At What Price Glory?

Comments made this week by Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose are leading to a discussion about what professional athletes owe the fans--and what we fans owe the players.  In addressing his playing in only half of the Bulls games so far this regular season Rose said:

“I feel I’ve been managing myself pretty good. I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out. But I think a lot of people don’t understand that when I sit out, it’s not because of this year. I’m thinking about long term. I’m thinking about after I’m done with basketball, having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to.

“I don’t want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son’s graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. Just learning and being smart.’’

Bulls fans and reporters who cover the team are now questioning Rose's dedication to the team and the sport.  The big question is whether or not Rose is willing to make the sacrifices "required" to be an elite player and to win championships.  They also point to Rose's salary--$17.63-MILLION this season--and his huge Addidas shoe endorsement deal--worth a reported $185-MILLION over 13-years--as all the "incentive" he should need to play as many games as possible despite a history of knee injuries.  Heck, for that much, Rose could probably hire someone to carry him into all meetings and graduation ceremonies for the rest of his life.

But is that a reasonable expectation from us the fans--that pro athletes use up every bit of strength, mobility and energy that their bodies have for our entertainment?  You go to one of those NFL alumni events and everyone walks with a limp and they can't raise their arms above their heads and their fingers are all gnarled and you realize the physical toll that they paid.  Of course, if you were to ask any of those guys if they would have sat out games to avoid ending up in that condition, 99.99% of them would tell you "no way"--because they wanted to be out there--hurt or not--and that is what made them great.

So I don't think we should begrudge Derrick Rose his desire to sit out games in the prime of his athletic career so he's not "sore at any graduations".  But he should "enjoy" that with far less cash in his bank account--and likely no NBA Championship rings on his fingers.

North Side Troubles

It certainly has not been a good couple of weeks for the north side of Oshkosh.  Assaults on UW-Oshkosh students were followed by news that a UWO student was making ricin along Frederick Street and then last night we had a raid on a suspected meth lab just one block over along Franklin.  You even had a long time restaurant on that side of town--Vitale's--close up shop last weekend. 

The city of Oshkosh and the people living in the neighborhoods affected by this recent rash of incidents have put a lot of time, effort and money into trying to clean up the image of "that side" of the river.  I know a few people who live not far from the Ricin/Meth Block and they are frustrated by the continued problems over there--and how it just makes it more difficult to even consider moving out--because who is going to want to buy a house at true market value that sits near homes that are featured on the news for weeks on end?

Solutions to the issues plaguing part of the North Side are not going to come easily.  The demographics of the area make positive changes difficult.  Many of the homes in the area we are talking about are not owner occupied.  And while the City is adopting new building codes to spruce up the outside appearances of some of these houses--it still doesn't change the character of the people inside. 

Students here for four or five years renting some of those houses don't care about long-term, positive change in a neighborhood.  They just want somewhere they can live where they aren't going to get hassled for drinking while underage and smoking pot.  Those here to be closer to loved ones (or baby daddies) housed in one of our correctional facilities just want to "do their time" and return to wherever they originally called home.  And those who relocate to Oshkosh in order to serve the burgeoning illegal drug market will continue to be lured by the ability to make money--no matter how many of their predecessors we put in one of our correctional facilities.

Even if you were to go through with a bulldozer and raze all of the "problem houses" and replace them with nice townhomes or condos or assisted senior living that is going up everywhere else, all you are going to do is "relocate" the problems as well to the next older neighborhood with rental stock.  And we have laws that prevent landlords from refusing to rent to someone if they only "think they are going to be trouble".

So all we can do is remain vigilant and not adopt the attitude of "it ain't my problem" when we see something going on that isn't quite right.  We all live in Oshkosh--and we all share in the responsibility to make it as good a place to live as we can--even if it is on "that side of town".

And You Though Common Core Was Bad

A friend in education sent me a link yesterday to a story about the Minneapolis School District placing a moratorium on all suspensions and expulsions for students of color.  The District had been under fire from Federal Department of Education for high rates of minority suspensions and expulsions--so it initially appeared that they simply chose to just stop taking those kids out of classes--regardless of their disruption to others' learning or damage to school property. 

But after doing some further reading, I found that the Minneapolis Schools had actually adopted something called the "Model Code on Education and Dignity" from a group called Dignity In Schools.  And what is contained in that "code" is enough to scare the pants off many parents.

First off, the Model Code places the blame for high rates of minority suspensions and expulsions on an increasingly common target in education today: white teachers and administrators.  The basis for the so-called "discipline gap" is cited as being the same as the cause of the "achievement gap" for minority students--majority-white instructors are "culturally insensitive" to students of color.  Minority students cannot be expected to abide by the same standards of behavior as white children--and teachers must learn to accept that--even if it disrupts the learning environment for everyone else in the class.

The Code also demands that inappropriate actions be "decriminalized"--meaning kids that act up should not be singled out for discipline.  Instead, the boy who goes around at recess shoving everyone to the ground should not be brought to the principal's office--but instead he and all of his victims should be included in "restorative circles" to discuss all of their actions and the impact they have on one another.

I should also mention that the term "parent" appears a scarce number of times in the Model Code.  This is of course, because minority parents have been absolved of any responsibility for their children.  Their "job" is done, they have created the "ward of the State"--and now the State must do it's job of raising them (at your expense).

While all of the "feel good, restorative justice" stuff was to be expected, what is scary are the further recommendations in the Model Code that just plain put the lives of other students and adults in schools in jeopardy.  Like the recommendation that schools no longer conduct drug searches.  Or that kids caught dealing drugs on campus be put into school counseling programs--instead of being referred to police.  That all arrests on campus be done only after consultation with the principal (a person with a background in education and administration--not criminal justice and law enforcement).  And perhaps most disturbing, the elimination of Police Liason Officers in schools.  We wouldn't want to have students of color seeing policemen as someone they can trust--that would ruin the narrative of how all cops are racist and just want to incarcerate or kill young black men.

Now you may think "Who cares, Jonathan, that's the Minneapolis School District."  But keep in mind that public education is a copycat industry--and programs adopted in one district become the "hot new trend" at hundreds of other districts--at least until the next "revolution in education" comes along and everything we were doing before gets thrown out the window again (remember "Everyday Math" here in Oshkosh?).  A process that works because the customer base is always turning over--and there is no one to question the continuous 180-degree turns.  And new standards that require the hiring of more teachers, administrators, para-professionals and the purchase of new technology are especially popular.  So we'll let you know when the Model Code of Education and Dignity comes to Oshkosh--providing more cover for adults who refuse to do their jobs as parents.

'Tis the Season

The season is once again upon us--where we are reminded constantly of what we "absolutely have to have"--and there is "no time to waste" in getting it--and there are "people out there waiting to help you".  I don't mean the Christmas shopping season--I mean the now-annual Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Open Enrollment Period.

I got an email over the weekend from the League of Women  Voters that they are putting on another forum this week to "help" those "confused" by the ACA to "navigate the system" and get their federally-subsidized health insurance.  It will take a mere five panelists to "explain" the process of logging onto healthcare.gov before December 15th....or January 15th....or March 15th....or whatever date the Obama Administration decides to make its arbitrary deadline for coverage to begin on January 1st this time around.

Similar efforts to make sure as many people as possible signed up for the exchanges resulted in eight-million registrations last year--many of whom were people already covered by a more expensive policy through their employer or who had been on Medicaid--and a far cry from the 30-million Americans we were told time and again were "desperate for health insurance" when the ACA was approved in 2010.  You have to wonder why "affordable health care" remains such a difficult sell to people who "obviously" need it?

Meanwhile, the few that will likely attend this week's forum are probably already able to tell you when Interstellar opened in theaters, what new GoPro cameras are on the market this holiday season and how to shop on Amazon.com.  Yet the organizers of these forums believe that all of these uninsured people are that way because they "just didn't know about their options"--or they "just don't have access to the right information" to get signed up.

Unfortunately, the frustration that groups like the League of Women Voters will feel as attendance at these forums dwindle every year--while the number of uninsured remains about the same--will drive the inevitable push to forgo private insurance altogether and go to Nationalized Health Care with Uncle Sam paying everyone's bills--even if they (the patient)can afford to pay--and Uncle Sam cannot.  It's obviously too much to ask Americans to make their own choices about their lives.

The Freeloaders

I see that singer Taylor Swift has run afoul of her fans this week.  No, 10-year old girls have not suddenly developed a taste for sophisticated, non-repetitive songs about something other than breaking up with your boyfriend.  Instead, Swift has pulled her entire music catalog from the streaming service Spotify.  That means teenyboppers and Creepy Rob Lowe types can't add her songs to their playlist in the Spotify app anymore.  They are upset--and claim that Taylor Swift "owes it to her fans" to give them the opportunity to listen to her latest tracks.

Of course, if these people were actually Taylor Swift "fans", they would be willing to actually pay something to listen to that music.  Unlike ITunes, Spotify is free on the user end (you can pay a monthly fee to avoid have to hear commercials every other song--but most of that money goes to Spotify--not the artists).  Spotify pays artists who allow their songs to be used a whopping $0.0084 for hot new songs down to $0.006 per play for older, less-popular songs on the site.  And for Miss Swift and a growing number of other artists in all muscial genres, that isn't enough--especially when you consider that for many "fans" having those one or two songs in their playlist is a preferred alternative to buying what we old fogies like to call "a CD" or a digital download at ITunes.

I am a Spotify user myself--but I choose sit through the commercials--I'm not paying to avoid them.  And most of my playlist is music that I used to have on what us old fogies call "Cassette Tapes"--and never purchased again in a digital format.  There are plenty of artists that I enjoy who make NONE of their music available on Spotify--like The Beatles--and I am perfectly fine with that, because I see some value in having their music to listen to whenever I want.  And that is why I was willing to endure ridicule at the store and purchase the newly-remastered versions of all of their albums (You know they are on ITunes too, Sir)--rather than sit there and complain because "they aren't giving us what we want......for free".

The internet has created a generation of freeloaders who seem to think they have a "right" to have everything provided to them without having to pay for it.  It's why I see complaints about the "pay walls" put up on news sites like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.  If you really valued the information contained in the articles, you'd be willing to pony up the cash necessary to not only access them--but to also compensate the people who worked to gather that information and post it on the web, wouldn't you?

And the "everything free for me" attitude has permeated other areas as well--like health care.  The argument that it is a "right" and that there should be no out-of-pocket expenses--just the "greedy insurance companies" and Government paying for it--that got us the "Affordable" Care Act.  And now you have the "all higher education should be free" and the "student loan debt should be forgiven" pushes that will serve to devalue college degrees even further.

So if Taylor Swift songs, articles about the new discoveries in planetary development, birth control pills and a degree in French Literature are really that important to you, I suggest you put your money where you mouth is for them again.

Now That's My Kinda Party!!

Lost in all of the hoopla over the switch in power in the US Senate Tuesday night was the number of historic "firsts" that also resulted from the elections.  We have the first African-American elected to the Senate from a "Southern State" in 133-years.  He is also the first African-American to ever be elected to both the House and then to the Senate.  We have the first Haitian-American ever elected to Congress.  The first female combat veteran is heading to the Senate--along with the first Iraq and Afghanistan Wars veteran elected to that chamber.  Then there is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress--a 30-year old from upstate New York.  And speaking of young, an 18-year old West Virginia college co-ed has become the nation's youngest State lawmaker.  A staggering increase in the amount of "diversity" among those who represent us in the halls of power.

And did I mention all of those lawmakers are Republicans?

I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.  I know that the narrative put forth by the Obama Administration, MSNBC talking heads, and websites like Salon.com and the Huffington Post is that the GOP is nothing but a bunch of angry, old, white, racist, misogynist, sexist, homophobic, Bible-quoting rich men with their uneducated, Stepford Wives--mixed in with some rednecks and gun-toting lunatics.  I seem to remember after the 2008 Presidential election that more than a few "experts" called that night a harbinger of the death of the Republican Party--as their members would all just die off in the next few years--leaving behind nothing but "enlightened" liberals to control the country in a single-party state.

So what happened?  How could those dire predictions have been so wrong?

Well for starters, John McCain excited absolutely no one in the Republican Party--whether you were white, black, Latino, man or woman.  Mitt Romney in 2012 wasn't any more exiting to New Conservatives either--although having Paul Ryan on the ticket did give many hope.  But as the Obama Administration plodded along, we began to see that opposition to crushing national debt and increased expansion of government control and intrusion into our lives knows no gender, race or age boundaries.

"Diversity" in the US doesn't just apply to skin color and religious beliefs--but to thought about what our country should be like.  There will always be women who refuse to be prioritized strictly by their reproductive organs.  There will be African-Americans who realize the promise of welfare special consideration for the past fifty years has not improved their community's standing one bit.  There will be Latinos who support the rule of law when it comes to legal entry into this country.  And there will be young adults who don't feel that everything--including health care and higher education--should be handed to them for free.

And so long as we have diversity in thought in this country, there will always be hope for the Republican Party.

The Obama Miracle

The Common Core-approved, multi-media American History apps that today's schoolchildren download to their taxpayer-provided tablet computers will tell them that President Barack Obama's 2008 election victory is the high point of American politics as it "saw a Black man overcome a racist population by lifting the spirits of the disenfranchised with a promise of hope and change".  But I'm guessing that real historians and political scientists of the future will consider Obama's 2012 re-election as the greatest miracle in the history of US politics.

2008 was a layup for Democrats.  Voters--angry with the collapse of the economy caused by their own deep plunge into debt--were not going to elect any Republicans that year.  But with an approval rating of less than 50%, a still sour economy and the supposed rise of the Tea Party as a "major political force", President Obama was still able to cruise to victory in 2012.  And the Democratic electoral disasters that have surrounded the 2012 win make that day all the more miraculous. 

Now that we are a couple of years out, we can see start to see how it happened.  In 2012, President Obama still had something to promise enough of the American people to win--and that was "full implementation of the Affordable Care Act".  Up until November of 2012, all the ACA had done was treat 26-year olds like children and require insurance companies to take on people with pre-existing conditions--no matter how much that would cost other policyholders.  So the "hope" of 2008 was still there yet--we were "so close" to having "access to health care" and it was worth it--to enough people--to give the President a second term.

And then came October of 2013--when the ACA actually did go into full effect.  And people found out that the magic elixir of "access to health care" turned out to be just plain old insurance.  And like everybody who had it before them, the new enrollees soon found out that unless you get really sick, having health insurance really isn't that life-changing.  It didn't get them a job if they were unemployed, it didn't put more money in their pockets if they were poor and uninsured before, and it didn't suddenly make all of that consumer debt go away.  So in 2014, those who had helped President Obama pull off his second-term miracle stayed home--and did not support those who promised to protect the "benefits" they voted for in 2008 and 2012. 

Supporters of Mary Burke should have known the campaign was in serious trouble when they invited President Obama to stump on her behalf in the final few days before the election.  You'll notice the President didn't come to Green Bay or Appleton or Oshkosh or La Crosse or any of the other "swing areas" where Burke needed to do well to have a chance yesterday.  Instead, the rally was held in a predominantly-black ward in Milwaukee that had seen 99% of all votes cast in the 2012 Presidential election go for Obama.  They were hoping for one final miracle--knowing that pretty much everybody else around the state had given up on the "hope and change" idea.