Category: Chris Freind

Trump Excites For A Reason

By Chris Freind Trump Excites For A Reason

Bout time!

It’s been 31 years since the Republican Party had a real, honest-to-God candidate running for president. Someone with charisma and a sense of humor, a natural communicator whose populist message resonates and transcends party lines, gender and age. And, God forbid, someone who actually knows what he stands for, and isn’t afraid to say it.

Better late than never.

Thank you, Donald Trump.

With all those attributes packaged into one person, versus many candidates possessing only one or two, you’d think the Republican hierarchy would be thankful for Trump’s candidacy. But rather than embracing it, too many are criticizing, even demonizing, it.

Donald Trump is the best thing for the Republican Party, but the GOP leadership is too dumb to see it.

The GOP field is crowded, ranging from libertarians to Big Government Republicans. Given that the party has been shut out of the White House for eight years, and the odds (electorally) are not exactly in their favor in 2016, the exchange of bold ideas in a drawn-out primary is exactly what is needed. Yet, that’s precisely what the GOP hierarchy abhors.

After the 2012 debacle, they wanted a neat, quickly wrapped-up primary that they could better control, where their “anointed” one could take the nomination with as little intra-party battling as possible. So new rules were adopted by the Republican National Committee, designed to tip the process, even more than it already was, in the Establishment’s favor.

Now, they naively think that will smooth the way for Jeb Bush, who embodies business as usual.

They are wrong.

How hard is it to see that orchestrating coronations over elections, strong-arming nominations for those with big wallets and whose “turn it is,” doesn’t work?

How have they fared since Reagan and his 49-state near-sweep in 1984? Bob Dole and John McCain were pathetic. George Bush I was elected only because of Reagan’s legacy, and the Democrats put up an even weaker candidate (Michael Dukakis). George W. Bush lost the popular vote, and was the unmitigated disaster that led to Barack Obama. And Mitt Romney, despite the imbeciles who blame his loss on the “liberal media” and Chris Christie’s praise for President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, may have been worst of all.

Given the president’s dismal performance the last eight years, this election is eminently winnable for Republicans. But with the party’s new rules, and small states still playing God, honest debate takes a back seat, and party bosses largely retain their ability to choose whom they like, will of the people be damned.

The lesson is to embrace primaries. Contrary to conventional “wisdom,” protracted primary battles are good for, not detrimental to, the eventual nominee. They make candidates measurably sharper, and ready them for the bruising general election.

Bottom line: When you run boring, business-as-usual hacks, you lose. McCain, Dole and Romney personified that, as did Al Gore and John Kerry. And the lesser of two evils wins. Just look at 2012. Despite a dismal economy, runaway spending, real unemployment over 15 percent, a world on fire and a pervasive pessimism, Obama routed Romney. That election should have been a home run for the Republicans. Instead, they struck out before coming to bat. But even more inexcusable is that the exact same scenario is, by design, playing out right now.

At least it was, until The Donald showed up.

When Trump first announced, he generated huge headlines, more because of the novelty of who he was, rather than his vision for America. His candidacy made for great late-night TV jokes, sassy editorials, and snickers among the “elite,” who looked at Trump as an egomaniac who would fade quickly after his latest “publicity stunt” went up in flames.

They were right about one thing. There were flames — his candidacy caught fire. All of a sudden, despite a number of gaffes, “Trumpmania” started overtaking America. He is generating the largest crowds of any candidate, exhibiting great poise on talk shows, and is showing a depth of real-world knowledge that surpasses that of “seasoned” politicians.

It was a level of success that probably even surprised Trump himself, and with it, a different Donald Trump has emerged. Each day, the bragging billionaire with the flair for the dramatic — honed by hosting an incredibly successful reality TV show — is slowly morphing into a serious candidate, one who has catapulted from joke to contender. But why?

Is it because he can’t be bought? Partly. And even though the political graveyard is littered with wealthy candidates (Ross Perot, Mitt Romney), people have the sense that Trump is different. Perot came across as a flake, and Romney was perhaps the most out-of-touch candidate in memory. Neither one could pass the “could you have a beer with this guy?” test. Trump does, with flying colors, as he genuinely seems to have his hand on the pulse of the people.

Is it because Americans realize that government is failing at virtually every level, and that electing career politicians only makes matters worse? And that it is finally time to run the federal government like a business, instilling accountability and tightening the belt, just as families and businesses do? And that Trump’s business acumen could right the ship? Partly.

But the big reason Trump has ignited a firestorm is because finally someone has the guts to call things as they are, political correctness be damned. He doesn’t worry about “offending” people’s hypersensitivities, and naturally gravitates to taking on the “white elephants” in the room that virtually every other candidate avoids. He isn’t driven by pollsters, and he doesn’t need focus groups to advise him on tie color, hairstyle, or the Middle East. And while his brash style will continue to earn him scorn from the pundits and the “I’m-offended-by-everything” crowd, his style of talking to people (not above or down to them) has generated significant support. Trump understands that you can’t be all things to all people, and that by being himself, he will win over hearts and minds.

Granted, he made some mistakes (hit John McCain on his policies, not war record, and talk about how to solve the immigration issue with an iron will and compassion, rather than being perceived as anti-immigrant), but people will forgive him so long as they believe he is speaking from the heart and maintaining the courage of his convictions.

The more Trump calls out his opponents — Democrat and Republican — without reverting to a canned script of non-answers, the more he will shake up the entire presidential field. And what a breath of fresh air that would be.

Donald Trump doesn’t “need” the hellacious road that accompanies a run for president. The fact that he chose to place himself, his family and his entire life under the microscope on the world’s biggest stage, is proof enough that his candidacy isn’t a stunt.

Like him or not, America, and the Republican Party in particular, could do a whole lot worse that someone who tells the truth and articulates a “City on a Hill”-type vision for the nation. By his nature, Trump is a gambling man. And while maybe The Donald won’t be the last guy standing, his candidacy is turning out to be the best Trump card the Republican Party has had in a long time.

Oh, and Hillary: Be careful what you wish for. You just may get it.

Trump Excites For A Reason

Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public

By Chris Freind Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public

Who’s afraid of the big, bad (Tom) Wolf?

Not the Republican Legislature.

Pennsylvania’s new governor submitted a budget proposal that would raise taxes by a whopping $4.5 billion. That plan was promptly bitten in half by the GOP, with both sides now light years apart. And since the June 30 deadline has passed with no resolution, the Keystone State finds itself in a drawn-out budget stalemate.

Good.

What the governor does not yet understand is that he has little public support for his plans, making him a lone Wolf on the impasse. And so long as the Republicans don’t cave, they will win the day, and by extension, so will the people.

Let’s review the major sticking points:

1. Taxes: Raising taxes is never the answer. Doing so takes money from productive citizens and businesses — who would spend it as they saw fit in the economy, generating more jobs and, ultimately, more tax revenue — and throws it into the never-ending black hole of government spending. It’s bad enough that our taxes are so high — Pennsylvania already has the nation’s 10th-biggest tax burden and will soon have America’s highest fuel taxes — but to make the sin mortal, whatever money raised would be completely squandered, especially on education. High taxes can never be justified, but the pill might not be so bitter if at least the money was wisely spent. But we all know otherwise.

Wolf wants to raise the income tax, sales tax (and greatly expand the list of items covered by the that tax), and tobacco tax, and single out the natural gas companies for its own tax.

America’s 35 percent corporate tax rate is the highest in the world. Add in state and local taxes, and the burden becomes onerous. So in Pennsylvania, a company pays the highest federal corporate tax on the planet, on top of the nation’s second-highest state corporate net income tax (9.9 percent), on top of local taxes. (Philadelphia, which is always crying poor and which the rest of the state is always bailing out, is, cumulatively, the highest-taxed city in America).

Rather than lowering the sky-high rates that stifle innovation, cause job cuts, place a cap on new hires, and take capital from the free market, Wolf wants to expand such draconian policies. Instead of understanding why companies flee (and along with them Pennsylvania’s best and brightest), and figuring out what can be done to halt the exodus, the governor instead advocates penalizing the people and companies even more.

As an incredibly successful businessman, Wolf should understand the adage, “If you want less of something, tax it.” But he doesn’t.

2. Property Tax Red Herring: This is the biggest joke of all. Wolf’s tax hikes would allegedly provide some measure of property tax “relief.” The only problem is that it won’t work.

Even if taxpayers received a $1,000 rebate on their property taxes, how long do you think it will take counties and local school boards to raise property taxes after that? Try about five minutes. So Pennsylvanians would receive a small amount of temporary relief, yet be stuck with forever-higher sales and income taxes, all while watching their local property taxes continue to rise to fund a public school system that is failing our children.

Great plan, governor.

3. Education Black Hole: How many times does the obvious have to be stated, namely that throwing good money after bad isn’t just stupid, but ineffective.

Unless the teachers’ unions are reined in once and for all so that accountability can finally be instilled, thereby paving the way for reforms and competition, no amount of money will change a single thing. And this isn’t just a Philadelphia problem, but a statewide one.

There is no education funding “emergency.” The only crisis is the lack of educational achievement for the only ones who matter: our children.

The numbers tell the story:

School spending is over $25 billion annually, averaging nearly $15,000 per student (more than 39 other states), an amount that has doubled since 1996. Additionally, school district reserves grew by $445 million in 2013 to nearly $4 billion.

All this while the number of students has declined.

Despite a drop of 35,510 students since 2000, the public school system has added 35,821 employees in the same period. Therefore, by definition, increased funding, more personnel and decreased class size have not improved student achievement.

From SAT scores to literacy, Pennsylvania students rank near the bottom. Scores on standardized exams have not improved, and nearly one-third of all 11th-graders are not proficient in reading, while 40 percent do not achieve math proficiency on the dumbed-down PSSA tests. Yet, teacher salaries and benefits rank among the highest, and Pennsylvania leads the nation in school strikes every year.

So instead of fighting over more funding, which will produce squat, the governor and Legislature should focus on reforming the antiquated tenure and seniority rules and eliminating forced union dues that are used to wage multimillion dollar political campaigns to keep the status quo intact.

Then, and only then, will things start to improve.

4. Gov. Wolf vetoed bills that would have privatized Pennsylvania’s liquor stores and reformed the state’s exploding pension system. Both would have produced immense savings (negating the “need” to raise taxes), and, significantly, both had widespread public support. But taking a lesson from his incompetent predecessor (the other Tom), Wolf kicked the can down the road to our children. What a legacy after just six months on the job.

5. Taxing natural gas drillers: Once again, we’re told the energy industry needs to pay its “fair share,” an example of never letting facts stand in the way of fanciful political rhetoric.

First, taxing a particular industry is flat-out wrong. Second, that proposal implies the gas industry isn’t already being taxed. So the $600 million from the impact fee and over $2 billion in corporate taxes it has paid is make-believe? Imposing a job-killing severance tax on the grounds that other states are doing it is simply asinine. It would result in a production decline (thereby decreasing revenue) as the industry finds greener pastures elsewhere. And like all business taxes, it would be passed onto consumers.

Instead of penalizing the industry that has the best chance to revive Pennsylvania, Wolf should be embracing it. It has invested billions in capital projects, paid royalties to thousands of landowners, and created countless ancillary businesses, all of which produce jobs and fill government coffers.

If the GOP doesn’t stand its ground here, the goose that laid the golden egg will fly away.

Tom Wolf’s company makes cabinets efficiently and profitably, which is why it’s so disappointing to see the governor kowtow to special interests, forgetting all the lessons he learned in business.

If he had produced inferior cabinets, failed to hold his employees accountable, and lost money, CEO Wolf would have either gone out of business or changed things. That’s common sense. So why, as CEO of what should be a powerhouse state, has Wolf jettisoned those innovative ideas in favor of 20th-century “solutions” to 21st-century problems?

Tom Wolf has shown himself to be a sheep in wolf’s clothing. If he doesn’t start playing his cards right, he will soon be joining Tom Corbett in the one place he doesn’t want to be: the “One-Term Tom Club.”

Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public

Waldron Mercy Academy Right To Cut Teacher

Waldron Mercy Academy Right To Cut Teacher
By Chris Freind

The marriage between Waldron Mercy Academy and Margie Winters, the school’s former director of religious education, was definitely not a match made in heaven. In fact, it ended in a nasty, very-public divorce, with reconciliation seemingly out of the question. And both sides in this contentious debate undoubtedly have their axes to grind.

The issue is that Winters, who has been in a gay marriage since 2007, was fired after parents complained about her marital situation, a legitimate beef since gay marriage is contrary to Catholic teaching.

Par for the course, a group of Waldron parents rallied behind Winters, creating both a social and mainstream media firestorm. Also par for the course, many of those supporters are simply wrong in their thinking, a result of their entitlement attitude.

Here’s a look at the real issues in this case:

1. At the core, this is not about gays, gay rights or gay marriage. It is about a private entity exercising its right — yes, its legal right — to choose employees it believes are best suited for the business.

Pennsylvania is an at-will employment state, meaning employers have the right to terminate employees whenever they wish, for almost any reason — or no reason at all. Additionally, as a religious institution, Waldron is exempt from numerous government regulations concerning “discrimination.”

People are free to criticize Waldron’s decision or denounce it as bigoted, but the school is within its legal rights. Attempting to undermine that fundamental right is sinful.

2. Waldron is located in Montgomery County. So state Sen. Daylin Leach has been spouting off that it is in violation of the county’s anti-discrimination ordinance because some students receive Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit scholarship. He contends that because the school receives such “state funding,” it is not exempt from anti-discrimination regulations. He is wrong.

EITC dollars are not state-appropriated funds, but monies from scholarship organizations that are funded by businesses receiving tax credits for their donations. Therefore, the money comes from private organizations — not the state. Further, Pennsylvania has no statewide law protecting gays from workplace discrimination.

Bottom line: Let’s stop with all the extraneous talk about an anti-discrimination lawsuit, which would have no legal standing and only serve as a time-wasting publicity stunt.

Sidenote: Leach’s comments, while wrong in this case, should nonetheless serve as a warning to any entity taking government money. Once you’re on the hook, the government has you, and it will move in to regulate, dictate and do social engineering, because that’s what government does. Buyer beware.

3. Speaking of clueless politicians, Philadelphia mayor-to-be Jim Kenney blasted the Philadelphia Archdiocese, calling it “cowardly” after Winters was fired. Pay no attention to the fact that the archdiocese repeatedly stated it had nothing to do with Waldron’s decision (and why would it? Waldron is a private school not under the purview of the archdiocese. And disregard that Kenney fully admits that he has absolutely no knowledge that the archdiocese was involved.

After all, that’s the kind of shoddy leadership we’ve come to expect in Philadelphia: Shoot your mouth off on issues that are none of your business as a way to score cheap political points, while ignoring the monumental problems facing the city. Bad start for Kenney, unless he wants to achieve the impossible and actually make Michael Nutter look good. And at that point, all the prayers in the world won’t be able to save his mayorship.

4. The parents fuming over Waldron’s decision need to pipe down and remember a very basic, commonsense idea: We live in a free country, where you are permitted to make your own decisions. Translation: If they don’t like what Waldron did, fine. They can vote with their feet and leave. But they don’t get to change the rules just because they don’t like them — the same rules, by the way, they knew about when they enrolled their children.

Likewise, if Ms. Winters didn’t agree with the church’s position on gay marriage, she shouldn’t have taken the job. But she did. In doing so, she should have known that this issue was one that could — and inevitably would — rear its head. And in that case, she should have been prepared to face the music with dignity. Instead, the opposite has occurred. There are Facebook pages, fundraising drives, protests galore, vitriolic rhetoric (this is all part of the Catholic Church’s “discrimination and hatred”), and even an appeal for Winters and her wife to meet with Pope Francis when he visits Philadelphia in September.

Really?

Does everything we dislike always have to be made into a cause celebre by the frenzied, self-absorbed and sometimes imbecilic social media crowd, so often bereft of facts? And is it really necessary to place every “victim” on a pedestal, elevating them to hero, and even martyr, status?

It grows very, very old.

5. Anyone actually believing the pope will intervene has clearly drunk too much altar wine. There’s not a chance in the world of that happening. It’s a pipe dream perpetuated by those who cannot see the difference between a compassionate pope — “Who am I to judge homosexuals?” — and one who innately understands that keeping an open homosexual involved in a same-sex marriage as director of religious education in a Catholic school would open the floodgates, destroying the very essence of what makes Catholic education unique.

6. Where does it end? In the spirit of “mercy,” as we keep hearing from Winters’ supporters, what’s the harm in keeping her? Under that rationale, should it be acceptable for a Catholic school to employ a rabid pro-abortionist as a teacher, principal or, for that matter, priest, even if that individual is beloved?

Flip the coin. Should Planned Parenthood be forced to employ a devout pro-lifer as the person who counsels women to have abortions? Since doing so would be bad for “business,” and contrary to the organization’s goals, Planned Parenthood would rightfully reject that.

Would it be a good idea to have a vegetarian ideologue employed as spokesperson for a meat company? Again, where does it end?

Waldron’s decision was right, and the only one it could make to maintain its integrity.

Does being in a gay marriage make Margie Winters any less of a person? Of course not. Did she do a good job? By all accounts, most definitely. But the issue isn’t about Margie Winters. It’s about a Catholic entity adhering to the rules of the Catholic Church.

Should Rome take a look at changing, or at least updating, its positions on homosexuality, birth control, marriage for priests, and woman priests? Sure. Likewise, should the church be called on the carpet for employing heterosexuals who divorce, then remarry, since that is also against Church tenets? Good point.

Discussing ideas with full transparency should always be on the table, as honest debate often leads to long-overdue reforms. That doesn’t mean things will change, but constructive dialogue would allow the flock to feel that they have a say in their church.

So to those who think they’re entitled to change the rules of the church just because they don’t like them, say three Hail Marys and make a good Act of Contrition.

Waldron Mercy Academy Right To Cut Teacher

Rachel Dolezal Truth Matters

Rachel Dolezal Truth Matters -- What’s black and white and red all over? An embarrassed Rachel Dolezal. Or at least she should be. Had she not resigned, Dolezal should have been fired, but not because she is white. There is no reason a non-black could not perform extremely well in that capacity; as a matter of fact, according to reports, Rachel Dolezal did just that. The reason she deserved termination is simple: She lied, and in doing so, destroyed her integrity and damaged the reputation of the organization. No matter how well-intentioned she was, deliberately misleading people was unacceptable, and keeping her in that position would have set a terrible example.
By Chris Freind

What’s black and white and red all over? An embarrassed Rachel Dolezal. Or at least she should be.

But the former President of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, who resigned under fire after it was revealed that she was, in fact, white, isn’t blushing at all. Despite duping so many by being a racial chameleon, leaving supporters feeling betrayed, Dolezal stated that she would have done nothing differently, calling her actions ones of “survival.”

Given that this is giving the Bruce/Caitlin Jenner saga a run for its money as the year’s best “you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up” story, where does one begin?

Consider:

1. When asked by the press if she was black, Dolezal replied, “That question is not as easy as it seems. There’s a lot of complexities … and I don’t know that everyone would understand that.”

Sure there are, Rachel. Yep. There are just so many complexities in answering such an extremely simplistic question. Thanks for the patronizing non-answer, but let’s cut out the psycho-babble. The answer is simple: You are white. Period. There are no subtleties here, nor should there be. If the NAACP wouldn’t have hired you because of your skin color, then shame on them. But playing coy with something so obvious serves only to make you look like a lunatic, destroying whatever credibility you have left.

2. Had she not resigned, Dolezal should have been fired, but not because she is white. There is no reason a non-black could not perform extremely well in that capacity; as a matter of fact, according to reports, Rachel Dolezal did just that. The reason she deserved termination is simple: She lied, and in doing so, destroyed her integrity and damaged the reputation of the organization. No matter how well-intentioned she was, deliberately misleading people was unacceptable, and keeping her in that position would have set a terrible example.

3. Dolezal’s parents stated that they are puzzled as to why she would misrepresent her race. Rachel responded by saying that she doesn’t understand why her parents “are in a rush to whitewash some of the work that I have done.”

If that pun was intended, good one! But one has nothing to do with the other. The parents aren’t whitewashing the work Rachel has done, but questioning why she would lie about her racial heritage. Simply put, the end doesn’t justify the means.

4. Following the theme of Jenner’s “transgender” soap opera, the term “transracial” has quickly become the newest politically correct buzz term, ostensibly because Rachel Dolezal said, “I identify as black.” But what does that mean?

You’re white, but because you have an affinity for black culture or history, it’s now perfectly acceptable to represent yourself as black? Because if that’s the case, life just took a turn for the better! If you love Hawaii, and call yourself a native Hawaiian, then that must mean you get all the special privileges afforded to those folks. Same for Native Americans. And while you’re at it, throw in being an American Samoan, because that’ll really help get the kids into college. And of course, being formerly-white-but-now-transracial will make getting minority-only loans infinitely easier, as well as landing a job where minority-hiring quotas are in effect.

America’s entitlement mentality is out of control, but thinking you’re “entitled” to being another race, ethnicity or gender just because you feel like it takes the cake.

5.Rachel Dolezal attended Howard University, a historically all-black college. Did she represent herself as black to gain admission? And did she do the same to obtain government loans, aid, or any type of benefits? If so, losing her job will be the least of her worries, as fraudulently representing your ethnicity for financial gain isn’t just unethical, but illegal.

6. The NAACP is way behind the times, as the “C” stands for “colored” people — a term long since considered offensive to blacks. And while the organization should correct that, maybe it’s time to go all the way and change the name to NAAAP — the National Association for the Advancement of All People. Advocating special treatment for some — not all — smacks of discrimination, especially reverse discrimination, and has a counterproductive effect. When other races feel alienated, the racial gap widens, which has a detrimental effect on everyone, including, and sometimes especially, blacks.

To achieve racial harmony, we must start viewing ourselves as Americans, and only Americans. Not Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American, or white. Just Americans, with equal opportunity for all, and special treatment for none.

But unfortunately, selective discrimination has been deemed acceptable, even trendy. Far from creating racial accord, as its advocates naively believe, it has created a flashpoint in the powder keg of America’s race relations.

There are no white caucuses in our legislatures or NAAWPs, nor should there be. By their nature, they would be divisive and exclusionary. Yet they are just as divisive, and just as exclusionary, when used by other ethnicities. Once a race — any race — feels that it is not afforded equal rights, tensions flare, often uncontrollably.

Rather than learning our lesson, we are marching in the opposite direction, with too many — on all sides — playing the race card at the drop of a hat, often for ulterior motives.

The solution is for strong leaders of all races to unite and demand colorblindness in America, from policing to entertainment, and from education to the workplace. Tragically, though, too many succumb to cowardice, eschewing tough stands in favor of feel-good rhetoric, which placates the masses but solves nothing.

As a result, we are reverting to when people were judged by skin color. Resurrecting such barriers, however well-intentioned, has no place in an America striving to right the wrongs of its past.

Trumpeting color is demeaning to the very people it is designed to help. Instead of uniting, it divides. Instead of equality, it promotes the notion of special privilege based on color. Instead of building upon the American spirit of competiveness and achievement — may the best person win — it robs all people of dignity and respect.

Sadly, we are coming full circle: separate and unequal; separate but equal; equal; and now separate again. That’s not why so many — both black and white — sacrificed so much in the fight for civil rights.

Let’s whitewash the controversy about Rachel’s Dolezal’s race and instead focus on building a nation where people are not judged by their skin, but, as a famous man once said, by the content of their character.

No principle could be more … black and white.

Rachel Dolezal Truth Matters

Cable Commando Showed Lack Of Courtesy

Cable Commando Showed Lack Of Courtesy
By Chris Freind

Oblivious to the danger, the operative sprang into action, reaching the junction box where his mission-critical skills would be put to the test. Honed by years of experience, his hands worked effortlessly as they located the sensitive communications cable and severed it. In the blink of an eye, he was finished, making it back to the safe house unscathed. Victory!

An American agent working behind enemy lines to disrupt an adversary’s crucial communications? No way.

Instead, in a typical reaction of the Entitlement Movement sweeping the country, it was a self-righteous, “I’m offended” baby boomer suburbanite who deliberately disconnected his neighbors’ communications cable, knocking out their phone, television and Internet for days. (Disclosure: the author was in no way involved).

And what prompted the suburban commando to choose instant gratification over good relations with his neighbors?

Due to some nearby construction, a thin communications cable was temporarily above-ground, running in front of his house. That’s it. It wasn’t the latest chapter in a Hatfield-McCoy feud, nor was it an act of desperation because his life had been turned upside down. It was only a small cable, which didn’t affect anyone. And the kicker is that our “hero’s” actions hurt those who had absolutely nothing to do with the situation.

Did it matter that his neighbors’ kids couldn’t log on to do their homework? Nope. Or that people missed work deadlines because of no Internet? Or that baby sitters without cellphones had no way of calling the parents (or 911) in an emergency?

Absolutely not. So long as he still had service, that’s all that mattered, everything and everyone else be damned.

In straying from what were once our values, he succumbed to the do-whatever-you-want-that-makes-you-feel-good mentality, where consequences and accountability are ignored.

Several thoughts:

–First, tampering with a company’s equipment is a serious crime, so he’s lucky not to be prosecuted. Ironically, if he did jail time, he’d still be able to watch cable TV, but it’s just not the same when Bubba, your ax-murdering cell mate, doesn’t share your programming tastes. (Suggested shows/movies while in the pen: “Law And Order,” “The Jerk,” “Dumb And Dumber,” “The Cable Guy”).

–Obviously, the rerouted cable was a result of the construction. So clearly, he should have addressed the construction manager, not disrupt his neighbors. That’s common sense, but it didn’t happen.

–It’s pretty sad when people have nothing better to do with their lives than complain about trivialities while assailing their neighbors and friends.

–By far, most disconcerting is today’s total lack of courtesy. Not that long ago, when people had a problem, they’d walk next door and talk things out civilly. Imagine that. Same at work, school, on sports teams, and yes, even in government buildings. But somewhere along the way, that all changed, replaced by an it’s-all-about-me attitude.

Far too many now deem it acceptable to hide behind social media while demonizing others. Or shout obscenities at the motorist ahead who didn’t stomp on the accelerator the second the light turned green. Or insult someone at the ATM because we’re “inconvenienced” by waiting a whopping two minutes.

It has become commonplace to see adults (and, sadly, their children) butt in front of others at the amusement park while acting as if that’s their right. We see parents screaming at referees during youth sports games, acting like it’s the NCAA championship. And these same parents accept their young children rudely calling teachers and coaches by their first names.

Manners, let alone etiquette, have become foreign concepts. (Though the oasis in the desert of rudeness are Wawa stores. People go out of their way to hold open doors, wait patiently in the coffee line, and even behave themselves finding a parking space. Whatever causes that phenomenon needs to be studied and emulated.)

The biggest irony is that the same people who are just dying to tell the entire world their life story on the back of their cars — yes, we know: You went to Ohio State, vacation in Sea Isle, have been to Disney World, love Pomeranians, brake for squirrels, hate guns, support the troops, save the whales, and have brainiac kids who, despite their massive social ineptitude, are middle school honor students, play the cello, are mathletes, and attempt to play lacrosse — won’t give you the time of day in the elevator or walking down the street. No hellos, God Bless yous, or good mornings. Nothing. All too often, it’s just a sneer.

Ronald Reagan and former Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill disagreed on most issues, but at the end of the day, they shared a beer while laughing, telling stories and enjoying each others company.

So why the change? Crazy as it sounds, maybe it was the fall of the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, the threats of the Red Menace and nuclear war were always with us. While we naturally still had our disputes, the common perils we faced kept us disciplined, focused on the big picture. Once the Communist walls came tumbling down, so did the common bonds that kept us united, replaced by the new “causes” of unchecked consumerism and greed — an unprecedented thirst for materialism that would make Gordon Gekko blush with envy.

Or maybe it’s air conditioning and back decks keeping us totally isolated from our neighbors, unlike the days when everyone in the neighborhood would sit on their front porches. That made for tight-knit communities where neighbors were intimately involved in each others lives.

Maybe it’s a pipe dream, but Americans would do well to put down the phones now and then, and try that lost art of talking to each other. Will we ever return to those halcyon days of yesteryear when respect and courtesy were commonplace? Hard to say. But this much is certain: that transformation can only begin one conversation at a time.

And a good day to you!

Duke Angers Special Snowflake

Duke Angers Special Snowflake
By Chris Freind

See if you can tell what’s wrong with this story:

Girl applies to Duke University.

Girl is rejected by Duke University.

Girl doesn’t “accept” Duke’s decision, writing a letter “rejecting” the University’s rejection.

Girl uses social media to make letter go viral.

Media, incomprehensibly, runs with the story.

Duke responds and holds firm, but with a wimpy, politically correct answer.

Girl pouts about how much “power” universities have over students.

Millennial generation, and their coddlers, applaud girl as “hero,” and letter as brilliant.

Given that the Millennials are the leaders of tomorrow, only one thought comes to mind: God help us.

First things first. To all the Millennials who think they’re God’s gift to America, and their adult enablers who encourage that generation’s entitlement mentality through constant coddling, bring on the hate mail. We can see it now: The big, bad columnist beating up on a 17-year-old just trying to make her way in the world, as he criticizes an entire generation with sweeping generalizations.

Good. Someone certainly has to, because the Millennials need a good, swift kick in the derriere to bring them back to planet Earth and that pesky thing called The Real World.

Let’s take a look at the situation involving this high school senior:

1. Her Tumblr bio says a lot: “I’m … and there’s not a boy on this Earth worthy of me.” Wonderful! With that attitude, she will no doubt have an illustrious dating career. Confidence is one thing, but sheer arrogance is quite another, something the Millennials (those born between the early 1980s and 2000) have not come close to understanding.

But that arrogance comes with an ironic twist. For the most part, the Millennials are not confident at all. Quite the opposite, they are extremely risk-averse and thin-skinned, getting hurt feelings whenever something doesn’t go their way, and “offended” by everything — a complex fueled by a woefully misguided sense of entitlement.

Sure, they are a product of their environment — helicopter parents hovering over their every move in a fairy tale attempt to sanitize everything. But like every generation before them, they have to be accountable for their own actions. Instead, they continue to reject that rite of passage.

2. As everyone knows, Duke is an elite university, accepting just 12 percent of students. The student was rejected. Fine. Join the club. But if you’re going to call the university on the carpet and insist it made a mistake, you had better have your ducks in order. There’s an old saying that arrogance isn’t arrogance if you can back it up, but in this case, she fell far short. Let’s take a look at, and correct, parts of her letter:

“This year I have been fortunate enough to receive rejection letters from the best and brightest universities in the country. With a pool of letters so diverse and accomplished I was unable to accept reject letters I would have been able to only several years ago…. despite Duke’s outstanding success in rejecting previous applicants, you simply did not meet my qualifications. Therefore, I will be attending Duke University’s 2015 freshmen class.”

The student’s appalling use of grammar unwittingly validated Duke’s decision. It’s common sense that, if you’re serious about Duke reconsidering its decision, you sure as hell better not send a poorly written letter. Duke picks the cream of the crop, so if you’re going to broadcast to the world that the Blue Devils made a mistake, you need to be perfect making your case. She wasn’t:

A. Universities are not “bright;” people are.

B. Letters cannot be “accomplished.” (And a comma is needed after “accomplished.”)

C. The rest of that sentence is not just poorly written, but completely unintelligible. If people wonder what you’re trying to communicate, you’ve already lost.

D. A university isn’t “successful” when it rejects applicants. And the remainder of that sentence is indecipherable (why would an applicant have qualifications for being rejected?)

E. Finally, students don’t “attend” the Class of 2015; they become part of it.

Is that nitpicking? Was this all just in jest? Are we taking this too far? No.

Americans, especially students, have become horrendous communicators. Part of that is due to our failing educational system, and partly because Millennials rely on technology so much that their social and communication skills are virtually nonexistent. And if we don’t correct it at age 17, then when? At 21? When they enter the job market? And why did the media, and Duke, give this student a free pass on her grammatical errors? When her letter went “viral,” making worldwide headlines and being reposted over 100,000 times, it landed in the public square. You can’t have it both ways: basking in the attention, but not taking responsibility for shabby work. Grade: F.

3. Duke’s response also went viral. To the university’s credit, it told the girl she could appeal, but overturned rejections were rare. Fine.

But then it bowed to political correctness, playing right into the very problem Millennials have: their constant need to be stroked. The Duke letter stated, “Please know that our decision was not a judgment of you as a student or a person, but a reflection of our limited space and talented applicant pool.”

Sorry, Duke, but you got that one wrong. Of course rejecting applicants is based on who they are as students and people! There are no other criteria on which to judge! And that’s perfectly fine. It doesn’t mean rejected students are bad people or unaccomplished, but that they simply didn’t make the cut.

The student, in an email to the Huffington Post, wrote, “I just realized how much power these universities seem to have over students … Their word is the end-all, be-all. But what if it wasn’t? What if I treated them like they treated me?”

What does that even mean? Should every university, sports team and employer accept everyone who applies simply because rejecting people is exercising “power” over them? And how exactly did Duke “treat” her that merits that response? They simply said she, along with 88 percent of other applicants, didn’t make the cut. Deal with it. And if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

That’s the real world, and rejections are a big part of life. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Walt Disney was fired because he had “no good ideas and lacked imagination.” Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates — the list of those who faced difficult rejections but bounced back to find success is infinite.

Of course being rejected stings! It’s supposed to. What sets the Millennials apart is that they wallow in self-pity, believing they are entitled to success without doing the heavy lifting required to achieve it. What they should be doing is learning from their failures and using them as motivation to improve themselves and ultimately, prove their detractors wrong.

But that’s not happening. And until it does, the Millennial generation will keep doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. As Einstein, who failed many times, said, that’s the definition of insanity.

Would the next generation please stand up?

Duke Angers Special Snowflake

Tears Shed For Villanova

Tears Shed For Villanova
By Chris Freind

Dear North Carolina State:

Really? Did you really have to rip our hearts out by beating our Number One seed Villanova?

Congratulations. We hope you’re proud. You single-handedly kicked eight million Philadelphia sports fans in the teeth, sending us right back into our perpetual state of depression. We may be one of the nation’s biggest cities, but somehow, we are dead last in championships.

Sixers? Horrendous. Twenty-two years since their last title. And for good measure, the franchise owns the NBA record for fewest wins in a season. Flyers? Do we even have a hockey team anymore? (Gerry Ford was President the last time we won the Stanley Cup). Phils? Most losses of any team, in any sport, in American history (over 10,000). And our beloved Iggles? Always close, but zero Super Bowl trophies.

Our last true hope was Villanova. Sure, they made history once before as a Cinderella, but this was a powerhouse team. This time it would be different. This was the year that would finally be ours, with the dynamic Wildcats surely advancing to the Championship game, then knocking off those other Wildcats. It was so close, almost in our grasp.
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But instead, you just made ‘Nova coach Jay Wright the next Andy Reid. Great regular season leader, but underachiever when it counts most. And so our mammoth inferiority complex continues. So thanks —- and maybe we’ll see you next year, when our Groundhog Day in the NCAA’s will no doubt continue.

Yours in Suffering,

Philadelphia

****

March Madness.

It is, without a doubt, the best sporting event on the planet.

Sure, the Olympics stoke nationalistic fervor, and Americans sometimes excel in sports where they aren’t favored (who can forget the Miracle on Ice?), but America is virtually never the underdog, because we almost always lead the world in the medal count.

And stop right there. No, the World Cup absolutely, positively, cannot compare. First, soccer isn’t a sport; it’s a recreational activity. Second, enough with the theatrics of players writhing on the turf for ten minutes because they injured a nail. Third, what’s up with that running clock and the fact that we really don’t know when the game will end? Even worse is the offsides rule, which kills the .001 percent excitement level in professional soccer by stifling aggressiveness and encouraging pansy play. A rule, by the way, that virtually no American understands.

Finally, can we just admit that all those “cards” —- which come in more colors than the Homeland Security threat-level chart —- are really dumb? Refs don’t warn basketball players not to hack a guy after the fact. They actually call the foul. A simple concept, yet one lost on the soccer fanatics.

But the NCAA Tournament is different, in so many ways. And when it comes our way each spring, some miraculous things occur throughout America.

March Madness teaches us that anything can happen, and that miracles do occur. Its lesson that sportsmanship, confidence, and work ethic can achieve the impossible are timeless for young and old alike.

On game days, very little work gets done. And you know what? That’s okay, even with most bosses. Americans work harder than anyone else on earth. Hell, we’re still being productive while the Europeans are taking a siesta —- from their earlier siesta. If there was ever something to which we can legitimately feel “entitled,” it’s taking a little time to watch the tournament together.

And that is the most important thing: being together. For a few short weeks, Americans suddenly become blind to our prejudices. Political partisanship and the management-labor caste go out the window. The only colors we care about are those worn by our favorite teams.

No longer do we see ourselves, and each other, as black and white, male and female, liberal and conservative. Instead, we become friends, neighbors, and countrymen, all side-by-side, cheering in unity. In lunchrooms, bars, and cubicles, even crowded around cellphones, we huddle. Screaming. Smiling. And sometimes even crying.

We come together to cheer for our teams —- some of whom we’ve never heard of, hailing from places we don’t know —- watching breathlessly as a Number 14 seed comes agonizingly close to slaying a giant.

We experience the unbelievable moments, sometimes forgetting to breathe, as seniors —-some destined for the NBA, but most for an “ordinary” life —- play their hearts out, knowing that one misstep will end their collegiate career. And just as often, we see 18-year-old freshmen step to the foul line with the game literally in their hands, as an entire nation —- including the President of the United States —- watches.

And alma maters and home teams notwithstanding, the vast majority of Americans always pull for the underdogs, the teams that the “experts” don’t give a snowball’s chance in hell to win. Yet year after year, many find a way to knock out Goliath. We find this endearing not just because it’s fun, but because it personifies who we are as Americans.

From our very beginnings, the odds have always been stacked against us:

-Defeat the British, merely the most powerful nation the world had even known? Dream on. But we did, making the dream of liberty and freedom a reality, on an unprecedented scale, for hundreds of millions.

-Win the Civil War? Forget it. Even if Lincoln’s army prevailed, the defeated South’s resentment would never subside, and its people would never, could never, assimilate into a northern-dominated America. If Vegas had odds, it would have been a sure bet that the tattered Union would not prevail. But it did.

-Save the world from the tyranny of the Axis Powers? With an under-equipped army and industrial base not suited for defense production? Not for decades could victory be expected. And to engineer a weapon so awesome that it could end the war after just one or two uses? Forget about it. And yet, the Greatest Generation not only accomplished those things, but provided the blueprint for America’s postwar mega-boom.

-Put a man on the moon? Save the Apollo 13 astronauts? Beat the Soviet Union and defeat communism? End segregation? Elect a black man to the presidency? The list goes on.

And yet despite America’s track record of beating the odds, the naysayers are still out in full force, predicting gloom and doom. Maybe they’re right this time. Maybe America really is in its twilight, as the country’s seemingly insurmountable problems —- and the politicians’ inability to solve them in a civil manner —- attests.

Maybe.

But no matter how many times America has fallen, and how often its back has been to the wall, it has always —- always —- prevailed. For the record, my money’s on the world’s biggest underdog coming through in the clutch once again, turning it on when it has to, and finishing the game stronger than anyone else. It’s what we’ve always done, and it’s what we must do now.

And why? Because that’s what a true champion does.

Now back to my bracket….

Tears Shed For Villanova

Standardized Tests Defended

CHRIS FREIND Standardized Tests Defended
By Chris Freind

When convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal was asked to be the commencement speaker for Goddard College in Vermont, most people had two reactions:

1. Goddard’s invite was classless.

2. What kind of school doesn’t administer tests or give grades?

Goddard became the butt of jokes, as people asked why anyone would pay money to attend a college that didn’t quantifiably rate student progress.

College is a huge investment, so parents want to know how effectively the institution is educating their child. Plain and simple, the best way to gauge that is through tests. Yet, that same logic is increasingly under attack when applied to standardized tests in our elementary and high schools. Movements are underway to decrease or eliminate such tests, alleging they are ineffective and too stressful on the students.

Taking a test is stressful? And that’s bad?

Of course taking tests has an element of stress! That’s a good thing, as it teaches how to work effectively under pressure. Despite the misguided souls who believe such a concept is passé, it’s a timeless lesson that will help our children succeed in that thing called “The Real World.”

Leading the charge against “high-stakes standardized testing” is the New Jersey Education Association, which has unleashed a six-week ad campaign, with parents and teachers discussing how detestable such tests are.

Gee, what a surprise. A teachers’ union (just like those in Pennsylvania) whining that things are unfair and that the system is stacked against them. Who’d have thought?

Here are some gems from the commercials:

— “We are setting our kids up to fail.”

— “All of the other things that make you a great human being are not important anymore … what’s more important is can you answer A, B, C, or D.”

— “My first grader cried” after preparing for a test.

— “Standardized testing has gone from a nuisance to a concern to a crisis.”

— “Education is supposed to be about our students, and it’s becoming about a test.”

Where do we start?

First, glad to see the union finally realizes education should be about the student, since that’s never been a priority. Instead, its focus has always been gaining teacher tenure as quickly as possible while keeping the public schools a monopoly, crushing any attempt at competition.

Since monopolies, by definition, are responsible to no one, it’s easy to see why the union staunchly opposes testing. It’s petrified of being held accountable.

Testing provides a quantifiable benchmark to measure both student and teacher performance, which, in turn, creates accountability. Isn’t that what we should want for our children? How could this possibly be a “nuisance” or “crisis?”

The real crisis is people burying their heads in the sand, thinking everything will be just peaches if we coddle our kids by eliminating yardsticks for success. It’s just the latest in the “everyone gets a trophy” homogenization of America, which is destroying our children.

And how does taking a test make someone less of a “great human being?” Talk about insane pyscho-babble. Standardized testing doesn’t make children less nice, nor does it degrade their skills at baseball, violin or karate. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other. In fact, despite our politically correct society, all of those activities have “tests” of their own. Not hitting the correct notes on the musical instrument? Practice more. Having trouble catching the ball? You won’t play until you improve. Can’t master karate techniques? Sorry — no black belt until you do.

Critics are turning a blind eye to the indisputable fact that we are constantly tested: in college, the workplace, sports, friendships, family, marriage. Tests are impossible to avoid for the simple reason that life itself is one giant series of challenges. How we deal with them — our successes and failures — is how we are evaluated.

Critics claim that school programs are being eliminated to fund, and prepare for, the tests. Two points: A.) gaining knowledge in math, science and reading is far more important than extracurricular programs, which, while nice, aren’t going to equip students to compete in the real world, and B.) that’s an issue less about testing than it is about public schools squandering billions. With better stewardship of that money, there is no reason students can’t have both.

Standardized tests are not the be-all and end-all. Admittedly, some schools are testing their students too often, and, in the process, placing an undue amount of pressure on them, which becomes counterproductive. Nonetheless, testing remains an absolute necessity.

Let’s keep this in perspective. These tests are not to land a great job or get into college. They are simply designed to ascertain what subject areas need to be improved upon, and ultimately, to incentivize us to better educate our children. And as to “teaching to the test,” that’s not a bad thing so long as the test is seeking answers to relevant material. Students need to know certain things, period. So why would a reasonable person oppose a test that quantifies how well they understand those concepts?

And if not tests, then what? What is a viable alternative to measuring our children’s knowledge? Individual evaluations by teachers? Sorry, but that doesn’t cut it. There are many fantastic educators, but also many who, armed with tenure, are content doing the bare minimum. After all, why go the extra mile when they’re making the same money regardless of effort (teacher pay is virtually never linked to student performance), and have guaranteed job security?

Clearly, many factors related to student achievement are out of teachers’ control. But so what? That’s not an excuse to walk away from seeing where our children rate on the knowledge scale.

Standardized tests expose the unions’ dirty secret that the pubic school system isn’t working. It’s not working in the cities or suburbs. It’s not working when more money is poured into less affluent schools, and it’s not working in schools flush with cash. Color, race, creed and socioeconomic status all are irrelevant. Sure, there are different levels of achievement, but when we stack our best and brightest against the global competition, we not only lose, but continue to fall farther behind.

The crisis we face is of epidemic proportion, one that cannot be solved by throwing more money at the problem or instituting feel-good fairytale solutions. We cannot afford to waste another decade, forsaking our children because some choose to ignore the widespread failure occurring year after year. Our children are no longer competing against those in Seattle and San Francisco, but Singapore, Stockholm and Sydney. Compared to our industrialized competitors, America ranks near the bottom of all educational categories.

It’s bad enough we have fooled ourselves into thinking dumbing down standardized tests, such as the SAT, is a good thing. But taking it further by allowing parents to opt their children out of standardized tests, and eliminate such tests altogether, is a colossal failure in the making.

We have been failing our children for far too long. Let’s not compound that by teaching the wrong lesson about life’s tests.

Standardized Tests Defended

Vaccination Mandates Are Necessary

CHRIS FREIND Vaccination Mandates Are Necessary
By Chris Freind

Mandated vaccinations, or not? That’s the question going viral in America.

And the cure to quell the increasingly nasty debate? Common sense.

Government-mandated vaccination is one of those issues that turn traditional political positions upside down. Some who believe that a paternalistic government knows best are staunchly opposed. On the flip side, many civil libertarians, who abhor governmental intrusion in private lives, nonetheless think that the public must be protected from communicable diseases through required vaccination.

Unfortunately, because misinformation spreads more quickly than measles, the debate has turned ugly, with some even resorting to death threats against opponents. Mandated vaccinations or not, one thing is certain: We’ll never solve this problem if civility and open-mindedness are replaced by hatred.

With objectivity in mind, here is a sober look at the situation:

1. Fact: Vaccines work. They are so effective that many diseases, responsible for millions of deaths, have literally been wiped off the face of the earth. Are they safe? Absolutely. Is that a 100 percent guarantee? That’s an incredibly stupid question, though it’s being asked frequently by some in the anti-vaccination crowd. Nothing is 100 percent except taxes, death, and more taxes.

Rejecting vaccines on the naive premise that a safe outcome can’t be guaranteed should come as no surprise. America has become a risk-averse nation where attempts to “sanitize” everything is commonplace, from the sports field to the classroom to the office. But common sense tells us that’s simply impossible, since real life isn’t always rainbows and lollypops. Never has been, never will be. There is risk in everything, so the best we can do is mitigate those risks and play the odds. Nowhere is that more applicable than in getting vaccinated.

2. Are government-mandated vaccines a slippery slope? Without a doubt. Any time the people willingly give the government that level of power, the possibility exists for abuse and uncontrolled overreach in the name of “the greater good.” Where will it end? Should flu shots be mandated? How about new Ebola vaccines hastily brought to market? Once government mandates (for anything) are implemented, they almost never go away, and continue to grow.

Throughout history, Big Government has run roughshod over individual rights much more than it has respected them. So yes, the possibility is very real that government will go too far should it be given the power to mandate vaccines for certain diseases.

But there is a solution to that problem. It’s called we the people, exercising our unique rights as Americans to call the shots in this country – no pun intended. We, along with the free press, are the ultimate check-and-balance to an oppressive government. It’s our job to ensure it stays within the limits we set. If we don’t, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.

But this is nothing new. The price of democracy has always been eternal vigilance.

3. Mandated vaccines should be decided on a case-by-case basis depending on the disease. Sure, the flu is contagious, and kills thousands annually. But since the flu strain changes each year, flu shots are guesswork; they are a solid defense, but never a guarantee against contracting the flu, as this year’s vaccine demonstrated. But that’s apples-to-oranges compared to many of nature’s other, far more potent killers – ones we have defeated – from measles to polio to smallpox.

Determining which vaccines should be mandated is a challenge, but one that with vigilance and common sense, can be solved.

4. Vaccine mandates should not be confused with governmental overreach in other areas, such as when Connecticut forcibly injected chemotherapy into a 17-year old girl who didn’t want the treatment. Since cancer isn’t transmittable, and she was the only person affected, her decision should have been respected.

Contrast that with measles’ 90 percent contagion rate, which jeopardizes newborns and high-risk individuals who cannot be vaccinated, and it’s a no-brainer why mandated vaccinations trump an individual’s rights.

5. Given that the point is to protect the general public from highly communicable diseases, why do schools allow parents to opt out for religious or personal reasons, as they do in Pennsylvania? Having catch-all exemptions defeats the whole purpose of mandatory vaccinations.

6. There must be a system to compensate individuals who have an adverse reaction, from health care to remuneration. Just as unfunded mandates are inherently unfair, so too would be requiring medical injections with no protections for the individual should something go wrong.

Many people aren’t getting vaccinated because they’re buying into the myth that autism is caused by vaccines. It’s not.

There is virtually no evidence to support that claim, especially after a British medical study linking childhood vaccines to autism, often quoted by the anti-vaccination movement, was found to be a total fabrication. Frustrating as it is not knowing what causes autism, it doesn’t help by stabbing in the dark, looking for someone or something to blame, especially when it results in non-vaccinations based on a faulty premise.

And the claim that the pharmaceutical industry is in cahoots with the FDA? Give us a break.

Vaccine profits account for a mere fraction of total revenue – a reason why many companies have exited the vaccine business altogether. In more practical terms, does anyone really believe that in our social media society, where we constantly tell the world everything we’re doing, that a conspiracy on that level would stay secret for more than five minutes?

Ignorance-based misinformation is one thing, but it is abhorrent when parents purposely infect their children at “measles parties” so they become immune “the natural way.” Doing so is child abuse, plain and simple, and parents should be charged. Making decisions that affect only oneself, insane as they may be, is that person’s business. But when the lives of others, especially children, are deliberately placed in life-threatening situations, there is an obligation for the government to intervene.

* * *

“If we’re extinguished, there’s nothing natural about that … it’s just stupid.” So said Matthew Broderick’s character in “War Games” when talking about nuclear war.

If just a single life is extinguished by once-eradicated diseases because the ignorant go unvaccinated, it will show we still don’t have a vaccination for the most prevalent human disease: stupidity.

Vaccination Mandates Are Necessary

Dirty Chicago Honors Disgraced Little Leaguers

CHRIS FREIND Dirty Chicago Honors Disgraced Little Leaguers
By Chris Freind

There’s good news and bad. The bad is that Dirty Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is awarding championship rings to his city’s Jackie Robinson West Little League team, despite the glaring fact that they lost their title for cheating.

The good news is that the unemployment rate will surely plummet. Since cheaters apparently prosper, and rule-breaking should have no bearing on winning, history will have to be re-written. Legal petitions need to be filed, public relations campaigns waged, — history books revised. If a challenger dare step up to the plate, the defense will be hurling the racist label quicker than a fastball.

For starters:

Lance Armstrong’s testicular fortitude while using steroids makes him deserving of his forfeited titles.

Pop group Milli Vanilli is entitled to be in sync with other cheaters, and should have their stripped Grammy reinstated.

Break the bank if need be, but Bernie Madoff should be freed, and his Ponzi-scheme money restored.

Bill Clinton’s impeachment should go up in smoke, as he deserves another crack in the Oval Office.

Coming full circle, we need to lift the lifetime bans on Shoeless Joe Jackson and his 7 other Chicago White Sox teammates.
Awarding championship rings and demanding that Little League reverse its decision sets a horrendous example for America’s youth. Whatever the reason for defending the indefensible — perceived political gain (“they are heroes,” says Jesse Jackson) sheer ignorance, or a sense of entitlement (they “earned it,” says a parent) — those backing the team are making fools of themselves and doing an immense disservice to the players.

Enough of the warped mentality that the players are being victimized and, since they did nothing wrong, deserve their championship. Not true.

Rather than being innocent, they are right in the middle of the storm. It is inconceivable that players at that level didn’t know that certain teammates lived outside the designated boundaries. These kids know each other and the rules, as much as coaches. That means they looked the other way in order to win, with cheating an acceptable means to an end.

Cheating has consequences, no matter what age. They must live with that. So what that the team worked hard and sacrificed? True, but irrelevant.

Bernie Madoff and Lance Armstrong worked hard — so what? That doesn’t make their achievements honorable, or legal.

Clearly, coaches and parents bear much more responsibility. The players are a product of their environment, with parents either reliving their glory years of youth sports, or, more likely, making up for the glory they never had.

By actively engaging in rule-breaking, their message is that it’s okay to cheat. It won’t stop at Little League, but will make its way to school, home, family, and job. The irony is the people who fostered an environment of fraud will be the same ones asking “how could this happen?” when their children get expelled, divorced, or arrested.

When are we going to stop using race as the go-to answer for everything? Every time black leaders or parents play the race card, they’re not only angering others, but doing a disservice to their own, sending the unmistakable message they’re different; that separate rules should apply to them. Resentment explodes, the racial divide widens, and the dream of a colorblind society slips further away.

Racism has absolutely nothing to do with this situation. Because it’s been injected, the message to players is that bigotry — not cheating — is the reason they lost their title. How can we possibly expect them to grow into productive citizens when we are teaching all the wrong lessons?

Where does it end? Should teams use players over the age of eligibility? How about banned bats? Corked balls? If leaders absolve cheaters, why have rules? All teams will break them because everybody does it. That’s not a defense in the court of public opinion, nor a court of law.

Where are the presidential candidates? Why aren’t they using their bully pulpits to put the apologists in their places, slam the race-mongers, imparting a vision for an America free of corruption?

Because they’re afraid to take a stand on anything controversial, not understanding that such courage is exactly what most Americans, of all races and political affiliations, are seeking.

American playwright Terrence McNally said it best, “Cheating is not the American way. It is small, while we are large. It is cheap, while we are richly endowed. It is destructive, while we are creative. It is doomed to fail, while our gifts and responsibilities call us to achieve. It sabotages trust and weakens the bonds of spirit and humanity, without which we perish.”

Let’s turn the Jackie Robinson error into a home run by showing that honor should always trump deceit.

Dirty Chicago Honors Disgraced Little Leaguers