PLAINFIELD DEMOCRAT,CITY COMMITTE

If as reported today in Dan Damon's Plainfield Today blog, The Chairman of the Plainfield Democrat City Committee called for a meeting tonight Oct. 7 at 7pm; I consider it to be insensitive if not an insult to an ethnic group.

Sunset marks the beginning of the most holy day observed by Jews. May he not be inscribed in the book of life for 5772.

I will not post a blog Saturday. I may post one later today.

STEVE JOBS and ME

As one ages if lucky enough; one can be fortunate enough to have experienced many significant epochs. In my particular case that would include the Great Depression, the greatest war in history and the annihilation of millions of innocent human beings based on solely religious or political beliefs. On the plus side there was a golden era in my chosen profession which is regrettably past.

Yet. perhaps of greatest importance on its impact on the world during my lifetime has been the invention and evolution of the personal computer and the role of Steve Jobs in that transformation of our daily life. his premature death has robbed the world of the Edison of our age.

My first computer was one of the first "portable models" the Kaproy which weight almost 40 pounds! It may have had 1K of memory and use 5 inch floppy disks for all work. One could program it in long hand typed commands and it used the CPM operating system. The IBM personal computer plus Bill Gates'  Microsoft operating system was the next big advance;

In 1984 when Steve Jobs produced the first Macintosh with 128K of memory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Macintosh_128k_transparency.png)  , I of course purchased one. I used it at home for personal stuff and in the office for billing. It was followed by many Macintoshes and Apples; the last would be  the Power G4 model which could read and write in both the old Apple operation system IX and the new incompatible OS X 10. This was one of the last Apple computers  to use a Motorola based  CPU. It became antiquated when Apple switched to the Intel produced. However I still use mine for certain software programs not available on any Microsoft OS.

Jobs was a true pioneer and innovator, and manipulator of our day by day existence. For better or worse, he has projected our daily life way beyond a matter that I can comprehend or even have ever conceived. Indeed, I even can not have a desire to text, twitter, or Facebook. We have a generation who has access in the hollow of their hands to  more knowledge, more capabilities or resources that at any time in human history.

We await the next individual who will have the same impact upon human civilization as Edison and   Jobs

OH REPUBLICANS

Gov. Christie has emphatically refused to enter the Republican Presidential nomination race. It was not a complete surprise and perhaps not even a final absolute final word. Yet it must be a welcomed announcement to two individuals.

The first is president Obama. Christie was the only potential Republican who stood a chance to defeat the President come November 2012 unless there is a complete collapse of the economy.  I doubt if there is any of the nine Republicans who would have sufficient appeal to the independents or the centralist Democrats to garner sufficient electoral votes in enough states to with the election today. There is no is reason to believe that that will change in the near future.

The other one who is happy probably is Romney. The middle-of-the-road Republicans and non-Tea Partyers know that the majority of Americans will not accept leadership based on such repressive concepts manifested by the far right. Romney stands to gain with Christie removed.

With the early states primaries impacting materially upon the nomination process; the old Convention method of selecting the candidates has become just show time. In the old days the split between pro-Romney in the Tea Party groups would have resulted in tremendous interplay at the national event. The ultimate winner would often emerge from a “smoke filled room”.

It is still potentially possible for no Republican candidate to reach convention time with a majority of committed delegates. If that happened decades ago the nominee would be brokered. It would be a rare happening for such a situation to exist next June/July with no candidate getting a majority vote. Christie could then become a compromised acceptable candidate to both sides.  The Old Guard would like that.

My own feeling is that Christie needs more time in Administrative political position before becoming President. That does not mean that I would not prefer him over any of the 9 avowed or the 2 waiting to be courted. I would.

That lack of experience has manifested itself in various ways in the Obama administration. His short time in the Senate and previous elected positions was not sufficient preparation for strong leadership in an antagonistic atmosphere. We must hope that he has learned well on the job.

ALABAMA SHAME

If one was going to publish a blog and had a shoulder that limited typing I an easy out would be I to copy another's work. Even with a speech transcriber program it is difficult to write a complete column since the program often has its own interpretation of what is being dictated and corrections are needed. But that is another problem and another day’s column I.(sorry about the dictation typos I missed, plus other  corrections of bad english)

 I was unable to attend Monday night's Council meeting and I am waiting for viewing the discussion on the local before commenting on my reaction to the discussions that occurred

 However I was most disturbed reading in Tuesday's New York Times the following editorial and first page news, which I have excerpted and reproduce for all to read.

 The problem is not a local Alabama one, but  rather one of prejudice and bigotry which in this  particular case is aimed at Hispanics who seek a better way of life in the United States. Those that enter illegally it is true are violating the law. However, they are discriminated against by laws that are antiquated and originated in favor immigration from certain European countries

 The various states and those that advocate these laws are trying legally to re-create the KKK. The unfortunate part is that all have forgotten that every one of us living in this country is a descendent of if not a recent immigrant.

 It might become easy to progress to the next step by making everyone either wear or carry some marker of religious affiliation. Shades of Nazi Germany!

 Please read at least one of the best editorials the recent history of the Times.

“Alabama’s Shame

Only about 3.5 percent of Alabama’s popula­tion is foreign-born, according to the Census Bureau. Undocumented immigrants made up roughly 4.2 percent of its work force in 2010, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. But the drafters of Alabama’s harsh immigration law wanted to turn their state into the country’s most hostile territory for illegal immigrants. They are succeeding, as many of Alabama’s most vulnerable residents can attest.

The law went into effect over the weekend, after being largely upheld by a federal district judge. Volunteers on an immigrant-rights group’s hot line said that since then they have received more than 1,000 calls from pregnant women afraid to go to the hospital, crime victims afraid to go to the police and parents afraid to send their children to school.

School superintendents and principals across the state confirm that attendance of Hispanic children has dropped noticeably since the word went out that school officials are now required to check the immigration status of newly enrolled students and their parents.

That rule is part of the law’s sweeping at­tempt to curtail the rights and complicate the lives of people without papers, making them unable to enter contracts, find jobs, rent homes or access government services.

The education crackdown is particularly senseless and unconstitutional. In 1982, the Supreme Court found that all children living in the United States have the right to a public education, whatever their immigration sta­tus. The justices’ reasoning was shaped not by compassion but practicality: it does the country no good to perpetuate an uneducated underclass.

Officials in Alabama insisted that nothing in the new law is intended to deny children an education. School districts, they noted, are supposed to collect only numbers of children without papers, not names.

“I don’t know where the misinformation’s coming from,” Alabama’s interim state school superintendent, Larry Craven, told NPR. “If you have difficulty understanding the lan­guage anyway, then who knows what they’re being told?” With comments like that, it’s not surprising that any of “them” would be fright­ened.

The Obama administration was right to sue to try to stop the Alabama law. It needs to press ahead with its appeal of the ruling and chal­lenge similar laws in Utah, Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina.

President Obama needs to show stronger leadership in defending core American values in the face of the hostility that has overtaken Alabama”

Below are excerpts from the news story.

“After Ruling, Hispanics Flee Alabama Town”

(New York Times ,10/3/2011)

“ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — The vanishing began Wednesday night, the most frightened fami­lies packing up their cars as soon as they heard the news.

They left behind mobile homes, sold fully furnished for a thousand dollars or even less. Or they just closed up and, in a gesture of op­timism, left the keys with a neigh­bor. Dogs were fed one last time and, if no home could be found, simply unleashed.

Two, 5, 10 years of living here, and then gone in a matter of days, to Tennessee, Illinois, Oregon, Florida, Arkansas, Mexico — who knows? Anywhere but Alabama.”*****************

“The exodus of Hispanic immi­grants began just hours after a federal judge in Birmingham up­held most provisions of the state’s far-reaching immigration enforce­ment law.”*****************

“Only about 3.5 percent of Alabama’s popula­tion is foreign-born, according to the Census Bureau. Undocumented immigrants made up roughly 4.2 percent of its work force in 2010, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. But the drafters of Alabama’s harsh immigration law wanted to turn their state into the country’s most hostile territory for illegal immigrants. They are succeeding, as many of Alabama’s most vulnerable residents can attest.”***********************

“The Obama administration was right to sue to try to stop the Alabama law. It needs to press ahead with its appeal of the ruling and chal­lenge similar laws in Utah, Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina.

President Obama needs to show stronger leadership in defending core American values in the face of the hostility that has overtaken Alabama and so many other states. He can start by scrapping the Secure Communities program, which encourages local immigration dragnets and reinforces the false notion that most undocumented immigrants pose a threat to this country’s security.

As for Alabama, one has to wonder at such counterproductive cruelty. Do Alabamans want children too frightened to go to school? Or pregnant women too frightened to seek care?

IT MAKES ME MAD

Shortly after the drone air strike in Yemen which killed Anwar al-Awlaki the American born Al Qaeda leader and the mastermind of various bombings and terror strikes aimed at the United States; there appeared in the news media the question whether the United States had the right to kill an American citizen in a foreign country.

Among the self serving do-gooders and in the Op Ed pages there are many who decried the fact that this individual, who had destroyed the lives of many innocent Americans, had been deprived of his constitutional rights. What a bunch of crap!

The person concerned had not only declared war on America and intended to and/or murdered innocent Americans without any regard to their individual rights. By fleeing this country, and taken up residency in Yemen he had virtually abrogated any claim to American citizen.

Who considered the "right of life granted by the Constitution" of the thousands killed on 9/11? Or the human rights of those killed in terrorist bombings in Bali or in the railroad station in Madrid? certainly not the terrorists. Yet there are those who vehemently condemn the tenants of law-abiding individuals to rid the world of those scumbags.

Moreover, it is time that we and all of our idealists understand that there are not and cannot be any rules in warfare. If it were so before a soldier pulled the trigger on his gun; he would have to shout" fore” or "lookout I'm going to shoot you". That may sound ridiculous but it is a fact; there can be no way that the process of war which is to destroy by killing or maiming the enemy can be conducted under Rules of Order.

The Taliban and the Al Qaedas of this world understand that as do the Palestinians, the Hamas and Hezbollah who use human bombs to destroy and terrorize innocent civilians.

It is time that all Americans become realistic; to destroy those who would destroy us it is correct and even obligatory to use any means possible.

One can only ask those Americans who have fought overseas in the various wars since 1941 if they under combat conditions considered the so-called rules of the Geneva Convention. The exception should be and must be always related to the circumstances in which civilians who are noncombatants are involved.

The one danger that we always must be constantly on guard is that an unscrupulous group of American politicians would attempt to negate all the constitutional rights of American law abiding citizens.

SO SORRY

Sorry no blog this morning and I may not get to tonight's meeting due to a painful right shoulder. I will try to go if able to do so.

There are two more items of interest for tonight; rather one of interest is not listed on the agenda. If memory serves me right, last month Council President McWilliams announced the the report on the city roads submitted in July would be discussed this month.

The other is a Resolution submitted by an Acting(?) Director of Public Safety to permit the use of a building on the corner of Grant Ave. and 5th St.(420 Grant Ave.) for fire training purposes. Is this not unuaul in the middle of a residential area? To be notes that Director Hellwig was absent at all Council meetings in September. If he was not available at the time of Irene who was responsible for dealing with an Civic Emergency?

OCTOBER 1, 2O11

I have had the chance to review the agenda for Monday night’s Council Meeting. There are 12 Resolutions and 2 second readings of Ordinances on the docket. II shall not comment on any of the resolutions until I have had an opportunity to review the supporting documentation.

As usual in the agenda setting session the discussion items take up most of the meeting’s interest. One such will be for four proposed ordinances by the center for Civic Responsibility. Dan Damon in his Friday blog provided a link to these proposals which if adopted by the city would be a forward going step governmental process. I

Other discussion items are Housing Authority appointment and budget amendments. Also, under unfinished business is a notation about the Public HHearing on October 11 regarding the SIB budget. The WBLS investigation is mentioned however I would expect no report until after all the witnesses have been heard in closed session. Also if the Council has reached any agreement or whether to proceed further.

There are also listed various financial reports requested by the Council. A new one is “Vendor activity reported by Vendor name”. Since this is a written report; I am sure there'll be no discussion at this time. The various Council Subcommittee Reports are also listed. Customarily, only administrative and finance is in explicit detail. Economic Development also usually has a report. In the past Public Safety, as w ell as City and Neighborhood Services are usually presented verbally if there is a substantial report.

I hope you all read Councilman Storch's posting on his position on the WBLS investigation. Once again he emphasizes that this is only an investigation into the appropriateness and source of funds paid to the radio station for the August 2010 meeting. I in itself I they cannot be considered a witch hunt. However, should there be any evidence of willful circumventing establish policy or regulations I believe that it should merit an investigation in depth of over the past two years to determine whether this represented a continuous pattern of illegal handling of municipal funds. If so that could lead to criminal charges.

Counselor Storch mentions the fact that Jackie Drakeford, who was originally designated as a special investigative officer, had to resign before the process could start. I was one who originally questioned her appointment. That was not because I had any qualms about her professional integrity or ability to be impartial. However, in the light of the polluted political environment in Plainfield, the fact that she had been Corporation Counsel under the previous McWilliams’ Administration could have left her open to charges of conflict of interests which would cloud the investigation.

Occasionally reading the public legal notices reveals something of interest that is not publicized. Along those lines the other day was a notice of the DOT calling for bids to replace the Roosevelt Avenue and Leland Avenue bridges due to low clearance.