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christening naze.net: i am naze

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February 27, 2005

failed stewardship
02:15 PM

"Of course, that requires that we continue to ignore the great Portland General Electric tax scam, in which PGE collects state, federal and local income taxes that end up not with the proper taxing authority but at Enron.

Since 1997, that rip-off has cost ratepayers more than $720 million, or 24 times as much money as the Water Bureau debacle. That rip-off is still ongoing, costing us $254,000 each day."

The Oregon Public Utility Commission used to be a paragon of oversight, protecting Oregonians from cheats, scams, and accounting voodoo. Now they just do whatever their future bosses want. It's a lot less work than doing the right thing.

Portland needs to continue to aggressively pursue the purchase of PGE. Public power costs less.

February 23, 2005

rally redux
09:58 PM

Here are a few shots of the rally in Salem to prevent more school cuts. It got a lot of attention to the issue and I understand quite a few of us made appointments with legislators to apply some heat.

It was a gorgeous February afternoon. The capitol has these stark, grandiose architectural elements that are very Manifest Destiny. I'm not a big fan of this style, but it does have a certain effect.

This was one of my favorite signs. It leavened the seriousness of the event.

Amen.

Progressives around the state are incredulous with allegedly Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski. He is constitutionally bound to adequately fund education. And yet when he announces his budget, he outlines all of the cuts that it will entail and all of the damage it will do to education. It's as if it was Bizarro world or he were in some sitcom trying to use reverse psychology.

Not good enough, Ted. Get a spine. Lead.

February 21, 2005

rattled Capital windows
09:37 PM

When you want something done, you'd better get off your butt and do it.

And that's what I and a thousand or two students, teachers, and families did today in Salem.

Lazy legislators claim that they aren't hearing from their constituents that school funding is priority. The gall! Shoe repairers mend soles with holes. Utility workers fly to the outtage when a grid goes down. Firefighters run to their trucks when the alarm sounds. Legislators have the data in the form of a massive report. The Constitution of Oregon requires that schools be funded adequately. Now you need your constituents to tell you to do your job? WTF?!

There are plenty of non-income tax options for raising revenue. But don't look to the Governor or the Speaker to lead. They have been measured and they have been found wanting.

It's time for others with courage to lead.

February 20, 2005

a weekend feast
04:20 PM

Stanley Nelson's A Place of Our Own is a rare view into a sacred place. Each one of us have somewhere that we can let down our filters and our guards. Our cares and worries. Oak Bluffs is such a place for Nelson's family and other upper-middle class African-Americans of the 1950's. There is a passion here that lights up each of those interviewed. Pure magic.

...

Uncle Liam is at it again! "If it's scary / I'm goin' home!" Diddle-it!-Diddle-it! -Diddle-it!

[via mighty girl]

...

"Unintelligent design: if there is a 'someone' responsible for designing the universe, they must have not been very smart."

[via kottke]

February 16, 2005

re-org. bigtime.
08:00 PM

These are the facts:

Portland house prices continue to rise.

Young families mostly cannot afford them.

Young families move to suburbs.

Portland Public Schools lost 1200 students last year.

Attendance falls, schools loses FTE until everything you knew as a student (i.e. P.E., library, music) is stripped away.

Our staff got the news about four hours before Superintendent Phillips laid out the re-organization of the district that would concentrate more students in fewer schools.

An elementary school just south of the school at which I teach would be closed.

One of our staff spent many years at Youngson Elementary, a small school closed about 3 years ago. She said it was like a death in the family. As I sat there in our school library on the child-sized wooden chair, I imagined how it would feel if it were my school. It was upsetting and I've only been there a year and a half.

Later that night I read through the plan. I had to admit that the decisions were largely data driven. My estimate tells me that the savings in terms of operational costs would not be particularly significant. Maybe a million a year. But with these students joining other schools, more kids would probably get music, p.e., a librarian, or a counselor. And that makes a difference in the quality of a student's education.

One of the schools targeted for closure is 4 blocks from my house. It is a wonderful school that does very well academically with a very supportive community. Some of these families are shocked. Some are outraged. Some are devastated.

This is a very hard world we live in.

negotiating valentine's day rituals in the classroom
06:26 PM

Fourth grade boy: "Mr. Naze? Uh, I had this valentine left over [it has my name written on it], and, uh, do you want it?"

give 'em hell, howard!
06:23 PM

"You all know we have a strategy for every state and territory. It's very simple. Show up.

People will vote for Democratic candidates in Texas, and Utah, and West Virginia if we knock on their door, introduce ourselves and tell them what we believe. That's what organization allows us to do."

Howard Dean is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee because millions of Americans, like me, got tired of whimpy candidates and Republican-lite so-called Democrats. He's smart, he's tough, and he's gonna kick ass.

imagine
05:35 PM

"Imagine the media explosion if a male escort had been discovered operating as a correspondent in the Clinton White House. Imagine that he was paid by an outfit owned by Arkansas Democrats and had been trained in journalism by James Carville. Imagine that this gentleman had been cultivated and called upon by Mike McCurry or Joe Lockhart—or by President Clinton himself. Imagine that this 'journalist' had smeared a Republican Presidential candidate and had previously claimed access to classified documents in a national-security scandal.

Then imagine the constant screaming on radio, on television, on Capitol Hill, in the Washington press corps—and listen to the placid mumbling of the 'liberal' media now."

-Joe Conason, New York Observer

February 13, 2005

on second thought...
11:37 AM

I didn't think much about Reggie Miller's retirement from the NBA until I read this profile.

February 09, 2005

setting a tone at hq
08:28 PM

Vicki Phillips has only been at the helm of one of the biggest school districts in the West for 6 months, but she is rapidly earning the trust of Portland Public School teachers.

Phillips has walked the talk of supporting teachers and pursuing better funding. She has shut down ill-conceived projects and pushed out executives that contributed little or no value to student learning. And now she has put an end to fatcat deals and golden parachutes. Steve Goldschmidt (brother of disgraced former Governor Neil Goldschmidt), head of PPS Human Resources, was terminated this afternoon along with his assistants.

Goldschmidt was widely reviled among teachers for his arrogance and disrespectful tactics. Corporate, slick, and all-show/no-go. Basically the antithesis of Portland culture.

February 07, 2005

hubris
09:45 PM

Jason got me thinking about Google rankings. I googled 'Christopher'. I stopped looking after #200. However, 'Naze' quickly yielded a #1 ranking. Yeah, baby!

The eye-opener came this Sunday. I noticed a Google hit on 'things that bother you about the Super Bowl'. Thirty minutes after I posted about it.

February 06, 2005

super bore
12:26 PM

I hate everything about the Super Bowl except the game. No contest can survive 2 weeks of relentless yakking about this advantage or that advantage, or this coach or that QB, or any of it.

And that special Fox Broadcasting touch only amplifies the very worst and stereotypical aspects of American culture. Corporate-approved, saccharine, bombastic, and coarse.

more eyeballs
12:14 PM

My letter about the Legislature and the business community getting off there asses and doing their fair share on education funding was published in today's Oregonian. Here, hundreds of people read my words. There, many thousands will.

It's about halfway down, nicely sandwiched between Speed-zone Whiners and When School Budgets are Cut.

February 03, 2005

get the facts
08:25 PM

"Myth: We keep spending more each year on schools - enough is enough.

Fact: Oregon's per-student spending, when adjusted for inflation, has actually decreased $611 since 1992."

-Oregon School Funding Myths & Facts

February 02, 2005

top story of the day
05:52 PM

180 Trillion Hours of Leisure lost to Work in 2004

christopher at naze.net

-Cato

They may forget

what you said,

but they will never forget

how you made them

feel. 

-Carl W. Buehner