The wisdom and courage of a North Dakota Governor

(L-R) March, 2012: North Dakota Governor George A. "Bud" Sinner congratulates his son, George B. Sinner, just after young George was nominated as the Democratic-NPL candidate for the North Dakota Senate from Fargo's District #46. He won the seat in the 2012 November election.
(photograph by Larry Gauper)

I can't tell you how many times I wished someone with the wisdom and courage of George "Bud" Sinner had been in the Governor's chair this year (2013). As North Dakotans, we suffered through the most backward, wasteful and non-productive legislative session I've ever witnessed as a life-long resident of the state.

Sinner served as Governor from 1984 until 1992, one of the most difficult periods in modern North Dakota history. The Northern Plains was experiencing a severe and protracted drought, very low tax revenues, high interest rates, and one of the greatest farm foreclosure crises in the nation's history. To say Governor Sinner faced a plateful of problems in a great understatement.

On top of all that, he faced making a decision on whether or not to veto House Bill 1515, a draconian anti-abortion bill passed by a radically conservative legislature. I had the opportunity to personally visit with the former Governor about this bill during a plane ride about a dozen years ago. Despite all of the other problems he had to deal with, he told me HB 1515 was one of the most challenging and emotion-filled episodes during his time in office. He vetoed the bill.

Governor Sinner recounts his decision, made in a volatile atmosphere similar to what the 2013 legislature put us through, in his autobiography entitled Turning Points: a Memoir, published in 2011 by the Dakota Institute Press of the Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation. A landmark historical volume on North Dakota government, the book was written in collaboration with Bob Jansen, a newspaperman prior to joining Sinner's campaign staff and, later, he served as the Governor's press secretary from 1985 to 1992. Full of both facts and anecdotes, this history is not dry. It's written in an easy-to-understand narrative style, with observations by the former Governor that come from his heart, as well as from a very vivid memory.

In our conversation at about 20,000 feet, the Governor told me that pressure to sign HB 1515 came from members of his own Roman Catholic Church, including his brother, who was a priest: Father Richard Sinner of Casselton.

Unlike the signing of the 2013 legislature-passed radical abortion bills, Governor Sinner told me he could not sign legislation that would make any doctor a felon, if he or she used their medical judgement to save the life of a pregnant woman; some attorney for the "radical right" could easily question the physician's judgement and take him to court. That's an unfair and dangerous scenario, but you'll find it in the legislation our current Governor, Jack Dalrymple, quickly signed.

In his letter to the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, contained as an appendix in Sinner's book, the Governor wrote (italics and bold face are mine):

"The opinions of thoughtful people, religious and secular, on this issue, differ widely throughout history and in the present day.

"Given that unknown, government's role must clearly be restrained. History is full of accounts of misuse of government power, often for a 'good cause.' On this issue abuse can exist on both sides; some even suggest legally requiring abortions for causes of AIDS and to curtail over-population. Such abuse must be resisted vigorously on both sides. Government must not overstep its bound. It must not play God.

"I am a Catholic and, although throughout history Catholic writings on when life begins vary widely, I agree with the current Catholic judgement that abortion is wrong.

"The issue here is the role of law. Government policy must find a balanced way which respects the freedom of women in this difficult area. This bill does not do so. This is why I vetoed HB 1515."

Wiser words were never spoken or written on the dangers of government involving itself in abortion and a woman's right to choose. This kind of clear thinking, despite tremendous personal and legislative pressure, is the kind of wisdom and courage we need in state government, qualities that are sadly lacking today in those that make up the majority of the North Dakota legislature and currently occupy the Governor's office. North Dakotans need to wake-up. We can do better! We certainly did during the administration of George A. "Bud" Sinner!

Governor Sinner's autobiography is available from Amazon. More information and to order, click on the Amazon link below:

What happened in the cockpit on Air France 447?

What were the pilots doing before Air France Flight #447 plunged into the Atlantic ocean at around 2:00 A.M. on June 1, 2009? Now that official reports from both "black" boxes (the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder) have been issued, we have a pretty good idea. Incidentally, those "black" boxes are actually orange.

Remember Captain Cheslely B. Sullenberger? He was the pilot that successfully landed an Airbus 320 airliner on the Hudson River in New York City, saving the lives of 150 passengers plus the crew on January 15, 2009. This highly experienced Airbus captain recently did a demonstration for CBS News showing the way the Airbus is controlled may have contributed to the crash over the Atlantic, 3 hours and 45 minutes from takeoff.  The Air France Airbus A330-203 airliner was enroute from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France.

The final report (quoted in a Wikipedia article) indicated the crash occurred following a "succession of events." Aviation authorities said there were "temporary inconsistencies between the airspeed measurements, possibly due to the aircraft's pitot tubes being obstructed by ice crystals, causing the autopilot to disconnect." The pilots, who had not received specific training in "manual handling of approach to stall and stall recovery at high altitude executed inappropriate control inputs that destabilized the flight path leading to an unrecoverable aerodynamic stall." The training the report mentions was non-standard at the time of the crash.

Capt. Sullenberger's demonstration is worth a thousand words. What he eloquently explains and shows in the video is, to me, why so many airline pilots I've talked to prefer Boeing controls and automation over Airbus designed aircraft. See what you think by viewing the CBS News video, available via a YouTube post by clicking here.

If you're interested in more information about Airbus vs. Boeing automation and what happened before and during the Hudson River landing, read my column about a book entitled Fly By Wire: The Geese, the Glide, and the Miracle on the Hudson by William Langewiesche, published in 2009 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York City. Langewiesche tells how Airbus designed their aircraft-controlling- software so the computer--not the pilot--is the supreme command authority in the cockpit. Boeing's automation, however, allows the human pilot to be top dog, not the computer. You can read my piece on this by clicking here.

If you're interested in more information about the book Fly By Wire, click on the Amazon link below:

Another book on the Fargo-Minneapolis "drunk pilots" flight

If you read the book I previously reviewed, Flying Drunk: The True Story of a Northwest Airlines Flight, Three Drunk Pilots and One Man's Fight for Redemption by Flight Engineer Joseph Balzer, I highly recommend you also read the book by the pilot in the cockpit's left seat on that infamous journey, Captain Lyle Prouse. His autobiography (and version) of the trip from Fargo, N. Dak., to Minneapolis, Minn., on the morning of March 8, 1990, is titled Final Approch: Northwest Airlines Flight 560, Tragedy and Triumph, published in 2011 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Like Balzer, Prouse was sentenced to over a year in federal prison, convicted as a felon. And, like his flight engineer, the captain tells his own inspiring story of an escape from alcoholism and the re-building of professional career.

Today, Balzer flies as an American Airlines captain; Prouse retired from Northwest Airlines (now Delta) several years ago and was a 747 captain at the time of his retirement. He received a full pardon from President Bill Clinton in 2001.

Both of these books tell of a life in prison endured - and made the most of - by two men who never thought they'd ever face that kind of experience. These are also two stories of life-changing courage and overcoming unbelievable damage caused by alcoholism.

Each in his own book, Balzer and Prouse are critical of each other. Both books are definitely worth reading. If you've already read or started to read Balzer's book, based on my previous post, I really think you ought to read Prouse's story.

The 1990 flight, documented in these two books, was a notorious and, I would say, historic moment in commercial aviation. It all began at the Speakeasy Restaurant in Moorhead, Minn., and I can't help but recall it every time I visit that establishment. An evening of excessive drinking went from jokes by Jay Leno to amazing and inspiring stories of recovery.

Both of these men continue to serve as motivational speakers throughout the United States and are an inspiration to not only pilots but to all of us. More information on their backgrounds can be found through the links behind their names near the top of this post.

You can obtain more information on Captain Prouse's book through the Amazon link below. I purchased my Kindle copy for about $5-$7 and Flight Engineer Balzer's book for $2.99, with the latest price available through the Amazon link placed below my previous post on that book.

An inspiring book by a former Northwest Airlines pilot

Every time I visit the Speakeasy Restaurant, located just across the river from Fargo in Moorhead, Minnesota, I can't help but think of the three Northwest Airlines (now Delta) pilots who got drunk there. on March 7, 1990. That evening and its aftermath have been documented in an inspiring book I just read. I couldn't put it down; in fact, this book kept me up last night turning pages on my Kindle.

The book is called Flying Drunk: The True Story of a Northwest Airlines Flight, Three Drunk Pilots, and One Man's Fight for Redemption by Joseph Balzer (published in 2009 by Sava Beatie, LLC, New York). The author was the flight engineer on that infamous Northwest flight. He was about to become a full-fledged pilot for the airline; this incident ruined that chance and could have crashed Balzer's life. But it didn't. And that's what this book is about: the incident itself, what happened to the crew, and what the former Northwest flight engineer did about his extremely sad situation.

No news report ever gave me such an eloquent, detailed description of what happened at the Speakeasy Restaurant that evening. It was one of the diners at the restaurant who called the Federal Aviation Administration alerting the agency to all the drinking these pilots were doing the night before a 6:00 AM Fargo departure.

Balzer writes about this alcoholism and how he got control of it; about his time in federal prison (and not just in a white collar prison "camp," but behind the concrete walls of the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary). It's a tragedy, but an inspiring one. He writes about the bad decision he made at the Fargo airport and the consequences he had to pay for his behavior. But he tells lots of good stuff too, and I found my eyes welling-up as he was helped by certain people and by his amazing perseverance, despite one setback after another.

Balzer gives a perceptive description of what alcoholism is and how he went about dealing with it--successfully. Today, he's an American Airlines captain.

If you don't recall the incident, here's a quick history: On March 8, 1990, an intoxicated three-man crew, including the author (Flight Engineer Balzer), flew a Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 with 91 passengers aboard from Fargo, North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport that all three were confronted by FAA officials and taken to a hospital for blood alcohol tests. They all failed those tests.

On July 25, 1990, all three pilots stood trial for flying a commercial airliner under the influence of alcohol; all three were convicted and sent to federal prison.

From July 26, 1990, to the present time, Joe Balzer fought for redemption and to regain what he could from what he lost; Flying Drunk is his story. I'm sure there are many AA success stories out there and this is certainly one of them.

This book is available in print or for the Kindle from Amazon. I bought the Kindle version for only $2.99. You can find out more about new and used print editions as well as the electronic edition through the Amazon link below:

Amazon continues to amaze

If you're a Kindle user, as I am, you should know about two highly useful features I use daily.

One is called "Send to Kindle." This is a free piece of software from Amazon you can load on your Windows PC or Mac (it also works, apparently, from your "Android" device too but I don't believe from your iPAD). You can check it out through this link: Send to Kindle.

Here's how it works: After an easy and quick installation on your computer, when you see a piece of text on a web site, or if you've opened a Word document, you can transfer the text to your Kindle and read it there. It appears just like a book - this is not a PDF; while a wonderful program from Adobe,PDFs can sometimes be cumbersome on a smaller Kindle. Be sure to delete all photos and graphics from your Word document. Your goal is text only, although the text can be in any standard Word format. I have the 3rd generation black & white model that works in any light, including bright sunlight. The "Send to Kindle" feature works on any Kindle, including the "Fire HD."

Here's what I do with that web text: I "select" it and copy it to the clipboard. Then, I paste it into a Microsoft Word document (this may also work, not sure, with OpenOffice Writer documents). I close the document and save it in a folder. I then "right click" on the document and look for the "Send to Kindle" option on the right-click menu and select it. I can then upload that document to my unit so can read it at my convenience, anywhere. This has worked for me with all Word documents.

The other feature I just became aware of and am also using is seeing "my highlights" on a private Amazon page (password protected under your Amazon account). When I make a highlight on something I'm reading on my Kindle - including public library borrowings - I can go to Amazon's website and, after signing-in, I can then see "my highlights." Amazing!  If you're doing research and need a passage for a paper or whatever, you can browse the highlights you've made and select the words you need, pasting them into your document or other database, such as "Evernote." To see your highlights, simply go to https://kindle.amazon.com/ and select "Your Highlights." This, of course, saves hand-copying notes from any book you're reading on your Kindle.

The reason the Kindle continues to grow in popularity, not only with new buyers, but with current users like myself is because their CEO, Jeff Bezos, continues to add new - and FREE - features. Amazon does not rest on its laurels or market share! It's why great companies have FANS, not merely customers.

For your friends who don't return books

Recently, a friend of my was complaining that her book-borrowing friends weren't returning them. I suggested the remedy may be a bookplate I constructed from the following text:

For him that stealeth, or borrowth and returneth not, this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him anguish in pain crying aloud for mercy, and let there be no surcease to this agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails and when at last he goeth to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him forever. 

These words are from a bookplate from the monastery of San Pedro in Barcelona, Spain, and I found it quoted in the book: A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books  by Nicholas A. Basbanes; the hard cover edition I own was published in 1995 by Henry Holt & Company. There is a newer edition, one dated 2012, and it is also available electronicaly for Amazon's Kindle. You'll find a link below if you care to learn more about the book and, perhaps, purchase your own copy (instead of borrowing it from someone else!). You may also find a printed copy at a good used bookstore or at your nearby used Barnes & Noble.

I have used the scary words of the bookplate on my more valuable books and I've done this for sa number of years. By golly, I've never lost a book yet when that admonishment went along with it.

I was gratified to receive a personal, handwritten note from Mr. Basbanes after I wrote to him complaining there was no "colophon" in his book about books. A colophon is usually a short paragraph at the end of volume describing the typography, what it is and a bit of its history. I liked the face that was used in the 1995 edition of A Gentle Madness, but there was no colophon naming it. I was so pleased to receive a response from the author and he indicated he did not know the name of the typeface used in the book, however, he kindly promised to include a colophon in his next edition. I don't know if he did, but I appreciate his concern, as he appreciated my interest in his book. And if you love books, you'll be fascinated by this one.

Here's Amazon link to the latest edition of the book:
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What was a laptop or "iPAD" called in the 19th century?

Author John O'Connell has written an excellent little book entitled For the Love of Letters: the Joy of Slow Communication (Marble Arch Press, 2012). He talks writing an actual letter (not typing another email) to a friend or loved one. Like we used to do. I still produce printed-on-paper photographic greeting cards and add a personal note with my Cross fountain pen. Comments from people who receive them indicate they are very much appreciated and lot more meaningful and long-lasting than an electronic burp.

Because writing a letter - or anything - was the only way to do it a couple hundred years ago, "writing boxes" were an appreciated gift. O'Connell writes: "Writing boxes were the laptops or tablets of the 19th century. Jane Austen's is thought to have been bought for her by her father in December, 1784, had a leather writing slope, space for two inkwells and compartments for pens, stamps, sealing wax, and other needs. Lockable, secret drawers were a common feature." No passwords! Actually, this little item sounds like something I wouldn't mind having today. It might get me back to writing more of those always-appreciated paper notes.

For more information and/or to order Mr. O'Connell's book, click the Amazon link below:

                                                                                                             

Stephen King on guns

He authors best-selling horror novels and he owns guns, three of 'em. And now Stephen King has written an eloquent essay intended to stimulate a national discussion on gun control. It's a "Kindle Single" that sells for only 99 cents, but you need either a Kindle to read it or download the free Kindle "app" from Amazon for your PC or tablet, including Apple's iPAD. It's worth doing.

King's essay, entitled "Guns," asks for universal background checks, including a waiting period and, for those who lie about their past, stiff penalties. The piece is well-written and easy to read, as you might expect from King. No matter what side of the debate you're on, you'll find this narrative interesting and thought-provoking.

How Australia has dealt with this issue is one of the points King makes. That country banned or severely restricted assault-type rifles - in fact, any "automatic" weapon - after a gunman used an AR-15 to kill 33 people and injure 23 more in April, 1996. The Australian government also came up with a gun buyback program that netted 600,000 automatic weapons. After this was done, King mentions that homicides by firearms declined by 60% in Australia.

If you're a Kindle owner - or if you have or set up Kindle capability on your PC or tablet - you can read King's essay for only 99 cents through the Amazon link below:
                                                                                        

Printing as a passion

When I was a kid, somewhere around the 4th or 5th grade, I fell in love with printing. I read a lot about Benjamin Franklin, his print shop and publications and I even dug into some serious printing history, learning about the German printer, Johannes Gutenberg. Although the Chinese actually invented printing, it was Gutenberg who invented - or, at least he was the first European to print from - movable type.

I remember receiving the press pictured above - the "Superior Star Rotary Star" manufactured by the Superior Marking Equipment Company of Chicago - as a birthday or Christmas gift. I spent more time with this little outfit than I did chasing girls as a teenager. It came with rubber type that could be "composed" into words and sentences. The rubber letters would go into metal holders that locked onto the printing drum. There was an ink roller that automatically inked the type; all one had to do is slip in the paper and out came a a printed flyer or stationery or whatever. To me, I it was a ball! Apparently, that's when the portion of my DNA that is deep "geek" started to come out.

One could even place rubber "cuts" on the type holders and then my printing projects could include little cartoon-type drawings and other "line art," as in the photo below:

It was this little press that sparked a life-long interest in printing and the graphic arts. At one point, I printed and constructed - this is really geeky - paper "pen protectors." I folded and stapled them together and printed my name or some slogan on the flap that went over my shirt pocket. My schoolmates in the 6th grade saw me wearing these and several ordered a set for themselves, which I gladly custom-made and sold to them. I even did one for a girl in the class who had a horse named "Sham," and she wanted to showcase that on one of my "pen protectors." 

It wasn't long before the school janitor asked me "Hey, kid, are you the one distributing these things?" as he waved a pen protector at me, one I had made for a classmate. Yes, sir, I was the creator and distributor. "Well, they make a big mess in the hallways because kids throw them wherever they feel like throwing 'em." It seems my buddies didn't value my printed products as much as I did. That ended my grade-school attempt at running a printing business.

I never, however, lost my interest in typography and layout. Later, as an adult, working in media and the ad agency business, I acquired an IBM Selectric typewriter, the one with the little type balls I could change. Changing typewriter fonts was wonderful and a heck-of-a-lot easier than setting lines of individual rubber letters! 

With that typewriter, I created a newsletter for the Fargo (ND)-Moorhead (MN) Ad Club, now called the Advertising Federation of North Dakota, and used "rub-off" type for headlines. And, when Pagemaker came out for Mac SE computers, I was definitely hooked on electronic layout; still am today, but I've done it on Microsoft Windows computers since 1995. Still enjoy printing, but on my inkjet and laser printers and, unlike that little Superior Star, which only allowed me to print on about a 4 by 6-inch sized paper, my printers today let me to go all the way up to legal size! 

My personal library contains about a dozen books on type fonts. The latest addition to my collection is a book published last year (2012) entitled Just My Type: A Book About Fonts (not dating!) by Simon Garfield, and published by Penguin. This outstanding overview of fonts and their stories will help anyone with the least bit of interest in graphics to understand some of the classic fonts and how they came to be. I strongly recommend this book and the movie about one of the most ubiquitous fonts in the world, Helvetica. The movie is simply called Helvetica and is available on DVD. If you're a journalism, English or media major or just interested in graphic arts, you should read Just My Type and view Helvetica, the movie.

Order either or both of these items through the Amazon links below:

   

Photos of the Rotary Star printing press are by Tom Laurus and are posted here with his permission. Tom's photos are excellent and really show-off the press. You can learn more about this product and others at Tom's website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tomLaurus

Here's to the girls

"Here's to the girls who don't wake up with perfect hair; who don't mind eating a Big Mac instead of a salad. Who don't wear 50 pounds of makeup. Who'd rather spend the day in sweatpants than skinny jeans. Who love the comfort of T-shirts. Who don't get all the guys. Who are not "popular," but feel like it when they're with their friends. Who stick to sneakers instead of heels. Who aren't afraid to break a nail. Who don't always get their way. Who don't get everything the want. Who don't need a guy to tell them they are beautiful."

I came across this on Google+, by an anonymous author. I agree with this fellow's views.

What's happening to newspapers?

iPads, e-readers, PCs, laptops and the Internet. They're all changing the media environment in which newspaper must operate. But, as an industry, the newspaper hasn't figured out the best west to adapt to this relatively new electronic world; more importantly: how do newspapers generate revenue today and in the future? They certainly knew how to do it in the past.

In order to make money, a key problem for newspapers in cyberspace is "packaging." I learned this in a recent book by Stephen B. Shepherd entitled Deadline & Disruption: My Turbulent Path from Print to Digital, published this year (2012) by McGraw-Hill.  To find out more about this book and, perhaps, order it from Amazon, simply click on the link below:



Shepherd quotes Michael Golden, vice chair and President of the New York Times: "We've lost the power to package." Today, users of the Internet are attracted to read and then share a specific story and this satisfies the paper's quest for "page views," one of the main criteria for website ad sales. This creates a focus on these "high hit count" pieces and diminishes coverage of less important stories. Increasingly, these subjects don't get covered at all, narrowing the traditional scope of journalism.

The electronic world isn't just a challenge of newspapers. Magazine and book publishing are both facing their biggest change since scribes with quill pens were replaced by Gutenberg's printing press. As much as I appreciate great layout and typography, I have to confess that I'm hooked on my Kindle, the e-reader sold by Amazon. Barnes & Noble Nook fans are equally enthralled with that company's device. In the past, if I found a book at the public library that I wanted to own, I'd buy the hard or soft cover edition. Now, I order the electronic version for my e-reader.

I like the way e-readers serve up text, one page at a time, turning those pages with a press of my finger. Being able to carry around hundreds of books and magazine articles - to read anytime and anywhere - is much easier to do than carrying around dead trees.

However, e-books are not without their systemic problems. Art Brodsky of The Huffington Post asks the question: "Has anyone seen a used e-book?" He points out that one is not really purchasing an e-book; readers are leasing these packages of electronic bits. And when one stops to think about it, he's right. You can read his thoughtful essay on this subject, by clicking on this link: "The Mystery of the Missing E-Books"

Regarding printed newspapers and magazines--we need them because of what they do: original research, good writing and careful, responsible editing, plus their permanency.  Although newspapers are trying to do good journalism on their websites, it's not returning the revenue the print paradigm did. And it's in solving that problem that the whole future of journalism rests. Traditional network TV, the local broadcast outlets, cable networks, websites and blogs can't replace what newspapers and magazines have done for the last two hundred years.

And, we may need printed books, despite the popularity of electronic reading devices. How will today's literature be preserved for readers 100 years into the future? It's difficult, if not impossible, to read some electronic documents I produced only ten years ago, but the text of the Gutenberg Bible, printed over 500 years ago, is still very readable. You just have to know the German language.

A remarkable retrospective all parents can learn from

When 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold slaughtered 12 of their fellow students and one teacher, along with permanently injuring dozens more at Columbine High School in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado (Denver), on April 20, 1999, nobody was more aghast than the parents of these two teenage killers. 

How this all came to be is told in painful yet instructive detail by Dave Cullen in his 2010 book, Columbine. I realize this sounds like it would be a depressing read--there's no way to avoid the tragedy of it all--but the way Cullen tells the story, through interviews with those who were there, law enforcement records, a notebook left by Harris, and other primary research done over ten years, I found  the book absolutely spellbinding. For anyone who has or is raising children, Columbine is helpful in possibly preventing this kind of deadly event from ever happening again.

Cullen explains psychopathy. This was the condition that Harris was apparently in and how his buddy and follower, Klebold, fell into the manifestation of this grave mental disorder. Both had their own problems and, together, they became the worst kind of killers. But through studying their problems and the tragedy that resulted from their twisted lives, we begin to understand what happened on that beautiful spring morning at Columbine High School.

This is a 450-page treatise that I couldn't put down. I read it on my Kindle, but it's also available at most bookstores, libraries and some used book outlets, in hard and soft cover. Anyone who is a teacher, school counselor or administrator, parent or law enforcement official--actually, all of us who live in this world--need to read this book. 

One reviewer, Hugh C. Howey, pointed out on the Amazon website that "One of the fascinating threads in Columbine is the unreliability of eyewitness accounts and the way that early mistakes were not corrected with the passage of time, but rather hardened, becoming cemented in Combine lore." By following this thread, and correcting some of the investigative and eyewitness accounts that were proven to be in error, Cullen teaches us about not only how to react to such an event, but, hopefully to prevent another one from happening.

The book is available from Amazon in several formats through the link below (if you're reading this as an email alert about this post, the link to Amazon.com is available on Wordchipper.com):

The dogma behind the Tea Party and VP candidate Paul Ryan

If you've wondered, as I have, about the origins of the Tea Party movement and what put the burr of economic extremism under the saddle of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, look no further than the "objectivist" philosophy of the late Ayn Rand (1905-1982).

A Russian immigrant who wrote a couple of novels illustrating her political and economic views, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, plus numerous other articles and books, Rand founded the cult-like Ayn Rand Institute based on her ideas of economic and extremism.

The reason this self-proclaimed evangelist for selfishness is relevant today is because Mr. Ryan is an enthusiastic fan of Ms. Rand's principles, tenets that are the radical underpinning of the Tea Party. The man who would be the proverbial "heartbeat away" from the Presidency was raised on Rand and he has indicated that her books gave gave him his value system and beliefs. In fact, he felt so strongly about her writings, that he asked interns in his Congressional office to read Rand's books and gave copies of her novel, Atlas Shrugged, as gifts to his staff for Christmas.

Because of Rep. Ryan's current run for VP, I believe it's important for every American to understand the philosophy that apparently guides this candidate in his thinking about the economy and a number of the programs Americans cherish. Here are a some of the principles in Ms. Rand's dogma:

1. Government is reduced to three functions:  A) the armed services B) the police and C) the courts. Income taxes would end and so would almost everything this tax paid for.

2. Elimination of child labor laws, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Federal Reserve Act, the Securities & Exchange Laws and Commission, the Food & Drug Administration, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

3. All regulations that protect the public, such as building codes, should be eliminated and only rely on a contractor's reputation; "buyer beware" would be raised to a whole new level.

4. Ayn Rand found no value in religion. Her "objectivism" is ardently atheistic. She felt that religion was anti-ethical to reason.

Those are only a few areas of Ms. Rand's vision, one that is hateful and repulsive to most Americans and especially to our established religious faiths, including, most recently, the Catholic Church. The Vatican, which strongly embraces the extreme right on a number of issues dealing with control over women, is experiencing a paradoxical challenge. The Roman church is torn between its usual strong support for the Republican presidential ticket and the views of its vice presidential candidate.

The American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1897 to 2006, is another huge fan of Ms. Rand and her philosophy. Alan Greenspan (now 86) joined the Rand inner circle during the 1950s. Greenspan has long felt that the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Food & Drug Administration are not needed, however, in a Congressional hearing on October 23, 2008, he admitted that his "free-market ideology," shunning certain regulations, was flawed. This was following the U. S. financial collapse of 2007-08.

I just read an excellent book that covers Ayn Rand's philosophical history in a fair and well-documented way. I had originally found the book at the Dr. James Carlson Branch of the Fargo Public Library and liked it so much I purchased it for my Kindle. It entitled Ayn Rand Nation: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul by Gary Weiss, published this year (2012) by St. Martin's Press. This is an easy-to-understand narrative that helped me understand what's behind the Tea Party and where VP candidate Ryan's radical views on Medicare and Social Security came from. Please read it before you vote.

There are many insightful passages in Mr. Weiss's book, but I like his summary of the just how heartless Ms. Rand's philosophy can be: She teaches every alienated teenager it's okay to be a loner. You don't need friends. You don't have to share. It's your toy. You earned it. Keep it. Your little sister can get her own toy.  

That's more than pathetic; it's pathological.

Here's why Garrision Keillor and I are Democrats

The sage of Minnesota and America's modern-day Mark Twain, Garrison Keillor, eloquently, seriously, and in his highly readable and listenable trademark style, describes his view of the role of government in America in a 2004 book: Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America, published by Viking (book ordering and info link at the bottom of this post). 

As a general policy, I don't write about politics here, however, as Mr. Keillor points out: "Dante said that the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral." I agree with both Dante and Keillor. The author explains, far better than I have ever attempted, why he -- and I -- are proud to be Democrats.

I purchased this book during the intermission of a live broadcast of Keillor's national radio program on NPR, A Prairie Home Companion, in front of a capacity audience at the Concordia College Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minnesota, on October 9, 2004.

At that time, the country was in the middle of President George W. Bush's bid for re-election and he was being challenged by Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a Vietnam War Veteran. The Senator was being pilloried by Republican "Swift Boat" attackers for his military service, even though he was honored with a Purple Heart. He was wounded in the process of taking life-risking actions to save lives under his command. At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church was denying Senator Kerry communion because he believed a woman's decisions about her body were between herself, her God, and her doctor.

Keillor brings home some points all Americans should think about, particularly those caught-up in the Tea Party "no government" rage. He - and millions of us, including Tea Partiers - have greatly benefited from laws and programs initiated and supported by Democrats.

For example, coming from a family of very modest means in Anoka, Minnesota, Keillor received his higher education at the University of Minnesota, an institution created by the Morrill Act of 1862. I also went to school there while working at KSTP Radio-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul. I started college in another public institution created by Morrill's subsequent companion, the Agricultural College Act of 1890: North Dakota Agricultural College, now North Dakota State University.

Keillor was employed as an announcer at KUOM, the campus station, while I worked across town in the announcing booths of the local NBC affiliate. One might say I was off to a rabbit-like start compared to Keillor. Alas, in this case, the turtle won: Garrison Keillor has authored a good number of successful books available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. I have none. And, of course, he has a unique and still-going-strong national radio program with over 4 million weekly listeners. I have this blog.

He starts there, with the value of a public education made available to everyone through taxpayer support. He goes on to write about programs such as Medicare, for the elderly, and Medicaid for the poor, and how those programs, as well as Social Security, have helped keep millions of our citizens out of medical and old-age bankruptcy, or in depression-like living conditions.

Keillor says "The Nixon moderate vanished like the passenger pigeon, purged by a legion of angry white men who had risen to power on pure punk politics, nasty, violent, borderline. Bipartisanship is another term for date rape, says (lobbyist) Grover Nordquist, the Sid Vicious of the GOP. I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub. The boy has Oedipal problems and government is his daddy."

This is a constructive book, particularly valuable to any young person who is trying to figure out government and America's political system before permanent hardening of opinions sets in. In his conclusion, Keillor writes that he has "spoken his piece." And in calling his book to your attention, so have I.

You can get pricing information or order this book through the link below:

Excellent video essay on storytelling

On Scott Bourne's very-popular-with-photography-fans and highly useful blog - Photofocus.com -  I discovered a link to an amazing little video essay found embedded in an extraordinary blog for writers: OneWildWord.com. The insightful and inspiring piece is called "Ira Glass on Storytelling," but it applies to whatever creative project you have been trying to do (this is why Scott shared it with his photography followers, of which I am one).

Mr. Glass, founder, producer and host of This American Life on PBS, is talking primarily to "beginners" in creative work, however, he provides motivation for all of us, novice or beginner alike (it's only 2 minutes in length, turn on your speakers, click on start arrow twice):



By the way, if you're interested in writing, I'm sure you'll find, as I did that, OneWildWord.com is a truly different kind of instructional and informational blog for writers.