Clear Skies Common Sense

Looking at Real Public Workers Protecting Us as Budgets Cut Services

JSR — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:20:06 GMT

Why would I spend a day listening to Douglas County Sheriff’s Department employees talk about their jobs? Because understanding how they work and who they are helps me publish more accurate information. Why should you care? You pay law enforcement in an era where shrinking public budgets is supposed to create jobs and improve our lives. That idea is overcooked.

The Civil Division serves legal documents, performs evictions and enforces court orders. Its Chief is Civil Deputy Kelly A Soltwisch, who’s so well respected she’s been reappointed by the last three Sheriffs. The division uses paper-less processing, a performance better than eighty percent of Washington counties. When a County conviction was not posted in other counties, her office confirmed the conviction as a third strike before sentencing was completed in another county. Evidence carefully kept on file since the 1990s helped local detectives validate the killer in 2012, bringing a sense of peace to the victim’s family. Indiscriminate national and local budget cuts threaten thorough law enforcement.

Chief Soltwisch serves court ordered immediate, night-time eviction notices accompanied by bank and landlord representatives. Asked if such evictions could put families with babies on the street, she left no doubt she’d have the courage to tell those representatives they needed to a better way for this family. Do we really believe we’d serve society better by unleashing banks and landlords where their only restraint would be competition of similar property owners?

Another espoused attitude I hear is government shouldn’t be able to tell us what to do. It tells some sex-offenders they must register with the local Sheriff’s department. Record-keepers told me how to identify four Level II offenders living within one mile of my home and two nearby elementary schools. Offenders must re-register and get re-fingerprinted in face-to-face meetings with workers. The Division prides itself on pleasant, respectful treatment for those offenders who are obeying the law because such service increases the likelihood they will re-register.

The Sheriff’s responsibility to protect federal critical dam infrastructure on the Columbia River has allowed the Sheriff to partially equip marine patrols and a Special Response Team with funds from the Bureau of Reclamation, US Army Corps of Engineers and Homeland Security. Marine patrol recently rescued somebody’s son who attempted suicide from a bridge. The SRT responds about four times a year for drug raids and domestic violence. They also have plans to respond to every local school in the event of violence. If Congress cuts those federal agencies, how would we maintain our local capacity to protect us?

Another high decibel complaint I hear is government shouldn’t intrude on what I can and cannot do with my body. Sheriff patrols tell people they can’t drive after making DUI arrests. I don’t mind those intrusions since traffic crime affects me more than any other crime. In 2008 Chelan-Douglas accidents cost $80 million, mostly because of speeding and impaired driving. Sixty people per month were arrested locally for DUI, and thirty two were arrested for speeding. If we shrink sheriff patrols, how is the free market place going to make me safer?

And if they take my cell phone after I crash, why do they have to right to open it and get information about who I’m talking to? Sheriff’s detective may open it, but first they have to fill out paperwork and get approval to ask for a search warrant from their supervisor, prosecuting attorney and a judge, a day-long process. Detectives better have a good cause. And by the way, they need to take time away from investigating homicides like the local Cowell case, where they’ve been involved with 100 interviews, each of which has to be transcribed word for accurate word.

Before you rally around cutting taxes to limit government and create jobs, we need to recognize what good government requires so we can keep those jobs that are being performed well by proud public servants.

Why Do We Allow Smart Phones Make us Feel Stupid and Act Stupid?

JSR — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:03:46 GMT

Our new smart phones make us feel stupid and act stupidly, though we prefer to say ‘temporarily technologically challenged.’ Worse, they steal our precious time. We’re retired! Why are we doing this? Because we believe they’ll save us time and add value. After two weeks, it’s still a close call.

We plunged in with a deal to buy them at no cost and a shared belief they’d be easy to master. The salesman demonstrated his smoothly. They arrived with a tiny booklet titled Master Your Device. The booklet fits in my hand like my phone but with half the thickness for 48 brief pages of instructions. The first 19 pages are pictures of button locations and charging instructions. What could be difficult? Finding buttons, for one thing. After re-examining the pages, my nascent mastery level is locating each button.

Page 24 begins text instructions to master making, answering and retrieving phone calls. What could be difficult? Plenty. I’ve mostly mastered calling. However, after sweeping my contacts screen, my list whizzes by and I accidently call someone when I tap to stop it. Answering requires un-holstering my phone and sweeping a green button across the screen. I can’t see the button in sunlight, so I’m blindly estimating where it’s located. I’ve lost time and phone calls. Do I have to ignore my phone in sunlight?

Apps and Feature instructions begin on page 33, perilously close to the end and a long way from mastery. Apps hold the promise to transform our lives and save time. Our youngest awoke to an electrical blackout around her Portland home. Within five minutes she viewed a map of the blackout as the utility’s information officer explained her service should be restored in four hours. That’s mastery and I want to get there, but I’m pleased just to find an app called Guided Tours that displays mastery on videos of “Calling and messaging.”

We’re committed to them, although at times I wonder if it’s making me act stupidly. I end up deleting emails on my phone and my computer. There has to be a way to avoid that if I could find the time to solve it. I send an email and a copy automatically arrives on my computer, increasing my emails. Sunday I postponed reading emails until I rode with Karen to church. At church I realized I’d read emails instead of talking with my children’s mother on Mother’s Day. I felt stupid confessing that trespass.

Smart phones should improve our communication. A young teen at church said sometimes she and her girlfriend sit at a table texting each other because neither has the energy to talk. Karen linked her calendar online so we can share calendars on our phones. Now we need time for her to show me how.

Karen saved a chunk of time in Seattle when she used a traffic app to navigate her and a friend around traffic jams. Karen and I turned off our TV while I showed her a dictionary app that can be voice activated. She showed me how to shop in Play Store for more apps. We quit when she asked, “Why am I doing this instead of reading in bed?” We increased communication that night because she reveres huddling in bed with her books, a sure sign communication is over for the day.

When Karen and I traded our identical phones to show each other how to find apps, she said, “Mine doesn’t have these icons. Mine has lists.” I didn’t know why. I didn’t do anything. We finally figured out how to switch views.

Instances of mastery suggest smart phones are a smart investment even though I feel stupider now and lose time. Maybe I can find an app that will monitor our usage and guide us to smarter behaviors and more free time.

Why Should Fairness and Neighborliness Surprise Us?

JSR — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:56:24 GMT

We rural, clear skies Washingtonians usually fail to win ballot measures against densely packed damp citizens west of the Northern Cascades. Surprisingly, I found myself in the majority of Douglas County residents who overwhelmingly passed an odious tax onto rural citizens. The bitter fight nevertheless produced a margin of victory that surprised almost everybody, including me. We were surprised because we overlooked our traditions of fairness and neighborliness.

To be clear, the size of the tax was not the issue, ten cents per $100 of personal goods excluding groceries and prescription drugs. The tax would have added twenty five cents to my wife’s and my shopping the last two weeks.

To be even clearer, the tax fully bailed out investors holding defaulted debt for an overly expensive regional Public Facilities District (PFD) Event Center in the City of Wenatchee. Coincidentally the tax bailed out Wenatchee, whose leaders guaranteed the debt and promised there would never be taxes on any jurisdictions that joined the PFD. My County had unanimously joined without voter approval, but two new commissioners have won election partly on their opposition to County participation.

Amid months of wrangling, local State Representatives attempted two rescue bills in the House that failed in the Senate because local citizens and officials remained divided about the feasibility of the bills. To the end, my County Commissioners kept their pledge to prevent a county-wide vote, instead proposing a plan to tax Wenatchee and my city, East Wenatchee.

State Senator Linda Evans Parlette wouldn’t endorse either of the two bills and my commissioners complained to her. She told me, “I told everyone I wouldn’t support any plan without full local agreement and that did not pencil out. The legislature is sick of this because the House voted twice on bills that did not pass.”

Finally my Commissioners united with others to avoid legal expenses from default. They signed a detailed agreement that included putting the tax measure on the County ballot and addressed rural objections by requiring Wenatchee pay most of the cost and pursue legal claims for damages that would reimburse taxpayer funds.

. Parlette told me she inserted authority to propose the tax into existing Senate Bill 5984, which also strengthened State Treasury oversight to avoid similar financing disasters. She wrote provisions to terminate the taxes after debt was paid and brought together the Senate Ways and Means attorney and the PFD attorney to craft the bill according to the agreement.

The three Commissioners expected a close vote based on fierce opposition from their neighbors lying east of the great divide of the Columbia River. The one surviving Commissioner, the southerner, lives the furthest south in East Wenatchee. A second Commissioner, the central resident, lives in a precinct in the middle of the rural plateau atop the county. The third Commissioner lives in on the crown of the county in a city where he successfully led his citizens to stay out of the PFD when he was mayor. Therefore, he didn’t even have a vote and didn’t take a position. He told me neighbors outside his incorporated city were angry to discover they had to vote, although they were glad they could vote against it. We had a political thriller on our hands.

Sixty-five percent of voters overwhelmed thirty-five percent of the voters, a margin within two percentage points of two-to-one. Official results showed voters approved it in each of the Commissioner Districts, including sixty-six percent in the northerner’s district. How did that happen?

Event Center ticket buyers supported it. After a tip from a reader, I asked the Center for data on ticket buyers by zip code for 2011 performances, excluding the popular hockey team. People in the zip code for East Wenatchee’s urban area purchased 7,136 tickets. While I couldn’t precisely match zip codes to precincts, I estimated 82 percent of county voters were from that area and they voted heavily in favor.

People in the remaining zip codes purchased 610 tickets. Voters in those zip codes voted against the bailout, but represented only 18 percent of the vote. They were buried in a landslide.

Then why did all three commissioner districts support the tax increase? Because of Washington’s rules for fairness in forming districts. Washington law assumes fairness may be achieved by meeting these three legal criteria: commissioner districts shall be as nearly equal in population as possible, as compact as possible and all precincts geographically contiguous. The only way to make our County Districts equal is to slice East Wenatchee precincts into all three districts and trade off compactness versus contiguous. The County approved the new Districts after the vote, but they are similar to those existing during the vote.

The tradeoffs for fairness make strange districts. The southerner’s district is a small contiguous area almost exclusively in East Wenatchee’s zip code. The central Commissioner’s district is centered on the plateau, but swings east and south to county lines and encompasses the southern area of urban ticket buyers. The northerner’s district encompasses adjacent precincts north to the Columbia River and then swings west and south along the shoreline past the middle district and inward to the urban area east of East Wenatchee, looking like a giant, backwards apostrophe. The heavily populated wealthy districts of Fancer Heights and Broadview on the slopes of the plateau overlooking the Wenatchee Valley are voting constituents with the remote, rural northerners who opposed participation from the beginning. The urban areas voters represented 81 percent of the northerner’s district. His opposition reflected his rural neighbor’s opposition.

We should not be surprised when the tyranny of an urban majority triumphs again. We should be pleased the Commissioners from rural areas represented residents well by extracting concessions before the issue went to ballot. After all, they’re neighbors, and being good neighbors is the saving grace of democracy’s tyranny.

The Real Social Security Deficit is the Congressional Action Deficit (CAD)

JSR — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:10:44 GMT

Recent headlines about Social Security Trust Funds warned of “looming insolvency” and “grim news for future retirees.” The real Social Security deficit is CAD, the Congressional Action Deficit. The solutions are clearly understood, frightfully unpalatable, and politically inevitable. Readers, here is my attempt to get real.

Doomsday headlines arrived after the annual report by the Trustees of Social Security funds. I’m going to cover Social Security Old Age and Disability Income (Social Security and Disability Income) as one trust fund (OASDI), because they both have deficits and the solutions are similar for both. Medicare and Medicaid funds also show deficits, but that’s for future discussion.

Congress has been blessed with three presidential commissions in 1983, 2002 and 2010 that have proposed consistently reasonable policy solutions to solve this non-crisis. The 2002 Commission warned Congress to act, and despite admitting acting sooner is better, Congress has not improved funding for eight years.

Undaunted, Trustees once again proposed a payroll tax solution to solve the deficit by increasing taxes 1.335 percent on employers and employees. Households with the approximate median income of $50,000 would pay tax increases of $668 a year or $55.63 a month. Working people paying the tax appeals to me as a retiree because my benefits would stay the same. After all, I paid my taxes to support retirees before I retired. It’s future retirees’ turn to pay mine, thank you.

Workers, employers and my children could insist Congress do nothing because current law has a solution that prohibits the fund from dropping to zero. It’s the exhaustion trigger. Exhaustion is not zero. It’s when the fund level drops to a point where continuing to pay current benefits would zero out the fund eventually. Instead, payments must be reduced to a sustainable level.

The mandated exhaustion cut would be deep, estimated at 25 percent. The current average payment to a retiree is $1,230 per month, so 25 percent would drop payments $308 per month. Ouch. The only good news for retirees is fund levels should pay that income permanently. That would eliminate the annual May disaster warnings. Future reports could announce, “The fund is still exhausted.” Congress could debate other inactions. Current working folk and businesses would avoid tax increases.

Working folk would have to increase their savings rates because they’ll suffer lower social security benefits when they retire. They could cut their current spending and save the $55.63 they’d pay under a tax increase. They should plan to work longer. Unfortunately, their parents and grandparents on reduced social security may need more financial help.

Given these singularly unacceptable solutions, the presidential commissions proposed combinations of increased taxes, reduced benefits and delayed retirement ages. The combinations are so simple you can choose your preferred cuts by playing the game on the website actuary.org/socsec.asp. I solved the deficit in ten minutes by increasing the retirement age, decreasing benefits at higher income levels (including mine) and increasing payroll taxes by half-of-one percent. The tax hike costs $20.83 per month from a $50,000 household income. I think my children and I could agree on that.

Other solutions exist. Economists since Paul Samuelson have shown our economy has grown for centuries when qualified, skilled immigrants perform work our consumers need. Companies unable to find workers here ship jobs offshore, reducing our payrolls. Yet most immigration policy discussions focus on illegal immigrants taking low-level jobs. Lifting our vision to realize we block high paying skills our nation needs that would add a wealth of good to our economy. Congress could also index social security taxes to automatically rise or fall to match the income needed to fully fund the trust.

Such common sense ultimately triumphs in our nation. When Congress once again gets real, a sensible, equitable Social Security system should survive. Congress, eliminate your self-defeating CAD, your Congressional Action Deficit.

Douglas County Commissioners United to Use Good Judgment

JSR — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:18:52 GMT

Under reported to this date is the vital role Douglas County Commissioners Ken Stanton, Dale Snyder and Steve Jenkins played in crafting the successful 0.1 percent district sales tax. They vetoed all plans for a County 0.2 percent sales tax because they wanted to use those taxes to increase law enforcement funding. The Commissioners found a way to unite with others. Local unity moved mountains of resistance and won over voters.

The County planned for over a year to restore budget cuts in criminal justice with all or part of a 0.2 percent sales tax increase. The Sherriff’s department had eliminated four positions. Sherriff Gjesdahl had increased overtime, but told Steve Hair of KOHO officer morale was suffering. Residents in northern areas wanted more protection. Stanton told me, “We were adamant the 0.2 percent sales tax in Douglas County was not going to a vote.” They meant adamant.

In 2011 commissioners received a financial plan from auditor Thad Duvall and treasurer Karen Goodwin proposing Wenatchee eliminate most of the debt without raising County taxes. County officials urged Wenatchee to initiate action, but they couldn’t reach agreement.

Meanwhile Senator Parlette invited leaders to meet with state treasury officials for new legislation. Commissioners opposed it. Stanton said, “The state plan would have been murder. Basically it was a bridge loan with up to a year to get agreement. If it didn’t work, the state would still get its 0.2 percent.” With local opposition, the bill died.

Early in 2012 district municipalities met amidst a mood change to unite behind a plan. East Wenatchee Mayor Steve Lacy proposed a plan crafted by treasurer Nick Gerde that wouldn’t require legislative changes. Wenatchee mayor Frank Kuntz improved communication. Communities realized legal fees would prevent municipal improvements. Mayor Royal Delaney of Waterville said, “It was a big problem. How do you do any planning?”

The three commissioners from each county met on January 30th at Douglas County and held an Executive Session with Kuntz. Snyder said, “We sat down to learn, ‘What plan can we get behind and solve this problem?’ Kuntz came to ask for help. He said they didn’t have time to go through a process [for a 0.2 percent City vote]. We trusted them to do everything they could do.”

But Kuntz needed legislative approval for councilmanic authority for Wenatchee’s 0.2 percent sales tax and they needed more revenue. Jenkins said Wenatchee agreed to shoulder most of the burden. Other issues were acceptable too, such as reorganizing the board and Wenatchee pursuing legal action to recover costs.

Consequently Stanton said, “I proposed we get on the bandwagon to go out for a 0.1 percent vote.” That left 0.1 percent for law enforcement, which should be sufficient given the 2011 upsurge in County sales tax revenues. Dayna Prewitt, Clerk of the Board, emailed me, “I have no formal action.”

All elected officials quickly moved in unison on those terms. Dayna Prewitt, Clerk of the Board, emailed me, “Stanton then attended a working meeting with representatives from all 9 agencies (no quorum) on the 1st of February. The [County] prosecutor (Steve Clem) then provided a draft interlocal [agreement] to the Board for comment on February 6th. Final interlocal agreement was signed on February 13th.” Legislators passed enabling legislation. Wenatchee passed the councilmanic plan for a 0.2 percent sales tax. The PFD placed the vote on the ballot. Voters would decide.

Commissioners expected a close vote. “Snyder said, “People had good reasons for voting no. I guess we officials all held our noses to vote yes.”

Douglas County voters thunderously approved it with a 63 percent majority. Stanton said, “Yes, I was surprised.” Devaney said, “I was totally surprised at how many stood up and said OK.” Jenkins was surprised. “I want to see how my northern precincts voted.” Jenkins lives in Bridgeport, which refused to join the original agreement when he was mayor, so he had no vote. “I supported putting it on the ballot,”

I asked Snyder if he was pleased. “No, I’m not pleased, but the building is there. I’m glad to have the issue behind us and move forward.”

Despite commissioners’ frustrations and strong voter resistance, they united behind a district plan and protected revenues for criminal justice. A strong majority of County voters agreed with them.

Good work, gentlemen.

The Currently Routine Serious Crime Investigations in Clear Skies Suit Me Fine

JSR — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:50:14 GMT

Bungling criminal investigations like the Martin murder in Sanford, Florida enflames racial tension. As a media watcher, taxpayer and possible juror, I prefer paths to justice beginning with even-handed administration.

As a media watcher, I prefer focused issues. That’s difficult in the Martin murder based on a report from McClatchy newspapers. There are two eye witnesses. They contradict each other. There are seven 911-callers. They give contradictory reports. With seven inconsistent callers, broadcast media could bombard me with a different viewpoint every day for a week. Maybe they have.

As a taxpayer I like economical, boring consistency. Sanford’s temporary contact center to handle national media is expensive. Sanford’s probably going to pay for another search for a police chief after hiring the current one last spring. The former chief resigned over a video of a black homeless man beaten by the white son of a Sanford police lieutenant who was not originally charged. A local NAACP official reported his office has done independent investigations to adjudicate cases. Re-investigating cases is expensive.

Douglas County’s Sherriff Harvey Gjesdahl told Steve Hair on KOHO that when he took office there were issues concerning gangs in Bridgeport. He formed a team of enforcement officers, including one Latino officer, and citizen outsiders. Norma Gallegos, a prominent valley Latino and one of the outsiders told me there were also issues with immigration. “We did a community needs assessment, talked to the people and Gjesdahl responded. To me that deserves a huge sign of respect.” Respect yes, but boring.

Gjesdahl expressed confidence in the department’s 26 investigators, detectives, officers and administrators plus outside resources such as the county prosecutor/coroner. “I feel very blessed that … we have a wide variety of criminal investigations experience and are fastidious about keeping everyone current on technical and legal training. The record keeping, judiciously and legally managing public disclosure, and knowledge of a complex job are all extremely important.”

A strong staff might have helped the new Sanford chief. A local blog reported he was widely welcomed as a “good old boy” who might bring harmony to a divided community. That support evaporated quickly. As a juror I would NOT want to listen to defense attorneys in a murder case put the chief and department on trial like we heard in the OJ Simpson case.

Preferring unambiguous evidence, I asked Gjesdahl what is expected in homicide investigations. I never asked his opinion of the Sanford investigation because it was out of his jurisdiction, nor did he offer an opinion.

Photographs are expected of suspects and victims whenever possible, especially with today’s digital technology. When Gjesdahl saw blood on a suspect, he took pictures with his cell phone and swabbed it for later testing. He said, “I want to know if it’s his blood or the victim’s.”

In the Florida case, a revised police report added an officer’s comments about the suspect’s bloody nose and injuries to the back of the head. Sanford Fire Rescue had administered first aid to him at the site. McClatchy newspapers reported a video showing one officer examined the back of the suspect’s head, then wiped his hands on his pants. If I had to judge the guilt of Martin’s murderer beyond a reasonable doubt, I’d want to know if the officer’s pants were swabbed before being cleaned.

It’s common practice for investigators to interrogate the suspect and other officers to interrogate witnesses. The police report needs to integrate various interpretations before being approved and released. Martin’s murderer was released after his interrogations were completed, but before witness’ contradictions were compared to it.

A confidential State Attorney General’s report has charged the suspect with second degree murder charges. I’m glad I won’t be a juror nor paying Sanford taxes. I would be willing to support increased resources for effective law enforcement. And fortunately, I have a writing hobby to vent frustrations with the broadcast media’s mishmash of inconsistencies from ineptitude.

Emile Fogle, A Serious and Successful Homeschooler and Advocate

JSR — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:22:59 GMT

Emile Fogle, East Wenatchee, homeschooled her two boys from kindergarten through two-year community college Running Start degrees at the ages of eighteen. She shared her love of learning as she guided their learning. She’s now Chair of WHO, Washington Homeschooling Organization, the only statewide secular nonprofit committed to providing accurate information on Washington’s homeschooling law, local support, resources, services and advocacy for people interested in homeschooling.

Her plans evolved as she helped teach her eldest in a cooperative preschool classroom. She feared he would withdraw and believes her youngest would make class fun for everybody, to the detriment of their learning. She remembered her school experience. “I loved learning, but not school.” Her love of learning even extends to a 2nd degree in Shudokan karate and playing and making a Japanese Taiko drum.

As kindergarten approached, she concluded, “I could do this.” She told her husband, “I couldn’t do any worse.”

Her oldest is graduating this spring from Central Washington with his second degree, but she admits, “I always worried I could be making their lives more difficult by homeschooling.” Her husband was finally comfortable when they entered college.

After three years of homeschooling, her oldest wanted to try third grade. He lasted six weeks. He questioned rules like, “I can’t play in puddles,” which, ironically, Emile had to justify.

She didn’t spend money on curricula. “Textbooks are horrible.” She trusted they’d learn if they had a purpose. She insisted they read what they wanted in the morning as long as they learned history and functional math. She added field trips through free community resources in Washington and Oregon. They’d listen to a geologist at a museum. They consumed library offerings. “Libraries love homeschoolers. They make library circulation look good.”

She merged their learning with her interests, which included a B.S. degree in forestry and a minor in wildlife. On nature hikes she drew on those courses as she led boy on nature hikes. “Afterwards we’d flip through wildflower books to learn the uses of native plants.” She smiled and added, “No memorizing.”

As the boys grew older they took more formal education in classes that interested them. They took courses at WVC and at Eastmont School District, where incidentally, they had lots of friends. The youngest took metal working and welding classes. She said, “I was present when the radio-controlled car students collaborated in making had its maiden journey in the parking lot. I was the only parent.”

Washington law requires she complete the Declaration Intent form to homeschool and annually assess them in 11 areas for progress by grade level. Finding an authorized standardized test was easy through the local network called Valley Home Educators that has approximately two hundred members (contact Sandy Briggs at esbriggs@aol.com.).

Emile bought a test that allowed her to proctor it. They never took the SAT and did well on the entrance exam for WVC.

Co-creating their learning was part of her motivation. Another part was shielding them from what she’d experienced, such as high stakes testing. “I’m opposed to high stakes testing.” Or disagreements like one she got into with a high school teacher by saying Edgar Allen Poe may have been a genius, but he was also a crazed addict. Or bullying. Or degrading comments to her children. “I heard a student tell a teacher, ‘I just don’t get it.’ The teacher said, ‘That’s not my problem.’” Or “You’re bad at math. You’ll never understand biology.” She said, “You can understand concepts without the math.” She recommends, Physics Without Math.

Through WHO she gets calls and emails from parents who range from desperate to considering homeschooling. She tells them they’re lucky because Washington’s homeschooling law is one of the best in the country. “I tell them homeschooling has to work for your family, for you. There are lots of free resources. I was not a pioneer.”

She added, “I pity parents today because homeschooling has a become a market. They’re told, ‘If you buy the right stuff, you’ll succeed.’”

She made homeschooling work for her boys and learned from others’ experiences. She’s available at pleatus@hotmail.com.

Homeschooling – Are You Serious?

JSR — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:58:39 GMT

At times I wish I was homeschooled. My sophomore high school teacher refused my request to write a book report about John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I meekly obeyed without asking my mom, a librarian and Phi Beta Kappa, to help me. She would have.

Curious about homeschooling, I asked Emily Fogle, East Wenatchee homeschooler and chair of the secular Washington Homeschool Association, to talk about her experiences (see accompanying article). Homeschooling is an option that may be more enjoyable and educational for a child you know in grades K-12.

Parents choose homeschooling primarily because they believe they can give their child a better education. Other common reasons are adding religious instruction and avoiding poor school learning environments. These reasons are comforting. Otherwise I’d worry parents want to give their children a worse education because they deserved it.

As a former community college dean, working father and dabbler in information technology, homeschooling appears more feasible today. I’ve counseled many young adults motivated to repair their partially self-inflicted damage in public education. Our faculty developed applied courses to replace unsatisfactory theoretical ones. I marvel at easily available answers on rapidly evolving digital devices. I’d enjoy exciting my grandchildren with learning, but they’re doing fine and that’s fine. The good news is the potential is there if homeschooling is best for the family.

Washington legislation (RCW 28A.225.010) effectively enables homeschooling to complement public/private schools and alternative learning experiences. Parents may provide home-based instruction so long as “students are receiving planned instruction in occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and an appreciation of art and music.”

I’d worry about my qualifications because I’ve forgotten much of that and count on calculators and spell checkers.

The legislation defines who’s qualified. Parents could work with a certificated educator. They’re qualified with 45 credit hours of college education or by completing an approved course on home-based instruction. Finally, they may be “deemed sufficiently qualified by the local superintendent.”

If you want to teach your children, get qualified and link up with others who are qualified. Parents can pool resources and teaching skills. Locally, Valley Home Educators, coordinated by Sandy Briggs, is a Wenatchee Valley resource for two hundred or so parents (esbriggs@aol.com).

Building a full year teaching plan would be challenging for me who’s planned courses and programs. But Washington legislation provides this soothing clause: “The legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a classroom setting. Therefore, the provisions of … this section relating to the nature and quantity of instructional and related educational activities shall be liberally construed.” That’s helpful. I learn by roaming through resources for questions I’m pondering.

Fogle says resources abound. Beginning with kindergarten, she arranged her boys’ studies by having them read mostly what they wanted as long as they studied history and functional math. She supplemented the rest with computer and community resources, which is the way I’m learning. Home-based curriculums are available for a price. My daughter knows of libraries that arrange homeschool Fridays. Students can enroll in classes in public schools.

Homeschoolers claim their approach benefits their children. They achieve higher test scores on standardized tests, which Washington requires homeschoolers use. Children play more and spend less time doing homework. As a former child, I wish I learned more and played more.

Critics dispute the achievement results. Nationally not all homeschool students take tests and/or don’t report them. Critics say homeschoolers don’t have to take the No Child Left Behind testing. Based on my graduate work in psychometrics, avoiding that presently administered testing would be beneficial.

But if you’re a Washington homeschooler, these arguments are irrelevant. Available standardized tests assess annual progress for your children and yourself. Be willing to fire yourself. Of course I’m assuming you want your children to succeed.

Washington’s home-based schooling option is viable if it fits your family. Both a child and a parent might benefit.

Going Mildly Berserk in the Mega Millions Lottery

JSR — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:11:28 GMT

Late last Friday I bought my first Mega-Millions raffle tickets to win $640 million. I wanted to experience the frenzy. I went mildly berserk.

The 7-11-store where I purchased them was abuzz with constant buyers but short lines. I waited in them three times. I had no idea how to choose the six numbers but vaguely wanted to use our wedding date or Karen’s birthday. She might be less disgusted when I confessed succumbing to an impulse to gamble our dollar.

My strategy got complicated. The helpful sales clerk asked if I wanted the machine to pick the numbers. Well, no because I’d increase my chances if I chose the numbers. I’m lucky.

And fearful. I now understand I avoided being devastated if our lucky numbers won and I didn’t pick them. Am I serious? I couldn’t live with myself if I lost against odds of 175-million-to-one? Yes, absolutely. I had to ride this bet with our lucky numbers and if I lost, so be it. My purchase was testimony before the omniscient cosmos that those numbers are more important than $640 million. And I’m lucky. That’s being at least mildly berserk based on the way Karen looks at me when I justify it.

My purchase was clumsy. The Mega Millions sheet has five tickets, called panels. Five tickets! Five is our family’s special number. We embraced that number when we celebrated our fifth anniversary in our fifth home with five in our family. I felt our odds improved with six numbers for each birthday on five tickets. Our odds of winning increased fivefold by spending five times more money. Cleary this was going better than anticipated.

My numbers strategy wouldn’t work. Each ticket has a white section with numbers from 1-56 where you pick five numbers and a yellow section with numbers from 1-46 where you pick one number. That meant I could only pick one number twice. Karen’s birthday has 2 ones and 2 twos. Karen’s and my birthdays were split across tickets. Others were split also.

I had trouble marking them. I tore up one. I’m usually good under pressure. When I got all five birthdates on four tickets and saved a dollar, I voided the remaining panel incorrectly. The machine rejected it twice. If we’d tried five times, it might have worked.

On the third try I marked our wedding date on the fifth panel. Five birthdays and our wedding date on one sheet was optimal performance. It took three times, but I maxed out our chances.

The rest of Friday was less exciting. My anticipation was squeezed in between reading, dinner, movie time and going to bed early. I envisioned remaining incognito. I’d eliminate our kids’ debts and establish trusts. At breakfast TV announcers said there were no winners in Washington. Oh well.

What I learned later is there are over 16 million winners. There are nine ways to win prizes worth $2 on up to the jackpot. There are five Washington winners. The odds were 40 to 1. My receipt showed my five-ticket strategy had improved my odds to 39.9-to-1. I dug into my carefully stored receipts. I matched two white numbers but won nothing.

Even worse I calculated my strategy reduced my chances of winning. My month numbers were limited to 1-to-12 instead of the full ranges. Days of the month were limited to 1-31.

But I’m lucky. I’ll be better prepared next time. I could let the machine pick five different numbers. Wait, if I gamble when the jackpot hits $1 billion, the ages of my family plus combinations of our lucky numbers would cover the full ranges. I’d most likely be one of the 780,589 winners matching two white and one yellow numbers. They won $10 each. With another $5 investment, I could break even.

Based on media reports of office pools, I wouldn’t foolishly buy a ticket for Karen. She said that wouldn’t be a problem.

Why is it so hard for retirees to live with computers?

JSR — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:29:37 GMT

Why is it so hard for retirees to live with computers? The answer is computers don’t think like most of us and our experts are usually unavailable.

Most retirees depend on their personal experts instead of translating instructions on telephone calls to someone somewhere in the world. Retirees have personal experts such as any niece or nephew, child, or in my case, my wife Karen. We have to wait until they are available on their terms.

Karen has the extraordinary ability to create personal relationships with each computer. She was a network administrator who installed and maintained massive Sun Microsystem computers for geeks drawing engineering diagrams of Freightliner truck engines. When she’d ask geeks why their computers would suddenly have problems, she got the same answer: “I don’t know. Suddenly it stopped working and I didn’t do anything to it.” I’ve given her that answer and seen her eyes instantly freeze.

She prefers speaking out loud to my unresponsive computer, somewhat disrespectfully, but persistently, patiently. “Why did you do that?” “I already did that.” “Where is the file I just saved?” I have asked those questions, but somehow she gets answers. Maybe I ask the wrong questions.

You might think Karen is frequently available to me, but she is not. A personal relationship with my computer feels like work, the most disagreeable part of work she left behind eleven years ago. She’s replaced those relationships with people on tennis courts, community theaters, bridge tables and most serenely her loom and computer software for weaving. To fix my system she has to take time from her weaving.

It’s wiser to cajole my computer into working. Mysteriously her computer printed with the most recent version of Adobe software, mine did not. I’d click on print and the printer would burp, but not print. The computer wouldn’t say, ‘It’s not printing,’ or ‘There’s a problem with printing.’ Nothing. It doesn’t think like we do. I told Karen, and at least she said, “I can print from my computer. Goodbye, see you at lunch.”

Left to my own inadequacies, the mystery deepened. I searched the Adobe website for printing problems and found a page that said, “Printing bugs identified at release time. Was that helpful?”

“Not really,” I said. “I want solutions.” I clicked ‘No.’ The website wouldn’t respond. Subserviently, I clicked ‘Yes.’ Nothing happened. I asked, “Am I supposed to search about problems with getting Adobe’s website to explain how to fix problems with printing?” No answer.

I asked the whole Internet. It was full of answers since the problem had existed since 2011. “Why is Adobe’s most recent 2012 version still having the problem?” No answer. I followed the instructions, which told me to download the most recent version again and then download another program that fixed it. “Why couldn’t Adobe fix its own software before I downloaded it?” No answer. I may offend my computer. I confess I’ve yelled questions so loudly my condo neighbor could have heard them.

Anyway, after I downloaded the version and update, the most mysterious question arose. Adobe directed me to restart my computer. The first message after restart was, this is true: “There’s an update available. Do you want to download it now?” Of course, why not? It updated by Flash Player, which I don’t use. I clicked on print, the printer burped, and printed.

Karen set up this computer a month ago. I have some improvements and other setbacks. My old system was so slow I’d clean up my desk while it loaded. Now it’s ready too soon. My desk is a mess.

I’m beset by mysteries. Why do I suddenly have a graph page in my word documents? I didn’t do anything. Why do I have multiple Contact folders in my email system? Why did the contact I just added disappear? Why don’t I have one Contacts file liked I used to have that was faithful, accurate and reliable?

When is Karen going to be home and not weaving?

The Solid Event Center Financing Plan Deserves a Yes Vote

JSR — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:18:08 GMT

Support for the proposed Event Center District Tax depends on whether that revenue is part of a solid financial plan. In my opinion it is. Vote yes and we’ll have a debt free, outstanding arena.

My opinion is based on reviews of plans, agreements and conversations with two qualified financial analysts. Wenatchee’s financing was recommended by Public Financial Management, the largest US firm assisting public and non-profit financing worth $39.6 billion in 2011. Those billions are more than the PFD’s $44 million. The firm’s scenarios with the District tax revenue are summarized on Wenatchee’s website under What’s Happening/Press Room.

Nick Gerde, Treasurer of East Wenatchee and resident of Chelan County who has financed hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal finance bonds, did an independent analysis with updated tax revenue reports and different assumptions. Gerde and I met with Bart Clennon, a former Principal of an international consulting actuarial firm and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. My modest experience is grounded in MBA and Ph.D. degrees in business improved by signing more than a dozen mortgages on my commercial properties, which qualifies me to understand the fear of approving one.

The three of us concluded the 0.033% percent state revenue rebate, Wenatchee’s 0.2% sales tax and the district 0.1% sales tax are all necessary to provide adequate margin to retire the defaulted debt, issue new bonds and keep the Event Center viable.

Financing succeeds under conservative options and assumptions. Financing succeeds for bond terms of 20, 25 and 30 years. Financing succeeds if Wenatchee’s sales tax revenues are flat for thirty years even when lowered to the reduced 2011 revenues. Financing succeeds if district sales tax revenues grow at half the rate they’ve been growing. Financing succeeds by providing reserves for operations and capital improvements. Financing succeeds by paying off accrued and unpaid interest.

All nine jurisdictions recently agreed that the ultimate financing plan must meet the requirements in an new amendment to the original interlocal agreement between the PFD and Wenatchee. The financing must meet the requirements of the enabling legislation and highly professional bond counsel.

Under the amended interlocal agreement, the PFD and City must approve the final plan. Specifically, “The City and the PFD shall take steps to use all new sales tax revenue to retire the BANs on terms and conditions acceptable to the PFD and the City of Wenatchee.”

Wenatchee and the PFD have incentives to agree. If they can’t agree by December 31, 2013, the District sales tax shall expire and both would have to meet obligations on their own. The PFD will negotiate that agreement with a reorganized Board of seven representatives, one from each major municipality and one rotating representative from Waterville, Entiat and Rock Island.

The amendment states the district sales tax, “shall expire one calendar year after the obligations, bonds, and/or agreements entered into to retire the BANs … have been paid in full.” As you would expect, the other eight participating jurisdictions shall have no financial obligation for arena operational or capital shortfalls. Finally, after the debt is paid any of the eight jurisdictions can opt out of the PFD.

This plan is equitable with safeguards. Approximately 70-75 percent of the revenues are coming from Wenatchee. Mayor Kuntz assured Clennon that Wenatchee’s tax revenue to pay the debt won’t be touched. The PFD and Bond counsel will demand the same.

Once the debt default is eliminated and reserves build, arena management should operate successfully without legal problems bloating expenses, demanding time and damaging sales. In 2010, the last year of normal operations, operating revenues were greater than operating expenses before the accounting charge for depreciation.

It’s a reasonable deal to eliminate the mess burying a community asset. Public officials have united. District voters can unite to make it happen. We can all move on. Vote yes for the PFD District 0.1% sales tax.

Yearning for Foreign Policy in Middle East withour Bombs

JSR — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:58:49 GMT

Citizens under these clear skies would probably agree all people should enjoy the universal declaration of human rights. Our God-believing people have often shown a moral obligation to seek those blessings for others.

We have an equal moral obligation to not do what we cannot do. We must be persistent champions in actions that do good, do no harm and keep us open to even better options. Policies toward Iran, Syria, and Iraq don’t embrace those values

Experts on C-Span are infused with intent to do good by bombing Iran. The Christian Science Monitor reports “both [Romney and Santorum] have said they would bomb Iran if that country developed nuclear weapons.” Obama says he won’t rule out bombing.

I don’t think bombing Iran is essential. I’ve lived through the perceived terror once the Soviet Union got nuclear power, then China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. None has used them. Diplomacy has worked. Perhaps I’m simply unable to envision the utopia bombing all of them would have created.

If we’d bomb Iran despite what’s worked, I’d lack the diplomacy to justify to Iranians and my God why. Would I ask their forgiveness and remind them Jesus once prayed, “Forgive them. They know not what they do?”

Our policy toward Syria seems flawed. The Syrian resistance movement began with peaceful protests. The US and other countries supported the dissidents and said Assad and his repressive regime must go, even though we’ve collaborated with it for years.

US support may have helped Syria plunge toward chaos. An Associated Press reporter accompanied an Iraqi smuggler and his burros loaded down by AK-47s who sold them in northern Syria. In a similar region another reporter interviewed a masked man on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, rated as America’s number one newscast for the last 77 weeks. The masked man swore he and other Syrians in his community were ready to fight to the death. The reporter signed off by saying Syrian army tanks were assembling two miles away. The dramatic report left me full of questions. Why not ask an unmasked grandmother if she or her neighbors had any idea who the masked man was? Was he speaking for them?

Or was the masked man an Al Qaeda operative? Bin Laden’s replacement, al Zawahiri, has called for volunteers from Muslims in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to join the Syrian revolution. The reporter with the smuggler said a militant al Qaeda website complained about price gouging for weapons. But then, al Qaeda has always complained about capitalism.

Another AP report refreshed us on rising tensions in Iraq at this ninth anniversary of bombing and invading it. Iraq’s Sunni vice president fled the country to avoid investigations that he authorized hit squads against Shiites. The head of one minority group with 40 seats in parliament called their Shiite Prime Minister a dictator, and mocked Obama for calling him a ‘hero’ and ‘inclusive leader.’ The prime minister of the autonomous Kurdish region said infighting is “tearing the country apart.” Human Rights International’s 2011 report on Iraq’s crackdowns on public dissent and arrests of political opposition concluded it is a “budding police state.” What leads us to believe we want to, or can, re-build a contentious Arabic, Muslim country into a stable nation-state after we’ve bombed and invaded it?

I have little faith in national interventions where we don’t truly understand the culture, where indigenous tribes may oppose our advice, and where terrorists may draw us into a war where we can’t clearly identify our enemies. We need to focus on decades-long trust building that works as leaders come and go, that collaborates with peaceful allies and organizations like the Peace Corps, relief agencies, health services, agricultural training and service clubs. We could align with our nation’s values and faiths. We would do more good, do less harm, and keep ourselves more humble.

Working Through Surprises to Achieve Success in Our Apple Capital Loop Trail

JSR — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:17:07 GMT

To the surprise of many, legislation to deed the Apple Capital Loop Trail to Douglas County and East Wenatchee is under consideration. Surprises like that potentially delay passage at a time when the legislature is swamped with legislation.

The legislation is consistent with recommendations of the Shoreline’s Future Vision Group on which I served report to the County and City in June, 2011. We had met with parties involved in the Trail to present recommendations on land use, development and stewardship and management, which the City’s planning commission adopted in November. In January Mayor Lacy informed the council that the County was working with Rep. Armstrong to deed right-of-way to the County and City, so the Vision group waited for further information. Meanwhile WSDOT Secretary Hammond directed the staff to update area maps in preparation for legislative action.

Recently Armstrong announced his proviso in House Bill 2190 that deeds 50 feet of right-of way to the County and City. It requires they reimburse the State at fair market value if property is later abandoned. The County and City would accept responsibility and extinguish any responsibility for the State to maintain and improve the trail. Dan Sarles, regional administrator estimates accurate property descriptions and documentation could take up to eighteen months to complete.

Last Sunday night members of the Vision Group met to review Armstrong’s current proviso for the first time and unanimously supported it for following several of the group’s recommendations. It establishes permanent local public ownership instead of leases that expire in 2018. It avoids at-grade vehicular crossings while preserving public access to the shoreline. It provides public access to the trail at proposed and existing locations and gives time for a feasibility study of recreational amenities such as rest rooms or boat docks near Odabashian Bridge.

Not addressed in the proviso are two recommendations from the Vision Group and most citizens who contributed to the More-Than-a-Trail report. One is conserving the native landscape and recreational use of land and dunes west of the trail immediately south of Odabashian Bridge. The second is to provide continuous shoreline access from the Odabashian Bridge to south of 13^th Street.

Lands west of the Trail’s current location near Odabashian Bridge have created attention. The Vision Committee recognizes those lands should eventually be surplused by WSDOT on the west side of the existing trail because they cannot be held without transportation purposes. However the lands are difficult to develop because of shoreline regulations, Chelan County PUD flood control guidelines and a number of other issues. Furthermore the Vision Group supports relocation of portions of the trail to improve stewardship, aesthetics and safety. Moving the trail westward near the Odabashian Bridge would preserve land west of the Trail and create more developable land east of the Trail. The Vision Group’s belief is these recommendations would be achieved through zoning and development policies.

The proposed proviso surprised most people, including Bob Parlette, a local attorney and activist in creating the trail, and Andy Dappen, editor of Wenatchee Outdoors. They prefer the proviso directly guarantee development west of the existing trail by inserting language to guarantee those recommendations are achieved through local zoning and planning before the deed is transferred instead of the zoning and planning process the Vision Group intends to pursue. Rep Armstrong told me he disagrees with the proposed change. “It’s not the role of the legislature to dictate local planning.” He added that his conversations with County officials indicate they do support preserving land west of the trail as described in the Vision report.

At last Sunday’s meeting Armstrong was concerned because emails to Olympia legislators appeared to oppose the proviso without the additional guarantee. He feared they created confusion in the minds of the Chairs of the legislative transportation committees, Rep. Clibborn in the House and Sen. Haugen in the Senate.

Still another person who might have not seen Armstrong’s proviso at the time he announced it is Sen. Parlette, yes Bob Parlette’s wife. She is on the Senate Transportation Committee and a longtime advocate for the Trail. It naturally follows she will be involved in working on the best outcome for the Trail.

Armstrong is more confident the bill should pass as originally proposed after local leaders worked together. On Monday, members of the Vision Group, Chelan Douglas Land Trust, Bob Parlette and Dappen have clarified they all are working for the same goals and to achieve language that can be approved, which most likely would be as Armstrong proposed. Laurie Barnett from City planning told me Sen. Parlette intends to support the bill in the Senate. Armstrong told me he believes he has the support of both Transportation Chairs.
In the meantime temporary maps of deeded and surplus lands of the Trail should be posted soon on the WSDOT website. More information is available at the Chelan Douglas Land Trust and Wenatchee Outdoors. We’ll see if surprises await us, but action to support the trail looks positive right now.

Feeling At Home with Neighbors to the South

JSR — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 16:03:23 GMT

Returns from foreign travel generate interesting conversations. Recently we returned from Puerto Vallarta and get asked if we heard gunfire. No, nor did it make the papers, nor our conversations. We had a relaxing time with friendly and hard working hosts, but the economy was on their minds. That didn’t feel foreign.

Mexico’s national economy is growing, but slowly. Next year is projected to grow at a similar rate of 3-4 percent. Most of their exports are to the United States. They wanted Karen and me to spend there and keep spending at home.

They’ll elect a new president, but people we talked with expect little improvement. The leading candidate is seen as a wealthy non-reader who is out of touch with working people. Their last president surprised them with a violent war on drugs after promising “job creation and economic recovery.” The national newspaper, The News, pleaded for candidates who addressed common problems such as helping eighty percent of the people who have difficulty getting an appointment with a physician and common medications. They have people not covered by health insurance. Imagine choosing among candidates when you fear their unspoken agendas and distrust their campaign promises. Actually, that doesn’t feel foreign either.

Puerto Vallarta depends on tourism for half its economy and recovery is slow. Airline bookings that dropped off dramatically in 2008 have improved slightly in the last three years. A Bed & Breakfast owner said her business is slow but steady.

Two crewmembers on our sailing tour said they worked every day in December. They’ve worked for Vallarta Adventures for six years, enjoy health and other benefits, and claim they have retirement plans. During rainy seasons they work about three days a week. The other days are for their wives and children, surfing, fishing and hunting. Even retirees were envious.

Other parts of tourism are not strong. Timeshare sales at our hotel were down last year. A representative encouraged me to attend this year’s sales presentations because they’re offering much more flexible terms. I felt much safer checking online offers such as one-week timeshares for $500.

Puerto Vallarta is investing in community development. It upgraded the Malecon for families and tourists strolling the beach to enjoy sand sculptures, mimes and acrobats. While improvements closed one street, others were widened and unattractive wires buried. Economic reports say the slowdown in timeshare developments has permitted more repairs and upgrades to reduce the number of homes without running water and sanitary sewers.

Those investments didn’t impress two taxi drivers. One thought the traffic was more congested as a result, which was bad for Old Town. Another said costs were already too high compared to the state of Nayarit immediately to the north. We saw construction in housing and retail when we rode a bus to a northern cove on magnificent Bandera Bay. The waiter serving lunch at the La Cruz Yacht Club said business was good. Seems the wealthy find ways to spend.. That didn’t sound foreign.

Our taxi driver/economist wanted economic investments to diversify the economy. He said federal funds for street improvements could have been used to bring in factories such as automotive parts suppliers with better paying jobs. That advice didn’t sound foreign.

Service jobs are low paying in a state with a minimum wage of about $4 per day. Of course tips add to worker incomes so we tipped bell captains, maids, drivers and boys who open taxi doors. That is, if we remembered to keep coins handy. And it’s not much. We ate lunch on a cloudy day at the beach buffet and bar amid dozens of empty tables. After the expectant waiter’s smile disappeared when we ordered two tortilla soups with water, we tipped generously but it still felt like a pittance.

We’ll return. The Mexican people are welcoming, indomitable and appreciative. The warm sun and rushing waves blend to soothe our mindset. It doesn’t feel foreign. Matter of fact the land and the people feel like good neighbors.

Understanding Dogs Better to Help us and Them

JSR — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:14:46 GMT

We love dogs and think we know them.

We could know them better based on my reading of Inside of a Dog: What Dogs, See, Smell and Know by Alexandra Horowitz. Her book is full of information about the history, anatomy and mind of dogs.

My dog Haley reads me like a book. Karen’s been trying for fifty years, but Haley’s more accurate, probably from lower expectations.

Nevertheless, we should learn more about dogs so we can reciprocate. In fact we’d do well to learn their tricks so we can do the same for other people in our world.

One trick is to accept dogs as dogs, not as people. Horowitz says dogs adapted to humans by shedding ancestral wolf traits. Dogs look people in the eye, wolves avoid eye contact. Wolves live alone or in constantly shifting packs, dogs adapt to a subservient role in a family. Horowitz says we make our dogs unique. “Dogs interpret the world through acting on it, by seeing others act, by being shown, and by acting with us into being a good member of the family.“

The anatomy of dogs gives them different views of the world and us than we have. Dogs lead with their noses to within millimeters of any object. They push and pull scents into labyrinths of their nostrils, onto to special organs and out unseen slits. They sniff our legs to identify us. We leave trails of scents. They smell our fear, our diseases and our meals. Horowitz says, “To dogs, we are our scent.”

We should enrich their lives with scents, but we frequently squelch their interest. After I ate at a restaurant, I spontaneously gave my ten-inch-shoulder-height mongrel a treat. No, not a doggie bag, I ate all my beef pasta. I did better. I stuck my face in front of her nose. She jumped and wagged and smelled and licked my mouth and nose in a joyous welcome. I needed another napkin to wipe off her slobber. I couldn’t survive that every time, but if not, I’ll feel guilty.

They spread their smells to socialize. Haley greets dogs in tail-wagging formalities that stretch from noses to genitals. They’re hesitantly, mutually sharing but most of us seem embarrassed by what appear to be lewd intrusions, so we tug them apart before they’re done. Haley’s nose-to-path trot discovers which animals trotted by and how long ago, but we yank her away to finish our joint walk. Some owners hold a dog’s head so high they can’t investigate smells. Horowitz allows her dog periodic walks directed solely by her dog’s nasal fascinations. I’m afraid golfers would hit us with golf balls.

Dogs constantly watch us, even when we watch TV. Their mind receives more images per minute than ours do, meaning they see TV projections as we see freezes in reception. Haley’s eye sockets are filled by large, black pupils. She sees moving images twice as brightly as I can. They snatch Frisbees out of the air. They notice twitches, face movements and breathing patterns we don’t see. They anticipate our moods before we cover them up. They learn to recognize oncoming migraines or heart attacks.

The book is full of traits we underestimate and underappreciate in our dedicated, dependent canine lovers. Consequently they know us better than we know them, and that is decidedly to our benefit. They’re relentlessly watching us, adapting, testing, expecting a certain leash on life’s essentials, reveling in thoughtful gifts we make available and serving us with profound assistance if they're trained.

Observing more about their traits gives us a boundless invitation to get more joy more out of our relationships with them.

And learning to enrich relationships with dogs we love leads us to appreciate how much more difficult it is to improve relationships with other people.

We could better serve each other and enrich our own lives by better observing and gifting our own dogs.

Government is the Problem is a Popular Myth

JSR — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:38:17 GMT

“Government is the problem,” is a popular myth. Government is inevitably part of the solution. More evidence comes from Washington and Iowa private political parties as they serve their valid causes for the public good. Political partiers have a good time, but there is a morning after.

Federal judges have ruled Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and other political parties are private clubs. They’re free to develop their own activities with minimal federal interference. One activity to choose candidates and debate issues is a caucus. Caucuses recruit delegates to county, district and statewide caucuses. On C-Span I watched one seemingly surprised Iowan under thirty become a delegate for Ron Paul because nobody else volunteered. Where will that lead him?

Another political party role is committee precinct officer (CPO) at the local level. They run caucuses. Like caucuses, CPOs serve the public good with voter registration drives. They recruit candidates. They escort candidates. They inform others about elections. They raise money by providing cookies and information at highway rest stops.

Libertarian ideology says if these private party actions don’t harm anyone else and serve the public good, why should government interfere? Yes, but…

First, the caucus system does disadvantage others. In Washington’s 2008 primary election, 1.4 million people voted in the primary and 100,000 attended caucuses. Iowans brag their caucus system is crucial because no candidate has won the presidency without finishing at least third in Iowa. However, Iowa’s meager caucus turnout enabled Ron Paul to finish third by winning less than one percent of Iowa’s registered voters. Voters in those two states speak loud and clear: “We’d rather vote with ballots in our homes than go to caucuses.”

Iowa’s infinitesimal caucus turnout gives immense leverage for wealthy special interests to sway national elections. With half of caucus goers undecided the week before they met, negative media blitzes drove Gingrich’s forecasted victory into fourth place oblivion. Super-PACs, financed by donors most of whom were withholding their names, spent two-thirds of the $12.5 million advertising in Iowa to influence caucus-goers. And complicated party rules almost guarantee the percentage of delegates sent to the national convention will not match the caucus percentage they earned. In an Urbandale precinct, Romney won a third of the votes and half the county delegates.

The special advantages of early primaries have spawned a seemingly endless national campaign. New Hampshire state law requires its primary to be the first in the nation. Iowans hold caucuses ahead of New Hampshire’s primary election because caucuses are not a presidential primary. Washington could hold its caucuses before Christmas. Meanwhile needed legislation languishes. I recommend a national law limiting presidential primaries until Congress gets its work done.

Electing CPOs in private political parties has created a second problem in Washington. Recruiting CPOs is difficult so parties convinced the legislature in 1907 to place CPO elections on public ballots. Currently Washington spends extra money for different ballots listing CPO races in each precinct. A federal judge ruled publicly funded CPO elections are unconstitutional because our top two-party primary system allows non-party members to contaminate the vote. Two Democrats could be nominated for a Douglas County Republican CPO position, if there were two Democrats in the precinct. Washington’s Secretary of State plans to eliminate public PCO elections. It’s a good governmental solution, saving taxpayer money.

Not so fast. Democrats, Republicans and believe it or not, Libertarians, filed suit to continue the extra cost for the public good. They’re also lobbying legislators to pass election rules that would meet constitutional requirements. The parties clearly believe in good government, or at least when it subsidizes them.

The point of these stories of well-intentioned private political party machinations is that government inevitably petitioned to become part of the solution. We’d like to believe we can live in liberty without affecting others, but dynamic special interests almost always cause wider impacts. Good government is at best a clunky solution continuously cobbled together by concerned citizens. Nevertheless, government must be part of the solution.

How Can a Blackout be a Gift?

JSR — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:30:53 GMT

Instead of inspiration hitting me so I could write about the frazzled last year and inspire us for the New Year, a blackout hit me atop Saddle Rock. My blackout is a gift because I missed warning signs and made mistakes, and writing with smiles may make it easier to succeed in 2012.

Karen, family and I hiked up Saddle Rock after Christmas. Hiking was a triumph after a year dedicated to halting the decline of my heart failure and beginning healing with medications, supplements, a sleep apnea machine and mostly tennis. Saddle Rock was a deserving landmark since its dedication last year as a public treasure was one of the community’s best accomplishments.

However my blackout was a setback, and my mistakes remind me to be more tolerant of mistakes like default on Event Center debt. I like to make light of my blackout by claiming the giddy success of standing on Saddle Rock made me lightheaded, but that’s inaccurate. I felt dizzy almost immediately. I reached out to Karen, too late. My eyes rolled back and I tipped backward onto the ground. Karen unsuccessfully reached for me while incorrectly assuming I was dying. It’s comforting to know she was reaching. But she’s getting used to it like most Americans our age who feel we’re unsuccessfully reaching for the slowly vanishing security in Social Security, Medicare, and retirement plans.

My blackout converted to confusion amid sounds of sirens as our daughter told 911 my pulse was forty. We met Don, my age or older, impressively still on his feet and offering a prayer. We joined hands while the EMT vehicle clawed to the top. I felt a new stillness in my heart as Don prayed, although my pulse may have been picking up speed.

Stillness inside helped me through short-lived chaos outside. In the oncoming drizzle our emergency vehicle slipped down the slope like values in my 401(K). The slippage unleashed Karen’s acrophobia in her front-seat view and elevated her to the driver’s primary concern. In ER I recovered with a saline-water IV and egg salad sandwich insisting I could go home. The ER physician insisted I stay because of my heart conditions. This time Karen successfully grabbed my cheeks, placed her nose on my nose and confided, “I don’t want you at home.” She should grab the cheeks of political leaders to say, “I don’t want you home until you finish your work.”

Doctors and nurses hospitalized me for two days. A heart monitor and test results focused on the probable cause: medications, dehydration, over-exertion and standing too quickly interacted with the body’s normal response to slow down the heart after exercise, called a vasovagal response. Blood temporarily drained from my brain. Doctors changed my medications and prescribed a heart monitor for three weeks.

The experience unnerved me, but family reminded me it was a gift. They’re right. One night the hospital’s monitor recorded my pulse at 160 just after I wheeled my saline-water IV stand into the bathroom just in time. I thought the shortness of breath was from holding my breath to squeeze my bladder as I often do. It’s difficult to admit I missed those warnings. Federal leaders and investors may feel just as chagrined years from now about ignoring the Standard and Poors downgrade of the US debt.

I made other mistakes. I didn’t drink enough water on the way up because my water bottle was buried in the bottom of my backpack and Karen was gaining ground on me. Besides the top was always getting closer. I’m more forgiving of Congress regularly thinking it can muddle along as each election gets closer.

My blackout gave me better prescriptions and deeper experiences to rein in my enthusiasm. Join me to treat 2011 as a blackout and recommit to the better prescriptions we need to make a more successful 2012.

How to Keep New Year’s Resolutions with Russell’s Rules

JSR — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:57:48 GMT

My success with New Year’s resolutions feels flawless now that I’ve discovered my here-to-fore secret technique. Since then every resolution I’ve made, I’ve kept. Suspecting people under our clear skies generally don’t feel as successful, I offer my secrets and provide examples you may want to adopt.

First, and perhaps my most important rules: If I don’t feel a need to make a resolution, I don’t make one. I make resolutions about half the time. The other half the time it occurs to me well into the month of January that I’m without a resolution. Having gone that long, it’s clear I can survive the year without one, and resolve to do so. You could say my resolution to have no resolution is a resolution, and I’ll accept your interpretation, meaning I make resolutions every year and always succeed. I’m fine with either interpretation.

My resolutions are attitudinal, rather than specific, netted down to one or two words. For example one year my resolution was ‘balance.’ Balance means avoiding wild swings of commitment plunging me into late nights and early mornings against my will, tossing and turning at night about fewer floundering projects, or being overwhelmed by long to-do lists that interfere with my family, business or service interests.

I’ve succeeded by creating an unavoidable reminder, such as inserting balance as my computer screensaver, or ‘I am A-OK” on my cell phone. I thought about balance frequently, perhaps daily, but I wasn’t at my computer every day so I can’t be sure. Nevertheless resolutions infuse my attitude throughout the year. I’m pleased to come across quotes aligning me with the biblical word such as, “A just balance and the scales are the Lord’s,” and with long standing philosophical wisdom such as “I’m OK, You’re OK.” At year’s end I’ve congratulated myself on my deep commitment to those attitudes that improved my outlook on life.

Some of you may question whether proof of my success exists in tangible, measurable indicators. True, well-intentioned people resolve to lose weight by marking down a number from a scale at the beginning of the year to compare with a target at the end of the year. Count me not among those self-tormented souls. They spend money to buy work-out equipment they later sell at a loss, become members in athletic clubs they gradually avoid, or purchase packets of recommended meals, all the while growing increasingly anxious as they hurtle towards an inaccessible self-imposed weight at the New Year, rendering them unable to enjoy the Christmas season with the beneficence of neighbors bringing irresistible delectables, such as Karen’s acclaimed fudge.

Besides, how would you recommend I measure balance? Isn’t it evidentiary data I’m more balanced if I feel more balanced? Isn’t the fact that balance is a present theme in my life after all these years sufficient proof that my resolution was even more successful than I realized before resolving to write this article? Does not such evidence warrant more faith than a comparison between two numbers gathered on particular days at particular times from a weight scale that is notorious for wobbling out of alignment, or from a new scale purchased to replace the one accused of obviously overweighting as some resolutionists I’ve known have done?

Without fear and with enthusiasm I’ve chosen my new resolution and resolved to share it with you. Part of my fearlessness is my able ally, our 14-pound canine comet Haley, who should help me every day when she zooms into my lap after returning from outside. Even more satisfying should be watching my resolution spread across the faces of people around me throughout the year. Haley wags her tail harder when she sees one. My resolution is smile.

Try my system this year. Imagine the fun you’ll have thinking about an attitude of a successful resolution in your happy new year and next year’s Christmas celebrations. The thought of you joining Haley, Karen and me in such a celebration makes me smile.

A Gift for My Family and Yours: Stories of Healing

JSR — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:34:29 GMT

The back cover of Stories of Healing: A Family Doctor’s Journal by East Wenatchee resident Robert A Anderson, MD, (retired) has two influential recommendations. One is from Christiane Northrup, MD, Ob/Gyn, who called it “a fantastic book written by one of the finest holistic doctors I’ve ever known.” She knows books: she authored three New York Times Bestsellers including The Wisdom of Menopause. Bernard Siegel, MD, author of 12 best sellers beginning with Love, Medicine and Miracles, wrote, “This book needs to be read by everyone.”

Anderson’s book is a memoir of patients selected from his 40-year family practice in Edmonds who transformed his original physician’s perspective after graduating from Washington’s medical school. He converted from believing he was solely a medical expert with “an opportunity and duty to treat and educate my patients” [to] “realize that my patients were simultaneously teaching me. I believe the energy of all avenues to recovery, cure and healing involves the potential for self-healing from within.”

The stories begin with medical protocol and end with patient success. He describes symptoms, tests and reports from specialists. After prescribed medications were either unsatisfactory, or where other treatments could be tried simultaneously, he confers with patients about optional approaches they could choose. Those options were based on research he’d reviewed and treatments he found effective for himself or patients. Examples include, zinc-based cream for warts, self-imaging to relieve anxiety and daily dosages of magnesium to prevent and treat heart failure.

Stories of heart care riveted my attention because of my cardiomyopathy. The congestive heart failure of 65-year-old Audrey (names are fictitious) deteriorated to 11 percent efficiency from a normal 60 percent over five years while she was on 14 medications. She needed to catch her breath every five stair-steps. Anderson states, “Her downhill course allowed me to be comfortable in sketching out some ‘why-not’ options which I knew would not interfere with any of the treatments her cardiologist had recommended.” The story list vitamins, enzymes and minerals he suggested she try and references his book published by McGraw-Hill in 2001, Clinician’s Guide to Holistic Medicine. Nine years later her heart efficiency maintained an above-normal 75 percent and her cardiologist eliminated all medications save one.

The first forty stories have self-healing themes. Patients chose to different lifestyles and nutritional intake to help heal themselves. They collaborated with Anderson to reduce his ideal recommendations to actions they could maintain. He found they healed better than if they ignored his recommendations and got no benefits. They also worked to recognize whether their particular illness occurred at a particular time. And Anderson explains how each case taught him another lesson.

The Mysterium section contains incredulous experiences tangentally related to self-healing. A hospital-assigned pediatrician arrived to give inpatient care to Anderson’s newborn granddaughter. The pediatrician mysteriously returned to ask her parent’s permission to diagnose meningitis, which led to quick treatments that avoided brain damage. After two follow-up visits with her parents, the pediatrician disappeared. Archived records of the pediatrician’s inpatient care are missing.

Anderson told me he included the Mysterium stories for two reasons. He believes we should pay more attention to anomalies because they’ve catapulted medical advancements throughout history, such as the discovery of penicillin. He also said, “Weird things happen and I’m more accepting and honoring of patients’ experiences, particularly when one happens to a ‘non-zany’ nurse in my office,” referring to her dream in the last story of the book.

Anderson wrote this book for patients following three research books for physicians. He said, “Stories are important for people.”

They’ve inspired me and may inspire others. I’m giving them to my children for Christmas.

How Have We Declared War for the Last Seventy Years?

JSR — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:30:16 GMT

December 8, 2011 was the seventieth anniversary of the last declaration of war issued by Congress and signed by the President. The historic picture of Roosevelt signing Congress’s declaration was my childhood image of the U.S. resolutely united in a war against evil.

On the anniversary I read a website by news junkie Maureen Holland identifying eighty “US Military Interventions and Wars Since 1941.” I was unable to find a consistent process, let alone rationale. Commander-In-Chief Obama deployed forces for a regime change in Libya with no clear opposition party. Monday on C-Span presidential candidates Huntsman and Gingrich said Iran is our most important threat because of its nuclear capabilities and we must commit to a regime change. We’ve done regime changes to install Iran’s Shah, Iraq’s Hussein, Afghanistan’s Karzai and Panama’s Noriega.

How have we decided to go to war since WWII? I’m not focusing on what is a just war, just worrying about how we decide.

Engaging military forces are authorized by our Constitution, our UN Treaty and the War Powers Act.

Our Constitution authorizes Congress to declare war, but doesn’t explain how. Congress has enumerated authority, “to raise and support armies and provide and maintain a navy.” Our constitution also states, “The president shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States … when called into the actual service of the United States.”

Our Constitution authorizes both branches, independently -- at least according leaders in each branch.

After WWII Congress authorized two wars in Lebanon, Vietnam (after troops had been there for four years), both recent Iraq wars and Afghanistan.

In 1945 the Senate ratified the United Nations Charter empowering the UN Security Council to establish peacekeeping operations, international sanctions and military action through UNSC resolutions. Prior to Congressional approval, our Commanders-In-Chief have committed forces under UNSC resolutions in Korea, Bosnia, a Liberian war, Haiti, and most recently Libya, although Congress eventually funded them.

Congress passed The War Powers Act over President Nixon’s veto in 1973 to limit presidential war powers after the Vietnam War. The WPA’s purpose is “insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.”

‘Imminent hositilities’is a euphemism for our soldiers likely dying in combat. Contrast that wording with “Operation Killer,” the first offensive against the Chinese in Korea by General Matthew Ridgway, who was assigned command to revive the demoralized Eighth Army and UN Forces. Warned by his PR people the term was too bloodthirsty, he ignored them and later wrote, “I am by nature opposed to any effort to ‘sell’ war to people as only mildly unpleasant business that requires little in the way of blood.” If we’re going to decide on war, let’s not sell it.

The WPA requires a president who has already deployed significant troops of to inform Congress within 48 hours and restricts engagement to 60 days plus 30 days for a withdrawal, unless Congress authorizes a longer period or declares war. The example referenced was Kennedy’s increase of US Vietnam military advisers from 700 to 16,000.

A report on the WPA after thirty years indicates Congressional leaders invoked the act after Vietnam evacuations, the Iranian rescue, El Salvador military advising, Honduran military exercises, Nicaragua military training, Lebanon multi-national forces, Grenada riot control, Libyan bombing runs in 1986, Panama regime change, Haiti regime change and armed conflict, Kosovo, and most recently Libya.

The report concluded, “Every President since the enactment of the WPA has taken the position that it is an unconstitutional infringement on the President’s authority as Commander-In-Chief.” Obama ignored the reporting requirement in Libya because he concluded military involvement wasn’t significant. Members in Congressional sessions that haven’t had a majority to enforce the WPA have filed lawsuits to enforce it, but courts have insisted Congress must enforce it first.

The War Powers Act has added new reports and discussions without resolving final authority.

But we’ve been involved in numerous military interventions not covered by these authorizations. One example: from 1976-1992 the CIA assisted South African armed rebels from Angola while Nelson Mandela was overthrowing his government with non-violence.

Eisenhower declined one intervention on the advice of Ridgway who had become Army Chief of Staff. Eisenhower was under pressure to send troops to rescue French forces trapped by Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu in French Indochina. Ridgway’s powerful memo predicting the deaths and destruction of American forces convinced Eisenhower to avoid a wasteful intervention.

I worry commanding war solutions gives the false appearance of quick solutions and endangers too many lives, particularly as we face a future with increasing threats of nuclear powers in Iran and Pakistan. And I don’t see a consistent process, or a deep commitment, to reach a “collective judgment of both Congress and the President” to use armed forces with a realistic understanding of the costs.

We should strengthen collective judgments before we approve war, and perhaps avoid it more often.