Why the Finns are smarter than us - in Finnish

Amerikka ei ole paras maa maailmassa, että olisi jyrkästi kiistetty joidenkin kansalaistemme, jotka vahvasti uskovat "American poikkeusasema". Ollakseen täysin tarkka, mutta yksikään maa on maailman paras kaikessa, koska se on lähes mahdotonta.

Amerikka on melko hyvä paikka elää, ja olemme maailman johtava useilla aloilla.

We have the largest economy maailmassa, olemme paras paikka maailmassa innovation, meillä on paras (ja kallein) defense department maailmassa, olemme sidoksissa (Myanmar!) siitä, most generous country in the world, we have 18 of the world’s 25 top universities, ja amerikkalainen kulttuuri (elokuvat ja musiikki) on suosittu lähes kaikkialla.

Ironista kyllä, vaikka meillä on joitakin parhaista yliopistoista maailmassa, se on meidän koulutusjärjestelmän että kaukana muusta maailmasta. Verrattuna 40 muut kehittyneet maat,we rank 17th, far below the number 1 country, which is Finland.

Yllättäen koulutusjärjestelmämme ongelmat johtuvat siitä, että we also lead the world in another area - teen pregnancies.

Meidän hinta on 1792 syntyneiden määrä miljoonaa naisille alle 20 on huomattavasti suurempi kuin maa, joka on numero 2, Slovakia, joka on 1121 syntynyttä kohti miljoonaa. Suomessa n määrä teini raskaus on 288 miljoonasosaa.

Johtuen siitä, että nämä varhaisnuoret ovat todennäköisemmin pakko elää köyhyydessä, olemme # 34 maailman kannalta child poverty, johtuu siitä, että 23% meidän lapsista elää köyhyydessä.Paras maa maailmassa, kun se tulee lasten köyhyyden?

Suomessa, jossa lasten köyhyysaste 3%

Lasten köyhyyden vähentämiseksi maamme paitsi parantaisi meidän koulujärjestelmä, se parantaisi myös taloutemme.Lasten puolustus rahasto on arvioinut, että lapsuuden köyhyys maamme maksaa talous $500 billion a year. Se on lähes kaksi kertaa niin paljon kuin BKT Suomessa, joka on 41st largest economy in the world - mutta maailman paras koulujärjestelmä.

Johtuen siitä, että todella paljon noista varhaisista raskauksista suunnittelemattomia tapahtumia, nuoret tytöt astumassa äitiyttä eivät yleensä saa asianmukaista äitiyshuollon, mikä johtaa epätavallisen high number of premature births.

12% meidän syntymät ovat ennenaikaisia, kaukana pahin osuus kuin missään muissa kehittyneissä kansakunta.Paras maa maailmassa (4%) on Valko-Venäjä, mutta Suomi ei ole kaukana jäljessä, 5,5%.

Lapset, jotka ovat syntyneet ennenaikaisesti on suurempi todennäköisyys fyysisen ja psyykkisen vammoja, ja suurempi taipumus käyttäytymisongelmia, mikä tekee niistä vaikeampi kouluttaa. Tämän seurauksena vaikka meidän koulujärjestelmä oli maailman paras, olemme jo takana kahdeksan palloa, kun lapsemme tulevat päiväkoti.

Kansallinen K-12 koulujärjestelmä on parasta, että se on koskaan ollut, mutta et ikinä tiedä, että puhumalla keskimääräinen amerikkalainen, minkä vuoksi olemme yrittäneet lukuisia "uudistuksia" vuosien varrella, joista yksikään ei ollut erittäin onnistunut . Valitettavasti molemmat puolueet ovat syyttää, koska George Bushin No Child Left Behind on pääosin kahdennettu Barack Obaman Race yläosaan.

1) Lahjakortit ja charter koulut (erityisesti voittoa charter koulut) eivät ole oikea ratkaisu, sillä ne siirtää varoja julkisista kouluista, jotka ovat jo rahoitetaan valtion lainsäätäjille, jotka mieluummin antaa verohelpotuksia yrityksille kuin investoida tulevaisuuteen johtajia. Arizona on erinomainen esimerkki väärä painopisteistä, koska valtio on perinteisesti ollut yksi pahimmista klo rahoittamalla sen koulujärjestelmään. Lisäksi sillä on suurin osuus kansakunnan (15%) sen lasten charter kouluissa, mikä tarkoittaa sitä, että valtion ei charter julkiset koulut saavat 15% vähemmän rahoitusta kuin ne muutoin saada.

2) Sulkeminen kouluissa ei ole oikea ratkaisu, sillä koulut eivät voi parantaa, jos ne ovat kiinni. Kun uusia kouluja avataan korvaamaan vanhat koulut, ne eivät yleensä paremmin kuin edeltäjänsä.

3) "Parent laukaista" menetelmät eivät toimi, koska ne muuttavat mitä pitäisi osuuskunta kokemus joka on vastakkainasettelua.

4) Jatkuva testaus tulosten lukemisessa, matematiikassa ja tiede ei ole paras ratkaisu myöskään, koska ne vie varoja muita elintärkeitä kursseja, joita ei voida testata, kuten taidetta, kirjallisuutta, maailmanhistoria, vieraan kielen, yhteiskuntaoppi, liikunta, ja taloustiede.Maa, joka on paras koulujen maailmassa, Suomessa, ei anna kansallisia testejä matematiikan, luonnontieteiden ja lukeminen kunnes sen opiskelijat ovat astumassa college.

5) Hyökkäävä opettajien ammattiliittojen ja demonisointi opettajat (naurat, Scott Walker?) On todella luu otsikkona idea, koska se demoralizes ammattitaitoiset opettajat, johtaa kasvuun luokkakoot, ja aiheuttaa korkeamman liikevaihdon maustetaan veteraanien kuin tapahtuisi muutoin .

Miksi Suomessa on parhaat koulut maailmassa? On olemassa useita syitä, mutta tässä on muutamia niistä:

1) Muiden Pohjoismaiden (Norja ja Ruotsi) Suomessa on kestävään pitkän aikavälin investointeja ja priorisointi varhaiskasvatuksen kehittäminen, ja universaali esikoulu on yhteiskunnallinen normi.

2) Vuonna 1970 Suomessa uudisti koulutusjärjestelmässä. Se nosti työhönottovaatimukset sen opettajakorkeakoulujen, joten ne niin valikoiva, että nykyään vain 10% niistä, jotka soveltavat hyväksytään. Suomessa, opettajat ovat arvostettuja, ja ovat niin arvostettu kuin lääkärien.

3) Suomessa ei käytä tositteita tai charter koulujärjestelmä, ja suomalaiset ylpeillä että on olemassa hyviä julkisia kouluja jokaisessa kaupungissa, kaupunki ja kylä

4) Suomessa ei anna opettajille tulospalkkio, ja ei käytä järjestelmää palkintoja ja rangaistuksia, että teemme.

5) Jokainen lapsi Suomen koulujärjestelmä saa yhden aterian päivässä koulussa, ja jokaisessa koulussa on lääketieteen ammattilainen henkilöstön.

6) Suomen opettajat eivät saa kuljettaa aseita kampuksella, mutta se on käytäntö, joka on permissible in 18 of our states.

Meidän julkinen koulutusjärjestelmä ei ole ilman toivoa, ja se voi vähitellen tehdä paremmin, jos otamme joitakin järkeä vaiheita. Alkajaisiksi voimme seurata Suomen johtoa ainakin joillakin alueilla, ja ainakin yksi idea (universal esikoulu) on saanut joitakin pitoa viime vuosina.

Voimme myös vaatia, että ihmiset, jotka johtavat meidän koulutusjärjestelmät ovat päteviä työhönsä. Arizonan nykyinen intendentti Public Instruction ei ole astetta koulutuksessa, ja hänen ainoa opetuskokemus tulee lasimaalauksia luokka, joka hän kerran opetti. Hänet valittiin pääosin johtuu hänen tukea Tea Party, ja hän täpärästi ammatillinen kouluttaja, joka oli paljon enemmän päteviä tehtävään.

Hänen välitön edeltäjä valittiin lähinnä johtuen tukea organisaation, joka toimii charter koulut. Kuten hänen seuraajansa, hän ei ole asteen tutkinto, ja hän ei ole koskaan opettanut luokkaa tahansa.

“Just Say No” ei onnistunut iskulause aikana meidän sota huumeita, ja se on yhtä tehoton, kun se tulee teini raskaus. Valtio maamme että on alhaisin teini syntymät on New Hampshire, joka on täysi-ikäisyys 18, ja pakolliset syntyvyyden oppiminen alkaa peruskoulun. Valtio, joka on korkein teini raskaus korko, Mississippi, on täysi-ikäisyys 16, ja ei ole pakollista seksuaalivalistusta tai sukupuolitauti koulutus. Kun seksuaalikasvatus opetetaan, se asettaa erittäin tärkeäksi raittiutta. Mississippi, teachers are not allowed to discuss the use of condoms, vaikka 76% Mississippi teini raportoi seksiä ennen loppua lukion.

Monet viittaukset artikkelissa edellä ovat peräisin kirjan nimeltä "Reign of Error", kirjoittanut nainen nimeltä Diane Ravitch. Tällä hetkellä hän on tutkimus kasvatustieteen professori New Yorkin yliopistossa, ja hänet nimitettiin National Assessment hallintoneuvosto presidentti Bill Clinton vuonna 1997 ja 2001. "Reign of Error" on hänen 11. kirja koulutuksesta, ja se on lukemisen arvoinen, vaikka vaikka sen lukuisat tosiasiat ja luvut tarkoittavat, että se ei ole nopea lukea useimmat meistä.

Kuten monet kulttuurit,the Finnish culture can provide us with many proverbs.

Yksi, joka on erityisesti koulutukseen liittyvät on tämä:

"Maailma on hyvä opettaja, mutta se veloittaa valtava maksu."

Why the Finns are smarter than us

America is not the best country in the world, a fact that was forcefully brought home by actor Jeff Daniels on an episode of "The Newsroom":

the most honest 3 minutes on television

This fact would be hotly contested by some of our fellow citizens, who strongly believe in “American exceptionalism”. To be perfectly accurate, though, NO country is the best in the world at everything, since that’s virtually impossible.

America IS a pretty good place to live, and we ARE a world leader in a number of areas.

We have the largest economy in the world, we are the best place in the world for innovation, we have the best (and most expensive) defense department in the world, we are tied (with Myanmar!) for being the most generous country in the world, we have 18 of the world’s 25 top universities, and American culture (movies and music) is popular just about everywhere.

Ironically, even though we have some of the best universities in the world, it is our education system that lags far behind the rest of the world. In comparison to 40 other developed countries, we rank 17th, far below the number 1 country, which is Finland.

Surprisingly, our educational problems stem from the fact that we also lead the world in another area - teen pregnancies.

Our rate of 1792 births per million to women under 20 is significantly higher than the country that’s number 2, Slovakia, which has 1121 births per million. Finland’s rate of teen pregnancy is 288 per million.

Due to the fact that those young teens are more likely to be forced to live in poverty, we are #34 in the world in terms of child poverty, due to the fact that 23% of our children live in poverty. The best country in the world when it comes to child poverty?

Finland, with a child poverty rate of 3%

Reducing child poverty in our country not only would improve our school system, it would also improve our economy. The Children's Defense Fund has estimated that childhood poverty in our country costs the economy $500 billion a year. That's nearly twice as much as the GDP of Finland, which has the 41st largest economy in the world - but the world's best school system.

Due to the fact that an awful lot of those early pregnancies are unplanned events, the young girls about to enter motherhood don’t usually receive proper prenatal care, which results in an unusually high number of premature births.

12% of our births are premature, a far worst percentage than any other developed nation. The best country in the world (at 4%) is Belarus, but Finland isn’t far behind, at 5.5%.

Children that are born prematurely have a higher likelihood of physical and mental disabilities, and a higher propensity to behavioral problems, which makes them more difficult to educate. As a result, even if our school system were the best in the world, we’re already behind the eight ball when our kids enter kindergarten.

Our national K-12 school system is the best that it’s ever been, but you’d never know that by talking with the average American, which is why we have tried numerous “reforms” over the years, none of which have been very successful. Sadly, both political parties are to blames, since George Bush’s No Child Left Behind has essentially been duplicated by Barack Obama’s Race to the Top.

1) Vouchers and charter schools (ESPECIALLY for profit charter schools) are not the proper solution, since they divert funds from public schools that are already under funded by state legislators, who would rather give tax breaks to businesses than invest in its future leaders. Arizona is a prime example of misguided priorities, since the state has historically been one of the worst at funding its school system. In addition, it has the highest percentage in the nation (15%) of its children in charter schools, which means that the state’s non charter public schools receive 15% less in funding than they would otherwise receive.

2) Closing schools is not a proper solution, since schools can’t improve if they are closed. When new schools are opened to replace the old schools, they generally don’t perform better than their predecessors.

3) “Parent trigger” methods don’t work, since they transform what should be a cooperative experience to one that is confrontational.

4) Continuous testing of results in reading, math, and science isn’t the best solution either, since they divert resources from other vital courses that can‘t be tested, such as art, literature, world history, foreign language, civics, physical education, and economics. The country that has the best schools in the world, Finland, doesn’t give national tests in math, science, and reading until its students are about to enter college.

5) Attacking teachers unions and demonizing teachers (are you listening, Scott Walker?) is a truly bone headed idea, since it demoralizes professional teachers, leads to an increase in class sizes, and causes a higher turnover of seasoned veterans than would occur otherwise.

Why does Finland have the best schools in the world? There are a number of reasons, but here’s a few of them:

1) Like other Nordic countries (Norway and Sweden) Finland has a sustained, long term investment and prioritization of early childhood development, and universal pre-school is a societal norm.

2) In 1970, Finland overhauled its educational system. It raised the admission standards for its teacher education colleges, making them so selective that today only 10% of those who apply are accepted. In Finland, teachers are highly respected, and are as highly esteemed as those in the medical profession.

3) Finland does not use vouchers or a charter school system, and Finns boast that there are good public schools in every city, town, and village

4) Finland does not give its teachers merit pay, and does not utilize the system of rewards and punishment that we do.

5) Every child in the Finnish school system gets one meal a day in school, and each school has a medical professional on staff.

6) Finnish teachers are not allowed to carry guns on campus, but it’s a practice that is permissible in 18 of our states.

All of the Nordic countries excel in an area called the Social Progress Index. Finland comes in at #7 on the most recent list, and the United States comes in at #16.

Due to the fact that the Nordic countries have advanced social programs, it is widely assumed that their taxes are higher than ours. The reality, though, is that tax rates are LOWER in Finland than they are in America. The MAXIMUM personal income tax rate in Finland is 30%, and the maximum corporate income tax rate is 20%. In the United States, those figures are 39.6%.5 and 35%, respectively.

Our public education system isn’t without hope, and it can gradually be made better if we take some commonsense steps. For starters, we can follow Finland’s lead in at least some areas, and at least one idea (universal pre-school) has gotten some traction in recent years.

We can also demand that the people that lead our educational systems are qualified for their job. Arizona’s current Superintendent of Public Instruction does not have any degrees in education, and her only teaching experience comes from a stained glass class that she once taught. She was elected primarily due to her support from the Tea Party, and she narrowly defeated a professional educator who was far more qualified for the job.

Her immediate predecessor was elected primarily due to his support from an organization that operates charter schools. Like his successor, he does not have an education degree, and he’s never taught a class of any kind.

“Just Say No” was not a successful slogan during our war on drugs, and it’s equally ineffective when it comes to teen pregnancy. The state in our country that has the lowest rate of teen births is New Hampshire, which has an age of consent of 18, and mandatory birth control education, starting in elementary school. The state that has the highest teen pregnancy rate, Mississippi, has an age of consent of 16, and has no mandatory sex education or sexually transmitted disease education. When sex education IS taught, it places a high emphasis on abstinence. In Mississippi, teachers are not allowed to discuss the use of condoms, even though 76% of Mississippi teenagers report having sex before the end of high school.

Many of the references in the article above are drawn from a book titled “Reign of Error”, written by a woman named Diane Ravitch. She currently is a research professor of education at New York University, and she was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and 2001. “Reign of Error” is her 11th book about education, and it’s worth reading, even though its numerous facts and figures mean that it won’t be a quick read by most of us.

Like many cultures, the Finnish culture can provide us with many proverbs.

One that’s especially related to education is this one:

“The world is a good teacher, but it charges a huge fee.”

The story of a cancer survivor - part 3

If you’re a regular reader, you already know that I’m a cancer survivor, since I’ve already published two articles about my experience:

The story of a cancer survivor

The story of a cancer survivor - part 2

You may also know that I’ve long been a “car nut”, which led me to (eventually) become a car salesman later in life, when I spent nearly 8 years selling cars in 2 different states. The irony of my car sales career is that I did not own a car of my own during my entire sales experience (and still don’t) but managed to sell 2 cars to immediate family members during my career, and more than 600 to other people (some of whom I sold to more than once).

Common sense would tell you that there’s isn’t much of a connection between cancer and cars (the BIG “C” and the little “c”) but I learned this morning that there IS - at least in Arizona.

One of the car auctions that is held early in the year in Arizona is the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, which is being held this weekend in Scottsdale. This morning’s Arizona Republic had an interesting article about it:

Barrett-Jackson 2015

The roots of the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction go all the way back to 1972, when Russ Jackson and Tom Barrett organized a fund-raising car auction for local charities. Originally called “Fiesta del Auto Excellence”, it was later re-named “Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction”, and re-named again in 2006 to “Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction” in 2006.

Russ Jackson died at the age of 77 in 1993, after a long struggle with colon cancer. Two years later, his son Brian died of the same disease, at the age of 49, and control of the company passed to his brother Craig, who is now the chairman and CEO of the company.

Like the original company started by Russ Jackson in 1972, the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction is a HUGE fund raiser for charity. Since its inception, the company has raised over $67,000,000 for various charities, one of which is T-Gen, an organization that supports the Barrett-Jackson Cancer Research Fund.

Although the auction has always sold an interesting collection of automobiles (some of which have benefited the charity more than once) this year’s auctions will feature two cars that were built by the famed hot rodder Boyd Coddington, who died in 2008.

My dream car in high school was a ‘57 Chevrolet (which I never actually owned) but none of the cars that I dreamed about were anything like the “Chezoom” that will be auctioned off this weekend.

Another Coddington creation that will be auctioned off this weekend is a 1936 Delahaye (nicknamed “whatthehaye”) that last sold at auction in 2005 - for $550.000.

I’ve never been to the Barrett-Jackson auction, and it’s unlikely that I’ll ever be able to afford to buy one of their vehicles, but it’s encouraging to see that car collecting, a passionate hobby for an awful lot of people, can also be a vehicle (no pun intended) for the good of society.

If you’d like to look at some of the other vehicles that will be auctioned, just click on the link below. You’ll also notice that the link will actually allow you to actually BID on the cars (you can always dream, can’t you?)

Barrett-Jackson - Scottsdale 2015

Gas at 29.9 - the sequel

Those of us who have lived through more than just a few decades fondly remember the prices of various commodities during “the good old days”.

In 1964, the average new house was priced at slightly over $20,000

In 1964, a new Rolls Royce was priced at $16.655

In 1964, the average new car for the rest of us was $2250

In 1964, a loaf of bread was 21 cents

In 1964, a first class stamp was 5 cents

In 1964, the average price of a gallon of gas was 25 cents

In 1964, the average movie ticket was $1

When I graduated from high school a year later, the average price of a gallon of gas had risen slightly, to 29.9 per gallon. Even though that price was absurdly low, a stop at the gas station meant that an attendant would (1) fill your gas tank, (2) clean your windshield, (3) check the air pressure in your tires, (4) check your windshield wipers, (5) check your battery, (6) check your oil, (7) check your fan belt, and (8) check your radiator. On top of all that, you probably also got green stamps, and maybe even a “Shell” glass.

Believe it or not, the average price of a gallon of gas in 2014 is LESS than it was in 1965, when you factor in inflation. In 1964, $100 had the same buying power as $761.78 does today.. If you do the math, you’ll discover that 29.9 cents per gallon is equivalent to $2.27 today, and almost all stations sell it for less today. We were in Phoenix on our Christmas break, and discovered that several stations were selling regular gas for $1.99 per gallon.

Early in the 2012 Presidential campaign, Michelle Bachmann promised voters that she’d bring back gasoline at $2.00 a gallon, and Newt Gingrich promised gasoline prices of $2.50 per gallon.

The highest average price that our country has had for a gallon of regular gas was $4.10, which occurred in July of 2008, when George W. Bush was in office. In December of 2003, regular gas averaged $1.44 a gallon, which meant that the price of gasoline increased 185% in roughly a 4 year period.

Barack Obama can’t take credit for our current gasoline prices, just as neither Michelle Bachmann or Newt Gingrich could have taken credit if (God forbid) either one of them got elected, since gasoline prices are governed by a worldwide petroleum market.

When gasoline prices were at their peak, so was the price of crude oil, which peaked at $146.41 per barrel in June of 2008. Today, a barrel of crude oil sells for less than $60, a level that makes drilling in the Arctic Sea or in the Alberta tar sands unprofitable.

Since Obama can’t take credit for gasoline prices, it’s worthwhile to consider the things that he CAN take credit for.

As of December 23, the U.S. Economy was growing at an annual rate of 5%, a level that hasn’t been achieved since 2003.

As of December 22, the percentage of the American population that didn’t have health insurance dropped to 11.3%, the lowest number in our country’s history.

The current Federal deficit is at the lowest level it’s been since 2008, the year before Obama took office.

In November, the unemployment rate was 5.8%, the lowest it’s been since July of 2008, also before Obama took office.

The annual inflation rate at the end of 2013 was 1.5%. With the exception of the recession year of 2009, the last time that the annual inflation rate was less than that was in 1964, when it was 1.3%.

Less than a week ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 18.100, the highest level in our country’s history.

What's truly amazing about these accomplishments is that Congress had very little to do with any of them. The 112th Congress is officially the least productive Congress in recent history and the 113th Congress is not far behind. The St. Louis Federal Reserve has estimated that the economy would be larger by $529 billion (roughly 3%) if congressional Republicans had cooperated with the President.

With all that good economic news, you’d think that the current occupant of the White House would get a few “attaboys”, or at least a few kind words.

Nope.

On November 21, House Speaker John Boehner filed a lawsuit against President Obama, essentially for doing his job. Since there is no actual valid reason for a lawsuit, Boehner has been having difficulty finding a law firm to represent him.

Even though Boehner’s lawsuit isn’t going any where, a CNN survey found in July of 2014 found that 57% of the Republicans polled favored impeachment, even though a clear majority of the American public thought it was a truly crazy idea.

I’ve given up trying to understand politics, and I’ve also given up trying to understand a lot of other topics as well. For the time being, I’m simply going to enjoy our cheap gasoline.

Let’s let the good times roll.

Old King Coal

Since we’re very close to Christmas, I’d have to confess that it’s OK to wish me a Merry Christmas, since the phrase does not offend me in the least. I’ll also be quick to add that I’m not offended by the phrase “happy holidays” either, since numerous other holidays are also celebrated around December 25.

Atheists celebrate the Winter Solstice, Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day, Jews celebrate Hanukkah, Nova Romans celebrate Saturnalia, Wiccans and Neopagans celebrate Yule, folks of African descent celebrate Kwanzaa, and Zoroastrians celebrate observe Zartusht-no-diso, so it’s clear that the end of December is a special time of the year for an awful lot of people.

By the time that Christmas finally arrives, we’re all a little burned out by all the Christmas music that’s been playing for the last month, and even the beloved “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” has started to get on my nerves.

One song that gets occasional play this time of the year is “Old King Cole”. Although it was first performed n 1708, the poem itself actually dates much further than that . If your memory is a bit short, the complete poem is listed below:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul

And a merry old soul was he;

He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl

And he called for his fiddlers three.

Every fiddler he had a fiddle,

And a very fine fiddle had he;

Oh there's none so rare, as can compare

With King Cole and his fiddlers three.

Although “Old King Cole” has a long history, it pales in comparison to Old King Coal, which has been around MUCH longer. The first use of coal as a fuel goes back about 3000 years ago. Like many things in common use today, it was originally discovered by the ancient Chinese people.

Coal has been in the news again lately, and for a couple of different reasons.

1) A jury in West Virginia recently charged Donald Blankenship (former chief of Massey Energy Company) with widespread safety violations and deceit of federal inspectors, and a judge in Kentucky just issued a scathing judgment in a Frasure Creek Mining settlement that involved a thousand violations of the Clean Water Act.

2) John Grisham just released his newest novel, Gray Mountain, which highlights the nefarious acts of Big Coal in Appalachia. I’m in the process of working my way through it, but also couldn’t help but notice his mention of the Martin Country coal slurry spill, which somehow managed to not get noticed by most of us.

(Like many of his books, his most recent novel relies heavily on facts and current events. His sources for this book include information that he obtained from the Appalachian Citizen's Law Center and Appalachian Voices.)

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was VERY big news when it occurred, since the ship spilled someplace between 12,000,000 and 32,000,000 gallons of oil in Price William Sound in 1989. Both Exxon and the ship’s captain, Joseph Hazelwood, escaped the incident with very little cost. An even bigger spill occurred in April of 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank. It is easily the largest accidental marine spill in the history of the oil industry, and it resulted in an estimated total discharge of 210 million gallons of sludge into the Gulf of Mexico.

In contrast, the Martin County coal slurry spill released 306,000,000 gallons of coal slurry into two tributaries of the Tug Fork River in October of 2000. Since the spill was anywhere from 10 to 30 times worse than the Exxon spill, you’d think that the general public would be outraged.

Nope.

I don’t remember the spill being in the news at all, and the company responsible for the spill, Massey Energy (whose chairman is mentioned above) escaped with virtually no punishment at all. Officially, the company WAS fined, but the fine was less than the price of a well worn used car. Coincidentally, Mitch McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao was in charge of the Labor Department at the time of the spill. In her position as Labor Secretary, she also oversaw the Mine Safety and Health Administration. In 2002, she imposed a fine of $5600 against Massey for the spill.

Although Elaine Chao is a very smart lady, she didn’t do any of the rest of us any favors when she was Labor Secretary. During her first 4 years as Labor Secretary, her department did not promulgate ANY significant health standards. It has also been alleged that both she and other Bush White House officials campaigned for Republican candidates at taxpayer expense, which is a violation of the Hatch acto of 1939. No action was taken against her or any other officials by any entity responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act.

It’s hard to imagine any disaster worst than over 300,000,000 gallons of junk spilling into our navigable waters, but one DID occur (in Tennessee) 8 years later.

On December 22, 2008, the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill released an incredible 1.1 billion gallons of sludge into local waterways. Six months after the spill, only 3% of the affected area had been cleaned up, The plant responsible for the spill continues to operate today. Unlike the Martin County spill, the guilty party (the TVA) agreed to pay $27,000,000 in restitution to property owners.

In response to the Martin County and the Kingston Fossil Plant spills, Lisa P. Jackson, Barack Obama's choice to head the EPA under his administration, stated her intention to immediately review coal ash disposal sites across the country during her Senate confirmation hearing. On January 14, 2009, Nick J. Rahall, a U.S. Representative from West Virginia and the chairman of the United States House Committee on Natural Resources, introduced a bill to regulate coal ash disposal sites across the United States.

The EPA regulations finally took effect in December of 2014 nearly 6 years later, and were prompted by a lawsuit filed by environmental groups and a Native American tribe. Also spurring the regulations along were recent spills in Tennessee and elsewhere. The most recent spill occurred in February of 2014, when a coal ash pond in Eden, North Carolina ruptured, releasing between 50,000 and 82,000 tons of coal ash, and 27,000,000 gallons of contaminated water, into the Dan River. Legal liability will be a little complicated due to the fact that North Carolina’s governor, Pat McCrory, worked for the company responsible for the spill, Duke Energy, for 28 years, and has gone on record as being reluctant to punish his former employer. Duke Energy has the distinction of being the largest electric holding company in the United States, and the company also has holdings in Canada and Latin America.

Since coal slurry spills are an obvious public safety issue, you’d probably assume that Congress would allow the EPA to have all the funds it needs to enforce the environmental laws that have been on the books for decades.

Nope.

It’s no secret that the 113th Congress is one of the worst that our country has ever had. Since 2010, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has cut funding to the EPA by 21%, and that situation is unlikely to change during the 114th Congress, which will have an INCREASE of Republicans in the House, and a Republican majority in the Senate.

Incredibly, coal slurry storage has increased dramatically since the Martin Country spill in 2000. Most recently, piles of coal slurry have appeared on the Calumet River near Chicago. Not surprisingly, the company responsible for the piles is Koch Carbon, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, which is led by David and Charles Koch.

Koch Carbon also has numerous coal slurry sites in Detroit, including one that is immediately adjacent to the Detroit River. Including the sites near Detroit that are owned by Koch Carbon, there are 29 coal slurry storage facilities in Michigan, and 19 of them are within a five mile radius of the shores of the Great Lakes. In addition, a Canadian refinery owned by Koch Industries (and directly across from Detroit) recently started to refine tar sands oil, the stuff that the Koch brothers would LOVE to start sending through the Keystone XL pipeline. So far, the results have not been pretty.

Although the Koch brothers sell a significant amount of coal slurry to China for use as fuel, they aren’t the largest petroleum coke (petcoke) dealer in the world, Their brother, William (who owns Oxbow Corporation) has that distinction.

Big Coal has a very ugly history when it comes to labor relations , including the 1969 murder of Jock Yablonski and his family in 1969, but that’s a topic that could easily be a story in itself.

In addition to the environmental hazards created by coal mining, three other areas of concern related to coal mining are:

1) Black lung disease

Black lung disease (officially, progressive massive fibrosis) was virtually eliminated 15 years ago, but has skyrocketed again in recent years. Today, roughly 1000 miners a year die from the disease. The problem is FAR worse in China, where an estimated SIX MILLION people suffer from the disease.

2) Global warming

The United States currently obtains 37% of its electric power from coal-fired power plants, which are the nation’s leading source of carbon pollution, and a significant contributor to global warming. In contrast, China gets 69% ot its electricity from coal plants. Again, the results aren’t pretty:

3) Mine collapses

Although coal companies are shifting towards strip mining to reduce labor costs, there is still a lot of coal mining done underground. In America, the worst coal mining disaster occurred in Monongah, West Virginia in 1907. An explosion and mine collapse in that town killed an estimated 367 miners, many of whom were recent immigrants from Italy.

The worst mine disaster in the entire world occurred in the Liaoning province of China in 1942. An explosion in the underground there killed a total of 1549 Chinese laborers.

China has ample coal reserves, and currently produces nearly half of the world’s coal production. However, it also has a far higher death rate from coal mining than any other country in the world.

America is the 2nd largest producer of coal in the world, but we are a net exporter of the stuff, with the vast majority of our exports going to China. The Appalachian region still contributes a lot to our total output, but Wyoming is, by far, the largest producer of coal currently.

The United States has the largest coal reserves in the world, but Russia is close behind. At current rates of consumption, the world’s coal reserves would last for another 112 years, so it will continue to be a reliable and economical fuel source for a number of decades.

There is no particular problem continuing to use coal as an energy source AS LONG AS the coal plants adhere to strict environmental standards. For some reason, some members of Congress have trouble understanding that concept, and consider the regulation of power plants to be a “war on coal”. Currently, the coal plant in Homer, Pennsylvania is one of the dirtiest in the country, but recent pollution mitigation devices will reduce pollution from the plant by 80% within a few years, with no loss of jobs, or increase in electricity rates.

For the folks in Congress who still “don’t get it”, my suggestion is to send them an appropriate Christmas gift - a lump of coal.

At this point, you’ve waded through a lot of information about Old King Coal, so it’s time for the pipe, the bowl and the fiddlers three. In closing, here’s my final message to you:

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night

You say salami, I say salame

On average, I’ll go to one (or more) grocery stores somewhere between 15 and 20 times per month, generally just to pick up a few items. I’ll rarely go to the store on a Saturday, and my work schedule allows me to go shopping mid afternoon, which helps to avoid the usual crowds.

On a recent trip to one of the stores, I happened to walk past a display of “Italian Dry Salame” , which was manufactured by a company called Galileo Foods in San Lorenzo, California. A link to their website is shown below:

Gallosalame

The company was founded in 1910 in San Francisco by a man named Louis Gabiati, who brought a centuries-old salame recipe from his native Italy. Naturally, the stuff that I bought was delicious, and it went very well with crackers, smoked gouda cheese, and a nice red wine.

However, the experience got me to wondering what exactly IS salame, and why is it spelled with an “e” at the end instead of an “I“?.

Salami is the plural form of the Italian word salame. By definition, salami is (are?) cured sausage, fermented and air-dried meat, originating from a variety of animals. Although the most common base is pork, salami is also made with beef, veal, venison, poultry, goose, donkey or horse. There are at least 18 different variations of salami, one of which is pepperoni.

The main difference between salami and pepperoni is that pepperoni is a mixture of pork and beef, and the name itself is a corruption of the Italian word peperoni, which is used to describe bell peppers. Pepperoni is a VERY popular dish in America, since 36% of all pizzas sold in this country contain pepperoni. If you add all that pepperoni up, it would total in excess of 250,000,000 pounds.

Another version of salami is bologna, which was originally produced in the Italian town of Bologna. Like salami, it’s usually made from pork, but can also be made from chicken, beef, venison or soy.

I know for a fact that there are people who talk to their plants, and it’s probable that there are chefs who talk to their food while preparing it, but here’s an interesting twist for you. If you’d like to hear Salami sing to you, just click on the link below:

listen to your Salami sing

Nightmare on Elm Street

When Flagstaff was still a young town, the early pioneers who succumbed to disease or old age were buried in a place known simply as “City Cemetery”. One of the handful of early settlers who was buried there was a decorated Civil War veteran named Frederic James Krueger.

As the city continued to spread to the west, the leaders of the community came to the realization that the cemetery on the west side needed to be moved to another location in order to facilitate the growth of the town. As a result, the Catholic Calvary Cemetery was established in 1892, and Citizens cemetery was established a few years later.

The vast majority of the burial sites at City Cemetery were transferred to either Calvary or Citizens, but (inexplicably) the grave of Frederic James Krueger never made the journey, As a result, it’s entirely possible that his unmarked grave still lies undisturbed in the part of the town that has since become known as Thorpe Park, which is located less than a mile from the current location of Flagstaff High School.

Calvary Cemetery was built close to an area that was known as “Shantytown”, which was populated by a largely Hispanic (and pious) population. “Shantytown” incorporated a statue of the Sacred Heart at its core in order to ward off the spirit of the “weeping woman”, who is known as “La Llorano” in Hispanic communities. After the establishment of Calvary Cemetery, the statue was moved to the entranceway of the cemetery, Although Calvary has had no record of ghostly apparitions, at least 2 residence halls at Northern Arizona University continue to have numerous reports of strange sights and sounds within their walls, which would lead credence to the fact that La Llorano may actually be more than an urban legend.

One of the bodies buried at Calvary Cemetery was a young boy who died of mysterious causes a few days after being born in the early days of 1962. Due to the brevity of his life, his gravestone is simply marked “baby boy Krueger”, and the name Krueger slipped into obscurity - until Halloween of 1982.

Prior to 1924, students who wanted to attend high school attended the former Emerson school for grades 1 through 9, and attended grades 10 through 12 at the college that was then known as NANS.

In the 1960’s, Emerson School achieved more than bit of notoriety when the school janitor hung himself in the 2nd floor janitor’s office shortly after killing his wife and child at their home a few blocks away. Although Emerson School was ultimately torn down and replaced by the Flagstaff Library , visitors to the library (even to the present day) frequently report seeing visions of a shadowy figure walking up the stairs to the 2nd floor of the one story structure.

Ultimately, the town came to the realization that it needed a more permanent location for their high school, and construction of Flagstaff High School started in 1923. The first graduation class was the class of 1924.

By the 1950’s, Flag High had outgrown its original building, so construction was started on a new building that was located at the same location, 400 W. Elm Street. The first class to graduate from that location was the class of 1955. One of the young men who played on the varsity football teams of 1980 and 1981 was named Tony Cullen. After graduating from Flag High, he ultimately earned both bachelors and advanced degrees in Education before returning to Flagstaff, where he became a prominent local figure. Today, he can frequently be seen in areas in, and around, Flagstaff High School.

One of the more unusual architectural features of the new high school is a subterranean corridor that was built beneath the library. Officially, it’s called the “700 wing”, and it’s composed of a mere 11 rooms. Two of those rooms are numbered 716, but only one of them is used as a classroom. The other room, known as “the dungeon”, has NEVER been used as a classroom, and it’s not hard to imagine why.

On Halloween Day of 1982, 3 local teenagers (Tina, Rod, and Glen) were slashed to death in their homes, and one adult (Marge) later disappears under very unusual circumstances. The killer was never apprehended, and the case remains open today. Fortunately, no further deadly incidents have occurred, so it appears that the danger has passed, at least for now.

One of the teenagers lived at 218 W. Elm Street, an eerie looking (and vacant) residence that is directly east of the high school. Few people pay much attention to the structure today, but I’ve always gotten an uncomfortable feeling in my bones whenever I’ve walked past it.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/218+W+Elm+Ave,+Flagstaff,+AZ+86001/@35.2031884,-111.6501683,3a,75y,24.48h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1suVW7wshMoGv5nMXW0MFwZw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DuVW7wshMoGv5nMXW0MFwZw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D24.484364%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x872d8f458958d861:0x9ca1104744697422!8m2!3d35.2033385!4d-111.6500726

When director Wes Craven heard about the slayings in Flagstaff, he wrote a movie script that incorporated the events of that evening. In order to protect the identity of the town, he created the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio. In order to give a name to the evil spirit that briefly terrorized the town, he randomly chose the name “Freddy Krueger”, and the same character re-emerged in 2010, when a remake of the original film was released.

“Nightmare on Elm Street” was a huge commercial success, and is considered to be one of the best films of 1984. Released a week after Halloween in 1984, it earned enough in the first week after its release to cover nearly 100% of its production costs.

“Nightmare on Elm Street” today is largely an historical footnote, but its legacy lives on today at Flagstaff High School, in particular for those student and faculty members who remain in the building after the close of the school day. If those students or faculty members happen to be in the area of “the dungeon", and they hear strange sounds coming from that room, they should be very, very afraid - and leave the building as soon as possible.

And now, it's time for a little Halloween music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqVyois9mp4