Early this morning I noticed this weird cloud formation on King Street where there was almost a straight line separating last night's cloudy skies from today's sunshine. Perhaps you could see that as a metaphor of life, of how quickly one's life can switch from darkness to light. Or maybe I just take clouds too seriously.
Meanwhile Google has made this wonderful two minute video review of 2012 based on their stats revealing the topics the people of Earth most searched about. It makes the year appear, um, cooler than it seemed while it was actually happening.
Another good article to read in the Valley Advocate this week is Mo Turner's piece on the efforts to lower the qualification levels of the Springfield fire commissioner to allow a person unqualified under current standards to hold the job. Those qualifications were set by the former Control Board that ran Springfield after the city suffered a near financial collapse in 2003 after decades of fiscal and personnel mismanagement combined with widespread corruption. I understand the need to set high standards in a city where a bingo inspector once became police commissioner and a sociopath ran the city's homeless shelter. But a master's degree for fire commissioner? Yet in the end I find myself in unusual agreement with the Rev. Talbert Swan:
Sarno’s attempt to lower the commissioner qualifications “smacks of nepotism and sends the wrong message to the entire city,” Swan wrote. “Will people view this policy as a reason to focus less on academic achievement and qualifications and more on posturing for political favors when seeking city employment? Will the rules be changed to accommodate candidates of color competing for high-level positions within the city, which they do not meet the qualifications for?”
Think George had a few puffs before this press conference?
R.I.P Ravi Shankar.
R.I.P Ravi Shankar.
3 comments:
Swan is right, and yet I don't believe for a moment that he's concerned about lowering standards. Would he care if standards were lowered to accommodate black applicants? Doubtful. Standards are always the problem when you're a so-called civil rights leader.
But he's still right. Rules are rules and I don't like to see standards lowered.
Joey
"Bingo inspector"?
When it comes to the Rev. Swan, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. And yes, Phillips was a State Bingo Inspector, a position created specifically for him and abolished after he quit in order to move on to other adventures in wasting taxpayer dollars in the Albano Administration. Too bad such essential positions no longer exist, I think many of us would've liked to have been a bingo inspector.
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