STOP THE INCREASED ANCHORAGE SITES ON THE HUDSON RIVER

While most of the time I focus my rants in writing on the world of public education, the recent proposal to drastically increase anchorage sites for oil barges on the Hudson River have caused great alarm to all of us who call the Hudson River Valley home. 

I was compelled to write a letter to the US Coast Guard.  Until September 7th, you, too, can share your comments at:  https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/06/09/2016-13701/anchorage-grounds-hudson-river-yonkers-ny-to-kingston-ny

The recent proposal to increase anchorage sites on the Hudson River from NYC to Albany for large vessels carrying dangerous cargos is distressing and unsettling.  I've lived in the Hudson River Valley my entire life and have vivid childhood memories of seeing and smelling raw sewage in the river, as well as oil slicks, garbage, and dead fish.  Thanks to the tireless efforts of citizen activists over many decades, the Hudson River today is a healthy, vital river, supporting an abundance of life and providing recreational and scenic pleasure to residents and visitors up and down its shores.

The proposal to increase anchorage sites on the river jeopardizes all the hard work done to heal the Hudson.

No matter where I travel to around the country, when I return I'm struck anew by the unparalleled beauty in my own backyard.  If you've had the good fortune to live or visit here, you too, would readily see what I see every day.  You might understand, too, how a uniquely American School of Art celebrating the beauty of the natural environment was born here in the Hudson Valley in the mid-19th Century.  The views and vistas from New York City all the way up to the Adirondacks provide inspiration and pleasure to residents and visitors alike.

There is no possible advantage to residents and visitors of the River Valley for the proposed nautical parking lots.  The blocking of our vistas and the light pollution caused by the anchored vessels benefits no one who calls this Valley home. The potential for environmental disaster from spilled fuel and other toxins increases in magnitude with the increased vessel traffic the Anchorage proposal would allow.

Only a few private companies stand to profit from permitting large numbers of anchorage sites on the Hudson River.

Millions of residents' quality of life will be jeopardized.

It is imperative that decisions involving the river acknowledge its status as a National Heritage Area stretching from New York City to Albany.

National Heritage Areas (NHAs) are designated by Congress as places where natural, cultural, and historic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape.  The goals of NHAs are historic preservation, natural resource conservation, recreation, heritage tourism, and educational projects.

Granting permission to private companies for increased traffic and longterm parking rights ignores the act of Congress intended to forever protect the Hudson River.

I implore you, for the sake of the people of this Valley, and the River itself, do not approve the increase in anchorage sites on the Hudson River.

COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION

The new school year is beginning, and so I'm returning to my world of public education that I consciously take a break from during the summer.  Other than showing the film Education, Inc, to a small audience who finally "got it" ("it" being what I so often rant and opine on,) I've steered clear of most reading and conversations related to education for the past 8 weeks.

But then I came across another brilliant piece by UNH professor Thomas Newkirk.  This time on what reformers have labeled "Competency-Based Education."  Who can argue with anything that seeks to make kids competent?

I encourage all to read to find out more.

WHY IS ANYONE IN RUSSIA READING THIS BLOG?

So interesting to me that after posting my thoughts about the GOP candidate's unfitness for political office yesterday, the blog overview that shows where pages are viewed around the globe shows a sudden rise in views from Russia!
Mind you, this is just my little private place to vent. I don't advertise this much even to friends and family.  People mainly find this place through the infrequent postings I make on other's blogs.  Views have been mostly from the US and occasionally from Europe.  But never anywhere else.
Today it's all dark green from Russia.
That strikes me as more than a little odd.

PLEASE HELP CHANGE THE NARRATIVE

Please, if you're reading this, I implore you to help change the narrative on this election.  We all need to do this in our daily conversations with friends, family, co-workers, strangers.

The narrative of this election cannot be about the next insane thing the GOP candidate has done or whether or not his policies can make America “great again.” The only thing we all need to be talking about now is that one of the candidates running for President of the United States has serious mental health issues that make him unfit for any political office, let alone POTUS.

That’s it. Plain and simple.

There are many places to find detailed information on Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Below is from the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) 

The narcissist …

• Feels grandiose and self-important (e.g., exaggerates accomplishments, talents, skills, contacts, and personality traits to the point of lying, demands to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
• Is obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence, unequaled brilliance (the cerebral narcissist), bodily beauty or sexual performance (the somatic narcissist), or ideal, everlasting, all-conquering love or passion
• Firmly convinced that he or she is unique and, being special, can only be understood by, should only be treated by, or associate with, other special or unique, or high-status people (or institutions)
• Requires excessive admiration, adulation, attention and affirmation – or, failing that, wishes to be feared and to be notorious (Narcissistic Supply)
• Feels entitled. 
• Demands automatic and full compliance with his or her unreasonable expectations for special and favorable priority treatment
• Is “interpersonally exploitative,” i.e., uses others to achieve his or her own ends
• Devoid of empathy. Is unable or unwilling to identify with, acknowledge, or accept the feelings, needs, preferences, priorities, and choices of others
• Constantly envious of others and seeks to hurt or destroy the objects of his or her frustration. 
• Suffers from persecutory (paranoid) delusions as he or she believes that they feel the same about him or her and are likely to act similarly
• Behaves arrogantly and haughtily. 
• Feels superior, omnipotent, omniscient, invincible, immune, “above the law,” and omnipresent (magical thinking). 
• Rages when frustrated, contradicted, or confronted by people he or she considers inferior to him or her and unworthy

There really is nothing more we need to say.
Just help change the narrative.

The GOP candidate is not just a bad candidate.  He is dangerous to our democracy. 

He is mentally unfit for the office.
For many reasons.
Period.

A MOMENT WITH JOHN KING

I recently had the unusual opportunity to hear John King as a guest lecturer in a course I was taking.  Dr. John King/Secretary King, former Commissioner of the New York State Department of Education, now America's Secretary of Education.

I had written to him in the past and spoken out at public forums about the negative consequences of policies he designed and promoted when he was the Commissioner in New York. I found myself with the potential opportunity to ask him a question in the class, so I spent a few days soliciting ideas from others and thinking what it was that I would want him to hear.  But after mulling over all the things I could possibly ask/say, I decided to actually not say anything, so as not to bring undue distress to my gracious hosts. 

There was much pomp and circumstance around the visiting dignitary, and when he finally arrived, I have to tell you that he held the room (me included) in rapt attention for almost two hours.

I will admit that I was completely awed by Dr. King’s presentation – he actually brought me to tears at one point. He spoke with passion, intelligence, conviction, and noble purpose. He made me want to work with him to support whatever actions he saw fit to implement in the public school sphere. In short, I sublimated all that I knew about the destructive power of his choices made as Commissioner of Education in New York State, to the seductive power of his words. 

(Just as an aside – the speaker I saw before me in this class in no way resembled the person I had personally testified in front of at a public forum, nor was he the person seen in C-Span videos of Congressional hearings. The man I heard last week was a far cry from the aloof, dismissive, and at times, arrogant person I’ve seen in public settings.)

But now that I’ve returned to my “real life” and remembered and reread what I’d previously known about him, I’m saddened and confused by the extreme cognitive dissonance Dr. King’s presentation has caused me. 

Much cannot be ignored nor sublimated.  Dr. King’s real life actions, affiliations, and his choices in how to implement change in education have been questionable, to say the least. He’s been in many positions of power with the awesome privilege to enact fundamental change for the benefit of all public school children. But for some reason, his decisions have led to great failings and real harm. 

I am left completely distressed. 

How could Dr. King’s presentation to an audience seeking to become advocates for our country’s school children be so awe-inspiring on its face while the substance below the surface tells a very different story? I know the short answer may be “this is what a great politician looks and sounds like.” 

But I feel there has to be more to the story. Is it possible he really does believe that his decisions are in the best interest of children, and that if we who see things differently would just step out of the way, real progress could be made? Is it possible it’s just the twisted machinery of politics and policy making that contorts great ideas as they make their way to our classrooms? Or did I merely witness a man with great political prowess give an awesome speech that he knows is far from the truth of his actual intended actions?

I’m sure the answer is as complex as the questions. And I wish I could uncover the true reasons for this confounding and contradictory story.

I am confused and ever more distressed.

PS While I didn’t raise my hand to ask any questions, Dr. King actually cold-called me after asking if anyone had ideas on how to improve our schools. I was stunned and then took a deep breath so as not to say anything that might embarrass. And then I told him what I had previously written to him in letters and said in public forums when he was State Commissioner – “The only adult at the direct intersection between education policy and the student the policy is intended for, is the classroom teacher. It is imperative that the teacher’s voice be heard in the conversation about how to address the needs of our nation’s school children.” 

And by all accounts, it looked like, at least for that moment in time, that he had heard me.

(Though I’m also not so naive…)

ABOUT THIS SURREAL PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

I can't say the name of the focus of this post myself, but I wanted to pass on this brilliant post from dianeravitch.net.  The original Esquire article is linked here.

Charles Pierce is a thoughtful blogger for Esquire. On everything having to do with education, he is on target. He is on target on politics too.

In this post, he exposes Donald Trump as a major teller of tales, a fabulist, in short, a liar. Trump said in the aftermath of the Dallas disaster that 11 cities were in a state of upheaval and that there were people calling for “a moment of silence” for the killer of the five police officers. None of that was true.

Trump says whatever he wants and contradicts himself a day later, and no one seems to mind. 

He regularly plays to his base, which is angry white men who feel left out and resent those “others.”

Charles Pierce writes:

Damn the delegates who will vote for this man. Damn the professional politicians who will fall in line behind him or, worse, will sit back and hope this all blows over so the Republican Party once again will be able to relegate the poison this man has unleashed to the backwaters of the modern conservative intellectual mainstream, which is where it has been useful for over four decades. Damn the four hopeless sycophants who want to share a stage with him for four months. Damn all the people who will come here and speak on his behalf. Damn all the thoughtful folk who plumb his natural appeal for anything deeper than pure hatred.

Damn all the people who will vote for him, and damn any progressives who sit this one out because Hillary Rodham Clinton is wrong on this issue or that one. Damn all the people who are suggesting they do that. And damn all members of the media who treat this dangerous fluke of a campaign as being in any way business as usual. Any support for He, Trump is, at this point, an act of moral cowardice. Anyone who supports him, or runs with him, or enables his victory, or even speaks well of him, is a traitor to the American idea…..

Here is the truth. Nobody called for a moment of silence for Micah Johnson. Eleven U.S. cities are not on the brink of racial violence. He, Trump just made that shit up so his followers can stay afraid and angry at the people he wants them to fear and hate. This lie was a marching order and the Party of Lincoln is right in step with him, straight into the burning Reichstag of this man’s mind.

Welcome to the 2016 Republican convention: a four-day celebration of the ritual suicide of American democracy.

With balloons.

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