislature alive through the next revise.

MisterWriter

HOW COME API KEEPS GOING UP YET THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS NEEDING REMEDIAL ENGLISH & MATH ALSO GOES UP? HUH?

One of the joys of Edu-gaga is the STAR scores and the API and AYP scores that always seem to go UP!  How can your scores keep going UP and yet the number of dropouts and number of college entrance level students needing remedial math and English classes also go up?  That’s a paradox isn’t it?

It’s like saying you are getting smarter and dumber at the same time. Whoa – heavy concept. Sit now before you faint.

Well growth is relative. It is a NUMBER folks. If you see who else rose in the API and AYP levels it might put it more into a more accurate context. Everyone is a winner. Well almost everyone.

The whole society is getting smarter. Except when it comes to dropping out and trying to get into college and having to take remedial classes because you really did not learn what you should have learned the first time because EVERYONE is so fixated on those stupid numbers.

It is like saying we are living better while still dying. We’re dying slowly. So are we living better or dying slowly? Or maybe we are dying faster so it appears that we are living better? Can you know?

Scores are the politicians drug-fix that allows for dialog on how to improve the broken system without really knowing how to fix it at all. Instead they smile and say silly things like “We need better quality teachers.”  No, we just need better quality parents to help the teachers. “We need to make sure that our students are taught relevant curriculum.”  Hmmm, I did not see flipping burgers in there anywhere, but given some of these scores that might be a valid career choice.

Oh, sorry, shame on me for suggesting that some kids just might not be bright enough to be brain surgeons. And thank God for that for without them there would be no roadways, plumbing systems and so on. But that is not what AYP deals with. It deals with ANNUAL YEARLY PROGRESS because like any sales organization you must always do better than the year before.  In sales they fire you when you fail – or shame you out.

In education they use the STAR to assess the growth at the start of the year versus the end of the year. Problem is that the test is DUMB. Aside from being a four choice multiple choice with two incredibly stupid choices, it is a test of guesswork. I have had students fail because of nerves and students with no content clue score well. Go figure. Understanding is a process and multiple choice is a poor (lazy) way to assess, so much so that the makers of the STAR wanted it to be but one of many assessing points. Hey, who listens?

So congratulations your API went up and you met your AYP and everything is A-OK. Pat yourself on the back. Move on, collect funding and start the game again.

Meanwhile the STARK TRUTH is that California ranks #50. So it really is a stupid system that is not working, for all you realists out there. I guess after spending millions upon millions of dollars on the edu-game it is difficult to admit that you’re really no better off than that one room school house in the back end of Arkansas. In fact they may be better off for not following the bullshit.

Need proof – okay. Answer this math question. A bag of jelly beans. If you take two beans from ten beans what have you got?

 

Here are some reading links for you.  HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE

MisterWriter

AWESOME –IMPOSSIBLE - CLEVER

Read about it HERE.

MisterWriter

HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY. WIN A FREE ‘WISH LIST’ AD IN THE CONCORDIAN

Wishing all my teacher friends a Happy Teacher Appreciation Day. Here is a rant and a contest…

As much as the state of education leaves much to be desired, you remain the pillar upon which all hope lies. People do not realize the stresses in the job, assume it to be an easy, anyone can do it, kind of job for which you get out early and only work ten months.

These are the same people who would die if left alone with their own children, dump parenting upon your shoulders because they cannot say “no” to their little darlings and then blame you when their brat is still a brat.

You listen to the horror stories of their home lives and wonder how you can make them feel better. You smile when you should be yelling at some moronic adult, attend endless meetings that absolve parents of parenting, and then, in many cases have to deal with BS from your own administration.

But hey, you only work ten months, right!!!!!!!!  So let’s do some math. Most teachers take a few hours of work home with them (because they would never get it all done otherwise) for which they are not paid. They arrive a half hour before school starts and while they must stay a half hour after it ends, that would mean not cleaning your classroom, because Lord knows one custodian can clean all those rooms effectively on their every three day schedule. And when they do it is nothing more than a quick sweeping – no dusting or polishing except over the summer.

So I consider 7 am at school, 5pm home and working until 9pm or 10pm, Monday through Friday. That is 10 hours at school, 4 hours at home, so 14 hour days x 5 = 70 hour weeks. With a 40 week school year, that amounts to 2800 hours spent working. A regular 9-5 job Monday through Friday all 52 weeks in a year only totals 2080 hours. To meet the same number of hours teachers put in over 10 months instead of your 12, you would need to work an additional 3 plus hours a day on your own dime.  (Note: This math is slightly fuzzy…so don’t bother correcting me on it; I am making a POINT!)

But teachers get the summer off!  Are you kidding me. Psychotherapy is expensive. A large number of teachers work over the summer because they cannot survive on what they earn. The rest have spouses with better paying jobs.

So what do teachers earn? Take a teacher six years on the pay scale earning about 53,000 per year. Take out taxes, union dues and health insurance, out of pocket costs for supplies they are not reimbursed on and they will be bringing home around $2200 - $2400 per month. Family health runs about $1500 per month if not more. Dues run over $900 a year.  Working the summer is a necessity for many teachers.

Now understand me, this is not a complaint! This is a response to those people who think the job could be done by unskilled labor. Take your own job, up to 34 employees who want to do the least amount of work, have the most amount of fun, some speaking marginal English, some unable to read, some with behavior problems or physical challenges, and you want to regulate them to learn stuff they consider boring. You’d last a minute in that classroom.

And so on this teacher appreciation posting I would like to propose a fundraising suggestion:

Parents who consider it easy should sign up to teach the class for a day (the teacher will help).  Evaluate them on the same criteria teachers are evaluated. If the parent fails, or quits they make a decent cash donation to the school, say $300. Even if they do not fail, they will leave knowing the difference between what they think goes on and what goes on. At least the school will earn some cash.

And a brief response to what I know will be posted in comments – bad teachers!  Yes there are bad teachers out there. I am all for weeding them out. There are bad cops, bad lawyers, bad doctors and so on. I am in favor of weeding them all out.  There you have it. Another year, another Appreciation Day. Teachers, are you happy yet?

CONTEST:

Teachers or parents of current teachers - Email me your best Teacher Appreciation Day stories (or what your teacher did that you appreciate) and I will publish the best three in the next issue of The Concordian. The winning story will get that teacher a FREE 1/4 page WISH LIST Ad in the next issue of The Concordian to help them for their next school year. They can use that ad space as they wish.  Maximum word count 300 words. Deadline is Sunday, May 16th.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day.

MisterWriter

[NEWS: from Claycord.com - At their meeting on Tuesday night, the Mount Diablo Unified School District School Board voted to lay off nearly 200 teachers, and make about $4.5-million worth of cuts to special education over a period of three years. Click HERE to read that posting.]

SHELLAC – IT DOES A BODY GOOD. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BUGS?

I like fiber and I like healthy foods but a recent check on the boxes of some healthy, high fiber snack boxes revealed the secret ingredient that makes your ass shine good – shellac.  Now what is Shellac, you ask?

“Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes (pictured at right), which are dissolved in denatured alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze^[1] and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough all-natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odor-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Shellac is often the only historically-appropriate finish for early 20th-century hardwood floors, and wooden wall and ceiling paneling.” This from Wikipedia HERE.

 

 

Now I am scared!

I guess it has been around forever and is used for food… read on…

Shellac is edible and it is used as a glazing agent on pills (see excipients) and candies in the form of pharmaceutical glaze (alternatively, confectioner's glaze). Because of its alkaline properties, shellac-coated pills may be used for a timed enteric or colonic release.^[11] It is also used to replace the natural wax of the apple, which is removed during the cleaning process.^[12] When used for this purpose, it has the food additive E number E904. This coating is not vegan and most likely not vegetarian either as it may, and probably does, contain crushed insects. In the tablet manufacture trade, it is sometimes referred to as "beetlejuice" for this reason.

From our pals at Cracked.com comes

CANESUGAR…

“Sugar derived from sugar cane (about a quarter of the sugar in the United States) goes through a ... different process. Domino, the largest sugar producer in America, uses bone char to filter impurities from its sugar. Bone char is delightfully produced using the bones of cows from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan that have died from "natural causes," like when cows forget to wear a helmet when riding their motorcycles.The bones are bleached in the sun and sold to marketers who then sell them to the US sugar industry after they've been used by the gelatin industry. What the gelatin industry does with the bones, we don't want to know. The bones are then heated to the point that they become a perfect means of filtering sugar.”

CARMINE

Carmine is made, literally, from ground-up cochineal insects, which is just a more harrowing way of saying mashed red beetles. Because you're dying to know more, the insects are killed by exposure to heat or immersion in hot water and then dried. Because the abdomen region that houses the fertilized eggs contains the most carmine, it is separated from the rest of the body, ground into a powder and cooked at high temperatures to extract the maximum amount of color. Then, it's added to that yogurt you ate this morning while lording your health consciousness over the guy in the cubicle next to you who had an Egg McMuffin.

So WHO figured out that bug excrement could be a great add-on for candy?  There is someone with too much free time.

You learn something every day. So make sure that your high fiber bathroom bar contains that shiny add-on – Shellac!

MisterWriter

PETER – IS THAT YOU?

Has anyone gone to see the new Peter Pan in San Francisco at Fisherman’s Wharf – you know the big theatre-in-the-round experience. Watching the show previews, it really looks fantastic.

You can watch the ABC 7 broadcast below and the reviews HERE, but if you have seen it then I would like to hear from you.

Ticket prices are steep at $120 for adults but it looks like a totally absorbing experience that integrates performance with technology.

If you have seen it, and would be interested in writing a review for the next issue of The Concordian (I’d be happy to help you polish it up), please let me know before the end of the week. I would like to include a review of it given its unique design and think that audiences would appreciate seeing it. Email me from the links on the right pane.

Is that you, Peter?

MisterWriter

WHO HAS THE BIGGEST SIGN? AND DOES SIZE MATTER?

A little fun at Mark Peterson’s expense.

 

It seems that during these elections that Mark Peterson and other political hopefuls like large signs, so I wondered why he has not gone SUPER-SIZED like the above picture? Come on, I’d rather see a few GIGANTIC signs than all those billions of little trash stick signs everywhere.

Do you agree?

MisterWriter

HOW’S THE PULSE OF CONCORD GOING? IS IT STILL BEATING STRONG? RESULTS?

from our friend Edi Birsan…

I want to thank you for responding to the first Pulse of Concord survey and saying you want to participate in future web events as a Pulse of Concord Panelist. At this point we are close to having 100 overall respondents with about two weeks to go in my initial testing phase to see if this would work.  If you have not yet participated you may do so by clicking the link on the upper side of the right panel ------>

RESULTS:

Here is a quick summary of some of the points so far:

1. Over 70% of the people do not believe that crime is down in the last three years. (statistically as reported it HAS declined over the last three years, but no one believes it.)

2. People are equally divided on whether they feel safe in the city.

3. People overwhelming do not like to be told where to park in their own driveway.

4. Roosters are not going to have a fan club and they best worry if people realize that they taste like chicken.

5. Neighborhood, City and County issues are about an equal concern on priority at 20% each with State, Nation and World also equal at about 13% each.

6. Buses take too much time(46%), never there when you want them, don't go to where you want if you can figure out where they go in the first place (each 20%).

NEXT:

What I would like to do is to ask you all what questions would you like to ask in the next survey?  I want to keep the questions down to 10 so that it can be done quickly.  We also want to keep the format down to a page since it appears that there is an increase in drop off when people do not see an end to the survey form.

The five channeled responses of  Disagree Strongly/ somewhat/Neutral/Agree strongly/somewhat  appears to be very functional as well as the priority or check list approach.

Right now let us keep away from the open ended essay style questions.

The first group of questions came up from talking to people at budget workshops, community groups and friends as I am running for Concord City Council.  However the goal is to try to understand what is on people's mind as it relates to local Concord and to see if it ties into local policy potentially.  Trying to avoid questions slanted or biased towards different views is not easy, but I think we can try.

I appreciate your efforts in this regard and hope that something interesting and useful can come from all this.

You may post a comment with your question on this page’s comment section.

[NOTE from MisterWriter:  In my opinion this type of poll serves the greater purpose of being able to refine a priority of issues for discussion at various levels. These are certainly points that city officials need to be aware of. And with an upcoming election, certainly something every decent politician should be interested in beyond their own agenda. Public service positions require service, and service requires direction; after all the service in on behalf of us.  I thank Edi for getting this going. I would like to keep posting the results and invite other politicians to submit their own questions, or even post their own responses.

If you have not yet taken the survey, click the image and do so.]