One thing about Uganda is it actually has a potential for a brighter future; a moderate amount of oil has been discovered in western Uganda, far more that the country could consume itself (but not enough for a full-scale refinery operation).  Also, the country is landlocked, so shipping the oil is problematical (Kenya will rob them blind for pipeline rights).  So there are problems with making use of it. Negotiations as been going on for almost 6 years to figure out the contracting to even get started.  Government corruption, misuse, and waste are a major impediment (no surprise there).

One of the older girls I’ve worked with is Ritah Namwiza and, out of all the ‘kids’ (now young adults) that I work with over there, Ritah is one of the most impressive. Intelligent, resourceful, caring, and guaranteed to be a success in life.  I was NOT surprised when she got got picked by UNAIDS to work with them.  She is spending time in Geneva and Sweden at the moment and will go back to Uganda soon.  But in all our dealing, politics really hasn’t come up very much at all.

SO imagine my surprise when I read this from her on Facebook:

As a Ugandan tax payer, I am pledging to hold the government accountable for every penny they spend. Ugandans pay the government to deliver good leadership and we expect nothing less of that!

With the Global Economic Crisis closing on to the rich countries who have been aiding Africa, it is time for African leaders to wake up. Can we put our money where it is most needed? Can our parliaments stop thinking i-pads and start thinking health care?  Can we cut government expenditure on say entertainment and invest in agriculture…..

I had to comment to all of this, after I was done laughing.

That makes you a charter member of the Ugandan Tea Party! No matter what ugliness the media tries to paint the Tea Party, this is EXACTLY the kind of declaration that started us and is our primary focus.

Have to use different symbology though; the Tea Party yellow of the Gadsden flag matches your president’s color. But do NOT discount the need of coming up with an effective imagry to mark your efforts. Our stupid little Teapot in red white and blue with ‘TeaApproved’ across it was detested by the local establishment, for it now represents their first defeat in 25 years.

If you girls want to get started in what we call grassroots activism, I’ll be happy to help all I can.

It looks like my next political campaigns after 2012 will be in Uganda;  their election cycle is 2015 and that gives us time to get Ritah and similar sharp, bright go-getters elected.

And my ‘daughter’ Irene Birungi has also chimed in on the effort-  as a member of the ruling party cadre, no less! (Going for change things from inside).  She insisted I make the following image- which used the text from a bumper sticker on the Ugandan flag- as a sticker that she can distribute.  I told her, I hope the bail isn’t too high if she gets jailed for this.    She also had me create a T-shirt with it.

So now I’m aiding efforts to fight the professional political class on 2 continents.

]]> http://datatroll.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/globalization-of-the-original-tea-party-concepts/feed/ 1 Mike O uganda_pride_5x3 http://datatroll.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/the-fight-against-racism-bigotry-continues/ http://datatroll.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/the-fight-against-racism-bigotry-continues/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 21:25:19 +0000 Mike O http://datatroll.wordpress.com/?p=921 ]]> ….and I hope that by the time they shovel dirt in my face that we’ve put a big dent in it.  As an older, white Tea Party leader, I plan to do my part for the rest of my days.

White males such as me still are overly privileged in one regard throughout America.  We are allowed to have any sort of political opinion we choose to have without receiving extra abuse or ludicrous levels of scrutiny. Non-whites with one political viewpoint are rewarded with less abuse and scrutiny, but very higher levels if they hold another view.  This also is true for white women.  And this is racism and bigotry at its worse, to expect one’s skin color or ethnic makeup to determine the political viewpoint (or cultural beliefs) one should hold and to punish those that don’t. And don’t even get me started about the extreme double standard strong conservative women in political office face.

To expect automatic support for an entitlement culture that- either by accident or design- destroys self-reliance and family structure, is equally repugnant. The fact that the Left seems to believe that some need to give extra leeway on qualifications, behavior and/or work ethic based on any demographic component is condescending at the least, elitist at the worst.  Economic aspects may require affected individuals may require a hand up or consideration, but it should ALWAYS be aimed at granting the greatest freedom; the freedom of self-reliance.

If it makes some people more comfortable, I’ll accept that the incompetent European socialistic tendencies of our current president come from the Caucasian side of his family.  Being I slammed his all-Caucasian predecessor for showing the same tendencies with TARP, there is some validity to the argument.  Claiming opposition to Obama is based in any major regard on the tone of his skin is a last-resort argument to squelch and delegitimize the opposition.

I hope God grants me the privilege of watching an African-American lay his hand on a Bible and be sworn in again as Commander-in-Chief.  And I will celebrate the day I can address him as President Allen West, knowing the reborn soul of the Conservative Movement that Goldwater, then Reagan carried, is back in the White House.  And I could die a happy man at that point, knowing there was hope for America and that ALL political privileges have finally been granted to ALL citizens of America. And that Oreo has gone back to being a cookie and a coconut is something that falls out of a palm tree.

Besides, I need plenty of practice.  In my retirement, I’ll be in Uganda, helping my daughter Winni Nazziwa and several of the rest of my ‘kids’ there working on improving the treatment and viewpoints on both women and the supposedly ‘handicapped’ (In Winnie’s case, she is ‘wheel-mobilized’; there ain’t nothing handicapped about my girl!)  Not a bad way for a mean, old Tea Partier to spend the last of his days (if I get that far; one never knows).

Folks, look at the graph below:

The GOP has got to clean up it’s OWN house as well because the increasing spending in the GOP years in control also added to the problem.  And the leadership settling for the third, watered-down package in DC help lead us to the downgrade.  The ‘get-a-long’ crew refuses to recognize the math.  And that also goes for those in Austin as well.  This last state budget was every bit as much full of fictitious numbers ans the budgets in DC; that HAS to change. Math is NOT subjective and making it so leads to far greater pain down the road. It is THAT reason we have to fight through the good-old-boy network, and replace enough people to get them to listen to cold , hard math and their constituents over the professional political class.

This battle is not personal, folks; it is on principle and on who the representatives actually represent; us or the ‘Austin machine’.  It is not a personal insult to challenge a long-term incumbent in a primary; it is a decision that someones else’s policies would be better and to let the voters make that determination.  I personally like many of the people to be opposed; I just want different policies.  Things have to changes, or our grandchildren will emigrate to get jobs and get away from our bills, as I have warned about for well over 3 years (even before Obama).

I am sure the ‘Tag-a-longs’ reported back we are ‘unreasonable’.  It ain’t us; it’s the numbers.

In current news, the only thing that one can say about the administration plan to print more worthless money in a QE3 in response to the first ever downgrade in American bond ratings:  The U.S. administration has given us final, undeniable proof that they are insane at the rubber-room level.

It is the system that makes use of him or her.  And that system does not like to be messed with, as we recently saw in the Sanctuary Cities fight down in Austin.

This was a most complex Kabuki theater played out in the State Legislature, a choreographed dance. The bills were crafted in both houses- and scheduled in such a way- to allow the GOP machine to vote for the bill in each house.  This allowed the GOP regulars to supposedly earn immigration bonafides for the next election, but because each bill was different enough, it went into conference committee where it was essentially ‘chubbed’ until it was too late to pass a consensus bill.

But the Governor messed it up for the Austin Machine by giving in to the pressure from the ‘Great Unwashed’ and putting it into the special session at the last minute, leaving no time for the subtle sleight of hand.  As discussed HERE and HERE, it came down to orders being issued by just a handful of big donors NOT to pass the restrictions on Sanctuary Cities. Bob Perry of Perry Homes (who donated over $3 MILLION to state candidates last year),  HEB’s Charles Butt (almost $500K last year) , Dr. Steve Hotze of the supposedly Conservative Republicans of Texas (over $700K last year), and Norman Adams of  Texas GOP Vote.  Four men said that Sanctuary Cities will remain, even though only 17% of Texans support their existence . Money over the clear wishes of the citizens.  These guys don’t lay out that kind of money out of the kindness; it’s to guarantee they get what they want out of Austin.

Understand, these mega-donors are a major reason the Texas legislature is as conservative as it is.  When the have no skin in the game, they lean to the conservative side.  However, principle gives way to what they feel their business needs; and what they feel their business needs is a large pool of semi-slave labor.  Labor that does not have the cost and complexity of disability coverage, medical benefits, and labor law restrictions. Essentially, some parts of the old Southern plantation constructs have returned; but these are in violation of the Rule of Law.

But the biggest problem is this: the customer base has come to tolerate and even expect the use of illegal labor to keep direct prices low (The cost of basic medical care and some other benefits are hidden- paid by government in various illegal immigrant support programs.) .  And the individual American citizens use illegal labor themselves for lawn work, cleaning, and other services. American citizens cannot possibly compete with these costs, even in our current desperate unemployment; at least not legally.  Only by entering the ‘underground economy’- where income is hidden from the government- can an American join in.  One has to wonder how many people currently collecting unemployment ARE working- but keeping the income ‘off the books’. (This opens up another large topic on the degradation of personal morality; another time).

Even in the more technical fields, the H1B industry is still booming while millions of technically-train American citizens have been unemployed for years.  Many would even take the jobs at the cost factor of the H1B and the consulting firm, but it is the employee-related costs involved that make it preferable to continue the charade of ‘we can’t find Americans with these skills’ that is played here.

And the situation was made MUCH worse with the passage of Obamacare; the major increases in costs and employer  regulatory costs will drive MORE of the economy underground- and to using illegal and ‘off the book’ labor.

The solution HAS to come one source- the mirror.

We MUST grow intolerant of illegal-labor usage in our economic decisions and must be willing to pay more for legal labor.  I, for one, eat more often at our local Taco Bells after they put up their E-Verify signage and Our lawn is done by a Chinese LEGAL immigrant. Until we do that, it is hypocritical to demand illegal immigration enforcement legislation.  And we must advocate for legislation the at least allows us to know companies have done some basic due diligence in hiring (E-Verify) and make it simpler and cheaper for companies to actually hire people.

Below is an emailed letter, nearly hysterical in presentation, which Pat sent out in desperation: the complete dissection of the misrepresentations will appear below:

From: “Patrick Gallagher” <gallagherpw@verizon.net
Date: June 3, 2011 10:29:15 AM CDT
To: “Patrick Gallagher” <gallagherpw@verizon.net
Subject: My Plano City Council Opponent Aligns With North Texas Tea Party   

Dear Friends,
I entered this race to help maintain and improve the quality of the life for our citizens. I promised myself to keep my integrity intact and make this campaign experience genuine and focused on the ideals that spurred me to run for Plano City Council Place 7. 

Last week the North Texas Tea Party Legislative Chair proposed to City Council Runoff candidates they sponsor a City of Plano Ordinance requiring ALL businesses in Plano to have an annual Business License requiring a $10,015 per employee fee. If businesses used E-Verify and provided an ANNUAL certification that the business used E-Verify, then there would be a $10,000 credit for every employee.

The first candidate that agreed would receive the support of supposedly over 1,000 Tea Party backers.

I told them *NO*, the Ordinance was one of the most anti-Plano,
anti-business development moves I’ve seen in a long time. This would place Plano at a distinct disadvantage recruiting against neighboring cities unencumbered with E-Verify business license requirements.

My opponent committed to supporting and Vote *YES* for this Ordinance.

Should this be the focus of your next Councilman?   

Where to even begin:  First off, while such a proposal DOES exist, Greg (and even many of us in the NTTP) thinks the numbers are way too excessive.  What Greg HAS promised to do is to work within the council to come up with an effective and reasonable approach to encourage and reward E-Verify usage within the businesses of Plano. He is the first to have the courage to do so.  

And again, what is E-Verify?  It is an online service that validates the gathered I-9 information that doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes per employee and is more than 99% effective (The 96.9% listed on the site leaves 3.1% as not automatically verified: the VAST MAJORITY of those are PROPERLY invalid; one would think most honest businesses would want those corrected.) E-Verify is NOT discriminatory; every employee undergoes it and it serves as a deterrent to identity theft.  A lot of businesses are already adopting it, the local Taco Bells being an example.  A recent Supreme Court decision (5-3) proclaimed that efforts to even MANDATE its use are constitutional: Giving a specific financial encouragement to do so certainly passes muster.   

Greg Myer has had the courage to commit to working with the other council members and city staff to come up with a viable and business-friendly ordinance.  This is the type of listening to the constituency and innovative thinking that will serve ALL Plano citizens well. What we DON’T need is hyperbole, political gamesmanship and ‘gotcha games’ that Pat Gallagher seems determined to play.  I encourage all Plano voters to consider which approach you prefer and vote for the adult in the race.

A simple example: The city of Plano, after several years of serious shortfalls, still retains a position of ‘urban forester’, who apparently spent a great deal of time this last year determining the GPS location of every tree on public land.  Never have I seen a job better suited to a couple troops of Boy Scouts- at considerable taxpayer savings- than this one.  It has been pointed out several times- and yet the position remains.  Bureaucracy over common sense?  Probably.   And NOT ONE City Council candidate has had the guts to stand up and say the Arts Center is a bad idea at this time and should NOT be funded.

I do not call these recommendations, simply because I am not completely satisfied with ANY of them in term of bringing an effective, objective eye on the City Council or even the School Board to represent the average taxpayer with focus on fiscal restraint.  Not one can claim to be a ‘Tea Party candidate’ (for good or ill).  However, some represent at least some change in the way things have always been done, and will give fresher eyes to look at things than we’ve sometimes had in the past.  Possibly we’ll even get som split votes out of some of these, and something other than mindless rubber-stamping of the administration’s recommendations.

In my OWN decision, it is actions and not words that bear most weight.  The action that carries the LEAST weight is calling a perceived Tea Party leader at the last minute and ask for a meeting to pitch their candidacy; that totally ignores the primary dynamic of the Tea Party movement; we are grassroots organized and without being available to make your case to the group, your case can not be effectively made.   That group might establish a vetting committee (when it has the time and resources to do so), but it is still more than one or two people doing the research, asking the questions and coming to a decision for the group.  Currently, our group is trying to rest its primary resources for the much bigger fight to come next year; fights over billions and trillions, not millions as in the city races.

So here are my personal picks: if you don’t like them, tough: they are my picks and no surrogate sent- from within or without the Tea Party movement- to argue me out of them will be successful.  I have not spent as much time on them as I normally would like; trying to fight Austin from afar, do organizational things, keep my kids going in Uganda through 100% inflation there (and now, bullets and tear gas associated with full-scale riots), and working for a living does limit my time for city stuff these days.

 Plano City Council Picks

 Place 7: Greg Myer is my pick here.  He seems to at least recognize the need for fiscal responsibility, even though he is honest about his continued support for the Arts Center. He has come many meeting of the Tea Party and certainly got an earful.  He spoke to a couple of us on the roundtable leadership extensively and seems to have some good ideas of what needs to be done.  Matt Greer, who I’d seen speak, in an event or two, called me late, wanting that meeting.  Our discussion on the phone was far more him slamming Greg than talking about what he envisions for city government.  Greg is, as I’ve already said about all of them, far from an ideal candidate. But he spent quite a bit of time listening to average taxpayers; and that counts for a lot.

Place 5: Russell Head for a couple reasons.  Russell seems to actually listen, not so focused on selling himself.  In some ways, I doubt he is the most conservative candidate in the race; but, since none of them are solid conservatives, I’d rather take one of them in it for the right reasons.   He is cautious and seems to be looking for a lot of answers, not willing to take things on faith.

Jim Duggan is a nice guy and dedicated to the city; but he- more than any other candidate on the ballot- represents a continuance of the way things have been.  He talks a good game of fiscal responsibility, but he simply would not have had the position he had if he DIDN’T play ball with the powers that be.  Just the expression on his face when I mentioned the possibility of not funding the Arts Center; it was clear I was speaking heresy.  Agree or disagree on this, but because a few powerful people want something despite the financial times, does not make it the thing to do.

Matt Lagos comes across in a big way as primarily interested in one thing; Collin Creek Mall.  It is an important asset, but not the MOST important.  And I would strongly urge him, if he’s going to go to the Candidate Forum held by the Democrats and send a surrogate to the Tea Party Candidate forum instead, send someone who at least knows his name (the fellow said Matt Duggin at least twice before being corrected.)

Jim Duggan also went to the Democrat forum rather than the Tea Party one; apparently he made an earlier commitment to theirs.  Matt apparently likewise.  I heard the Dems had maybe 15 Plano residents while the Plano Tea Party had 50-55 (One of the biggest forums, I gather).  The ‘chose poorly’.

Place 3:  Cathy Fang, reluctantly.  Like many others, I am deeply concerned about the problems she’s had since her last campaign in terms of due diligence in her accounting business.  Certainly nothing criminal; just inadequate due diligence.  Had I known about this SEC stuff and the like earlier, I just might have filled out the paperwork and run myself (and taken a verbal beatdown from the wife for doing so; if I went into this she knows it would take even more of my time than I spend now.)

However, my vote comes down to this (and, again, if you don’t like it….): there is a subculture in the political world of Plano that seems to live and breath based on nasty rumor and gossip; personal slander is their trade currency.  If there is blowback on any given rumor, they quickly deny such a rumor ever existed. It is vicious and vindictive group …and it simply hates Cathy with a passion.  Bluntly I suspect some of central characters (which seem centered in West Plano) are the ultimate elitists- with a hint of racism.  The kind of people who sniff at the clothes others wear, the cars they drive, even the builders who built their home here.  They want everybody to play the city government game by their rules: Leadership training, volunteering in the ‘right’ areas, and the like.  And I feel anyone who draws their ire is worthy of a benefit of a doubt.  We are often known for the enemies we draw- and sometimes to be respected for them.  (Ironically, most cities have the same gossipy sub-culture; my mother faced the same in her successful run for City Council- in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1967).

I like Andre as a person- and she hasn’t done a bad job.  But she is NOT one to ever challenge the administrative voice of authority, simply because she has NO background for doing so.   And, sometimes, you need just ONE on a council who actually reads the numbers and asks the questions to make a difference.  Cathy’s possibility of doing this is probably greater than any other candidate.

 Plano School Board Picks

It was stunning with the attitude of the majority of the Board (more than by the decision itself) on the Academy building, which was CLEARLY rushed through to avoid the upcoming new board having a say in it.   I know there is a real need for leadership change here (and that leadership cannot come with someone who showed the arrogance Missy Bender demonstrated that night.)

Place 5: David Stolle. In this race, David is clearly the one more willing to consider making changes and asking the questions necessary to bring back a focus on the basics of education within the economic realities of the day.   David certainly going to ‘play well with others’ on the board; he will be willing to ask the questions necessary for all board members to consider more angles than currently

Place 4: Steve Day is the EASIEST decision of all of these.  Steve will definitely INSIST on having answers to all aspects before committing scarce resources beyond fundamental education in hard time.  He will also most assuredly delve into the details of budgets to confirm the PISD Administration is getting the most bang for the buck.  Bart Ridley is clearly an extension of more of the same.

In the other scuffle, traditional political conservatives are upset with me with my redistrict efforts, where I am advocate something of a compromise (not as much of one as conservatives fear) with the maps submitted by the powers that be.  The conservatives- in insisting on no compromise- risk replaying the House Speaker fight. which we lost badly.  they insist on trying to get 100% of the loaf, rather than 75% of it (and half of the rest obtainable in the next primary with a good scape).

It’s a good thing I DON”T have political ambition;  traditional political type don’t understand that the issues are to be fought, that personal loyalties don’t mean you can’t vehemently disagree on one or two points, and that the time for keeping everything ‘under the cover’ is passed. Open and transparent governance is essential- especially for conservatives.

IT’S NOT PERSONAL; IT’S POLICY!

====================================================================

I can’t say I personally seen such thinly disguised contempt for the viewpoint of the average voter and citizen by an elected body as I witnessed tonight since a 1983 Duncanville City Council meeting where they literally told the audience that the voters got it wrong on the DART election and rescheduled another one immediately afterward (The outcome for the ‘redo’ was worse, and 4 of the 5 council members were out within 12 months.)

Where to start on this hasty decision to spend $6.5 million to buy a new building on an Academy whose very definition is not yet complete?  Even with underused classroom space more than adequate to use existing facilities?

• The recorded admission that the Board makes non-personnel, non-contractual decisions in executive session- in CLEAR violation of the Open Meetings Act?
• The restriction of public comment to well under half of those who formally requested to speak on the issue and for a total of 30 minutes, while a Board member felt bloviating for 15 minutes was worthy of the time for a meeting supposedly that was a public hearing?
• The presentation of the project occurring AFTER public comment, so no one in the public could address the comments to the actual numbers and facility details (See below)?
• ZERO acknowledgement of the MAJORITY public opposition to the project (Carrolyn’s statement being denied by the people who actually showed up)
• The argument that you have to trust the staff; a staff dumb enough to accept a 60 day limitation on 100K earnest money, on a building that had been empty for YEARS and commercial property market still in a nightmare of non-movement?
• The insistence that private companies will come up with ‘pig in a poke’ money- expecting us to ‘trust our betters’ even though a similar ‘betters’ have massively underperformed on private money for things like the Arts Center?  Anyone who expects the same result as in the flush years must believe in unicorns and the Tooth Fairy.

OK: let’s get beyond that and let me give you to just a single point your ‘trustworthy’ staff and committees either missed or are smoke-screening.  Have any of you actually worked in a facility like that?  I spent 2 years in one and I’ve got two words that will prove to be a major unreported expense:

SOUND ABATEMENT!

A school is NOT an office.  Especially one practicing ‘collaborative education’.  The noise level is considerably higher and- without interior work, it will be like trying to do surgery during an artillery barrage (Possible, as my Dad found out in Korea, but not efficient).  The 200K startup won’t get close to doing the job (and considering the building is EMPTY the cost of equipping it wasn’t made clear). Possibly you have been given some presentation on this that the Great Uwashed are not privy to?

Just one issue, you might have heard about if you’d had any interest in interacting with those paying the bill (including the payments for those ‘free’ bonds.)  I could probably walk through the building and come up with a half dozen more potential ones in 10 minutes.  (For example, bathroom capacity, sewage requirements of significant food service, etc.)  Glossing over the traffic issue didn’t exactly make friends of the site’s neighbors either.

I’d like to thank Nancy and Tammy for their votes for sanity here.  As for the rest, I so look forward to seeing some of your replacements on the Board whoever they may be.  I’ll have them reference the video of this meeting on how not to interact with the public and the voters.

I will maintain the North Texas Tea Party web presence and email lists, but others will need to pick up the slack elsewhere if they want the other aspects (meetings, etc.) to continue.  At this point, I would plan on returning to the other parts of the fray in September.  Things could change, but it would take a personal call to action from someone I politically respect, and the number of people who fall into that category is small and gets smaller almost every day.  (Listening to a speech of one of those very few as I write this; Rep. Allen West).