And The Beat Goes On! (Our beating that is)

When you read the article below - don't be shocked! It's business as usual. I wrote about this very thing (http://teachersdontsuck.blogspot.com/2012/05/if-this-doesnt-piss-you-off-check-your.html) in 2012 and I guess nobody read it or nobody cared.
This was just after the much ballyhooed "Pension Reform Bill"(which "The Governor" reneged on and I think probably planned to right from the get go) was passed. Interestingly, not one word about the double dipping of cronies and the connected was in that bill. None of these inequities were even tangentially addressed.
During the time this bill was being discussed our "governor?" (I think he's still the governor in spite of the fact he's been out of the State over half of the time) was already campaigning for reelection. During this time he garnered support from numerous prominent New Jersey Democrats. If you would like to know who those Dems are and why they would jump ship and stand behind a loud mouthed, bullying oaf, the attached article and my post cited above may help to provide some of the answer.
Additionally, in 2011 there were 420,000 public employees in New Jersey. In the 2012 election Christie received 1,278,932 votes against Buono's 809,978. It's hard to understand how Buono could receive only 810K with 420K public workers with their friends and families voting with them for her?
The only conclusions that can be drawn is that few public employees actually voted or that they were actually stupid enough to vote against their own best interests and voted for Governor Porkchop. Either one of these explanations is disheartening to say the least. 

This Guy's Got Big Ones (Besides the Belly)

When it comes to a “bad deal” Chris Christie should be an authority. He’s engaged New Jersey in so many.

·      *   Lost $400M Federal Education grant due to shoddy paperwork (and then of course blamed the Education Commissioner)

·       *  Rejected the Arc  Tunnel Project (about $240M which would have helped to cure the transportation morass in NJ and would have provided thousands of jobs) and then stole the money to balance the budget.

·         * Spent $24M for a “special election” to bolster his political standing in the upcoming governor’s race

·        *  Ballyhooed a Pension Reform deal and then backed out  when the time came to make good

·        *  Spent $7M for a lawyer pal to write him an excuse in the Bridgate Scandal

·       *   Settled (is trying) to settle with Exxon Mobil for a pittance while accepting large contributions to the RNC

·        *  Used Sandy funds for advertisements including his political promos

·         * Hired an inept company to oversee Sandy funding and then fired  them with a $33M payout

Yes - when it comes to making shitty deals for New Jersey citizens  - he does know his stuff!

Now “The Governor” is holding a press conference (and actually in NJ for a change)  to “advise” Booker about the Iran Deal. He must be kidding!!

A Christie Factoid From the Past

His allegiance to big money didn't just start as "The Governor". 

It goes way back as you can see in this video clip. 

Is Anybody Looking Down the Tracks?

  A collision between robotization and student loan debt is inevitability on course. Tens of thousands of students are now being prepared for jobs that will soon be replaced by robots and A.I.(owned by corporations and the wealthy). An even sadder part is that they are incurring trillions of dollars of debt to become eligible for the non-existent jobs of the future. (See my post  - http://teachersdontsuck.blogspot.com/2015/07/i-robots.html). 

Not only will they have the prospect of few available jobs but also the burden of huge debt which they will have no means to repay. 

How will the housing market endure? Who will buy the new "driver-less" cars? Will the middle classes' disappearing act finally be  completed?

Might these be bigger problems than even terrorism for the capitalist system in the not too distant future?

Even less encouraging is that I have heard few it any politicians addressing the likelihood of these probable circumstances and how they should be addressed?

Christie Sees A Soft "Punching" Bag - Women

In the recent furor over “The Donald’s” comments about women on the GOP debate platform the comments of “The Governor” have been overlooked and ignored. The “Punch in the face” comment has been barely remarked upon by the media and I am sure that is to the dismay of our attention seeking Governor.

After reading about the hubbub regarding Trump’s insulting women I began to wonder if there might be a relationship between his comments and those of Christie. Then it occurred to me. Why are Christie’s vicious attacks always aimed at teachers and teacher’s unions and rarely against other public sector unions (police, firemen, etc.)?

Why does he feel that he can be as aggressive and insulting as he pleases when it comes to teachers?  I may have discovered the answer.

• In 2011–12, some 76 percent of public school teachers were female, 44 percent were under age 40 and 56 percent had a master’s or higher degree. Compared with public school teachers, a lower percentage of private school teachers had a master’s or higher degree (43 percent). –U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics

Could it be that he feels free to attack a predominately female organization and expects little retaliation? Could it be that he has little respect for the profession because it is largely composed of women?

Could it be that his reserve in criticizing and debasing the police and fire unions is because in it mostly comprised of males?

Bullies generally do pick on the ones they perceive as weakest and unwilling or incapable of effectively fighting back. Could this be the case with “The Governor”?

PS- If he wants to “punch someone in the face” he is welcome to stop over at any time (without his police escort) and he better make his first punch count !!

If he sends me an email I will eagerly reply with my address and time!

A Stand Up Teacher is Laid to Rest

Teachers can learn some valuable lessons from this man's obit on how to effectively respond to the bullying and bashing by today's politicians.  

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

I Robots

Here is an insert from an article which I read in Sunday’s newspaper. It shows the likelihood of jobs being replaced by robots in the near future. I noticed that elementary school teaching was listed near the bottom.  Now I emphasized elementary because I believe the advent of robotization certainly does apply to secondary and college teaching. Upper level teachers are already being replaced by a robot called the Internet. I hear ads over and over about “On Line Degrees” from a plethora of colleges and universities. A single Internet course can serve dozens if not hundreds of student and be operated by just a few individual “professors”.

With the current budget crisis in most every state, how long will it be before this same approach filters down into secondary education? And what about primary education – that might take a bit longer but if a meaningful segment of the public can be convinced that home schooling with the help of on line instruction can provide a substantial primary education; then it too will become robotized.

Another question becomes – what happens once robots assume an overwhelming presence in the American job market? I have recently read that robots can work at lower cost than the cheapest overseas labor. They never take a sick day; they never go on break, no vacations, no pensions and no morale problems (and no unions)!  Some will say – yes but we will always need people to make the robots. Sorry – they can make themselves!  Yes but we will always need people to fix the robots. Sorry again – they fix themselves! We will always need people to program the robots. Sorry once more – once they are programmed the job is done and quite possibly they will be able to reprogram themselves when necessary (A.I.)!

The response to these points by many is “Great! That means people will have more leisure time and won’t have to work nearly as much”. We will all be able to reap the rewards of robotization. Not so fast – the people who will be working less and enjoying all the extra leisure time will not own the robots – they will be owned by wealthy corporations and individuals and I don’t believe they would be inclined to share the rewards the robots provide them with the society at large.

Well then who is going to pay all the part time workers and unemployed a full time salary? The government which is by enlarged controlled by the wealthy?  I am sure it will have no interest in making up the income lost by the unemployed and partly employed “leeches” who have been replaced by robots.

So now the robot age will have another startling, back door effect on education. If only a very few jobs will be left by robotization what kind of jobs will they be and what skills can be taught to allow people to obtain those remaining jobs? 

Additionally, if large numbers or workers are replaced by robots, what happens to the middle class and how will they be able to pay the taxes necessary to support the schools in the first place?

In summary it seems that an uncertain road lies ahead with respect to the rise of technology as it is related to the American and World economies. Even more disturbingly, I hear few if any politicians and leaders remarking on this topic much less suggesting solutions. 

Chris Christie - "Telling It Like It Isn't"

Ms. Sizmore's analysis leaves much to be desired. Does she think the first dollar that was contributed to the pension by teachers 30 years ago was the same dollar of today? Over $3 today is needed to buy what $1 bought in 1980! Additionally what happened to the 72 rule? Shouldn't have the $186,000 dollars grown substantially over a 30 year period? (That is of course assuming it wasn't stolen or mismanaged by the State).

Also where does that $2.5 M come from for the "average" member? Over how many years is that paid? Must I live to be 100 in order to claim that amount in retirement?? I personally know of numerous members that never collected a dime! They died on the job!!

And to continue, our Supreme Leader called pension members "greedy and selfish". Well just read on and you decide if the pot is calling the kettle black? (Keep in mind that his wife was employed by one to the NJ Pension Fund managing corporations with a salary of $400K+) 

Try This One At Your Job !!

I always thought that "No show jobs" were considered a "theft of services" crime? But now I see that is only true for the "little people"!

Heal Thy Self Governor

A Man of the People (His People)

It's Hard to Understand?

I continually tell people that I remember very few mass shootings when I was a kid. The only one I remembered was the Texas Tower massacre. Few people believe me when I say it but now I just looked up the stats. Here they are. It is mind boggling to see the acceleration of these kinds of incidents. It is even more mind boggling trying to figure out why??

Mass shootings in America
By decade:
1900's:0
1910's:2
1920's:2
1930's:9
1940's:8
1950's:1
1960's:6
1970's:13
1980's:32
1990's:42
2000's:28
2010-2013:14 (PS - If we extrapolate there should be 47 in the 2010s)

Just Wondering??

After the put down of the pension issue by the NJ Supreme Court I  looked up the following:

"Lawmakers still have never succeeded in overriding a Christie veto. The governor has issued 350 vetoes since he took office in 2010, with lawmakers failing in all 48 attempts to override him."

"While Democrats have majorities in both the Assembly and Senate, it would take a two-thirds majority in both houses to override Christie. Republicans, including on some bills they originally supported, have not provided enough votes for the overrides."

Then I looked up this:

"By 2002, Christie had campaigned for Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush; the latter appointed him as United States Attorney for New Jersey, a position he held from 2002 to 2008. In that position, he emphasized prosecutions of political corruption."

Now I am sure that the Governor's continued success cannot be attributed to his charming personality so what could it be? Could it be a reincarnation of J Edgar ? Please keep in mind that I am certainly not accusing anyone I am merely musing!

A Hot Topic

I noticed a link to this article on my local message board and I was immediately reminded of the many May, June, September and October sweltering days spent in the second floor chem lab of my high school. After reading the piece I looked at some of the comments that were made about it. Here are some of them!

"How did we live in the 60's? I'll answer my own question. We opened the freakin windows.

 We're raising pussies these days who can't cope with the slightest adversity "

"There's no need for the added expense to do this. The kids aren't in school in the hottest part of the summer. If they had to go to school year round then yes, it might be a consideration. The kids can withstand a little heat till the end of JUNE!!"

"i'm not coming down on either side of the air conditioned classrooms debate. But it makes me wonder about what we're doing to our kids. I got my first air conditioner when I was in my early thirties. Somehow, before that, we managed to be productive, to learn, to work, to sleep, to have fun, ... People managed to win Nobel Prizes, even though they had no air conditioning.

I was in Tokyo a couple of times last summer, and there were still power-grid issues hanging over from the Fukashima incident, so a lot of places were either not running their air conditioning, or setting their thermostats very high. People managed to come to work, do their jobs, even enjoy life.

I remember enjoying my life before I had air conditioning in my car, my house, my office... I wonder if we're making our kids a bunch of bubble-babies, intolerant of any inconvenience whatsoever."

Here is my response on that board to these stupid, callous comments - 

"I grew up with no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no running water, no central heat, living at the end of a three quarter mile long dirt lane and I don't remember it being a lot fun! (BTW this is all true). Does that mean I should have subjected my children to the same circumstances to 'toughen them up'?

Reading many of your posts on this board I always assumed you to be intelligent people and therefore I must also assume that with these post you are actually joking."

Additionally, I constantly hear that education should be run like a business and should have only the benefits which are bestowed on the private sector. When is the last time you entered an office building that wasn't air conditioned? 

A Lotta of Pencils & Paper

Why do BOEs spend vast sums on legal fees. Shouldn't the 'Law of Supply and Demand' apply? Does every legal matter have to be handled by a Johnny Cochran priced lawyer ? 

Why do they continually hire law firms at $250 per hour and up and then cry poverty when it comes to salary increases for teachers and staff?  

Do you think politics might have something to do with it? Politics in education - Nah couldn't be!   

****************************************

                                         ***************************************

****************************************

****************************************

"Oh To See Ourselves As Others See Us" - R. Burns

Christie's Curse

I'm Trying to Improve My Blog?

As you probably know farm animals are usually given ear tags for identification purposes, With that in mind I am debating whether or not to tag my little friends shown on my banner. I am showing you the tag names (first names only) I have chosen. If you have other suggestions write to me and I will consider changing some of them.
Additionally, I have added new intro music which is my short remix of "Animals - Piggies" by Pink Floyd. I thought it to be apropos for the banner and subject matter (politicians). 

"Performance Bonuses"?

I don’t know if you will consider me to be lacking self-control, call me a liar or call me a fool but I’m back!

I can’t continue my rants at the newspaper and the television. Certainly my wife won’t listen to me so I've decided that my only recourse is to resume writing this feckless blog.

The article below is really what sent me back over the edge. It describes the fees paid to hedge funds by New Jersey pension funds. The first article shows that the contract with the hedge funds provides not only for fees but also for “performance bonuses”. Twenty percent of investment returns exceeding six percent will be paid to the hedge fund as a “performance bonus”.

Upon reading this I immediately looked up the overall average returns on the Dow, the NASDAQ and S&P for the past year. They were 7.52%, 13.4% and 11.39% respectively!

What this means is that a monkey with a dart and the Wall Street Journal would definitely earn a "performance bonus" and it would only cost the pension fund an extra banana or two not the hundreds of millions of dollars which the hedge funds received.

What competent financial manager would agree to some arbitrary number to set as a goal to obtain a “performance bonus”? Shouldn't the goal have been set to exceed the overall yearly market averages?

And why was there not a disincentive in the contract if returns fell significantly below average market returns?

These are all obviously rhetorical questions because I think I know the answers and I am quite sure you do too!

A Chris Christie Christmas