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Montebello
E-News
December
20, 2007
I like the dreams of the future better
than the history of the past.
Thomas
Jefferson, 1743 – 1826,
was
the third President of the
United States, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the
most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of
Republicanism in the United States.
[Is
Jefferson’s statement an early version of Robert Kennedy’s “I dream of things
which never were and ask, ‘Why not?’”
Jefferson
lived at a time
when
there was hope and optimism about the American experiment with
democracy.
Do we still have the hope and optimism?
If not, why not?]
1.
Doing Bad by Doing Good?
2.
The Falling Dominos of
Democracy, Part 11
3.
Announcements
4.
Fun Facts about
Indiana
5.
The Flashback Quarterback:
Howling Like a Lone Wolf?
6.
Beware and Share about Vietnam
and
Iraq
7.
About
Montebello E-News and “My
Montebello”
Doing Bad by
Doing Good?
Anavilhanas
Ecological
Station,
Brazil. Depending on one's point of
view, the World Wildlife Fund's financial support of a nature reserve here
on the Rio Negro is either part of a laudable attempt to conserve the Amazon
jungle — or the leading edge of a nefarious plot by foreign environmental
groups to wrest control of the world's largest rain forest from Brazil and
replace it with international rule.
In
2003, after signing an agreement with the WWF and the World Bank, the
Brazilian government created the Amazon Region Protected Areas program.
Since then, more than a score of national parks and reserves covering an
area larger than New York,
New Jersey
and Connecticut
combined have been brought into that network and provided with an infusion
of new funds.
The
program's objective is to set up "a core system to anchor bio-diversity
protection for the Amazon,"
Matthew Perl, the WWF's Amazon coordinator,
said during a June visit to the area, a sparsely populated archipelago of
400 islands northwest of Manaus. "It's part of a strategy to buy time, bring each protected area up to
certain standards of management and pool resources for monitoring and
enforcement."
But
that effort has aroused the suspicions of powerful business and political
groups in Brazil that want to integrate the Amazon into the country's economy
through dams, mining projects, highways, ports, logging and agricultural
exports.
"This
is a new form of colonialism, an open conspiracy in which economic and
financial interests act through nongovernmental organizations," said
Lorenzo Carrasco, editor and co-author of "The Green Mafia," a
widely
circulated
anti-environmentalist polemic. "It is evident these interests want to
block the development of Brazil
and the Amazon region by creating and
controlling
these reserves, which are full of minerals and other valuable natural
resources."
“In
the Amazon: Conservation or
Colonialism?”
Larry Rohter, July 26, 2007.
If
you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com
with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward
a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in
2007 by a local nonprofit organization.
1. Where
is the problem here?
(a) A
new mafia has taken hold of land in Brazil.
(b) There
is a clash between profit-making developers and preservation-minded
conservationists.
2. What
should the conservationists do?
(a) Educate Brazilians
that the preservation in
Brazil
is part of a global effort, not some conspiracy against Brazil.
(b) Invest in
eco-friendly development of the Brazilian rainforest.
(c) Sit with Brazilian
economic interests and speak about creating wealth in Brazil
in other ways.
The Falling Dominos of Democracy, Part 11
Banking
establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.
-----
The
spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that
I wish it always to be kept alive.
-----
I have
the consolation of having added nothing to my private fortune during my
public service, and of retiring with hands clean as they are empty.
Thomas
Jefferson, 1743 – 1826,
third
President of the United States, the principal author of the Declaration of
Independence, and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his
promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States.
In part 1, we learned that our elected
representatives represented many more people than they did in the past.
In part 6, we read a compelling assertion that our country was in
decline, followed by the possibility of reversing that decline through
greater public participation in governance.
In part 10, we looked at a possible solution, namely, neighborhood
councils. In this concluding
part to the essay, we see how neighborhood councils might be of use in
Montebello.
During the campaign preceding the November 6, 2007,
elections in Montebello, candidate Giuseppe Veneziano, a long-time resident and businessman, had an
unusual plank in his campaign platform.
He invited people who learned, labored or lived in Montebello, whether a teenager, working adult or retiree, to help run city hall by
signing up for committees. He
listed eleven committees in a flyer. (More
information can be found at http://www.mymontebello.com/best_tc_motrti
.)
Nobody replied to his invitation.
Nobody. This, along with
an essay by former city councilor Robert Bagwell and the November airing on
PBS of the documentary “Democracy Left Behind,” tells me that we have a
crisis. (Do read http://www.mymontebello.com/life_tc_tfdod4.html
in this regard and see “Flashback Quarterback” below.)
If you do not agree that
we have a crisis, then I wish to hear your arguments, because, using
lawyer’s lingo, I see a crisis beyond
a reasonable doubt, and this crisis is affecting the quality of life in Montebello.
What can we do in Montebello
if nobody, other than our city councilors and city staff, is interested in
becoming involved in the ongoing governance of our city?
One can fashion a solution by answering these answers:
(1)
how do we “democratize” youth, so that they not only contribute
meaningfully to the governance of
Montebello
now, but, also, adopt a culture
which increases the odds that they do so when they become adults?
(2)
how do we make it worth everyone’s while to participate in the governance
of our community, given that time is scarce and traditional means of
participation do not motivate people?
(3)
how do we underwrite the solution without continual depending on any
grantor, donor or agency of government?
Such continual dependence is part of the operation of the
neighborhood councils of the City of Los Angeles, and I see such dependence as an
impediment to independence.
If this interests you,
please be in touch. project_teacher@mymontebello.com,
subject field “Democracy in Montebello.”
Announcements
FOR EVERYONE. Next
city-council meeting in January, 2008.
FOR FAMILIES. Stay
married! …When lead
author Jianguo Liu compared divorced households, that is, those headed by a
divorced adult, with married households, he found that per capita, divorced
households use 46% more electricity and 56% more water than married
households. As for physical
space, the study reported that the average divorced household in the
U.S.
offers a sprawling 3.7 rooms per person, while married people and their kin
must make do with 2.5 rooms per person. … Megan
Daum, Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2007.
FOR EVERYONE. A
historical site in Montebello. The Sanchez Adobe, 946 North Adobe Avenue, will be open between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 22.
Built in the 1840s, the Adobe has memorabilia from the mid 1800s
through much of the 1900s. A
history of the Adobe can be found at http://www.laokay.com/halac/JuanMatiasSanchezAdobe.htm
. For more information,
323.887.4540.
FOR EVERYONE.
Montebello
memories.
At the “My Montebello” Web site, there is now a page for Montebello
memories. Imagine, for example,
going duck hunting where the CVS pharmacy now stands!
To read about memories or make a submission, http://www.mymontebello.com/memories
.
Fun Facts about
Indiana
The first long-distance
auto race in the U.S.
was held May 30, 1911, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The
winner averaged 75 miles an hour and won a first place prize of $14,000. Today
the average speed is over 167 miles an hour and the prize is more than $1.2
million. Indianapolis Motor
Speedway is the site of the greatest spectacle in sports, the
Indianapolis
500. The Indianapolis
500 is held every Memorial Day weekend in the Hoosier capital city. The
race is 200 laps or 500 miles long.
Abraham Lincoln moved to
Indiana
when he was 7 years old. He
lived most of his boyhood life in Spencer
County
with his parents Thomas and Nancy.
The first professional
baseball game was played in Fort Wayne
on May 4, 1871.
More than one hundred
species of trees are native to
Indiana. Before the pioneers arrived,
more than 80% of
Indiana
was covered with forest. Now
only 17% of the state is considered forested.
[Time to plant trees?]
Deep below the earth in
Southern Indiana
is a sea of limestone that is one of the richest deposits of top-quality
limestone found anywhere on Earth. New York City’s
Empire
State
Building
and
Rockefeller
Center
as well as the Pentagon, the U.S. Treasury, a dozen other government
buildings in Washington,
D.C.,
as well as fourteen state capitols [do we know the difference between
“capitol” and “capital”?] around the nation are built from this
sturdy, beautiful Indiana limestone.
Indiana
was part of the huge Northwest Territory,
which included present day
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois
and
Wisconsin, which were ceded to the United States
by the British at the end of the Revolutionary war.
Ft. Wayne, Indiana’s
second largest city, had its beginnings in 1794, after the Battle of
Fallen Timbers, when General “Mad Anthony”
Wayne
built Ft.
Wayne
on the site of a Miami Indian village.
Many Mennonite and Amish
live on the farmland of
Northeastern Indiana. One of the
United States
largest Mennonite congregations is in Bern. According to Amish ordnung, that
is, rules, they are forbidden to drive cars, use electricity or go to
public places of entertainment.
Peru,
Indiana, was once known as the “Circus Capital of America”.
Indiana
University’s greatest swimmer was Mark Spitz, who won
seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympic games. No other athlete has won so many
gold medals in a single year.
Sarah Walker, who called
herself Madame J.C. Walker, became one of the nation’s first woman
millionaires. In 1905 she
developed a conditioning treatment for straightening hair. Starting
with door-to-door sales of her cosmetics, she amassed a fortune.
From 1900 to 1920 more
than two hundred different makes of cars were produced in the Hoosier
State. Duesenbergs, Auburns, Stutzes,
and Maxwells are prize antiques today.
Before public schools
families pitched in to build log schoolhouse and each student’s family
paid a few dollars toward the teachers’ salaries.
During the great
Depression of the 1930s, one in every four Hoosier factory hands was out of
work, farmers sank deeper in debt, and in southern Indiana
unemployment was as high as 50%.
The farming community of
Fountain
City
in
Wayne
County
was known as the “Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad.” In
the years before the civil war, Levi and Katie Coffin were famous agents on
the Underground Railroad. They estimated that they provided overnight
lodging for more than 2,000 runaway slaves who were making their way north
to Canada
and freedom.
http://www.fun-facts.com/item/86102
The
Flashback Quarterback: Howling
Like a Lone Wolf?
In
E-News, I have whined—even to the point of grating on my own
nerves—about the school curriculum failing to connect our youth with the
community. With some relief--but
not
satisfaction, as the problem is far from solved,
I see that others see the same problem.
How effectively do our public schools prepare students for active
participation in democratic society? Is
there a relationship between an often ill-informed public and the manner in
which social and political issues are addressed in our nation's classrooms?
“Democracy Left Behind” examines the impact of "No Child Left
Behind" on the ability of schools to serve a civic mission –
demonstrating how difficult it is now for many students to understand what
their education means in the larger context of the society and world they
inhabit.
Filmed in a broad cross-section of economically and culturally diverse
schools, including provocative interviews with teachers, administrators, and
nationally known experts, “Democracy Left Behind” shows why learning to
become an active and knowledgeable citizen should be an integral part of
learning basic educational skills such as reading and math, rather than
something only too easily forgotten in the pursuit of higher test scores.
http://www.docmakeronline.com/democracy-left-behind.html
Beware
and Share about Vietnam
and Iraq
At one point during the Vietnam War, President Nixon
ordered massive bombings of
North Vietnam, even the capital city of Hanoi. This not only made Jane Fonda
infamous because of her visit to the north, but, also, made the North
Vietnamese more agreeable (less disagreeable?) at the negotiating table.
Yet, by the end of 1975,
South Vietnam
had fallen to an invasion and had been annexed to
North Vietnam.
We are having success in Iraq
as the latest policies of the Administration are having a desired effect.
Yet, one has to wonder whether Al-Qaeda and the neighboring Taliban
would not be biding their time, lulling us into believing that our policies
have worked, before they mount an assault to overturn the Iraqi government.
The frightening thought is that, if we want a
friendly government to become stable in Iraq, we might have to be there for decades.
The question I would ask, “What do we want so badly that we
would be risking so many lives and so much money in order to have a friendly
government?”
About
Montebello
E-News and “My
Montebello
”
To
learn about this newsletter, Montebello E-News, and the accompanying,
growing Web site, “My Montebello”, visit www.mymontebello.com.
Also, you will find instructions and contact information for
submitting announcements for publication in this newsletter.
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