My Utile Center

Who Tracks Philanthropic Drives?Several bodies make the tracking of charities and philanthropic drives possible. They may be organizations built up just for these tasks; third parties who educate philanthropic organizations on how to track their progress and resources; and the humanitarian organizations themselves. The Sports Philanthropy project, which is an organization that strives to empower individuals and whole communities alike through sports, for example, has launched a leadership summit that discusses how to identify quantitative evidence in determining if their drives had made significant positive impacts on the sectors they have worked on. One of the summit’s agendas was establishing metrics so that the positive impacts of sports involvement initiatives can be readily quantified. Another example is Mission Measurement. The company caters to foundations, non-profit organizations, and corporate citizenship/CSR initiatives to help them determine the proper metrics, relay their impacts to their target audiences, and report their results.Some third parties encourage and educate organizations to track their resources and identify whether or not their drives were successful. They often conduct this thru seminars and posting helpful resources in the Internet. Jason Saul of Mission Measurement has done this through a webinar, a seminar conducted through the Web. In it he discussed that successful measurement of undertakings can aid non-profit organization advance their mission; refine the way they manage their group and serve their target recipients; and successfully compete in the increasingly competitive arena of the philanthropy world.

My Fellow Americans:

The United States is not a democracy, it’s a republic. Say the Pledge of Allegiance to yourself. What does it say?

A republic has representative government. A democracy is governed directly by the people. The closest thing to a democracy is California where the people put proclamations on the ballet and let the public decide what is right, not the legislature.

Be that as it may, our republic had faired well on the average over the years, but the President or the Congress sometimes takes over and rules with a mighty hand. Still, many American People feel that their Constitutional Rights are being infringed upon. Some think that the government verges on dictatorship.

The Presidential Oath of Office

Here is the Presidential Oath: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

The Presidential Oath is usually given by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Because of the sad circumstances, the oath was given to LBJ on Air Force I at Love Field, Dallas, Texas by Sarah T. Hughes, U.S. District Judge, Northern District of Texas.

The Congressional Oath of Office

Here is the Congressional Oath of Office: I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

These oaths require that the President and the Congress uphold constitutional law. The constitution can be modified by amendment. Three-fourths of the states must ratify an amendment to change the constitution. Seven years is the allowed time period. (To see a list of amendments that have not been ratified go to: http://www.house.gov/house/Amendnotrat.shtml.)

No where in the oath does it say that the President or a Congressman must be honest in all of his dealings. We need to add that, don’t we?

How Presidents See Themselves

How the President will fulfill his duties somewhat depends on how the President sees himself. President Bush sees himself as Commander in Chief. Woodrow Wilson saw himself as World Statesman. FDR before World War II saw himself as Friend of the Down and Out. As war loomed on the horizon he saw himself as Defender of Freedom.

Well, I made this up. How do you think the presidents thought of themselves?

How the American People See Presidents

The American people have always responded to how the President thinks. Some think that President Bush is a dictator. Some thought that President Wilson was giving our freedoms away to world government. Some thought that President Roosevelt should have let the starving American people fend for themselves and that he was a warmonger.

Presidential Perspective

Most presidents view themselves in history. They need something for their Presidential Library. Most have had a good grasp on history and precedent. President Bush is an exception. He is not an intellectual. That does not disqualify him from the presidency. The people “spoke” twice.

Despite what Harriet Miers said about the President, he is not Mr. Swift. But as he serves in the Presidency, he is getting smarter all the time. But don’t expect “former” President Bush to be a genius. He’ll be back driving his tractor and chopping wood on his ranch. Future presidents will ask him to drop by for an informative chat.

My Last Gripe on Harriet Miers and Tyrannosaurus Rex

Harriet Miers would have been a better selection to the Supreme Court than Samuel Alito, Jr. She has much broader experience and she has compassion.

Miers received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1967 and JD in 1970 from Southern Methodist University. Upon graduation, she clerked for U.S. District Judge Joe E. Estes from 1970 to 1972. (See her amazing biography at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/03/AR2005100300305.html.)

She was raped of her intellectual virtues, and her chance to serve, by a hasty, unthinking, belligerent Congress.

Orrin Hatch, who was a member of our church in Pittsburgh, gave her a loving hug after the beating.

God Bless You, Orrin.

The Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Center

The attack on September 11, 2001 on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City demanded action by the President. He felt this to be his personal responsibility to the people of the United States. He took action accordingly on a global basis and a domestic basis.

He didn’t particularly spend his time ironing out the facts or studying his constitutional rights. His objective has always been to stop the terrorist, never to negotiate with them, and to kill them dead in their tracks. He has focused on the terrorist, not the American People.

He is acting as Commander in Chief.

Historians will treat him kindly on this matter.

The problem comes when the President changes emphasis. Why was the attack on Iraq to destroy “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” changed to an attack to “Remove a Vicious Regime,” and then to an attack to “Bring Freedom to Iraq?”

I think if we had started with Number 2, to “Remove a Vicious Regime,” we would have been ahead. Maybe we could have left Iraq last year.

The actions by the President to counter 9/11 have been costly. Many Americans blame Dick Cheney for the shortcomings of the 9/11 response. Some think that he has favored Halliburton and its subsidiaries. Some think that he just wanted to grab Iraq’s oil. Some think that the Vice President has a cartel that bypasses the president and constitutional law. Some think he is sneaky, cruel, and dangerous.

Dick Cheney had a wonderful reputation during Bush War I. He has faired less during Bush War II. The People have spoken.

None of this has helped the President.

Another major problem of the President is his Press Secretary. Certainly the most incompetent press secretary in history, Scott McClellan, continues to make the Administration look like a group of unthinking boobs. He lies, dodges, insults, and does everything a press secretary shouldn’t do. His treatment of the Press Corp is atrocious. He can’t seem to answer the simplest question. Every question causes him to put his hands across his chest. Then he starts to mumble.

Well, Scott doesn’t really mumble. I put that in there for effect. Actually, I think it would help if he mumbled. Try that, Scotty.

Because of Scott McClellan, the President and Vice President are always on the road trying to explain what is going on. Unfortunately, they don’t always do this in front of a typical American group. When I hear some of the profanity when they do, I don’t blame them.

Still, the government is considered unresponsive, out of touch with the American people, and to some, downright evil.

It Will All Come Out in the Wash

Most Americans realize that the President is not trying to become a dictator, that he does not intentionally break laws, that he is completely stupid.

Congress will take action as they always do to relieve major tensions.

But Congress Will Not Change

As congress writes new laws some but not all will continue to add riders creating roads and bridges named after them, slip in a little pork barrel money for their constituents, and take money from special interest groups.

After the President has finished his tenure, some members of Congress will continue to be their own nasty selves.

The two-party system does not seem to work to the advantage of the American People. That was my leadin to the next item.

I’m Against the Two-Party System

The “two-party system” is killing America. The parties are not composed of thinkers. They too often vote as a block. A senator or congressman that votes outside his party will not get that piece of pork he is after.

The other day the Republicans were angry because not one Democrat voted that Judge Alito’s nomination be taken to the floor of the Senate. They said that they would remember that in the future. They didn’t mention that not one Republican voted against Judge Alito. Nobody said, “Bring back Harriet Miers.”

The system doesn’t cover Middle America who is neither left nor right.

We need more parties in the United States so that no party can gain a majority without responding to the people.

America has had numerous political parties. Let’s resurrect the Federalist, the Whigs, and the Bull Moose parties. I want to be a Mugwump. The Mugwumps bolted the Republican Party in 1884.

We have in the past had senators from these parties: Nullifier, Law & Order, Liberty, Independent Democrat, Free Soil, American, Unionist, Unconditional Unionist, Liberal Republican, Independent Republican, Independent, Readjuster (sounds like a humdinger), Populist, Silver, Populist, Silver Republicans, Progressive, Farmer-Union, and Conservative (see http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/senators_thirdParties.htm).

Here is my summary from association with our two parties: Each Democrat wants everybody to have a piece of the pie. Each Republican wants the whole pie for himself.

I leaned the difference from actual experience.

Well, let’s get things going again. Start your party now.

Here’s A Law I Would Like to See

The congress is always pasting their pork to the end of bills.

I would say that no bill should cover more than one subject. If they want pork, put it in its own bill and state which special groups are supporting it.

Why continually try to fool and trick the American People? There should be a law against it. Damn it, do it!

I hope you didn’t read this whole article. I’m no expert on these matters.

Sincerely, Taylor Jones, the hack writer.

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.dumbincome.com

As the protests continue over the immigration situation, it appears very clear that those in the streets want no border security. Basically, anyone who wants to come to America should come. That appears to be the logic. Of course, that would be the end of America if such an insane policy were to take place.

The waving of Mexican flags is the true nature of those protesting. A sort of “we want it back” mentality has taken root thanks to years of propaganda from politicians, academia and television. Thus, the concept of coming to America in an orderly fashion is no longer an idea tolerated. Those who want to “bum rush” this nation are given the green-light to do so.

The huge amount of illegals at the protests from city to city showed an arrogance and a refusal to deal with the law. Then again, years of back-turning has led to this.

Those running corporations really have no use for America any longer. They want a slave society. The few get even more wealthy while the masses of people lose on wages, benefits and quality of life. “New world order” now means something to people. It simply means crushing the American dream of a good living. It means importing a never-ending stream of low-educated people to take jobs from Americans. It means to deport our manufacturing base. It means to increasingly takeover even good-paying jobs. When it is “never enough” for the wealthy, only bad things can come out of it.

America has become the attractive prostitute; just keep on using her in a disgusting manner. If there is resistance, just go out into the streets and scream and shout no matter if you should be here or not. Use her public services and pay little to no taxes. Give birth to children in America and that child is now a citizen no matter how the parents arrived.

Meanwhile, of course, places like Mexico have very tough immigration laws as do many nations in this world. It does not matter if the hypocrisy of it all stinks to the mountains. America has shown to be a “paper tiger” in such cases. Wars half-a-world-away? Then America has a roar.

Special interests smell “blood-in-the-water.” Left-wing activists see huge power in the future with poor masses of people spilling over. Businesses see a slave society where they get richer. The dwindling “middle class” slowly sees themself as someone awaiting execution.

Immigrants are people who apply to come to a nation and are selected by the government. What we have now are takeover migrants. They want what they want and want it now. But when a host country has been so weak-willed and so deceitful, what can one expect?

Robert Carberry is a freelance writer from New York.