HerbEly

Ernie Fitzgerald Retires

A. Ernest Fitzgerald never knew it, inspired a whole generation of civil servants. Here is a quote from Jason Vest's Government Executive story written on the occasion of "Ernie's" retirement:

For most veteran Defense Department civil servants, the Pentagon would be the logical place for a retirement ceremony. But in the case of A. Ernest "Ernie" Fitzgerald, 80, it seemed only fitting that on Feb. 27, the symbolic finish to a unique career in federal service would not be there but in a hearing room at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

It was in a similar room in 1968, that Fitzgerald, then a civilian Air Force analyst, candidly told Sen. William Proxmire's Joint Economic Committee about a likely $2.3 billion cost overrun in the Air Force's C-5 cargo aircraft program. And it was there on Capitol Hill that Fitzgerald's real career - as Washington's most famous and tenacious whistleblower - began.

He provided an example of what Gregory Pierce calls one of the ten disciplines of workplace spirituality: exerting our efforts to make the system work. Thanks, Ernie. Your example inspired more civil servants than you may have imagined.

Support Your Local Teacher!

As the husband and father of teachers, I have to quote from this WaPo review of TEACHERS HAVE IT EASY: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers By Daniel Moulthrop, Nínive Clements Calegari and Dave Eggers

The main argument is that to save our educational system teachers must be fairly compensated for the enormously important and difficult work they do. We meet teachers who are trying to save lives while working night jobs because they cannot make ends meet. All teachers will personally connect with the stories of those who have gone into debt by regularly reaching into their own pockets to finance their classrooms.

One chapter, "A Day in the Life," in which a teacher's daily schedule is juxtaposed with that of a pharmaceutical salesman, is both hilarious and tragic. There are great moments here, such as when the teacher's day continues after 3 p.m., when many assume that he or she is done for the day. As the salesman plays a video game and participates in a softball game in the late afternoon and evening, the teacher answers angry e-mails, helps students with homework and finally falls asleep grading papers. As any teacher knows, there are moments when the simple of act of going to the bathroom becomes practically impossible because of the system's demands.

Obit for John K. Vance: Uncovered MKULTRA

From this morning's WaPo, John K. Vance, 89, a member of the Central Intelligence Agency inspector general's staff in the early 1960s who discovered that the agency was running a research project that included administering LSD and other drugs to unwitting human subjects, died May 27 of respiratory arrest.

The moral (Il)logic of the Cold War led us down some strange paths. There were a few who had the courage to speak out for what is right. Institutions being what they are, such people are often ignored or persecuted. A prophet is without honor in his own country, agency, or church. Some are recognized.

What Does a Teacher Make?

My wife sent this to me this morning.

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests of the old adage about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." To stress his point he said to another guest: "You're a teacher, Janae. Be honest. What do you make?" Janae, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor for a student who has tried her or his best. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence."

"You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them write. I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math and perfect their final drafts in English."

"I make them understand that if you have the brains and follow your heart and, if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you must pay no attention because that person just didn’t learn."

Janae paused and then continued. "You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make?"

ADDENDUM. JUST RAN ACCROSS THIS ONLINE. The version sent to me was a little diffrent but lets give credit to the author - Taylor Mali

Augustine’s 26th Law & Irish Grandmothers

Maybe the Conference of Catholic Bishops knew what it was doing when it put Justice Anne Burke on the pedophilia case. Once she was on the National Review Board investigating child abuse she overcame Norman Augustine’s Law XXVI*. This law states that once enough management layers are imposed on top of one another, disaster is not left to chance.

The laity and some Bishops in the American church were trying to get the Vatican to understand the scope and seriousness of child abuse and pedophilia. The Vatican, understandably suspecting that the mainstream media was using the scandal to make the church look bad, was not getting the message through channels. Correct information was being stopped by intervening layers.

Justice Anne Burke, an Irish grandmother, went to work.

Pray as our Sodiers Deliver Ballots in Iraq

A good friend, whose son is in the (name witheld) unit passed along this request. These young men in women are delivering voting machines and ballots for the upcoming elections in Iraq. They will be targets. Please pray for them.

No Election Fraud in Venezuela?

The news reports are telling us that Chavez survived the recall and that international observers stated that “the voting appeared fair and accurate”. Based on the comments of my brother-in-law, the voting was fraudulent even though this statement may be true. (Note that he took the time and expense to fly back to Venezuela in order to vote.) Here is how Chavez may have survived: Places of registration were changed. If I had to travel from Charlottesville, Virginia to Charleston, West Virginia to vote, I might have stayed home, especially if I had gotten hints that my business might suffer. Maybe Jimmy Carter and the international observers never saw this at the polls.

Teacher as Truth-teller

I have often admired the columns of Patrick Walsh, a veteran teacher at TC Williams High School in Alexandria. His occasional columns echo my experience as the husband of a teacher and father of four Charlottesville High School graduates. In today’s Washington Post, he candidly discusses some truths that will prove to be unpopular. Here are two paragraphs:

“Taking in the scenes, I couldn't help thinking of Bill Cosby and the controversy he stirred with his recent comments at Constitution Hall during a 50th anniversary celebration of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. I remembered how he'd said that he believed some "lower economic" African American parents had the wrong values -- that they'd rather buy their kids expensive sneakers than introduce them to Hooked on Phonics, and that they looked for someone else to blame when their kids got into trouble with the law. Cosby was criticized for being too hard on the less fortunate, but let me tell you -- the black students in my AP English classes are even harder. To them, the fighting and posturing that morning was nothing but out-and-out "ghetto."

Walsh then discusses the challenges of teaching English to “at risk” students:

“In many ways, these kids drive the academic agenda of schools. Take the Virginia Standards of Learning exams. They were initiated as a desperate quick-fix effort to close the gap between low-income minority kids and middle-class kids. The thinking was that if schools like T.C., with a large number of minority students, were labeled as failing, teachers and administrators would suddenly feel pressured to transform these kids into scholars. In fact, the performance of minority students on the SOLs has been so poor that the tests have been made easier to avoid a political uproar over disproportionate numbers of minority students not getting diplomas."

My June 16 Observer column identifies the effort to make the system effective as a vital aspect of workplace spirituality. Mr. Walsh is attempting to do just this in his Washington Post article When the Street and the Classroom Collide

"Greater love has no one...

...than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

During my 32 years of civilian service I gained great respect for the men and women who serve in uniform. Please honor them by reading these three tributes to US Army Ranger Pat Tillman:

Sally Jenkins in the Washington Post.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in Beliefnet.

Peggy Noonan's article from the July 12, 2002 Wall Street Journal.

Pray that their sacrifices lead to a lasting peace.

Polish Hero

Col. Ryszard Kuklinski (June 1930 - February 2004) supplied the CIA with 35,000 pages of classified Soviet documents. In doing this he played a critical role in the end of the cold war. He was extracted from Poland in 1981 and eventually recognized in his homeland as a hero. Benjamin Weiser had completed biography (Support this site, buy this book by clicking on the link at your left.) before his death in Tampa, FL It is a good read and, as far as I can tell, completely accurate.