Mario Cavolo

Here's a fabulous story from the Providence Journal written by by journal staff writers Jennifer D. Jordan and Linda Borg. According to the story, Central Fall's High School union teachers are paid $72-78,000 per year at this deeply troubled high school where 50% of the students are failing; the town's local economy is amongst the worst in the country with $22,000/year average wages. Oh well the teachers didn't want to work an extra hour per day without more pay....poor babies, don't you feel sorry for them?...let's wish them luck finding a new job replacing their $72,000 per year plus benefits...hey, does Walmart pay that much these days?...Cheers, Mario

Teacher salaries at the high school average $72-78k. Apparently 50% of the students at the school are failing all of their classes, and the graduation rate is also under 50%. In an effort to turn the school around, the superintendent requested some changes be made whereby the school day would be slightly extended, teachers would perform some extra tutoring, etc.Cheers, Mario

CENTRAL FALLS –– The teachers didn’t blink. Under threat of losing their jobs if they didn’t go along with extra work for not a lot of extra pay, the Central Falls Teachers’ Union refused Friday morning to accept a reform plan for one of the worst-performing high schools in the state.

The superintendent didn’t blink either. After learning of the union’s position, School Supt. Frances Gallo notified the state that she was switching to an alternative she was hoping to avoid: firing the entire staff at Central Falls High School. In total, about 100 teachers, administrators and assistants will lose their jobs.

Gallo blamed the union’s “callous disregard” for the situation, saying union leaders “knew full well what would happen” if they rejected the six conditions Gallo said were crucial to improving the school. The conditions are adding 25 minutes to the school day, providing tutoring on a rotating schedule before and after school, eating lunch with students once a week, submitting to more rigorous evaluations, attending weekly after-school planning sessions with other teachers and participating in two weeks of training in the summer.

The high school’s 74 teachers will receive letters during school vacation advising them to attend a Feb. 22 meeting where each will be handed a termination notice that takes effect for the 2010-’11 school year, Gallo said.

Gallo said she was devastated and that she had thought the union would agree to her conditions, even though she did not offer to pay the teachers more for most of the additional responsibilities.

A month ago, Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist mandated that the district adopt one of four models to fix the troubled school, which has some of the lowest graduation rates and test scores in the state.

Gallo’s first choice, the “transformation” model, was consistent with her conditions on how to improve the high school. But if the teachers would not agree, the superintendent said she would select her second choice, the “turnaround” model, which requires the removal of the entire staff of the school. The turnaround model allows the district to hire back no more than 50 percent of the old staff.

“I am saddened and shaken at the core by the enormous ramifications of my responsibilities,” Gallo said. “The only solace I have is that I know I provided every opportunity possible, in fully public and transparent ways, the means to avoid this.”

Union officials say they, too, want to improve the high school but are unwilling to sign off on the six conditions, especially without receiving additional pay. In a letter, union officials said they do not think Gallo has the authority to fire the teachers and she must negotiate the terms of the reforms.

In an interview, Jane M. Sessums, union president, said the union intends to fight the terminations, although she was not ready to say how. Students Friday expressed sadness, frustration and dismay at learning that their teachers would be fired en masse.

Sheila Lawless-Burke, an English-as-a-Second Language teacher, said teachers are not opposed to working harder — or longer; they simply want the opportunity to negotiate the details of their contract, not have it imposed from above. “It’s all about the politics,” she said, “about making Fran Gallo look good. The issue is having the right to negotiate. Once we allow the superintendent to get her foot in the door, where will it stop?”

Gist, who has 10 days to review Gallo’s proposal, said she expects to make a decision early next week.
“We know she is moving forward urgently and we want to support that,” Gist said. Gallo and Gist say they have the authority to make these changes, based on federal education regulations and on state law that allows the state to intervene in chronically failing schools and districts.

“We’re very confident we are following both state and federal laws very carefully,” Gist said, “and, in fact, it’s the expectation both in state and federal law that we take these steps.”

TIMELINE Showdown over Central Falls HS

March 17, 2007: Frances A. Gallo, veteran educator and former deputy superintendent of Providence schools, is chosen as Central Falls school superintendent.

2008-2009: Test scores remain a problem at Central Falls High School as only 3 percent of 11th graders are proficient in math in 2008 and 7 percent in 2009.

November 2009: Gallo begins talks with teachers on her plans to reform the high school.

Jan. 11, 2010: State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist names the high school as one of the state’s worst schools and in need of closure or complete overhaul. Gallo says she already has a plan ready to implement in the fall. The plan would include a longer school day, more training, more tutoring.

Feb. 1-5, 2010: Gallo and union leaders are unable to reach an agreement on pay issues for the extra work. She says the failure is forcing her to switch to a reform model that calls for firing all teachers at the high school.

Feb. 9, 2010: During a packed meeting, Gallo gives the teachers’ union more time to agree on her original plan.

Feb. 12, 2010 Talks fail; Gallo proceeds with across-the-board firing plan.

I encourage you to study and pass along this very important article focused on the new reality of China. It is life-changing. It is world-changing. And we are living it.

In mid-March, my LA-based partner and I are holding the Summit On The New Reality 2010 Conference in Los Angeles area, probably at least 3 locations/dates in the southern California region. As I was going over my notes earlier this evening on the new reality of the world I was focusing on the new reality of China, I found myself realizing that this list I have just written down and expanded can give us a truly remarkable picture of the new reality; this incredible expansion, its impact both domestically in local neighborhoods and globally, too, as it is changing the balance of economic power on planet earth during our lifetime. That is both incredible and scary.

There will be many problems and issues along the way, some of which we can anticipate, others which are impossible to know until after they arrive. There are millions of Americans whose lives have been turned upside down during the past year; ruined careers and little opportunity to move forward through the issues. I believe that to a great degree, they need to understand the bigger picture, including what is happening in China, in order to understand, in order to be able to have hope for what their life can be in the future.

When it comes to all matters related to China, what you read here should be the framework of any intelligent discussion on the new reality. It should put to rest any notions that China will somehow "crash" in the coming months. Perhaps it will crash, but if it is possible, it would be unprecedented in economic history because of the following fact:

NEVER IN HISTORY HAS A COUNTRY WITH PLENTY OF CASH, WHOSE GOVERNMENT AND WHOSE CITIZENS HAVE PLENTY OF CASH, AND VERY LOW DEBT, HAD AN ECONOMIC COLLAPSE.

If you know of such a case for discussion in economic history, please contact me. Onward to our analysis.

MORE ECONOMIC OPTIMISM FRESH OFF THE PRESS

Stop paying attention to bubble doom sayers and pay attention to the realities of why the China expansion will continue as seen from a fly on the wall, a person who lives here, who socializes with many other professional foreigners and Chinese citizens who interact daily and deal with the new reality of China.

THE EXPANSION OF ALL MOTHER EXPANSIONS IS OCCURRING NOW

1. China is RIGHT NOW the SAME as the U.S. postwar expansion which started in the 1950s.

2. This full steam ahead locomotive expansion is being fired by many things, one of which is a huge supply of FUEL. What is the FUEL? CASH. Trillions of it in the private AND gov't sector far beyond debt levels. So even with the concern over a gov't GDP/debt ratio, they HAVE the CASH; the fundamental difference that makes ALL the difference in the world, just like a corporation with 1 billion in debt but also 2 billion in cash.

3. China is Embracing American Capitalism Now. For all its good and bad (and there's plenty of bad) , the dark side of capitalism will rear its ugly head. It already is in some ways. But now internally it is in the American style boom stage of capitalism, not yet the bust stage. We're talking many years to go.

4. Remember here already IS big bureaucracy! While everyone is freaking out in America about the gov't getting into the banking, insurance and automotive and other businesses, here in China, that's how it already is!!

My online bank account with ICBC is amazing compared to my Chase bank account back in the U.S. I can trade stock funds. I can buy and sell gold funds or solid gold for delivery. I can trade forex (foreign currency pairs) instantly right in my savings account online!!

5. They Are Building A New Country Just Like the U.S. Started Doing in the 50's. Imagine a MASSIVE expansion of subways and Hi-Speed Rails. I'm talking half a dozen subway lines being added in each city, not one or two lines!! Hi-speed rails too, connecting all major cities at 300+km per hour.

They won't NEED as much oil for airplanes when the plentiful option of hi-speed rail travel is a real option. America had that same opportunity many years ago, to build subways and bus systems, but the oil industry got in the way and wouldn't let it happen. Now the situation is a huge burden of each citizen who must own a car. China will never have that problem in the future. This is an enormous infrastructure advantage.

6. Highway building and Automobile boom is also unprecedented. Right along side the new subways and high-speed rails, a massive highway system is being built, connecting cities, facilitating business growth, leisure travel; new roads to travel for all the new cars. However, there will be a bad side to this with massive traffic jam and parking problems too.

7. Foreign Investment pointing HERE. In the 2nd half of 2009, FDI (foreign investment) is way back up on the upswing again, to the benefit of the entire Pacific Rim; the shift of global power toward Asia.

REAL ESTATE REALITY

8. Rising Real Estate. "bubble" price problems are scary but they are in limited areas. Bubble prices are NOT in the main sector of middle class society where prices are NOW averaging 4-7000rmb/psqm (USD $70-$120 p sq ft) for a normal, new, reasonable, nice apartment in 90% of the country's cities. Does that sound like bubble prices to anyone??

The Poor Now Rich Because Of Their Home

I estimate well over 50 million POOR people in China are no longer poor because of a unique set of circumstances in the China real estate market. I call it the "Wang Family Factor) Mr. Wang lives with the four generations of his family (grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren) in a their 4 bedroom 180 sqm apartment. Its tight, but its not THAT bad. The family paid 900rmb/psqm (USD $15 per sqft) for that apartment which is now, because of the boom, worth 5x times that amount, STILL a reasonable 5100rmb/psqm ( USD $75/per sqft). The Wang family of course has NO MORTGAGE on their home. They have this 180 sqm home worth 920,700rmb (USD $135,000 !!) FREE AND CLEAR.

9. Rising Stock Market - admittedly peaky but again with CASH behind it in an unprecedented regional power-shifting economic expansion.

REAL JOBS FOR REGULAR WORKERS

Really pay attention to this comparison of how much more comprehensive a job for a regular worker / low manager in China is compared to the miserable situation in the U.S. Below you are provide with an outline of the reality of typical employment in China with a Chinese Company.

1. A Low Salary (yes I mean low as in the equivalent of minimum wage in the U.S.A.) BUT then add the equivalent of + 50% more in benefits.

2. Transportation buses: You are picked up and dropped off as needed for your shifts.

3. Arrive and eat breakfast!!! 3 meals a day in the onsite cafeteria

4. Paid Housing!! Shared 2-6 person dorm depending on level. Private apt for managers.

5. Medical Coverage!! MUST understand that medical expense here are dirt cheap WITHOUT insurance. I'm talking $2 for a doctor visit, $5 for Zithromax, $10 for xrays, $10 for various blood tests, $50 for a CT scan and $100 for an MRI!!

6. Paid National Holidays 3x/year

7. Paid Overtime/Triple Time - If you work on an official holiday day, you are paid for three additional days or given three additional holiday days. That's Chinese Labor Law.

8. Liberal Maternity Leave - you have a job after you have your baby. That's Chinese Labor Law.

Its not a perfect job situation, but it is SECURE and STABLE. Yes there are concerns here, of course. But whereas in America making minimum wage at Walmart, getting taxed and having to pay your own rent and your own auto/insurance expenses, you are in MUCH worse shape than a typical Chinese making $500 per month who can still put 50% of it IN THE BANK because they don't have the $1000 per month in standard budget expenses every American household has.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - LIGHT YEAR AHEAD OF THE U.S.A.

With half a dozen subways and 10 buses at each stop and zillions of scooters and bicycles in each city, they don't NEED cars to get a job!!

ENERGY

Witness a genuine, serious commitment to green energy - massive wind farms, solar, natural gas, LPG. In addition, there is a commitment to many new nuclear plants. (Shanghai taxi company runs its 50,000 VW's on LPG!! Does anyone outside of China know that?)

INTERNAL CONSUMER SPENDING - YES

For example, the Auto boom is VANITY-driven. But remember, autos are not NEEDED. They are just the newest, greatest modern addition to the nouveau life the Chinese have discovered here, right along with I-phones, LCD TV's, etc. A population of over 200,000,000 Chinese are NEW middle class upgrading their private lives with the American style vanity of the 80's. You must REMEMBER they still today have relatively no credit card debt and no mortgages on their homes. In China it is all about the concept of FACE - you MUST understand it.

MAIN STREET BUSINESS - 1st Quarter 2010 - YES

Indicator: My AmCham Shanghai jobmail emails are loaded with job offers again. Why?
Indicator: My corporate trainer friend says the past four months has picked back up again on corporate training budgets. Why?

These are leading indicators that real business has a pulse.

CONCLUSION

Stop wondering and worrying on the China question, as you are getting this from a real life fly on the wall, not some government economist with a PR team or an investment analyst sitting clueless in his office in another country.

Let the above picture of China reality sink in once and for all, spread the word and plan accordingly. China is FINE. Fine enough, perhaps is the way to say it.

We are putting together a Summit On The New Reality 2010 Conference in Los Angeles mid-March - stay tuned for details on that event. Will be doing a call/invite soon for investment/culture/China expert speakers. Hope to see you there.

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Don't Miss Mario's New Radio Show Schedule and Web profiles

We've finally set up independent web profiles for my two radio weekly shows with Grassroots Talks' Dr. Allen Brown. They now run back to back on Monday evening starting at 8pm til 10pm.

Grassroots Talks Money with Mario Cavolo - Monday 8pm EST / Noon Beijing time (+15 hours)
Grassroots Talks Health with Mario Cavolo - Monday 9pm EST / 1pm Beijing time (+15 hours)
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Cheers,

Mario Cavolo
Published January 9, 2010
copyright (c) All Rights Reserved 2010

Why do children sleep better than adults?

Its pretty simple to explain actually with a quick lesson in micro-biology, cell biology and how our amazing brain works: as adults, we typically mess with the natural balance of neurotransmitters in our system. That includes the delicate balance of receptors, signals, neuro-chemicals and neurotransmitters in the cells of our brain AND body. This affects us physically and emotionally. Getting a good night's sleep sounds wonderful doesn't it. It is a subject Al and I are going to discuss in detail and answer your questions soon on a future airing of our weekly radio show Grassroots Talks Health (every Monday night 9pm EST)

On the milder and reasonable side of throwing our system out of balance, we start the day with a nice, fresh latte and might end the day with a glass of red wine with dinner to wind the day down. That daily routine could even be called "healthy" because ONE fresh coffee is loaded with good nutrients, a reasonable amount of caffeine to stimulate you, and the red wine gives you a nice dose of excellent dark grape-related nutrients.

But problems can arise if you tend to have a moody or addictive personality because your body will adjust and start to crave "more". Hence, you become a wired, anxious coffee-addicted pain in the ass or worse, you develop a problem with alcohol.

Nutrition and health expert David Wolfe just posted a very good article on sleeping better at the Huffington Post

Here's the key messages from the article outlining a two step plan to sleep like a baby:

"Answers coming out of innovative areas of neurology and bio-psychology indicate that due to stress, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and in particular the use of stimulants (coffee, tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, recreational drugs) adults are experiencing neurotransmitter imbalances and disturbed neurotransmitter receptor sites that are translating into poor sleep. On the other hand, children -- especially well-fed, well-loved children and breast-fed infants -- have a healthier balance of neurotransmitters and pure neurotransmitter receptor sites and thus sleep better."

The indication is that neurotransmitters play a crucial role in sleeping and how well we sleep.

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It is winter. A third of the city is poor. And unworn, unsold clothing is being destroyed nightly by retail store H&M. A few doors down on 35th Street, hundreds of garments tagged for sale in Wal-Mart — hoodies and T-shirts and pants — were discovered in trash bags the week before Christmas, apparently dumped by a contractor for Wal-Mart that has space on the block...At the back entrance on 35th Street, awaiting trash haulers, were bags of garments that appear to have never been worn. And to make sure that they never would be worn or sold, someone had slashed most of them with box cutters or razors, a familiar sight outside H & M’s back door.

More next page on this disgraceful story...

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“This important feature of the evidence base is not reflected in the implicit messages present in the marketing of these medications to clinicians and the public,” they said.

The drugs had a “nonexistent to negligible” effect on patients with mild, moderate and severe symptoms, compared with those who took a placebo (sugar pills!!)

THE FACTS ARE CRYSTAL CLEAR - the drug company marketing to doctors and patients deliberately lies and misleads you into thinking that you need medicine you don't need!!! You are the vicitim of a billion dollar marketing machine to sell you drugs you don't need and that don't help you and have bad side effects too!!

The researchers combined data from six trials, including three of paroxetine, the main ingredient in London-based Glaxo’s Paxil and Seroxat pills, and three of imipramine, an older generic medicine.

The drugs had a “nonexistent to negligible” effect on patients with mild, moderate and severe symptoms, compared with those who took a placebo, according to a commonly used scale used to measure the disorder. The pills had a large effect on patients with very severe symptoms, the study found.

In a review of six trials of antidepressants involving more than 700 patients published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers led by Jay Fournier at the University of Pennsylvania found the drugs helped only those patients with the most severe depression. Most trials excluded patients with milder forms of the disorder, the authors said.

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Was Akmal Shaikh set up? Was he a victim? Authorities say he carried nine pounds of heroin onto a flight to China.

According to press reports "Mr. Shaikh was arrested in 2007 for carrying a suitcase with almost nine pounds of heroin into China on a flight from Tajikistan. He told Chinese officials he didn't know about the drugs and that the suitcase wasn't his, according to Reprieve, a London-based prisoner advocacy group that is helping with his case. Mr. Shaikh was convicted in 2008 after a half-hour trial.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Mr. Shaikh was put to death by lethal injection. China, which executes more people than any other country, is increasingly doing so by lethal injection, although some death sentences are still carried out by a shot in the head."

More Executions or More Crime? Take Your Pick

The British government and others opposed and condemned the execution on the grounds that the man, Akmal Shaikh, was mentally unstable, suggesting that he may suffer from bi-polar disorder.

Bi-polar disorder, otherwise known as manic-depressive disorder is a classic gray area health diagnosis in general, often used as a possibly acceptable reason for bad behavior, and to excuse the person when a crime is committed. Other examples where people often like to blame their bi-polar disorder are "Oh yea I shouldn't have been crazy enough to be sleeping with prostitutes all the time, cheating on my husband and drinking like a fish, stealing money, losing the family savings on a weekend binge in Vegas, etc. Yea yea its not your fault, you didn't do it, it was the other you who did it, right? People possibly with bi-polar disorder are typically unstable and will behave in extremes but they often very much know right from wrong.

Let me ask you a question: Did you ever meet a typically severe adult with Down's Syndrome? THAT's obvious in terms of behavioral and cognitive inability.

Next question: In a bar, did you ever meet one of those wild-eyed, hyper-manic, happily yet intimidatingly drunk, wild Wall Street day-trader types, just having lost half a million dollars on an oil futures position gone awry all in a day's work, three days in a row, now cajoling, hassling, abusing people all around him in a rude, manic frenzy, while also inviting all the women in the bar to come to his penthouse jacuzzi? That's probably bi-polar. See the difference?

Anyway, Akmal told authorities he didn't know about the heroin and the bag wasn't his....the big question folks...on the day that Akmal Shaikh decided to carry nine pounds of heroin onto a plane, was he guilty of misjudgment because he thought he would get away with it or was he in fact able to say to himself "I am carrying nine pounds of heroin onto a plane to China where they execute people no questions asked for drug smuggling. Do I understand and know this is what I am doing with this case in my hands as I am now walking on the plane?" Or he could have been drunk as a skunk as his "friends" put him on the plane and said "hey by the way, take this bag, will ya?" I still don't buy the excuses when a guy is caught with nine pounds of heroin in a case he is holding.

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