Education is the answer! Politicians from President Barack Obama to the local school member agree that providing a good education to America’s children is one of the country’s prime objectives. Pundits ranging from Thomas Friedman to George Will have written that providing better education for the nation’s children is critical to U.S. competitiveness in meeting future challenges from developing countries, particularly China.

When Sputnik was launched in 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, it scared Americans into promoting teaching math and science to meet the Soviet challenge of that era. Every year since 1957, Americans have been spending more on education than the prior year at a growth rate that exceeds inflation or the growth of the economy. By now the problem would be expected to be solved, especially after the cry for better education was given a boost in 1983 during the Reagan administration with the publication of A Nation at Risk by the U.S. Department of Education.
But the problems in public education aren’t fixed. While there are many fine schools in the United States, they do not teach enough students to overcome the poor education given to the large number of students in major urban districts and poor rural districts.

Paula Deen, who is known for her ridiculously rich and calorie laden recipes, recently revealed that she suffers from Type 2 diabetes. Naturally, people started picking on her once she shared the news, blaming her cooking for bringing the disease upon herself. Now, gossip rags have stooped to a new low: photographing and reporting on what she eats. Yesterday, TMZ thought it fit to run a story that she ate a cheeseburger, and OMG, french fries.

Seriously?

Let the woman eat in peace. If she wants to get fat and die with a belly full of fatty goodness, that's her prerogative. I know some diabetics myself, and while they have to watch what they eat, they are allowed to indulge in some tasty foods from time to time, and in moderation.

It must be an awfully slow news week in gossip land.

The Cleveland State Vikings are becoming "Davids" as they continue to upset the "Goliaths" of college basketball. Gary Waters, who inherited a team in disarray and had one top 25 win in the history of the program, has knocked off ranked opponents 5 times now in his tenure with the most recent coming at #7 Vanderbilt yesterday. The funny thing about the victories has been the timing as Northeast Ohio sports fans had other things on their agendas during each of the Vikings' biggest conquests.

CSU knocked off Butler in February of 2008 to reclaim some respect from sports fans who had been drawn away from a basketball program that had been irrelevant for two decades. Cleveland State once again got national attention when the team shocked Syracuse on a Monday night in December of 2008. The win over the Orangeman was televised on SportsTime Ohio but the vast majority of Cleveland sports fans attention was focused on the Browns upset win against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football the same evening.

By Ed Hooper
History News Service

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., has sent a letter to Department of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta pressuring him -- as he did former secretary Robert Gates -- to review the War on Terror's combat decoration recipients and upgrade some to the Medal of Honor.

The DOD has consistently responded that the majority of U.S. casualties in the War on Terror have been caused by improvised explosive devices, landmines or snipers. The strict battlefield criteria for the Medal of Honor have simply not been met, and the awards presented are appropriate.

After the so-called "Purge of 1917," which stripped 911 Medals of Honor from past recipients, the DOD established policies requiring thorough battlefield investigations and direct eyewitness testimony. Only 178 Distinguished Service Crosses out of more than 13,000 issued since 1917 have been upgraded to Medals of Honor. Upgrades have been rare because policy dictates that the first decoration be reexamined, rejustified, and then reevaluated with new evidence.

This letter was received in response to the editorial published by Norman G. Lange, entitled "Issue 2, November 2011: Repeal of SB 5 Will Reveal Kasich's Ineptitude"

Dear Editor,

In an October 11 editorial, Norman G. Lange correctly notes that polls continue to show strong support in Ohio for Voting No on Issue 2 and repealing Senate Bill 5. Yet, he is flat wrong about fire fighters. Yes, they do work shifts of 24 hours on and 48 hours off. But that shift schedule is not designed so they can sleep on the job. It is because emergencies often happen at night, when the rest of the community is asleep.

Does Mr. Lange know that Ohio fire fighters work an average of 48-56 hours per week?
The time has come to stop attacking fire fighters and other public employees. SB5 silences middle class workers. We can cast a citizens’ veto of SB 5 by voting NO on Issue 2.

By voting NO on Issue 2, our fellow citizens can ensure that those of us who have first-hand experience are the ones making the crucial decisions about how to keep you and your family safe, instead of politicians.

Sincerely,
Tom Lally, President
Cleveland Firefighters Local 93

First get an accurate read of what Tea Party Republicans want. The best way to do this is to ask President Obama to order Treasury Secretary Geithner to immediately stop all payments that go to zip codes in Republican US House Districts. Politically this should be a no-brainer for the President. Republicans cannot hate him any more than they already do and it might rally the President’s base.

Within one week of the stop payment program, the budget committee will know how Republicans really feel about government spending. If there is no response or a positive response, the country will know that Tea Party Republicans are nihilists who hate government and want it dismantled. In that case, your work is done. The federal government can permanently stop payments into Republican Congressional Districts and the budget will be balanced.

On the other hand if there is a great wailing and gnashing of teeth, the committee will know that Republicans are just old fashioned free-loaders who want services but just do not want to pay for them (a variation of Reagan’s legendary welfare queen). Or Republican born again budget balancers will need to get serious about what specific programs should be cut and offer those suggestions to the committee.

I never heard of Republican Hill staff veteran Mike Lofgren, retired this summer after 30 years, until he published on Saturday what I believe will be required reading in textbooks someday - a forensic indictment dismantling his own Republican Party so thoroughly, I thought I was reading the boiled resin of every blog post I've ever written in my seven years as a loud mouthed left wing liberal blogger.

Take note what a Republican Hill staffer of 30 years will have been part of. Mike Lofgren was at the highest levels of GOP legislating for George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and two years of Barack Obama. Lofgren helped legislate into law the Contract with America under Speaker Newt Gingrich. He is no passer by, no bystander, not merely rank and file, not even a fleeting member of Congress. Mike Lofrgren was embedded into the very pinnacle of Republican power, for multiple presidencies.

This week, Mike Lofgren wrote that his Republican Party has gone completely mad. And in order to write this, he retired from government. I saw his first appearance on Hardball tonight, and Lofgren looks in equal measure relieved, freed, and yet, terrified. Lofgren appears a bookish, geeky, middle-aged technocrat with a look in his eyes of a canary just released from a coal mine, begging you to listen to his warning.

The conventional wisdom is in and the verdict is unanimous: The Republicans ran roughshod over President Obama in the laborious debt-ceiling/budget debate and his prospects for re-election are now looking fairly remote. In addition, the Tea Party has emerged as the most powerful force in American politics, having totally eliminated tax hikes as part of the solution to cutting the deficit while striking a devastating blow against the usefulness of government in general and the spineless Obama in particular. Plus, troops are still dying in Afghanistan and Standard & Poor’s just lowered the boom.

What’s more there’s evidence that the limpid Left may be in revolt. Among other things, the ghastly visage of Ralph Nader – the addled egomaniac that Michael Moore and other “progressives” backed in 2000 – has been spotted in the media spouting his own peculiar brand of self-serving political psychobabble and hinting at another presidential run. The lefty blogosphere (also known as the Political Amateur Hour) is moaning about how they have been let down and duped by the duplicitous Obama and now appear committed to hold their breath until they turn purple because nobody knows the troubles they’ve seen.

During the 2008 campaign, when Barack Obama said he respected Ronald Reagan as a "transformational figure", he took a lot of heat. It's becoming clearer by the day what Barack meant.

Largely because of what Reagan wrought, there is now an assumption in all economic conversation, from backyard barbecues to mainstream media, that everything a private sector actor with a lot of money does is right and correct, while everything else is always wrong and incorrect. The benefit of the doubt resides with those who have the money.

Period. That's how thoroughly right wing conservative Republicanism has changed the discourse of America.

The OSU, Terrelle Pryor, Jim Tressel "scandal" is the perfect example. In another century, temporarily "paying" a population of largely young, black men with only room & board and an education would have been understood as close to slavery. Not anymore. Now, it's considered a great deal for the player. So great a deal, that if the player is caught cashing in on his status as a major college athlete, it is a "violation" of some "rules", in fact, scandalous.

At lunch today Bonnie Zurcher, wife of the traveling man Neil Zurcher, brought up one of her pet peeves.

“Why does everyone say, ‘Someone went missing?’ Nobody goes missing. They might disappear, but they don’t go missing,” said Bonnie.

She’s absolutely correct. That’s what I have contended for several years, since the silly expression became the most misused cliche of recent times. The first person to say it probably thought it was a quaint way to say you don’t know where someone is.

Listen, the person who’s missing knows exactly where he is. Just because you don’t know where he is doesn’t mean he’s missing.

To be correct, switch around the subject and predicate, like this. No one knows where Mary Lou is. She went somewhere. But she didn’t go missing because you cannot find “Missing” on a map. I’ve never heard of a town called “Missing.” It’s not a place. It’s also not a condition, like Mary Lou has gone crazy. She might go crazy, but she did not go missing.

I’m babbling angrily now because I’m sick of the media using that ridiculous expression. I’m going away now. But I’m not going missing. I’m going to a bar. If I’m not back by morning, check the police station or the morgue. But you won’t find me missing.

Signing off mad.