Elitism and Arrogance

A few years ago, I was taking a small group of students on a ten day trip to Italy.  Fascinated by its rich history and archeological sites, the most inquisitive of my talented students were ready to try their language skills. Since our group was small, the tour organizer decided to merge us with another group in order to fill a large bus. It was simple economics; the cost would have been lower for everyone.

To my amazement and unpleasant surprise, the planned merger with a group from Boston was rejected by the school director who specifically asked in a lengthy letter that his students not be forced to ride across northern Italy with Mississippi students. The Bostonians were “elite students accompanied by highly trained and educated faculty and did not want their enlightening experience to be spoiled by country folk who were barely literate and did not wear shoes.” I was surprised that the tour operator actually shared the letter from the Boston school. Perhaps she was incensed by the tone as well. They were requesting a different bus, despite the additional $15,000 cost. In the end, we were paired with a nice group from Florida.

I was familiar with the arrogance of people from other parts of the country who felt superior and disdained Mississippians. I had encountered the self-importance numerous times at various conferences. As soon as pompous colleagues found out that we represented a Mississippi university, they automatically deducted IQ points from our intelligence and tried to avoid us at all costs. Rude remarks were made such as, “Oh, you’ve come a long way,” meant figuratively, to which I would respond, “Yes, we’ve flown a great distance to be here.”

Recently, a Virginia state Senator, to whom I offered help with education issues, said to me, “None of these people are going to take you seriously with 30 years of teaching experience in Mississippi!”

I’ve lived so long in the south, I consider myself a proud Mississippian, and it is my adopted state. Many outstanding scientists, innovators, artists, actors, musicians, writers, and famous TV personalities hailed from Mississippi. There is something about the soil, the simpler life, the down to earth goodness that breeds talent, kindness, generosity, and ingenuity. Southerners are hardy people who seldom complain – they roll up their sleeves when asked to rise to any occasion. They actually love their neighbors and help each other in times of dire need. Nobody feels so superior that they cannot share a ride with someone else.

The two groups stayed in the same hotels and followed the same tour with the same Italian guide. At some point, I knew that I would have the chance to speak to the director from Boston. I got my opportunity in Venice when we were boarding the water taxis for Piazza di San Marco.

I had explored the credentials of the school, the director, and the faculty member accompanying them and I was not particularly impressed. Our entire faculty in Mississippi held Ph.D. degrees in their respective fields. Our students, with ACT scores of 32-36 and a couple of perfect SAT scores, had consistently won national recognition in mathematics, science, and language competitions. But they were modest, happy, and salt of the earth children who adapted well in any situation.

The director introduced himself. We shook hands and I described our school. Before we parted, I informed him that we were better trained, educated, and did not mind riding with them on the bus, that his ignorance, prejudice, and superiority airs made him look foolish, petty, and wasteful. I don’t think I changed his opinion; he was the typical product of an expensive liberal elite education that makes them feel superior to the rest of the world.

I was so proud of my Mississippi students! They asked intelligent questions and gave good answers during the tour. The Bostonians avoided us like the plague and barely acknowledged our existence at breakfast time with a hello. It was painfully evident that northern elitism bred contempt for their fellow man although their rhetoric sounded so humanitarian and giving.

I’d like to tell those with prejudices about the south that we do wear nice shoes except on the beach or on a velvety field of grass, enjoying the sunshine. Although it was mid-March, I walked with my daughter and a few students to the beach in Lido and we took our shoes off – we wanted to feel the sand and the Adriatic Sea. It was still cold for sun-bathing but perfect for momentary feelings of joy to let the cold waves bathe our naked feet.

The Global Warming/Climate Change Alarmists: Forward or Bust

 As the huge winter storm Nemo (“nobody” in Latin) blanketed the Northeast with 40 inches of snow, causing power outages to 650,000 homes and a spectacular snow, thunder, and lightning show in New York, the global warming/climate change alarmists will be gathering in D.C. on February 17 to “pressure President Obama to stop the flow of tar sands through the Keystone XL Pipeline, and build real momentum to address climate change.”

It was never about climate change - it was about powerful and moneyed elites controlling our economy and setting our lifestyles back to the stone age under the guise of preserving the planet from human destruction because, in their vaunted opinion, humans are the enemy.

Environmentalists have changed their agenda’s name from global warming to climate change because every time they gather to protest, Nature slaps them in the face with frigid weather and snow. As far as climate change goes, of course climate has been changing for eons and it will change randomly long after we are gone for reasons other than human activity.

Liberals love to manipulate and control everything, deluding themselves that they can regulate Nature. They see themselves as infallible, know-it-alls, omnipotent gods when in reality they are ordinary human beings with feet of clay.

Global warming proponents deliberately interchange weather events with climate in order to confuse their low information followers. I do remember huge snow storms when I was growing up in the 1960s, to the delight of children and the horror of city planners who had to deal with the massive snow drifts and clogged roads resembling parking lots. Europe has experienced the Little Ice Age for 500 years from the 1300s to around 1850, yet Europeans are not extinct and the continent thrived.

The planet is resilient and it does not need the environmentalists’ meddling and control. The Democracy for America says, “To ignore climate change is to prevent progress.” Yet the climate continues to change and we have progressed quite nicely. The only people in the way of progress are Democrats and progressives themselves. A better definition of who they are should be regressives. They prevent or slow down economic development with every imaginable scheme, tax, and regulation that they can pass through Congress. They engage in intense and onerous intimidation, violence, destruction of property, protests, rallies, and lobbying.

“Climate disasters continue to burden our economy, harm public health and safety, and create greater environmental vulnerability.” Disasters are seldom climate related, they are related to weather events.

I cannot think of a more costly and disastrous human vulnerability than daily government interference and control of every aspect of someone’s life because it arrogantly thinks that it knows what is best for the rest of us.

“Inaction jeopardizes our safety and survival on this planet while endangering future generations.” If we are not going to survive, as the Democracy for America says, there will not be future generations to be endangered, will they? The planet and humanity have experienced crippling droughts, surging floods, blizzards, hurricanes, pandemics, earthquakes, tsunamis, record-breaking highs and lows, yet we have survived and thrived. We did not need government to intrude every step of the way.

The Democracy for America group has “united with the Sierra Club, 350, and more than 80 other organizations – plus passionate citizens – to organize Forward On Climate, the largest climate rally in U.S. history.” (Ljubica Sarafov, Mid-Atlantic Field Organizer, Democracy for America, February 8, 2013)

Sarafov continues, “Last month, the President took a first step in the right direction by talking about the importance of climate change in his second inaugural address. Now, let’s get him to walk the walk.” Did she perhaps mean to walk the talk? Democracy for America wants to “deliver progressive change on the issues that matter.” I am not sure who decides what the important issues are, but the majority of the U.S. population wants a different direction for our country and would like to choose their own issues that matter.

The rally is aimed at pushing politicians to “take strong climate action now” because we are “running out of time to take control of our own planet’s future.” Last time I checked, we were never in control of our planet, Nature pretty much does what it wants to do. To think otherwise, is highly arrogant and egotistical.

Butler on Business, WAFS 1190, Atlanta's Premier Station

Nine minute weekly commentary, 2-6-13.  Topic: immigration. I come on at the 31 minute mark.
http://host1.cyberears.com//18488.mp3

The Week in Review - Silvio Canto National Blog Talk Radio

February 8, 2013 - The week in review: the economy, Obamacare, immigration
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cantotalk/2013/02/08/the-us-economy-in-review-with-dr-ileana-johnson-paugh

Permanent Legal Immigration vs. Amnesty

In 2011 1.1 million aliens received legal permanent resident (LPR) status on the basis of family ties (65%), employment (13%), as refugees and asylum seekers (16%), and as diversity migrants (5%), a category established arbitrarily since we already are the most diverse nation.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 established four reasons under which permanent legal immigration status can be sought:

-         Reunification of families

-         Immigrants with needed skills

-         Refugee protection

-         Diversity of admission by country of origin

Currently 4.5 million visas are approved for legal permanent residence (LPR) but are pending because of the numerical limits imposed by INA. Most of these are visas petitioned for the reunification of families.

The top countries of immigration were Mexico (14%), China (8.2%), India (6.5%), Philippines (5.4%), and Dominican Republic (4.3%). A large percentage of legal permanent residents came from the ranks of aliens who had temporary (nonimmigrant) visas.

Until 1965, there was a national origin quota system from World War I. It was replaced with an amendment of 7 percent per-country ceiling. The statute regulating permanent immigration was revised significantly in 1990.

If amnesty is going to be considered, the 113^th Congress should tackle first a Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) which should include the following:

-         Revise the legal immigration system first

-         Increase border security

-         Enforce immigration laws

-         Reform the temporary worker visas

-         Resolve the status of millions of illegal aliens already residing in the country, some with American born children, some who came legally and overstayed their visas, and those who crossed the border illegally to work, traffic drugs, commit crimes, or take advantage of the generous welfare system in the U.S.

-         Increase the number of visas to immigrants already waiting in the “queue” with on-going applications

The proposed “pathway to citizenship,” a mixture of fees, penalties, and waiting period, or blanket amnesty for illegal aliens could increase the cost of Obamacare up to $300 billion over a decade in the form of costs for exchanges or Medicaid. (http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/05/pathway-to-citizenship-may-increase-obamacare-cost-up-to-300-billion-over-a-decade/)

According to Ruth Ellen Wasem, who wrote a Congressional Service Report on legal immigration, published on December 17, 2012, adult children of U.S. citizens wait about 7 years for a permanent resident status, with longer waits for those from Mexico and Philippines. “Consular officers are now considering petitions of the brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens from the Philippines who filed almost 24 years ago.” (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R42866.pdf)

Opponents of immigration favor:

-         Reduced immigration

-         Elimination of diversity visas (the immigrants do not wish to integrate into our society and comprise criminal elements as evidenced by attempted terrorist attacks)

-         Employment-based visas should include only highly skilled workers with hard to find skills

-         Limitation of family-based legal permanent residence (LPR) to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, not extended family members

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security have an annual maximum of legal permanent residents of 675,000 - 480,000 comprise family immigration, 140,000 employment-based immigration, and 55,000 diversity immigrants. These people follow the law, the complicated and lengthy maze of bureaucracy, legal documents, fees, and other requirements they must fulfill and pay for in order to become eligible, and then must wait patiently inside or outside of the U.S. at least five years for the resolution of their cases.

According to Ruth Ellen Wasem, immediate relatives such as spouses, unmarried minor children of U.S. citizens, parents of adult U.S. citizens and refugees do not have numerical limits on legal immigration.

Meanwhile, 11-12 million (the numbers change constantly, depending on the source) illegal aliens who just crossed the border illegally via Mexico or Canada establish residence here, have children, take advantage of our free schools, social services and programs in this country, including the upcoming Obamacare for which they are not required to pay the minimum $20,000 a year premium for a bronze level insurance but have full medical benefits.

These people are what the liberals lovingly call “undocumented workers,” “citizens in the shadows,” “Americans without papers.” I would argue that they do have papers, the passports and I.D.s from their respective countries whose flags they so devotedly respect and pin on their vehicles while burning, spitting, and trampling on the American flag. And Democrats tell us that they must immediately get amnesty and the right to vote.

We should have a robust guest worker system; it would alleviate many immigration problems we currently have. The Bracero Program, named after the Spanish “strong arm,” which was initiated in August 1942 and ended in 1964, imported temporary contract labor from Mexico into the U.S. However, we should first address the millions of unemployed Americans in the U.S., those who have made a lifestyle choice out of socialized generational welfare, and the Americans who have become discouraged workers and are no longer counted in the unemployment figures.

In the category of legal aliens are immigrants and nonimmigrants. The nonimmigrants comprise tourists, foreign students, diplomats, temporary agricultural workers, exchange visitors, intracompany business personnel who come here for a specific purpose and with a visa. Some of them never go back and are transitioned to legal permanent resident (LPR) status. Yet admission of immigrants (foreign nationals who come to live lawfully and permanently in the U.S.) is much more stringent than nonimmigrants. (CRS, Ruth Ellen Wasem, December 17, 2012)

Ronald Reagan gave blanket amnesty to almost 3 million illegal aliens in 1986 with Congressional promise that immigration reform would be enacted and the border would be enforced. It never happened and President Reagan regretted later his decision because it brought a new wave of illegal immigration. Today we are at the same crossroads and Congress is not even pretending to reform immigration laws or enforce border security. Instead, the federal government is suing those states who are trying to enforce the law.

 

 

 

 

"The City of Lights"

The Parisian nickname "the City of Light," of Enlightenment, has nothing to do with the electricity from 276 monuments, hotels, churches, fountains, bridges, and canals that illuminate the city every night, it refers to the light of knowledge coming from intellectuals, poets, writers, artists, sculptors, painters, writers, and musicians of the 1920s when Paris became the cultural center of Europe and of the world.

Parisians have never been penny pinchers with the exception perhaps of Etienne de Silhouette, King Louis XV’s finance minister who attempted to balance the nation’s budget by melting down all items made of gold and silver. Thankfully, reasonable minds prevailed. He was so cheap that he became the symbol of frugality gone awry and of “silhouettes,” shadow profile portraits cut from black paper that were cheaper than real portraits.

Parisians are in love with spending and national financial generosity with other people’s money, better known as socialized welfare. They feel so strongly about their generous government benefits that they kicked out President Sarkozy last year and elected the socialist Francois Hollande who promised them even more welfare and a roll back of the retirement age that Sarkozy had set at 62.

President Hollande is not backing down on his promise to tax those who make 1 million euros or more a year at 75 percent even though France’s Constitutional Council declared the tax unconstitutional. The French government announced a revised tax version for 2013. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/world/europe/gerard-depardieu-stirs-belgian-border-town.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

Gérard Depardieu, actor and producer, has had enough of the outrageous fleecing, so he decided to turn in his French passport and move to a sleepy little village in Néchin, Belgium. Vladimir Putin offered him a Russian passport although it is unclear if Mr. Depardieu accepted. A flat tax of 13 percent in Russia seems more appealing than the 75 percent marginal tax rate for the rich in France. Gérard Depardieu, who owns about a dozen vineyards around the world, a wine label, and a superb movie career, is not a tax dodger; the 64-year old movie producer has paid his lion’s share of taxes in the last 45 years, $192 million to be exact.

The optician chain tycoon, Alain Afflelou, has planned to flee Paris for England to escape President Hollande’s 75 percent marginal tax, joined by thousands other French millionaires. David Cameron was prepared to roll out the red carpet for the expatriates. A Victoria Secret model, restaurateur Alain Ducasse, and singer Johnny Hallyday have already left France. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2185231/High-earners-planning-leave-France-75-tax-rate-income-1million-euros-goes-ahead.html#ixzz2K8nAvjP3)

President Francois Hollande and his energy minister, Delphine Batho, would like to turn off lights in and outside public buildings, offices, and stores after 1 a.m. Paris will literally no longer be the city of lights and romantic glow. This is not good for the tourist industry. However, robbers and pick-pockets will thrive. And there are plenty of them in Paris.  

Energy minister Batho touted the energy savings from lights-out and the French “sobriety.” Everyone will be sober figuratively and literally, as few will dare go out in the dark to their favorite cafes and restaurants. A new rule passed in July 2012 required businesses to turn off lights between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. as part of the plan to reduce energy consumption 20 percent by 2020. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254565/Lights-turned-France-save-money-sobriety.html#ixzz2K8oeGQaV)

The national pastime of drinking wine and dining with friends late at night may suffer. King Louis XVI believed that persons not drinking wine are fanatics. He blamed the French Revolution on the fact that its leader, Robespierre, drank only water. (David Hoffman, Little Known Facts about Paris, 2008)

The draconian measure to turn off lights at night seems extreme since France generates over 75 percent of its electricity needs from nuclear power and 17 percent from recycled nuclear fuel. France is the largest net exporter of electricity because the cost of generating it is very low. The exportation of electricity provides 3 billion euros a year in revenue. (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf40.html)

Who needs illumination in the City of Lights when the French are unwilling to give up their stellar early retirements, lifetime employment, generous pensions, 5 weeks paid vacations, two year paid maternity leave, subsidized elegant housing, two week spa treatments disguised as health care, and shortened work weeks? Socialized welfare lifestyle is grand until the government runs short of money, corners are cut, and the lavish generosity must be scaled back.

The Ads and Lights of the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl always runs very expensive, funny, entertaining, and sometimes outrageous ads. The half-time show is a mixture of glitz, glamour, pyrotechnics and lights, plenty of lights, fanciful choreography, whimsical and skimpy costumes, loud music, beautiful dancers, and popular entertainers. Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVII exceeded all expectations.

The ad that drew rave reviews by most spectators was the Dodge Ram ad playing the Paul Harvey speech delivered at the 1978 Future Farmers of America Convention in 1978. I remember hearing it for the first time – “So God Made a Farmer,” – a masterful tribute to the wonderful men and women who toiled from dusk to dawn to nourish those urbanites who have no idea how much sweat, pride, pain, and love is in every bowl of food they consume.

Covered in dust, dirt, mud, fertilizer, manure, and perspiration, less than three percent of hard-working Americans feed not just the rest of America but many other nations.

It was joyful to hear the word God mentioned with reverence and love. I am sure atheists were severely annoyed and distressed but Christians felt renewed and many shed tears. Lost in the emotional moment was the stark realization, would Paul Harvey have directed people to believe that Dodge is an American company when Chrysler is majority owned by Fiat and the 2500 series shown are built in Mexico? The Case tractors used in the ad are also owned by a division of Fiat.

Paul Harvey saluted the American farmer in 1978 but I am not so sure he would have praised in 2013 a foreign-owned company pretending to be American. Yes, Chrysler/Fiat made a great ad – it pulled and tugged at our collective heart strings with personal nostalgia. It was symbolism over substance. Furthermore, how many farmers are left today like the ones Paul Harvey extoled in 1978? We lost one this week in our extended family - they are a dying group, literally and figuratively.

Another ad that struck a passionate chord with the audience was the Jeep commercial. Narrated by Oprah’s iconic voice, the video shows photographs of soldiers serving our country, their families, USO, and the notion that we are a whole and a united nation. Are we? A beautiful narrative and a legendary voice selling the Jeep – a vehicle no longer made in the U.S.A. and no longer as American as apple pie. Divided more than ever as a nation, we desperately need healing.

The Sunday’s game was publicized as the “greenest” in Super Bowl history. “The New Orleans Host Committee has partnered with fans and the community to offset energy use across the major Super Bowl venues. Eco-friendly fans and city leaders in New Orleans competed to maximize sustainability practices.” For those who do not recognize sustainability – it is code word for the Green Agenda. The exterior of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome was resplendent with 26,000 LED lights on 96 full-color graphic display panels. (http://energy.gov/articles/super-bowl-city-leads-energy-efficient-forefront#.UQ-4slXD0_I.mailto)

Shortly after the half-time show, most lights and A/C went out in the superdome. Twice during Beyoncé’s rehearsal the lights went out as well and the officials were baffled. I am not an electrician but I wondered. Energy efficiency and renewable energy may be having a profound impact with environmentalist green growth proponents and perhaps it will become the energy of the future; however, for now, it appears that renewable energy is not all that is cracked up to be in terms of keeping the lights on when needed. Renewable energy still needs the solid backup of energy produced by the maligned coal. Re-inventing the wheel to save the planet from faux global warming does come with a huge price-tag.

Super Bowl XLVIII promises to be even more interesting in 2014, since the powers that be are making overtures to ban injurious football that destroys so many athletes who have no idea what they are doing to their bodies when they sign multi-million dollar contracts and  must be protected by the nanny government. And the blood thirsty fans should be banned as well – shamelessly cheering on their favorite players is unconscionable when they know players may get hurt.