5/19/22

I really like living in a democracy. We get to vote regularly on who will represent us on local school boards, on city councils, or as mayor. We also get to vote on state and federal candidates and every four years for President. Elections provide us all with an opportunity to see what a person’s character and demeanor is like and whether they will run a positive campaign based on their beliefs and goals or run one that simply attacks their oppositions positions. You learn a lot about people when you see them under the kind of pressure and scrutiny that elections create. Elections and candidates just seem to get our juices going. We feel strongly about someone and the issues for which they stand. It is also quite interesting how many people have no clue about who really said something or did something. A recent poll was conducted in which well-known candidates and office holders were quoted. It turned out that many in the poll could not tell even one major issue that each candidate stood for or quote they made. They also incorrectly attributed quotes to those they didn’t like if they felt the quote was negative even when the quote was from candidates that they supported. More and more voters lack understanding of even the most basic issues and are impacted by the media they follow while not understanding the issues presented by that media. I am becoming more and more concerned that our duty and right to vote is being negatively impacted by a voter that is not well-read, ill-prepared, and simply wrong in the knowledge that they think they have. Democracy works best with a well-informed electorate. During this election season, let’s share the truth and not just the emotions. Now that’s Good News.

5/18/22

I get teary eyed every time I say the pledge of allegiance or hear the singing of the national anthem. I feel such pride and thankfulness that I get to live in the greatest country in the world. Patriotic exercises are required in schools daily and yet, we have lost some of the reverence that I think is appropriate when we say those words in the pledge. They have become rote and we just say them with little or no meaning attached. I try to say the pledge each time like it is the first time I have ever said it and with the appropriate feeling. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, One nation under God, individual, with liberty and justice for all.” My faith in patriotism here at home was restored with a moving incident that took place at Cy-Fair High School during the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. Groundskeeper Clayton Allen Jr. put his equipment down and stood at attention to honor the moment. A teacher standing near a window took a picture of this simple, humble act and it went, as they say now, viral. What a lesson for all of us. The pledge of allegiance is one of those important patriotic exercises that binds us together as a nation and incidents like this remind of us that fact. Now that’s Good News.

5/17/22

Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege of working with some of the most amazing people, people who are really local heroes. One of them is Armen Bacon. Armen is a Fresnan through and through. She went to local schools and has a profound knowledge of Fresno and its people. She also has a unique way of looking at her surroundings and sharing her perceptions through her gift of writing. I know that gift well because she served as my Administrator for Communication when I was Fresno County Superintendent. Her book, Griefland, gives insights into how she was able to turn the tragedy of losing her son into hope for the future when hope seemed impossible to achieve. You never fully recover from the loss of a child but Armen demonstrated that there is hope on the other side of darkness and that darkness cannot permanently blurr hope. All of us face challenges in life and we must make choices to allow those challenges to either destroy us or use them to find that ray of hope that is often behind the veil of darkness. Armen made the courageous choice of confronting her pain, her fears, and her tears and we are better off because of that choice. When faced with despair or hope, choose hope just like our local hero, Armen Bacon, did. Now that’s Good News.

5/16/22

I must have over 60 passwords that I have to remember and it seems that each time I log into a place requiring a password, it wants me to change my password to a stronger password. That stronger password also makes it more difficult for me to remember and thus, I usually retreat to one that I can easily remember, which means that the password is not very strong…and so I am caught up in this vicious cycle. I can either have a strong password that I can’t remember or I can have a simple password that I can remember and that can be hacked by a beginner hacker. Relief may be coming soon. At the world’s biggest high tech fair, CeBit, developers demonstrated several answers to the crazy making problem of passwords. Some of the solutions leave me baffled because I don’t understand how they work. One that did make sense was the biometric solution where a fingerprint or palm print could be used as a password. Smart Phones already use a fingerprint as a means of providing some protection. Another is face recognition technology. According to the spokesperson for one of the companies at the conference, there are already many millions of people using face recognition. All I know is that I want them to come up with something quick that doesn’t require me to remember my 60 different passwords. If they don’t, I will just go back to 123456 and add 789 to make it stronger. What I really want is a free pass on passwords. Now that’s Good News.

5/13/22

Recently my wife and I experienced how absolutely impenetrable a bureaucracy can be. Our insurance company changed the provider through which our prescriptions are obtained. We have some longterm medicines that help to keep us well. I hate to admit it but it must be age. We have been on this new insurance program and it did appear to be working until we ran into the renewal of a medication. This is where bureaucracy comes in. The medication was rejected by the insurance company when the pharmacy put the request into the computer even though they had previously covered it for two months. Seven phone calls, two doctor visits, two pharmacy visits, and a call to a retiree hotline all of which combined for 7 hours of trying to get through the bureaucracy and the statement we all hate: “You need to call this number and they can help you.” It turned out we needed to call 7 different numbers to finally arrive at the one we really needed to call. While most of the folks were pleasant, they were pleasant at turning the problem over to someone else. My wife and I are college educated and of reasonable intelligence and we still hit the bureaucratic wall of “not my responsibility.” Our last call was to Rosemary who worked the retiree hotline. Wow! Within 6 minutes the problem was solved with a phone call to the provider. We need more Rosemarys who are pleasant and competent at breaking through that bureaucratic wall. Now that’s Good News.

5/10/22

Paying taxes has never been high on my list of things I like to do. In fact, just the opposite is true. When I took a look at how much we pay in California, it just made me feel disgusted, especially when I see so much waste and tax money being given to people who are able-bodied but game the system simply because they don’t want to work. When I heard the story of Jason Greenslate, the defiant, food stamp surfer dude who allegedly turned down an offer of a job that pays $80,000, it just reinforced what many of us feel is wrong in America. We should not be supporting with tax money people who can work but simply choose not to work. Those who choose this lifestyle really make it tough on families who truly are struggling and need our help. Americans are a very generous people, in fact, the most generous in the world. Americans have stepped up time after time to help victims of natural disasters both here and around the world and we do it gladly. I firmly believe that more money would be available to help the needy if the government got out of the business of welfare to those who don’t truly need it and allowed the American people to send their dollars to those who do need it. A donation is always more powerful and less resented than a tax demanded that is used to help those who abuse the system. Donations up and taxes down! Now that’s Good News.

5/11/22

As the former Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, I was painfully aware of the statistics that surrounded foster kids and their futures. When a child is “put into the system,” it usually means that their chances for a regular or normal life are greatly diminished. There are just so many of them that have been abandoned or taken from parents who were not capable of caring for them. Now don’t get me wrong. I clearly understand that the foster care system with all of its challenges, still offers a better life than the one the kids had before they were in foster care. It is just so painful to see so many kids with such great potential get caught up in a system that is underfunded and under resourced. One great hope in all of this lies in those families who are committed to foster-adoption. Until my daughter and her husband got into the program, it was pretty much an intellectual thing for me. I knew about the pain and the probabilities but I didn’t have to deal directly with the realities. My job was just to get them the best education I could. I now know that that is not enough. We must develop a much more rigorous program that supports foster-adoption parents who really love kids that have been thrown to the system and realize that society will be so much better off if we can get these kids in a healthy home environment where they can be cared for and nurtured and loved. I learned a valuable lesson about my adopted grandkids: they are just as much my grandkids as those born into the family and there are many families out there that can know the joys that I have known. Join me in the joy! Now that’s Good News.

5/10/22

I am one of the most fortunate men around. I have a beautiful wife who loves me and who also loves our community. Her name is Dot Powell. She has spent most of her career working in some of the most challenging schools and neighborhoods in Fresno. Professionally, she was an educator for 33 years serving as a teacher, resource teacher, vice principal, and finishing her educational career as an elementary principal. Instead of retiring to the good life, which she so richly earned, she started two nonprofits and began working to change the lives of students and families who faced poverty and illiteracy. She also developed a passion for writing and, through her children’s books, a way to highlight local heroes who have made a difference in the world. One of her books is entitled: My Home Town Hero: Wilbur Plaugher. Wilbur was about one of the most famous rodeo clowns to ever live and he lived right here in Fresno County. When he was in his 90s, he still rode horses. He lived an exciting and exemplary life, one that was a model for students. Sometimes we don’t have to venture very far to find heroes. Many of them live right here, some just next door to us. It is time that our local heroes find a place in the hearts and minds of our kids so they know that you don’t have to go very far to find someone to emulate. Wilbur Plaugher was a local hero. Now that’s Good News.

5/9/22

I have never had much trouble detecting the emotions of other drivers and I am willing to bet that you haven’t had much trouble either. The occasional digital gesture has served to tell me far more than I usually wanted to know. There have also been some words that I cannot, and do not, use that have helped me to read the emotions of other drivers. Well, guess what? Technological tests are now underway that attempt to capture a driver’s emotions through an on-board emotions detector based on the analysis of facial expressions. You may ask “why is it important to capture a driver’s emotions?” Quite simply, irritation can make anyone who drives much more aggressive and far less attentive than they should be. We also know that fatigue creates a greater risk possibility as well and is something that can also be captured with an emotions detector. Just think of the possible applications while driving. If overly agitated, a voice could be triggered that reminded me to calm down or some soothing music could start playing or perhaps a preprogrammed message in which my spouse reminded me to get it together. But then again, our spouses already have built in emotions detectors so maybe my choice is a technological device or a human one. In this case, bring on the high tech one. It might make my marriage last longer. Now that’s Good News.

5/6/22