Author: southwerk

I am a 53 year old teacher. I have double major in Speech and Criminal Justice resulting in a Bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma and a law degree.

Public Employee Hero (Number 2)Hero Teacher Helps Save Teens Struck by Lightning (via ABC News)

On By southwerkIn ethics

Several Utah teachers and school administrators have been heralded as heroes after they rushed to help two teenagers struck by lightning during a sudden thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon.

1 2“I thought I was looking at two dead boys,” said Ron Hansen, a social science teacher at Snow Canyon High School near St. George, Utah. “To come out and see two boys lying on their backs smoldering … there’s no way to prepare for that.”

Hansen was one of the quick-thinking first responders who jumped into action to help the two best friends. Alex Lambson and Dane Zdunich were leaving the school when they were hit by lightning.

Hansen said he heard a clap of thunder and then some screams. When he ran out of his classroom, he found the two students on the ground.

Hansen and another teacher transported the teens back to the school. Hansen said he immediately started to administer CPR until paramedics arrived.

(Below is identical from the first in the series of “Public Employee Hero” posts.)

One of the things that makes this nation function are those whose goal in life is not just about the money. They are school teachers, policemen, firemen, social workers, forest rangers, prison guards, etc. Their willingness to work in jobs that many would find less than economically rewarding (school teaching) or often depressing (social workers and policemen) or  dangerous (firemen and policemen), make this society function. There appears to be considerable sentiment running around the Internet and around the various state capitals that these people aren’t worth a damn.

For instance –

From the Rush Limbaugh Show –

TEACHER:  I think we’ve lost the sense of democracy.  I feel like what people in Egypt are fighting for right now, that’s exactly what I feel like I’m fighting for right now.

RUSH:  What an absolute idiot.  It’s a crying shame that this glittering jewel of colossal ignorance is teaching students. Comparing this to Egypt?  “I feel like that’s exactly what I’m fighting right now.”  What was Egypt even about?  Do you even know, ma’am?  Bottom line, it’s not about what they want.  We all “want” things.  Very few of us run around demanding that somebody give us everything we want! Most of us have more class, most of us have more understanding, most of us are more mature than to run around whining (sobbing), “This is what we want! (sobbing) I want my dignity! I want my respect, and I want my benefits (sniffle), I want my health care!” Well, go earn it! It’s not about what you want.  In your case, it’s about what can be afforded.  They’re trying to make themselves out to be oppressed. You’re not in Egypt. You’re a bunch of people who feel entitled to be freeloaders.

I have had the pleasure of dealing with policemen, firemen, teachers, probation officers and quite a few other public employees. I like them. I feel they do essential work.

I also am an attorney. I believe that when you sign up for a difficult job and one of your reasons is that there will be a good pension or good medical benefits, that’s your decision. It was also a decision by the State or local government that attracting people to do these difficult jobs was hard and required incentives. It’s a contract.

We are supposed to believe those.

When these people doing difficult work for many years are demonized as freeloaders – How about another comment from Rush Limbaugh about teachers –

RUSH:  Let’s put one thing to rest right now, and that is: The last people they care about are the children.  The last people they care about are the kids.  The last thing they teach about is education.  This is not about students.  This is not about education.  This is not about teaching.  This is not about learning.  This is about themselves.

CALLER:  It’s narcissistic.

RUSH:  It is narcissistic.  It’s also hypocritical.  These people have been getting by for years on the notion that they are devoted, that they are sacrificing, that they are subordinating themselves to the lofty ideals of the children and their education and so forth — and it isn’t about that at all.  It is about them.  The children are just pawns. They’re just pawns, as so many of the so-called “little guys” the Democrats are trying to help, they’re just pawns in the game of how these people take care of themselves.

… it makes me unhappy.

One of my teachers was Mr. Thompson. He taught me American Government and Social Studies. He went to college on the G.I. Bill. He was a quartermaster in an artillery unit, 155mm howitzers. He landed in Sicily and served through the Italian Campaign. He saw Mussolini’s body. He admitted it was quick, he was a passenger in a jeep down the street, but he did see him.

He only talked about combat once. His unit was attacked by Italian infantry. Thompson’s artillery unit lowered the muzzles of their field pieces and fired point blank into the attackers. He paused, “Those Italians, …” Then he just shook his head and changed the subject.

After I left school and went to college, he retired. I lost touch with him after that. If he is alive today, he would be well over 110 years old. That would have been a long time collecting his retirement from the State of Oklahoma.

I don’t begrudge him it.

James Pilant

Public Employee Hero (Number 1) Hero Teacher Tackled Colorado Gunman (via CBS Evening News)

On By southwerkIn ethics6 Comments

This is a list of ten heroic figures among the many self sacrificing workers who train our children and protect our streets. I have given each his own post entry. It’s the least I can do. My comment is the same on each one but I give you fair warning of this in each post. I was more interested in the heroism than my comments.

February 24, 2010

Kids from Deer Creek Middle School were heading home. Fifty-seven-year-old math teacher Dr. David Benke was outside helping at the crosswalk when he heard a shot, saw a gunman, and instinct drove his next move.

“I noticed that he was working a bolt action rifle and realized that I had time to get him before he could chamber another round,” said Benke.

He ran and tackled the suspect.

“The next thing I know, I’m on the ground. I’ve got my legs wrapped around his legs. I’ve got my arms wrapped around him.

Suspect Bruco Eastwood, 32, is being held on $1 million bond on two counts of attempted murder, reports CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen.

One of the things that makes this nation function are those whose goal in life is not just about the money. They are school teachers, policemen, firemen, social workers, forest rangers, prison guards, etc. Their willingness to work in jobs that many would find less than economically rewarding (school teaching) or often depressing (social workers and policemen) or  dangerous (firemen and policemen), make this society function. There appears to be considerable sentiment running around the Internet and around the various state capitals that these people aren’t worth a damn.

For instance –

From the Rush Limbaugh Show –

TEACHER:  I think we’ve lost the sense of democracy.  I feel like what people in Egypt are fighting for right now, that’s exactly what I feel like I’m fighting for right now.

RUSH:  What an absolute idiot.  It’s a crying shame that this glittering jewel of colossal ignorance is teaching students. Comparing this to Egypt?  “I feel like that’s exactly what I’m fighting right now.”  What was Egypt even about?  Do you even know, ma’am?  Bottom line, it’s not about what they want.  We all “want” things.  Very few of us run around demanding that somebody give us everything we want! Most of us have more class, most of us have more understanding, most of us are more mature than to run around whining (sobbing), “This is what we want! (sobbing) I want my dignity! I want my respect, and I want my benefits (sniffle), I want my health care!” Well, go earn it! It’s not about what you want.  In your case, it’s about what can be afforded.  They’re trying to make themselves out to be oppressed. You’re not in Egypt. You’re a bunch of people who feel entitled to be freeloaders.

I have had the pleasure of dealing with policemen, firemen, teachers, probation officers and quite a few other public employees. I like them. I feel they do essential work.

I also am an attorney. I believe that when you sign up for a difficult job and one of your reasons is that there will be a good pension or good medical benefits, that’s your decision. It was also a decision by the State or local government that attracting people to do these difficult jobs was hard and required incentives. It’s a contract.

We are supposed to believe those.

When these people doing difficult work for many years are demonized as freeloaders – How about another comment from Rush Limbaugh about teachers –

RUSH:  Let’s put one thing to rest right now, and that is: The last people they care about are the children.  The last people they care about are the kids.  The last thing they teach about is education.  This is not about students.  This is not about education.  This is not about teaching.  This is not about learning.  This is about themselves.

CALLER:  It’s narcissistic.

RUSH:  It is narcissistic.  It’s also hypocritical.  These people have been getting by for years on the notion that they are devoted, that they are sacrificing, that they are subordinating themselves to the lofty ideals of the children and their education and so forth — and it isn’t about that at all.  It is about them.  The children are just pawns. They’re just pawns, as so many of the so-called “little guys” the Democrats are trying to help, they’re just pawns in the game of how these people take care of themselves.

… it makes me unhappy.

One of my teachers was Mr. Thompson. He taught me American Government and Social Studies. He went to college on the G.I. Bill. He was a quartermaster in an artillery unit, 155mm howitzers. He landed in Sicily and served through the Italian Campaign. He saw Mussolini’s body. He admitted it was quick, he was a passenger in a jeep down the street, but he did see him.

He only talked about combat once. His unit was attacked by Italian infantry. Thompson’s artillery unit lowered the muzzles of their field pieces and fired point blank into the attackers. He paused, “Those Italians, …” Then he just shook his head and changed the subject.

After I left school and went to college, he retired. I lost touch with him after that. If he is alive today, he would be well over 110 years old. That would have been a long time collecting his retirement from the State of Oklahoma.

I don’t begrudge him it.

James Pilant

Despite loss of ear and tail, stray cat weathers frostbite (via Boston Globe)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Article by Katherine Landergan, Globe Correspondent –

A stray cat who was befriended by workers at Wentworth Institute of Technology is recovering from a severe case of frostbite that nearly claimed the animal’s life, according to the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

For the people at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, this is what doing the right thing means.

Strollers recalled due to strangulation hazard (via Detroit Free Press)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

From the Detroit Free Press –

A drawstring on the stroller can get wrapped around a child’s neck, posing a strangulation hazard. The firm has received one report of an 11-month-old who got entangled in the cord at her neck. She was freed by her mother.

Courtesy of the Richards and Oliver law firm.

Did the company pull the strollers out of the good of their hearts or out of fear of law suits? It was the law suits.

The right to sue is one of the great American rights, that right most people would have to be prompted to list, but it’s critical to our health and safety.

If there is anything we have seen from the 2007 financial crisis, it is the willingness of major companies to damage hundreds of millions of lives in the course of business while blaming the victims. I promise you if Congress has not been continuously limiting the right to sue these huge financial companies over the last twenty years, the 2007 debacle would never have happened.

James Pilant

Revolution talk spurs China to block LinkedIn (via SFGate)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Whoa, I thought China was the wave of the future? Gonna’ be the biggest economic power on earth just any day now.

So, the great Chinese Communist Goliath is shaking in its jack boots over a social networking service with one million customers out of China’s tiny population of one point two billion.

Yeah, I lay awake at night worrying about the inevitable Chinese economic hegemony.

James Pilant

From SFGate – (San Francisco Chronicle)

LinkedIn Corp. was being blocked in parts of China on Thursday after members in that country began using the professional social networking service to discuss the revolutions that have toppled governments in the Middle East.

The Mountain View company doesn’t have a major presence in China, which has about 1 million of LinkedIn’s 90 million members worldwide.

However, the blockage may be further evidence that the Chinese government is now even less willing to reopen its firewall to social networks Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., which have played key roles in anti-government upheavals spreading through the Middle East.

“What would they have to do to become less threatening than LinkedIn currently is?” said Andy Smith, a social media marketing expert in Lafayette.

Business Ethics (Friday, February 25, 2011)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

No Irish Spring: Emerald Isle as Credit Crunch Microcosm (via The Big Picture)

Unemployment is now 13 percent in Ireland; it would be higher if 5 percent of the working-age population (principally the young and well-qualified) had not emigrated over the last two years.

Bankers Apoplectic Over Arizona’s Republican Dominated Senate Passing Chain of Title Bill, 28-2…by Martin Andelman (via ForeclosureBlues)

Frankly, I don’t know where to begin. There’s just so much to say. It’s like a cornucopia of… well, lots of stuff to say. Bankers everywhere must be walking in circles, muttering to themselves, perhaps breaking out in hives.

(Foreclosure Blues is just the best site for foreclosure news – If you want the best coverage of the foreclosure crisis, there’s no better place.)

Wall Street Cash Bonuses Fell in 2010; Average $128,530 (via Business Ethics, The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility)

Cash bonuses paid to New York City securities industry employees declined by nearly 8 percent to $20.8 billion in 2010, as Wall Street firms shifted toward more deferred compensation and higher base salaries, according to an estimate released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

For the average Wall Street worker, however, that still translated into a 2010 cash bonus of $128,530, according to DiNapoli’s estimate.   And although cash bonuses were down, it’s estimated that total compensation on Wall Street rose 6 percent last year, DiNapoli said.

Only $128,530.

Democracy in the Workplace (via Richard D. Wolff)

Wolff has some very interesting idea and some sharp commentary.

Blogoversary and Why I Blog (via Compliance Building)

Mostly, I publish because the information is useful to me. This blog is a personal knowledge management tool. It’s all about trying to capture information that interest me and has relevance to my day-to-day work. I find that writing my thoughts adds some clarity to my thinking. By putting all of that information into the blog, it’s in a place where it is easy to find.

I promise you when I am tired – when my allergies are bothering me or just feeling a little out of it, I wonder why I blog. Compliance Building has a good handle on why it is important.

James Pilant

Cherokee tax chief quits to avoid foreclosing on more friends (via AJC)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

From AJC – Cherokee County News:

Fields, 62, became a poignant reminder of the housing bust’s impact on thousands of lives across metro Atlanta, where almost 100,000 properties were foreclosed on in 2010. Property owners are not the only ones hurt; so are people, such as Fields, at the end of a ruinous process set in motion by recession.

“I was foreclosing on the homes of people I have known my entire life,” Fields said Monday, two weeks after he walked away from his job but still carrying its burden. “I tried to do all I could to help them. But there’s only so much you can do. Your job is to collect taxes.”

In the good times Fields said he seldom dealt with bad news. “There were almost no foreclosures, and the tax digest was in great shape,” he said. “We would have collected 97 percent of taxes by the end of the year.”

Then, about a year ago, the gravity of the downturn gripped him and wouldn’t let go. A man who described himself as “normally happy and upbeat” was suddenly nauseated all the time. He didn’t have any energy. Daily events he once took in stride turned into crisis after crisis.

“I would talk to somebody or deal with something, a foreclosure or a lien, and I would just have to step out of the office to regain my composure,” he said.

Sometimes, our bodies or our minds tell us to stop doing what we’ve been doing. This appears to be one of those cases.

Many of us believe we live in a world of hard, cold facts and reasonable decisions arrived at after due consideration. Well, guess what, the heart has its own rhythms and its own needs. Sometimes those take precedence.

James Pilant

 

Nobody’s Home (via From the Ruins)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Can your bank tell you to get out of your home and then … do nothing. Yes. This couple was told to leave but the bank decided not to take possession of the property!

What happens then? Read this fascinating story from the web site, From the Ruins.

James Pilant

Nobody's Home Arthur and Brenda Ray went back to see the spot where their home on Goodyear Avenue once stood during a blustery February snow storm. There was nothing but a sheet of clean, white snow. “I had a nice porch to sit on,” Arthur said, “and I had a garage. My own garage.” The couple bought the house in 1995 and lived there until 1999. In August of that year Arthur came down with walking pneumonia and was hospitalized for three weeks. Arthur was being … Read More

via From the Ruins

Are The States Facing A Pension Benefits Disaster?

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Not according to a report called: The Origins and Severity of the Public Pension Crisis.

The report is issued by CEPR, the Center For Economic and Policy Research.

Dean Baker

It is authored by Dean Baker.

This is from the last page – The Conclusion –

The shortfalls facing most state and local pension funds have been seriously misrepresented in public debates. The major cause of these shortfalls has not been inadequate contributions by state governments, but rather the plunge in the stock market following the collapse of the housing bubble. Given the low PE ratios in the stock market, pension fund assumptions on the future rate of return on their assets are consistent with most projections of economic growth and past experience. Furthermore, when expressed relative to the size of their economies, most states are facing shortfalls that appear easily manageable.

That’s not what you’re being told? I’m so surprised. No, you’re being told that this is a first-rate economic catastrophe and we have to do some horrible things to these state employees who foolishly believed the government of the state when it said they would have pensions when they retired.

James Pilant

Deficit Hysteria

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I have been arguing that the deficit should be second in our concerns. I want our first concern to be getting people back to work. But right now, it’s deficit hysteria news cycle hour after hour.

From John Talton writing in his column, Sound Economy –

Amid the deficit hysteria, it’s important to remember its two major causes: The worst recession since the Great Depression and two wars, along with many other military commitments, that have lasted longer than World War II. As in 1945, the year the war ended and the deficit was even higher. Such was one of the reasons that taxes were above 90 percent on the rich in the 1950s: To pay off that debt.

(Why don’t we add the totally irresponsible tax cuts of the Bush administration? They made a lot of people very, very rich and devastated the budget.)

More from the essay –

Nobody in power is talking about seriously taxing the richest, really closing corporate tax loopholes, eliminating tax breaks on mergers, and returning to a more progressive tax system to hold down what is now historic income inequality. Cutting Social Security and Medicare are much in favor, and not only among Republicans or crusty old Alan Simpson, co-chairman of Obama’s deficit commission and a Social Security hater from way back. If this happens, will the deficit hawk elite ensure jobs are available for those once quaintly called “retirees”? Jobs with benefits? Also, nobody in power is talking at all about stopping the unsustainable military adventures that are helping drive up the deficit.

Discussing the issues is not in fashion. Any rational discussion of the deficit would have to arrive at the simple, obvious conclusion that it its much easier to pay off debt in a society with high employment, therefore you spend what it takes to get full employment and then work on the deficit.

We are instead going to pretend that paying down a deficit during an economic catastrophe makes sense.

Is doesn’t.

James Pilant