April 5, 2017

Phil Beaver works to establish opinion when the-objective-truth has not been discovered. He seeks to refine his opinion by listening to other people’s experiences and observations. The comment box below invites readers to express facts, opinion, or concern, perhaps to share with people who may follow the blog.
Note:  I often connect words in a phrase with dashes in order to represent an idea. For example, frank-objectivity represents the idea of candidly expressing the-objective-truth without despite possible error. In other words, the writer expresses his “belief,” knowing he could be in error, in hopes of collaboratively approaching the-objective-truth. (By dashing “frank-objectivity,” a complex idea may be conveniently expressed in subsequent discussion.)

The Advocate:  See online at theadvocate.com/baton_rouge

Our Views. Convincing students to take advantage of college-credit courses is not only a matter of dollars spent on adults, as education-professionals claim. (In this article, it’s $10 million more for White and tuition up to $800 per course to colleges and universities.) All persons need incentives, and children are persons.

 

Going beyond this Opinion, we hope bills to increase standard TOPS requirement to 3.0 or an equivalently high ACT score passes. College applicants need to be prepared to earn a college degree, not just go to college. And the savings could be shifted to K-12 incentives.

Which brings me to the point I want to make: I want Louisiana to get serious about an incentives program the makes the statement to every Louisiana infant (and parent): You, dear child, are a person of high interest to this state. We want you to succeed in the transition from infant to civic adult. Therefore, we are setting aside today the start of an incentives program together with our continual civic coaching, which may grow, with your good performance, to as much as $40,000 on completion of college or equal, but will remain in the State’s account until your age 30.5, when it may have grown to $80,000, payable to you in taxable cash or as an IRA rollover.

Please read and improve the detailed proposal. Google [phil beaver + child incentives] and choose the URL that starts cipbr.

There’s no entity I can imagine more qualified to improve and make this program (for the person from age 0.5 to 30.5) feasible and happening than the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation and the State of Louisiana.

Today’s thought. Jeremiah 10:12. The question each person faces on reading Jeremiah is: What is the Lord? Humankind may never know.

Consider flooding cycles in Louisiana, especially during the last twelve months. Louisiana Delta residents have always needed to consider flooding, and the best option is elevation. A lot more can be said, but at least a person’s living quarters and vehicle ought to be well above expected flood elevation.

A person who is relying on his or her own resources will try to locate several feet above the historically high flood elevation. People who unexpectedly flood will either move or elevate their home. They will neither count on government nor Dean’s advice for flood protection.

It’s the same way with any concern for soul. Any soul was in good care before a person was conceived and is in good care now. We need not try to control its destiny based mysteries from Jeremiah, Dean, or any other thinker, including ourselves.

However, humans have a tendency to want to control everything about their lives. In so many ways, that is one of the wonders of being human. So, if a person’s thoughts involve salvation of a soul for good afterdeath and the thoughts serve them well, that’s good for them, IMO. But it seems civically immoral to try to impose soul-concerns on others. Anyway, I do not know the-objective-truth about souls.

 

Letters

Facts on highway spending (Wilson). I appreciate the effort, but you could have presented the facts.

 

For example, I think Louisiana receives $606 million from 20 c/gal gas tax with another $558 million going to the federal government. If the fed grants LA 70% of the 558, that’s $390 million. I give up on trying to understand what happens to $1164 million collected from Louisianans.

So what road and infrastructure projects got done?

Expenditures per project are not included, but let’s consider the 2016 recommended budget:

http://senate.la.gov/FiscalServices/Presentations/2015/07%20DOTD%20for%20Finance.pdf . There, it’s reported that total employee count is 4205 with 163 in administration. The budget is broken down, in millions of dollars:

Personal services        333

Operating expenses      64

Professional services     37

Other charges              118

Acquisitions & Repairs   23

Total                            575

On another page, Admin is reported at 45.5 for the 163. Does that equate to $279,000 salary and overhead for each person? Do 4042 employees receive 333-45.5 or $71,000 in salary and overhead? Was the 72 to state police included in the 118 other charges? What about the remaining 46; could it be redirected to roads?

Admin of 45.5 out of 575 seems like 7.9%. It would be 5% of 910. Does that include federal money of 335, indicating the fed gives back 60% of their take? If so, where is the 335 reported?

How can I get the facts on highway spending? I can’t decide to favor what I can’t consider.

No confidence in Metro-Council recommending COA (Boe). I appreciate your input and read it according to my understanding: the Metro-Council knew it was immoral to authorize a vote on COA taxation when COA was managed by people who seem to be predators on black people.
 
Perhaps this case helps us see that dialogues on race and black theology are used by predators to victimize people who commit to separation from a civic people---those who practice the preamble, whether intentionally or by the memes of the American morality.
 
Constantly I write that the preamble to the constitution for the USA offers civic justice to the people who are willing to use it. It was intended for people of all races and circumstances in 1787, and that remains true in 2017. Together we can establish a civic culture in Baton Rouge.
 
But it will not come from dialogues on race or religion or black caucus. Justice comes from the people (A. Lincoln, 1861).

Cal Thomas column. I’ve also heard “what goes down comes around,” which I prefer. 

Of course the Bible idea is you reap what you sow. I like best A. Lincoln’s warning in March, 1861, to the February CSA’s seven states against 27: “"Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh."

 

Unfortunately, the poor whites in the South, misguided by their pastors and wealthy elites fought under the belief, “Our white god will beat your white god.” Some factions in the USA have not learned theology’s lesson: It’s better to trust and commit to the-objective-truth. 

 

When your power ratio is low, resistance begs woe, so what the people need to do is create a super-majority that iteratively collaborates to establish public-integrity using the-objective-truth rather than dominant-opinion. Again referring to Lincoln, justice comes from the civic people, as defined by the preamble to the constitution for the USA.

  

Tax hike for $500 M (Page 1B). Perhaps an urban-living economist willl calculate Louisiana transportation-time savings, say in man-years, for actual total projects and their effective dates at new taxes $500M and $900M.

 
As it is, I almost feel like the state just wants more tax revenue and same old same old wait for federal aid.

Plainly, the fed is rightfully backing out of national control to return responsibilities to the states, where people are closer to local problems. Louisiana needs to prepare for the transition, which will not be fun since there is low to no public-integrity (45th to 50th in many categories). Begged-woe has come, and we need to take charge and make our state great (not again: great).

 

Taking global warming seriously (Page 8B). This is what citizens can do about global warming: better, quicker knowledge of what is coming. I hope President Trump signs the bill to improve weather forecasts.

 

Trying to control the earth’s atmosphere by any method other than population control or activity reduction by inhabitants is not feasible.

Message (Page 1A). Angella Gabriel's story: "It's inspiring; it makes you take a look at yourself, re-evaluate where you are as an individual," [Angella] Lawrence said. "This woman has this mindset, this spirit; shame on me if I think any other way. ... She motivates me."

 

My Scots-Irish ancestors gave me the get-up meme: Worse things happened to better people. I prefer Ms Lawrence's statement and regret that Ms. Gabriel suffers.

Opiod prescriptions (Page 1A). Why is this not an AMA responsibility?

Why does the Legislature need to tell the AMA to be civically moral? How can legislators know better than the AMA and CDC? Is this a Sheriff’s Association initiative? What institution is in charge of health care?

 

Really. I’m that naïve.

Monuments (Page 1A). To Jay Schmitt: Tyranny often rebukes woe until woe comes.

To E.g. Schwetje: I like to read key documents to understand historical declarations, in this case the South Carolina Declaration of Secession. It catalogues grievances, and closes with ". . . public opinion at the North has invested a great political error with the sanction of more erroneous religious belief.”

 
The Bible, both old and new testaments, condone slavery, even though the physics of slavery prove its evil: chains, whips, guns, brutality and rape to slaves and both physical and psychological burdens to masters. Ministers in the South preached slavery an institution of Christianity in the 1850s despite Thomas Paine's scathing letter of 1775, "African Slavery in America." See http://www.constitution.org/tp/afri.htm.

 
Of course, Bible canonization happened in 300 AD to 400 AD, so the Christian evil began 1700 years ago. I don’t know the canonizers’ skin colors, but I doubt white.

 
Today, some black liberation-theologians say white church is Satan. I don't know if they claim Christianity or not. If they do, they may be claiming the Bible is true but slaves are white and masters are black.

Perhaps the non-theists and others will save the USA from slavery and Christianity, merely by expressing, “Hey, we’re here too. Let’s practice and promote the preamble to the constitution for the USA.”

AP (Page 2A). Julie Pace and the Associate Press create fake news. Susan Rice’s claim that activities were not political is opinion rather than the-objective-truth. The entire event should be on the opinions page.

Poll on prison reform (Page 6A). Polls say Hillary Clinton is president of the USA. At least, President Trump is not “their” president. 

 

Prison reform may protect victims, and I doubt the people polled know much about it.

Too late (Page 6A). Reads like wishful imagination to me.

7 LSU medical marijuana management proposals (Page 8A). That’s a good number of applicants. I wonder if they are qualified. 

 

I know the state recently got bids for management of $1.6 billion flood aid then said the low bidder was unqualified. Gov. Edwards cares so little about flood victims.

 

I worry about the real help children and adults who might benefit from MM may get and when.

 

Phil Beaver does not “know” the-indisputable-facts. Phil trusts and is committed to the-objective-truth of which most is undiscovered and some is understood.