Outsourcing to Africa: Part Two

From the 13 December 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

OUTSOURCING TO AFRICA: PART TWO
By Bob Confer

Over the next two decades it will be increasingly difficult to keep the store shelves stocked at price levels frugal shoppers appreciate. As mentioned in last week’s column, the cost of doing business is quickly rising in China and India and by 2030 they won’t be as attractive for outsourcing as they have been since the push for offshore manufacturing really hit its stride in the late-1970s.

That doesn’t mean the jobs are coming back. The reality of today’s world is that, globalization is and will be the way to do business. As much as Americans savor the thought of goods being produced on US soil, the chances of that happening in appreciable volume again are slim to none. Many consumers demand cheaply-priced (if not cheaply-made) goods and corporations are more than happy to oblige. Companies truly committed to domestic manufacturing (like Confer Plastics) are now rarities when once they were a dime a dozen.

Most of the world, from agricultural South America to the industrial Far East, has already been pressured by traders from the richest nations to meet their demands and in many cases the well is dry from a potential price savings standpoint. The African continent, on the other hand, has remained relatively unmolested by Westerners since the days of the slave trade. But now, Africans are primed to join the ranks of the modern slave, the “sweatshop” laborer, so common in the Far East, who earns a few dollars a day (or week).

As bad as that sounds, it’s better than what they have now. Africans are still enslaved, but by Mother Nature, despotic political regimes, and even Western charity. The continent’s population recently topped 1 billion, but a quarter of them are undernourished. 250 million people are basically starving. To put that number into perspective, the entire US population is 307 million. In the short-term (the next 3 decades), globalization will help Africa rise from a poverty that, truthfully, makes America’s impoverished look like kings. Following the quality of life trends that we saw in industrial Europe, US, and Japan, the long-term future (by 2100) is economically bright and socially responsible for Africans.

Naysayers might comment on the lack of political morality and infrastructure on the continent that would prevent development. That was the case for China. Look what’s become.

Americans are more than happy to either overlook or work in conjunction with one of the most horrid communist systems in the world, one that still - even 21 years after Tiananmen Square massacre - squashes freedom and criticism. Many African leaders are just as oppressive. But whereas China’s political system is old and deeply entrenched, most African nations have fragile systems, so newly employed Africans who will have something that only the few possess now (money) will ultimately become a financially and politically empowered people who can turn away decades of evil rule.

China was a backwards nation until only recently (by historical standards) in regard to infrastructure. Now they have quality roads galore, impressive electrical generation and vast cities that seem to pop up overnight. Whereas that’s been a public-private venture to bring them into the 21st century, Africa’s nations are lacking in wealth so it will be an entirely private investment led by Western firms. But, as capitalism goes, if the need (and reward) is there for electricity, water, ports, and roads, the necessary investments will be made. 1 billion potential workers is a very attractive number for capitalists, especially for as cheaply as they can be had at this time.

Even Sir Richard Branson, one of the richest and brightest men on the planet, acknowledges that Africa will see significant gains in the coming years. In a recent appearance on CNN he addressed America’s need to embrace the global economy as a way to overcome our recent woes. Listing some of our largest trade partners and those we should do business with, he slyly slipped in the comment, “Africa is about to boom”.

I promise you, they are. By 2025 many of the “Made in China” labels you see on items now will be replaced by “Made in” labels from far-flung locales like Kenya, Tanzania, and Mali.

It’s a wild, ever-changing – and ever-shrinking - world we live in.

Outsourcing to Africa: Part One

From the 06 December 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

OUTSOURCING TO AFRICA: PART ONE
By Bob Confer

Remember when many Americans perceived Japan’s manufacturing economy as a threat? Just a few decades ago we worried about that nation taking all of our production jobs through their (and our) efforts to make goods cheaply to satisfy our insatiable consumers. They did take some of our jobs, mostly in the electronics department. For a while they manufactured a good number of our cars, but oddly enough, Japan-branded cars are now being manufactured in the United States.

The reason the automotive jobs came back and Japan never really destroyed our economy is that they became one of us. Manufacturing created opportunity in Japan, spawning a huge middle class that, through the same economic progression that America had in the late-1800s and early-1900’s, created higher wages and more discretionary income that allowed it to purchase – and demand more of – the very goods it produced. Japan became the second largest economy in the world behind the United States and according to the World Bank it possesses a gross domestic product per capita of $39,727, not too far behind our $46,436.

Because of that, it gradually became too expensive to further develop outsourcing in Japan, so America looked elsewhere, mainly the most-populous country in the world, China. It has become our business partner of choice. In 2000, China’s annual exports to the United States were $100 billion. By the end of 2009 that number had grown to $296.4 billion.

That can’t keep up forever. China will become another Japan relatively soon. There is a push by Chinese officials and business leaders to bring 40% of the Chinese population into the middle class by 2020; that’s about 550 million people who will have newfound access to capital to buy durable and discretionary goods, creating a substantial domestic economy out of China’s export economy.

At the same time that occurs, our temperamental trade relations with the Asian giant will become even more so. Chinese officials are vocal, and justifiably so, about the poor choices of Corporate America and our debt-averse citizens that led to the global recession. They are even more critical of what the American government is and will be doing to right the ship. You can’t blame them, they hold just under $900 billion in US debt. As our dollar continues to tank in value so does their investment.

Our elected officials insist on adding insult to injury by continuously calling-out China for manipulation of its currency, saying the value of the Yuan is tied directly to the American dollar, which keeps Chinese goods artificially low-priced. That’s the pot calling the kettle black: Through the private-public partnership that is the Federal Reserve, America has been manipulating the value of its currency since 1913. Our dollar is dying on the vine because the Reserve and Washington are so intent on addressing the latter’s problems through the issuance of fiat currency. Every time a dollar is created all other dollars in the marketplace lose their value. It’s simple economics.

We have the perfect storm brewing. China’s growing middle class will drive up the cost of doing business at the same time it will take more of our devalued dollars to buy the same basket of goods. Add to that the chance that the Chinese Yuan will have to be strengthened and you’re guaranteed that Chinese exports will become dramatically pricier over the next decade.

American consumers won’t be able to stomach the increased costs at the grocery and department stores. We always want cheaper. Based on how tenuous our economy has become (and how tenuous it will be with upcoming crises in Social Security and Medicare) we will need cheaper.

American businesses overseeing outsourcing activities will have to look elsewhere. India is certainly not at the top of the list. They, too, show very limited long-term potential as their middle class has tripled in size over the past 20 years and it is projected that half of their population will be a part of that category before 2030.

Then where does outsourcing next occur? There’s only one place left on this planet that will be able to satisfy the needs of consumers in America, Europe, and ultimately China and India….the African continent.

Niagara skies affected by light pollution

From the 29 November 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

NIAGARA SKIES AFFECTED BY LIGHT POLLUTION
By Bob Confer

If, like me and thousands of other readers of this newspaper, you live in the rural parts of the Niagara Frontier, you’re accustomed to some spectacular nighttime views, especially this time of the year when the cold, clear nights seem to amplify that stars. It’s invigorating (some folks even say it’s akin to a religious experience) to marvel at the cosmos, something that so few Americans have the chance to do. Only 20 percent of our population lives in rural areas, meaning 8 of every 10 people rarely if ever see the stars, especially in the volume that we do.

But, alas, even the magnificence that we see is not close to perfect. It doesn’t matter if you live in the most remote locales of Niagara and Orleans Counties, you’re still missing out on thousands of stars for the same reason that the city folk do: light pollution.

Look off in the horizon and you may see a glow from a nearby village or city that obscures that portion of the sky. Now, imagine countless cities and towns around us, all pouring that much light and then some into the skies. This accumulated visual noise spreads into the night, creating a glow that extends far beyond its sources. The ability to see the faintest of stars, including the dense Milky Way, is affected and what we think is a true nighttime sky really isn’t close to that at all.

That’s a result of being surrounded by numerous cities small (Lockport), medium (Buffalo) and large (Toronto). We’re within 500 miles of 46 percent of the US population and 57 percent of the Canadian population. Imagine all of the lights used to illuminate their homes, the roads they drive on, and the businesses that serve them. Rarely are the lights off even in the wee hours, meaning the sky glow over populated areas is relentless. In essence, a mammoth light umbrella covers us in Western New York.

To see how we compare against the few dark parts of the US and Canada (specifically some areas of the Great Plains, the Rockies, and the Far North) refer to the awesome Dark Sky Finder that can be found online at http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/. The website has an interactive map that you can drag around the US and zoom in to specific communities. It shows in a varying range of colors how intense the light pollution is.

Looking at the map, you’d probably be surprised to find out that the Lake Ontario shoreline of Orleans County still can’t escape the lights emitted by Rochester and the Greater Toronto Area. The whole Northeast suffers from that same fate, we’re an absolute mess. The closest that we can get to perfection is in desolate areas located within the Adirondacks and Appalachia. Stargazers can find true dark skies within the NY’s Moose River Plains and PA’s Susquehannock State Forest, the latter of which is renowned for its celestial views facilitated by a quarter million acres of near-wilderness.

Even if you can’t trek into those areas, you can still revel in more accessible sites that have incredibly vivid displays. Vast areas in Northern Pennsylvania, the Adirondacks and the Catskill Mountains possess only trace amounts of manmade illumination (look for the blue and purples hues on the map) and, therefore, nighttime skies that truthfully put ours to shame. In them, the stars seem endless and tightly packed while the Milky Way is actually, well, milky. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience those sights on clear nights while camping and I compare the difference between them and rural Gasport’s skies to the difference between Gasport’s and retail Amherst’s skies; it’s really that significant.

So, if your family vacations ever take you to the aforementioned wilds, do yourself a favor and duck out to the Great Outdoors every cloudless night that you can. You’ll be amazed at the sights and you’ll get as near as possible to seeing the stars as they were when man first set foot on this continent.

Cheaper Medicaid through equality

From the 22 November 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

CHEAPER MEDICAID THROUGH EQUALITY
By Bob Confer

In New York, more so than most states, Medicaid takes more from society than it puts back into it. It’s a drain on the economy and the overall quality of life. If you’re a homeowner you know that too well. More than half of your Niagara County property tax bill goes towards Medicaid, costing you hundreds of dollars every year. Combine that with what else you put into the Medicaid coffers (state and federal income taxes and 1 full percentage point from sales taxes) and you discover that each Medicaid recipient in New York costs taxpayers $16,000 per year while the average family of four on Medicaid places a burden of $64,000 per annum on our economy.

If you and/or your employer pay for your health care you know those numbers seem unreasonable. They are. A single-subscriber plan through an HMO is slightly more than $4,000 per year while a family plan is just under $12,000. That’s 75 percent and 81 percent less than their respective Medicaid counterparts. From the standpoint of equality, that’s a major source of frustration for any reasonable taxpayer. He or she must cut coupons, corners and family budgets in order to pay for increasingly painful health insurance and property tax bills, while others are receiving, with minimal effort, Cadillac coverage at Cadillac prices.

But above and beyond the concept of fairness, there’s the issue of fiscal responsibility. How can that same penny-wise New Yorker and the elected officials he or she puts into office take seriously the extravagance – if not waste – of our Medicaid program? Should it really be 4 or 5 times more expensive than private insurance? The answer is “no”.

Albany politicians have been talking about Medicaid reform for years, all of them to a man knowing that the system is broken. Yet, the talk has been nothing more than that. If anything, reform has been in the wrong direction, actually lessening strict eligibility requirements and adding even more pricy gimmicks. Not surprisingly, the cowardice to initiate appropriate change wasn’t eliminated by the Great Recession and our dire fiscal situation.

So, just how do we change Medicaid and New York State for the better? There is a very simple means to do so, one that would be a win-win for both sides of the aisle (those who demand cost cutting and those fearful of “hurting” Medicaid recipients): Dissolve New York’s corrupt Medicaid system and redirect Medicaid funding to the purchase of private, not public, medical insurance.

The savings would be astronomical. The state’s Medicaid budget for 2010-2011 is approximately $52 billion. If HMO coverage were purchased, the state would save $39 billion per year and it would totally eliminate the burden that is placed on the counties; gone would be the sales and property taxes specifically set aside for Medicaid.

Residents and businesses would have $39 billion of their own money made available to them every year, allowing them to spend and save and do as they wish with it, pumping it into more-productive sectors of the economy which in turn would increase personal wealth and employ more people (taking them off the Medicaid rolls in the process), making New York a place that’s attractive to live and work. Economic development and good government can really be that simple and moral: You actually can dramatically cut costs in entitlement programs without adversely affecting those deemed to be in need.

To make such an idea come to fruition you’d need a buy-in from Albany. They would have to be willing to totally remodel state government and eliminate layers of bureaucracy. If Andrew Cuomo is any bit the reformer he claims to be, it would be the perfect task for him. If the voters are as angry as they say they are, he’s got the backing.

One obstacle might be the federal government. Medicaid clearly defines minimum expectations and requirements, all of which are met by HMO. The feds might not see it that way, but any attorney-general worth his salt can make a very compelling claim to Washington. Look at how many attorneys-general have raised a stink against Obamacare, something that has far less of an impact on the health care landscape than Medicaid. If only one of them - ours, I hope - could take the risk and take on Lyndon Johnson’s ever-lasting Medicaid nightmare, our state – no, our country - would be a much better place.

High school sports need a boost

From the 15 November 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NEED A BOOST
By Bob Confer

Rick DeWaters and his friends in the Royalton-Hartland Sports Boosters Club did something this year that could be considered miraculous. They saved the school district’s athletics program by securing the funding necessary to keep alive football and fall and winter modified sports, programs that had been victims of budget cuts last spring.

That’s an accomplishment once thought impossible. Roy-Hart is the third smallest school district in Niagara County with an enrollment of around 1,530 students. It’s also one of the poorest: the town of Royalton has a median household income that’s $230 lower than the county median while Hartland’s is $5,270 lower. With those factors in play - as well as the community having already been so maxed out in its investment in the district that it was forced to cut those sports - it was unknown if district residents could dig deep enough to give the school what it needed to keep the kids engaged in competitive endeavors. One sport (football) was certain to be saved, but modified sports, too?

In the end, the community pulled together. They participated in Booster-led fundraisers and fund drives, they donated goods and services to raffles, and they donated their time to Booster activities. They’ve kept Roy-Hart sports alive. With the leadership and experience the Boosters have in place, they’ll be able to save the day again next year when called upon to do so. Goodness knows they’ll have to; Roy-Hart’s financial straits aren’t unique to this school year.

Nor are they unique to Roy-Hart. We live in some tenuous economic times and taxpayers who have seen their incomes cut or their jobs lost by the recession are unable to support ever-growing school expenses, especially with the loss of state and federal funding that was once taken for granted. School districts everywhere will be forced to follow Roy-Hart’s lead and cut sports (among other things).

It’s a very unpopular decision to make, but it’s truly a wise and necessary one. What’s the alternative, cut teaching positions and academic programs? You can’t, for schools are, first and foremost, learning institutions. As harsh as it sounds, athletic pursuits rank lowly among a school district’s best interests because there is minimal bang for the buck when looking at the student body as a whole. In a small district like Roy-Hart far less than half of a given class might participate in school sports. In a larger district, like the Lockports of the world, much less than a fifth of a class is active in sports. When faced with an economic crisis, you certainly cannot sacrifice the enrichment of many pupils’ minds for the advancement of the athletic affairs of a select few. Even in good times it’s a questionable investment: Why should townsfolk direct their taxes towards one boy’s football adventures while not doing so for another lad’s participation in the Boy Scout program? Both activities are hobbies and are as equally important to the development of those boys.

But, that does not discount its value. Just as necessary as a book-driven education is to the students, so is the experience-driven education that comes with sports. A sport may be “just a game”, but there is so much more that comes from it if properly channeled. High school athletes can learn any number of life skills ranging from personal fitness and work ethic to teamwork and sacrifice to preparedness and adaptability, things you just can’t get in a classroom. The fields and gymnasiums give the perfect outlet for achieving all of those, while at the same time, developing a powerful sense of community pride, not just for the players but also for the district residents at large.

School sports serve a great purpose, one which cannot be ignored. But, athletes and their parents can no longer consider them to be freely supported by the taxpayers. We live in a new day, one where parents must take an active role in ensuring that the sports are there for their kids. They need to put in some extra hours outside of practice and games, working with donors throughout the area to put money in the athletic department coffers. It’s a difficult task, but not an insurmountable one, and the Roy-Hart Boosters have shown – far better than most – that working together we can all guarantee that today’s children have the same chance to compete that previous generations had.

Fighting poverty creates poverty

From the 08 November 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

FIGHTING POVERTY CREATES POVERTY
By Bob Confer

The federal government considers one to be living in poverty if income is $10,830 or less, or $22,050 for a family of four. The number of Americans within those categories grew last year by nearly a full percentage point to 14.2 percent, or 43.6 million people — a 3.8 million increase. The poverty rate is at its highest since 1994, while the actual number of those living in poverty is the greatest in 51 years.

To put that in perspective, the poverty crisis 51 years ago is what inspired Lyndon B. Johnson to initiate his War on Poverty. To combat our socio-economic problems he ushered in the Social Security Act of 1965, which introduced Medicare and Medicaid. They have become an indelible part of American life, used by the poor and - especially in the case of Medicare - the not-so-poor. But despite their abundant patronage, these massive, unconstitutional programs have neither eliminated poverty nor become even remotely efficient or affordable.

Medicare, which provides health “insurance” to 45 million Americans 65 and over, is funded through a payroll tax of 2.9 percent split between the employee and the employer. Despite stripping the economy of more than 3 percent of its value annually, the program is still unable to adequately fund itself: Since 2008 the Medicare trust fund has been paying out more than it brings in.

Like any Ponzi scheme, this unsustainable economic model is destined to come crashing down. Medicare has unfunded obligations of $37.8 trillion (2.5 times the size of the U.S. economy) a great deal of which is coming due soon. As the Baby Boomers age, they will put incredible pressure upon the system, ultimately bankrupting Medicare. Economists, as well as Medicare trustees, believe the fund will be in the red by 2017. Upon its collapse, what will the federal government do? It has done nothing yet to prepare for Doomsday, although it’s only 7 years away. So, a financial crisis and tax tsunami are looming for American taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries, as well as those who must be paid to provide for their care.

The crisis continues with Medicaid which provides medical and health-related services and funding to the poor. Even though it’s a federal edict, it uses a combination of federal/state/local taxes and state management of Medicaid recipients. In 2007, there were an average 49.1 million Americans receiving Medicaid. The federal outlay that year was $190.6 billion, while the states pumped in another $142.6 billion for a total of $333.2 billion. That number is expected to reach $673.7 billion by 2017, the very same year Medicare comes to its crossroads. It should be noted that the program is notoriously abused, with some states - like New York - providing recipients with products and services that those on private health insurance would never receive without considerable out-of-pocket expense. In the Empire State the accumulated cost to taxpayers is a whopping $16,000 per Medicaid recipient.

These incredible burdens placed on productive sectors of the economy make it painfully obvious to the reasonable mind that Medicare and Medicaid have created poverty rather than alleviated it. In its effort to combat the very poverty it had previously created through taxation and regulation of a productive private sector, the federal government managed to create even more poverty by adding to the cost of doing business (which inhibits job growth, stunts wages, and sends jobs overseas) and living (which prevents people from spending as much as they could in the free market, which would then encourage economic development and squash poverty).

Whenever money — hundreds of billions annually for the War on Poverty — is forcibly removed from the private sector, the private sector is unable to do what it should. Thus, the average worker, because of diminished employment opportunities, becomes impoverished by the invisible hand of the government. That individual then relies on government subsidies, further stressing the system of dependence unleashed by our government, which will then, again, take away more jobs and opportunity further down the road. It’s truly a vicious cycle.

The taxman in the sky

From the 01 November 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

THE TAXMAN IN THE SKY
By Bob Confer

Many look at websites that share aerial imaging technology as a fun way to see what their home and community look like from the air. Little do they know that various governments around the world are using it for less amusing purposes. Sites like Google Earth and Bing Maps are being used as tools to find so-called "tax cheats" and individuals that willingly or unwillingly sneaked past the building permit process.

The nation of Greece has used the technology to enforce its wealth tax by scanning suburbs in an effort to find pools, villas, and vehicles that, according to Greek officials, certainly couldn’t be afforded or maintained by recorded income levels. In its initial round of searches for swimming pools, Greece found 17,000 pools when only 324 had been claimed by taxpayers. Enforcing the tax code through such investigative measures netted the country 1.8 billion Euros in back taxes and fines during the first 6 months of 2010.

Here in the States, many municipalities are following Greece’s lead. In Riverhead on Long Island, Google Earth is also being used to find swimming pools, specifically those that were erected without town notice or do not meet the town’s building code. In that town of 27,000 people, about 250 unregistered pools were discovered. The homeowners were forced to make their pools compliant and, of course, pay Riverhead mightily for their permits.

With nations like Greece (whose financial descent is being mirrored by the United States of America) and communities like Riverhead (the size of which is similar to many communities across the country) seeing great success with aerial surveillance, many more government entities are following suit, playing around on the computer and subsequently playing financial hardball with property owners as a way to increase revenues.

To see how pompous they are in this matter, refer to Pennsylvania’s springtime television ad campaign (it can be found on YouTube) which played the Big Brother card. In that commercial, satellite imagery zoomed-in on a typical Pennsylvania home and a robotic narrative voice cited the homeowner for tax evasion, noting they know where he lives and that he has a “nice car” and a “nice house." The ad ended with a threat to Pennsylvania taxpayers that read “find us before we find you.” It was meant to scare commonwealth residents; no doubt it did.

With these developments in technology and the abuse thereof, even the most law-abiding and straight-laced Americans must worry that the government could be watching our every move or analyzing the details of our last bastion of personal liberty, our homes and lands, places once rightly thought to be private and free of government intrusion. Under normal circumstances the government needs just cause to enter a domain, some sort of belief that a crime has been or may be committed. With Google Earth, that has been thrown aside: Tax collectors and building inspectors don’t have any inkling whether a supposed crime is being committed or not, yet they are allowed to search a property unabated in hopes of finding a broken law. Basically, everyone is now guilty until proven innocent.

It’s obvious that by using aerial imagery our government is exceeding the limits imposed upon it. Unlike socialist Greece - which is a poor example for America to be following in the first place - our natural rights are recognized and protected by a Constitution that should be preventing such an invasion of our privacy because aerial intrusion is, without a doubt, an unreasonable search. So, until someone takes a government entity to the courts contesting it, we will continue to be spied on from above. Nowhere is safe from prying eyes anymore.

Parents must support education

From the 25 October 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

PARENTS MUST SUPPORT EDUCATION
By Bob Confer

California’s Pleasanton Unified School District conducted a survey last year that found 72 percent of parents in the 17,000-pupil district either seldom or never helped their children with homework. The students who responded to the same survey put the lack of parental participation even higher, at 81 percent.

This situation is not unique to Pleasanton. A few years ago Microsoft ran a study that showed similarly unpleasant attention to school work across the United States. According to their survey, 51 percent of parents claim homework is a source of tension in their household. Other studies estimate that slightly more than half of all parents help with studies.

These numbers are all over the place, but they still say the same thing: A majority of parents aren’t regularly involved with their children’s educations.

Contrast that with the number of parents who support extra-curricular activities. According to Families Worldwide 83 percent of kids ages 6 to 17 participate in at least one regularly scheduled sport, lesson or club. A survey of 50,000 Minnesota students done earlier this century produced nearly-identical results, 80.9 percent for boys and 87.4 percent for girls.

That begs the question: If parents are dedicated enough to devote time and energy to their sons’ and daughters’ sporting events, dance recitals and concerts, then why can they not find the time to help them with their scholastic pursuits, which should be paramount in their young lives?

Could it be that they don’t have the time? That’s the most common complaint heard from parents, even though the average worker in America spent 38.1 hours on the job last year, which was down from 39 before the recession started and below the 40 hour average that was the norm in the late 1960s. Today’s parents are no busier than their parents, let alone their grandparents and great grandparents who lived in a more agrarian society where farming was a demanding lifestyle, not just a job, and technological advances (like washing machines, microwaves and ready-to-eat foods) were nowhere to be found. If hours worked have continued to drop and modern amenities have made the tasks of life so much easier, where did all the time go?

It comes down to priorities. If the average American can, after pushing their kids through after-school activities, somehow find the time to watch 4 hours of TV a day (according to Nielsen), he or she can certainly find the time - even one hour a day - to help the kids with math or science, which are among our worst subjects. Our nation is ranked 25th and 21st in those studies respectively.

Today’s parents don’t see it that way. Whereas the first of the baby boomers and their parents emphasized the importance of education and held their children to high expectations (a result of the lingering taste of the Great Depression and first generation American struggles), Generations X has, until this Recession, seen nothing but prosperity and ongoing change throughout their lives, which kind of taints the prospects for pushing oneself and one’s offspring to be better by masking the reasons to do so. With America so readily meeting and exceeding its potential in recent decades, inane personal, leisure and material pursuits have taken much of our adults’ attention. Because of that, the little things (like education, which should definitely not be considered a “little thing”) get lost in the shuffle, just like our continued prosperity will.

This has occurred at the same time local control - and therefore local interest – in education has been taken from us. With the Department of Education coming to be in the 70s and bringing with it greater federal oversight over the day-to-day operations of our schools (standardized testing, funding, No Child Left Behind, etc.) many people wrongly assume young minds are in capable hands and are solely the responsibility of the schools. This was never the case and now, more than ever, it cannot be. Many teachers are overwhelmed by and ill equipped to deal with onerous federal and state standards (which don’t have the best interest of the students in mind), thus making kids who are the same.

It takes a team effort – a village, as Hillary Clinton once said - to raise a child. Teachers, administrators and, above all, parents need to take the appropriate measures to give students the very best education they can get. Remember, children mimic the example set by adults: If they don’t care about schooling, neither will the kids.

The President divides a nation

From the 18 October 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

THE PRESIDENT DIVIDES A NATION
By Bob Confer

President Obama has been on the road a lot over the past few weeks. He’s not out and about trying to reassure Americans about the future of our economy. Nor is he trying to calm our nation’s concerns over the ongoing Afghan occupation or the terror thereat that has enveloped Europe. Instead, he’s stumping for his Democratic brethren, trying to drum up support – financially and in the voting booth – for their efforts to keep control of the House and Senate in the November elections. He has been a cash cow, raking in millions for the Democrats.

Doing so while in office is not new to the presidency. Take our previous president for example: In just one 2006 fundraising event alone George W Bush brought in $23 million for the GOP. Millions more were had from his cross-country road trips. Many presidents of the past have campaigned for their party and it has been almost routine since the 1800s when presidents slowly devolved from being true statesmen to political operatives.

But, as the old adage goes, two wrongs do not make a right. From a purely philosophical standpoint, sitting presidents should not campaign for their parties.

The President of the United States is a unique position in federal rule. Like the role of governor at the state level, he is not supposed to, like a legislator would, represent a defined, ideologically-limited and geographically-limited constituency. As an executive his sphere of influence is larger and his constituency is all-inclusive. Whereas governors need to look out for the best interests of all residents of their state, the president is supposed to be concerned with the best interests of all Americans. The president is supposed to bridge the gap between a divided America. He is not to be a bridge burner who divides us even more.

In his struggles to save his party, Obama has done the latter like others before him. Not a day goes by that there isn’t a newsy sound bite where he derides the intelligence and ideals of the Republicans, blaming them for all that ails us. His tone is typically nasty, divisive and arrogant. His predecessor used a different style, combining humor with a matter-of-fact indifference, bordering on total ignorance, to opposing views.

When our de facto leader so openly and aggressively discounts the validity and beliefs of the opposing party he is in essence doing the same for half of the nation. Depending on what polls one looks at, our nation is almost equally split between the Right and Left, so the partisan bickering and name calling of one who should be above such a fray puts millions of Americans in the crosshairs. How can one respect a president when he himself does not respect his people?

Presidents should be held to a higher standard. The executive branch should be leading by example as it once did. Think back to some of the darkest days of our history. Amidst world wars and civil wars and depressions and economic slowdowns, previous generations could count on the president to be a calming force who gave Americans hope and looked past differences to orchestrate a combined effort by all parties and all people to affect positive change that took into consideration the wants and needs of all citizens.

Things are so markedly different nowadays. Even though we are in some dark times – this young century has been fraught with terror attacks, wars, and economic crises – our two leaders chose to divide us rather than bring us together to overcome a shared adversity. More so than most men before them, Bush and Obama are guilty of fracturing a nation. You cannot find two successive presidencies as hotly controversial and stubbornly partisan as theirs. Such behavior from the top is not healthy for America: Sadly, it too often seems we are only the “States of America”…the “United” bit was thrown out long ago.

Government to guess your next move

From the 11 October 2010 Greater Niagara Newspapers

GOVERNMENT TO GUESS YOUR NEXT MOVE
By Bob Confer

There’s no doubt that many times over the past 10 years you’ve complained at length about President Bush or President Obama. With all the chaos taking place in our lives (wars, economic crises, etc.) there are plenty of things to gripe about regarding their job performance.

If you’re a reasonable human being you probably didn’t wish them dead or severely injured by an assassin’s bullet.

At least that’s what you think.

The government, on the other hand, doesn’t think you think what you thought.

In something that seems straight out of a science fiction movie set in some oppressive futuristic landscape, the government is getting closer to utilizing technology that will analyze your thoughts and actions, guess your next move, label you as a threat for it and ultimately ensure prosecution, whether you deserve it or not.

That’s what’s in the works at the Mind Machine Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Scientists there have developed a computer program that will scan phone calls for perceived threats by tracking resentment in voice and the talkers’ affixation on certain topics. It will do the same with emails, noting similar behaviors that could, in their eyes, put government officials or the public in danger. According to MIT scientists, the system is being built to analyze 100,000 conversations per hour.

A computer of such magnitude (one of many) isn’t being made to look over correspondence collected from a handful of suspected terrorists. No, the goal that is being strived-for will allow Big Brother to look through endless reams of data, including the emails and phone calls that you - as a law-abiding citizen - share on a daily basis.

It’s bad enough that such technology will require expansion of the Patriot Act and the further destruction of our Fourth Amendment rights all in the name of national security. This technology will take it one step further and put words in your mouth and make assumptions about your motives for criticizing those in power.

Think about how often you’ve had phone conversations in which you’ve complained about the Obama Administration’s poor efforts in jump-starting the economy. Think about how many emails you’ve sent chastising the Bush Administration. Think about how many columns I’ve written about the federal government’s misguided ways. In all such cases, we’re creating extensive portfolios about ourselves, the trends of which show that we have a fascination with a certain subject, one that would be deemed uncomfortable and inherently evil by the Mind Machine and those who use it.

It’s not a stretch to think it will be used in such a manner. As a matter of fact, there’s plenty of proof that it will be.

A couple of weeks ago Hilbert College held their First Responder – Military Symposium at which one of MIT’s professors, Mathieu Guidere, spoke at length about the Mind Machine Project and how it will be used to ascertain potential threats against the President’s life or determine if someone possesses the same obsessive traits that lone bombers do.

This is old hat to Guidere and the federal and local agencies that fawn over him. He was instrumental in the development of the Radicalization Watch Project which also used behavioral analysis to stereotype government critics as radicals and he was a keynote speaker at a component of the International Law Enforcement Symposium held in Florida this part February that focused on post-deployment soldiers as a threat to law enforcement. Under both circumstances, those with patriotic tendencies (be they individuals who are concerned about our country’s future or fought for our country’s future) are perceived to be dangerous to society, just like they are in a variety of state and federal documents such as those produced by MIAC, a derivative of Homeland Security (refer to “Bob Confer: Terrorist”, published here in April 2009).

Information is deadly in the hands of a government that thinks that way. Because of that, someday soon - maybe even now – it won’t be safe to talk with your friends or share emails with them unless you’re all about rainbows and butterflies. It’s scary to think we can’t say one bit of negativity about the ruling class without a computer assuming we’re criminals. Whatever happened to the freedoms of speech, privacy and thought?