Vast Write Wing - May 2008

[lwoolley]

Dear Mr. Woolley,
I read your op-ed piece in the Dallas Morning News on Monday. My experience on the DISD School Board would support Ms. Wolcott's distaste of school boards. Good people do not serve long enough. However, I do not know why you chose Mike Moses to vilify, but you should know that Mike Moses was totally ethical and up front when he was hired to be the superintendent of DISD. He told the DISD Board that he had commitments and needed up to ten days a year to work outside the district. When he was hired he was finishing a superintendent's search for a small district. The DISD board addressed this in his contract which was made available often to the public. Dr. Moses hid nothing. Dr. Moses was a unanimous choice of the Board and this caveat in the contract, although unusual, would not have kept one board member from hiring such a qualified candidate. He was virtually asked to clean the swamp. When Dr. Moses joined the district, he initiated several audit and internal control examinations. One was to welcome the Comptroller, then Carole Keeton Rylander, and her team into the district to find issues which needed to be addressed. Some 300 issues were found. Dr. Moses made all the necessary changes that the Comptroller recommended, but for one or two, as I recall. He provided the comptroller reasoning for those he was unable to address and those were accepted. The DISD board did not do as well. The board only addressed a few of the Comptroller's recommendations for its own improvement. A point that supports your opinion piece.

Providing district employees at certain levels with credit (procurement) cards was one of the recommendations from the Comptroller. Providing school principals and high level administrators with cards with a very low limits was approved by the board during my tenure. I am not sure when it devolved into a secretary using the card, but to hang it on Mike Moses who left not long after I did, is not fair.

Dr. Moses, in his words, was "worn out" after three years. "Cleaning swamps" and working with dysfunctional boards is not easy and he earned every penny as the "nation's highest-paid superintendent." No other superintendent was audited more, passed the largest (and most needed) bond package in Texas school history, and had the courage to successfully petition Judge Barefoot Sanders to at long last release the district from the Desegregation Order.

While your irritation with trustees is well founded, to mention Mike Moses in that context is wrong-headed.

Sincerely,
Roxan Staff
DISD Trustee (1996-2002)
Board President when Mike Moses was hired.

[lwoolley]

The news incorrectly reported several days ago that Ron Paul dropped out of the presidential race. Read the following article and you will see that this is not the case. That statement should be retracted or corrected because it is not true.

Ray

http://www.gcnlive.com/NewsStory/RonPaul.html

..

After a super-majority of Ron Paul supporters captured control of the Republican state convention Saturday, state party officials abruptly canceled the event without electing delegates to the national convention.
Early in the day, state delegates supporting Paul's continued pursuit of the Republican nomination voted through a rules change that forced the state party to abandon its preset ballot of potential national convention delegates and open up the race to the rest of the state delegates.
The vote followed a rousing speech by Paul of Texas, who said his presidential campaign will continue as long as he has support.

...

[lwoolley]

Think it's possible this latest Rev. Wright show and Obama's denouncement of Wright is a big set-up to get people to feel sorry for Obama? They're both obviously con-artists. I wouldn't put it past them.

unsigned, Waco

[lwoolley]

SOL,
You gotta read Henninger's 05-01-08 WSJ oped column Where Were Obama's
Friends? I will admit that I am attracted to high voltage applause lines by
wordsmiths. Henninger attained a new level with this one. Example:"More
than a few (prominent Obama supporters) were last seen running out on
Hillary."

Indeed, where were they.......? If Obama's prominent supporters had been
defending the Alamo in 1836 we would certainly be speaking Spanish today.
Talk about testicularly challenged!
USL

[lwoolley]

So what's the big deal with "going on Fox"? She'd been on with Chris Matthews before -- so had Bill Clinton. I thought that Hillary cleaned his clock in the interview.

I thought it was a lot of build up and hype to an interview that disappointed. There was nothing new revealed. Just a chance for O'Reilly to do some chest thumping and interrupting to get HIS points across, not listen or let her give answers.

You idolize O'Reilly, don't you? He's your king, your champion. You want to be like him or BE him, don't you?

If he's your idol and you admire him then you've come a long way since your valued days of journaslism. You've fallen off the wagon, my friend.

Actually, he's the Vinnie Barbarino of show biz anchors. He didn't start using his NY accent until he got into the role-playing of trying to be a tough guy. He gets publicity not because folks take him seriously, but because he's a publicity-seeking sex-phone talking obnoxious show host.

Do you do phone-sex talk with your associates? Better start because that's what your pal does.

He ranted, he raved and, in his interview before the show with Shepherd Smith, he showed what a creepy guy he is.

I mean, just how seriously can you take a guy who says things like, "He belongs to me", referring to the NBC chief.

It was malicious, it was libelous. It was vicious.

If I were the NBC chief, my lawyers would be putting together a lawsuit.

LS

[lwoolley]

S.O.L,
I have been told by Obama supporters that if Sillary gets the nomination they will either sit it out or vote McCain. John Insane has nested himself as a default candidate for both parties and although he makes me sick, his strategy seems to be working. Do you think the democrats when with out the black vote? Gods speed Lynn.

MOE(Temple)

[lwoolley]

Hi Charles, Lynn and Karen

Our show - the first in the second season of "Insight" airs locally tonight at 7:30pm.

BUT you can watch it on line at 8pm on www.InsightTexas.com along with the after-show webcast.

And please check out the first entry of my new blog and tell me what you think.

Thanks for helping to kick off the new season in great style! A new show will every week for the next 12 weeks. You'll be able to watch every show and webcast on line, and read my latest blog.

Thanks!

Mary Beth

[lwoolley]

Hi Lynn,
Listening to your show today (4/30/08) and your interview with the lady who wrote a book about leaving Islam and she related the story of an Islamic man who nearly beat his wife to death for failing to produce a son after three daughters. If I recall correctly, you mentioned that she was also subjected to what amounted to a brutal hysterectomy. I once dated a divorcee whose husband had been unhappy because they had three daughters and never a son, which was the reason he wanted the divorce. (Neither was Muslim, by the way) The real irony was that he then proceeded to marry another woman and had two more daughters and (this occurred in the 70's) about that time studies surfaced that showed the sex of children is mainly determined by the father!
Best Regards,
Allen

[lwoolley]

Hi Lynn,
I guess you've now heard of the Supreme Court's decision that upheld
Indiana's law enacted in 2005 requiring voters present photo ID in order
to vote. It had been challenged by Democrats, so there are now a lot of
angry Democrats in Indiana. I think it's now time Texas legislators get
busy.
Best Regards,
Allen

[lwoolley]

Lynn:

You sure blew it on your comments about the report about homosexual child abuse at the compound.

Logic will dictate that the more heat the American Gestapo (Child Protective Service) gets over their botched raid and kidnapping of the children, the more they will make up to justify their case. They learned this from the totally incompetent Clinton administration and their fiasco in Waco. Surely you are not so easily fooled to believe media reports from Texas Government agencies, or our joke of a Governor Shrub? Sure there might be some that might have been child molesters or polygamists, but you want to condemn them all. That is just like saying that if a child molester lives on your street, everyone else on your street is a child molester. I seriously doubt that everyone at the compound knew everything about what was going on in every bedroom.

Don't be so easily fooled. All of facts have not come out, and I am sure not betting on the CPS!

Retro Ranger in West Texas

[lwoolley]

Attached is a Press Release announcing my departure from the Hispanic Leadership Council. I continue to have a cordial rapport with the members but felt it necessary to separate based on difference of opinions.

Regards,

John Alaniz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: John Alaniz
(254) 770-3333 Office
(254) 534-3968 Mobile
jalaniz@facmanagement.com


Alaniz Resigns from HLC
Temple, Texas – April 18, 2008 – The Hispanic Leadership Council (HLC) has a long history of being Servant Leaders that have contributed positively to the community. It is of the utmost importance that this legacy continues. Several years ago during my tenure as Chairman of the organization the council worked to implement the following pledge that is a prerequisite to HLC membership:

1. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all.

2. I pledge to incorporate the principles and practices of servant leadership and I will be a positive influence:
• in the aggressive pursuit of positive solutions
• to champion meaningful visions and encourage people to commit their best to achieve them
• in a manner that builds-up, encourages and strengthens individuals, families, our local community and our nation
• in building relationships, not based on organizational position, but on a concern for others that is characterized by acceptance, trust, civility, respect, and empathy
• to promote effective teamwork as the preferred approach, where individuals work together, complementing each others’ strengths and weaknesses
• in the elimination of helplessness or hopelessness that disempowers and leads to a sense of being a victim
• to promote giving over receiving
• in the promotion of personal responsibility
Recent events initiated with good intentions have taken an unfortunate turn. I remain hopeful that existing members of the organization have only taken a slight and temporary deviation from the governing values of the organization. Regardless, being compelled to prove all things; hold fast to that which is good and abstain from all appearance of evil, I feel it necessary to separate from HLC.
I will continue to research and defend what is right without partiality and with the aforementioned tenets I strive to follow.
Sincerely,
John Alaniz

[lwoolley]

Hi Lynn,
Great show -- cannot believe how corrupt these administrators are! Thank you for shedding light on the subject.
Liz

[lwoolley]

Lynn,

I watched Insight last night and I found it to be quite refreshing. I have called in taking Mary Beth to task when she is a guest on your show and I have tried to watch Insight six or seven times and last nights program was the first time the panel was not all females. Honestly, Mary Beths’ opinions do not make a whole lot of sense to me and that is nothing personnel, but she is a liberal and I was glad to see some logic spoon fed to her show. See you later and Gods speed,



MOE(Temple)

[lwoolley]

Actually, your review of the O'Reilly-Clinton interview is all one-liners and rehashes from your narrow mind.

Imus and his crew said it best this morning -- paraphrasing their summary -- O'Reilly should act like he's interviewed before. For the rest of the hour after the interview, he had on guests who critiqued his interview -- his style, what he asked, how'd he do, did he point his finger when he asked a question.

What entertainment pablum this is with O'Reilly and "interviewers" who talk with the candidates ... They waste so much time trying to get THEIR point across that we don't get any answers from those they interview.

THIS was no exception.

It was a promotion, not much newsworthiness in it and little did we learn that we haven't learned before.

O'Reilly probably soiled his britches out of nervousness and "I'm not worthy" thoughts during the interview. He was clearly out-classes and out-maneuvered during the interview.

Hell, you could have done better ... Well, wait a minute, on second thought, maybe not. You'd have spent the time in the interview talking about illegal immigrants.

LS

[lwoolley]

Hi Lynn,
Caught part of your show this AM (5/2/08) with the economist (whose name
I forgot). I was impressed with the accuracy of what he was saying till
he got to the point of increasing taxes. For some reason, that often
seems to be where many economists wind up going, probably because many
schools refuse to recognize Art Laffer's analysis that people enter into
the equation by attempting to avoid taxes.

I didn't hear the first part of your interview, so I'm not sure if your
guest mentioned that the real reason for the problems we now have is our
government's little venture into socialism which I believe was the
initial spark to set off this mess: Way back in 2004 I sent you an email
on no down payment mortgages which Mr. Bush and the Congress passed in
fall of 2003. The idea was that the American Dream was to own one's own
home, which was erroneous. The American Dream is to get rich, QUICK! That
little venture (described in detail in a Barron's article) provided grant
(taxpayer money) down payments to certain first time home buyers, which I
believe set off the eventual frenzy of the housing bubble, with its
inevitable collapse and mortgage foreclosures. When that occurred, the
government as usual attempted to fix the problem it had caused, with the
Fed busily devaluing the currency. I have been harshly critical of the
government bailing out greedy people who got caught in what amounts to
margin purchases of assets, when the bubble collapses. Only in the very
recent past have I come to realize why that was so important to the Fed
and YOU WILL, I BELIEVE, APPRECIATE THIS: Think about the tax revenue
loss to states, counties, and municipalities, if the foreclosure
situation with reduced valuations continued! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
mortgage maximums have now been raised from $419,000 to $729,000, and
that's not subprime to me!

The devaluation of the currency, as your guest mentioned, is largely the
reason for the high price of oil in the world market.

So the government tried to alleviate that (government caused) problem
with advocacy of ethanol, and a subsidy of 50 cents/gallon, which has
caused lots of farmers to abandon wheat for corn, which is now priced at
a level not seen in years. The abundance of ignorance on this subject is
truly depressing. I hear journalists and politicians talking about it,
and none of them knows how many BTU's are in a gallon of gasoline or a
gallon of ethanol, and apparently none know that use of pure ethanol in
most cars today will seriously damage the engine. I believe our ethanol
program has contributed to the world wide food scarcity and high prices,
and I seriously doubt the wisdom of using food for fuel, especially if
one considers that the amount of energy used in producing ethanol amounts
to nearly, if not more than the energy available from the ethanol. We use
diesel powered equipment for plowing, sowing, and harvesting the corn,
plus fertilizer (ammonium nitrate from natural gas); then, power is
needed for processing the corn into ethanol. The energy then available
from ethanol is at most 50% to 70% of that available from gasoline.

Our current economic problems result from a little bit of socialism,
which is like a little bit pregnant.

Best Regards, Allen