Robert Pacilio's Blog, page 4

We Need a Teaching Force!

This revised essay has become far more imperative now that the most recent study has been done on teacher experience. The study concluded that in 1988 a typical teacher had 15 years of experience; today that number has been reduced to 3 years!
In many ways teaching is a relay race as one generation of teachers passes the baton to the next. The faster the baton is passed the faster the mentor teacher can get the young protégé ‘up to speed.’
A lot has been made by my Baby Boomer colleagues that we were the first generation (“post the Korean War,”) that embraced teaching as a ‘lifestyle choice’. And with that push, the commitment to excellence and innovation in teaching evolved. No doubt, the children of the Baby Boom made an impact on the lives of new ‘g-g-g-generations’ who fell under their wing.
I had the pleasure of teaching dozens of would-be-teachers who are alumni of my English classes, and I emphasized that they bring something every teacher must have when they walk into a classroom — compassion. Each has had to run hard and fast, often facing hurdles that our generation did not have to leap.
Unfortunately, factors besides the many hoops that these young people have to jump just to get the teaching profession. The financial cost/ benefit of teaching is laughable. Students leave college with, not a money on their back, but rather, a King Kong. “Student loan debtin the U.S. reached another all-time high of $1.4 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2019, according to Experian data. That’s an increase of 116% in 10 years and represents one of the country’s most significant and widespread financial burdens to date.”
As for a typical Bachelor Of Arts degree, students rack up $16,000 of debt. That does not count the year that it takes to earn a teaching degree — time that often requires a student to work without any pay (or work in the evenings to survive). 
Once these teachers are placed in the classroom, they have a terrible turnover rate. 50% of them quit after five years. And that number is even more striking when one considers how few are even taking the plunge (understandably) to go into the profession.
Once then are past the five year mark the National Average for teacher salaries is abysmal. As of August of 2019: “Nationwide, the average public school teacher salary for the 2017–2018 school year was $60,483, according to data from the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.” What a statistic like this does not indicate is that opening salaries are often as low as $45,000 (Oklahoma, South Dakota and Arizona where shortages are dire); these averages do not take into account how many years it takes to move up to just the average. 
As for ‘keeping up with inflation’ as they say in New Jersey — “For get about it.” According to the Washington Post in 2018: “…some states seeing big drops in average salaries. Colorado, for example, which is having a serious teacher shortage, saw a 15 percent decline in average teachers salaries from 1969–2017….”. That amounts to a Rocky Mountain low.
What to do what to do? First, on the agenda is the removal of a Trump administration that abhors public schools. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose only qualification for this post was being a rich donor to Trump’s campaign, said recently: “Government has never made anything better or cheaper. more effective or more efficient. And nowhere is that more true than latest in education.” 
This statement is a gut punch to all those great public colleges, schools, and the teachers and professors that sacrifice less pay for more fulfillment. Of course, she speaks from absolutely no peresonal experience either as a teacher or having her children attend even one day in a public school. Trump and Co. have no vested interest in anything ‘public.’ 
Next, America needs to invest in its children and those teachers. Study after study concludes the same thing: the teacher is the single most important factor that creates success in a classroom. Not the computer. Not the textbook. Not the online impersonal technology. All those things are just the tools of the trade. It is the teacher that is the artist, the motivator, the counselor, the leader and the coach — sometimes all those jobs on a Thursday. 181 days a year. And America wants it done on the cheap…but not for much longer.
To add insult to injury, many thousands of teachers signed up for a program that asked for a ten year commitment, and after that commitment ended, they would have their debt forgiven. Scores of reports are indicating that the federal government is now reneging on the deal. Talk about getting screwed and being disgusted by an administration that shows utter disrespect to these public servants.
Yes, the climate crisis is the most existential issue the world faces, but without this nation’s new generation of children becoming educated and literate, this nation, dare I say the leader of the free world, will continue to be bamboozled by those foolish enough to perpetuate the idea that the global warming is a hoax. Our children will have to have the critical thinking skills and work effort, not to mention grit, that it will take to sift through the disinformation and disregard for the facts — pure and simple.
This will take time and political courage. The votes it will take to raise taxes or make cutbacks in the military industrial economy may cost political careers. It is not the moon or mars we should be shooting for with the insane Space Force — not today, not for the next decade. It’s a Teaching Force that this nation needs right now ASAP. 
So here’s to the runners, those noble teachers, who grab the baton and head to the finish line — even though it is more a marathon than a sprint. We owe tem more than our gratitude. 
ps. I am always willing, like many, many of my retired colleagues to jump in and make a ‘guest appearance.’ All they need to do is ask.

It’s Still the Same Old Story: Isolationism and Trump

From time to time, I reflect back on America’s involvement in WWII. Raging across Europe and Northern Africa, Hitler’s Nazi forces were making a mockery of the idea that a treaty would assuage the fanatical German leader. It all seems like some distant memory for some or perhaps a trailer for a new movie ready for a 3D cinema near you.

But really, it is quite black and white. Literally. The film Casablanca comes to the forefront when I considerate as a clarion call for America to wake up from its slumber and realize that millions of lives had been and would be lost without our intervention. I spent many years teaching the subtle (and not so subtle) aspects of the film; however, today one particular question keeps running through my mind.
A jaded businessman, Signor Ferrari asks Rick Blaine, the embodiment of America’s idea that one does not stick one’s neck out for anyone: Ferrari asks:“My dear Rick, when will you realize that in this world today isolationism is no longer a practical policy?”
Rick Blaine’s response then was that the problems of the world are not his concern. He is a businessman. Of course, we know (or should know) how the film ends: Blaine and company decide that the self-centered problems of “three little people don’t add up to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” Thus, he sacrifices love security to personally jump back into the fight…and this time America and the Free World wins.

My dear readers, it is time we joined the fight. Isolationism, whether it is cloaked in words like Brexit, nationalism, Trumpism, or “build that wall,” are today’s rallying cry from a small, but dangerous tribe of people so concerned with their own self interests, their own wallets, their own view of what an American should look like, whom they should love and what god they pray to, that they cannot fathom a larger cause — “a stronger together” force of will.

Isolationism did not begin with Donald Trump and it will not end with his administration. It is not a red or blue state, either. Intolerance cloaks itself in every religion, race, and creed. And the coward seeks refuge in the ‘castle walls’ built to keep out all those who threaten that entitled way of life.

Nowhere is this isolationism more evident in the Trump Administration’s rejection of the Paris Climate Accords. The idea that global warming is a “hoax” perpetuated by the Chinese, or a conspiracy by the left wing/ socialists is just another version of sticking one’s head in the sand and pretending that the crisis will pass, as if it were just a tropical storm added by foul winds. Of course, only when the inevitable hurricane blasts apart Mar-a-Logo refuge, only then will a few see the rising tides in the seas. Naturally, those with enough money and power will retreat to the next country club fortress and blithely comment that “Isn’t it just a shame….”

The Brits are also realizing the senselessness of a knee jerk, nationalistic reaction to leaving the European Union. Tossing out the baby with the bathwater is the conundrum facing those politicians across the pond. Clearly, there are issues (like fishing the waters between the continent and Great Britain), but these are compromises that need to be addressed — not a reason to abandon ship.

Turning to the turmoil in the Middle East, some believe that a total withdrawal of United States military forces is overdue in the Middle East, despite the growing danger of unchecked (and far from dead) ISIS forces — extremists that all true Muslim sects decry. What ISIS has done to millions of innocent men, women and children is a 21st Century Holocaust. The New York Times on November third 2019 ran a special section in its Sunday magazine about the ISIS slaughters, so disturbing, was the loss of life, the maimed, raped, and the mentally tortured people who were shredded by these assassins that I had to avert my eyes to the grim photographs.

Our Special Forces, along with the Kurdish fighters led to the killing of one of ISIS’s leaders, but the Trump administration once again made American foreign policy look both foolish and cruel. By abandoning the Kurdish people, who had captured some of the worst of the ISIS fighters, and then allowing the Turkish forces to both destroy the Kurds with bombardment but, in the chaos, Turkey also free at least a thousand ISIS prisoners, who will undoubtedly matriculate back to Europe to again reap havoc and destruction. How many will forget that it was Trump’s unexplainable green light to Turkish attack that may be one of the most devastating blunders of Trump’s legacy.

Why did Trump isolate the Kurds by having our peacekeeping forces retreat (a decision military leaders there and in the States criticize)? No one really knows. Was Trump motivated to protect his hotel properties in Turkey? Was he looking for a way to further ingratin ate himself to Putin, who now holds the levers of control in northern Syria? What possible sense is there in this pullout? Was it a simple “What’s in it for me?” Another one of his “Why should I stick my neck out” moment?

No one wants ‘forever wars’; however, there is a reason we protect nations like South Korea. There is a reason we are the muscle and the money behind NATO. Why not just look out for our own interest? Here are but a few reasons: Crimea. Ukraine. North Korean aggression. Russian involvement in our political elections. And the simple fact that we must lead the world from the brink of ecological destruction. That’s why.

At one point in Casablanca, An agonized Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine says: “I bet they’re asleep in New York; I bet they’re asleep all over America.”Then he sips his whiskey and remembers the calendar just turned to December….1941.

Government Is Good - But Easily Taken for Granted

I’ve been spending considerable time thinking about the value we place on our American government, as well as the need to be an informed citizen of this great nation. Last month, I walked through the cities of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and I could not help but be reminded how America saved the world from Hitler’s Holocaust. I was proud of the Greatest Generation, who waded onto the beaches of Normandy to save others from the tyranny of the Nazi onslaught.
With all the ‘Deep State’ conspiracy talk, the debates about ‘how much is too much’ government involvement, and complaints about taxation, I became motivated to answer a simple question that was asked by Rush Limbaugh: “With the exception of the military, I defy you to name one government program that has worked and alleviated the problem it was created to solve.” I discovered the answer by doing something Americans often don’t have time for — reading.
Many folks think they never needed government to do anything for them; after all, they pulled themselves up by their efforts with little help from Uncle Sam. Many view government as the enemy or as a bunch of bungling fools or as merely a greedy taxation machine…maybe all three.
So let me remind everyone of some of “Government’s Greatest Hits” — (and for brevity, these are just the Gold Standards). These results come from the research of Professor Douglas Amy, Professor of Politics at Mount Holyoke College. The good professor begins with this:
“What follows is a short list of some of the federal government’s greatest accomplishments. These are policy programs that have not only worked, but have been very successful and have greatly improved the quality of life of most Americans.
Regulation of the Business Cycle. Until the financial crisis that began in 2008, most of us had forgotten how dependent we are on the federal government to prevent economic depressions. Since the 1930s, the government has used a variety of monetary and fiscal policies to limit the natural boom and bust cycles of the economy. Before government took on this responsibility, severe depressions were a routine and recurring problem in this country — occurring in 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893, 1907 and 1929. Thanks to government intervention, we have been able to avoid the enormous amount of human suffering caused by these massive economic meltdowns… By any measure, eliminating these depressions and this misery has been one of the greatest — and often unheralded — achievements of our federal government.
Public Health Programs. A variety of programs run by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and state and local Public Health departments have greatly improved the health of most Americans. For example, the scourges of polio, cholera, and smallpox have been effectively eradicated from this country — a huge achievement. And vaccination programs have reduced by 95% our risks of contracting potentially debilitating diseases like hepatitis B, measles, mumps, tetanus, rubella, and diphtheria. Federal funds spent on buying and distributing these vaccines have saved countless lives and the billions of dollars it would cost to treat these illnesses.
The Interstate Highway System. Started by the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s, this system now forms the backbone of long-distance travel and commerce in the United States…. Even some conservatives have been forced to admit the success of this building program, with George Will calling it “the most successful public works program in the history of the world.” It’s hard to imagine the U.S. without this interstate highway system, and this system would not exist at all if it weren’t for the government.
Federal Deposit Insurance. Another government program we’ve taken totally for granted until recently is federal protection of our bank deposits…. The main reason we had no disastrous runs on banks (and money market funds) during the financial panic of 2008 was that government was there to guarantee those deposits.
Social Security and Medicare. Without these two government programs, growing old would be hell for many Americans…. Social Security has cut the rate of poverty for the elderly by over half — from 29% in 1966 to 10% today. Not surprisingly, financial columnist Jane Bryant Quinn has described Social Security as ‘arguably the U.S. government’s greatest success. ’Medicare has also been incredibly successful. It has doubled the number of the elderly covered by health insurance, so that 99% now enjoy that benefit. Without this form of “socialized” medicine, 15 million of our neediest citizens would be going without many vital medical services and many would have to choose between food and medicine. Older Americans are now living 20% longer, thanks in part to this effective program. These two programs have done more than anything else to relieve the pain and suffering of our elderly population.
Okay. Those are just five of the largest programs that affect Americans’ pocketbooks. But is it true that overall the government has been successful? According to the Harvard study by Derek Bok, which compared the situation for Americans in the 1960’s to the 1990’s, after studying 75 indicators of government involvement, the study concluded:
During the past thirty-five years, our society has made substantial progress in most of the fields surveyed. In almost all of these advances, government actions have played a prominent role, whether it be in cleaning up the environment, expanding personal freedom, extending health care to the poor and elderly, reducing poverty, or increasing opportunities for women and minorities. Federal policies have clearly had a hand in America’s greatest domestic achievements…
As for those who believe government is the problem, not the solution, a rebuttal from Professor Douglas Amy, “But the basic point here is this: there is simply no credible support for the government bashers’ contention that most government activities are ineffective and that policies usually make things worse rather than better. Exactly the opposite is the case.”
Grover Norquist declared years ago: “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”He and his ilk have been spending millions upon millions of dollars since the 1990’s to convince Americans to not trust their government, to despise certain politicians, to pledge to never raise taxes for any reason, to never regulate anything because they believe in ‘Let the buyer beware!’ (try doing that on an airplane without the FAA’s inspections). And sadly, the results are that conspiracy theories abound, and people are either suspicious of government or just apathetic in their role as being an active, informed citizen (they don’t even vote!). This essay is my humble attempt to encourage all to read and pay attention to how much our government does for the average citizen. No, government is not perfect, but this noble experiment has been and remains the beacon of freedom and “the land of hope and dreams.”
It is often those who are not yet affected by circumstances beyond their control, who roar the loudest that they want government out of their lives. However, when those people face debilitating disease, trauma, natural disaster, etc., they clamor for the forces of government to help them be it fire, flood, food quality, or water purity (to name but a few). I wonder how Norquist and Limbaugh will feel about government actions and global warming as the waters rise up and up and up.
Sources: “Government is Good: An Unapologetic Defense of a Vital Institution”A web project of Douglas J. Amy, Professor of Politics at Mount Holyoke College Derek Bok, The State of the Nation (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996).

5 Timeless lessons on 4 Letter Words

Courtsey of Jan Schneider from  Upsplash  Last week I was a visiting lecturer at Southwest Junior College, which is a stone’s throw from the Mexico’s border with San Diego. I was also visiting with the professor who was my former student when she was a mere freshman in my English class. Quite proud I was of her, you see, because she was in charge of guiding a group of 25 students transitioning to a four year university despite their challenging circumstances.And what where those, you ask? Professor M (for privacy) wrote me about the class because as all good teachers know, one of the first rules in teaching is know your students. They were young folks 18–23, who slept on the floor of their cramped homes, crossed the US border to come to class, came from schools that had underperformed, were living on a shoe-string budget, but they were bright, caring and loyal to her. Professor M had me at would you come….Before I tell you the 5 lessons about 4 letter words, this preface will set the scene. I sat under the shade of a tree waiting for the class to begin and sitting next to me was a young lady whom I assumed was in the class. So I asked her if she recognized the song playing from the snack shack nearby. She said no. So I asked her if she heard of Stevie Wonder. No.“But he is the famous singer who sang ‘You are the Sunshine of my life.’” Nope. Hmm. “Bruce Springsteen?” She shook her head politely (figuring this nice 63 year old man must be just lonely).So I tried another tract: “The Beatles?” Ah ha! Eureka! She nodded. I worked my way back…or forward, even I was confused. “Madonna?” Again, a nod, as well as a smile. “Prince?” Yes. “Sting?” No.So I was getting a gauge on the situation. This was going be a tough crowd for a guy with a CD player, a song and a Springsteen PowerPoint in his bag of tricks.After a heartfelt introduction by Professor M, I asked all of the class if they ever even heard of Bruce Springsteen. No one had (except the lad who surreptitiously looked Springsteen on his laptop). “No worries,” I said, “we will get there soon enough.”I explained that 4 letter words like f*%#; s&%#, etc. were tossed around casually nowadays even though there are 7 words one still cannot say on TV” (George Carlin: no way was I asking them about him). “But here are words that really do need to be expressed far more often, and if acted upon, would lead one to a happier life…and success along the way. Here goes:KIND: “In my high school teaching days from 1977 until 2010, there were an awful lot of ‘dagger words’: bitch, faggot, asshole, …you know the roster. They are the stones we throw out of anger and frustration — or downright ignorance.” I reminded them that the people you meet who do a kind thing for you will be remembered — even honored. “And the ones that stuck that knife out and cut you or others; well, they will be lost or at least deposited into the bin of toxic waste.” These young folks seemed to radiate kindness already; perhaps because they had seen too many metaphoric knives thrust their way.VOTE: “I know some of you can’t vote, or can’t yet vote. But when you are able to — please step up to the citizen’s stage and play your part in democracy. Too many folks have cynically become government atheists and forgotten that this four letter word is what makes the United States the beacon of freedom.” As I was speaking about voting I mentioned one simple word that had a visceral reaction from the entire class: Trump. The students seemed to freeze in front of me; as if simply mentioning his name was frightening. They gave me the feeling that they could be in danger if they made any movement — as if remaining invisible was the safest place to be. That image stayed with me for days.GRIT: (I must tell my readers that these books etc. about grit are so late to the party because we teachers have known this decades before it became some authors’ Ah-ha Moment.) “I know you guys are up against some tough odds. Heck, I’m from Brooklyn. My folks never went to college. They lived paycheck to paycheck for years. I was not the brightest candle in the chandelier; after all, when the SAT test had a max score of 1600 — I settled in at 880. The motto written in bold letters above my door read: YOUR ‘I WILL’ IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR ‘IQ’. I failed at lots of stuff. I failed a test that would have awarded me $10,000 and a National Board Certification — by two points…and I heard the results I on my birthday (for literally cryin-out-loud). So I get it. GRIT makes you grab hold of the things that really matter. And BTW, I passed the test a year later.”LOVE: The Beatles, remember them, (the students nod) had it right — “Love is all you need.” So if you are thinking of being a doctor, nurse, teacher, councilor, Lift driver…whatever the choice, if you do not find love, you are lost and no GPS will guide you there. When I was interviewed to be San Diego County’s “Teacher of the Year” I was asked this first question: what do you teach? My answer: INVISIBLE THINGS. The panel seemed confused. So I explained: ‘I teach kids about compassion, hate, love, tolerance — why Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson; why Huck Finn loves a slave named Jim and why Jim loves Huck. These are the invisible things that matter. If one does not teach the answer to those questions, then what purpose do we have?”HOPE: “You students are the legacy my generation leaves behind. Optimism may seem difficult for some of you. But there is a reason you are here, in this classroom, and a reason I am here, as well. Because, despite all the barriers and all the naysayers, we believe in our dreams. I’m going to play you a song and show you some of the pictures of the dreamers of the past and the present — from Jackie Robinson to Neil Armstrong to Lin-manuel Miranda to Taylor Swift. This is a song by that guy you all have never heard of and it’s called ‘The Land of Hopes and Dreams’.”I pushed play and let Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band erupt within the walls of their classroom.When I drove home, I had that feeling that I thought might have disappeared. It was a feeling that I made a difference today — with kids, albeit a bit older…but now wiser. I reminded myself on the 45 minute journey home, that what really matters in life is simply that you can be the sunshine of someone’s life — even if that someone has no idea who the person is who is singing that song.

I Just Saw Stars: Western Stars

Courtsey of Glen Carrie from Upsplash
I just walked out of a ‘movie house’ — as we used to say — and I saw stars; Western Stars that is, from Bruce Springsteen. It is hard to pin down exactly how to describe it. I suppose it is a spiritual symphony of horns, violins, drums, pianos, an accordion…and that gorgeous guitar I have never seen him play before. I guess the album and this live concert was literally about time. Buddy, can I relate.
Having taught English for 32 years, I found that one way I could nudge my students into an appreciation of literature and its powerful themes was to use songs, “a three minute record, baby” (as Springsteen reminds us in “No Retreat, No Surrender”). One particular Springsteen song from the 1980’s connected viscerally with my high school students: “The River.”
“The River” tells the story of young high school lovers whose passion leads to unexpected, let predictable consequences. Pregnancy, dropping out of school, a marriage of conscience, and the eventual regret these forlorn lovers feel would imprint on my high school students especially when the lovers eventually see their dreams fade away as deeply as the wrinkles that line their faces. It was a good lesson for seventeen- year olds…it is a lesson for us all.
“The River” may well have been one of the many songs in the Springsteen collection that propelled the new film Blinded by the Light; I don’t know for sure since Asbury Park is 3,000 miles from Encinitas, California where I pen this essay. But one thing I do know for sure: Bruce Springsteen has not lost his touch with his latest work: Western Stars.
Being authentic is one quality that writers understand to be essential. One either writes what one knows or seeks to find out that truth by going to the source. It boils down to understanding empathy and sympathy, and Springsteen’s thirteen songs have a little of both. They are told as vignettes with Springsteen’s raspy voice introducing each set of characters to come. 

In Western Stars, Springsteen’s stature as the poet laureate of his medium shines (pardon the pun Medium), and with the enthusiasm of a youthful orchestra behind his melodies and a enchanting barn as his backdrop, he touches a nerve in all of those willing to lend an ear.
And what, you ask does a (soon to be) seventy-year old Springsteen have to offer today? He has followed his Broadway life story chronicled from his autobiography Born to Run, with this album filled with characters facing their own mortality, and in many cases…all alone. These stories depict the evolution of Springsteen from a rollicking rocker to a wise sage, time travelling to those places west of the Mississippi where the wild Montana horses, the movie stars of Hollywood’s yesteryear, and San Bernardino truckers roam. Wherever he takes us, we remind ourselves of the pain and joy that comes with age.
Springsteen’s stories begin with a wandering “Hitchhiker” who seems content with riding shotgun and appreciating the lives of those who trust him enough to take him anywhere down the road. Far more somber is a lonely truck driver often loses track of where he is, who he is, and what loves he has left behind. He’s reduced to calling himself “The Wayfarer.”
All is not doom and gloom. “Tucson Train” is a redemption yarn, the story of a man who has worked through “the pills and the rain” in an effort to prove to his past lover that all was “not in vain.” He is going to prove to her that “a man can change” as he is waiting for her to arrive “on the 5:15.”
Perhaps the most intriguing tale is the album’s title track “Western Stars.” His aging storyteller finds himself no longer a bit player in the western movies of bygone days, but instead he’s milking the last of days of his B-star fame, doing commercials for Viagra. He knows all he is good for is retelling the old story of how he was shot by John Wayne to bar hounds willing to pick up his tab. 
Springsteen gives homage to the charros, the proud Mexican riders, who Springsteen’s narrator insists are his brothers who “cross the wire and bring the old ways with them.” It is a bittersweet melody that one is drawn to despite the fact that the old cowboy knows his only hope is that when he wakes up in the morning “his boots are still on.”
Springsteen charts the sunrises and sunsets, some somber but some miraculous as he crosses Montana, California and Arizona. The most upbeat sunset appears when he saddles up to “Sleepy Joe’s Café.” The surf guitar and the accordion get the locals who show up at sundown to dance and “flirt the night away,” putting their hard day’s work behind them for at least a few hours before beginning anew the cycle of “an honest day’s work.”
The quietest, most sober song is whispered by a guitar player who has come “into town with a pocketful of songs”: the town, Nashville. His mission to land a contract in Music City: a place that can turn a poet into a one man band. Unfortunately, “Somewhere North of Nashville” is where this poor soul realizes he “just didn’t do things right.” He’s just another broken record, freezing his ass off in his car, utterly lost.
It is an authentic, panoramic view from atop hills in Montana at all those times one “Chases Wild Horses” only to dream about catching one and someday and riding her as “her hair flashin’ in the blue” is beyond reach.; like a wild horse, he’ll never lasso or tame her — those days over and done.
These are not the songs I would teach to high school students. No. They are meant for those of us who have driven those El Caminos down Highway 5 for many a decade. When we were young, we were “Blinded by the Light” — nowadays, it’s time for us to look up to the night time stars that shine and take stock of who we are and what really matters in life.

At Last: Robert Pacilio Appears at Barnes and Noble

It has been 10 years since the publication of "Meetings at the Metaphor Cafe" and now with my newest work "Meet Me at Moonlight Beach" I seem to have made some inroads into the mainstream world of publishing and book selling. 
I was surprised when, in an attempt to persuade Barnes and Noble to carry my novel in their section What People in Encinitas Are Reading, that they had already ordered and sold the book!
"How did that happen?" I asked Katie, B and N's Community Relations Manager.
"Well, I assume that all the press clippings locally and Karla Peterson's San Diego Union-Tribune's article just alerted our staff,” Katie responded.
And Eureka! My novels were suddenly available on their website. (Three of my four novels were available ,not The Restoration unfortunately.)Then Katie asked me if I would like to speak at the store. I calmly shrugged, "Sure. I'm pretty available."
And so it came to be that THIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19TH FROM 2-4 PM I will be speaking, reading, and signing my novels at the Encinitas branch of Barnes and Noble. I'd love to have you come by, even if you already have the book to hear the story behind this book and all of the others novels. I promise to be entertaining an original. 
But that's not all that has happened. I will be speaking at Miracosta College with the author of Stella Luna on November 22 from 1-3 pm, as well as the featured speaker at the Delta Kappa Gamma Society earlier on November 2 (contact me for more information at www.robertpacilio.net.
Several book clubs have had me over to their homes, and I am grateful for their support for Meet Me at Moonlight Beach. 
Like on every occasion when I speak, I never know who will be there, but I do hope that you can make it. Thanks so much. Bob 

The War on the Truth:Two Women’s Eyewitness Accounts

Many Americans believed that President Obama’s election in 2008 was the sign that a post-racial America had finally arrived. Despite the 17% increase in hate crime in 2017, far too many Americans just can’t believe that racial hatred really could be the catalyst to mass murder, Nazi protests, and white supremacy. Not here. Not now. Not us.Then Mr. Trump came to the podium and the words fake news came billowing throughout the social network. He proclaimed that those white supremacists and neo-Nazi in Charlottesville were “good people.” And a new war on truth was born…again.That brings me to two truth tellers and their recent testimonies to what really happened to them and to the world from which they came. Madeleine Albright and Michelle Obama come from different generations and different continents; however, both have much in common: notably, overcoming virulent hatred stemming from racism. Both spoke their truth with undying patriotism to the United States: Ms. Albright on the international stage as “Madam Secretary” and Ms. Obama on a national stage from the White House — a house slaves built (her ancestors to be unambiguous).These two women have a message for Americans. Beware. Ignorance is not bliss. There is no such thing as alternate facts; events happened or did not happen. Words were said. Actions were taken in churches, mosques, and on the streets of Charlottesville. Mr. Trump’s litany of bullying tactics and ignorance ranged from claiming Mexicans were murders and rapists; Hispanic federal judges could not render justice; Muslims needed to be banned from entering our nation (because he saw them celebrating in New York after 9.11); Africans would never want to go back to their shithole countries’; Trump claims he had no knowledge of David Duke (the Grand Dragon of the KKK); and anyone who contradicted his opinions were merely echoing fake news.

Madeleine Albright’s newest memoir Fascism: A Warning is both a history discourse of villains, who wrap themselves in the cloak of nationalists, but her story concerns her own persecution from her native Czechoslovakia. Whether she is writing about her homeland, Russia, Turkey, the constellations of smaller satellites that once formed the USSR, or the less developed nations dotting South America, as well as the Middle East, Albright is clear how political corruption and vicious manipulation has led to dictators like those in Syria, North Korea and the Philippines to name but a few.Ms. Albright’s most poignant metaphor deals with the attempt to burn to the ground the ethnic hatred that fed the fascism that shrouded the world’s landscape which the Axis powers coveted. After WWII ended, she argues that the ideology of hate seemed to be scorched on the earth’s surface; however, the roots of paranoia run so deep that after a generation those very seeds begin to break through the crusty soil. President Truman, she notes, spoke of this, “Hitler is finished, but the seeds spread by his disordered mind have firm root in too many fanatical brains.” Her warning is that those ideologies are not only growing, rather they are in full bloom today. One needs only to look to the tragedy in New Zealand this March to see this on horrific display.Albright contends, Donald Trump is the latest manifestation of how today’s dictators operate. They begin, as Hitler and Mussolini did, by stoking the ambers of fear and discontent among their masses, then slowly they neuter the media and control public discourse. The judicial system is co-opted or maligned. Any challengers are bullied, and in the case of the worst of the monsters — imprisoned, made to mysteriously disappear, or simply boldly assassinated even within embassies existing for their protection. These so-called presidents have one refrain: they claim that they alone can save their nation from the invasion of those who seek to do harm.
Ms. Obama’s memoir is not a warning — far from it — it is clearly a Becoming. She passionately writes of the love of her parents, her upbringing on the Southside, her dedication to a cause worth fighting for and eventually meeting a man of such capability and ambition that she decides to take a road she feels is wicked and wondrous: politics. Naturally, her concerns about her children being raised in such a world worries her greatly, and make no mistake, she does give witness to the dangers of being the first Black family to lead our nation. The peril her family faces equates to the constant security essential to protect her family and the President. From what you may ask? From the same bigoted adversaries who have never let go of the Original Sin of racism. Something this nation has failed to fully come to accept, and from which it has never made reparations.Ms. Obama’s most telling moment to me was the description of the bullet lodged in the impenetrable window of the First Family’s upstairs living area in the White House. However, bulletproof glass could not stop Donald Trump, whom she can “never forgive” for the danger he so thoughtlessly created, since then candidate Obama was under Secret Service protection far before others because death threats were ubiquitous. Trump’s ignorant insistence that Barack Obama was not born in America created countless malevolent conspiracies all cordoned off under the umbrella of birtherism. Trump, along with his dutiful messengers at Fox News, conjured a sick lie that put the Obama’s in harm’s way.__________________In the years before it became obvious what Adolph Hitler’s plans of genocide were, many Germans and Austrians claimed that they never imagined such a thing was happening. The antidote is knowledge. Some of it first-hand, eyewitness truth, but for those sitting far from imminent danger in their homes today that knowledge comes from the journalists who cover the events unfolding before them. However, the campaign of misinformation, whether it comes from foreign adversaries or home-grown propaganda, is real and threatens our republic and the civic discourse that makes America the “beacon of freedom.” Above all, Michelle Obama and Madeleine Albright are optimists, but they remind the reader that turning a blind eye to the evil in the world does a free society great harm. These two women’s 

Lessons Germany and Austria Teach about the Sins of the Past

Ta-Nehisi Coates has written eloquently and persuasively about why America’s slaves helped build this nation and have paid a tragic price for their forced efforts, yet they have received nothing in return for their sweat, blood and tears.So what does this have to do with Germany and Austria?Having pleasure of just visiting these countries and speaking to those enlightened individuals who live in the two nations that were the setting of the Nazi’s holocaust, I have had my eyes opened. To cut to the chase, more than 70 years after the conclusion of WWII, the German people are still embarrassed and mortified about their involvement (or lack thereof) in the actions of Hitler and his diabolical concentration camps. So much so that, not once — but during three different grade levels — schools are focused on the history of Nazism that they allowed to occur.I was told by our guide that when she was studying in America, she was amazed how many American flags were flown. This was startling to her because in Germany the flag is not ubiquitously waving. Patriotism to them means accepting their role in an unprecedented ethnic “cleansing” and making quite sure that future generations know the truth: the guilt lies within.Contrast that to Austria — its neighbor. We Americans see “The Sound of Music” and assume that Austrians were like Captain Von Trapp: disgusted with the Nazi invasion of Austria. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In Austria, I was informed by numerous sources — the Holocaust is never taught in schools. In addition, Austria’s involvement with the Nazis and their blatant cooperation with Hitler is a mere footnote (if mentioned at all) in school. They want to have no ownership of what Austria did to all those murdered and persecuted in Austrian concentration camps like Mauthausen.But the irony does not stop there. Due to the Marshall Plan and President Truman’s leadership, America and Allied forces spent millions reconstructing the bombed out cities and propping up German and Austrian economies. Who received the bulk of that money? Austria. Yes, the nation that denies involvement and claims they were victims of Hitler were one of the biggest receivers of US aid.Another twist, Mauthausen concentration camp, which I visited, was considerably “sterilized” (save for pictures) by the Austrians, whereas the brutal truth of German camps like Dachau was evident to my eyes. Having seen both camps, the simple visual horror of both juxtaposed is visceral.So what does this have to do with American slavery and the need for reparations?I hate to state what I believe I have made obvious, but for the sake of clarity: we have for the most part acted as Austria. Jim Crow laws undermined for many blacks the purpose of the Civil Rights Acts in the 1960’s. I could go on and on: Red Lining, separate and unequal schools, institutional corporate bias — these are the legacy of slavery. Ghettoes, as I taught for years, were born of slavery, and drug dealing became one major avenue to economically escape poverty; only to lead to the mass incarceration of black men and the destruction of black family life.Isn’t it about time, 400 years to be exact, since 1619 that we, who have prospered, take responsibility for the prosperity we have built as the “richest nation on earth?” One can debate the specifics of how and to what degree, but the why is not up for debate.Unless, of course, like Austria, we claim that we were victims of the slave trade.

Germany and Austria: The Case for Reparations for American Slaves

Ta-Nehisi Coates has written eloquently and persuasively about why America’s slaves helped build this nation and have paid a tragic price for their forced efforts, yet they have received nothing in return for their sweat, blood and tears.So what does this have to do with Germany and Austria?Having pleasure of just visiting these countries and speaking to those enlightened individuals who live in the two nations that were the setting of the Nazi’s holocaust, I have had my eyes opened. To cut to the chase, more than 70 years after the conclusion of WWII, the German people are still embarrassed and mortified about their involvement (or lack thereof) in the actions of Hitler and his diabolical concentration camps. So much so that, not once — but during three different grade levels — schools are focused on the history of Nazism that they allowed to occur.I was told by our guide that when she was studying in America, she was amazed how many American flags were flown. This was startling to her because in Germany the flag is not ubiquitously waving. Patriotism to them means accepting their role in an unprecedented ethnic “cleansing” and making quite sure that future generations know the truth: the guilt lies within.Contrast that to Austria — its neighbor. We Americans see “The Sound of Music” and assume that Austrians were like Captain Von Trapp: disgusted with the Nazi invasion of Austria. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In Austria, I was informed by numerous sources — the Holocaust is never taught in schools. In addition, Austria’s involvement with the Nazis and their blatant cooperation with Hitler is a mere footnote (if mentioned at all) in school. They want to have no ownership of what Austria did to all those murdered and persecuted in Austrian concentration camps like Mauthausen.But the irony does not stop there. Due to the Marshall Plan and President Truman’s leadership, America and Allied forces spent millions reconstructing the bombed out cities and propping up German and Austrian economies. Who received the bulk of that money? Austria. Yes, the nation that denies involvement and claims they were victims of Hitler were one of the biggest receivers of US aid.Another twist, Mauthausen concentration camp, which I visited, was considerably “sterilized” (save for pictures) by the Austrians, whereas the brutal truth of German camps like Dachau was evident to my eyes. Having seen both camps, the simple visual horror of both juxtaposed is visceral.So what does this have to do with American slavery and the need for reparations?I hate to state what I believe I have made obvious, but for the sake of clarity: we have for the most part acted as Austria. Jim Crow laws undermined for many blacks the purpose of the Civil Rights Acts in the 1960’s. I could go on and on: Red Lining, separate and unequal schools, institutional corporate bias — these are the legacy of slavery. Ghettoes, as I taught for years, were born of slavery, and drug dealing became one major avenue to economically escape poverty; only to lead to the mass incarceration of black men and the destruction of black family life.Isn’t it about time, 400 years to be exact, since 1619 that we, who have prospered, take responsibility for the prosperity we have built as the “richest nation on earth?” One can debate the specifics of how and to what degree, but the why is not up for debate.Unless, of course, like Austria, we claim that we were victims of the slave trade.

The Karla Peterson Effect

“Talk about a dream/ trying to make it real…”Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics that are the “ties that bind” a former teacher turned author to a veteran columnist.
This essay is one that Karla Peterson would never author about herself. I knew if the story ever got out, it would be up to me to write it. Why?
If you know Karla Peterson, even superficially as I do, you will learn that she is the personification of humility. This is contrary to some major newspaper columnists, for whom tooting their own horn is part of the gig. Not Karla.
As a matter of fact, when she interviewed me recently for her review of my newest novel, Karla told me that she really didn’t know the effect of her writing makes on the readers for the San Diego Union-Tribune—or the affect, for that matter. I was flabbergasted and I am planning on making sure that in just my small sample size—Karla Peterson moves mountains.
We met in unusual circumstances. I read her 2002 essay on the power and wisdom of Bruce Springsteen’s album The Rising,which was inspired by the tragedy of 9.11. I was planning on teaching selections from that album to my juniors at Mt. Carmel High School, and she wondered how I was going to present Springsteen and the entire horrendous topic to seventeen year olds who had just lived through it, albeit on the West Coast. At that time I realized, as the saying goes, that we were ‘of the same mind.’
As years passed, we kept in touch, and after I retired from teaching, she was kind enough to read and review my novels—even though they were self-published; that is what makes her “Effect” so amazing. Fast forward to July 23rd, the date she published her review of my latest novel Meet Me at Moonlight Beach—her headline: Author Writes a Love Letter to Encinitas. Needless to say it was very flattering. 
Within 48 hours, over 38 books sold on Amazon; the La Jolla Kiwanis Club asked me to speak to their members; Mira Costa College put me on a writers’ panel; and my reading at the local artsy shop Bliss 101 in downtown Encinitas was crowded with folks who had “heard the word” from Karla.
Then the unimaginable (for me, an indie writer without an agent or traditional publisher) happens. I call Barnes and Noble and plan to pitch my new book (since they did have a table of books with the sign: What Encinitas Is Reading!). Thinking I was just going to get another stink-eye from the mainstream bookseller as I have for 9 years, I am “shocked, shocked” to have the lovely Katie, the community Relations Manager, tell me “Mr. Pacilio, we already carry your books…and we have already sold some.”
“What?” is my first reaction, and that is followed by “How?”
To find the answer I race to the store to find Katie, who takes me to my books, filed under P in fiction. I catch my breath. I was an English teacher and the San Diego County “Teacher of the Year”; however, that means absolutely nothing to the publishing world. (And that is fair.) So to finally see my work on the shelves—well, it is a moment to remember. Then Katie politely says, “Would you like to autograph these copies?” My pen is at the ready. She even puts that green seal that read: “Autographed Copy.”
Then I ask the most important question: “How did this happen?” Katie’s response is that someone in the store must have read Karla Peterson’s column and realized what Karla herself told me, “I really enjoyed your book and I was pretty sure other people would, too.” So they purchased books from my distributer. We decide the books need to go on the aforementioned ENCINITAS table so folks can see it.
Before I leave, Katie asks me: “Would you like to speak here and do a book signing? I can order all your other books, too?” Would I? You bet I would! So thanks to “The Karla Peterson Effect” I will be speaking at the Encinitas branch of Barnes and Noble on Saturday, October 19thfrom 2-4 pm. Drop the mike.
Karla Peterson WOULD NEVER write a column about how much her opinion matters. So I figured it was about time somebody else did. Thank you, Karla, for helping me out of “these ‘Badlands.’”

Karla Peterson is a longtime San Diegan whose beats at the San Diego Union-Tribune have included TV criticism, pop-culture, Comic-Con and San Diego people and lifestyles. She has won awards for entertainment criticism from the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors. A graduate of San Diego State University, she has been with the U-T since 1985.
Robert Pacilio taught English from 1977-2010 and has now written four novels.