Newtown, Connecticut

God bless the victims, families, and the community of Newtown, Connecticut.  You are all in our thoughts and prayers.  

Most Powerful People in the World 2012

Last week Forbes Magazine released its annual list of the world’s most powerful people.  Whether or not the people on the list care one way or another about the list is irrelevant to the fact that the subscribers to the magazine are fascinated with the results. 

Each year they analyze who is up, who is down, who is new, and who is no longer worthy of the list.  Ironically we have a tendency to take the list as fact.  The list is put together by highly informed and educated individuals registering their opinions.  There is not a mathematical formula or any other tool used to measure personal power and influence.  It is based on the educated opinion of the lists contributors. 

There was little movement in the top ten this year.  The President of the United States is still #1.  President Obama is followed by the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel.  Below are the top ten.

1.       Barrack Obama, President of the United States

2.       Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany

3.       Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

4.       Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

5.       Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Roman Catholic Church

6.       Ben Bernanke,  Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve

7.       Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia

8.       Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank

9.       Xi Jinping, General Secretary Communist Party, China

10.     David Cameron, Prime Minister, United Kingdom

The complete list can be found at:  http://www.forbes.com/powerful-people/list/

What are your impressions of the list?  What criteria would you use to judge people’s power in the world?  Given your criteria, who should be included on your list and why?  

Hurricane Sandy

It has been five weeks from Hurricane Sandy and its devastation to the East Coast of the United States.  Places in New York and New Jersey were decimated as a result of the storm and its aftermath.

The cost of the storm’s devastation is still undetermined.  These costs include rescue efforts, evacuation, structural damage and property restoration.  Below is a link which shows before and after pictures of the New Jersey Coast.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/hurricane-sandy-before-after-photos/      

While tragedy is always horrible to read about and witness, it is also within these times we are able to witness to strength of the human spirit and the incredible lengths people are willing to go to help their neighbors. 

One such story comes from New Jersey.  Within days of the storm’s devastation, New Jersey Strong was organized as a non-profit organization.  Its sole purpose is to aid the families victimized along the Jersey coast who were victimized by Sandy.

The organization has focused its efforts on clean up.  They are gathering and deploying numerous volunteers to homes, parks, and other locations to clean up the debris and attempt to restore property to the condition it was before the storm.  While they can use money, their primary request from the public that want to be involved is manpower.  They have faced some challenges, but with concentrated focus and relentless effort, they are providing hope to many people who have lost their homes, cars, photos, and sense of security.

The focus, passion, and commitment they have shown to their community are inspiring.  This is a grassroots effort to reclaim the New Jersey shoreline, which has been an important place in their lives. 

Do you know anyone who was affected by Hurricane Sandy?  What obstacles did they face and how did they overcome those obstacles?  What do you think about the efforts of New Jersey Strong?

Jimmy V Week

“Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” 

                                Jimmy Valvano, 1993 – announcing the Jimmy V Foundation

December 1-7 is Jimmy V week on ESPN.  You may not know who Jimmy Valvano was, but if you have had the misfortune of knowing someone afflicted with cancer, the odds are he and his life’s mission impacted your life. 

Jimmy Valvano was a successful basketball coach, commentator, and author.  He was a person of strong conviction and personal drive.  At an early age he pulled out white index cards and began to write down his personal goals for life.  He wanted to play high school and college basketball, he wanted to become an assistant coach, go on to become a head coach, cut down the nets in Madison Square Garden and win a National Championship.  At age 36, he was able to pull out those cards and cross off every item on the list.  Throughout his life he developed a personal philosophy which allowed an ordinary man to accomplish the extraordinary.  He was commented, “There are 86,400 seconds in a day.  It is up to you to decide what to do with them.”  Jimmy V chose to cherish and make the most of each one. 

After accomplishing his goals on the basketball court, he explored new directions from writing to commentating.  He was not interested in limiting himself to a single profession.  He embraced diversity in his life and his interests.

In 1993, Jimmy Valvano was given an obstacle that would prove to be his most difficult.  He was diagnosed with cancer.  The cancer proved to be too much for him to personally overcome, but through his vision and passion he has inspired and continues to inspire funding for education and research to cure cancer.  At the time of his diagnosis, cancer was an underfunded and devastating disease.  His charismatic and infectious attitude towards life and easy appeal to people made him an ideal person to raise the awareness of cancer and its impacts on our world and to raise arms to find a way to cure cancer.  While no cure has been found, through continued research many forms of treatment have been developed.  The Jimmy V Foundation has risen over $100 million in the past 18 years to fund cancer awareness and research. 

Jimmy V is an inspiring person.  His attitude towards life, even in the face of overwhelming obstacles is something to admire.   

Below is a video clip from the 1993 ESPY awards when he received the Arthur Ashe award for Courage.  During his speech he announces the Jimmy V Foundation.

Below are highlights from the 1983 National Championship.  It was one of the most exciting endings the tournament has ever seen.

What do you think of Jimmy Valvano, his life and his mission?  Do you have or are you developing a personal philosophy for how you live your life?  If so, would you mind sharing?  Who inspires you to be a better person?  What qualities do they possess you admire?

The End of Twinkies

After 82 years of operations, the Hostess Brands are ceasing operations and liquidating the company as of Friday, November 16^th.  This means no more Twinkies, Ho-Ho’s, Ding Dongs, or Wonder Bread.   The company has requested permission to liquidate its assets and discontinue operations.  This will potentially result in the loss of some 18,500 jobs.

The company has issued a statement on its website explaining why they feel these steps are necessary.  Below is a link:

http://www.hostessbrands.com/Closing.aspx

After filing for bankruptcy for the second time in a decade, the company has approached its workers requesting an 8% pay cut.  The company’s cost structure, which includes salary and pension expenses, is not allowing the company to maintain profitability.  Even though it is the employees which would have to endure the pay cut, it is the unions that negotiate with the company’s management.

Although the company was able to reach an agreement with one of the largest unions, the Teamsters Union, they were unable to reach the same agreement with the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.  The union was unwilling to accept the pay cut blaming managerial issues for the company’s inability to compete.  As a result of no agreement being reached, the management of Hostess has decided to liquidate the company in order to get the most value from its assets.

The company will be closing of 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, approximately 5500 delivery routes and 570 bakery outlet stores across the United States.  While 18,500 Hostess employees are expected to lose their jobs, the impact on the other businesses and vendors which work with Hostess will be significant.

What do you know about labor unions?  Under what conditions do you think it is appropriate for management to ask employees to take a pay cut?  Under what conditions do you think it is appropriate for the unions to reject pay cuts?  What is your favorite Hostess snack and why?  

Elections 2012

The National Election was held yesterday.  After 18 months of primaries, nomination conventions, debates, print and television ads, it is finally over.  It is time for people to throw away their lawn signs, have billboards removed, and get back to regular commercials trying to sell us products instead of telling us about candidates or issues.

In many ways the 2012 election was very much like every other election.  On a national level, it was two candidates trying to convince the voters why their ideas are better or maybe why the other candidate’s ideas won’t work.  While every election has had its fair share of negative campaigning, 2012 did prove to be one of the more vicious elections.  Some believe it was this viciousness and lack of enthusiasm with either candidate which caused voter turnout to dip lower than 2008 and 2004.  Voter turnout nationally was around 57.5%.

What made 2012 somewhat different was the amount of money spent.  It is estimated between presidential and congressional campaigns close to $5.8 billion was spent.  This number astounds me.  The primary parties responsible for the increase in spending were the numerous Super-PACs (Political Action Committee).   The PACs won a U.S. Supreme Court case (Citizens United vs. Federal Election Committee) which in essence states the spending of money on political campaigns is the equivalent of free speech and should not be regulated or suppressed.  As a result, while direct spending by candidates and political parties was down in 2012, the Super-PAC spending made this the most expensive election in the country’s history.

What do you think of our political process and American politics?  Do you like the ways elections are conducted?  Is there anything you think should be changed about the process?  What is your reaction to the amount of money spent?  Do you think it is money well spent or was it excessive?   

National Bullying Prevention Month

Bullying has gained a tremendous amount of attention.  We have heard, seen, or read of horrific acts of bullying, whether through face to face contact, email and Facebook, or spreading rumors.  These despicable acts have at times resulted in senseless acts of violence committed against oneself or one’s neighbor.

October has been given the honor of being National Bullying Prevention Month.  This is the seventh year in a row PACER has promoted bullying prevention education and awareness.  This year, prominent organizations, including Facebook and Yahoo!, as well as distinguished celebrities, such as Annie Thurman from the Hunger Games and Mikey Reid from Victorious, have joined the cause to raise awareness and encourage prevention.

Each day more than 160,000 students stay home from school due to the fear of being bullied.  No one should have to go to school scared.  While we may seem to live in sheltered environment, we would be remiss to assume acts of bullying could not exist at our school or within the city.

Below are links to websites to provide you with additional bullying prevention information and what you can do in our school and community to put an end to bullying.  The sites define what is bullying, explains why kids bully, and provide resources to help if you are bullied or witness bullying. 

TeensAgainstBullying.org
StopBullyingNow.hrsa.gov

In addition to the Children of Peace, what else can we do in our school to address and prevent bullying?  How would you handle a situation where you saw someone being bullied?  What are some steps we can take to encourage acceptance and tolerance at school and in our community?