Crazy, Jobless, or Homeless Veteran Theme Dominates Media

An interesting and sad theme has seemed to permeate through most of the mainstream media. Regularly, I read stories of 'veterans' who are either homeless, crazy, or jobless. While there may certainly be veterans that meet some of that criteria, there are many that don't and the media simply does not cover the normal veteran.

Taking my cue from the This Ain't Hell blog, for example the arrest of Itzcoatl Ocampo, as reported in the LA Times.

…a relative and a friend of the suspect described a young man who appeared to be deeply troubled after his return from service in Iraq in the summer of 2010.
“When he came back from Iraq, he was sick,” said his uncle, Ifrain Gonzalez.
For the last year, he had been telling relatives that he was seeing and hearing things, Gonzalez said.

Of course, he's a veteran, a crazy one at that, but what the article glosses over is the fact that he was kicked out of the military. I'm suspect of any actual 'PTSD' this former Marine may actually have:

Brian Doyle, a friend from high school, said Ocampo told him he had been kicked out of the military. A Marine Corps representative could not be reached Saturday for confirmation, and Anaheim police declined to discuss Ocampo's military service.

Of course, one of the more popular, post-Vietnam depictions of PTSD is Rambo who went on a rampage against the Viet Cong. Doc Bailey's blog says this:

The real tragedy is that because there are so few people that have served, and because the public has largely ignored the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, these men and women are far more isolated.  Only Vietnam veterans were as isolated, their isolation more because of scorn than because of their disproportionately small portion of society.  They are further isolated by stereotypes that both Hollywood and the News Mediums perpetuate.  The idea of the animal in a cage, waiting to loose his rage on the world, is something that will keep far too many Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans from seeking the help they need and so deserve.

With few Americans actually serving and the real picture not being covered by mainstream media, it's no wonder the dominant theme in the media is the helpless veteran.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of hosting and moderating a meeting with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and representatives of various labor unions from around Central Florida. It was a once in a lifetime experience to meet with a Cabinet member and discuss policy that will affect workers across the nation. I was pleased to hear Secretary Solis reaffirm her commitment to the Davis-Bacon Act. I was able to have a frank discussion with her about the rampant fraud and misclassification that is occurring at the Lake Nona VA hospital project. Secretary Solis assured me that she would take a special interest in that and other projects where contractors are cheating workers and the government.

Hilda Solis is an outstanding Secretary of Labor and the perfect person for the job of protecting workers. She is the daughter of labor rights activists and brings a unique perspective to the position of Labor Secretary. She comes from humble beginnings, and through hard work and desire to help others, has risen to head an entire agency in the Obama administration. She related a story of how in high school her guidance counselor tried to discourage her from going to college and said she should be a secretary. I am glad that she took only part of his advice. I am grateful that Secretary Solis met with us and took our concerns seriously.

William Capote for Mayor of Palm Bay

As of November 2, 2011, Councilman Guillermo “William” Capote is officially a mayoral candidate! Already, he has been endorsed by the City of Palm Bay's Fraternal Order of Police and the Palm Bay Professional Firefighters, with several more organizations to be added to his list of endorsements by Election Day. During his tenure as a city councilman, Mr. Capote has taken full advantage of the opportunity to assist his community in reaching several milestones.

Mr. Capote, a Cuban-American, was raised in New Jersey before migrating back to the great state of Florida. He has been a resident of Palm Bay for over 17 years, and he is also a current member of Palm Bay's City Council, while also serving in the capacity of administrative leadership intern at Brevard Community College. As a result of Mr. Capote's education and irreplaceable attributes, he models skill, tenacity, and diplomacy very well.

Initially, his discipline and commitment were fine-tuned during his tenure with the New Jersey Army National Guard from 1985 to 1993, which concluded after he achieved the rank of Sergeant. Less than ten years later, Mr. Capote graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University (Teaneck, NJ), where he earned an Associate of Arts Degree in Business Administration, followed by a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Organizational Management from Warner Southern University (Lake Wales, FL). Mr. Capote continues to pursue excellence, which was evident in 2009, after he demonstrated the necessary perseverance to achieve a Master of Science Degree in Management, also from Warner Southern University.

Not only has Mr. Capote demonstrated integrity, commitment, and perseverance, but he is also a generous man who has invested countless hours of community service. Some of his volunteer work was performed for a variety of organizations such as Port Malabar Elementary School PTA, Odyssey Charter School, Meals on Wheels, Harris Corporation, South Brevard Pop Warner Football Board of Directors, and Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce, in addition to the Board of Directors of the Mid-Florida American Red Cross.

Once Mr. Capote becomes the Mayor of Palm Bay, he is sure to continue serving his community with even more tenacity than before. In the most effective fashion, Mr. Capote will surely lead the residents of Palm Bay with innovation and integrity, while maintaining an open line of communication with constituents. The prospective mayor is passionately supported by his community, along with the support of his wife of 20 years and two sons, in addition to a dynamic team of professionals who run his campaign. Mr. Capote is clearly equipped with all of the essential tools and encouragement necessary to win the City of Palm Bay's Mayoral Race. He and his team appreciate every vote, as EVERY vote makes a difference!

To find out more about the William Capote for Mayor of Palm Bay Campaign, please contact Fermin Archer at 321.914.7824 or by email at fsacc@att.net

Haridopolos Fast Tracking Bills That Negate Democratic Process

Last year our Tallahassee Republican majority tried to avoid debate about prison privatization by adding it to the fine print of the state budget at the last minuet. Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford appropriately ruled the process unconstitutional.

Arrogantly undaunted, Senate President Mike Haridopolos is now fast tracking an outrageous pair of bills SB 2036 and SB 2038 which address Florida's 18-county prison privatization plan, the largest ever attempted nationwide.

Haridopolos wants to disregard the citizens of Florida and change our current law which requires state agencies to make a case for privatization including cost-benefits. (SB 2036) will allow lawmakers to privatize any state function in the budget behind closed doors, without public input and without having to justify the outsourcing until after the deals are done.

Bribery has become an essential ingredient in Florida politics and it appears our galvanized GOP majorities in Tallahassee no longer feel the need to even pretend to be acting in the voters interests. This legislation will further exacerbate the political corruption that has vitiated public life in Florida by opening yet another way for rich special interest groups to cash in on state contracts.

Considering Florida is ranked the most corrupt state in the nation, we should not trust our legislators to spend hundreds of millions of our tax dollars on major policy decisions unless they are accountable and transparent.

We deserve to be represented by Legislators who do not manipulate the system and make a mockery of Florida's Sunshine Laws. Remind our "public servants" that Florida is not a Fiefdom and we are not your serfs.

The Senate rules committee is meeting today. Call them now. Tell them you oppose SB 2036 and SB 2038. and this attempt to silence our right to participate in Democracy.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos
District Office
(321) 752-3131
Capitol Office
(850) 487-5056
mike@senatormike.com

Senate Rules Committee Members
John Thrasher SD 8 (850)487-5030
JD Alexander SD 17 (850)487-5044
Anitere Flores SD 38 (850)487-5130
Don Gaetz SD 4 (850)487-5009
Andy Gardiner SD 9 (850)487-5047
Dennis Jones SD 13 (850)487-5065
Joe Negron SD 28 (850)487-5088
Garrett Richter SD 37 (850)487-5124
Stephan Wise SD 5 (850)487-5027
Larcenia Bullard SD 39 (850)487-5127
Gwen Margolis SD 35 (850)487-5121
Gary Siplin SD 19 (850)487-5190
Chris Smith SD 29 (850)487-5112

Where is the SB 2036 and SB 2038 "Sunshine" Senate President Haridopolos?

The Irony of Education in America Today

I did not write this letter, yet I agree with its contents so strongly I have chosen to re-post excerpts here. It is my hope that its message resonates with you. Education is the great equalizer; we must ensure every child has equal access to great education.

"Where to begin? There are so many ironies to chose from. Let's begin with the stated goals of education reform. Supposedly, education reform's goal was to improve the public schools. But as 2015 approaches, and the public schools have not achieved 100% success with 100% of its students, it becomes clear that the real goal, all along, was to force public schools into failure by setting impossible goals for them, and then to privatize education. They said one thing: "Let's save the schools." They meant something else: "Let's drive them to their own destruction." That's called Verbal Irony.

Then there's the irony that many teachers voted for you, President Obama, in the hopes that you might turn things around, only to find that you did indeed turn them around-- 360 degrees. You brought us the wonderful world of Race to the Top, which made competition for grants the way to improve education. To compete, states had to push for even more testing and data, and agree to all kinds of top-down initiatives to "improve"teaching. You reversed course, taking what the previous administration had done, and instead of reversing it, reinforced it. This is called Situational Irony.

Then there's the irony we teachers are guilty of. We didn't see what was coming. We pretended that if we just tried harder, everything would be all right, for us, and for our students. Every time more demands were made on us, we simply pushed ourselves and our students harder to meet those demands. Every time we showed improvement, the demands grew harsher. For every obstacle that was thrown in our path, we jumped higher. For every budget cut, we spent more of our own money on our classrooms. We went on believing that at some point what we did would be good enough. In reality, nothing we will ever do will be good enough. In reality, the goal was never to let us succeed, but to close down the public schools. We were unaware of the big picture. This is called Dramatic Irony....

For instance, the more we succeed on raising test scores, the less likely it is our students are actually learning anything useful, since standardized tests represent only a myopic, narrow, constrictive, binary, reductionist view of what learning is. So as our test scores go up, real learning goes down. Situational.


We accuse teachers, who actually work with our students on the front lines of education because they care about students, of greed. We never accuse testing companies and statisticians of greed. They are obviously in it for the good they know they are doing students....

Apparently business leaders are calling for more creativity in their workers. We are killing off creativity in schools, in both teachers and students, and getting ready for multiple choice questions does not make anyone, teachers or students, creative....
We compare our test scores to those of other countries. Yet Finland, for example, which is the star of international test scores, tests as little as possible, has very few standards, values teachers and pays them well, gives them lots of autonomy and focuses on creativity and project-based learning. So what do we do, upon seeing Finland's success? We test everyone as often as possible, even our preschoolers, vilify teachers, create ever more standards, rob teachers of their autonomy, and discourage creativity in teaching in favor of data wrangling and test prep.

People learn best when they are engaged and happy, when there is joy and enthusiasm in the classroom. We are killing off engagement, joy, and enthusiasm, and replacing them with boredom, blind obedience, and stress...

The ultimate irony is this: reformers are saying we should put students first. That is what I try to do every single day in my classroom. But I feel the reformers are putting everything but students first: test scores, data, common standards and assessments, value-added models, and standardized curricula are all coming first. Real, flesh and blood students with real problems, hopes and dreams are the last thing on the reformer's agenda..."

Well said, Mr. Finkle. Visit http://www.bftteach.org/#!latest-news/vstc10=articles to read the letter in its entirety.