Although “liberty and justice for all” is our nation’s goal, we are far from realizing that ideal. The problem is, liberty and justice cost money and in the U.S., a lot of people simply don’t have enough money. We have liberty to freely travel, for example, but without money to [...]
Interesting editorial today in The Dayton Daily News says, “Poor children need quality teachers, too.” It implies that the teachers in poverty schools are inferior to the teachers in high income schools.
There are a lot of interesting comments. Here is what Max said:
I am soooooo very tired of [...]
Here is today’s test:
What does the phrase, “with liberty and justice for all,” mean to you? On a scale of -100, to what degree does the US live up to the ideal of “liberty and justice for all”? Please explain. Which is more important, liberty or justice? Please explain.I wonder if seniors [...]
Thomas Friedman fears that our democracy is so broken it will not be able to meet the big challenges of the future. In “Advice From Grandma,” he cites six stubborn realities that are paralyzing America:
Money in politics has become so pervasive that lawmakers have to spend most of their [...]Whoever heard of a pep rally barring a sign that supports the cause? Well, now you have! The Dayton Region Pep Rally at UD Arena on November 17 did not allow the following sign to be brought in:
TOP TEN TIPS
FOR ECON. DEV’T
daytonos.com/?p=7801
Conspicuously absent at the pep rally was any mention [...]
Thanks to the Fairborn Daily Herald and the (Xenia) Gazette News-Current for publishing the following letter to the editor on Tuesday August 25, 2009. (The article by Gery Deer to which I referred in the letter was published in those newspapers on Thursday August 13, 2009. It can be found [...]
One great feature of trying to maintain a web log is that, over time, you accumulate a lot of thoughts. Two years ago, I would not have guessed that the biggest theme in my web log history would turn out to be democracy. I recently searched through the DaytonOS archive [...]
I came in dead last. But 4481 voters in the Kettering School Board race voted for me. I figure I got about 30% of those voters who voted for school board candidates. 30% sounds a lot better than the 14% reported yesterday.
Yesterday I reported these results from the [...]
In Kettering’s elections, two challengers won. Jim Brown will replace Frank Maus on the School Board and Ashley Webb will replace Frank Spolrich on the City Council. A couple of my predictions came true — Julie Gilmore was the top vote getter for the School Board, and Amy Schrimpf [...]
I’ll predict that Kettering will reject all three state issues and will approve both levies.
In Kettering this election there was strong competition in both the City Council race and in the School Board race. It’s a good sign that our democracy in Kettering may be stronger than it sometimes lets [...]
Election tomorrow. The best guess is that about 15,000 of Kettering’s 40,000 voters will actually vote. It may be that even if I come in dead last, I still be able to say, in the middle of an argument, things like — “Look, 4000 Kettering voters think I’m right.”
I’ve [...]
The worst that could possibly happen would be a repeat of 1918, when the flu killed some fifty million people worldwide. Most people who “die from the flu” actually have other medical condition that made them weak to begin with. If you’re normal and healthy, you almost certainly will survive [...]
It appears from today’s Dayton Daily News article that Preston’s $170 million big fish isn’t really in the boat yet. Speculation surrounding the timely announcement is being heard from all industries in the Dayton region. When you catch the hospitals, county officials and regional economic development leaders off guard, something [...]
Only five days to election. I’ve been enjoying going door to door talking with voters. I’m trying to talk with citizens who voted in the last “off year” election, in 2007. About 15,000 of Kettering’s 40,000 voters went to the polls in 2007. Everyone I’ve spoken with has been very [...]
I’m enjoying going door to door and meeting Kettering voters. Yesterday, I was happy to hear a lot of good reports about Kettering Schools.
One woman told me that she had checked it out before purchasing her home and that she chose Kettering Schools over Oakwood Schools and that she is [...]
After a dozen plus years reading campaign finance reports, one shouldn’t be surprised at the prices people pay for elected office. Look closely at the County Democratic Party and see their payment for consulting fees. This is for the services rendered to our Mayor. This, more than $5000.00, expense helped [...]
Last night the five candidates seeking election to the Kettering Board of Education participated in a “Meet the Candidates” program sponsored by the League of Women Voters. I was disappointed that so few people attended — only 30 or so — only a couple of teachers, only a couple of [...]
Grrr. Originally, two “Meet the Candidates” community meetings were scheduled for Kettering Board of Education Candidates. But now it looks like the second meeting will be canceled.
Yesterday, Bill Pees, from the Kettering Kiwanis Club, informed me that all three incumbent candidates have sent him word that they will not participate [...]
This election, in selecting their school board members, Kettering voters have a choice. The question is, should voters return board members who are seeking election — or choose the challengers? The DDN in its editorial endorsement, recommended sticking with the incumbents. Of the challengers — Jim Brown and me — [...]
It’s hard to believe, but, according to Kettering’s Interim School Superintendent, Jim Schoenlein, the school district of Kettering has destroyed its entire historical record of North Central self-study reports.
Prior to recent times, school districts were accredited by accrediting agencies. Every five years, school districts, in order to maintain their accredited [...]
How can public education be transformed? The two ways we currently rely upon are not valid:
If the state and federal government keep making more regulations, more requirements, most tests, more penalties and more rewards, this process will result in more of the same, not in transformation. If Citizens kept agreeing [...]In my campaign to be elected to The Kettering Board of Education, I’ve decided to return to what motivated me in the first place last May. In this article for the KO Times to be printed Thursday, October 22, I use the word “appalled” to describe my reaction to the [...]
I’m a failure as a candidate, because I don’t want to raise scads of money to spend with media companies like the Dayton Daily News, or their sister Channel 7. I don’t want to send attack mailings like Rhine McLin. I don’t want to engage in “sound bite politics.” The [...]
If you keep electing the same people and expect a different result, you’ve got a problem. If you read the story in today’s Dayton Daily News about the candidates position on jobs, you won’t hear anything different than you heard four or eight or twelve years ago.
In fact, the “streamlining” [...]
Moraine is hurting. They won’t be the first or the last community to struggle thanks to the economic meltdown.
The Dayton Daily News mocked me for suggesting that the City put the airport- a regional asset, on the table as an opener to discuss regionalism.
Now we have Splash Moraine closing:
City officials [...]
I was glad this morning to see that the DDN printed my letter. The letter is only about 120 words in length and is entitled, “Defeating Kettering school levy wasn’t motive”
Re “Maus, Gilmore, Bayless best picks,” Oct. 5: The Dayton Daily News editorial board recommended that the three incumbent [...]
If your business is a restaurant, you can spend all day dreaming about the fine china you want to buy, or the dishes you could prepare, or you could work hard on working with what you have.
If you are the City of Dayton, you come up with dreams for [...]
I had a conversation with Dayton Daily News Editorial board member and former school reporter, Scott Elliott about my “strangely bad ideas” including where he scoffed about Sinclair Community College taking over Dayton Public Schools.
He did agree that the DPS brand is [...]
In this video, it seems to me that I can hear great sorrow in Dr. Deming’s voice — the voice of a grieving prophet who sees how wonderful the world could be and is grieved because it will not change. Dr. Deming urges transformation. He says we should not seek [...]
OUR RECOMMENDATION DAYTON CITY COMMISSION
Williams, Whaley easily best for city
This year should be a tough election for incumbents on.the Dayton City Commission. The city keeps shrinking in population, keeps having to make painful budget cuts, has seen record numbers of home foreclosures, loses NCR, shows up near the top [...]
As usual, the Dayton Daily News, in an endorsement not available yet online, endorses the same old thing. They focused on my “strange idea” of making regional assets a regional asset- as one of the tools to get regionalism going. I guess they don’t understand that to gain power, you [...]
The League of Women Voters is now showing their video of the five Ketttering Board candidates on Channel 21. It was taped at the MVCC building on Alex Bell last week. In the program each condidate speaks five times — in rotating order: An opening statement, separate answers to three [...]
In what some described as a painful process, the Montgomery County GOP made endorsements in 4 races last night. Candidates from 4 jurisdictions and 5 races called for the endorsements.
Butler Township Trustee race, no endorsement was made by the Butler Township precinct captains.
Miamisburg and Miami Township precinct captains chose to [...]
Click here to view the embedded video.
Candidates night at c[space hosted by upDayton and the League of Women Voters. Candidates from left to right, Gary Leitzell, Rhine McLin, Nan Whaley, Joey D. Williams and David Esrati.
A few thoughts:
Good lighting makes for better video. Don't expect candidates to speak from their' [...]Are you a veteran and own a business (like me)? Or, are you an organization that is debating getting a GSA schedule to do business with the Federal Government?
If you are, this weeks VOB108 meeting is for you:
Mr. Paul Adams, Customer Service Director (CSD) for the Federal Acquisition Services in [...]
In yesterday’s DDN editorial, “Maus, Gilmore, Bayless best picks for Kettering school board,” the DDN recommended tha, regardless that there are two good challengers, Kettering voters stick with the three current board members who are seeking reelection
The DDN in its editorial seems to try extra hard to say nice [...]
Reminder-t0morrow night, Tuesday Oct 6, it’s pizza and pop for $15 at the South Park Tavern. Pay in advance online, or at the door.
You’ve heard of the Democrats and the Republicans, well, there’s a third party in town: The Dayton Pizza Party. Membership [...]
Thousands of foreclosures in the Dayton area would have been prevented if the local business leadership had cultivated home grown entrepreneurs. Maybe they don’t know very much about entrepreneurship. After all, many of them spent their whole career in large, bureaucratic organizations.
In any case, here are ten key issues about [...]
Since the Mayor decided to finish off the last candidates forum saying that the Commission didn’t hold illegal secret meetings, I thought I’d post the actual language from the Charter and the Sunshine Laws:
Meetings of the Commission
§ 39… the Commissioners shall meet at [...]
My name is in the newspaper today, in an article entitled, “Kettering Undecided On School Levy Timing.” The article is in the “Neighbors” Section for Kettering and Oakwood and revisits comments made during DDN’s group interview with all five board candidates, September 23. The article says, “One board member [...]
An interesting article in Slate by Zephyr Teachout, predicts, “The web will dismember universities, just like newspapers,” and says, “Undergraduate education is on the verge of a radical reordering. Colleges, like newspapers, will be torn apart by new ways of sharing information enabled by the Internet. The business model [...]
At 11:00 AM today, I will meet with the other four candidates at the Miami Valley Cable Council (MVCC) on Alex Bell Rd to participate in a video taped discussion organized by the League of Women Voters. The video produced from today’s meeting will be shown several times — either [...]
The red line indicates how inflation has grown since 1995. This has been a steady increase. The average rate of inflation in the 1990’s was 3% and the average rate of inflation in the 2000’s has been 2.78%. It takes $146.58 today to buy what $100 purchased [...] I’ve decided to give myself a challenge. I need to write a little book and within the next few days email PDF files to Lulu. Lulu is offering a special 25% off deal on book orders of more than 35 copies. The last day for the deal is September 30. [...]
Today, all five candidates seeking election to the Kettering Board of Education will meet at the offices of the Dayton Daily News for a group interview. The interview will be at 2:00 PM. Each candidate is suppose to bring to the interview a color photograph, a resume, and copies [...]
This is about as dead on as it gets folks. Health insurance isn’t health care.
Hollywood speaks up, [...]
One headline in this morning’s paper — “Kettering Schools May Seek Levy In 2010, Official Says” — came out of the meeting yesterday with the Kettering School Board candidates and DDN editors, Scott Elliott and Martin Gottlieb.
During that meeting, I broke the news that a new school tax will [...]
Mike Bock, Jeff Putman, Dayton Politix, David Esrati
