The war of words is heating up between Indianapolis Public Schools and the Education Action Group.  IPS is responding to a release put out by the EAG regarding its cell phone bills.  Here’s IPS’ response.

I saw this essay posted on NPR.  On the 9th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks I thought it was most fitting to re-post here.  There’s a message in it for everyone.

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Essayist: Before Burning Quran, Know What’s In It

by Anisa Mehdi

An outcry from Muslim communities around the world greeted Florida Pastor Terry Jones’ announcement that he would commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by burning copies of the Quran. The outrage was matched only by those who staunchly oppose the building of an Islamic cultural center near ground zero in New York City.

President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus all urged the pastor to call off the event, citing potential threats to Americans overseas. In a late afternoon press conference, Jones said he had canceled the protest in exchange for a deal to move the proposed Islamic center away from ground zero. But Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam planning the center, quickly said no such deal had been made.

Anisa Mehdi is a Fulbright Scholar and filmmaker who directed the National Geographic documentary Inside Mecca.

Here’s a quick test of your knowledge of scripture.  Where does the following passage come from?

“Behold! The angels said: “O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee – chosen thee above the women of all nations.”

Let’s try another, with more modern language:

“Behold, the angels said, “O Mary, God announces good news to you by a Word from God named the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and the hereafter.”

The first from the King James Version of the Bible and the second from the Revised Standard?

No on both accounts.

These are passages from the Quran. The first in English translation by Yusuf Ali and the second by Thomas Cleary. As an English-speaking Muslim, I have several versions of the Quran in English.

The Quran, the holy book of Islam, gets quoted for exhortations to fight for the faith. “Those who believe fight in the cause of God, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of Evil.” But it’s also filled with reverent passages about Jesus Christ.  There is a whole chapter named for his mother, Mary, who is mentioned more often in the Quran than she is in the Bible itself.

And this is the book the Rev. Terry Jones threatened to burn at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Fla., on Saturday?

Did he know what he would be burning?

The Rev. Jones may reject much of what he believes is so about Islam.  He may reject the notion that another prophet came to humankind after Jesus.  He may resent Islam’s fierce adherence to One God and not a Trinity. He may — and rightly so — despise the acts of terror committed in the name of Islam. But he should know that the book he hopes to burn as a statement of protest and rage holds his Savior in the highest esteem.

“And in the footsteps of the prophets we send Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the law that had come before him. We sent him the Gospel. Therein was Guidance and Light.”

The Quran tells about miracles performed by Jesus — some unfamiliar to the Bible, like talking when he was a baby and breathing life into a clay bird, but also recognizable miracles, like healing lepers and restoring the dead to life.

The chapter of Mary also tells stories of Abraham, Moses and Noah. Surely these are figures of prominence in the Christianity of the Dove World Outreach Center.

But the crisis around burning the Quran was not one-sided. It may have been instigated in Florida but hostile reactions were predicted in Afghanistan by U.S. Gen. David Petraeus and who knows where else. After all, there is a history of violent reaction by Muslim people to perceived offenses against their faith.  Remember the Danish cartoons?

So there is another group of people who need to know better just what’s in the book at the center of this story.

Muslims themselves.

We are now celebrating the end of the month of Ramadan.  Muslims showed self-discipline by fasting from dawn until dusk for 30 days in a row.  This is a time to put that self-control into action.

In Chapter Five, the Table, we read, “O Believers! Stand up as witnesses for God by righteousness and let not ill will at any induce you not to act uprightly.  Act uprightly … And fear ye God. God is apprised of what ye do.”

“Killing is bad,” the book goes on to say,” but lawlessness is even worse than carnage.”

Just like the Bible, the Quran has its share of passages about punishment and vengeance.  No doubt I’ll be accused of only choosing the soft, sweet lines out of context for the purpose of making a point.

But it’s a point that needs to be made as much as the point that has been made that burning the Quran is NOT a good idea.  That the challenge for Muslims in this trying situation is to behave and perform as cited in the very book they said they were trying to save.

I’m in the middle of a gentlemanly debate over the City of Indianapolis’ proposed public-private partnership regarding the parking meters in downtown and Broadripple.  My friend opposes it.   He’s a downtown merchant, so I can understand where he’s coming from, but my fall back position is stuff has to be paid for.

The deal is pretty simple, in exchange for taking over the city parking meters, Dallas-based ACS will pay the city $35 million in cash and the city will collect $400 million in revenue over the next 50 years.  Parking would be modernized so that an individual could pay with a credit card and meter rates are also expected to increase.  Rates would go up to $1 in 2011 and $1.50 in 2012 for some meters. After that, rate increases would be based on inflation.

Critics have raised a number of objections, including opposition to privatization as well the increases in fees.  I’ll address the privatization part in a subsequent post, but lets address the fees for now.

Parking rates haven’t changed since the M*A*S*H and Sandford and Son were in their early years on network TV.  That means in 1974 parking was 75 cents an hour.  In 2010 terms parking should cost at least $3.25 when adjusted for inflation.   Revenue from the parking meters, by law, has to go for infrastructure repair.  So over the last 35 years, infrastructure costs have risen while one of the revenue streams to pay for them has stayed flat.  In addition,  the city collects about $ 4 million annually from the meters and after costs and overhead are taken out only $ 800,000 ends up going to  infrastructure.    Therefore that puts more pressure on the property taxpayer since the revenue for the upkeep would have to come from general funds.

As I told my friend, using that logic, the general property taxpayer is subsidizing the low parking rates of the downtown and Broadripple consumer.  So you have to ask yourself is it fair for someone who goes downtown for dinner and drinks to have part of their tab paid by someone who doesn’t?

And in an era of tax caps and reassessments and a general shift away from property taxes a way to pay for government, my question for critics is what plan do you bring to the table to as an alternative?   They brought no alternative to the Citizens Gas proposal so I really shouldn’t expect them to do the same here either.   It would be a nice change of pace, though, so I’ll gladly re-post reasonable alternatives

And the end of the day,  I have a hard time believing a quarter or 50 cents is going to stop someone from using a parking meter.  If you’re going downtown or to Broadripple, you’re probably going to spend at least $30 on your evening out.  And if 50 cents is going to make or break you, maybe you should stay home and get your finances in order.

As I mentioned earlier, I have another post coming regarding the privatization aspect of all this.   Meanwhile you can read Urbanophile’s criticism of the deal and the city’s response is below.

My original plan for the day was to finish up the Abdul version of Ramadan, by having a martini and cigar after 30 days of abstaining, but the Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis and Indianapolis Public Schools found a way to end up on my radar screen one more time.   So before I go indulge myself, I have to quickly post the latest concerning those two organizations which have turned out to be the gifts that keep on giving.

First, the BMA.  Following my earlier blog post and radio show this week, I got a call from Brandon Johnson’s mother Shantay Chandler.  She called to thank me for telling her story, which I graciously accepted.  I asked her if there was any follow-up regarding her situation.  She told me she did receive a call from the BMA, but it wasn’t to apologize for not helping her family, but to chastise her for speaking to me.   Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but if I was caught pimping someone’s child and I was going to call them, I’d definitely say I was sorry and try to make things right.  Apparently, the BMA is sorry, just sorry it got caught.

And now on to IPS.  I told you about a study that showed IPS spending up to $300,000 on cell phone usage.   IPS told one of my brothers in the media that most of the cell phone usage is not due to administrators, but janitors, police and bus drivers.  They also attributed the high bills to its GPS tracking system.  So how does that explain a $19,000 cell phone bill from December 16, 2009 through January 15, 2010;  a good chunk of that was winter break.  The district really needs to get a good spokesperson.

There’s nothing like ending Ramadan on an upbeat note.  Time to go work on the perfect martini, six parts gin to one part vermouth and two olives.

There have been quite a few news items that have been on my radar screen this week that I’m finally getting a chance to chime in on, so with that said, here they are.

Senate Stuff

Is it my imagination, or is there a 9-11 subtext in the latest round of Dan Coats political commercials?  They’ve been running for a couple weeks and it’s “ironic” that they just happen to be around on the 9th anniversary of the terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, Brad Ellsworth is going on the attack saying Coats lobbied against American jobs, no offense to the Ellsworth camp, but it would be nice to see some substantive policy positions get unveiled.   Maybe we’ll get some (from all candidates) during the upcoming debates.

IPS Problems

If you’re like me, you were shocked when you saw the story about an Indianapolis  Public School teacher that had to rummage through the trash bins of Carmel schools in order to find supplies for her students.  And while the district cries poverty, a new report shows its spending between $225,000 – $300,000 on cell phones.  I don’t think anyone was calling Office Depot to order pencils and paper.

Smoking Ban

Indiana lawmakers are talking about wasting the taxpayers time and attempting to pass a smoking ban in all public places.  However a new study by the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention shows the smoking rates have remained stagnant for the past five years, going from 20.9% to 20.6%, even though more states have adopted smoking bans.  It would make more sense to spend money and energy  on tobacco prevention rather than total bans, because obviously they’re not working.    And here’s another interesting fact from the CDC, 54% of 3 to 11-year olds are exposed to second hand smoke and I don’t see a lot of kids running bars.

Parking Problems

I’m working on a blog post regarding the city’s parking proposal.  Fundamentally, I agree with it, but I am spending time reading through the deal which will take a day or two.  In the meantime, I ask opponents to come up with an alternative to pay for infrastructure  in a world of declining property tax revenues.

I realize that most of the blog space I have dedicated to the Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis (BMA) has not been flattering.  I freely admit to being skeptical of an organization that says it’s been around for more than 140 years when it filed as a not-for-profit with the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office in March of this year.  I also take some issue with a group that calls itself the official voice of the black community, when none of the black people I know in this town ever remember taking a vote.  And I while I understand using a tragedy to play politics, it would be nice if you’re going to posture, put your money where your mouth is.

I say this because I recently sat down and spoke with Shantay Chandler, the mother of Brandon Johnson, the 15-year old who accused IMPD of excessive force earlier this year.  The officer accused of the beating, Jerry Piland has been recommended for dismissal.  Since the incident which occurred this past spring the BMA has led marches, called for Public Safety Director Frank Straub to be fired and spent $20,000 to bring Al Sharpton to town.  They have made a lot of noise.  And frankly, that is all they have done for Ms. Chandler.

She’s been unemployed for months while trying to take care of her son and the family has had financial struggles.  She even lost her car.   I asked her if she’s gotten any help from the BMA and her answer was a stark “no.”  The BMA hasn’t assisted the family with any money or other types of support.  So while the preachers were raising 20-grand for Al Sharpton’s visit, Chandler was and is struggling to find $1700 to pay for her son’s dental work.  And here’s an interesting sidebar, when Sharpton came to town, no one called the Chandler family, she found out when a reporter called her.

I asked Ms. Chandler if she had any contact with Stephen Clay, the wannabe black Pope of Indianapolis.  She recalled meeting him once since this entire ordeal, but has had no real contact since then.   You would think that if the BMA was the official voice of the black community, its members could pick up the phone and make sure the family had its basic needs met, like a job and medical care.  So that means either the BMA doesn’t have the juice it purports to have or Brandon Johnson is low hanging fruit.

And to make matters worse, when the images of Brandon Johnson were printed on t-shirts, some of the ministers sold them for $5-$10 each, and the family never saw a dime.   To her credit, Ms. Chandler says she wasn’t expecting help, but it would be nice if the people who allege they are fighting for Brandon to do more than just talk.   If you claim to represent 50,000 church members isn’t there someone in your collective congregations that could help someone land a part-time job.  And it would it really be that hard to raise an average of 4 cents from each of your members to help with some dental work.

Now we can debate excessive force, police policies and procedures, and even parental responsibility. But I don’t think there’s much to debate that if you’re going to take up a cause it probably wouldn’t hurt to go all in.  That is unless you have something else going on and Brandon Johnson is just a cause to further your agenda.  But we all know that wouldn’t be going on, now would it?

You can hear Ms. Chandler in her own words below.  Each segment is about 5 minutes long.  I also spoke with City-County Councilor Jose Evans who has stayed in close contact with the family since the incident in May.

Chandler Interview, pt 1

Chandler Interview, pt 2

Jose Evans Interview

After spending a few days away for quality time with the lovely Mrs. Shabazz, we return to our regularly scheduled pontificating on local government.  And of course that means a look at what’s been going on with public safety.  Between news conferences, umpteen rallies, bugs that don’t work, internal tug-of-wars, we have to admit it’s the stuff that keeps Indianapolis interesting.  So with all this going on, I figured the best way to do this is to go down the list of key players and offer up an opinion and some advice.

Mayor Greg Ballard

Good job in stepping up this past weekend and getting in front of the situation.  Your announcements about the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department reforms as well as speaking at the Sunday biker rally were the right moves to do.  You need to keep the momentum going and stay in front of the news.  You ran on public safety and this issue can and will make or break your administration.  The last thing you want to do is adopt a “bunker” mentality.   Also, there is only so much your public safety director and chief of police can do, you are the Mayor and you have to be the face of the city during this time of crisis in public safety confidence.  Do not let your opponents control the news cycle.   If you don’t speak out on a regular basis, your opponents will gladly fill the void.  Also, you know as I do that there are differing opinions in your administration on how to handle this situation and that has led to some serious internal strife at times.  My advice, listen to all sides, make an informed decision and stick with it.  At the end of the day, you run the show.

Public Safety Director Frank Straub & Chief Paul Ciesielski

I have never believed in conspiracies, so I am not going to start now.  I don’t think either of you would purposely cover-up anything because in the 21^st Century, information has a way of leaking out, and only an idiot would try to hide information that would eventually get out.  I would make it a point to be as open and honest with the public as possible and putting out every bit of information you can.  I frankly don’t mind hearing about bad officers, because I’d be more worried if the information never got out.   I know there is some bad blood that has built up with the Fraternal Order of Police leadership lately, but like in the film ‘The Defiant Ones” you both are chained together and will need each other to survive.

Fraternal Order of Police

Guys, I know a lot of you have issues with some of the reforms that are being proposed as well as your public image right now.  I don’t mean to sound harsh, but right now it’s best that if you remind the rank and file to do everything by the book, on and off duty.  There are a lot of people in this town who traditionally have supported law enforcement who are at best skeptical.  We all agree that 90% of officers are doing their jobs, but you’re going to have to step up and help deal with the other 10% that are causing grief and hassle for the rest of you.  And as much as some of you have issues with the Chief and Public Safety Director, you may want to read the last sentence in the above paragraph.

City-Council Republicans

Good move on the reform proposal.  Stay engaged.  I would not rule out the Democrats’ idea of a bi-partisan investigative panel, but I would wait until after the current investigations have been completed.

City-Council Democrats

I’m going to surprise you guys and say for once, you have an idea that makes sense. It would be nice if you had more of them over the past three years. I think a bi-partisan panel to review the Bisard case is a good idea, once you get all the facts in and the current investigations are completed.

Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis

I’ve got a special post written just for you, so stay tuned.

The General Public

You are well within your rights to be mad and skeptical at the events of late.  Keep demanding accountability and transparency.  But also remember, the average officer is a decent man or woman who gets up everyday and puts his or her life on the line to keep us safe.  And out of 1700 employees, someone is bound to cross the line.  We should support officers who are doing their jobs and continue to call for the removal of those who won’t do their jobs and violate the public trust.

This weekend the lovely Mrs. Shabazz and I are celebrating our one-year anniversary.  It’s been a great year.  Lots of highs, an occasional low, and a love that grows everyday, and I’m not talking about me for myself.    So that means the blogging and tweeting is going to be kept down to a bear minimum.

To mark the occasion, we’re going to recreate our first date.  I’m going to take her to dinner, say something inappropriate, she’s going to slap me, throw her drink in my face and tell me to lose her number.  Seriously though, my wife is the most patient and well-grounded person I’ve ever met.  And depending on your perspective I am the either the luckiest or most blessed person in the world.   Come to think of it, she is too.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend.  I’ll be back Tuesday.

Although my time lately has been spent preparing for the the first weeks of college teaching and more importantly, making sure everything goes well for my first anniversary this weekend,  I’ve still been keeping close tabs on the situation involving the latest troubles regarding the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

I was not surprised that the Baptist Ministers Alliance of Indianapolis called, for the 20th bajillionth time for Frank Straub’s resignation/termination/flogging/tarring/feathering as Public Safety Director.  Nor was I surprised that some Democrats on the City-Council are trying to politicize and capitalize on the tragic death of Eric Wells.  If they say they’re not being political, don’t believe them, their  latest news release was put out by Adam Kirsch, Executive Director of the Marion County Democratic Party.

Where I am puzzled is with all the recent discussions about what did all the parties the day of the Bisard crash and when did they know it.   My fellow brothers and sisters in the press have reported that the day of the incident Deputy Chief Daryl Pierce and Assistant Chief Ron Hicks went out to the scene but were called back by Chief Paul Ciesielski to talk about a news conference regarding the image of  Director Straub.

There have been references to conversations and text messages, but no one has produced anything in writing.   There is a lot of  “he said/he said” but I would assume that the easiest way to clear up this controversy would be for the parties involved to release the text messages that transpired that day.    With the back and forth between the culture and the command structure of IMPD, a review of the text message communications of that day would clear up confusion and we would know what everyone else knew.  Was it a failure of command at the scene or was the Chief more concerned about public relations?

And here’s something else a release of the text messages would show, did any of IMPD’s field command tell the Chief that the scene was so bad they weren’t going to come back to the office, but stay there and supervise?   That has been in the back of my mind since this controversy began.   I know IMPD has a pending investigation so they may not want to release anything until the findings are complete, but there is nothing to stop Hicks, John Conley or Pierce from releasing information through their attorneys.

I’ll be paying close attention to see how this part of the drama all plays out.

I had a very good conversation with U.S. Senator Dick Lugar Tuesday evening.  We talked about Iraq, Afghanistan, the 2010 midterm elections and his own re-election bid.

I asked him his reaction to critics who say he’s been in office too long and what he thinks about a primary challenger?  He told me he will serve until his fellow Hoosiers decide it’s time for him to do something else.  And when asked about a possible primary challenger in 2010 , he said “it’s a free country and people are entitled to do what they wish.”  He says he has a lot of energy left and looks forward to the race.

I bring this up, because Lugar has been in the U.S. Senate since 1976, for some people that’s too long.   For me, I’ve always believed you should serve until you are no longer effective.  For some politicians that means serving one-term, others that could mean a couple decades.   I also think that if the voters have had enough of someone they should get together and remove that person from office.  It has been done before, just ask Lisa Murkowski, Robert Bennett and Arlan Specter.  Each was an incumbent and each lost.  Granted it was a primary, but they still lost.

Of course critics would say the above examples are the exception, not the rule.  I will freely admit incumbency always brings a certain amount of inherent advantages.  However, at the end of the day, it’s the votes that count.   I think we can make voting more competitive by eliminating blatant gerrymandering and the creation of districts that look like a Rorschach test.  We can also neutralize some of the power of entrenched incumbency by putting term limits on committee assignments.  Just because you should be allowed to serve until you die, doesn’t mean you can keep the same spot in perpetuity.

Of course, if people would get off their rear ends and exercise their civic duties and stay engaged in the process, this discussion wouldn’t be necessary.