Wednesday, September 29, 2010

America’s lack of morals and conscience are leading us astray

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America’s lack of morals and conscience are leading us astray

By Tyler Do
Spartan Daily
September 26, 2010

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Tyler Peter Do, staff writer


Is our society experiencing a downturn in the possession of moral values? Following last Friday’s hit-and-run incident in Pennsylvania, I would have to say yes.

Hell yes, to be exact.

The hit-and-run incident resulted in a fatal collision that killed a two-year-old boy and seriously injured his mother while they were on the sidewalk.

Though our society has made advances in education, medicine and technology, people are starting to lose their sense of morality because of selfishness and the “virtue” of self-righteousness.

I find it disgusting and appalling that some unidentified jackass driving a luxury silver-colored Mercedes-Benz, who is still at large, hit a woman and child and did not even bother to help.

But I guess that would defeat the meaning of a hit-and-run.

However, even if he wanted to run, he could’ve at least dropped them off at hospital for some medical attention first or called an ambulance before riding into the midnight hour. After that, he could have gone home and cleaned the evidence off his car with some water and Dawn or Clorox.

The fact is, people in today’s fast-paced society don’t have the sympathy and sense of altruism we would like them to have to help others.

We’re too busy fusing into the egocentric nature that has been seeded and cultivated by the LiLo(s) (Lindsay Lohans) and Britney Spears (BS) of popular culture.

How can you care for others when you’re too busy focusing on getting the next iPhone, a pair of Christian Louboutins, or some virgin Indian Remy weave?

Kathy Janik, expert author and columnist said, “Undoubtedly yes, America is losing its moral values.  The proof is by watching the ever-increasing numbers of laws that are being created to force people to toe the line. If people were living morally, we would not need any more laws at all.

“Laws are ignorant people’s solutions to a morality problem. The solution is not to pass more laws.  The solution is to remind each other why we need to live with a high set of moral standards. We must remind each other or else we forget.”

She is absolutely right. Why are we establishing new laws to fine and incarcerate people for their misdeeds when we should be proactively nipping these issues in the bud by teaching people not to be so self-involved and careless in the first place.

Parents, teachers and social administrators should start educating their pupils on the craft of “being kind” in addition to how to score high on the STAR Test(s) or SATs.

If so, we’d probably have drastic drops in bullying issues, suicides, hit-and-runs, eating disorders and an entire melting pot of social issues.

For example, my friend from high school, who came from a pretty wealthy background, hit a man on the way home from a late-night party after her curfew. She hit a pedestrian and guess what? Her parents paid the man off and brought her a new car to help alleviate the trauma she experienced.

Gosh, talk about lack of parental control and discipline. This explains the poor service some parents pay to society with poor parenting skills.

If I did such a heinous act, my parents would probably lock me in a cage and only let me out when it’s time for school or for meals, showers and restroom breaks.

Actually, they might only just let me leave for school.

It’s unfortunate to hear that a two-year-old boy and his mother had to be the wake-up call for people in society to be aware that we need to discipline our kids or do something to pop them free from their “me bubble.” The world doesn’t revolve around them, so get over it.

Next time a demoralizing event like this happens, parents should sit down and think “Did I spank my child enough?”

While their parents meditate on that, kids should be thinking, “Did my parents teach me the proper ethics, or did they just give me a new Nintendo Wii to avoid real parenting when something bad happened?”

According to a new Gallup Poll from the Christian Post, more Americans believe moral values in the United States are getting worse. The annual poll found that “76 percent of Americans said moral values in the country are getting worse, up five percent from last year.”




One Response to “America’s lack of morals and conscience are leading us astray”


Ted Rudow III,MA says:
September 29, 2010
As Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” True Christianity is a religion of love, of laying down your life for your neighbor—and considering all men your neighbors!
True Christians love God with all their heart and soul and might, and their neighbors as themselves. They don’t just sit around and talk about it, or merely hear a sermon about it in church on Sunday, but they put love into action somehow—sharing the love of Jesus with others by witnessing, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, ministering to the widows and orphans and old folks, giving hope to the prisoners, bringing relief to those affected by disaster, and on and on the list goes!
That’s real Christianity, and though real Christians may be unknown to the world, they’re very well known in Heaven. They may seem poor to worldly folks, yet they make many rich. They may seem to have nothing, yet they possess all things!
Are you a real Christian? You are if you’ve put your love into action somehow today! Be a real Christian, a true subversive, a follower of the greatest rebel of all—Jesus.
Ted Rudow III,MA
Class of 1996

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Republican Goals

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Monday September 27, 2010




Republican Goals 

With control of the House, the Republicans will make its goals include a permanent extension of all the Bush-era tax cuts, repeal of the newly enacted health care law, a cap on discretionary federal spending and an end to government control of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

They too must be won over and convinced to overextend themselves little by little. It is a gradual process of boom, then downturn, then bigger boom, then another downturn. And there is a rebound, for there are still people to be convinced that things will keep going up—indeed, must keep going up. 

And one day, when and his people have prepared accordingly, the downturn will become a recession, the recession will become a depression, and the depression will become the Crash. It is the same thing that happened in 2008. They will never learn! 

 
"And your country is an example, in which the one percent of the Americans, you know, are doing better and better and better, and the 99 percent is going down, in all sorts of manifestations. People living in their cars now and sleeping in their cars, you know, parked in front of the house that used to be their house—thousands of people. Millions of people, you know, have lost everything. But the speculators that brought about the whole mess, oh, they are fantastically well off. No problem. No problem."--Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef.
Ted Rudow III,MA 

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Exactly how does this work?

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Agence France Presse (AFP)
“World leaders seek new way to reach Millennium goals”
September 21, 2010

Tony Blair’s memoirs will read like a “love letter” to George W. Bush. The autobiography will praise the former US president, with whom Blair launched the controversial invasion of Iraq in 2003, as “highly intelligent” and “visionary.” In Blair’s case, I would have asked him that question, and I’d have pressed him on it. I’d have asked him whether God had ever restrained him. I find it very strange that we elect a politician who then claims to serve a higher deity who guides him: “I did what I believe is right.”
Well, will you tell us, please, how that relates to the Christian ethic? Do you believe in war first and negotiation afterward? Exactly how does this work?

Ted Rudow III, MA
Menlo Park, California, United States

International Herald Tribune and The Daily Star are available every morning in: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Boo on Barry

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09.22.10

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Boo on Barry



If I had been working like mad in 2008 to get Barack Obama elected, I would not work for the midterm elections. Guantánamo is still here. Rendition is still here. There is the saying that no torture should take place; I haven't seen the mechanism to ensure that that's the case. The withdrawal from Iraq has left some 50,000 remaining. We have stepped up and escalated the war in Afghanistan.

I think all of this is very contrary to the kind of thing that Obama was exuding during his campaign, including the nuclear point. What kind of thing is this, to get rid of old-fashioned weapons with the Russians and then argue for $180 billion to modernize the nukes—$100 billion for the weapons carriers, $80 billion for new warheads? What kind of nuclear-free world is this? He should have had the decency, when Norway made the mistake of giving him the Nobel Peace Prize, of saying, "I graciously, gratefully decline. I haven't earned it yet. Let's come back when possibly I have earned it." He didn't say that, and dispensed with the prize money in a disgraceful way.

Ted Rudow III,MA

Menlo Park

Tax cuts

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Tax cuts
September 22, 2010,
Letter
Editor,       
The cuts enacted by President Bush are set to expire at the end of this year. Republicans, led by House Minority Leader John Boehner, have called for extending the $700 billion in tax breaks for the rich. There are two crucial issues which are not being discussed, one of which is how much thoes tax cuts costs us. Basically, all the income taxes that everyone in America paid in January and February of this year only went to cover interest on the money borrowed for the Bush tax cuts over the last decade. Just interest on those tax cuts.       


The second issue not being discussed is that this top tax rate, the two President Obama wants to have go back to the Clinton-era level, they cut in at a quarter-million dollars and about $400,000 of taxable income. In fact, we have a large number of people in this country now who are making multimillion-dollar annual incomes, and we are not talking about a higher tax rate on them. We are actually starting at a very low level.      


The highest-paid workers in the history of the world, hedge fund managers, at least 25 of whom made a billion dollars last year, pay a current tax rate of zero, but the news media keeps saying 15 percent. They pay the 15 percent, when they cash out, which could be decades from now. None of that is on the table.





Ted Rudow III,MA


Menlo Park

The poor

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Tuesday September 21, 2010

The Poor 

The ranks of the working-age poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s as the recession threw millions of people out of work last year, leaving one in seven Americans in poverty. 

The overall poverty rate climbed to 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people, the Census Bureau said Thursday in its annual report on the economic well-being of U.S. households. The report covers 2009, President Barack Obama’s first year in office. 


The poverty rate increased from 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million people, in 2008. Poverty rose among all race and ethnic groups, but stood at higher levels for blacks and Hispanics. The number of Hispanics in poverty increased from 23.2 percent to 25.3 percent; for blacks it increased from 24.7 percent to 25.8 percent. The number of whites in poverty rose from 8.6 percent to 9.4 percent.—Child poverty rose from 19 percent to 20.7 percentReporting from Los Angeles and San Francisco —  


On the other hand, smashing the record for the most money ever donated by a candidate in a political election, Republican Meg Whitman has written her gubernatorial campaign a $15-million check that brings her personal stake in the race to $119 million. Neither side is really concerned about the poor and needy. They is concerned for its own interests, and especially for the lifestyle of its rich people.  

Although the world envies that lifestyle, much of it is based on greed and selfishness. 

Ted Rudow III,MA

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

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TONY BLAIR'S memoirs will read like a 'love letter' to George W Bush. The autobiography will praise the former U.S. president, with whom Mr Blair launched the controversial invasion of Iraq in 2003, as 'highly intelligent' and 'visionary'.
In Blair’s case, I would have asked him that question, and I’d have pressed him on it. I’d have asked him whether God had ever restrained him. I find it very strange that we elect a politician who then claims to serve a higher deity who guides him: "I did what I believe is right." Well, will you tell us, please, how that relates to the Christian ethic? Do you believe in war first and negotiation afterwards? Exactly how does this work? " David Cornwell, the legendary British novelist who writes under the name John le Carré,
Well, it shows you what the people want! They want war. They're mad. They're fed up. They want him to do something. They're also smart enough to know by this time that war brings prosperity, & they somehow still think maybe they might escape the bombs. "To hell with the bombs" as far as they're concerned, "I want my prosperity now. I want my job and my money now!"
Ted Rudow III,MA

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09/19/2010

The ranks of the working-age poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s as the recession threw millions of people out of work last year, leaving one in seven Americans in poverty.
The overall poverty rate climbed to 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people, the Census Bureau said Thursday in its annual report on the economic well-being of U.S. households. The report covers 2009, President Barack Obama’s first year in office.
The poverty rate increased from 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million people, in 2008. Poverty rose among all race and ethnic groups, but stood at higher levels for blacks and Hispanics. The number of Hispanics in poverty increased from 23.2 percent to 25.3 percent; for blacks it increased from 24.7 percent to 25.8 percent. The number of whites in poverty rose from 8.6 percent to 9.4 percent.—Child poverty rose from 19 percent to 20.7 percentReporting from Los Angeles and San Francisco —
On the other hand, smashing the record for the most money ever donated by a candidate in a political election, Republican Meg Whitman has written her gubernatorial campaign a $15-million check that brings her personal stake in the race to $119 million. Neither side is really concerned about the poor and needy. They is concerned for its own interests, and especially for the lifestyle of its rich people. Although the world envies that lifestyle, much of it is based on greed and selfishness.
Ted Rudow III,MA

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Reverend Terry Jones’ quran burning is a religious injustice

By Calli Perez
Spartan Daily
September 14, 2010

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Calli Perez, staff writer


I was happy to hear that Reverend Terry Jones of a Florida church called off his congregation’s plan to burn Qurans as a protest to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

It must be said that Jones’ plan would have been legal.

Protected under the First Amendment, Jones has the constitutional right to protest and express his ideas, even if the government found it unpatriotic and potentially dangerous.

Some may claim the act would have incited clear and present danger as well as endangered troops oversea, however it probably would have remained protected under the First Amendment.

With that being said, not everything that is legal is necessarily just. Like Jones, I would like to exercise my right to share my disgust towards the congregation’s intended actions.

I am afraid that although the protest was called off, a lot of the damage has already been done by Jones and his congregation announced intentions alone.

The hatred that has been spread on such an emotional day had caused emotional and physical harm to many.

At an anti-Quran burning protest, 11 Afghans were injured.

I tried to find one just reason as to why Jones would risk disrespecting so many people in the name of his beliefs, but I simply could not.

It is entirely possible for Jones to stand up for what he believes in, even if it is something as crazy as the idea that Islam is the devil, without being so evil to others.

If Jones does not believe in the Quran, than to him this book should be nothing more than words on paper.

What would be the point in burning a large quantity?

I suppose Jones could have at least recycled the Qurans to have at least one attempt of goodwill.

The real problem is that these Qurans are symbolic of people’s beliefs as well as their identity, which shows some hypocrisy in the rhetoric that the congregation puts forth.

According to the New Testament, particularly looking at Matthew 19:16-19, Jesus repeats some of the ten commandments (that can be found in the old testament) including to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

I would be safe to assume that Jones would be none too pleased to see the printed manuscript of his faith crucified in the form of a bonfire.

My advice to Jones would be to put all of his energy towards something proactive.

I have little patience for people who spend their time protesting against things that they hate, rather than working toward promoting their beliefs or creating solutions to things that they find problematic.

With Jones’ mindset, our country will become more hostile and divided than ever within and in relation to other countries.

According to CNN, the planned burning has caused alarm in the Muslim world, which already feels under attack by the United States.

No one should have to live in a country where they feel that their religious beliefs are being persecuted, not American Muslims, not even Jones.

Although it would be a far jump for Jones to learn the belief that we should, “Live and let live,” he should at the very least realize and be accountable for the extensive harm that his words have put on his fellow citizens and the rest of the world.







One Response to “Reverend Terry Jones’ quran burning is a religious injustice”


Ted Rudow III,MA says:
September 21, 2010
TONY BLAIR’S memoirs will read like a ‘love letter’ to George W Bush. The autobiography will praise the former U.S. president, with whom Mr Blair launched the controversial invasion of Iraq in 2003, as ‘highly intelligent’ and ‘visionary’.
In Blair’s case, I would have asked him that question, and I’d have pressed him on it. I’d have asked him whether God had ever restrained him. I find it very strange that we elect a politician who then claims to serve a higher deity who guides him: “I did what I believe is right.” Well, will you tell us, please, how that relates to the Christian ethic? Do you believe in war first and negotiation afterwards? Exactly how does this work? ” David Cornwell, the legendary British novelist who writes under the name John le Carré,
Well, it shows you what the people want! They want war. They’re mad. They’re fed up. They want him to do something. They’re also smart enough to know by this time that war brings prosperity, & they somehow still think maybe they might escape the bombs. “To hell with the bombs” as far as they’re concerned, “I want my prosperity now. I want my job and my money now!"
Ted Rudow III,MA
class of 1996

Saturday, September 18, 2010

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Reader's feedback published on 18/09/2010
The Daily Star is pleased to provide a forum for debate on a range of subjects, from local cultural activities to international politics.
Dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of letters fall into the editor’s mailbox daily. In order to keep the letters timely, The Daily Star generally produces a special letters section. When the influx of letters is particularly large, extra space is made available accordingly.
If you would like to submit a letter for publication, please remember to include your full name (first and last) and address, including city. The Daily Star typically only publishes letters under 400 words, and these are subject to editing. The Daily Star will not acknowledge unsolicited submissions.




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Reuters
“Obama warns Koran-burning would boost Al-Qaeda”
September 10, 2010

It’s amazing how little we know about this, probably because the Western world wants to kind of help forget it. I’m ashamed of my own ignorance of Islam and the Koran. I just know a few little high spots of history and I’ve read a little bit more lately, particularly about the Prophet Mohammad and the history of Islam. It has reminded me a number of times lately how much the Arabs today are speaking almost like the prophets of old against the iniquities of the world and pointing a real righteous finger at the wicked West and its corruption and ungodliness and selfishness. There’s nothing more controversial, nothing that arouses argument more than religion. Let’s love God together, let’s love each other, let’s help each other.
Let’s forget the past and work for the future. We can’t undo the past; we can’t undo the mistakes of both sides in the past and the horrors that were committed in the name of God on both sides. We must live for the present and the future.

Ted Rudow III, MA
Menlo Park, California, United States

International Herald Tribune and The Daily Star are available every morning in: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman


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Thursday, September 16, 2010

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My name is Husain, and I’m Muslim
By Husain Sumra
Spartan Daily
September 15, 2010 Print This Story





Husain Sumra, senior staff writer



According to Dictionary.com, Islamophobia is hatred or fear of Muslims or of their politics or culture.

According to me, a Muslim, it’s a huge pain in the ass.

The world, at least the Western world, hardly seemed to know anything about Islam and Muslims until 9/11 happened. Once that tragedy occurred, Muslims were under the spotlight, and rightfully so.

That September morning, I woke up to horror.

My mom woke me up and dreadfully declared, “We’re going to war.”

Stunned, I went to school. Within five minutes of being on my high school campus, I was greeted by someone I knew rather well.

“Did you have anything to do with this?” he said.

Shocked, I didn’t know what to say. I don’t even remember how I responded now, but I was a ninth grader who was going to school and dreading going to Math at 8 a.m.

I will remember that moment till the day I die, but I understand why it happened.

I also understand why burning Qurans and the placement of a mosque are such big deals.

People don’t fully understand Islam yet, and the images they see of Islam aren’t very flattering.

This understanding of Islam and Muslims is what will cure Islamophobia and it will take time.

Yeah, I’m offended by the Rev. Terry Jones and his now-defunct Quran burning event and I’m also offended by the controversy surrounding the ground zero mosque, but these are simply steps.

Every minority group that has come to the United States of America has had to endure discrimination and has had to fight for its place — this time is no different.

Oppressive actions have been leveled at different groups, from the Irish to the Jews to the Japanese and blacks, and each time the group has eventually overcome these oppressive actions.

We now have a black president, something many people never thought was possible.

President Barack Obama also happens to have an Arabic middle name, which is also a Muslim middle name.

His middle name is Hussein, which unfortunately leads people to believe he’s Muslim.

I don’t believe it’s a bad thing that his middle name leads people to think he’s Muslim, what’s bad is that people use it as a negative.

That tells me that I could never run for president because I’m Muslim, not that I would, but neither could my kids or anyone associated with Islam.

It’s like having a target on your back.

If I wasn’t an American citizen, born and raised in the Bay Area, it would be extremely difficult for me to even travel to the United States. I’m surprised I haven’t been stopped for a random check at the airport by now.

I’ve even been called Saddam by people, them assuming my name was the same as that crazy former dictator. Some have even asked if I’m related to him.

My family, who all live in other countries, have repeatedly told me Americans hate Muslims and have urged me to move away.

I disagree — Americans are great. It’s our time as Muslims to go through the oppression, and knowledge is the only way out.


« San Jose’s music scene falls flatSJSU football hosts Southern Utah in home opener »One Response to “My name is Husain, and I’m Muslim”
Ted Rudow III,MA says: September 16, 2010 at 11:33 am
It’s amazing how little we know about this and how little of that sort of thing is impressed on us. I think probably because the Western world wants to kind of help forget it. I’m ashamed of my own ignorance of Islam and the Koran. I just know a few little high spots of history and I’ve read a little bit more lately, particularly about Mohammed and the history of Islam.
Everything always has to have a leader, has to have someone who has the vision and the faith and the courage and inspires the people. And so it was with Mohammed, a very remarkable man. It has reminded me a number of times lately how much the Arabs today are speaking almost like the prophets of old against the iniquities of the world and its corruption and ungodliness and selfishness. Mohammed himself did not claim to be perfect at all. He was very humble about that. He said that he was only a man, he made mistakes and he was not perfect–he was only the prophet of God, a mouthpiece of God. .

There’s nothing more conversial, nothing that arouses heat and argument more than religion. Let’s love God together, let’s love each other, let’s help each other. Let’s forget the past and work for the future. We can’t undo the past, we can’t undo the mistakes of both sides in the past and the horrors that were committed in the name of God on both sides. We must live for the present and the future.

Ted Rudow III,MA
Class of 1996

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Tax cuts

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Tuesday September 14, 2010

Tax Cuts
The cuts enacted by President Bush are set to expire at the end of this year. Republicans, led by House Minority Leader John Boehner, have called for extending the $700 billion in tax breaks for the rich. Not being discussed in all of this are two crucial issues. One of them is how much those tax cuts cost us. Basically, all the income taxes that everyone in America paid in January and February of this year only went to cover interest on the money borrowed for the Bush tax cuts over the last decade. Just interest on those tax cuts 

The second issue not being discussed is that this top tax rate, the two that President Obama wants to have go back to the Clinton-era level, they cut in at a quarter-million dollars and about $400,000 of taxable income. In fact, we have a large number of people in this country now who are making multimillion-dollar annual incomes, and we’re not talking about a higher tax rate on them. We’re starting actually at a very low level. 

And the very highest-paid workers in the history of the world, hedge fund managers, at least twenty-five of whom made a billion dollars last year, pay a current tax rate of zero. The news media keeps saying 15 percent. They pay the 15 percent, when they cash out, which could be decades from now. None of that is on the table. 

Ted Rudow III,MA

Monday, September 13, 2010

History of Menlo-Atherton High School

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Posted: 09/11/2010
History of Menlo-Atherton High School

Editor,


There was a great deal of debate about the location and cost analysis for Menlo-Atherton High School. Several possible sites for the school, including Dibble Hospital and the Doyle estate, were deemed unsuitable or too expensive. The school board chose the magnificent parcel of land located on the northeast corner of Middlefield Road and Ringwood Avenue belonging to the five heirs of Joseph Donohoe, a pioneer banker in California, as the ideal setting. The property was at one time a portion of the enormous Pulgas Ranch controlled by the Arguello family.


In the 1860s, Joseph A. Donohoe purchased the tract of land and in 1868 built the home known as Holm Grove. The estate was occupied by five generations of the Donohoe family, including the first mayor of Atherton. The district sought to acquire the entire 40.9-acre tract for Menlo-Atherton High School.


In May of 1949, the local voters, in the largest voter turnout to date, overwhelmingly supported a $2,150,000 bond issue. The final vote tally was 6,339 in favor to 1,604 opposed. What is not known is that Stanford University had housing for graduate school across the street from the land and was allowed the vote in this measure. That's why the vote in favor was so high. The district paid the Donohoe family $141,105 (or approximately $3,450 per acre) for the land. General contractor Peter Sorensen collaborated with architects William Daseking and Arthur Janssen to develop a state-of-the-art school. The campus eventually covered 37 acres and contained 12 buildings. It consisted of 35 classrooms and accommodated a total enrollment of 1,015 students, almost all of whom came from Sequoia High School. Construction began on May 8, 1950, and the first day of classes was Sept. 24, 1951. The final cost of construction was approximately $1.5 million.





Ted Rudow III,MA
Class of 1970

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Future

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It's amazing how little we know about this and how little of that sort of thing is impressed on us. I think probably because the Western world wants to kind of help forget it. I'm ashamed of my own ignorance of Islam and the Koran. I just know a few little high spots of history and I've read a little bit more lately, particularly about Mohammed and the history of Islam.
Everything always has to have a leader, has to have someone who has the vision and the faith and the courage and inspires the people. And so it was with Mohammed, a very remarkable man. It has reminded me a number of times lately how much the Arabs today are speaking almost like the prophets of old against the iniquities of the world and its corruption and ungodliness and selfishness. Mohammed himself did not claim to be perfect at all. He was very humble about that. He said that he was only a man, he made mistakes and he was not perfect--he was only the prophet of God, a mouthpiece of God. .

There's nothing more conversial, nothing that arouses heat and argument more than religion. Let's love God together, let's love each other, let's help each other. Let's forget the past and work for the future. We can't undo the past, we can't undo the mistakes of both sides in the past and the horrors that were committed in the name of God on both sides. We must live for the present and the future.

Ted Rudow III,MA









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Future

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Future
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Saturday Sep 11th, 2010
It's amazing how little we know about this and how little of that sort of thing is impressed on us. I think probably because the Western world wants to kind of help forget it. I'm ashamed of my own ignorance of Islam and the Koran.
I just know a few little high spots of history and I've read a little bit more lately, particularly about Mohammed and the history of Islam.
Everything always has to have a leader, has to have someone who has the vision and the faith and the courage and inspires the people. And so it was with Mohammed, a very remarkable man. It has reminded me a number of times lately how much the Arabs today are speaking almost like the prophets of old against the iniquities of the world and pointing the finger at the wicked West and its corruption and ungodliness and selfishness, pointing a real righteous finger against them, that the West are the guilty ones, and the Arabs are right! Mohammed himself did not claim to be perfect at all. He was very humble about that. He said that he was only a man, he made mistakes and he was not perfect--he was only the prophet of God, a mouthpiece of God. .

There's nothing more conversional, nothing that arouses heat and argument more than religion. Let's love God together, let's love each other, let's help each other. Let's forget the past and work for the future. We can't undo the past, we can't undo the mistakes of both sides in the past and the horrors that were committed in the name of God on both sides. We must live for the present and the future.
Ted Rudow III,MA

Thursday, September 09, 2010

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New Orleans’ recovery is still moving slow on Hurricane Katrina’s fifth anniversary

By Michiko Fuller
Spartan Daily
August 31, 2010

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Michiko Fuller, staff writer





It was only gently raining Sunday when President Obama spoke at Xavier University on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Tropical storms in the Atlantic have been avoiding the Gulf of Mexico, where New Orleans perches itself on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Known as the birthplace of jazz and the Mardi Gras festival every spring, New Orleans is a multicultural, multilingual port city and is the largest metropolitan area in Louisiana. It’s more recently known as one of the greatest natural disasters in the history of the United States.

Four years ago, I was sharing the lobby of my New Orleans hotel with Xavier students still flooded out of their university after a year of rebuilding. The building’s business center was their print shop and every chair was occupied by a student balancing a laptop on their knees.

Despite a full year passing, it wasn’t the first example of the lethargy plaguing the recovery process.

Driving away from the airport and into the city itself was trailer after tent after trailer spotting the yard space between each abandoned house boarded up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Each house was marked in red spray paint with the number of dead found inside.

Initial slow response and poorly funded federal programs failed to meet the incredible demand of displaced citizens in need of shelter, food and healthcare. New Orleans still requires government assistance to shed the debris of destruction left by Katrina.

Today, the FEMA trailers remain. They’ve been repurposed as housing for the Gulf oil clean up workers. That’s not to say neighborhoods and communities have been rebuilt. Brad Pitt and Sean Penn can only build houses one at a time. Sandra Bullock can’t revive every school with one speech.

Having visited the city once before Katrina, I know the strength and vibrance that lives there. It’s found in the street musicians on every block and the scent of Cajun spice exuding from corner restaurants. Even better are the beignets, like French donuts, that I did my best to eat everyday.

My visit was a year after Katrina and Bourbon Street was filled with people and blasting music. The difference was it wasn’t audible from blocks around like before.

The quiet moments aren’t in resignation or pity. I sat on the Mississppi banks that flooded the city with residents from cops to the homeless and in between, to watch the sun sink into the horizon. Feeling connected to the river and the people, I understand why New Orleans has remained.

One year or five years after the disaster, the greatest speed bump has never been the hemorrhaging of the population or a lack of public interest. While people were forced to flee to temporary housing and seek employment elsewhere, they often chose to return. Some estimates put neighborhoods minimally damaged by flood at 100 percent capacity compared to before Katrina.

New Orleans was the beneficiary of fundraisers and the interest of philanthropic celebrities from the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Tourism continues to strengthen because there was minimal damage to downtown and the French Quarter, the historical center of the city.

Now that years have passed, the city continues to crawl back to its former glory. The New Orleans Saints Super Bowl win this past year showed the country how vital the city is.

On Sunday, President Obama was correct in saying the people of New Orleans are resilient. If the government is too slow to rebuild their home, then they will do it themselves one day at a time.


One Response to “New Orleans’ recovery is still moving slow on Hurricane Katrina’s fifth anniversary”


Ted Rudow III,MA says:
September 8, 2010
Barack Obama, the US president, pledged to continue America’s commitment to rebuilding New Orleans during a weekend of sombre ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Obama delivered a speech on Sunday at Xavier University, a New Orleans school that suffered tens of millions of dollars in damages during the 2005 hurricane. He called the flooding that followed Katrina a “shameful” episode, and said that the government failed to protect residents along the Gulf Coast.

“It was a natural disaster but also a manmade catastrophe, a shameful breakdown in government that left countless men, women and children abandoned and alone,”

Using this disaster to test the hearts and pocketbooks of US and see how willing they are to help the poor and the needy and by their attitudes and actions when they’re faced with such circumstances.
Ted Rudow III,MA
Class of 1996

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H-P profit motive

A new study from the Institute of Policy Studies shows that CEOs who fired the most workers during the recession took home the highest pay. According to that study, the CEOs of the fifty corporations responsible for the biggest layoffs were paid an average $12 million—42 percent more than the average pay for the Standard & Poor’s 500.

One, Mark Hurd at Hewlett-Packard as he was fired a couple of weeks ago. He was fired because he tried to conceal a relationship with a female contractor. Hurd who has laid off more than 30,000 workers at Hewlett-Packard over the last few years, while earning more than $20 million a year. The real scandal at Hewlett-Packard is they might boost their profits in the short term by cutting all of those costs, but I want to point out that these kinds of layoffs can have very serious long-term costs for the workers.

It is a sad story as Hewlett-Packard has dismantled many things that made the company a cut above. I had the chance to meet Mr. Hewlett as he gave to Project Aid-Siberia in the 1990s. He helped millions of people who were without food.
From the very beginning, Hewlett-Packard had a way of doing things that was contrary to the prevailing management strategies. A companywide commitment to involvement. It will be sorely missed as profit has taken over.

Ted Rudow III,MA

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Cashless

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Land of the freely tracked thanks to your car’s GPS device

By Michiko Fuller
Spartan Daily
September 7, 2010

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Michiko Fuller, staff writer





If you intend on parking your car somewhere, it better be locked in your garage, according to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway.

The decision regards a GPS device secretly placed on the car of an Oregon man suspected of growing marijuana. His vehicle was parked just a few feet away from his home on the night the tracking device was stuck underneath the car and hidden from sight.

Evidence gathered from tracking the man’s movements were used to convict him, despite the fact there had been no warrant or notification of the GPS on his vehicle. He is now serving a 51-month sentence and has been denied an appeal three times.

The 9th Circuit, which includes California, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii contributes to a huge body of cases in the historically liberal court. Chief Justice Alex Kozinski dissented against what he called an “abandonment” of the Fourth Amendment, which most interpret as an implicit right to privacy.

Way back when Americans were still colonists avoiding taxation, British tax collectors could enter homes and seize any possessions they felt necessary. The Fourth Amendment remedied this problem by stating people have the right to be “secure in their papers, houses, persons and effects” and protects us from unreasonable search and seizure.

The law holds up in its original purpose, but modern technology has moved faster than the law can keep up. Litigation is notoriously slow and the 9th Circuit proves 60 million people can make the process even slower. The case of the Oregon man started three years ago.

With the proliferation of GPS through cell phones and becoming commonplace in newer vehicles, the government could very easily become an Orwellian state.

You probably wouldn’t notice you’re being watched and your justice system has no responsibility to notify you as it stands today.

For Batman fans, there was a good reason Lucius Fox wanted to resign when Batman showed him the cell phone sonar imaging he used to find the Joker. It’s simply unethical to use someone’s personal property to track them without their consent.

Constant tracking violates the concept that we are innocent until proven guilty. Typically, evidence found without a warrant will be thrown out of court. Parolees are at least aware of their tracking devices and can adjust their lives accordingly without incriminating themselves unintentionally.

What may be more unsettling for broke college kids is the court’s reasoning behind the ruling that if strangers, such as delivery people, can access your car, you can’t expect privacy.

That means gated communities with high fences, posted security and other roadblocks to your pizza delivery person are allowed a higher expectation of privacy than someone sharing a garage or without the funds to enclose their property.

Who thought setting your car alarm would be to ward off police officers?

Hope does remain as more Fourth Amendment privacy cases work their way through appeals circuits across the nation.

Even if the Oregon man’s appeal is denied yet again, this is not an issue the Supreme Court can ignore much longer.

The Fourth Amendment needs an official interpretation or else another amendment needs to be added to the Constitution.

There needs to be a definition between delivery people and government agents.

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One Response to “Land of the freely tracked thanks to your car’s GPS device”


Ted Rudow III,MA says:
September 8, 2010
Although people are increasingly moving toward a digital or cashless society now, the movement is slow and gradual, with stops and starts, a little here in this place and a little there in that place. People seek speed and convenience, yet at the same time they are comfortable with the way things have been for years—indeed, for centuries. For hundreds of years men and women have embraced cash, bills and coins which they could touch as a store of wealth and a means of payment. As things were in the Roman Empire and in world empires of the past, so are they today—cash is still the way. Many people are uncomfortable with the thought of a cashless society, one based only upon a computerized card or chip which links them to their invisible wealth.
This cashless society and to speed it along, and men and women have both knowingly and unknowingly put the infrastructure for it in place. Yet there are still few people, very few in comparison to the billions on earth, who travel that route. And even those who do only use digital cash or digital means of payment part of the time. They pay for this or that online, use a credit card or debit card here and there, and write a check in other instances, but cash is still primary to them.
To do that, he will use crisis after crisis in the kingdoms of man, the nations of the world, for they are given into his hand for now. One of the crises which he will bring about is that which you have called the crash—the recession of all recessions, the greatest depression man has ever known.

Grotesque Self-Deception

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Grotesque Self-Deception



DEAR OLD Mark Twain had them pegged when he described the process that governments use: "Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."

What he was saying is that it not only serves the government's purpose in blaming the war and destruction on the victim, but the people themselves are then able to soothe their conscience and feel justified, that "They had it coming to them," even if the excuse the government uses is as flimsy as can be! People accept it anyway because they don't want to feel bad about themselves or about their government, and they can keep waving the flag and saying, "God bless America," secure in their goodness and niceness. It's not a new U.S. tactic, either. It's one they've practiced for hundreds of years!

Ted Rudow III,MA

Menlo Park

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

More Pay for CEOs

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Innocent Man on Death Row; Religious Communities Support Tolerance; More Firing, More Pay for CEOs; Celebrating the Demise of the BDP; Goodbye and Good Riddance; KPFA; Tea Party Racism; 





More Firing, More Pay for CEOs 

A new study from the Institute of Policy Studies shows that CEOs who fired the most workers during the recession took home the highest pay. According to that study, the CEOs of the fifty corporations responsible for the biggest layoffs were paid an average $12 million—42 percent more than the average pay for the Standard & Poor’s 500. 

One, Mark Hurd at Hewlett-Packard was fired a couple of weeks ago. He was fired because he tried to conceal a relationship with a female contractor. Hurd who has laid off more than 30,000 workers at Hewlett-Packard over the last few years, while earning more than $20 million a year. The real scandal at Hewlett-Packard is they might boost their profits in the short term by cutting all of those costs, but I want to point out that these kinds of layoffs can have very serious long-term costs for the company. 

It is a sad story as Hewlett-Packard has dismantled many things that made the company a cut above. I had the chance to meet Mr. Hewlett as he gave to Project Aid-Siberia in the 1990s. He helped millions of people who were without food. 

From the very beginning, Hewlett-Packard had a way of doing things that was contrary to the prevailing management strategies. A companywide commitment to involvement. It will be sorely missed as profit has taken over. 

Ted Rudow III,MA 

Monday, September 06, 2010

A end?

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SJSU students react to the end of combat operations in Iraq

By Marlon Maloney
Spartan Daily
August 31, 2010

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President Obama called for the end of all combat operations in Iraq on Tuesday in a 20 minute speech addressing the American public.

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country,” he said.

Ruben Sanchez, a junior animation and illustration major, said he was glad the war was over.

“That’s great,” Sanchez said. “It’s been going on a long time. I hope things will work out diplomatically instead of the use of force in the long run.”

In his speech, Obama praised the American troops for their service in Iraq and addressed the ongoing war in Afghanistan, saying the transition out of the country would begin next year.

“Our troops are the steel in our ship of state,” he said. “And though our nation may be travelling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true and that beyond the pre-dawn darkness, better days lie ahead.”

Grant Corvin, a senior animation and illustration major, said he is glad to know that many American troops are coming home.

“I had a friend in the Navy,” he said. “He would go back and forth frequently to Iraq, but it’s good to know he’ll be back home safely for a while.”

Nathan Le, a junior aerospace engineering major said he thinks leaving Iraq will be less of a strain on America’s resources.

“They weren’t really doing anything there and it was just a lot of money spent on these resources,” Le said. “By staying there, we were holding their hand when they should have already gone through training.”

Anesia Canty, a graduate student in library and information science said she’s really happy to know that it’s over, but she thinks there might be more to it than just leaving, such as leaving a long-term effect on their country.

“I feel sorry for the people there – for things we did adversely during the occupancy, but in the long run this was probably the better choice,” Canty said.


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“SJSU students react to the end of combat operations in Iraq”


Ted Rudow III,MA says:

September 6, 2010
President Obama declared an end to the combat mission in Iraq Tuesday night in the second Oval Office address of his presidency. Although tens of thousands of US troops, special operations forces and private contractors remain in Iraq, Obama announced that Operation Iraqi Freedom is now officially over.

While the US invasion and occupation of Iraq over the past seven years has inflicted multiple disasters on the country, many argue that the US assault on Iraq really began twenty years ago with the US-imposed economic sanctions. The best estimate of “excess child mortality” — the number of children under five who died during the sanctions who would not have under Iraq’s economy and policies before sanctions — is between 670,000 and 880,000. Very few people have been aware of exactly how the U.S. worked to maintain these sanctions over more than a decade.
But with 50,000 combat-ready American troops still in country, the occupation seems far from over. The Obama administration will insist that those are not combat soldiers engaged in a combat mission. But if you’ve got twenty or thirty or forty thousand foreign troops stationed on your soil, I mean, if it looks like an occupation, and it smells like an occupation, and it sounds like an occupation, it’s an occupation.
Ted Rudow III,MA
class of 1996

Poor Israelis

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Poor Israelis



Ted Rudow III, MA, On e-mail
I feel sorry for the poor Israelis who have been driven so far from Him by their pride and stubbornness of heart. It is so easy to harden your heart and hate and curse those who curse you and those you love. But the Lord way is not one of anger and hatred. He will use him to judge this people and cause them to forcibly live in peace with their neighbours. The ways of this world are not the Lord ways, but He will use them to institute law and order and bring an end to oppression.

Peace will come, but only after a time of such great darkness as the world has never known before. After this darkest of hours, the brightest of lights will shine, and the dawn will never have looked so clean and bright as it will on that day. Peace and justice will come to this world again.

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Talking points

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09/03/2010 

A new study from the Institute of Policy Studies shows that CEOs who fired the most workers during the recession took home the highest pay. According to that study, the CEOs of the fifty corporations responsible for the biggest layoffs were paid an average $12 million—42 percent more than the average pay for the Standard & Poor’s 500.

One, Mark Hurd at Hewlett-Packard as he was fired a couple of weeks ago. He was fired because he tried to conceal a relationship with a female contractor. Hurd who has laid off more than 30,000 workers at Hewlett-Packard over the last few years, while earning more than $20 million a year. The real scandal at Hewlett-Packard is they might boost their profits in the short term by cutting all of those costs, but I want to point out that these kinds of layoffs can have very serious long-term costs for the workers.

It is a sad story as Hewlett-Packard has dismantled many things that made the company a cut above. I had the chance to meet Mr. Hewlett as he gave to Project Aid-Siberia in the 1990s. He helped millions of people who were without food.
From the very beginning, Hewlett-Packard had a way of doing things that was contrary to the prevailing management strategies. A companywide commitment to involvement. It will be sorely missed as profit has taken over.

Reply to this Comment Recommend (3)
Ted Rudow III,MA

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Obama

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Reader's feedback published on 04/09/2010
The Daily Star is pleased to provide a forum for debate on a range of subjects, from local cultural activities to international politics.
Dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of letters fall into the editor’s mailbox daily. In order to keep the letters timely, The Daily Star generally produces a special letters section. When the influx of letters is particularly large, extra space is made available accordingly.
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Jamil K. Mroue
“Obama is facing grave risks”
August 28, 2010

US President Barack Obama is no exception. He knows God, although he does not place a high priority on his relationship with Him. It’s not that he considers it unimportant; it’s just that he considers politics one thing and his religious life quite another and he is often more motivated by practical considerations and influenced by his counselors than he is by God.
He is an idealist, and he has what many people consider worthy ideals and goals, but he is willing to compromise his principles to achieve them, and to abandon some if that will help him to reach others. He clearly sees that the American system has failed in some ways, and has fallen far short of where it should be in others, and he wants to shake things up and change things. Yet he has not fully realized how difficult it is to change the course in which the US is going, and how time-consuming it will be.
The US is a nation of 300 million and has gone far astray in many ways spiritually, morally, economically, socially, politically and cannot be changed as quickly. It is like a huge tanker that has tremendous momentum as it sails on, and is not easily swayed, even by one like Obama who considers himself the captain.
Also, Obama has many constraints that he is just beginning to realize. He is constrained by government bureaucracy and the way things are done. He is constrained by his parties’ policies and the fact that unpopular moves on his part affect tens of thousands of other Democrats. He is constrained by public opinion and what Americans will stand for.
Obama is constrained by what past US presidents have done and the ways they have acted, which have set the precedent for his own actions, whether he likes it or not. He is constrained by past actions by the American military and the military’s present position; even though he may not agree with these actions or positions, he cannot alienate the military. Obama faces numerous constraints, many things that weigh him down and that hinder his bringing about change, especially positive change.
Obama finds himself in a situation similar to that of former President Jimmy Carter, who also came into office an idealist promising real change, but in the end the constraints he faced as president made him both feeble and ineffective, and when these weights were lifted from him, he was able to fly and make great progress, as he has in the years since. It remains to be seen how Obama will do, and what choices and decisions he will make. He can accomplish much good and politicians do accomplish good.

Ted Rudow III, MA
Menlo Park, California, United States

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A end?

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/04/18657791.php
A end?
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Saturday Sep 4th, 2010 11:00 AM
President Obama declared an end to the combat mission in Iraq Tuesday night in the second Oval Office address of his presidency. Although tens of thousands of US troops, special operations forces and private contractors remain in Iraq, Obama announced that Operation Iraqi Freedom is now officially over.

While the US invasion and occupation of Iraq over the past seven years has inflicted multiple disasters on the country, many argue that the US assault on Iraq really began twenty years ago with the US-imposed economic sanctions. The best estimate of "excess child mortality" -- the number of children under five who died during the sanctions who would not have under Iraq's economy and policies before sanctions -- is between 670,000 and 880,000. Very few people have been aware of exactly how the U.S. worked to maintain these sanctions over more than a decade.
But with 50,000 combat-ready American troops still in country, the occupation seems far from over. The Obama administration will insist that those are not combat soldiers engaged in a combat mission. But if you’ve got twenty or thirty or forty thousand foreign troops stationed on your soil, I mean, if it looks like an occupation, and it smells like an occupation, and it sounds like an occupation, it’s an occupation.
Ted Rudow III,MA

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Beck

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09/02/2010

Civil rights leaders who accused the group of hijacking King's legacy held their own rally and march.
He had a dream and oh, what a dream it was. A dream of equality, a dream of unity, a dream of solidarity. What a fight, what a battle, as the brothers and sisters lifted their arms, hands raised and clasped together to show their strength and unity and oneness. What a fight, as we marched and protested and sang our songs of triumph and spoke our words of courage. What a fight, as we lifted high the banner of equality -- equal rights for all men and women, regardless of color. What a fight, as we suffered humiliation and setbacks, degradation and injustice.


But I ask you, has that dream been realized? Has that dream come true in your life? Has that dream been fulfilled? Or have our ideals and our aspirations fallen by the wayside? Where is the unity, the brotherhood, the oneness of heart and spirit? Where is the fighting spirit and the willingness to sacrifice and work hard, to lift up your brothers and sisters and make for them a better life? Look around you and see if his dream and your dream, our dream, has become a reality.


He now knows that this equality, this oneness of the races, this love between the brethren, this better world, this dream that we all sought so desperately, cannot be found only through the path. That this dream can only become a reality through love, the supernatural Love of God. This is what brings unity.
Ted Rudow III,MA



Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/02/2999122/glenn-beck.html#Comments_Container#ixzz0yPlm862g

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Menlo-Atherton High School history

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History of Menlo-Atherton High School
September 01, 2010, 02:27 AM Letter

Editor,


There was a great deal of debate about the location and cost analysis for Menlo-Atherton High School. Several possible sites for the school, including Dibble Hospital and the Doyle estate, were deemed unsuitable or too expensive. The school board chose the magnificent parcel of land located on the northeast corner of Middlefield Road and Ringwood Avenue belonging to the five heirs of Joseph Donohoe, a pioneer banker in California, as the ideal setting. The property was at one time a portion of the enormous Pulgas Ranch controlled by the Arguello family.


In the 1860s, Joseph A. Donohoe purchased the tract of land and in 1868 built the home known as Holm Grove. The estate was occupied by five generations of the Donohoe family, including the first mayor of Atherton. The district sought to acquire the entire 40.9-acre tract for Menlo-Atherton High School.


In May of 1949, the local voters, in the largest voter turnout to date, overwhelmingly supported a $2,150,000 bond issue. The final vote tally was 6,339 in favor to 1,604 opposed. What is not known is that Stanford University had housing for graduate school across the street from the land and was allowed the vote in this measure. That's why the vote in favor was so high. The district paid the Donohoe family $141,105 (or approximately $3,450 per acre) for the land. General contractor Peter Sorensen collaborated with architects William Daseking and Arthur Janssen to develop a state-of-the-art school. The campus eventually covered 37 acres and contained 12 buildings. It consisted of 35 classrooms and accommodated a total enrollment of 1,015 students, almost all of whom came from Sequoia High School. Construction began on May 8, 1950, and the first day of classes was Sept. 24, 1951. The final cost of construction was approximately $1.5 million.





Ted Rudow III,MA
Class of 1970

Menlo Park