Montebello E-News

 July 31, 2008  

Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction!
Be heroes in an army of construction!
 Helen Keller, 1880 – 1968,
was an American author, activist and lecturer.  She was the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college.  The story of how Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become known worldwide through the dramatic depictions of the play “The Miracle Worker”.  What is less well known is how Keller's life developed after she completed her education. A prolific author, she was well traveled, and was outspoken in her opposition to war.  She campaigned for women's suffrage, workers' rights and socialism, as well as many other progressive causes. 

[Peace Corps over Marine Corps?]  

1.  American Melodrama 2008

2. Social-Impact Report, Part 6

3. Announcements

4. Fun Facts about Virginia

5. The Flashback Quarterback:  Don’t Hold Your Breath   

6. Be Aware and Share:  Bad Moon Rising

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

American Melodrama 2008

Racism in Retreat

John McWhorter, New York Sun, June 5, 2008  

A year and a half ago, often I was sweetly dismissed when I said that Barack Obama was possibly on his way to the White House and would certainly trounce Hillary Clinton for the nomination.

“You don’t know what they’ll do to him,” they’d say. As often as not, the idea was that America could not seriously support a black man for its highest office.  

I didn’t get this. The America I live in today does not seem as deeply stamped by bigotry as these people seemed to think. It seemed as if, on this topic, I was talking to people who had woken up after 25 years and didn’t know how the country had changed. Couldn’t they see that this man’s color was only going to help?  

Well, here we are. Are there some bigots? Of course. Did they, or any purported instance of “racism” during the campaign, keep Barack Obama from the nomination?  

His victory demonstrates the main platform of my race writing. The guiding question in everything I have ever written on race is: Why do so many people exaggerate about racism?... http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=TllTLzIwMDgvM
DYvMDUjQXIwMTAwMA==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom  

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 2008 by a local nonprofit organization. 

1. According to this writer, what is being exaggerated?

(a) Drug addiction in major American cities.

(b) Racism in America.  

2. If this writer were right, how would you answer his question, “Why do so many people exaggerate about racism?”

(a) They are bored.

(b) Like children, we exaggerate to get our way or to cover for our personal flaws.

When most companies close the year, they assess their financial performance and thank their customers for sales. While we definitely succeeded on that dimension this year with over 1,000 retail locations across the United States and 300% sales growth, our far more important impact was increasing the quality of life for thousands of women and children across the globe – and we want to thank you for making that possible.  ...
Priya Haji, Co-founder and CEO
“World of Good” Social-Impact Report 2006, http://www.worldofgood.com/impact/index.shtml  

A “social-impact report”?  We have heard of “environmental-impact report”;  for example, one has to be filed with regard to the disposition of our Montebello Hills before a decision be made about the hills.  A social-impact report would talk about the probable and possible social consequences of a planned or existing activity.  

To write a social-impact report about the following idea, you would ask what questions?  For example, what might be the unforeseen and unintended consequences?

“Choosing Wisely”
Can 'libertarian paternalism' make the world a better place?  
Laura Vanderkam, 11 June 2008

In classical economics, human beings are rational actors. We make choices that maximize our utility—that is, that make us happier, wealthier, or whatever we desire most. Averaged over all of society, the invisible hand of these rational choices should make everyone better off.  

It’s a good theory. Unfortunately, as University of Chicago economist Richard Thaler and others [Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, Yale University Press] have demonstrated in the relatively new field of behavioral economics, most human beings bear little resemblance to these rational actors. “In many cases, individuals make pretty bad decisions—decisions they would not have made if they had paid full attention and possessed complete information, unlimited cognitive abilities, and complete self-control,” write Thaler and newly appointed Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein in Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. So they advocate a different approach, which they call “libertarian paternalism.”

It’s a clunker of a name, but a fascinating concept: in general, people should be free to do what they like and to opt out of arrangements that they don’t like.  However, because many situations require us to choose, it’s legitimate for “choice architects” (those who set the ground rules for a situation) to make it easier for people to make choices that will leave them better off—“as judged by themselves.” If choice architects consciously try to do this, Thaler and Sunstein argue, we will wind up with better public and private policies. 

The classic example is saving for retirement. Most of us know that we should be saving more—but fully 30 percent of eligible employees fail to enroll in company-sponsored 401(k) retirement plans, even though employers tend to match employee deposits up to a point. Is this because the employees are too strapped to make contributions, even with the employer match? Apparently not, the authors say, citing data from the United Kingdom, where a handful of defined-benefit plans don’t require any employee contribution at all.

They do, however, require employees to sign up.  Scarcely half of eligible people do. “This is equivalent to not bothering to cash your paycheck,” they write—something that no rational economic actor would ever choose.  

A better solution? Rather than requiring employees to opt in, require them to opt out. This changes the numbers dramatically. One 2001 study found that under opt-in 401(k) rules, barely 20 percent of employees had enrolled after three months of employment, and 65 percent had done so after 36 months. With automatic enrollment, 90 percent of new employees were participating shortly after joining their firms. ... http://www.city-journal.org/2008/bc0611lv.html

FOR EVERYONE.  Commission meeting.  The Montebello City Planning Commission is holding its regularly-scheduled meeting on Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 7 p.m. at city hall.  The meeting is open to the public.  For more information, 323.887.1200.  

FOR EVERYONE.  Commission meeting.  The Montebello Traffic Safety Commission is holding its regularly-scheduled meeting on Wednesday, August 6, 2008, at 7 p.m. at city hall.  The meeting is open to the public.  For more information, 323.887.1200.  

Virginia was named for England’s “Virgin Queen,” Elizabeth I.  

Jamestown, the first of the original thirteen colonies, was founded for the purpose of silk cultivation, silk to be traded with the court of King James. After blight fungus destroyed the mulberry trees, the silkworm food, sericulturist planted tobacco as a cash crop.  

The major cash crop of Virginia is tobacco and many of the people who live there earn their living from the tobacco industry.  [What could be a profitable substitute?  Imagine making a biofuel from tobacco.]

Jamestown was the first English settlement in the U.S. It was also the first capital of Virginia.

Eight United States Presidents were born in Virginia: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson.  [How many Presidents were born in California?]

The American Revolution ended with the surrender of Cornwallis in Yorktown.

Union Passenger Railway was the first successful electric street railway transit agency. It was formed in 1888 at Richmond.  [But did the oil barons outwit the electric barons in the twentieth century?]

The Pentagon has nearly sixty-eight thousand miles of internal telephone lines.  [Quick.  How many times around the Earth would that go?]

The first Thanksgiving in North America was held in Virginia in 1619.  

Virginia has been dubbed the “Internet Capital of the world”.  [Why not California?  Because AOL is headquartered in Virginia.]

We have talked about the importance of our taking care of things ourselves, not waiting on government, because government is overwhelmed or unaware, even when it means well.  Below is an example of our taking charge for our own welfare;  the message came via e-mail.  

Subject: Chinese Exports - let's do it!  

Are we Americans as dumb as we appear or is it that we just do not think?  

While the Chinese, knowingly and intentionally, export inferior products and dangerous toys and good s to be sold in American markets, the media wrings its hands and criticizes the Bush Administration for perceived errors.  

Yet 70% of Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended. Well, duh... why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges? DO IT YOURSELF!  

Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says 'Made in China ' or 'PRC' (and that now includes Hong Kong), simply choose another product or none at all.  

You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, however you will be equally amazed at what you can do without. ...  

We have taken note of this in past issues.  What will it take for the US to avoid entanglement in a war?  

Abstract from UN Wire, June 2, 2008:  

Tensions May Rise as Asia Competes for Natural Resources  

Military tension among Asian countries may heighten as governments compete more fiercely over oil, gas and other natural resources, the commander of U.S. forces in the region told the Financial Times. Several countries have conflicting claims on resources in the South China Sea, and Adm. Timothy Keating said nations need to follow international rules and not just "beat your chest and say, 'I hereby claim this.' " Financial Times, June 1, 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.