We will miss Tom Wolfe greatly

DAVENPORT — Memorial funeral services to celebrate the life of Thomas A. Wolfe, 72, a resident of Davenport, will be 6 p.m. Monday, August 13, 2012, at the Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home, Davenport. His family will greet friends at the funeral home prior to the service from 4 until 6 p.m. Honoring Tom’s wish, the rite of cremation has been accorded, and his cremains will be buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Delmar, Iowa.
Tom passed away unexpectedly Saturday, August 4, 2012, at his home in Davenport. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Café on Vine.
Thomas Anthony Wolfe was born in Maquoketa, Iowa, on December 20, 1940. The son of Raymond Bernard Wolfe (1896-1941) and Gladys McGinn Wolfe (1903-1966), he was the great-grandson of Irish immigrants. The youngest of four, Tommy-as his sisters insisted on calling him-found himself deprived of a father as an infant and set free on not quite 200 acres of Clinton County farmland. As a result, he lived inside his imagination. He became his hero, Jackie Robinson, by throwing balls against the barn and scooping up grounders. He found stacks of freshly mown hay to be occasions for an intense kind of dreaming. “What I remember most about farm life,” he once wrote, “was an aching feeling of loneliness.”
Wolfe graduated from Delmar High School in 1958 and then, with support from an uncle, from St. Ambrose College, in nearby Davenport. He later earned a master’s degree in American history from Western Illinois University. Having decided to forego farm life, Wolfe began his teaching career in Blue Grass, Iowa, before moving down the road to Walcott, where he taught across the hall from Frances Cupp Wolfe, whom he married on August 1, 1964. The couple – a sometimes uneasy mixture of Irish and French ancestry – raised three children in Davenport, Bridget Colleen (b. 1967), Brendan Martin (b. 1971), and Sara Elizabeth (b. 1973). As the names suggest, Wolfe’s Irish side often prevailed, although he lovingly called his wife Françoise. She called him “the old goat,” only sometimes lovingly, and they managed until 1993, when they separated. Divorce followed soon after.
Until his retirement in 1997, Wolfe held court in a room at Walcott Junior High School (later middle school), mostly teaching American history. His great passion was for teaching, which took him back to the farm he never quite left: it was an exercise in imagination. A colleague remembers his closet full of hats. “He would put on a hat and act out various historical characters,” she recalled, and if on one occasion he actually tumbled from a windowsill during a performance, that made it only more memorable for his audience.
Wolfe’s other great passion was the teacher’s union. His wife, Fran, beat him to it, voting to strike on an occasion when he didn’t, and her zeal rubbed off on him. He served two terms as president of the Davenport Education Association, and was a near-annual delegate to assemblies of the state and national unions. For at least a decade, he served as Midwest regional director of the NEA’s Peace and Justice Caucus, and in 2012 the Iowa State Education Association presented him with its highest honor, the Charles F. Martin Award for Association Leadership. He accepted with a generous and very funny speech calling for an end to the bitter and unthinking partisanship of American politics.
Tom is survived by his sister, Margery; his former wife; his close friend, Nancy Porter, of Iowa City; his three children; and his three grandchildren. One imagines he has finally returned to the old Wolfe homestead in Clinton County, to the hay bales and reveries. “As long as I live,” he wrote, “I’ll associate freshly-mown hay with those dreams and yearnings, and I won’t know whether to be happy or sad.”
Online remembrances and condolences may be expressed to the family by visiting Wolfe’s obituary atwww.hmdfuneralhome.com.

American Plutocracy

Worker justice is unattainable if the worker has no rights within the workplace.  This seems so obvious when you stare at these words, but it seems that this concept escapes the majority of this country.  A strong voice with legal backing allows the 99% to bargain with the plutocracy when essential livelihood is at stake.  What happens when those rights are taken?  The greed of the plutocracy gets out of control, and poverty rises at a rate that is shocking.  That is what is happening in the United States, in Europe, and now it has creeped into a part of the world that seemed to be immune to such behavior:  Asia.

We Americans want a nice transformation to the ways of not living in fear of losing our house, our job, our comfort because of an economic collapse at the behest of our plutocracy.  The collapse of the 1920's was due to the manipulation of the Wall Street crowd who were reacting to the Teddy Roosevelt administration's handling of monopolies/trusts.  Franklin Roosevelt, a very wealthy man, came in and saw the direction this country was in, putting societal principles over the habits of the rich, turned this country around.  The rich were outraged, trying to cause a revolt against the American government by contacting General Smedley Bradley.  Bradley testified to Congress about the "Business Plot" and was ridiculed by the press.  Sound familiar?  The committee found evidence that he was indeed telling the truth, but no charges were filed.  Sound familiar?  The plutocracy has been plotting for years to obtain a stranglehold on this country and the world.  It is all falling into place.  They even have a television network that propagandizes their viewpoints to the under educated and have newspapers throughout the world to support these viewpoints.  This is all to our detriment.

Wars are fought in hopes of spreading their abilities to increase their wealth on the backs of the defeated.  The whole concept of Friedmanian economics is based upon this idea.  It was tried in Chile, and again in Iraq.  Create chaos to bring in a new financial system that favors the rich.  How is there a way to stop this?

The concept of the nice transformation is in danger.  As our rights get taken away by legislations such as The Patriot Act, we have been pretty silent on the losses of the First Amendment rights.  While Americans have been killed without a trial via the use of drone planes, we have lost our Sixth Amendment rights.  Some countries fight back.  France is always having strikes by workers.  Now Asian countries are experiencing riots in factories in which workers are being abused.  Here is an article about Suzuki in India.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/05/us-maruti-unrest-idUSBRE8740QM20120805

The last line in this article encapsulates the result of the plutocracy's rule:  "There is ill-will, there is bad feeling, there is hatred," she said. "If there is no justice and no transparency, there will be no peace... This will happen again."


I am not advocating for the American public to riot in the streets, but I am asking the American public to turn off the cable TV, put down the beer, and find a spine.  We are being crushed.  We are losing our rights.  We are losing our justice.  Let's get it back.  Stand up for yourself and not allow this plutocracy to beat us.

New Midwest Director Elected at 2012 RA

The Peace & Justice Caucus conducted its annual elections at this summer’s NEA Representative Assembly in Washington, D.C.   When I know the names of all the newly elected members, I’ll have them posted on this website, but the only significant changes were at the regional level.  The new director in the Midwest is Danielle Dickert from Caledonia, Wisconsin.

She is a delightfully bright and energetic young lady who will be a welcome addition to our caucus, and I am very glad to have her take over from me.  She is very busy now, so I have promised to give her time to ease her way into the job; ergo, you may hear from me again from time to time.  In the meantime, feel free to drop Dani a line and give her your ideas for improving our badly needed caucus.

Thanks again,

Tom Wolfe

Marines Aim to Counter Teachers' Opposition to Recruiting Students

Staff Sgt. James McFalin, a senior Marine Corps drill sergeant, gets a few laughs as
he talks about recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego,
Calif., last week. Educators from the Los Angeles and Sacramento
areas spent four days at the base to experience some of what recruits go through.

by Tony Perry, and Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times (MCT) 

The bellowing from the drill instructors began as soon as the newcomers arrived.
"GET OFF THE BUS!" barked one D.I.

It's a ritual reenacted countless times since 1923, when young men first began coming to boot camp to see if they were tough enough to be Marines.

But last week's group was not composed of frightened young recruits.

Instead they were high school teachers, guidance counselors and administrators from school districts in the Los Angeles and Sacramento areas. All had accepted the Marine Corps' invitation to spend four days at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, watching the training and talking to recruits, enlisted Marines and senior officers.

“Afghanistan taught us an invaluable lesson . . . It has been and always will be impossible to solve political problems using force. We should have helped the people of Afghanistan in improving their life, but it was a gross mistake to send troops into the country.”

– Retired Red Army General Boris Gromov.


The success at the 2012 RA in DC is reflected by the Peace and Justice Caucus community on the passage of  NBI 81 which states we will advertise International DAY OF PEACE on September 21.  Peace Iowa is co sponsoring an event at the Coralville Public Library the entire month of September.  This event is called Windows to Mirrors, a reflection of the war in Afghanistan, and displays paintings and murals by Afghan children.  Everyone is invited to view works of art and learn about the organizations sponsoring the event the entire month of September.  Docents will be available and there is always need for more(training 9AM, Saturday, September 1). Iowa NEA Peace and Justice Caucus is one of the sponsors.  See www.windowsandmirrors.org for more information.


Thanks to all who attended summer conference!  Nancy

I am running for my first political office.  I turned 60 last week and have been evaluating where I am with my life up to this point.  I have written a number of blogs and have commentated on a number of issues for many years now.  While I should be looking to retire and going into another direction in my career, I find myself unable now to do this because of the financial conditions of our nation, of the state of Illinois, and of my household.  When I coached, I was often irritated by the ignorant comments of those in the stands since they did not really understand the game, the strategy, the rules of the game, and the conditions on the court/field.  I think it is time to get out of the stands and into the sausage-making process that is developing policy.

While I am running to become part of a small cog of a large political process, I find I have a lot of research and understanding to get to before I want to become an effective member of this Board.  So, I have been talking to a lot of conservatives, particularly now that the ACA has been upheld and their hairs are on fire.  This has been a very interesting week.

So, here are the arguments I've been hearing and why I am very concerned.  They truly believe that people in poverty deserve it.  I have always thought this was an exaggeration by the Left about the extremists on the Right, but I am finding this is not the case.  They truly believe that laziness is the driving force to this horrible state in humanity.  When Alan Grayson went onto the floor of the House and did his presentation of the GOP health care plan (http://www.vxv.com/video/mJoiG6IAUg2n/alan-grayson-on-the-gop-health-care-plan-don-t-get-sick-and-if-you-do-get-sick-die-quickly.html), he was not kidding.  I think it's safe to say that these guys are not pro-life, they are pro-wealth--period.  Let's not kid ourselves here.  If we want justice for all Americans, we need to come to this realization:  we are not dealing with pro-life people.  We are not dealing with moralists.  We are not dealing with problem solvers.  We are dealing with the ugliest form of political force.  I have railed against money and its ugly influence on our lives when dealing with religion, health care, and peace.  I think it is safe to say that it permeates every aspect of our decisions.

The challenge I have, should I get elected, is to make sure that I stand up for the right choices when weighing all of the factors separately.  We can't get things done if the money is not there.  However, I can not in good conscience agree to a decision between a moral choice and a financial choice if the financial choice means crushing the moral choice (e.g. the many times we hear about an insurance company deny a young patient treatment because it hurts the bottom line).  I hope I never become so cynical in choices that I end up doing something so horrible.

Election Money Madness by Donald L. Cleveland

            The madness of spending money to win an elected office is reaching a point similar to the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice in Wonderland.  Elections are no longer won on the issues of the public welfare, but on the largess of the greatest propaganda machine output.  “A lie told often enough becomes the truth!” 

            Just for example, according to Mother Jones, the present dollar cost of Abraham Lincoln’s campaign was $2.8 million.  Then 100 years later, the Humphrey-Nixon-Wallace race topped $600 million.  Many thought that the 2008 Presidential Election was a barn burner with a $1.8 billion spent.  The interim U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United has opened the flood gates.  Now, PAC’S and large corporations can open their treasuries to elect those who will do their bidding.   News sources are predicting unprecedented spending in this year’s election.  Business Week and Reuters News have projected that at current levels of fund raising and spending the 2012 Presidential election will reach $6 billion in spending. News Max.com has predicted a total of $8 billion.

            While the candidates try to imply that it’s the small contributions that drive their campaigns, the reality is that few average citizens can afford a $35,000 a plate dinner to be with a candidate.  Then when it comes time to pitch a point to provide a change in the law it just takes a phone call from a member on the large contributor’s list to get an appointment with the chief of staff, the candidate or the President.  A contribution of $5 to $100 might not even merit a robo signature letter reply to a request to visit the Whitehouse.

            The large contributors also know how to butter their bread on both sides.  The Fanjul family , Florida sugar barons, have provided large contributions to both parties.  They could then ensure that regardless of who won, they could still get a favorable hearing on sugar subsidies and import duties.

            So, it is really important to ask if one vote really counts in an election dominated by such vulgar campaign spending?  Does your vote count?

One vote counts.  Make your vote count (editor's note)!

Archaic Immigration Laws

Obama-Napolitano Announcement Keeps Over 800,000 Dreams Alive

Today, President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitanoannounced that the Administration will stop deporting DREAM Act-eligible youth.  The Administration will also review and grant, on a case-by-case basis, deferred action and work authorization to young people who are not in deportation proceedings and who meet the following criteria: Entered the United States before the age of 16 and have not yet turned 30. Have continuously lived in the United States for at least five years. Are currently in school, have graduated from high school or obtained a GED, or have been honorably discharged from the Coast Guard or U.S. Armed Forces. Have not been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, or multiple misdemeanor offenses. Over 800,000 students will benefit from this decision, which means that over 800,000 dreams have a better chance of being fulfilled.  Preserving the ability for students in this country to go to school and on to college without fear of being ripped away from their US homeland is more than a victory for these students.  It is a victory for the country, because we will all be enriched by the talents and contributions of these young Americans.  Read NEA President Dennis Van Roekel’s letter to President Obama and Secretary Napolitano.

Atheists, Fundamentalists, and Empathy

A title in Raw Story really caught my eye.  “Study:  Atheists more driven by compassion than highly religious people.”  As a PK (preacher’s kid) and an observer of human behavior for almost 60 years, this comes as no shock to me.  What surprises me is that this connection is finally being made in a larger venue than the whispers and shakes of the head I have seen when I bring this topic to light.

I have blogged earlier about the hijacking of Christianity in self-titled fundamental Christian churches.  Trust me, they are nothing close to fundamentalists.  I had a conversation with a conservative acquaintance who spouted all kinds of incorrect facts to me to make her point.  I asked her to give me websites for proof to back up her assertions.  All she should tell me was that she heard people say they were doing what she proclaimed they were doing.  I then asked her that if I said I was a millionaire, then that must be true—because I had said it.  Just because people call themselves fundamentalists does not make them fundamentalists.

According to the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science out of the University of California (http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/04/30/religionandgenerosity/),  “Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not,” said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a co-author of the study. “The more religious, on the other hand, may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns.”

Why is this?  What has happened that has completely derailed the decency that one would expect from an organization that professes Christian beliefs?  As I have said before, money certainly plays a big role in this—particularly in the mega-church organizations.  However, this goes beyond that.  Barry Goldwater, one of the co-founders of the modern conservative movement, observed the following in 1981.

"There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.' "

I believe he hit the nail on the head.  One problem with these people is that they will have no compromise whatsoever.  While I understand why they do it, it is unreasonable to demand this in a heterogeneous society.  The biggest problem, however, is that the assumptions or “facts” that they base their arguments upon are largely incorrect. 

First of all, this country is not a Christian country.  It was founded as a Constitutional separation between any church and the state, which drives them absolutely crazy.  James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, gave his first veto against a bill that gave a religious group money to take care of indigent people.  While he agreed with the intent, he disagreed with the role of government giving public money to religious organizations, something that GW Bush and Obama have since allowed.

Now we see that these “religious” organizations do not even believe in the basic tenets of Jesus Christ (feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, curing the sick, taking care of the children, turning the other cheek, etc.) unless a profit is involved.  Yes, government is important in taking care of its people (the common good), but does not need to be involved in the accessory aspect of society.  It is the right thing to do.  It is the just thing to do.  Now, however, being a fundamentalist means turning your back on such ideas. At least, now it is being discussed.  Maybe a movement will develop that will remove the tax-exempt of these havens for the rich.

Justice in Florida

            Isn’t it amazing that we celebrate a semblance of justice when it occurs after a horrible injustice was initiated?  I am not criticizing what the special prosecutor in Florida did when she announced that second-degree murder charges were filed against George Zimmerman on Apr. 11.  In fact, I admire the way that Angela Corey has gone about determining the strongest legal action she could take by going through the information she had in front of her.  Instead of relying on a prejudiced pool of grand-jury members, she did all the analysis needed, in her mind.  Many pundits expressed surprised that she went after Zimmerman with second-degree murder instead of “just” manslaughter, but I think it is pretty obvious that she had much more available to her than was shown to the public.

            I have been sitting on my hands by commenting rarely on this case until something concrete were to happen.  I have been astonished at the way information has been leaked to the public.  I am especially disgusted by the Orlando Sentinel’s lack of journalistic standards by releasing the disturbing tidbits of information that were so heavily slanted without any research to prove these statements to be correct. 

            Thank goodness for the social media and for the brave reporters who brought this story to the forefront of the American psyche.  Outraged people responded appropriately against a slowly rising tide of hidden racism in laws like Stand Your Ground.  These laws needed to be brought out from under the rocks to be exposed to sunlight as the ugliness that they are.  This is one of those ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) ideas that billionaires like the Koch brothers have been pushing.  Check ALEC Exposed (http://alecexposed.org/wiki/What_is_ALEC%3F) for more information on this nefarious group.

            Now, we have to wait to see how this plays out.  I am hearing that the trial will be televised.  I hope so.  I want to see what evidence was not exposed to us in an attempt to manipulate our opinions.  We have a semblance of justice now that Zimmerman is in jail, but we have a long way to go before full justice is obtained.  What is full justice here?  I don’t know, but I will be watching this trial in its entirety.  Zimmerman may be on trial, but a lot of other issues are on trial as well:  journalistic standards, the legal system, the police force at Stanford, Florida, and more.  Whatever the outcome, let’s hope that it is just.  But then, this is the South. . .