So many of us go to the hospital ,whether we want to or not, and see some pretty awful to lousy to mediocre MD's in the USA. I would like to sing the praises of a great doctor,still living , as he is much due such audible commendation for a life of medical excellence and true charity.
When i was a child in the 50s growing up in the south bay of San Francisco Bay, i knew even then i was very lucky to live on the same block as Dr. William Weller and his nurse-trained wife , Mary. For Dr. Weller was an anesthesiologist, "gas man", who was making big big moola/money and yet offered to treat all the kids on the block for all their cuts and scrapes and possible broken bones and boy scout physicals,,,FOR FREE. He had a big family of 3 smart boys and one very smart girl and being from the Pennsylvania Dutch Quaker country, he certainly did not have to do this for so many long years, but he did. Do you personally know of such a doctor ? This kind of medical generosity and guilt over making so much money, just as a gasman ,must be extremely rare. Maybe it had something to do with his integral religion of Christianity and taking care of the less fortunate.
I can remember when i was in high school , he volunteer to work on the U.S.S. HOPE off the Pacific and South America, so his generosity was not limited to just his own block and neighborhood. Such fine medical skills,even if for just a annual Boy Scout physical, linked with such constant generosity i think you must agree are certainly deserving of a national medal at the least , a scholarship at one of the best medical schools, and a statue and plaque so that others can see what an exemplary life this one man has led. I am not his son, or a relative, just one of the many beneficiaries of his life-long good medicine and good cheer generosity and i am having trouble telling you about how good a man Dr. Weller has been to his family and to his block/neighborhood, because there are so few truly good men i have met in my 57 years of life. I hope you all met someone as good and kind and generous as Dr. Bill Weller in your own lives.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
Why doesn't Ca. Gov.Arnold hold Public School Administrators Accountable vs ,,,always blaming poor teachers? Econmic Racism of the RNC
i am not just speaking off the cuff as i have 2 sisters in Ca. public education. Plus i have more than most seen the guts of Ca. public education administration and there is shocking waste and incompetence,as for over 2 years i sold 403b's/TSAs to school teachers and administrators for a slighly sleazy insurance company-i know, aren't they all-and saw the paychecks and saw or was told how little p.s.admins did for their OVER $70,000 salaries. This was in 1989-1992 in Silicon Valley.
When we Californians recently had the oportunity to cap at a reasonable 10% the public school admins costs per school district,i was disappointed at the lies and distortions L.A.Unified and the others pulled out to defeat the measure. But then these admins/non elected officials have never cared more for public education than their own personal enrichment. And the u.s. and ca. press share the blame in always pandering to the rich regardless of the subject. Until we stop talking to ourselves like sick greedy little children,"mine mine mine!" and start treating our growing super-rich caste like adults that can and should pay much much more in taxes, the middle caste will continue to suffer and decline, as will American culture and democracy. Does a movie star really need the tax breaks to buy 5-10 personal major airliners, John Travolta? Do c.e.o.s really need the tax brake to skim salaries of 10-50- 100-200 MILLION DOLLARS per YEAR ?? i am sure they are laughing at all of us foolish, less well educated, less saavy,less political, less wealthy citizens that will have to carry their baggage, and pay for it!,no tip. Does it really matter to the top 30% wage earners if gas is $2/gallon or $8/gallon or if public schools continue to decline in ca.when they send their kids to private schools or if housing prices increase 20-25% per year ? No, it does not, other than the obsessive sick greed,that the RNC worships, pangs them that they will be paying 6% instead of 5% of their salaries and gross assets for living basics of food,clothing,shelter,transit and the rest on selfish frivolous luxuries that seem to be the only thing fueling our nation's ecomony now.
So let's talk Ca. public education. Basically every school district in the state is probably guilt of the same general philosophy,like a child/teenager, "if you give me no strings ,free tax money, i will spend it all, for sure, and probably on stupid stuff,but i will definitely spend it all. Cuz if i have any left over ,you will want it back,right? And next year you will give me less, right?" So why do ca. public schools have to act adult and responsibly and live within a budget that is logical and practical? My sis in SoCal tells me that L.A.Unified is one of the worst offenders in practice by constantly buying new no-bid ourtrageously overpriced textbooks almost every year,but switching from "literature based" to "phonics based", constantly, primarily to use up all those millions each year,so the next year they can get more free tax dollar millions. And the bloated staff of vice-principals and assistant superintendants all making over $70k/yr is amazing.
Here are 2 example of paycheck stubs i have seen of clear admin.staff waste. The first is from the most prestigious public school district in Silicon Valley,you might think a smart area. This assistant superintendant with my companies 403b was making over $70k/yr, yet complained one day that all she had to do that day was run the copier. Also in the same public school district, i attended a school board meeting and was surprised that they were talking about placing a new classroom over an existing sewer,thus having to move the sewer,,,and planning to do the same foolish wasteful thing next year,,,with the audience silent. So ,not being a parent,but what the hell, i asked why they would place 2 classrooms over a sewer in 2 years and move the sewer line twice,,,versus say put the classrooms elsewhere in the large play field? The answer was exactly as i feared,,,"because it is in our budget".
And there will be the bleeding heart response from some over-paid public school admin that they are working so hard. Well, our public school teachers are expected to teach, go home and make lesson plans and grade homework for hours,and meet with irresponsible parents,plus ca.s public school admins saddle them , the teachers, with admin responsibilities,like committees,especially if they complain about rampant lousy admin.So it is a punishment,not a shared responsibility of leadership. Ca. has never since the 60s just let the teachers teach. And now our Republican,rich- worshipping Governor wants to take away their special pensions because STRS and PERS are trying to clean up wall street, and cut their special tenure, when the vast majority of new school teachers quit in the first few years. And forget about the downed-cow teacher's unions as they are as much against change and improvement as the selfish greedy public school administrators.
Another example of outrageous public school admin waste? We have all heard about their golden hand shake hiring and golden parachute leaving contracts. I was at the Vocational School and my client had her position contract terminated,she was not fired,but by terms not for 6 months. So she had "nothing to do for 6 months but show up for work and plan my wedding all day".
So half of over $70k/yr is at least $35,ooo for six months this assistant superintendant just and only,,, planned her wedding.
We californians will hear more from our sacred rich cow worshipping Governor about our terrible teachers and how we use to be among the top public schools of the nation but are now at the bottom with the likes of louisiana. But i'll bet we hear very little from him or the lousy at oversight,be it budget or national security, Republicans about the ones who should be held accountable for the seeming permanent loss of quality public education in ca. that keeps democracy strong,the public school administrators.
When we Californians recently had the oportunity to cap at a reasonable 10% the public school admins costs per school district,i was disappointed at the lies and distortions L.A.Unified and the others pulled out to defeat the measure. But then these admins/non elected officials have never cared more for public education than their own personal enrichment. And the u.s. and ca. press share the blame in always pandering to the rich regardless of the subject. Until we stop talking to ourselves like sick greedy little children,"mine mine mine!" and start treating our growing super-rich caste like adults that can and should pay much much more in taxes, the middle caste will continue to suffer and decline, as will American culture and democracy. Does a movie star really need the tax breaks to buy 5-10 personal major airliners, John Travolta? Do c.e.o.s really need the tax brake to skim salaries of 10-50- 100-200 MILLION DOLLARS per YEAR ?? i am sure they are laughing at all of us foolish, less well educated, less saavy,less political, less wealthy citizens that will have to carry their baggage, and pay for it!,no tip. Does it really matter to the top 30% wage earners if gas is $2/gallon or $8/gallon or if public schools continue to decline in ca.when they send their kids to private schools or if housing prices increase 20-25% per year ? No, it does not, other than the obsessive sick greed,that the RNC worships, pangs them that they will be paying 6% instead of 5% of their salaries and gross assets for living basics of food,clothing,shelter,transit and the rest on selfish frivolous luxuries that seem to be the only thing fueling our nation's ecomony now.
So let's talk Ca. public education. Basically every school district in the state is probably guilt of the same general philosophy,like a child/teenager, "if you give me no strings ,free tax money, i will spend it all, for sure, and probably on stupid stuff,but i will definitely spend it all. Cuz if i have any left over ,you will want it back,right? And next year you will give me less, right?" So why do ca. public schools have to act adult and responsibly and live within a budget that is logical and practical? My sis in SoCal tells me that L.A.Unified is one of the worst offenders in practice by constantly buying new no-bid ourtrageously overpriced textbooks almost every year,but switching from "literature based" to "phonics based", constantly, primarily to use up all those millions each year,so the next year they can get more free tax dollar millions. And the bloated staff of vice-principals and assistant superintendants all making over $70k/yr is amazing.
Here are 2 example of paycheck stubs i have seen of clear admin.staff waste. The first is from the most prestigious public school district in Silicon Valley,you might think a smart area. This assistant superintendant with my companies 403b was making over $70k/yr, yet complained one day that all she had to do that day was run the copier. Also in the same public school district, i attended a school board meeting and was surprised that they were talking about placing a new classroom over an existing sewer,thus having to move the sewer,,,and planning to do the same foolish wasteful thing next year,,,with the audience silent. So ,not being a parent,but what the hell, i asked why they would place 2 classrooms over a sewer in 2 years and move the sewer line twice,,,versus say put the classrooms elsewhere in the large play field? The answer was exactly as i feared,,,"because it is in our budget".
And there will be the bleeding heart response from some over-paid public school admin that they are working so hard. Well, our public school teachers are expected to teach, go home and make lesson plans and grade homework for hours,and meet with irresponsible parents,plus ca.s public school admins saddle them , the teachers, with admin responsibilities,like committees,especially if they complain about rampant lousy admin.So it is a punishment,not a shared responsibility of leadership. Ca. has never since the 60s just let the teachers teach. And now our Republican,rich- worshipping Governor wants to take away their special pensions because STRS and PERS are trying to clean up wall street, and cut their special tenure, when the vast majority of new school teachers quit in the first few years. And forget about the downed-cow teacher's unions as they are as much against change and improvement as the selfish greedy public school administrators.
Another example of outrageous public school admin waste? We have all heard about their golden hand shake hiring and golden parachute leaving contracts. I was at the Vocational School and my client had her position contract terminated,she was not fired,but by terms not for 6 months. So she had "nothing to do for 6 months but show up for work and plan my wedding all day".
So half of over $70k/yr is at least $35,ooo for six months this assistant superintendant just and only,,, planned her wedding.
We californians will hear more from our sacred rich cow worshipping Governor about our terrible teachers and how we use to be among the top public schools of the nation but are now at the bottom with the likes of louisiana. But i'll bet we hear very little from him or the lousy at oversight,be it budget or national security, Republicans about the ones who should be held accountable for the seeming permanent loss of quality public education in ca. that keeps democracy strong,the public school administrators.
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