1.     Not in My Backyard!

2.     A Not-So-Divine Comedy, Part 9

3.     Announcements

4.     Fun Facts about Polar Bears and Penguins

5.     The Flashback Quarterback:  Seekers of Truth?  Hah!

6.     Beware and Share:  Your Social-Security Number

 7.     About Montebello E-News and “My Montebello”

Not in My Backyard!  

The following ties directly to the Einstein quote in this week’s E-News issue.  

The board of the Corporation for National and Community Service [a Federal government agency;  see www.nationalservice.org] today joined a growing chorus of governors, School superintendents, and national education and service groups in supporting the Learn & Serve Challenge, a week-long effort designed to raise awareness about the value and impact of service-learning.  The Board passed a resolution noting the benefits of service learning and thanking the organizers of the Challenge for helping advance the practice of service-learning.  "Service-learning has an enduring positive impact on students' academic achievement, personal and social development, and civic engagement, particularly among students from disadvantaged backgrounds," the Board stated in the resolution.  The board "recognizes Learn and Serve America for its pivotal role in advancing service-learning, and expresses its gratitude to the organizers of the Learn & Serve Challenge for their support for achieving our mutual goals for service-learning and engaging students in America."  … September 19, 2007  

Service-learning is encouraged in Los Angeles Unified School District.  Bud Jacobs heads the service-learning effort from LAUSD’s district headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.  We do not have service-learning in Montebello Unified School District.

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. Service-learning is thought to be good for youth in which ways?

(a) Academic achievement.

(b) Physical fitness.

(c) Personal and social development.

(d) Civic engagement.  

2. Why might our school district not have service-learning?

(a) Service-learning is dependent on teacher interest, and teachers are not interested.

(b) Service-learning takes time away from students studying for, and passing, the California High School Exit Examination [“CAHSEE”] and their advanced-placement  [“AP”] examinations.

(c) Montebello does not need for students to be in the community when they should be in the classroom.

(d) The service clubs at our high schools serve as an adequate substitute.

  No one can earn a million dollars honestly.
William Jennings Bryan, 1860 – 1925,
an American lawyer, statesman, and politician, three times the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States.

The decadent international but individualistic capitalism in the hands of which we found ourselves after the war is not a success. It is not intelligent. It is not beautiful. It is not just. It is not virtuous. And it doesn't deliver the goods.
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Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest [sic] of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.
John Maynard Keynes, 1883 – 1946,
a British economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a major impact on modern economic and political theory, as well as on many governments’ fiscal policies.  

So far, we have noted many deficiencies in the capitalism which we practice.  The purpose behind such a look is to encourage thought and action about how to make capitalism work better.  So we look at more deficiencies. 

Do you take walks around the block?  When I take walks, I sometimes notice reusable items put out with the trash.  In the last few years, I have twice found a standup electric fan, one which could be used without repair and the other which could be used after my electrically-gifted brother replaced a fuse.  

That is not even the tip of the iceberg.  Whether you stop at yard sales or simply drive by them, you must have noticed how, four times a year, we have sales in Montebello.  (I like the sales not only for the bargains, but, also, for the socializing.  Yard sales are one way for neighbors to become acquainted.)  

But when the yard sales end, one or both of two things happen:  (1) a large quantity of items goes back into the garage and / or (2) a large quantity of items goes into the trash.  Many useful items are thrown away.  

There is some consolation, as there are gleaners who come by in their pickup trucks to take some of the reusable items.  I would like to think that the remaining reusable items would be set aside at the landfill and sold, assuming that the items survive the journey in a trash truck.  

However, let us pause and consider all the items which we store around the house which we do not use and all the items which we store in public storage and do not use.  

My ears perked up when, a few months ago, Dr. Wayne Dyer, a motivational speaker, www.drwaynedyer.com, said on PBS that he had given away most of his earthly possessions.  It would be interesting to know what holds us back.  And it would be interesting to know why the temples and churches do not have, at least once a year, a “clean your closet” to take a large quantity of reusable items.  

My father summarized the problem of hyperconsumption and perfunctory discarding of items by saying that, if everyone recycled as he and I did, fewer people would have work, that is, more people would be unemployed.  This raises a thought:  is American capitalism the best economy for our times?

Fun facts about states are educational and interesting.  We will resume next week.  In the meantime, why do we not see polar bears eating penguins in wildlife documentaries?  Answer:  polar bears live in the northern hemisphere, while all seventeen species of penguins evolved in the southern hemisphere.  http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=817472

It is disturbing that redneck rants circulate on the Internet about Muslims.  Yes, we do need to answer the question as to how to treat Muslims if we conclude, objectively and dispassionately, that their faith and culture would debilitate the best of Western faiths and culture.  But we do not need hoaxes like the one about Barack Obama or the one below.  Hoaxes separate us from reality.  Is that what we want?  

That's why I love being an American.  And now the rest of the story by Paul Harvey  

The Budweiser Story (not a joke) This is TRUE!  [But this is not true!]  

How Budweiser handled those who laughed at those who died on t he 11th of September, 2001...Thought you might like to know what happened in a little town north of Bakersfield, California.  

After you finish reading this, please forward this story on to others so that our nation and people around the world will know about those who laughed when they found out about the tragic events in New York, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon.  

On September 11, a Budweiser employee was making a delivery to a convenience store in a California town named McFarland. He knew of the tragedy that had occurred in New York.  When he entered the business to find the two Arabs, who owned the business, whooping and hollering to show their approval and support of this treacherous attack.  

The Budweiser employee went to his truck, called his boss and told him of the very upsetting event!  He didn't feel he could be in that store with those horrible people. His boss asked him, "Do you think you could go in there long enough to pull every Budweiser product and item our beverage company sells there? We'll never deliver to them again." The employee walked in, proceeded to pull every single product his beverage company provided and left with an incredible grin on his face. He told them never to bother to call for a delivery again.  

Budweiser happens to be the beer of choice for that community. Just letting you know how Kern County handled this situation.  

To learn about this hoax, go to www.snopes.com/rumors/budweiser.asp .

Identity thieves can do much harm if they get your personal information.  Fortunately, the law now says that a Social Security number may no longer be printed on an employee’s wage statement.  

…Employers will be required to list only the last four numbers of an employee’s Social Security number or, as an alternative, the employer may list an employee identification number that is not the employee’s Social Security number … Barbara Wilber, as printed in Spotlight on Montebello, January – February, 2008.

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, and for submitting stories to "Montebello Memories" at the Web site.