Sunday, January 29, 2012

Archbishop Dolan VS Full Natural Law

Archbishop Timothy Dolan has (Again?) addressed the matter of Natural Law as basic
to respect-for-life (A). Yet, he (And so many others within and without the Church) inflict the same platitudes on use and avoid the "hard questions" as to Natural Law.

Those (eg Archbishop Timothy Dolan) who present "glittering generalities" about the above noted subjects should be prepared AND should be required to address the following questions and points.
1. Does, in fact, Natural Law strictly allow the innocent to protect themselves against the attacks of the unjust?
2. Does the absence of such civil-or-military forces who are both able and willing to provide immediate-and-effective protection magnify that right to self-defense?
3. Does the absence of such immediate-and-effective government protection specially allow the innocent to have the means (ie Modern firearms and other weapons) to enforce the Natural Law right to self-defense?
4. Does that right stop at the first hesitation of the criminal-attacker OR extent to the prevention of such attacks in the immediate future? At some longer interval when the attacker has clearly indicted an intent to continue such attacks?
5. Does Natural Law extend a right OR duty to protect the innocent against like criminal attacks?
6. Does Natural Law (As understood by the Church) allow for the use of deadly force to protect the lives of innocent others?
7. Does the Church admit that Islam's teachings, goals and methods all combine to encourage, if not command (As the expressed will of the Allah of the followers of the false prophet Mohammed), murder, rape, banditry, genocide, suppression of all true religions and of all other ideologies as well as that of all women and all Non-Muslims?
8. Does the Church still accept or now deny the validity of the teachings of that "Doctor Of The Church, St. Bernard Of Clairvaux (In his De Laude Militae Novae; E.), that it is sometimes necessary, if not required, that the faithful "Strike (Deadly) Blows For Christ"---If, and only if, the Christian warrior is without selfish or illicit motives? In doing so we would be "Good Shepherds".

If, and only if, Archbishop (And others) wish to teach about Natural Law, protecting life and like subjects, he (And they) must address the "hard questions" lest he (They) fail of the duty to fully teach "The Splendor Of Truth"

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Vocational Education In/For Wisconsin

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel should be thanked for its publication of Mr. Buckley Brinkman's column ("Shortage requires unified effort"; Jan. 1. 2012; Page-4J) supporting vocational education and the self-direction (Or, guiding) of our youths towards trade-and-vocational education and careers.

It would have been much better to have printed it on Page-1J and "above the fold" as the editors did for the platitudes and "glittering generalities" they inflicted on its readers, from "professional educators" and other self-serving politicians, some few weeks ago.

Yet, I think that Mr. Brinkman too conservative as to specific recommendations for the good of our youth and our economy. Below you will find a partial list (I invite additions or alternatives) towards the above cited goal.

1. The selection of vocational school board members is: Archaic and does not represent the many and accelerating changes in our economic world as "quotas" are set for persons of certain positions; And, is most undemocratic as as the People do not select those members from the best qualified candidates (Who, in a direct election, could tout such factors as work experience, prior vocational education, union membership, industrial-executive experience and like factors). Therefore, I suggest that vocational board members be directly elected by the citizens who pay for those schools.
2. As Mr. Brinkman mentioned student loan debt, I suggest that student loans for our many vocational schools be: Limited to those students in GED/HSEHS ED and purely vocational/professional programs (eg Fire fighting, Nursing, "Body Shop"; Plumbing); And, excluding those (eg Liberal Arts, ESL) for which the onus of payment should be on the student and not the tax payer---Especially in the light of loan defaults on such "non-economic" loans).
3.
To maximize returns on the investment in vocational education all "Affirmative Action" programs or any "quotas" must be eliminated.
Entry must be for the best qualified applicants as based on "cultural fair" educational (Reading and mathematics skills) and job-related skills as might be obtained from natural ability, out-of-school-learning and tested by such means as are familiar to guidance and vocational-rehabilitation counselors.
4. It would be best if we were not wasting tax moneys on such programs that over-produce technical school graduates for whom there is only a limited (Or, nonexistent) demand. Therefore one State agency must ask other governmental units, unions, professional and industrial organizations (eg Auto Body Shop owners) Etc. to submit (eg Once every two years) their data and conclusions as to the numbers and needs for trained workers over the following ten years AND their recommendations as to the types of training & retraining (Do not forget Mr. Brinkman's comments as to the changing nature of our technology) needed to meet those goals.
Those who do not wish to cooperate should be "reminded" that they will be cut out of relevant, job filling-and-producing, private-sector-union-building and profit-making decisions-and-actions.
The data collected and processed must result in decisions as to which programs are to be established or expanded or suspended or cut-back or eliminated.
5. The regional differences in such results must not be ignored.
6. The unions and business interests cited above should be "solicited" to underwrite
(eg An up-to-date Body Shop training center)---Especially where there is a considerable demand for some particular cluster of training OR retraining skills.
7. In exchange for all of the above efforts and expenditures by business and union interests, we should change our State's laws (And Constitution) to allow, as necessary, binding (NOT subject to bankruptcy proceedings, for which some "waiver" might be necessary from the Congress) "Apprenticeship Contracts" (aka Indentures) to "bind" young workers to specific employers for set periods-of-time, performance standards, pay rates and other such matters. [There may be a body of well tested and applicable law and models still in place in Germany upon which Wisconsin-specific laws could be crafted.]
8. All appropriate high school staff must be retrained as to counseling students on the opportunities offered by vocational training and careers----And, evaluated as to their performance in that area. State Superintendent of Schools "Tony" Evers should also be evaluated, by editors and the People, as to his performance in this area.

I look for relevant, creative and true action by Governor Walker, the Legislature and other State agencies.

STOP! Rethink U-Wisconsin Education

UW President Kevin Reilly is reported touting the goal of boosting the number of university graduates in Wisconsin. It appears that he is claiming that such would aid the luring of companies to our State and the boosting of Wisconsin's economy.

If, and only if, those are the goals of UW they would be better served by enacting and enforcing the following steps:
1. Eliminate all "remedial education" and related "coaching" programs within UW (With many savings in staff costs);
2. Admit to both undergraduate and graduate (eg Law and medicine) programs only the academically best qualified by, among other means, eliminating all "affirmative action" policies and programs (For more such savings);
3. Make it a matter of UW policy that quotas are to be set-and-maintained for designation as "undergraduate majors" and graduate programs in proportion to the economic demand for persons, with such degrees, in our labor market (For myself, I suggest that there may be more persons being issued degrees in Social Work, Black Studies, Women's Studies and like areas that there is any, if any, demand for by employers);
4. Reduce the number of "Assistants" and "Deputies" in all academic positions by not less than 50%, a change which will save millions-of-dollars and that without any probable harm to students.
5. Required that a set part (eg 50%) of patent-licensing-fees, copyright-payments "earned" by UW faculty and other staff while employed (And using UW facilities and staff to develop or publish) be paid into the General Fund of the State or, at the least, UW's General Fund and NOT siphoned off to some entity not under the control of the Legislature or Regents.

Most importantly, it appears (On the basis of the best information available to me) that the real need of our employers will be persons trained in manufacture-related skills by our excellent Technical Colleges (Which should take the same cost saving measures noted above)! Therefore, the Legislature and our Governor should focus more state resources (Dependent on execution of the cost savings measures noted above) on those technical college AND inform UW that it must control AND cut-back its spending as outlined above.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Islam And Slavery

The Koran views slavery as a “permanent fact of human existence” and “explicitly guarantees Muslims the right to own slaves” (See “Islam's Wretched Record On Slavery”; Front Page Magazine; 11-10-02; By Mr. Serge Trifkovich), In that article Mr. Trifkovich gives further evidence of he horrors of slavery in general, but especially as to the length of such slavery by “muslims”, the working-to-death or castration of most such slaves. (Unlike the USA or Brazil or other places where the descendants of slaves are form a great part of the populations, the lack of such descendants in Arab nations, along with the record of Arab enslavement of Blacks, support the fact that such slaves were not allowed to breed, it being “more economical” to enslave work ready adults.)