California vs. Texas

SHORT COMMUNICATION 378

California vs. Texas

 

By

 

Roger Behra

 

There is a continuous battle going on between California and Texas that started long ago. Most recently it has picked up in intensity and is now a full-fledged economic battle for technology development and export supremacy. In 2012 the tide turned and Texas began forging ahead of California. In 2013 Texas owned the lead. Export from Texas hit $45.1 billion while exports from California totaled $44.8 billion. Silicon Valley was supplanted by the Texas.

 

California’s economy is stuck in a recessionary ditch. The unemployment rate is stuck at a 12 percent. That’s the second highest in the Texas’ jobless rate is nearly a third lower and about one percentage point below the national rate. Concerning the matter of taxes, California’s tax rates are among the nation’s highest. Texas’ tax burden is one of the lowest. It’s about a third lower than California’s which is one of the nation’s highest.

 

Texas city in south Texas do not indicate recession, as do California’s. There are few vacant stores. Retail, dining, and entertainment venues are hopping with economic activity. The Texas oil industry is booming and is begging for workers. Texas highways are wide, smoothly paved, and well-maintained. California’s are congested and deteriorated, even though California’s fuel taxes are nearly twice as high. The total tax burden California’s pay per gallon of gasoline is the highest in the nation. Texas has the 13^th best business climate, while California’s is the 49^th, only ahead of New York. There is no doubt. Texas has won the economic battle them and California.

 

When Jerry Brown was elected the first time, he promised to greatly improve the economic condition in California, but he didn’t. He begged for a second 4 year term, which the voters gave to him. He thanked them by reneging on his camping promises. He even completely changed some of them to the opposite effect. Gov. Jerry Brown and his crew of political helpers have had one thing on their agenda and it’s taxes, and more taxes. That has caused hundreds of businesses to flee the state and the average Californian to curtail spending. California will never be the same as before Jerry Brown became governor. His second four-year term is worse than the first four-year term because he knows his political career is over. He’s leaving California in bad and unfixable economic condition. Texas is holding most of the candles to California. But when it comes to climate and physical beauty, Texas simply cannot hold and candle anywhere near California. And thankfully, Jerry Brown as California’s governor cannot get involved in trying to negatively change or tax California’s beauty or climate.

 

R. B.

1-24-14

 



The Two Californias

SHORT COMMUNICATION 374

 

The Two Californias

 

By

 

Roger Behra

 

When you consider what makes up the state of California and what goes on there, you come to the realization that there are two Californias. One is for the rich people and the other is for the poor, and you can tell which is which geographically. The western half belongs to the rich, and the eastern half belongs to the poor. All the blade goes to Mother Nature.

 

Along with the geographic setup California there are the social disconnects, and the social disconnects cause the reality that there are two different kinds life: one for the rich, one for the poor. The disconnects make it clear that the state of California has two different cultures. One culture is very desireable, and the other leaves much to be desired.

 

California’s income and sales taxes are among the nation’s highest, but the state’s deficit is about $16 billion. More than 2000 upper-income Californians leave the state per week to flee high taxes and costly regulations. California’s taxes higher and its business climate ranks near the bottom of most surveys. Its teachers are among the highest paid in the nation, but its public school students consistently test near the bottom in both math and since. The state’s public employees have generous pensions and benefits, but California’s retirement systems lack billions in funds to pay for them. Californians pay very high gasoline taxes, but the freeways and the city streets have degenerated into potholed and clogged nightmares. It is a very mixed bag of problems faced on a daily basis, because the disconnects are many varied.

 

The two different cultures are caused by the two different landscapes: coastal and interior. Everyone wants to live in the coastal side because of the ocean, scenery, well maintained freeways and highways, beautiful homes, many businesses, and great restaurants. The interior side leaves much to be desired. There is too much unscenic open space, poorly maintained roads, old houses, old schools, and the fact the interior is a magnet for so many illegals that can’t speak any English and flood the schools. Interior restaurants cannot compare with coastal restaurants. People who better their daily living and education quickly leave for coastal California.

 

Some people may justifiably conclude that there is no such state, that there is no California. Instead there are two radical different cultures and landscapes with little common and dysfunctional in very different ways. Really, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that the two cultures from disaster that cannot be called a state or California.

 

R. B.

2-9-2014



Corona del Mar Cheating Scandal

SHORT COMMUNICATION 371

 

Corona del Mar Cheating Scandal

 

By

 

Roger Behra

 

Corona del Mar is a nice city in Southern California, but you have to be very rich or wealthy to live there. They have a very good and productive school system that graduates high school students that go on to bigger and better opportunities and lives.

 

Recently, however, Corona del Mar has suffered through a major scandal that has involved some of their high school students: It’s called HACKING. The evidence has indicated that the hacking has been going on for quite some time and involves 11 students and a tutor. All 750, 000 grades are to be audited.

 

The evidence also indicates that the tutor, Timothy Lai, was heavily involved. One of the 11 students told administrators and the police that Lai has asked him to help him (Lai) break into teachers’ computers. The informative student identified 11 other students involved in the scheme, and on Dec. 17 security guards and the school administrators escorted the 11 students from classes.

 

The evidence proves that the Corona del Mar hacking was going on 6 months before the scandal became known to the public, and that Lai was directly involved. When the police wanted him to be interviewed, he came up missing. The police then obtained a search warrant and searched his apartment and his car. In June, 2013 two high school girls were expelled from school because their grades were actually changed. When the police interviewed them they said a tutor did that for them. The girls would not give the name of the tutor.

 

On one occasion a student and Lai broke into the school during early morning hours and placed a device called a keylogger on teachers’ computers. As a result many teachers were being hacked at various times. Now all 750, 000 grades must be audited.

 

Hacking in general has become an enormous problem in the America culture. Many people have been hurt and their lives upset because of hacking. Many did not know their computers were hacked and found out too late after important information was stolen from them. People who have not been hacked feel great discomfort just knowing that it happen at any time and to anyone. Hacking is a very insidious form of cheating. It is one of the evils in the America culture that points to the fact that the American culture is badly broken and beyond repair. Let us hope the Corona del Mar grade keeping system is not beyond repair, because 750, 000 grades to review is an enormous and exacting undertaking.

 

R. B.

1-31-14



The Growing Trend, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATION 360

 

The Growing Trend

 

By

 

Roger Behra

 

When Jesus was being crucified in such a cruel and painful way he uttered these words, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing."  Well, the same words can be said about the recent trend going on in Orange County, California during the past four years: Suicide. Orange County residents have been killing themselves in increasingly large numbers. Since 2008 the increase is 20 percent. That is an alarming increase and situation, although it is not just off the cuff. There are two solid reasons for trend increase: Bad economy; teenagers and cyberbullying.

 

When the bad economy developed in 2008, California was hit very hard and led the U.S. in unemployment. Orange County was hit the hardest in the state. Many workers lost good jobs and others could not find a job. And the recovery from the bad economy took much longer than elsewhere. That definitely helped the suicide trend to increase.

 

While the bad economy took it's toll, another trend increased: Cyberbullying. That happens when one bully bullies another through digital transmissions which are humiliating and devastating. Teen girls make the mistake of having sexual encounters with teen boys and others. Frequently the encounters are photos, and later they are anonymously digitally transmitted showing the girls and their naked bodies: bare breasts, bare bottoms, and genitals clear and fully exposed. Then the girl can be shown having intercourse, but that is not the end of it.

 

The girl in the transmission is usually bullied and becomes embarrassed, humiliated, and full of intense mental suffering. All of that has led to many teen girl suicides. Teen boys also commit suicides for one reason or another, many times it's because of strict parental control or boys bullying boys.

 

Audrie Pott's sexual episode with three boys ended up being digitally transmitted without her knowledge. She suffered all the related results. After eight days of it she called her mother from school to pick her up. As soon as she arrived home she ran to the bathroom and hanged herself. Her mother couldn't believe it. The grieving was instantaneous.

 

Ordinary suicides have also been on the increase because of age degeneration and illness. It's more common now for someone to murder family members and then the murderer commits suicide rather than end up in a trial and a prison sentence.

 

In Orange County the 20 percent increase in suicides has been during the past 4 years alone.  The year 2011 was the worst: Gunshot (107) was the leading method and hanging (95) wasn't far behind. In 2012 gunshot suicides remained nearly the same while hanging greatly decreased. Regardless of the type, suicides happen often.

 

R. B.

5-5-13



It Was Chaos Unlimited, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATION 349

 

It Was Chaos Unlimited

 

By

 

Roger Behra

 

A recent survey classified California's high schools and ranked them according to the number of students who graduate with diploma in hand. Four groups of schools were classified: Catholic; other religious; private; public. Catholic schools were the best, and public schools were the worst. Only 35 percent of public school students graduated with diploma in hand while 99 percent of Catholic school students did so. This means 65 percent of public school students were failures. There is a good reason for that: Discipline problems were a major cause, and especially in the state of California.

 

High school discipline problems begin in the intermediate schools. That's been the trend for a very long time, and they are not strict enough at that lower level. They just do not do a good job of niping bad discipline in the bud. The following is just how bad it has gotten in one Intermediate Public School at Santa Ana Unified campus in California.

 

It was an awful situation at Spurgeon Intermediate Public School. The lack of any kind of controlable discipline went on daily. It was that way for quite some time, because the district handled the situation very poorly. That forced 36 teachers to file a hostile work situation notice.

 

What actually went on at Spurgeon? Pre-teens along with teens were involved. The rough element took over and was running the place. They physically accosted the teachers. They regularly tripped fire alarms. They argued with security staff. They threw objects during class sessions. They turned over desks.  During class sessions they made sexual noises. They ran through hallways, banged on doors as class was in progress, and uttered obscene words. One brazen student even smoked marijuana in class in front of a substitute teacher. They threw eggs at teachers, set fires in urinals, and even spit on teachers. Over a period of time the whole discipline structure collapsed, and the good students greatly suffered by not getting the education they deserved. To make matters worse there just weren't any consequences.

 

Finally, 36 teachers and parents of the good students got a complaint filed and the district had no choice but to restore discipline. Arrests have been made and strict suspensions have been handed down. The chaos unlimited was coming to an abrupt end.

 

It boils down to this: Discipline must come first. Without that little or no education takes place.  In Spurgeon Intermediate where disorder and confusion was, education and learning was not. That was the result of the chaos unlimited. Let us hope Spurgeon Intermediate once again becomes a place of learning and an educational place of acceptance. It has been long overdue, indeed.

 

R. B.

4-12-13



Bully To Buddy, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATION 345

 

Bully To Buddy

 

By

 

Roger Behra

 

Finally, something good is happening in one of America's Public Schools: It's Marina High School at Huntington Beach, California. The Huntington Beach Youth Board along with Councilman Joe Carchio are organizing students to sign pledges to end a very serious problem: It's the effect of student bullying. They handed out T-shirts if they signed a pledge to "Be a Buddy, not a Bully." Nearly 600 stu­dents signed pledges and received a T-shirt. That's remarkable.

 

Bullying takes place during class sessions and after school off school grounds. Sometimes it gets physical and parents have to get involved.

 

Bullying takes place when students continuously make remarks when they feel he/she is not the same as them or a little bit strange. It is present in elementary and high schools throughout America, and it is an enormous problem and especially in the state of California.

 

Here is how bullying works during class sessions. Several classmates get together and choose a student to bully.  Jane Sadone is chosen.  In math class the bullies keep reminding Jane that she is fat. In English class another group of bullies keep telling Jane she looks awful in her clothes. In social studies class a stu­dent laughs and says her hair is ugly. This goes on for days at a time. Most days Jane goes home crying alone. She hates to leave for school and her mother wonders what is going on. That's when parents get involved.

 

Bullying is common after school. The bully group taunts someone daily on the way home. When the bullied person gets fed up, it leads to fighting. Girls are as bad as boys. Some time ago a father went over to a bully's house and shot the bully.

 

A very special type of bullying is taking place now, and it involves a large number of bullies: It's called cyberbullying. It's devastating! It's occurring very frequently. It's used anonymously. Bullying students use FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM accounts. If a bullied person's picture is put online, it's called "put on blast." When you are put on blast and your picture is up, bullies are calling you names and saying other unkind things: That is very hurtful and demoralizing to the one bullied, and it can lead to devastating behavior like the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Bullying is blamed for that. Adam Lanza´s picture: caused horrendous bullying because he was very different and strange looking.

 

America's Public Schools have so many others built in problems for one reason or another. When bullying came along on a large scale of deviant behavior, it became the icing on the problem cake. Let's hope the Be a Buddy, Not a Bully program becomes very effective in California and expands throughout other states in the culture of America. The program needs to gain momentum ASAP.

 

R. B.

3-23-13



The Never-ending Topic, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATION 341

 

The Never-ending Topic

 

By

 

Roger Behra

 

The never-ending topic has been and still is Proposition 8. Californians know well what that is all about.  They voted it into law several years ago by a very large margin: millions of votes. At that time and to the present time millions of Californians still think that same-sex marriage is a very bad idea and should never take place.

 

Proposition 8 has been under fire in and out of the news for several years now. It has been on hold in California during those years. No same-sex marriage can take place in California while the legality of the voters ' decision trickles up through the various court systems. On February 24, 2013, it landed in the hands of the U. S. Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the land.  Soon the Court will begin it's lengthy deliberations, and as of 3-5-13 it's not clear where the Court stands. The guess is their final decision will only pertain to California and not to other states in general.

 

During a press conference in early March, 2013 U. S. President, Barack Obama was asked his stance on same-sex marriage, and his answer was "everyone is created equal." Really, that was an ignorant and thoughtless answer. Off-the-cuff questions tell he is mentally weak as America's leader. It's not the first time he has given that tendency.

 

The reality is in this reply: All couples are not created equal. Heterosexual couples can create offspring. Homosexual couples cannot. This is precisely why God allows marriage-between a MAN and a WOMAN.  Procreation is the foundation for marriage to begin with. Man and woman and marriage and procreation all go together. Any other setup is not a marriage.

 

Television and radio news along with psychiatrists try to convince people that homosexuals are born that way, which in not at all true. Homosexuals are that way because they choose to live that life style. They are not born that way, because homosexual behavior is contrary to God's plan for human sexual behavior which is procreation.

 

The primary reason homosexuals want their union to be wrapped up in a so called marriage is to legitimize their immoral, unnatural, and repugnant sexual behavior. They want that kind of behavior to be legal and accepted. The word "marriage" legally attached to their union is not going to change their type of behavior. Their union is still going to be considered unnatural, unproductive, and gravely immoral and sinful.

 

Heterosexual people have to correct their own behavior: stop divorcing and stop cohabiting. That is also contrary to God's plan for procreation. And another thing heterosexuals must do is not to hate or dislike homosexuals. We are all God's creatures and are subject to Him. He is the judge of human behavior. Most gays are very nice and likeable people. Most women know that their personalities are nice and acceptable. It´s their misguided and immoral behavior that is not.

 

R. B.

2-9-13



A Classic Example, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATION 325

A Classic Example

By

Roger Behra
 

No one can deny that America’s culture is now chest deep in evil behavior. Evil behavior has significally increased since the year 2000 began. Now, the counterculture philosophy is cruising along at a very clear and fast pace.
 

This is bad enough, but is adding insult to injury is the averted eyes syndrome, which is the fact that people know and see evil in progress, but they simply look the other way and say and do nothing. That is a classic trait of counterculture people. They have thrown out good core values and brought own evil values.
 

Penn State University is now paying a very stiff price for exercising the averted eyes syndrome in the form of child sexual abuse. It has led to several officials at the university being fired and severely damaging the legacy of their famous football coach, Joe Paterno, who soon died after everything, was brought to light.
 

What is going on in the American culture is this: If criminal or immoral activity is going on and it does not directly effect the knowledgeable persons, family, or friends, they all look the other way. Here is a classic example.
 

An elementary school in Los Angeles, California, got into serious trouble. Considerable inappropriate child abuse was going on for a great many years. It was kept quiet among the faculty members as a classic example of the averted eyes syndrome. At least two faculty members got into serious trouble, and the whole faculty was disbanded and replaced. The child abuse was blatant. One teacher’s bail was set at $23,000,000 million dollars: one million dollars for each year of the abuse.
 

In the New York City a woman was being raped in the doorway of a closed business. It was a dark knight but the rape was visible because of the lights at night effect. Several people walked by and saw what was going on, but they looked the other way. Thankfully, a police cruiser was passing by, saw what was happening, and the rapist was arrested.
 

Many people look the other way because they might end up in legal trouble through no fault of their own. Time from work can be lost when they have to testify in court as to what they saw going one. One can accurately say the word syndrome can be changed to dilemma in a small number of cases. In most cases when inappropriate or criminal behavior is going on, the averted eyes syndrome is the very accurate conclusion. And that is what going on to a very large degree. It is a very sad situation to say the least.
 

R. B.

12-28-12  



No Lesson Learned, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 289

No Lesson Learned

By

Roger Behra

It finally had to happen. After months of uncertainty the truth has finally hit fan. There is no more mystery in California Governor Jerry Brown’s strings are firmly being pulled by government employee unions there is in Sacramento. The many unions are clearly calling the shots, and that bodes poorly for California’s economic recovery and the rescue of the badly run and dysfunctional school systems in the state.

It is the second time around as governor for Jerry Brown. The voters learned no lessons from his first time around. It is truly a sad situation. The voters trusted J. B. and believed he would break the union shackles, rescue the state from dire economic straits, and help repair the dysfunctional school system that plagues the state. All of this has been going on for a long, and nothing good is going to happen soon. J. B. is much older but not at all any wiser.

When J. B. signed into law Senate Bill 202 recently, that is all the voters of California needed to know. It was the same old J. B. SB 202 is the poster child for legislative abuses. J. B. could have vetoed that monstrosity. Instead, he is once again tied to the apron strings of government employee unions, and the door is still wide open to higher taxes, a stagnated state economy, businesses leaving the state in large numbers, and the continued dysfunction of state schools as more good tax money is thrown after badly used tax money.

The California voters got badly tricked by J. B. because they did not learn any lessons from past experience. And the lesson is this: Anyone now who believes anything any politician says anymore during campaigning needs a thorough head examination. Jerry Brown (President B. Obama, also) is doing a 180° from campaign and promises and is assuring voters the game is surely over. The current behavior of what is going on makes it a no-brainer.

R. B.

11-26-11

Another Perfect Example, By Roger Behra

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 286

Another Perfect Example

By

Roger Behra

Nothing exposes counterculture people more than their group behavior. Frequently it corps up in their wrongheaded and degenerative thinking. Frequently the result of their very faulty thinking and actions is the direct sign that they cannot get in through thick skulls that just because something can be done does not mean that is should be done. You are about to read another example of that. It is not only faulty thinking and action, it is a mockery of a very accepted norm and proper social behavior.

For a very long period of time in America’s high schools the correct and very accepted procedure is to have a high school senior boy be chosen homecoming king. Then the chosen homecoming king would choose a girl to be the homecoming queen. It has always worked out well until recently in San Diego, California, where, the apple cart was overturned.

It took place at Patick Hennry High School, where the unthinkable and culturally unacceptable took place. Senior Rebeca Arellano, who is lesbian, was elected homecoming king, and she in turn named her girlfriend as her homecoming queen. It was a total breach of tradition and acceptance, and it did not go unnoticed.

As the dust was settling from the horrendous event, matters were made worse when San Diego Unified School District Superintendent, Bill Kowba, praised the school for choosing the lesbian couple. Well, that did not go unnoticed, either.

The two scandals events caused the school to receive a great deal of hate mail and hateful telephone calls. That was also very sad. The replies should have been strong but not hateful. Right minded people with proper core values could not sit idly by and ignore the great transgression. It is comforting to know that there are a large number of people who realize that morality counts and that just because something can be done it should not be done. Yes, it is so comforting, indeed, May God’s blessings upon them be quick and abundant.

R. B.

11-12-11